Daddy's Girls

Lilli bought herself a new bike last week!  She started getting an allowance at the beginning of the summer and also has chores she is responsible for.  She clears her plates from the table, puts her clothes in the dirty clothes baskets, cleans up toys, makes her bed and gets all of the toys/shoes out of the car when we get home.  She saved for 6 weeks and had 75% of what she needed so we covered the rest. She hadn't even asked for new toys in those weeks because she knew I would tell her to spend her allowance.  I thought that was pretty good for a 4 year old! I'm proud she's learning a little about money.  The best part for me is she can ride this one fast enough to ride while I run. No more pushing the double stroller! :) 

Shanon came in town over the weekend and it was the first time we've seen him since we went to Houston in the beginning of February.  That's definitely the longest Lilli has ever gone without seeinghim and she had really missed him.  It's  easy to see why.  He will do this for hours (literally) And once they are worn out, lots of this It was really nice to hang out and catch up.  We rode around the property Saturday morning and it wore Katie Jane out That afternoon we rode around the new farm to let Shanon check it out and then came back and did some fishing.  Lilli caught her first bass all by herself!  We're ready for hunting season to start so we get to hang out more. 

Matt and I celebrated his birthday this weekend with a "staycation" at Sam's Town Casino.  We spent 2 nights while Pops and Nana stayed at our house with the girls.  We got there Friday evening and spent a little time hanging out at the bar before our reservations at the steakhouse.  Saturday we went to the farmers market, lunch at the Blind Tiger, some time relaxing by the pool (but only getting in the hot tub- when has it ever been too cold to swim in mid July?) and did a little bit of gambling that night.  It was so nice to get away alone and we really enjoyed it but were ready to see our girls today.  We woke up today and picked up the rest of the family to spend the day at the lake with Yaya and Cap'n.  It was a little warmer but Lilli was the only one that got in the pool. Cap'n also took us on a nice boat ride.  Matt had a great day and we enjoyed being able to celebrate with him. 

My aunt, Theresa, started a food pantry through her church 2 years ago and today they are celebrating the anniversary. She felt called to do this and took the initiative to get the grants and everything else needed to get it going.  She, Jimmy, my Dad and Nana are all heavily involved and almost every member of my family has spent some time volunteering there (including the kids). I know they don't do it for the recognition and my Dad will say he gets out more than he puts in but I had to brag on them a little today.  Congrats on the success and I know the community appreciates all of your efforts. 

Sunday was Lizard's actual birthday so of course the festivities didn't stop.  We started at Dad's house with brunch for both her and Luke (he turned 19 on Monday).  After brunch, all the guys went to the Londoner to watch the World Cup finals.  After Germany's victory (which I didn't even realize was happening that day but a lot of my family was really excited about :) we all went to Jimmy and Theresa's friends' house to swim.  They were out of town but were so nice to offer to let us use it.  Not sure if they realized what they were offering though.  All 23 of us swam and had a great time.  I was originally going to go home after brunch on Sunday but was so glad I decided to stay. And Lilli swam the whole time with no floaties.  Even jumping in and swimming to the side. I didn't even know she could do that! 

Lizard's favorite city is New Orleans so we couldn't think of anything better for her birthday than spending the day down there.  We all kind of did our own thing in small groups the first half go the day. We started by getting beignets at a place close to Jackson Brewery. There was a man playing a keyboard there that we were seated right next to. He played Happy Birthday for Lizard and the whole place sang.  Lilli requested Twinkle Twinkle Little Star so he proceeded to play lots of kids songs for her, with a "New Orleans twist" of course.  From there, some of us decided to walk around the Quarter while me, Allie, GranJan, Peggy and Lizard took all 6 kids to the aquarium.  It was more crowded than I have ever seen it but we all still had a good time.  I promised Lilli I'd take her back this fall on a school day so she could take her time.  We met up with the rest of the family at Superior Seafood on St. Charles after that.  We had the patio to ourselv...

My aunt, Lizard, turned 60 yesterday and almost the whole family surprised her for it.  We had a whole weekend of celebrating starting with the surprise dinner at George's Southside Grill on Friday night. She knew Janice and Roy were coming in town but she didn't know that all but 6 members of the family were making the trip to be down there too.  There were 23 of us waiting for her to show up at the restaurant.  We all hid in the corner of the patio so that she wouldn't see us until she walked in.  Safe to say she was very surprised!  We all had delicious dinners and then Dad's pound cake for dessert.  She was very touched that we all may the effort to be there. She always loves to make a big deal of her birthday and said this was the best one yet. 

Look who is student of the month at her karate class! She's only been doing this for a couple of months and there are probably 15 kids in her class so I was really impressed. Ok, ok, I may be a little biased. ;) But the best part was today Daddy had to come check out his little star.  It was the first time he'd been home early enough to come watch so she was thrilled when he surprised her. 

We spent the weekend celebrating the 4th of July at Rio Bonito.  It was so relaxing to lay by the pool and visit with family and friends.  Allie came in for the weekend and it was the most time she and I have gotten to spend one on one together in years.  Lilli is always so happy to have Lala with her too!  Chad, Rachel and Austin were there Friday so Lilli and Austin spent all day playing. They are really sweet together and have so much fun. On Saturday Cassie, Dillon, Lily and Luke came out to hang out for the day.  We spent the afternoon in the pool Fishing And Cap'n took us for a really nice boat ride.  We love getting to hang out with them but it seems our schedules don't allow it very often.  And Dillon is leaving for a 6 month deployment in a few days so we won't have another chance for a while.  It's because of our military that we are able to celebrate our independence.  We know it is not an easy sacrifice for you and your family to ...

Me, Matt, Lilli, Katie, Cap'n and Josh all spent last Sunday morning digging potatoes and working in the garden in Canfield.  I've never dug potatoes before but I guarantee this was not the way my grandma did it.  Matt ran the tractor down the row and we pretty much just had to pick them up.  There were a lot of them but it was a lot of fun. And this is what happens when you let a 14 month old play on the tractor that has a bucket full of potatoes.... You get to pick them up twice! :) There were green beans that needed to be picked too Plus lots of other veggies.  What do we do with them all?  We give lots away, eat them almost every night in as many ways as possible Fried eggplant and squash and zucchini "strings" were delish!  Plus I've been busy putting away.  One bucket of potatoes was peeled, blanched and frozen I've got pickled banana peppers and cucumbers And almost always have fresh salsa.  No picture but Hailey also gave me a recipe for e...