Gardening

I decided this summer that I wanted to try my hand at a garden. My parents and grandparents always had one, so it seemed the thing to do. My first planting didn't succeed - nothing came up. The second go round, I planted cucumbers, bell peppers, banana peppers, tomatoes and okra. I had cucumbers running out my ears!!! Luckily I have in-laws who were happy to eat them too! The tomatoes didn't do well and neither did the okra. It didn't take long for me to lose interest in it all and give up. :)

My mom used to always order purple hull peas, green butterbeans and speckled butterbeans from Church Hill Produce every year. Since she's been gone, I've continued that tradition. Last year, I didn't order enough beans. This year I ordered WAY too much. I ordered 3 bushels of each. I had beans for days. It's such a pain in the a** to put them down too. You have to sort through them all carefully, pulling out the bad ones. Then blanch them (takes forever because you have to bring the water to a boil every time). Then let them cool and bag them. I did this the 2nd week in July. It's now the 3rd week in August and I've yet to eat any of them. I was that sick of dealing with them!! Lol. But all of us in Ville Platte and Dad should have plenty of beans for the next year!! I think this is the last year I will do it. It's just so much easier to buy them in the store. They don't taste as good, but I don't want to do all that work!!

More Softball...

Two weeks later, Alexis' team travelled to Lake Charles for the nationals tournament. We were on the road again! Friday, Abby and I rode down with Grammy and Pops. We went back to the hotel in between games. All the women sat in the hall chatting while a lot of the men napped. All the kids, including Abby ran the halls. Abby had SO much fun. She loved getting the attention from all those girls!!! We watched more games that evening, but for some reason Abby got sick all of a sudden and started throwing up. I normally handle "emergency" situations well, but when it was my own child, I panicked!! I didn't know what to do!! Lol. Thank goodness Grammy and Wendy were there to help out. We got her cleaned up and changed. She was quiet for the rest of the game, but not sick anymore....until we got in the car. We hadn't pulled out of the ballpark good when she started again. Pops took a turn on 2 wheels and we stopped in someone's driveway to clean her up again. This sweet old lady came out and gave us towels, a cold ice pack, 7up with a straw, everything. She was so sweet!! She told us how she'd beat cancer 3 times and always had things like that ready. Made me think of my momma :) Anyway, it was a long hour and a half drive home to say the least!!! I was so worried and debating whether to take her to the emergency room. She was just so pale and lethargic and pitiful looking. Shortly after we got home and she played with her daddy, she was fine and running up and down the house!! Of course Grant said it was because she just needed to see him! Haha.

Since Ab was back to her normal self, we loaded up and went back on Saturday to see them play again. They ended up coming out 3rd I think, but played some good softball.

Fourth of July

Abby's cousin Alexis ("Wexi") made the Ville Platte All Star softball team this year. They were going to a tournament in Gonzales for 4th of July weekend and we decided to go. I went over on Friday morning and had a "girl's day" with Rosanne while Abby stayed in Ville Platte. We shopped, visited and got the best pedicure ever! Later that evening, we went to eat at The Chimes and I had a wonderful steak!!! Saturday morning, Grant and Abby rode down with his parents and we watched ballgames Saturday afternoon/evening and Sunday. It was SO hot though. Luckily, all the dads from the ball team set up tents and fans so we were able to stay cooler than some. I bought a couple of handheld fans to take with us. One was the kind that you put water in and spray yourself. Abby was entertained for a long time with that one!! No matter how many times she sprayed herself in the face, she still jumped. She was so comical.

It was a nice little getaway for all of us!!

Father's Day/Veillon Family Reunion

The Veillon's hold a family reunion every other year on Father's Day Weekend at Chicot State Park here in Ville Platte. We weren't able to go last time because we had just had Abby! Grant's dad shares a cabin with his sister for the weekend. We stayed on Friday night and her side stayed on Saturday night. Some friends/family stopped by to visit and there were plenty of kids running around, including Katherine, Abby's partner in crim at the babysitter's every day. Abby had the time of her life running around the cabin. Her dress strap kept coming off her shoulder and little by little, she ended up stripping down to her diaper. It was such a hoot and everyone was cracking up. She was definitely being a ham!! She also had a wipe that she was playing with and would stick it down the front of her dress then pull it out real fast. Reminded me of old black women who keep their kleenex in their bra and pull it out! Lol.

Pictures coming here.

We came back to the house Saturday morning to rest and shower, etc. We went back for a visit Saturday afternoon and Abby had a lot more fun. We decided to give Grant his present early because I just couldn't hold it in any longer!!
First it was a big box. Inside was a small gift and another box. Inside that box was a gift and another box. Inside that box was another box. Inside that box was a George Strait CD with a ticket tucked in the back so that when he turned it over to see the song list, he'd see the ticket. I was worried he wouldn't see the ticket stuck in the back, but the little rascal knew what it was as soon as he saw the CD!!!! He loves George Strait so he was quite excited to go see him again!! We went to see him in Lafayette in 2005 and I said that night that Grant was the man I'd marry. It was also the first time he finally got up the nerve to kiss me!!!


Father's Day we just lounged around the house being lazy!!

Abby's Baptism and 2nd Birthday

With my side of the family being out of town, we decided to have Abby's baptism on her birthday and kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

While I'm not Catholic, we've decided to raise Abby in that faith and are just now getting around to getting her baptised. Catholics choose a godmother and godfather for the "baby" to care for her in the event something happens to where the parents can't raise her. We chose Grant's sister Wendy and her husband Timmy. Over here they call them Nanny and Paran (Pah-ran). Grant's immediate family were there and my dad and Papaw came down too. We weren't sure how Abby would take sitting in mass for the full hour (we usually just sit in the cry room), but she did surprisingly well. We were a little worried how she would do when Father Gene poured the water on her head, but she did fine. Kind of had a look on her face like "what are y'all doing to me?", but at least she wasn't vocal about it!! So that I could participate and watch everything that was going on, my sister in law Shea was kind enough to take pictures for me.

Guess I'll upload pictures later, as it doesn't appear to be working!!

We held Abby's birthday party right after the baptism. We had it at Grammy's house since it's much bigger. We grilled burgers and hot dogs. The theme was Dora the Explorer. She got lots of goodies for her birthday. I can't believe she is TWO years old already!!!!

I'll put more pics here later too!

Updates Forthcoming

Ok, so I've had a lot I've wanted to write about lately, but I feel like I need to go back and start where I left off in June and I just haven't taken or made the time, but I'm determined to do so in the next week!!