Daddy's Girls

Gypsy Belle has been with us for a full week now and she’s already my baby. She and I have a routine of when we play and I’m working on housebreaking. She’s definitely most attached to me and I’m sure that’s partly because I’ve slept with her from night one. I was going to kennel train but that quickly went out the window and she only goes in when we leave.  Bella is annoyed by her because she is constantly trying to play with her. Sammy is getting a little more curious but obviously still mad at me for bringing her into this house. The girls like her but she is still in the biting stage so don’t like to play too much. And Matt really loves her- when I’m here. He didn’t have the best time while I was in Dallas because she refused to potty outside for him and didn’t let him get much sleep. I guess she and I have each other more figured out so he was definitely ready for me to come back. (And because he missed me so much of course 😉) But despite the annoying things that all puppies do (

Hunting season officially ended last weekend so me, Hailey and Rachel planned a Moms night away. It’s something we’d been talking about forever and finally made it happen! Hailey and I got up early yesterday and drove over to Dallas to meet Rachel for some playing and pampering. We started with brunch (and a mimosa of course!) at Bread Winners. Then we had a spa day book at Hiatus Spa and Retreat. It didn’t look like much being in a strip mall in Dallas but it was an Aveda spa and we were truly pampered. We had a massage (mine was very relaxing- Hailey and Rachel’s girl had them doing a lot of stretching) a facial (mine was wonderful and had me seriously relaxed but Hailey and Rachel got an accidental upgrade to a hydrafacial. They wanted to charge them (it’s a BIG upgrade) but we argued that I booked us all the same things and it was not their fault they were booked incorrectly. Score!) and a mani-pedi (they put you in zero gravity chairs with a neck wrap, headphones playing soothing

10 year old interview: What’s your: 1. Favorite color? Green 2. Toy? LPS (littlest pet shop) 3. Fruit? Pineapple  4. Show/movie? Avengers or Dr. Pol 5. Lunch? Grilled cheese 6. Outfit? Shorts and t-shirt  7. Game? Minecraft  8. Snack? SunChips or apples and peanut butter 9. Song? Everything’s Going to Be Alright- Kenny                  Chesney 10. Animal? Dogs/puppies (we just got Gypsy) 11. Book? Wings of Fire 12. Best friend? Bella, Lily, Shaleigh and Gypsy now  13. Cereal? Capt. Crunch 14. Game to play outside? Climb trees or with Bella 15. Drink? Dr. Pepper 16. Holiday? Thanksgiving  17. Breakfast? Sausage balls 18. Dinner? Outback or fried deer meat 19. What do you want to be when you grow up? Marine Animal Vet for fish and invertebrates at Georgia Aquarium (very specific this year) 

Wow! 10 years? How is she 10 years old? It’s so crazy to think how much time has passed but I look at her and she’s still my baby girl. We were supposed to be spending today with the McCormick ladies and kids in Dallas going to Medieval times and staying at a hotel to celebrate. Katie being diagnosed with the flu on Monday changed those plans. It may have not been as exciting of a day as that but I think we made up for it.  We spent the morning cuddling with Gypsy and opening gifts. Hailey and the boys came over to play with her for a few hours before we went to see Dolittle with some friends.  And then those friends came back for a sleepover. Cara, Luke and Josie stopped by to meet her on their way to dinner but mostly the big girls stayed in Lil’s room while me, Matt and Katie were in the living room. We wouldn’t let Katie back there to play so she wasn’t in their faces and that normally would have seriously upset her. But having a puppy to play with made up for it. We got them out l

We picked up Gypsy this evening and we are already in love! She is the sweetest baby and immediately took to the kids. Even Bella and Sammy were ok with it. So far she’s going to Katie the most  but it’s only been a couple of hours so I know she’ll be my baby. Our neighbor (that dog sits and really loves all the animals) even came by with a “baby gift.” We are all very excited to get to have lots of time with her this weekend. 

