Our "Pool" Vacation

We had a pretty successful trip to the beach yesterday.  We left home around 9:15 and went to meet Lolli and Poppa at their house.  Avery stretched her legs there, and then we were off again.  We take a good amount of stuff, so Ned and I both drive, and Avery was with me for the ride.  Snacks, a new book, and her Mickey CD cover worked for awhile, but then Mickey hit the floor.  Off and on fussing began until I was able to stop at a detour.  Then, the CD paper wouldn't fold right and that made her mad also.  The last 45 minutes were one big request for the grilled cheese I promised her for lunch.  I was a happy Mama to see Sonic.  We arrived there about 12:15, so for that long in the car without me being able to turn around, pick up things, etc., she did well.  We had a good lunch in the breeze.  I took sweet pictures of her in her beach wagon shirt eating at the big table, but I didn't have my memory card in the camera.  I now have it set so that it won't take pictures without it.

It was past nap time by this point, but we had 20 or 30 minutes to go.  Avery asked for her pie pie and sound no less than 1,000 times.  We got her settled for a nap around 2 or so, and I was prepared for her not to take one.  She was so tired and upset that I sat by her Pack-n-Play until she fell alseep.  I her up about 4 and we all enjoyed some time on the deck.  After dinner we all walked to put our toes in the ocean water, which Avery calls the pool.  Avery enjoyed the beach but wanted to be picked up when the water came.  I think it was more of a game since it was a lot like swinging.  We went back for bedtime, which involved some tears.  Once she was quiet in her room, Ned and I went to the grocery store.  I think that place is crazy no matter when you go.  We saw our friends and landlords, Jim and Michelle amidst all the chaos.  It's not uncommon to see many people we know while here.

Avery woke up a little before 7 Monday morning, and Ned got up with her.  We made our way to the beach a little before 10.  We decided to try Avery without the jogger which worked well, but it leaves someone without the ability to carry anything but Avery across the road.  Ned was left with our beach cart full of stuff and our very large tent.  Avery was ready to go as soon as her feet hit the sand and walked with Lolli while Ned and I sat up the biggest tent ever.  Avery enjoyed putting her toes in the water, finding shells, watching planes and pelicans, playing in the sand near the water, and having a snack in the beach chair.  She was happy as could be, and I can only hope it continues all week.  We came in for lunch, and I stayed with Avery while she napped.  It took her awhile to fall alseep, and a few times I thought I heard her awake.  I managed a quick nap, so I hope she got some good rest.  We didn't go back to the beach, because we were going out to eat.  Ned came in from the beach so that I could enjoy my outside shower.

We ate dinner at one of our favorites, The Lone Cedar.  Avery did great at dinner and only asked for her pizza every 3 minutes.  To hold her off, we had bread, crackers, and crayons.  Nothing new is pulled out until we are sure that the last item is no longer fun or tasty.  Much like her mama, Avery enjoys some good people watching, although Avery waves and I do not.  She ate a good dinner and did not need to be "out" until just before we were ready to go.  Poppa sat with Avery in the middle on the way home, and they "achooed" a lot.  They also had a fun game of pee pie, except Avery keeps calling it pee pee.  She tried to play with me, but I got a little confused and told her that Mama couldn't pee pee while driving!  We were back at bedtime, but I think it should have been an early bedtime night.  Avery said she was ready to get in her bed, but we still had a few minutes of tears.  This happens sometimes at home, so we stick to our cry-it-out plan and know that it will pass soon.  Ned is doing some surf fishing and we are watching The Bachelorette.  I'm not too interested this season, so I had some time on the deck listening to the ocean before I started watching.

We're off to a great start!

Closet Wars

It's battle time in the life of the Lankfords, and this is one battle that I will not lose.  Way back in December when Ned and I were meeting with our architect, we made some minor changes.  Our architect was quick to point out how plans in books aren't always possible the way their drawn and aren't always accurate.

One example was our closets.  The planned showed that we would each have a walk-in closet, with mine being a little bigger than Ned's.  We quickly learned, though, that Ned's would not actually be a walk-in and would have some wasted space.  So, the architect took the extra space from Ned's and gave it to mine, creating a standard size closet for Ned.

We agreed upon this deal when I turned over part of this closet to Ned.

