Daddy's Girls

We have had another successful cousin camp the last few nights. (I feel like I need to come up with a camp name!) Andrew and Brooks got here Monday because Kelly has a conference in Shreveport from Monday to Thursday this week. We talked about this back in May at Nick’s wedding and, at the time, I told her she should bring the boys and we’d do a bunch of fun stuff all week while she was busy with meetings. Well, “May Amy” was not as tired as “July Amy” so, I was still happy to have them, but not as ambitious and we didn’t leave the house too much. It was mostly pool and movies which makes any kid happy anyway.  I had to work yesterday so Raegan came for about 5 hours and she’s always a blast because she plays the whole time. Lillian and Andrew are almost too big for a babysitter, but also not quite old enough to BE the babysitter to a 6 year old so I needed some help. Lillian was happy to have her anyway because it was the first time she has babysat since before Covid. She has stop...

After 5 weeks of pretty much going non-stop, this week is exactly what I needed. The kids were at aquarium camp from 9:00-4:00 everyday and Christy did pick-up all 5 days. So that meant after 9AM I had 7 1/2 hours of no kids and I took full advantage and did a whole lot of nothing. I think I napped 3 of the days and watched a lot of junk TV. Of course I did have to work a little to get ready for a listing, and I had errands to run a few days. Plus, I tried to exercise every morning and cook every night (Matt brought home peaches and asked for a cobbler, so good!) and also had to get Katie’s curriculum organized which is a job in itself  But there was a lot of chill time in there too. I remembered what that year and a half was like that they were both in real school and I had all day to myself. I guess I went to the office more and volunteered at the school a lot but I can’t for the life of me figure out what I did with SO MUCH TIME, lol. I know one day I’ll have the days again so I...

Happy Birthday to the best Dad and husband our family could ask for. His favorite things in life are: Hunting The beach and fishing Gardening and cooking/canning what comes out of the garden And it’s all made even better since becoming a Dad and being able to share all of those things with his girls. They are definitely Daddy’s girls and will never be too big for his cuddles.  He is always so supportive of and sweet to me. I was talking to Nana this morning and she said, “I love Matt. I know he’s a man and therefore can get on your nerves at times, 😉 (when you are 92 you can say what you want! Lol), but I really don’t think there’s anything major you’d change about him.” And so I racked my brain and she’s right! Now I’m not saying he’s perfect because no one is. But I do think he’s perfect for me.  So we have spent the last few days celebrating HIM. He rolls his eyes because he’s never made a big deal about birthdays but I know it meant a lot to him that people came to celebr...

When I was growing up we had friends that we considered family that we called “the Beck side of the family.” The grandparents were Nana and Papa’s closest friends and their kids all grew up with my Mom and aunts and uncle like cousins. That’s the way we feel about Shanon and Alex. He is Matt’s closest friend and they have become my family too over the years and our kids call the boys their cousins. So almost 2 years was WAY too long to go without seeing them. Covid really messed us up and this was the first time we’d gotten to meet Lucas. He was born on March 16, 2020, at the VERY start of the pandemic. We had plans to go meet him about 10 days later but decided we would give it “a few weeks to let Covid calm down” 🙄 before we went. Well, they took quarantine as seriously as we did, so here we are 16 months later finally getting to see him.  He was shy, but so cute, and we loved getting to talk to him even if he didn’t want any of us but Katie to hold him. ❤️ We plan to see him en...

Can someone please help me with a math problem? I can’t figure out how: 4 kids + 1 adult + 2 hours in the pool = 14 beach towels used 🤪 It really blows my mind! I could almost understand if they had been in and out of the pool 3 times but it was ONE TIME! I had all towels clean and folded this morning and there were 14 in the laundry tonight. 🤦‍♀️ But I guess if that’s my only real complaint about the week, things went pretty well. 😊 Anna and Piper stayed by themselves this morning while the girls and I (and the rest of the McCormicks too) went to Blanchard to celebrate the life of Big Daddy and support Rachel, Chad, Austin and Josey. I’m sorry for the reason we were able to get a pic, but our kids sure looked cute all dressed nice together.  We got back in time for lunch and then we ALL napped. I’m not surprised I fell asleep but it takes a lot to get the teenager to want one. But we woke up and played in the foam and pool before another movie night together. We ate so much at ...

KatieJane has been so tough these last 6 months and has put up with getting 4-8 shots every week since January. She gets 4 at a time and we went at least once a week, and sometimes twice. But she has gone from 4 types of allergy meds a day to only one. And hopefully by the time she’s fully done she won’t need any. She still has to go monthly for the next 3 years but that’s nothing since she’ll have about the same number of shots spread over that time as she has so far.  So when we realized how close we were getting I told her we’d have to celebrate! I told her we could have a pool play date with some friends but once we realized Anna and Piper would also be here, we decided to make it extra special and turn it into a true summer party. We had brunch foods, decorations and a water slide with 10 kids here. We had Pops’ cinnamon rolls, sausage balls, a cheese tray, fruit and yogurt parfaits, chicken salad sandwiches, and homemade king cake. It was a ton but they ate almost all of the...

We had a wonderfully low key 4th of July surrounded by family this year. Jen and Ryan are going to a wedding in Lake Tahoe this week (Jen is actually already there for a few days of girl time. This is one of her oldest friends; the one she moved to England with after college) so Anna and Piper are spending the week with us. Ryan drove them all the way up here instead of meeting us on Sunday morning so he could also spend the 4th with us. Holman, Brandi and Chance decided to come to get to see the house and visit with everyone. They didn’t get here until 6-ish so it was very quick. We ate a huge dinner (wish I would have gotten a pic) of chicken and Boston butt on the smoker, baked beans, corn, potato salad, broccoli salad, rolls and blueberry cobbler. The kids swam all afternoon and then again after dark (they got here at 1:30 and still managed to spend 7 hours in the pool!) and we popped fireworks and watched the neighbors’ shows in the field behind us too. And then they were all gone...

Heaven gained an Angel when Rachel’s Daddy passed away on Thursday. My heart breaks for her and her whole family and I have shed many tears these last few days. I know Mr. Rex is happy but I don’t want her to have to feel the pain of the loss. She may be 40, but she is still a Daddy’s girl and I grieve as much for the pain of those still here as the loss of him. He was the sweetest man and genuinely loved life. And he loved his family even more. He always made me feel like our family was his family too and I think he truly felt that way. I like the way she and her sister put it, he had the biggest heart and it just couldn’t keep up with him anymore. ❤️  Rachel, Chad and the kids were able to go home last night for some much needed rest and family time. I’m so glad she is taking care of herself today and will be back here for her Mama and the services in a few days. Those last 2 days she was here the kids were still having a blast. They didn’t know anything was going on until they w...