Daddy's Girls

Yesterday was 17 years and we had a nice day to celebrate. We both had a massage, came home and took a nap and then went out to a good dinner. Our original plan was for the girls to be with Yaya and Capn, but Lillian woke up with a sore throat and low grade temp and we didn’t want to potentially expose them to anything. I’m not gonna lie, I may have cried a little. It’s been four or five months since we had a night alone and, with hunting season starting, it will be 6 more before we have another chance. But it was a good day anyway. And Lilli’s text was pretty funny  Plus, it was a milestone night because we left them alone. I’ve run errands and things during the day plenty of times, but this was the first time we’d left in the evening just for fun. It will open up a whole new world! So even though it wasn’t the night we originally planned, we had a good time. And there’s no one else I’d want to spend 17 years (and many more) with. 

After a very lazy summer of (admittedly) too much screen time and not too many plans other than pool time or friends, we jumped in to the busy school year quickly. It’s been an adjustment to say the least. I’ve officially finished my first week of work and I worked 37 hour, plus homeschooled Katie, kept up the house and ran the kids around every evening. Mama is tired!  The hours should  be closer to 25 to 30 on an average week (that was a lot of playing catch-up from what the previous transaction coordinator did not get done) but now that Lillian is in softball, we don’t get home before 8:45 any night. And with school and general house stuff, it’s a schedule I have not have to have in years. But we will adjust. Kathleen’s school is going well so far, I do the “teaching” part on MWF, and TTh is study, journal, read, etc. Things she can do more or less on her own at the office. Lillian seems to like school too. She doesn’t love all of her teachers but she’s had her first quizze...

Even though next Saturday will make 12 years since my Mom has been gone, sometimes it still feels like yesterday. Today is my Mom and Dad’s anniversary and when I asked my Dad how many years it would have been, he replied with a tearful “50.” Wow, that was a gut punch and you never know when they will come! The tears don’t come very often anymore but that one got me. We should be in Baton Rouge for a huge party today. I remember Nana and Papa’s 50th so well and it was a fun weekend surrounded by the whole family. But instead, we are looking at pics from their wedding album on our phones  Dad went and flipped through it at the cemetery today and sent us pics. They were 21 years old! ❤️ Top- on their honeymoon  Bottom- about a year before she died  I still think it isn’t fair she doesn’t know our kids, but we have some great memories. She was my rock that I called everyday. I would have loved to have been able to call her after I started my new job today to tell her all abo...

I think it may have been the first time it’s happened but ALL of the cousins in 4 districts and 6 different schools had their 1st day today. Lillian officially became a middle schooler and her day went well. She didn’t love her math teacher but the others are ok. She has some friends in each class (her BEST friends aren’t though so that will be some change for her)  What a change from 6th grade!! Katie and I started her 3rd year of homeschooling. We started with Home Ec and 4-H (cleaning the house and cleaning the chicken brooder😉) and got started on some subjects before she came to work with me  Piper started 6th grade Anna is a sophomore! (How is that possible?!) Case and Lane are 1st and 3rd graders And Austin and Josey are 2nd and 5th (And I just realized between all the families, we have from 1st-7th- with Anna as the outlier 😉)  I haven’t heard too much from nieces and nephews, but I hope everyone had a great 1st day. I know it will be a great year! ❤️

It’s the last day of summer and we are spending it doing a whole lot of nothing. Katie and I got in the pool for a bit, I went through school supplies and got things organized with Lil, and the rest of the afternoon has been spent lying around watching movies while it rains. Kind of perfect for the last day before the busyness begins. We haven’t done too much since we got back from Baton Rouge either. Lilli went to a birthday pool party and we had Sadie spend the night; but other than that, we’ve been playing with chickens and getting in some family time. Of course we also had to do some beauty prep for the first day of middle school. I took Lilli to get highlights and acrylic nails  And we met all of the cousins for lunch one day too while Rach was in visiting her Mom It’s been a good summer but I know we will enjoy the normalcy of routine once we get in to the school year too. I’m excited to see what the next few months holds for us! 

We made a very quick trip to Baton Rouge just to hug the necks of the family we hadn’t seen lately before school starts. Summer seems so long but we went to the beach, Lillian worked 3 weeks, the next day we had cousin camp, and then there were only 5 days in between that and leaving for Colorado. So, even though I talk to Nana every morning, this was the first time I’d seen her in person since May and even that was only a one night trip too. One day I’m going to find time to go for several days so it’s not so rushed, but I guess this is the season of life we are in.  It was worth it to get to hug her, lizard and Jimmy (of course everyone was too but we’d seen them 😉) and also to visit Theresa who had knee surgery last week. Daniel even came and I hear that’s becoming a more regular occurrence. He’s got a real, grownup job doing marketing for a boat company.  So crazy that he’s not a kid! The other reason for the visit to be on a weekday was that Pops had been wanting the gir...

Only 9 more days until the 1st day of school. Supplies and clothes are bought, we keep checking online for Lilli’s schedule, and Back to School Night is tomorrow. Summer always seems so long at the start, but it goes so quickly. Katie has even started a little Now she did have an ulterior motive and asked if we could have an easier first week if she started now and I agreed, so she has done a lesson of math and we will probably do a few others.  We have had two friend fun days to finish it up too. Last Thursday, I took Lilli, Katie, Kaylee, Cali and Sadie to Surge and then they all came back and spent the night. We had an incredibly lazy weekend not doing much more than playing with chicks and watching movies And then today, I took the same group (minus Cali) to Splash Kingdom. Other friends were supposed to come too but it seems like there is a round of Covid going around. We still had fun with the 4 girls but I almost wish some others hadn't known yet so we’d go ahead and get it ...