Our original plans called for a small closet in the living room with a linen closet backing up to it.  We were told that these two closets would be pretty useless, so we combined them together to make a larger closet in the living room.  I envisioned all my Santas and Christmas decorations being stored here.  Ned needed a spot for his gun safe, so I relinquished some space.  Things were going according to plan, until our closets were framed.  This is Ned's closet - standard size and perfectly acceptable for a man.  For those of you wondering why it matters to him, he truly has more clothes than I do.

This is my closet - big and perfectly acceptable for me.

This is Ned trying to pout.

He quickly tried to renegotiate the terms of our deal, suggesting we share my closet and use his as a linen closet.  The jury is still out, but right now the big closet still has my name on it, and we won't be playing rock, paper, scissors to see who walks away with it.

Week in Review ~ 7/9

What a great week!  On Sunday morning we went to Sunday School and stayed for preaching since it was my turn to keep the nursery.  It is SO hard to get out of church on Sunday, and I always have lunch and nap on my mind.  We made it home and got both of those things accomplished.  Mimi called just as I was about to make The Pioneer Woman's enchiladas and asked if we wanted to come for dinner.  Rob was home again so we all had dinner together.

You can read about our fun 4th of July Monday here.  Since Avery spent the night at Lolli and Poppa's, I enjoyed a quiet morning on Tuesday.  I did pull out some of Avery's clothes to pack.  I had a hair appointment that afternoon and stopped at Farm Fresh to pick up a few things while I was in town.  I picked Avery up when I was done.  She got a good report, but she had woken up crying after a short nap, which is unlike her.  She was fine at home, and we made these chicken packets for dinner.

Avery and I got out for a few errands Wednesday morning.  We stopped at CVS to pick up pictures I had printed along with Avery's birthday invitations that I printed.  The entire length of the counter at CVS is one big candy display, and I always feel like Avery touches every piece before we get out of there.  We also stopped at the post office for stamps for the invitations.  Avery took forever to fall asleep for her nap, which worried me with the nap issues the day before.  Ned got off at 12 but was later getting home because he got a hair cut, set-up our power for the new house, and did a few other things.  When Avery got up we took my car to the dealership for service.  I am having a terrible time with the air pressure in my rear tires.  I was hoping it was just the sensors, but sometimes they do need air.  They seemed to think it was because air was put in the last time when the tires were cold.  I just do not want another flat.  While that was being worked on, I took Ned and Avery home and went to Walmart to pick up some things for her party and some treats for vacation.  It started raining and storming when we picked the car back up, and Avery is obsessed with rain and thunder.  That provided good entertainment before dinner.  Ned cooked ribs, and things were going well until a gnat landed Avery's nose.  Apparently she loves bees but not gnats.  Mimi came to stay after Avery went to bed so that we could go to the house.  Once we got home, I worked on addressing Avery's invitations.

On Thursday morning we mailed the invitations and stopped to see Mimi and Ned at work.  Avery enjoys exploring there and playing with Mimi, so I hung out on the couch with Dixie.  Ned has taking him to work, and he is getting more rotten by the day.  Ned had a business meeting for drill, and they always eat dinner for that.  Avery and I ate fish, and I tried a great recipe for Williamsburg rice.  We took a quick trip to the house, and Avery had a highly anticipated bowl of ice cream when we got home.

Avery and I set off for Walmart early Friday morning to get that out of the way.  Avery took a good nap and I worked on laundry.  Ned requested BLTs for dinner, which I liked because they were quick and easy.  Avery has been so good this week, and we haven't had any tears before lunch or dinner.  The tears would end when the food arrives, but it's great when she can just get by without them.  We went to the house again after dinner.  Once Avery went to bed, I worked on pictures and Ned went to the fire house to wash his truck.  While he was there they had a call.  I fell asleep on the couch, and he stayed up too late watching a movie.

Saturday morning got off to a quiet start.  We relaxed for awhile, then Ned had to cut the grass after all the rain we've had.  After he did that, we got ready to go to Mimi's for lunch for Ned's granddad's birthday.  Avery did well with lots of people around, and we snuck out early for her nap.  I made pimento cheese while she napped, did some packing, and watched some of Father of the Bride.  I also enjoyed some yummy ice cream sandwich cake that Mimi had made.  Ned got things out of storage and ran some errands.  When he got home, I went to print pictures of the house so my parents can see.  Sometimes a 35 minute, one-way trip is close but not close enough when you want a quick visit.  We went out for pizza for dinner, and Avery asked for pizza so many times that the girl working the bar brought her some crackers.  We usually have a cereal appetizer for her and will do better not to forget it next time.  Ned and I were busy bees once she went to bed.  I even manged to set up an iPod Ned won a long, long time ago.  Ned didn't think a purple iPod would suit him, but I gladly upgraded mine.

