Soup Nite

The house was bursting from the seams, filled to the brim with laughter, food, and family. It was the very first soup nite at our house. A long standing tradition in the Herrington family to get together once a week and make soup from leftovers. Normally it is a smaller crowd but every now and again they ditch the leftovers and sometimes the soup and fill up someone’s home with everyone who can make it. My favorite times are when I look around and am surrounded by the people I love, by my family. I want so much for Aliya and Kaden to grow up with cousins and family all around them, never feeling alone. Logan was born a week after Aliya and I have been waiting since then to meet the blue eyed beauty, he was amazing and we are so glad to have finally meet him. Rob and I wanted to do something a little different and fun so we made up a quiz about everyone who attended. First prize, a can of soup, went to Aunt Teri!
Receipe for white chicken chili-
4 chicken breast, broiled and shredded (I used a whole rotisserie chicken)
2 can great northern beans (not drained)(I used 3 for a bigger batch)
1 8oz bag shredded cheese
1 16 oz jar salsa (I used 24 oz for bigger batch)
All in crock pot 2 hours on high, stir and serve

Questions from soup nite with answers-
Which Grammy got caught being sew naughty in pictures? Aunt Dani
Who lives in her own state? Shannon Cleveland
Who loves a dollar on their ears? Rob
Who is the lizard catcher? Amber
Who holds a baby like nobodies business? Uncle Toshi
This guy can Hahndle any car problem Lawerence
Who keeps us cool and warm? Darwin
Ques es muy bonita y artista? Caqrolina
Who took all the blame for her little sister? Aunt Anita
Who looks like Homer Simpson, Ben Franklin and Alphalpha? Kaden
Who CAN we always count on? Stevie
Who went from working for the man to being a Man- ager? Brent
Which pico de guy-o makes great salsa? Kurt
Which girl likes to dance with men? Amanda
Who is starting kindergarten? Skye
Whose name sounds like a department store? Lauren Taylor
Who is a future Tampa Bay storm player? JoJo
Who has the brightest blue eyes and has a new sister and brother? Logan
Western anyone…? Wayne
Who eats monkey cheese? Aliya
Who is walking for the tatas? Brenda
Who is the animal whisperer? Stacy
Who had a naughty tick? Aunt Teri
Who loves the richest plumbers alive? tyler
Who pulled a shotgun on a plastic gator? Uncle Pinky
Who loves a motorcycle in 3rd gear? Aunt Timi
Who went naval hunting? Nick
Who went to Jr. high with his sweetheart but never met her there? Jason
Who rescues pets from their cages at pet stores? Jake
Who is baking a yummy bun? Jenny
The snake handeler James
Who is the pickiest eater? Sydney
Orange you glad this guy can help with your home improvement needs? Frank
Who came home from school with pigtails? Ryan
Whose on tap? Zahra
Who is the newest Herrington sister? Sarah
Who can work magic with a banana and whipped cream? Kelly
Who is disappearing before our eyes? Uncle Gary
Whose nickname is peanut? Tracy
-ie for girls, -y for boys! Sammie

Our Team

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Aliya and Kaden Boogie

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chippen dales part 2

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My girl

Sometimes she says "stop mommy" but her 't' is lost so it comes out "sop mommy, sop!" when I kiss her too much, she point her little finger and wrinkles her nose in all seriousness and I fall in love with her and kiss her even more. Its beyond my control, I just want to eat her up, her little nose and lips and cheeks and eyes and ears and hair and tooshi and arms and belly and legs and feet and every little bit of her. She is so yummy. Sometimes she starts to giggle at me devouring her and other times I get more stern looks and "sops" either way its worth it to see her expressions and personality. She is just bursting with it, it pours out of her and she can't hold it back. It comes out in bunches and gets her into a lot of trouble. I want to rein it in occasionally but like Rob says we don't want to break her spirit, and boy is she full of spirit. She has this fire burning in her that gives her the personality, confidence, and attitude that will take her so far in life. I love her, my spirited way.

