Daddy's Girls

Make muffins!! We went to Hillcrest Blueberry Farm in Gloster, LA yesterday to pick our own blueberries. We met Aubrey, Tiffany, Lilli's dance instructor, Emily and her daughter Ella plus a few of their friends there too. We also brought Carissa and its a good thing because she is a blueberry picking pro! Her parents have blueberry bushes and she has lots of practice. We spent a few hours and ended up with about a gallon. The kids had so much fun and it was fun to see.  So of course we are not going to eat all of those fresh so we made homemade muffins today. I've never had one with fresh blueberries and it really makes a difference. Tomorrow... Blueberry pancakes. :)

Lilli has been looking forward to Asbury Methodist's Vacation Bible School for weeks and it is finally happening this week. Every evening from 5:15-6:00 they are serving dinner and then VBS is from 6:00-8:00.  I'm so glad she is excited and getting to meet some kids her age.  We've been taking her to church since she was a few months old but she's always just sat with us during the service. So when she got old enough to go to children's church she wasn't interested. She just wanted to stay with mom and dad. I'm hoping now that she will know some kids after this week that will change. I haven't dared mention children's church or compared them at all because right now she is loving it! 

Lilli, Katie and I are spending this week in Baton Rouge. The trip was planned before the flood incident but it's nice to be able to be settled in one place for more than a couple of nights right now. The water is back on in our house and Matt is staying there but I think it would still be a difficult place to be with 2 little ones.  We've had a nice visit so far. Haven't done too much but hang around Dad's house while the cousins play and adults visit but that's just what we like to do. Katie is getting her first taste of just how crazy it can be with 15 family members around but she seems to like it too. She's been smiling for everyone. It's exhausting for her though. She went to sleep at 9:30 last night and slept till 5:30. She ate and was back asleep till 8:15 when I had to wake her to leave for Pops'. We were staying with Nana but had to be over early to help with the children while Jen and Ryan closed on their new house. I'll have more pictures...

We drove out to the lake yesterday for a relaxing afternoon. We needed it after last week. Matt has been dealing with the flood company and insurance adjuster everyday. I haven't had it as bad but it's not easy to live out of a suitcase and move to a different house every other day with 2 little ones. It was Me and Matt's first time to get in the pool this year and Katie's first time ever! Matt and Lilli stayed in for 3 hours playing and practicing everything she learned in swim lessons. Katie slept for over an hour when we first got there so I got to play some too and we put her in for a few minutes after she ate. She loved it! Looks like she'll like it just as much as her sister. 

This is Lilli's quote from yesterday after a hose burst on our refrigerator and flooded the whole house in 1/4 inch of water. We had to have a flood company come clean and our brand new floors were ripped up today. We will be at the deer camp the next 4 days while the house dries and the new floors will go in in a little over a week. We have had a string of bad luck lately it seems. From sadie's rare illness, Kathleen's weight gain and eating issues, me being sick 3 times in the last 7 weeks... Plus our dryer went out 2 days before 17 family members came in town, the floors had come off in places before this happened (they were actually going to be repaired tomorrow), and a few other random things... But we're healthy and help each other through these things, we have 2 healthy girls, a place to stay while our house is being torn up... Thank you God because we are truly blessed! :)  While Matt was dealing with the flood company... We were on a walk and Lilli was picking ...

Matt had a very productive Tuesday. The green beans in the garden at the camp were ready to be picked so he drove up there and did that. We got there about 3:00 and he was just finishing. Over the course of the rest of the afternoon and evening we had them stemmed, snapped, washed and canned. I had full intentions of helping with the whole process but having a 3 year old and infant with us made that pretty much impossible. I helped snap for about an hour and helped fill the cans. Matt did the rest so he really deserves full credit. It took 10 hours from the time he started picking but we ended up with 35 cans of beans. We also have 5 gallon bags of fresh ones to give away. We're going to be master canners by the time this summer is over. :)

Or maybe obsession. :) she carries around these roly polys everywhere! It started memorial weekend when she filled a Tupperware with them at the deer camp. 2 weeks later they were actually still alive and Matt decided if she liked them that much she should at least be able to see them. So they made a trip to petsmart for the critter tote and now she loves them even more. Her "pets" are always around. As long as they stay in the cage I guess I'm ok with it. ;)

It was a success! I really wasn't sure how today would go because it was Lilli's first time to get in a pool without someone she knows. It probably helped that I was right behind her but I think she was the only child that didn't shed a single tear. :) she loved it and can't wait for tomorrow.  And Ms. Katie Jane slept the whole time. Here's hoping tomorrow goes just as well.

We had a really good day yesterday. We got up early to go check out the farmer's market in downtown Shreveport. We didn't really need produce because of the wonderful garden at the camp but we were curious to how much it was selling for and also looking for new ideas of what to with it all. It was crazy how big and busy it was! We've been in years passed but always later in the season so have never seen all it has. Definitely worth checking out. Of course we didn't walk out empty handed. We ended up with squash bread, mayhaw jelly, pickles, honey, blueberries and tamales. All so yummy!  After breakfast at Ihop, we went home for a rest before Sophie's birthday party at Bossier Olympiad. Lilli has been asking for months to take gymnastics classes so she couldn't have had more fun. There were lots of kids and Sophie was the only one she knows well so I was glad to see her play with other kids well. I think we'll be signing up for gymnastics this week. :)

We are very blessed to have such a wonderful family. It was a big weekend for both of our girls and 17 out of town family members plus everyone that lives here was around to support them. Lilli had her first ever dance recital on Saturday and Kathleen was baptized on Sunday morning. The weekend started with Allie, Jen, Ryan and all 3 kids getting in to town Friday night. The kids all stayed up way too late but it was cute to see them snuggled up together. The next morning all 10 of us (yes, we had 5 adults and 5 kids in our house that night) just hung around and played outside. The rest of the family showed up throughout the afternoon and we visited until it was time for them to check in to the hotel and get ready for the recital.  Lillian was so cute in her dance! She pretty much just stood there but all of the girls were so funny that my face literally hurt from laughing so hard when it was over. She was backstage for over 3 hours and I heard there were a few issues were she said...