Here are a few pictures from our week.  There was a movie star spotting in the neighborhood.

Avery played cook with Felix's toy as a do dog (hot dog), her knife, and a coaster.

A tiny bowl of ice cream was a big hit.

It was such a wonderful week, and we are looking forward to even more fun in the week to come.

Construction ~ Week 3

It was a big week, even though it was short and rainy.  Big week equals big post!

On Tuesday they treated the rock in the garage so that the concrete could be poured.  I'm sure they did some other things, but they weren't really things we could see, so we didn't go by.

While Avery and I were out Wednesday morning, we snuck by without actually going by.  You can see part of our house without actually turning onto the road, and when we did that, I could see wood.  I've been waiting for the wood.  So, of course I was antsy to get by after dinner.  Of course, it was storming and pouring rain.  It stopped raining and cleared a bit, so we got Mimi to come sit at the house while Avery slept.  You can't miss the fact that we got some rain.

They put the form down in the garage so that the concrete could be poured.

Here is the front porch.  They put wood down all around the edges.

Wood is also all across the middle.  These may have a name, but I do not know it.  I got brave and stood on the little piece that will separate the two doors in the garage.  Ned's instructions were to catch me AND the camera.

I was pretty sure not much would be happening on Thursday because of all the rain in the foundation.  So I was surprised when Ned said they were framing.  It was another big day.  Sub-flooring is complete, and two large sections are framed.  On the right is the dining room with the kitchen behind it.  On the left is our bathroom with our bedroom behind it.



I can pick out door and window openings in the rooms, which is really neat.  They also poured the garage floor today.

It's still wet and was starting to storm again, and Ned was waiting at the car with Avery, so I didn't get around to the other side of the house.  Ned climbed up and walked around on the floor, which made me very jealous.

Lots of work continued on Friday.

If you're not interested in room by room, stop right here.

This is our back hallway off the garage, half bath to the right, and laundry room at the back.  The laundry room is one of the things I'm most excited about.

This is the kitchen from the breakfast room...

...and the breakfast room from the kitchen.

Here is our dining room.

And this is our living room.

Ned and Avery are standing in the family room.  The steps will take up the space in the bottom left.

This is the best I could do of our bedroom.

Here is our bathroom in two parts.  The tub will go under the window, and my vanity will be on the right.

The small area framed in will be the toilet, the shower will be to the left, and Ned's vanity will be opposite the toilet room.

What a week, and they may work tomorrow.  Stay tuned for a closet battle we have brewing in the Lankford home.

Rain, Woo Woos, and Blue

Our much-anticipated red, white, and blue day didn't turn out exactly as planned.  We got off to a great start this morning and all got up at the same time.  Ned fixed pancakes and eggs and it was a treat to have breakfast together.  We all enjoyed a leisurely morning at home.

Mid-morning we started getting ready for a community cook-out.  It's done by an older couple in our church, and I think the sign said it was their 43rd one.  It started at noon, which is way too close to nap time for comfort, but as I'm trying to do better, I took one for the team.  We fed Avery an early lunch and headed over with Mimi.  We didn't know if we would make it to lunch at the cook-out, but Ned really wanted Avery to ride on the firetruck.  At noon, three big red trucks pulled up.  My rule was that Avery could only ride inside with Ned instead of up on top.  I was still unsure if she would actually get in.  Ned stood for awhile and talked to his fire buddies, and Avery kept reaching for me.

When the time came, though, she was ready to get in that woo woo.  She may have started off a little apprehensive.

But determination soon kicked in.

I didn't even make her ride in her car seat!  I did wait patiently with Mimi at the street and listened as the sirens crept around town.  I was relieved to see 2 big smiles through the windshield as they pulled back up.  Avery was so proud she had riden in the fire truck, and Ned was too.  She wanted horns blowing, lights flashing, and she also tried hard to talk on the radio.  Maybe next year I'll think about letting her ride up top. 

I saw one little girl with a bike helmet on, and I thought that was a fantastic idea.  Ned assured me that she had simply ridden her bike and more than likely did not wear in on the firetruck.  Lots of firemen participate and ride up top and on the back to make sure this is a safe event.  Sometimes we fuss about lack of entertainment or the distance to the mall, but I don't know if you can find this fun in a big city.

