Daddy's Girls

The day started yesterday with sleeping till 7:00. Now I know that’s not late to a lot of people but that was getting to sleep in for me! Then Lilli actually came out of her room to sit with the family to watch Shark week. I have memories of watching with my family (our beach trip every year was the same week so we would get in and watch it in the condo) so I loved that we all spent the morning doing that. About mid morning Matt decided to cook a huge brunch and outdid himself The girls and I walked across the street for Noah’s party in the afternoon.  I stayed to watch presents and cake and then Christy told me I could leave them to play while I got ready for date night. Raegan got her drivers license and a car and that was a game changer! She drove herself here and home! We made a whole afternoon and night of it and went to a movie at 4:00 followed by dinner at Superior.  I introduced Matt to the reclining seats in Shreveport and he was amazed! He was still talking about how comforta

It has been HOT! We hit a record of 108 last weekend and the rest of the week has been 100+. I’m thankful for some rain coming over the next few days that will cool us ALL the way to 96 for the weekend and a cool 90 by mid week. I feel for my family that’s out working in it everyday. I mean, this is the kind of heat that could be dangerous. As for me and the girls, we’re trying to stay cool as best we can. Yesterday was our end of summer fun day at Splash Kingdom water park. Every year I try to do something really fun. Last year it was a party of about 15 kids at our house. This year I decided to do something just the three of us because I feel like I haven’t gotten as much time with them as I would like with me working. And I know I’ve already mentioned that I’m really emotional about the fact that both of my kids will be in real school. So yesterday was it. We got to Splash Kingdom around the time they opened and spent over four hours swimming, water sliding, and just enjoying our ti

Our 3 night trip got cut down to one but it was a nice day. Dad, Janet, Lilli, Katie, Piper and I went down in Thursday for a day in the pool. (Jen, Ryan, and Anna came the next day because Anna had a camp but we were gone before they got there.) The girls stayed in the pool for 6 hours straight and Michaelyn and I were in about 4. The original plan was to boat to dinner but it ended up storming so we grilled steaks and hung out on the porch and watched the rain. We were on the road by 930 Friday morning to get back for Matt’s birthday but still managed to squeeze in some fishing, swimming, and a quick boat ride because it had all been promised to the girls but the rain messed it up the night before. It’s amazing what you can get accomplished when you start at 6:30! It was a very quick trip but I’m glad we went for the day. Always so nice to have a little mini vacation with my family.

We have been in Baton Rouge and Covington the last few days (more pics on that to come) but left early to get home to celebrate Matt’s Birthday with him. He was originally coming with us but between half of the family only coming part of the time and work being crazy, he decided to stay here. We were back in time to make him shrimp and grits and have a slice of cheesecake while we sang. Happy Birthday Matt! We love you more than you know! 

We had a wonderful 4 days with Nana visiting at our house. Sunday we woke up and went to lunch and then Holman and Chance came for the night. They hadn’t seen her in over a year so it was so nice it worked out for them to meet half way between their houses.  Matt cooked a delicious dinner or bacon wrapped shrimp and green beans plus creamed corn and olive bread.  Then Monday we went to Herby K’s because Holman has always wanted to try it.  It was good but we all decided we’ve been there done that now. :) She watched the kids for me until Matt got home while I showed that evening and then they got a nice visit. Tuesday was the movie Hotel Transylvania 3 and Sweet Frog. The kids loved it because we let them have popcorn and frozen yogurt for lunch.  Wednesday it was time to come home and it was honestly the perfect length for her visit. She is 89 so any longer than that she’s ready for her routine but the way it worked it she loved every second and she’s looking forward to her next trip

What a week it has been for the McCormick family. They closed on a new lease in Plain Dealing/Benton a few weeks ago and Matt drove the girls and I around to check it out last weekend. (He had gotten the pictures of Uncle Josh fixing the sign a few days before.) It has definitely kept him busy. Of course I am NOT complaining. But we did have our first nights away from the kids in 9 months (that wasn’t because one of us was recovering from surgery) and he worked till passed when I’m normally asleep one night and I showed houses until after 7:00 the next night. Part of trying to get something started!  The girls stayed at the lake with Yaya for those 2 nights. It was mostly swimming but they did stop to tie dye shirts for an afternoon. Yaya said this project truly showed their personality differences. Lilli was meticulously adding her colors and only on the 2nd one when Katie had her shirt flipped over and almost done.  I spent part of the day they were gone canning the peaches we got fr

Our boy is 14 today. It’s so crazy to think he’s been around since before Matt and I were even engaged. He’s definitely starting to show his age but we still get glimpses of the puppy he used to be. He puts up with the kids and loves Matt but I think I’m still his favorite. :) 

