Daddy's Girls

It is so hard to believe that I now have a 4th grader and a 1st grader. 2 more years and she’ll be a middle schooler! It goes too fast. I mean, wasn’t it just Christmas??!  But here we are the 1st day of summer already.  We celebrated last night with our monthly food truck night. We had a HUGE bounce house with a slide and the kids played over 3 hours.  Lily and Landry came back to spend the night after but they were so exhausted they took a shower and layed in bed with movies until they fell asleep. This morning it was play time at home before walking down to the neighbors to swim.  I have a feeling this is where we’ll be spending most of our time the next 11 weeks. Sweet summertime! 

Today was Apollo’s awards ceremony and Yaya, Matt and I were all there to cheer on Lilli Leigh. (No awards for kindergarten) On top of her awards for being a Mathlete and on “A” honor roll, she was also chosen as one of the presenters to give out other awards.  It has been a VERY busy end of year for the school. Yesterday was also the AR water slide party for kids who made their reading goal all four 9 weeks of the year.  This party is always a hit and the kids have worked hard and deserve it. They have one more celebration tomorrow for the kids that learned all of their math facts and became mathletes but the best part about that party is they do not need parent volunteers. So that means for this Mama the school year is OVER! They asked if they could skip the last 2 days but I said No Way! I’m taking tomorrow to get my hair done and spend some time with friends. And Thursday will be busy getting the house ready and packed for our trip before my closing on Friday. Three more days and w

Yesterday while I was working, Matt and the girls worked on cleaning out the garage. Old Billy Bass has been hanging in there for 10+ years and Lilli recently noticed him.  This was Matt’s very first bass he ever caught and he drug it home by his bicycle from Black Bayou in Vivian. Well, Lillian decided it needed a spot on her wall so up it went. This find got Matt thinking about fishing so today we went up to the new pond in Arkansas to spend the afternoon. Matt caught one fish but nothing else was biting. The girls didn’t mind though. They ran up and down the bank with a net and caught an ice chest full of minnows. I layed in my chair in my bathing suit and worked on getting some color before the beach!  It was a nice afternoon but the nats about carried us off. I told Matt that out here in my bathing suit and flip flops was as close to Naked and Afraid (it’s a TV show) that I want to be! Haha, I don’t know how those people do it. But it was a nice family day and I’m so thankful for

Friday was Apollo’s field day and it was so fun! Katie’s went from 830 to 1030 and Lillian was from 11:30 to 1:30 so I was there for five hours.  Katie’s class was kindergarten tug of war champs and they also won 3 out of 5 relays. Plus she came in second for her class in the 50 yard dash. Her favorite part of school is PE so I think to her this was the perfect school day. I got to check Katie out when hers was done so that she could watch her sister compete. I think her class won one of the relays and we left before the 50 yard dash because it was HOT by that point and they were over it. They each took a friend home with us and we stopped for frozen yogurt before going home for a play date. And then they brought friends along to watch swim team.  Saturday morning Katie and I went to a baby shower for an Apollo Mom while Matt and Lil enjoyed a quiet morning before I had to work Then we met Cara, Luke and Josie for dinner. A good couple days! 

I saw a video on YouTube today mocking how May has become the new December without the lights. For all of us with young kids it is non-stop! I guess it’s kind of a blessing in disguise that the kids were sick all last week because that was teacher appreciation and I would have been up at the school at least three times. Instead I got to stay home to rest up for this week. There was something going on every day except for Monday. Of course Tuesday was the graduation.  And I still can’t believe my “baby” is done with kindergarten. Wednesday I had to take Katie to the doctor to find out that she will be having her tonsils and adenoids out this summer. Five rounds of strep in one school year was enough for me! Plus her airway is blocked 60% by her adenoids. I hate she’s going to have to go through it but I’m glad it will help.  Today was Beach day for kindergarten followed immediately by spring fling for third grade so I was outside at the school for 4 hours.   Katie enjoyed running around

Ms. KatieJane graduated from kindergarten today. When I walked in a friend of mine asked if I was emotional and I was quick to say no. Well... a few minutes in to the slideshow I changed my mind but I held it together. She was so cute and proud up on that stage. To say me and Matt were proud of her would be an understatement. I’m sure she could hear us, Lillian and Yaya all cheering her on. Congratulations Kathleen! We are proud of what an exceptional student you have become and we know you will do big things! 

The McCormick girls started swim team practice yesterday and they were so excited! Lillian asked a few weeks ago so I started looking in to it and decided to join Terri’s Swim Academy. It’ll be a pool we can use from Memorial Day through Labor Day and and I know they’ll make friends on the team. Practice is every weekday until the end of June and the best part is their cousin, Case, will be there too!  It was especially nice to get out and do something active after last week. Lillian had 5th disease (a rash covering her body with aches and fever) and was out all 5 days and Katie had strep and was out 3. So other than a couple trips to the doctor and target and a Mother’s Day movie with friends We had really been in the house for a week and everyone was going stir crazy. It was nice to get back to school and activities for some normalcy. I think they’re going to like swim team! And we’ll all like the pool we can use when we want. :) 

Happy Mother’s Day! I am so thankful for my little family and the two that make me a Mom. I am so lucky God chose me to be their Mama and that I have such a wonderful husband that supports me.  Of course I always miss my Mom today but I guess I’m one of the odd people that dates don’t really affect my grief. I called my Mama and told her I loved her just about everyday so Mother’s Day is no different.  I  know she’s having a great one in heaven. Plus, I’m still so fortunate to have other Mother’s in my life. My Nana,  Honey and  Yaya all mean the world to me too. They are all people that I can call with questions about kids or just to vent about the day. They may not be “my Mom” but I still feel that Mother’s love and I can tell you that’s something you need even at 37.  Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms today! 

KatieJane had her birthday party at Brownlee Park today surrounded by friends and family. It was cat themed (of course!) and turned out so cute. Yaya made hot dogs and Matt grilled sausage and almost all of it got eaten! (Everyone was complimenting the food too.) That plus chips, cake, cookies and ice cream made for a great picnic.  All week I had been worried about the weather and almost changed the location twice. But yesterday I decided to cross my fingers and hope for the best. Well... the weather didn’t cooperate but I think the kids liked it better that way! They played for hours and it worked out because we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  Which was a good thing too because 23 kids showed up! 😳 about 6 more than I knew and WAY more than I expected to actually show on a rainy day but that made it all the more fun.  Katie said she wants a park party next year and she hopes it rains again.  And of course that many kids meant tons of presents! She racked up and has been pla