Daddy's Girls

I went home Friday to finish up some Christmas things without kids and Matt and the girls stayed at the camp. They went deer hunting that afternoon, and Kathleen got to go to the duck blind for the first time ever on Saturday morning.  It was a successful morning and she had fun! She had had enough by the time they got back though, so Matt and I met for lunch in Plain Dealing so that she could come home. Lillian stayed because Austin was there, but it finally caught up with her too and she took a 3.5 hour nap. And Kathleen was asleep for THE NIGHT by 6:30, lol. All that hunting is a lot of work. Lillian couldn’t miss out on one more morning though before she had to go back to reality today. It was a successful thanksgiving week all around. Lots of love, laughter, good food and a good time. For the Baton Rouge family too. Jen and Ryan spent Thanksgiving in Belize, Jimmy and Theresa got back from New York the day before the holiday, and Janet had already cooked a Thanksgiving meal for Da

It was a wonderful few days at the cabin in Arkansas to celebrate Thanksgiving. It may have rained the whole time, but that didn’t stop us all from having a great time. We played in the tractor shed Rode 4 wheelers through the mud and did some hunting  Lilli got a nice buck Thanksgiving night, and the family all came out to congratulate her. She also got in the duck blind for the first time this season today. Kathleen got to hunt this afternoon, and she gets to go to the blind for the first time ever tomorrow. Lillian also got in the stand by herself for the first time today while Kathleen was with Matt.  But of course the highlight of the visit was Thanksgiving Day and the meal itself. Yaya always outdoes herself with decor, a roasted turkey, a million sides and pies. And Matt’s fried turkey is one of my favorite things ever  And there were no Christmas PJs this year, but there were super cute “duck the halls” shirts.”They only came in kid sizes, so we found something similar for Lil.

Since we have Thanksgiving with the McCormicks every year, it’s become a tradition for the girls and I to go down to Baton Rouge the weekend before because my dad’s birthday falls around then. He turned 70 in 2020 so we didn’t get to plan a big party like we probably would have and did a zoom party instead. Last year, Kelly and Emily were getting married so we spent his bday in Austin. So this year we made up for it with a big family party.  He had all 3 of his daughters (and his stepdaughter) and all 6 grandkids in one place. And 21 people total. Janet, Jen and I cooked a huge meal, and he got lots of gifts. I didn’t get the memo on the theme and got him baking supplies, while everyone else brought liquor or a gag gift. There were lots of laughs and I hope the kids weren’t traumatized 🤣 Saturday was his actual bday so he came over to Jen’s for the morning to hang out and have coffee  Before we went to lunch And then back to separate houses for a rainy afternoon nap. The girls and I s

I am late on my post, but it doesn’t mean I’m any less proud of Ms. Kathleen’s performance at her first ever gymnastics meet. She scored a 37.9 (out of 40) and won 1st place! This is something she has been dreaming of since that bottom right picture. At that point, at age 5, she had already been taking classes for 3 years and dreamed of the day she would compete. Covid set her back a year or two, but she is finally here and loving it. It was the only the 2nd time she’d ever done something like this in her life- all eyes on her in front of a crowd- and the time before was a poetry competition in kindergarten at Airline’s auditorium. She was barely even nervous and handled the pressure beautifully though. We couldn’t be more proud. It was an in-house meet, meaning she was only competing against other girls on her team, so future competition will be steeper, but we know she will do great. ❤️ Dad and Lillian did drive in from the deer camp that day to watch her, but snuck out before awards

It feels like it was just summer, but here we are in the holiday season. And do you know what the holiday season means to the McCormick family?- It’s also hunting season! Last weekend was the Arkansas youth weekend, and Matt and Lilli went to the camp on Friday night. Lilli would pretty much rather be in the stand with her Daddy more than any other place in the world.  Not only does she enjoy the time with him, she also enjoys the fruits of the labor. Not one, but 2 deer! She got one Saturday and one Sunday morning and Matt says she is a natural. He thinks she’s ready to go on her own, but she’s not sure she’s ready for that yet. It’s coming soon though! Katie and I went up there Saturday to hang out and watch the LSU game (a nail biter into overtime, but we beat Bama!), we got to watch them clean a deer and Katie also got some shooting time in on Sunday. She’s ready for her chance to learn!  It may have only been November 6th, but we put up our decorations on Sunday. They say people w