I’m sorry but I can’t go to the Y without that song popping in my head at least once. We joined last week and have really been enjoying it so far. We decided to try it out because I wanted a gym (it’s been too hot to run much), the girls wanted a pool we could go to at any time, and they have at least 4 families of friends that are members where I’m also friends with the Moms. So far we’ve met Kelli and Lily Jordan to swim And today we met Heather, Britney and Bella. All the kids did yoga while Heather and I got on machines She says they come 3-4 days a week so I hope this is the perfect set up. They’re really too big for a gym nursery so this is cool that they can have fun too.  Britney and Bella had been at our house since about 10:00 this morning before we came.  Trying to get in as many play dates as we can and enjoy the last bit of summer. Lilli goes back 4 weeks from Wednesday! And Katie only has 5. :) This Mama isn’t ready! 

We had our annual weekend at the camp to work in the garden and get some fruits and veggies cooked and put away. We didn’t get nearly as much as we hoped but still really enjoyed our day and I’m so excited to test out some of these with our meals. We started last night by picking some of the squash, eggplant and tomatoes and Matt got those fried with fish for dinner and I brought the rest home. One of my favorite things each year is the southern squash casserole that is on the menu tomorrow night! This morning we were up early to beat the heat but first made a stop by the sunflower field for a quick picture. We have several of Lilli when she was little but this is the first of Katie.  My sweet husband picked some for me to take home. Aren’t they beautiful? We picked peas and shelled them and then stopped by the peach tree. They aren’t fully ripe yet but I’m really hoping I can ripen them here and can some plus make a fresh peach cobbler.  The corn was a whole other project. It was boug

These pictures don’t even need captions. We took our first ever family pictures (not done by timer at least) while we were in Gulf Shores. The photographer was Yaya’s Christmas present and it was worth the wait. It was supposed to be that Monday evening but that session was rained out so these were taken at 6:30 AM Tuesday. Definitely not our first choice but the photographer was pretty booked the rest of the week. I think they turned out perfect! 

Happy Birthday America! What is normally a day of celebration and family time for us doesn’t feel like the 4th at all. No family time at the lake, no food on the grill, no fireworks... the very first time since I’ve known Matt that we haven’t done a single thing. Matt had to work this morning. And we could have gone without him and had him meet us there but we came home from Dallas on Sunday to a dead refrigerator and our new one was delivered this morning. The morning was spent with delivery men in my house and then cleaning up the huge mess they made after and grocery shopping. Since I have no pics from today. Here are some from years past. Last year- Katie’s best friend Britney’s Birthday is today. She has never been able to celebrate with friends on the actual day because of the holiday so Heather decided our fridge incident could be a good thing for Britney and took Katie all day. She was here about 10AM to get her and kept her until almost 9:00.  I had a tired girl who was asleep

All 4 girls had to tag along with me while I showed some houses this evening since Matt wasn’t home yet. From there we decided to stop at TaMolly’s for a farewell dinner because Jen and Ryan got in about 7:00 to pick them up to head home. (They were here loading the car when we pulled in from dinner) Their original plan was to stop in Dallas at their friends house and come tomorrow but they were ready to get home and I don’t blame them. 10 days is a long time to be gone! The girls had mixed emotions. They were all sad to say goodbye but Anna and Lilli were ready to go back to normal. Piper asked if she could stay and Katie definitely wanted her to. I was very happy to have them and the 10 days really went well. It passed quickly with very little arguing and the girls were respectful and sweet the whole time. But I am ready to have my house back to normal too. Plus it helps that we will see them in just a little over 2 weeks when we go to Michaelyn and Rick’s. Cousin Camp 2018 was a suc

We left the house at 7:30 on Saturday to go to to Dallas for the Broadway production of The Lion King. We had tickets long before we knew Anna and Piper would be here so they had to stay home with Holman and Matt. They all went to lunch and then caught up on the 3rd Harry Potter (we’ve started watching with them) while Matt and Holman hung out and cooked and Brandi and I took Chance and the girls.  The show was AMAZING! Lilli and I were mesmerized the whole time. Katie on the other hand enjoyed it but didn’t really get it. She kept asking why the lions were on 2 feet and why he took off his head at one point. But she was still amazed by the animals and dancing. I would watch it again and am so glad we went!  As soon as we got back we loaded Anna and Piper up to go to their neighborhood pool for a few hours. It was super cool with water slides and a lazy river and Brandi and I even swam.  Kids ate pizza and then watched a movie while we had dinner when we got home.  Definitely delicious