Daddy's Girls

The boys went on a guided fishing trip on Lake Ouachita this morning. They were up and out the door at 5 am while us girls slept in. I think they would all agree that getting up was worth it.  Can't wait for dinner! 

Hailey and Case dropped by for a little bit this afternoon and Lilli got to hold her cousin for the first time.  This group is going to be trouble! And I can't get over how quickly they grow. Katie is only 9 weeks older but she seems so big compared to Case. Gotta remember to really enjoy these baby days! 

I'm 4 days late on this post because I didn't take any pictures over the weekend but I'm going to steal one from Yaya's blog. We had a great weekend celebrating Matt's 32nd birthday. Friday night we had our first babysitter since Katie has been born and went out for a delicious dinner of crab claws, filet, au gratin potatoes (and martinis ;) ) at Texas St. Steakhouse. It was so nice to have an evening out and the girls did great with their sitter. Saturday was his actual birthday and we drove to the lake to spend the day by the pool with Cap'n, Yaya, Chad, Rachel and Austin. We had so much fun laughing with the family and it was the perfect way to spend the day. Happy Birthday to the best husband and dad your girls could ask for! 

My cousin Nic just moved in to a really cool house on 3 acres right on Highland Rd.  The (big and little) kids had so much fun playing in his yard and with his drums.  The next night Jimmy, Lizard, GranJan and Kelly took Daniel, Lilli and Andrew bowling. It was her first time and they had "so much fun,"

Here are a few pictures from what we have been up to. Matt came down with us this past weekend but left Sunday to go back to work. Me and the girls stayed to get in a visit with my cousins and aunt that are also visiting from Austin. The kids live getting together and we love our time too. 

The garden has been producing tomatoes lately! Almost more than we know what to do with. We've eaten tons and given a bunch away so I decided to start cooking with them. First I made the most obvious, salsa. Just tomatoes, onion, cilantro, salt and jalapeño and you've got a dip everyone loves.  I should have just made a bunch of this and canned it because my next project was a waste of time. I decided to do some homemade spaghetti sauce. Now, it turned out to be an absolutely delicious sauce but not worth the time put in when the other two in my house could take or leave spaghetti to begin with.  First, you peel the tomatoes. To do this you have to boil them for 30 seconds In batches of 5 or 6. this was the most time consuming prep time. Once they were peeled I chopped them up using the food processor.  Next, you sauté onion, basil and garlic in olive oil before adding the tomatoes Then, simmer for about 4 hours Well, this is what all of the recipes I found say to do when...

I'm not sure why but every picture I have taken of Lilli recently she has made this face.  She is going to regret this when I go to make a slideshow for her wedding or something. These pictures also show what we've been up to so far this week. Lilli has dance camp every morning and she is loving tap. And today we took Katie to her first movie, Epic. You can she is very in to it. :) 

Shanon and Alex came in on Wednesday for the 4th of July, to meet Katie and Case and hang out with the rest of us. Don't tell Lilli that though because as far as she is concerned it is just to see her. I'm sure he is sore and exhausted after 4 days of almost constant playing with her. She absolutely loves him and thinks he's the most fun person in the world. I think the feeling may be mutual. He got in some good cuddles with Katie too and she's going to be right there with her sister soon. He may decide a weekend is a long enough visit once there are 2 of them wanting to wrestle. ;)

It's our tradition to spend the 4th of July at Yaya and Capn's lake house.  I think in the 10 years Matt and I have been together we've only missed one.  This year we had a relaxing day sitting by the pool, fishing, and of course eating.  Couldn't have asked for a better day surrounded by family and friends.

Case was born today at 2:50 p.m. He weighs 8 lb. and measures 20 inches long and is absolutely perfect. Mom and baby are doing great and Dad is a natural already. Matt waited at the hospital all day  and Lilli, Katie and I got there about 15 minutes before he was born. Perfect timing. We were so excited we got to meet him right away. Lilli was very impatient today waiting to hear he had "hatched." But well worth the wait!