LIFE AS A LANKFORD: Week in Review ~ 12/18

Snow, snow, and more snow was the story of the week! We started out with a surprise snow Monday morning, slowing down our drive to school quite a bit. I left home with snow on the roads and yards covered but got to the babysitter's and didn't find much. Shortly after school started we were covered there as well though. We kept waiting to be sent home, but we stayed all day. Even though most of it was gone by the afternoon, our staff dinner was canceled for the night. I was disappointed about missing a good dinner and a chance to run some errands alone, but I was excited to be able to pick up Avery and get home at the regular time.

We had our Christmas program at school Tuesday night. Ned picked up Avery while I ran my errands and had dinner at my parents'. It's nice to have them a minute from school when I live over 30 minutes away. Leaving the house at 6:45 am and getting home at 8:30 pm can make for a long day though.

Wednesday was a regular day with lots of talk about snow in the forecast. Lolli picked up Avery because she got out of school early, so I visited there before coming home. I brought nothing for school home with me because I was expecting an early release on Thursday if we got that. The forecast was for 2-5 inches but it showed it starting mid-morning.

Ned got up to go hunting Thursday morning, and I couldn't go back to sleep because I wondered if the phone would ring. Finally it did, telling me that Avery and I would have snow day at home. Not much had happened when Ned got home around 8, but shortly after our yard and road were covered. I was so glad to be home and not having to worry about how I could get Avery from the babysitter's and get home safely. Road conditions were not good. My dad left work at lunchtime, and his usual 40 minute trip to almost 3 hours, with 1.5 of that sitting at a standstill. My in-laws planned to leave early to go to Blacksburg to see Rob graduate but waited a few hours in the hopes roads would get cleared. They had a long trip as well. I was unprepared for the snow in terms of food. I like to have lots of snacks during inclement weather, and I was lacking except for Pepsi and peppermint bark. This resulted in a delicious pizza dinner though. I'm sure you've gathered by now that we enjoy a good pizza. Things still looked bad on the roads, and I kept waiting for the phone to ring to say that we at least had a delay. They finally called around 10 pm to say that school was canceled.

Avery woke up at her normal time on Friday then got silent and I fell back to sleep. Almost an hour later I jumped out of bed in a panic because she was quiet. Silly girl had found a pie-pie tucked away from the nap that never happened Thursday and was hanging out in her crib. We set off after her nap to pick up my bonus check at the high school. It's a pretty good drive that fell right at lunchtime, but I didn't know if the check would be mailed over the holiday. I figured a late lunch and nap would be ok since she had a long morning nap. We had a repeat of Thursday though with no afternoon nap. I rescued her from the crib and received lots of hugs and back pats. We headed to Food Lion to get dinner and a few extras. Avery went to bed a little early but had done well both days with no afternoon nap. That's a little scary to me. Once she was asleep, Ned and I watched Christmas Vacation on DVD, one of our favorite holiday classics.

I shopped with my mom on Saturday. I didn't have much Christmas shopping to finish, but the deals were too good to pass up. Everything at Gymboree was 50% off and 40% at Ann Taylor Loft. If this is tradition for the weekend before Christmas it will also become tradition for me! Avery also needed a new pair of shoes to wear to Jennifer's. She got a whopping 3 months out of the pair she outgrew! I see frequent trips to the outlet at this rate. I grocery shopped among the chaos before returning home. Ned and Avery had a good day but another day with no afternoon nap. Morning naps were hit or miss for awhile but had returned pretty consistently. I had really hoped to at least have a morning rest through Christmas, but something has to change so she's sleeping in the afternoon. I put away the piles of groceries, and then we decided that Mexican sounded better than anything I could fix. Ned turned Avery's seat around in his truck so that she could see some Christmas lights after dinner. We did a little drive but had to get home and finish drying Giraffi so that she and Avery could get to bed early.

This week is Christmas week! Tomorrow I'm keeping the nursery at church if it isn't canceled because of snow expected tonight. Then we have our first Christmas dinner at Lolli and Poppa's tomorrow night. Avery has her Christmas party at Jennifer's Tuesday then Friday and Saturday will be the big days. Somewhere in all this we're hoping to get an e-mail with the first drawing of our house. I'm more excited about Christmas than I've been in a long time, and I'm always excited about Christmas! I just know I'm going to turn around and find it all over, so I'm trying to soak up every minute of it now.

Here are a few pictures from the end of the week. Avery looks so grown here...