Daddy's Girls

Sunday was not only Lilli's birthday but also the end of another duck season.  It was an "epic" season and probably the best of Matt's life and he always hates it when they end.  But his girls are looking forward to him being home this weekend! 

Each year on her birthday I ask Lilli the same birthday interview questions to see how they change over the years.  We asked last at dinner: 1. What is your favorite color? Pink, purple and red 2. Favorite toy? Molly and Teddy 3. Favorite fruit? Apples 4. Favorite show? Wild Kratts and Dolphin Tale 5. Favorite lunch? Peanut butter and honey with pickles 6. Favorite outfit? Birthday girl shirt (last year her answer was what she had on too) 7.  Favorite game? Candyland 8. Favorite snack? Goldfish 9. Favorite song? Alphabet song 10. Favorite animal? Monkey and dolphin 11. Favorite book? Berenstein Bears 12. Best friend? Chloe and Claire 13. Favorite cereal? Cinnamon toast crunch 14. Forte thing to do outside? Play with Bella and jump on the trampoline 15. Favorite drink? Milk and sprite 16. Favorite holiday? Christmas 17. Favorite thing to take to bed? New toy monkey (we bought at Gators and Friends minutes before)  18. Favorite breakfast? Donuts  19. What do you want for dinner on your b

I can't believe you are 5 years old today.  You have grown in to such a sweet, smart and beautiful little girl and Dad and I couldn't be more proud of you. I'm not sure what is planned for today but we started the celebration yesterday with a "Birthday Blast" at Sci-Port.   It was a dolphin party with an under the sea theme.  All of the kids made shell necklaces and an ocean in a bottle  Before watching a few experiments  And then enjoying cake and ice cream And opening presents All of that was fun but Lilli said her favorite part was the play time after all of that. It was a great afternoon and I think all of the kids had fun. The best part for me was they did the clean up. :) Austin came by to play for a little bit after and then we spent the evening playing with all of the new toys with Lala.  We are so glad she got to be here.  She's 5 for 5 for birthday parties and I know that means a lot to Lilli. Happy Birthday my sweet girl! 

Lilli has been asking for a "big black dog" for over a year and on Sunday she got an (early) birthday present and got her wish! Matt left the camp and drove down to Coushatta to pick her up and bring her home.  On the drive and when she first got here we thought she was shy and timid.  But within an hour she was exploring the yard, chasing all 5 kids and proving she's 8 weeks and 12 pounds of pure energy! It's a good thing she cute because it's like having a newborn.  She keeps us up at night, I'm constantly cleaning and washing; she tries to chew everything from the carpet to kids pants while they're wearing them to phone chargers... But we love her!  And on Monday, Ryan left at 4 am to drive north of Little Rock to pick up their new 10 week Llewelyn Setter, Baron.  He was only here about an hour before they had to leave to go home but it was super cute to watch the 2 puppies together. 

We had our 5th annual hunting weekend with the "Craig" side of the family over the weekend.  Ryan and Holman come up each year with their families for the guys to hunt, kids to play and the girls to relax and catch up.  Dad comes too but he's decided he would rather do the relaxing and visiting over hunting in the cold. We had perfect weather and thoroughly enjoyed being able to be outside in it.   The guys got limits everyday so they couldn't ask for better than that. They even got in a quail hunt Saturday afternoon.  And Lilli has a birthday coming up next weekend so of course we had to celebrate with some cake and ice cream. Time to start a birthday week! 

We had a very exciting day yesterday as two new babies were born in to our family! Chad, Rachel and Austin welcomed Josephine Reese at 4:51 pm.  She was 8lb 11 oz, 21 inches and absolutely perfect! I hear Mom and baby both did great all day and Austin is so excited to be a big brother.  We hope to meet her next week and love her already!  We knew Josey was coming because Rachel went in to the hospital Sunday night but we were surprised when I got a text about 9:30 yesterday morning that Kelly was in labor too.  I don't know what time he got here but I got a text at around 2:30 that Brooks Wallace was officially here. He was 8 lb 9 oz and 21.5 inches. Kelly did great too and Andrew is over the moon about having a baby brother. When I told Lilli they were both coming she literally screamed "eee!! I get two new cousins today."  And hours after we had two new babies join the family, my "little" girl hit a milestone that proves she is definitely not a baby anymore. S

Lilli got a real tea set from Yaya and Cap'n for Christmas this year so of course the first thing we had to do was invite some friends over for a tea party.  Lily, Aubrey and Sophie all came over this afternoon to do just that.  The first order of business was to get in the right clothes.  We'd pulled out all of her dress up and let each of them pick something to wear.   Once they were all dressed like little princesses, it was time for tea.  I'd set up the table in the dining room with baby gates so that little sisters and brothers couldn't interfere.  Each place was set and I had lemonade in the tea pot and mini cupcakes, peanut butter balls and grapes to choose from for snacks.  They ate every bite and then had seconds of cupcakes and peanut butter balls.    They actually sat there for 30 or 40 minutes before getting up to play.  Then they all stayed a couple more hours and pulled out every toy in the house in the process but had a great time.   It had been too long

We had a nice couple of days ringing in 2015.  It has become our tradition for Shanon and Alex to come up and spend NYE at the camp with us.  When they got in on Tuesday we immediately went for a ride where I saw more ducks than I ever have.  It was really beautiful and something pretty amazing to see.  I really wish I would have gotten a picture.  We hung out and ate dinner and then after we got the kids to bed, the 4 of us sat around the fire for hours.   The guys had a good hunt the morning of New Years Eve but other than that we had a fairly lazy day.  It was too cold to go outside much so the girls never even got out of their pjs.  They got Christmas presents from Uncle Shanny and Mrs. Alex and Yaya brought gifts from Austin so they were happy to stay in and play with them.   We did go out that evening to watch Daddy pop some fireworks.  And managed to make it till midnight, but by 12:30 we were all happy to be sleeping like babies.  Happy New Year!