Cooking and Father's Day

Summer gives us time to do things we wouldn't normally do.  I made a deal with the girls that they have to cook dinner one night a week.  Truthfully, this is harder than it seems because I have to be close to teach them how to do things, but at least it's a time they get to choose what's cooked and see all the hard work that goes into preparing a meal.

Not to mention the time management lesson {which may be the hardest lesson of all!} when figuring out when to start dinner so that it's ready on time.

Olivia, especially, loves this arrangement because she looooooves to cook.  She made chocolate chip pancakes last week {she would eat these every single morning of her life!} and was so happy to do so.  

Emma likes to wait to be served - ha!

For the past two years, we've celebrated Father's Day with Eric the day after.  This gives the girls an opportunity to focus on just him.  They poured over their cookbooks and made a shopping list.

I contributed dessert {peach upside down bundt cake} ... 

They had so much fun decorating and surprising Eric when he came home from work yesterday ... 

I think he felt loved {we had all of his favorites!}.  It sounds so cliche' but we really are so blessed to have Eric lead our family.  He is a wonderful husband and Daddy!

High Five for Friday

I'm so glad it's Friday! We've had a busy {albeit FUN} week, but we're all a little tired and need a pajama day :)

Some highlights from our week ...

1.  I'm such a sucker for daisies of any sort, but even more so when they're in a cute galvanized bucket.

I went to the store looking for a simple terra cotta saucer to go under a pot that I have and saw these beautiful flowers and forgot all about what I was there for.  They make me happy :)

2.  Cross Country practice started this week, which during the summer means meeting to run every Tuesday and Thursday at 8am.  I love it because it gets us all up and out of the house and best of all running.  Emma is doing fantastic and so far, has ran every day this week.  She's got a lofty goal of running 150 miles this summer {suggested by her XC coach} and she's determined to do it.

3.  My girls are so easy to impress.

I can make the same simple breakfast and they rarely bat an eye.  But, set the table and put their juice in fancy glasses and they get crazy excited and possibly talk British :)

All about perception, I guess.

4.  We've had Vacation Bible School this week at church.  It makes for a long week, but my girls have enjoyed every night.  I thought the storms would ruin the big finale last night (a carnival outside) but the rain stopped just in time.  We shut the place down.  My girls didn't want to leave!

And, I don't know if I feel sorry for the VBS workers that teach my kids all week or just plain thankful, but I always try to give them something at the end of the week.

I think teaching VBS is hard work!

5.  When I moved to Raleigh and Eric and I got married, my closest friend was Lara, who was married to Eric's college roommate.  We hit it off immediately and became great friends.  When Eric and I moved away and she and her husband Teddy moved to Florida, I missed them SO MUCH.  We've only seen them a few times over the past 11 years when we've taken trips to Disney.  BUT, Teddy got a job transfer and as of last week, they live 20 minutes from us.  It was so fun to call her up this week and get together to swim.

She has 3 kids that my girls LOVE.  I'm so tickled they're back near us!

Happy Weekend!

A Daddy and His Girls

While taking off my makeup, Olivia appears in the doorway, watching me.  She's supposed to be in bed.  I love, love, love having my girls home all day for the summer, but the later bedtimes are throwing me for a loop.

I watch her watch me and then she starts to whisper, "I wonder if I can sweet talk Daddy into giving me a foot massage.  I've had a really hard day on my feet."

I think back to all she did during the day .... playing at the soccer field, going to a splash park with friends, Vacation Bible School .... yes, I guess it's been a rough one.

I tell her to give it a try ... ask him.

He's sitting in the kitchen eating a late night snack.  She peeks in at him and then comes back to the bathroom to say "I see him drinking coffee.  I think that means he's in a good mood and will say yes".

I have to laugh because I can't recall Eric ever turning down an opportunity to give her a foot massage.  Still, she's shy to ask and waiting for the right time.

I encourage her to go ahead and ask him and come back to tell me what he says.

A few seconds later, I see her again and she's jumping up and down and whispering "He said yes! He's coming!"

I wonder why she's whispering.  She gets settled on my bed and fixes the covers and pillows so she's completely comfortable.  Her Daddy walks in, grabs her foot to start rubbing and I see her face change to a sort-of pout.  She goes on to talk about how hard her day was and he's putty in her hands.

What a turkey.

I wonder if Eric believes her charade and then see him wink at me because he knows it's a sob story, yet he can't resist.

A daddy and his girls.

 

Eric can see them in the mornings, kiss them goodbye, spend only 8 hours away from them and yet, when he pulls in the driveway at the end of the day, they go absolutely cRaZy like they haven't seen him in months.

Moms don't get that kind of reception.  Maybe ever.

























I believe girls are created to adore their daddy.  All children are, really.  They need his direction, attention, love and acceptance.  Even though they already have all of those things, they'll try harder to earn them.  That's a life lesson in itself in relation to our Heavenly Father and all we try to do to feel worthy of the love that He already has for us.

A father's love is unique and designed by God for a specific purpose in our lives.  It's so very necessary and I love that Eric has wholeheartedly accepted the challenge and loves our girls well.

I am forever grateful for the father he is.  They'll be forever blessed.

Weekends are Sweeter in the Summertime

Weekends are so much sweeter in the Summertime.  Especially Sunday nights.  Just when the anxiety threatens to steal your joy because you think about school the next day, you remember you don't have obligations at all and the thought makes you want to shout with JOY.