What a wonderful weekend for the 10th year in a row at the camp. We truly appreciate being able to go out there and have some quality family time together. The main attraction is the guys get together to hunt.  And this year they took Ryan’s dog out and found a few woodcock too. I bet anything that’s going to be what Matt wants next. 😉 It was raining Saturday morning so we were lazy and sat around drinking coffee and eating sausage balls until around 10. At that point Matt, Ryan and Luke went for the woodcock hunt and everyone else walked over to the new cabin to see it.  We had a birthday party for Lilli. It was pretty much just Pops’ king cake, presents and a craft but the kids loved it.  We all hopped on rides and caravanned for a long ride around the property. (Lilli said this was the best part of the weekend) We had a huge dinner of chicken, pork, green beans, au gratin potatoes, salad and spinach bread. And then capped off the night with smores by the fire and games in the game

In just 9 days Ms. Gypsy Belle will become a part of the McCormick family. I always thought I wouldn’t get another dog after Jackson because the last few years of his life were so hard. But it didn’t take but may be a week for me to miss that companionship and start looking. Yaya knew someone with these powder puff Chinese crested so I started looking into the breed. I think it’s going to be a good fit for our family and I went to meet her Tuesday. She is absolutely precious and immediately played with me for a minute before tucking her head under my arm and going to sleep. I was in love. She was actually eight weeks yesterday and could go home but between all the people at the camp this weekend and our trip to  Medieval times next weekend we decided it’s best to wait. I will pick her up on the way home from Dallas next Sunday though! Almost everyone is excited.😉 I had originally been thinking about a Bichon but after comparing the breeds I really do think this one’s going to be a bet

Lillian Leigh may not be turning 10 for 2 more weeks but the celebration has already started. Next weekend the “Baton Rouge” family will be at the deer camp and on her real birthday we’ll be in Dallas with the McCormick cousins so we had to go ahead and party now so that it could happen while Matt is still hunting.😊 She wanted a sleepover this year so last night I had 8 little girls all night.  The girls and I spent the morning decorating and then the friends all got here about 3 o’clock and the party began. I decided to get a bounce house to give them something to do outside and I definitely think that is the best money I’ve ever spent!  I had balloons with times written on them. At that time Lillian popped it to see what we did next. The first one was at 4:30 and it was craft time. I had fabric markers to decorate a pillowcase and sharpies to decorate a coffee mug. All the girls loved that and those were their party favors to take home. 5:30 was dinner, presents and cake.  (Chick fi

Man, I haven’t posted in awhile. I try to make it at least weekly but I guess there hasn’t been too much going on with back to school. We had one last friend visit last week before school started back. Ashley and Paul has us and a few other Moms and kids over for a few hours and the kids got to play.  Lillian had her first archery tournament last weekend. She had a lot of fun! The next one is coming up February 1st.  And report cards came yesterday. Katie got straight A’s again. Lillian pulled up all of her B’s to have straight A’s too! Plus they both made it to the 2nd round of the American Heritage poetry competition. The judged round will be on the 22nd. I promise yogurt to celebrate these accomplishments next week. It’s been a good few days and ready to see what else 2020 brings! 

Happy New Year! We have had a very relaxed few days hanging out with friends and family at the camp. It really started Monday night with Ryan and the girls at our house. (Jen had something come up last minute and couldn’t make it). Kelly and her friend Emily stopped in town driving back from Tennessee and were staying at the hotel next to Nicky’s so we met them there. We hadn’t seen her since June so it was nice to catch up.  Yesterday morning we got up and drove to the camp and Cara, Luke and Josie met us. We went for rides, had a scavenger hunt, played in the game room and watched football.  We told the kids they could stay up till midnight but they were ready to quit trying about 10:30. We had smores and fireworks and called it a night.  Today the guys hunted and the kids played all day. But I never got out of my pjs. I’d call that a perfect start to a new year! Ready to take on 2020!