Beach

I have never in my life had a beach trip like this. We played to our hearts’ content in the ocean waves, in the soft sand and in the pool. When we were all tuckered out we headed up to our haven in the sky, the penthouse condo and believe it or not, it was all of 10:30 in the morning. With early risers for kids we got an early start and got to beat the angry afternoon sun and swarms of people. Rob and I have both been going to Daytona Beach since we were kids. The water was always a navy blue and kind of murky but not this particular weekend. It was clear, I mean Caribbean clear! I could see my toes even when I was chest deep in the water and it was the perfect temperature, warm enough to tolerate but cool enough to be refreshing in the hot sticky Florida summer. Aliya was not the beach girl I expected. I thought she’d love the ocean and run away from the waves while getting her toes wet, giggling the whole time but she wanted nothing to do with the ocean or its never-ending waves. She hated every moment we tortured her by having her get in. She could’ve stayed playing in the sand forever though. She dug it, threw it, piled it and did pretty much anything you can with sand. Kaden was at home in the warm breeze, he instantly fell asleep when we went outside. We cuddled him up in a basket filled with fluffy beach towels. On Sunday we managed to get him into the ocean, he could’ve lived without it but it did wonders for his skin.
Rob and I watched the moon rise over the Atlantic, taking in the sweat salty air. It was a magical trip to take the kids to the beach and smell the salt in the nape of their necks. We met a little girl, GiGi, about 9 at the beach with her dad and brother, she was obviously in chemo as her hairless head reflected the light of the sun, taking one last trip to the beach before school started. How lovely to spend quality time with your kids at the beach, for us and for GiGi’s dad.

fly-fly

In her science camp Ali received a cute little caterpillar in a small tub, you know the kind they give you ketchup in at restaurants. The caterpillar had a hunk of food in his plastic home. The only instructions we were given is keep it in a cool place and when he becomes a butterfly wait a few hours to let him free so his wings can dry. Uhh... that's a lot of responsibility for a 2 year old or her mom. Our little caterpillar started to eat his hunk of food and within a few days he was a big fat monstrous caterpillar. He climbed onto the lid of his cage and one segment at a time started to let go of the lid until he was hanging upside down like a vampire by just the tip of his tail. Fast forward 24 hours and he was completely cocooned or in butterfly terms he had formed a chrysalis. So there was fly fly hanging in his chrysalis and every few hours I would check on him but as the days past and life gets busy I forgot to check every few hours and my checking had dwindled down to once a day. The next thing you know there is a butterfly in this little tub! How long had he been there? Is he still alive? No one is home but me and Kaden, should I let him go? Should I wait for Ali and Rob? I decided to wait because Ali had seen this thing through from the beginning and I didn't want her to miss fly flys release. When they got home we let him go and sure enough he was just fine. It took him a while to stretch his wings and learn to fly but he did and it was the neatest thing. If you have never had a caterpillar and waited for it to become a butterfly you have to do it! Amazing and what a learning experience.

JK

We got all dresses up and went to Khane. Isn't the little princess such a doll in her panjabi suit? Its too tight now, we almost had to cut her out of it so it will be the last time we see her wear it. That makes me so very sad, seeing her grow into and out of clothes. Seeing them everyday you miss the subtle changes but nothing is more glaringly obvious that they have grown then an outfit no longer fitting. There is only so many times you can convince yourself that it shrunk in the dryer and you have to finally face the truth that they are just growing. Kaden is out of newborn and almost out of 3 month clothes, his toes get curled in the onesies little footies. Its a sad reality.

daddy and alibear

They share a bond like none I have ever seen. Always by each others side, playing, laughing and being silly. If I had to choose a word or two to describe their relationship I'd say 'soul mates'. They are so internally bonded that there is no separating them.They say girls choose a man that reminds them of their father, I feel bad for her future suitors... they'll have a lot to live up to.