Summer, the Lails love you.

We got home from vacation just in time for the girls' piano/violin recital.  Here's the thing about piano lessons .... Olivia is not a fan.  She doesn't really complain {much} about it .... it's just not her favorite thing.  Emma gets a big kick out of choosing new songs, etc., while Olivia rolls her eyes at the thought.

But, the simple truth is this:  Olivia can flat out play the piano.

She marches out on stage sans music and proceeds to play from memory without skipping a beat.  Friday night, she played 4 minutes of Fur Elise and even turned to smile and laugh at me ... all while her little fingers continued to play.

She is a hoot.

Emma played Chris Tomlin's Amazing Grace, My Chains are Gone and it was b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l.  She, then, played If I Never Knew You {from Pocahontas} on the violin, which made Eric and I want to stand and cheer.

Seriously, my girls ROCK!

Saturday, we piddled around the house while my girls went swimming at my parents'.  Eric and I {conveniently} enjoyed a quick dinner together before we picked them up.

Apparently, we're in monsoon season here in NC.  We are getting more rain and a dark house leaves us not wanting to do anything but lay around and well ... that's it.

I'm well-aware that my girls thrive on structure.  I'm happy to help them with that, but not today.  Soon enough :)

Charleston {So MUCH to See and Do!}

{This post probably should have been broken into 2 or 3, but once I got started, I couldn't stop}

Sometime after Christmas, when families start planning summer vacations, Eric and I decided we wouldn't take one this year.  We went on three major trips last year (cruise, Fripp Island and Disney) and felt like we should stay home and work on our house a little this summer.

I laugh at that now because we are a family that likes to GOOOOOO! So, sometime around the end of April, we just couldn't stand the thought of staying home all summer.  We decided maybe a few small trips wouldn't hurt :)

And, how about some place we've never been?

That's when we decided on Charleston ....

Which turned out to be only 3 1/2 hours away, which means we have to go back soon because we fell in love with it!

We stayed downtown and LOVED walking around the city, taking in all the history, shopping and sampling yummy food.

Eric is the 'foodie' in our family.  {I often say he lives to eat while I eat to live ~ Truth be known, he would be a gourmet chef in a heartbeat.}  Charleston is packed with great restaurants, so I had a goal for this trip that I would surrender and let him choose where/what we ate the whole time so he could just enjoy the experience.  As it turns out, I think I enjoyed it a tad more :)  I ate a Caprese sandwich at Cavier and Bananas that is still making my mouth water.  {I had another one two days later}.

We walked along The Battery ...

Okay, listen, I found Olivia staring {a little too long} at this statue.  Like, what's the fascination? Then, I figured it out. {awkward moment}

Here, Eric is trying to explain why the man was wearing 'a leaf' to Emma.  {An important fact:  Eric tends to make things up as he goes and Emma is getting wise to all the bull.  You don't even know, you guys.}

My goofballs ...

We picked out a house ...

Hey, look, it's for sale ...

I don't even know ....

We spent one day at the beach.  Well, on two different beaches, actually, as we were dodging the rain.

Our first stop was a beach in Isle of Palms ....

We spent some time inside Fort Moultrie until the rain passed ....

Then, headed back out on the beach in Sullivan's Island.  SOOO peaceful and nice.

Eric thought it would be cool to buy Olivia a BIG, PURPLE ball for the beach.  I think I said 12 times "No, you don't want to take that lightweight ball to the beach.  Keeping up with it will be a nightmare!"

Olivia accepted the challenge ...

 

I have 50+ pictures of them chasing that blasted ball because of the wind.

Sullivan's Island Lighhouse ...

 

 

We made it back to the hotel before the rain started and got dressed for dinner ...

The next day, we took a carriage ride around the city and shopped at the Straw Market ...

Hey, Nicholas Sparks fans, the inside of this house was Allie's house in the Notebook ...

We spent an afternoon at Patriot's Point ...

A fact about me:  I have a crazy fear of bridges.  This bridge is probably the reason I haven't visited Charleston before now.  We went across it SIX TIMES during our trip and after almost crawling in a fetal position in the floorboard the first time across, I have to say I did really well after that.  I'm a pro.  Just don't ask me to drive across it .... yet :)

We toured the USS Yorktown {used in WWII}.  This ship is 1/3 of the size used now.

Never a dull moment ...

I thought this was so interesting.  The ship's 'plan of the day' included scripture.  See it? "My lips shall not speak wickedness; nor my tongue utter deceit" Job 27:4  Pretty cool! Wonder if scripture is on the 'plan of the day' on modern ships? I probably know the answer to that ...

See what I'm talking about? Y'all don't even know.

I mainly took this picture for my father-in-law, who retired from a major bakery operation in town.  His recipes sound like this :)  Johnny, check out this recipe for chocolate chip cookies! That's what it takes for 3,500 men :)

 

We also toured a submarine.  Well, Eric and the girls did.  I went down the stairs and right back up.  I don't even want to talk about how that's messing with my mind right now considering what my brother will be doing.

Tropical Storm Andrea threatened to ruin our trip the entire time, but amazingly, we seemed to dodge the heavy rains every time we planned an activity.  When the above cloud came over, we headed to the movies. It was over when the movie let out.

We had THE BEST TIME! Can't wait to go back!