Long Time..No Post

O.K. this is going to be a long one..so make sure you have gone to the bathroom, and get you something to drink & something to munch on if you get hungry! Ha! Ha! No seriously..you think I'm kiddin'?

Let's see here..once upon a time..like Memorial Day, May 28th..My Dad & his wife, Denise came to visit us from Oregon..for those of you that are already confused..well..God gave me two Dad's..that's all I am gonna say about that! He bought & installed a new sink, faucet & garbage disposal for me..he replaced some parts on all the toilets that needed replacing..he put fresh sand in Izabelle's sandbox..and put the old sand under my 10-12 ft. deck and started laying the stepping stones that I have had in my garage for..oh..before I was pregnant with Mattie. Can you tell he gets board easily?! Anyhoo..we rented a really cool pontoon with a bathroom, grill & slide..F-U-N...Trae had exams so we drove Rich back to the dock around 10:30am..so he could go pick up Trae at 11:11am from the High School..then they called us and we came back to pick them back up. What a beautiful day it was..

Here is Izabelle..she caught her first fish..all by herself!

She even baits her own hook..with worms! I gotta hand it to her..I will never do that!

Mattie would not go to sleep for any of us..so Trae tried..and..out she went..he usually can put her to sleep when no one else can.

Me & Denise

Me, Izabelle & Papa John

Izabelle pretending that she caught herself!

Bobbin' for bobbers! Denise kept snagging her line on something..so Dad would jump in and un-snag it for her..she says..you know that it is true love when a man will jump in after your bobber! He rescued her bobber 3 times!

Trae, Izabelle & Denise..just hanging out..ugh..Trae always has his eyes shut in photos..so..this is what ya get..Trae with his eyes shut!

Izabelle put her mini boogie board in the lake and layed Barbie on it..then Izabelle went down the slide and was going to get her Barbie and bring it back to the boat..well..change of plans..a fish must have brushed her leg..so she starts screaming " A GIANT CATFIFH!!!" "A GIANT CATFISH!!"..she starts hyperventilating..and she leaves Barbie behind..so when she gets back on the boat..she informs us that we need to get Barbie..we had already anchored and started cooking..so we just left her at sea/lake..well the further Barbie & the boogie board got the more Izabelle pouted..& my Dad thought for sure that he was going to be billed for the counseling sessions she was going to need..Ha!..so we pulled anchor and began the Barbie Search & Rescue..(see photo)

Mattie's first time on a boat..doesn't she look cute in her life jacket!?

Izabelle & Papa John..ready to go down the slide..yes..my Dad is on his belly! Poor Dad & Denise..by the end of the visit with us..Izabelle had completely worn them out..that's my girl! Ha!

Denise & Mattie..post boat. Her very first bathing suit..from A.C.T.G.F.

Oh...this was taken on the 27th..we went to H.H. park with some of the family and had a picnic..Izabelle played in the water while we were there..she said she was "clam digging"..she brought back these shells..like a mini clam..not sure what they were? Here she is cleaning them.

The other day I was browsing around Danielle Bean's blog and she had a link on there:

Hillbilly Housewife..anyhoo..she talks about feeding a family of 4/5 for $45.00 a week! Well..I thought hmmm? maybe I am doing something wrong..so I took a peek at her menu..I Don't Think So!!! They drink powered milk..we drink organic milk..they eat hot dogs that cost .89..we eat hot dogs that cost $5.00..they buy 3 lbs. of butter for like a dollar something..our organic butter for a little tub is 3 something..now I know why our bill is so much higher..so after I was done amusing myself with all of this...I decided that I would try to be better about buying food that we need..not just because I think that I might fix it..I had my picky eaters sit down and create a list of dinner items that they would eat..this was Izabelle's list:

Pizza & Fries

Doughnuts

Hot Dogs & Fries

Apples

Chicken & Rice

Vienna Sausage..that I refuse to buy..it makes me gag!

Carne Asada

Kids Cuisine

Cheesesticks

Fish Sticks

Spaghetti & Meatballs

Ovaltine

Ramen Noodles

Chex Mix

Peeps

A1 Sauce

Trae's list:

Pizza, Chicken & Rice, Saulsberry Steak, Roast Beef, Eggs on Toast, Ham & Cheese rolls, Hot Dogs, Chicken Fingers, Mac-n-Cheese, Hamburger Helper, Corned Beef, Waffles, Pancakes, Blueberry Muffins, Vienna Sausage, Taco Ring, Beef Nachos with cheese, Cheese Sticks, Banquet meals, corn, mashed potatoes, peas, ramen noodles, Fish Sticks & Corn Dogs.

O.K. I can work with Trae's..but Izabelle is the reason I hate to cook..I can't work with that! So usually I eat a Lean Cuisine & they eat whatever they cook in the microwave.