We are family......

Jacob's sister and family came down to visit.  The kids had a blast as usual playing with their cousins, Jace and Justin.  I also learned that Jacob and his sister are sooooooooo much alike.  Was so funny to see.  Auntie Jen spoiled the girls completely, from a mani/pedi for Emmi to just over all fun I dont think we could have asked for a better time, I hope they come again sometime.  Here are some pictures from their visit.

The Perry's joined us for the Panthers Stadium tour.

Blackberry/Blueberries

As a mom who isnt good at playing Barbies or Polly Pockets, I hope the adventures we go on will serve as good memories.  Today I took the girls blueberry and blackberry picking.  I grew up going berry picking with my mom and Gram with fond memories.  The blueberries were picked over so as it got hotter the girls were done with it.  We stumbled upon the blackberry place it was much better.  Those bushs grow up trellis's and there were plenty to be had.  We ended up with 2 gallons of blackberries and 3.5 pounds of blueberries.  Think I may try making some jelly if we dont eat them all.

The Christmas present of the jeep has paid off.  Instead of me pushing a kid, holding the hand of another while walking the dog, think 3 ring circus all in one, the girls drive off into the sunset while Murph and I follow along.  It makes it so much easier and enjoyable by all.

Funeral/Family times

On Monday June 11th my Grammy was called to become an angel.  She had a great life which only started to slide in February when her health declined drastically.  The love and life story she lived in the 88 years she was alive and 65 years married is one that many of us can only dream of having.

We packed up and headed up to the services.  Learning Marli gets car sick but otherwise easy travels.  Once up there we were on the go with family, funeral and services.  This time we decided to take Emmi to the funeral where we were part of the services, Jacob pall bearer, E & I brought the gifts to the alter which she did amazing at.  Overall E did amazingly well with all that she experienced.

In typical Cormier fashion the humor prevailed with fun, laughs, and of course tears had by all.  The girls with cousin Will.

Marli bonding with Cousin Beau.

Pigpile on Mommy by the girlies.

Emmi hanging out with Cousin Chloe.

Then Emmi and Uncle Alan had to try to redo the picture they had done just 3 years prior.  Think they did a good job?

It was great to be able to see all my family since we dont get to see everyone on our trips up.  I truly believe that people who have died will give you signs to let you know they are still around.  There have been two incidents in the days since my Gram's death that I feel she has let me know she is still around. One being after dropping off some clothes to get altered we saw the brightest most vibrant rainbow above us going down the highway.  Then the other was on our way back to Charlotte another rainbow appeared just after I was checking out FB and looking at my Gram's photo.  She will definitely be missed but I know she will be keeping an eye on us.

Randoms

Soccer season has come to an end.  In her last game Jacob told Emmi if she scored a goal she could buy one of every Barbie at Target.  She didnt score although came super close but definitely played much better.  Thinking Jacob was on to something.

We hit the playground over the weekend.  I have really been enjoying sitting back watching the girls play so well together.  Emmi is a super awesome big sister.  Always looking out for Marli, like when Marli has a mini fit that I wont carry her as I walk away to try to get Marli to follow.  Emmi will go over to pick her up.  Or if Marli gets in trouble for not picking something up, Emmi will go pick it up for her.  Hopefully Marli comes around to reciprocate soon and doesnt take advantage.
On the potty training front we have had a few mornings of Marli waking up dry asking to go potty, but then the rest of the day completely not interested.  Will take it as it is just more baby steps towards being diaper free.

I have been trying to mentally plan our summer with afternoon adventures we can go on now that all our activities are done.  Thinking things like the library, pool, Discovery Place Kids, etc.  Today we killed time at Target while there to pick up a few things and the girls had a blast just checking out all the toys, Barbies, and dolls.  As Marli would shout, "Emmi look!!!" as she pointed to a Tinkerbell Barbie.  Neither one even asked for anything while there.  Love my girls.

Adventures & School Ramping down

Jacob has a new job and with it has come some great perks of getting tickets to concerts, basketball games, NASCAR stuff, and now a Knights game.  Emmi wore her Orioles shirt and they kept asking if we would be seeing cousin Oliver, but he is up in Bowie so not yet.

As school is nearing its end we had Emmi's first field trip to a local farm.  Here she is with her boyfriend and best friend.

Here she is pretending to drive the tractor.

I also was invited to attend a Mom's Lunch with Emmi.  This is what she had to say about me.  Quite funny.

I got spoiled this year with an ice cream maker for Mother's Day.  This was our first batch of coconut berry and chocolate chip ice cream.  So yummy.  This times out perfect as we are now eliminating dairy from Emmi's diet as she has had some recent incidents of stomach pains to the point of tears.  Going to try it for a good month or so to then add back slowly to try to learn if that is the culprit.

This night we had a mini photo shoot in the bath which was fun.  Emmi went from all serious to silly.  She is a natural.

Other random notes is Marli is starting to push and test her surroundings.  We got the phone call from her teacher last week that she had bit her friend Sawyer.  Luckily that is Griffin's little brother and the teacher knows we all spent plenty of time together so we didnt have to pick her up.  The day we went to the farm her class had an ice cream truck so they got to pick a ice cream.  Here she is enjoying it.

 Then this was another day at school.

Rocking it

Each afternoon when we have time we try to get out and about.  Emmi has been doing awesome at riding her bike.  Here she is riding along in the neighborhood.

Then we went to Beatty recently hiking in the woods to the creek.

Emmi loves to sing and dance so she entertains us while we hang out at the creek.

Marli likes to dance as well of course.

Murph had a great time chasing stick.  He did really well being off leash and staying right with us.  Even with bikers riding by on occasion since he isnt a huge fan of bikes.

Here is our self portrait.

I have taken on a diet change to try to get to the idea of fueling my body with food opposed to eating just to eat/taste something. Basically I am doing an elimination diet following the Whole 30, so no added sugar of any kind real or artificial, alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, additives like carrageenan, MSG or sulfites, white potatoes, soy, etc. 

So what do I eat?  Real food – meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds.  I have had fun since I have been seeking new recipes to cook up and love my Well Fed cookbook by Melissa Joulwan.  It definitely has helped me learn some things about my diet.  Like I definitely need some sugar as that has been my biggest struggle as the sugar from fruit is not enough with all this between being moody or shorter tolerance for things.  I have one week left before I start to introduce things back.  Right now I have no desire to add back dairy, grains, added sugar in things like salsa/spaghetti sauce, etc, legumes, limiting the additives as much as possible.  

Will post back on how things go as I learn more about this.