We skipped out on lunch because we were melting and nap time was calling.  The clouds started rolling in during nap time, but once Avery was up, we headed to Lolli and Poppa's for the big parade.  We knew the rain was coming but thought the parade would be safe.  However, storms popped up, and everything was rained out.  I was so, so disappointed.  Many people would scoff at our little parade, but it's just another example of how wonderful small-town life is.  Where else can you see things like this?

My daddy is Sammy Vick, and he was not providing ice cream that year!  Who knows what we would have seen this year.  I do know Avery would have seen tractors and firetrucks and would have loved every minute of it.  Luckily, she didn't know what she was missing as I know many kids did.

Lolli had stocked up on food so we still had traditional 4th of July hamburgers and hot dogs.  And, there's always the Avery show to watch.

Avery stayed with Lolli and Poppa, and Ned and I returned home to more rain.  I took a break from the computer to walk Dixie with Ned when it stopped raining, and we were just in time for the fireworks here.  We think we even found a new favorite spot as we watched with Mimi and Vincent.  We returned home to find a nervous Sammy and Felix under the couch.  Sammy has been known to hide in the bathtub during fireworks and then find himself trapped.

Even though the rain put a damper on things, it was still a great day full of memories.  We are so thankful to be able to celebrate living in a free country and are ready to do it all again next year.

Week in Review ~ 7/2

What a week!  It seemed quiet and busy at the same time.  We went to church on Sunday, and Avery did great in her class.  Now that she requests church every five minutes, dropping her off is much easier.  Plus, Miss Carolyn dishes out the snacks as soon as Avery sits down.  While Avery napped, Ned took the tractor and mowed Poppa's path on one of the farms.  Avery and I joined him after her nap and had a yummy catfish dinner at Lolli and Poppa's.

Monday and Tuesday were spent at home.  We tried to get outside in the morning before it got too hot.  Avery is really into the toddler eating habits of thinking she's done after just a few bites.  Then, she's ready for something else soon after.  Or, she loves one thing on her plate and wants 7 helpings of that while ignoring the rest of the food.  I don't push her to eat, but I also don't offer other options, so she seems hungry all the time.  We will definitely be trying some muffin tin meals soon to encourage eating something other than cheese.

We had another uneventful morning Wednesday.  Ned was home at 12 and kept Avery while I went to the doctor.  I needed to get my blood pressure prescription changed, and because I knew they would check it, I was a nervous wreck.  Waiting for an hour an fifteen minutes didn't help.  Then, the nurse couldn't get a reading after 3 tries and started asking if I was dizzy.  By then I had worried myself into a tizzy.  Then the doctor couldn't get it the first time!  But, he told me it was probably because it was low, and it was. He's weaning me off so we'll see how that goes.  I know one reason it's low is because school's out.  I would just love to be able to take a decongestant again.  I finally got out of the office at 4 p.m. after a 1:45 appointment and had to go straight home because we were eating at Mimi's.  Ned's brother Rob was home, and Avery was so proud that she could say Rob.  We had a good dinner with Avery entertaining everyone.

Thursday was a LONG day.  We started our day at Walmart so that we could get our grocery shopping done before the first of the month.  Avery was well-behaved and only asked about 1,000 questions.  Avery took her nap, and then it seemed like my patience just ran out.  She wasn't being bad, she was just being almost 2, into everything, and testing her limits a little more than normal.  I think the biggest thing was that I knew Ned had a meeting right after work and would then have drill at 7:30.  We tried some Popsicles on the porch, but Avery did not think her grape was as delicious as I thought my strawberry was.

After dinner we braved a terrible gnat problem to play outside, and then Avery had an early bedtime.  I got some birthday stuff ordered for her once she went to bed.
Avery slept in on Friday, which made us a little late getting to Lolli's.  Avery spent the day there while I did some cleaning and straightening.  I did take a few breaks to enjoy the quiet in the house.  Lolli brought Avery home that afternoon, and when Ned got off we went to Applebee's for dinner.  Avery made sure our waitress knew she was ordering a grilled cheese, which resulted in several tables knowing Avery wanted a grilled cheese.  Once nice couple on the way out made sure to stop and ask if it was good.  I finished up some cleaning and Ned cleaned the kitchen for me once Avery went to bed.

Saturday was a fun day!  Avery and I were expecting a visit from my good friend Courtney.  Ned went fishing so that we could have some girl time, and I'm sure he'll want me to mention that he and Lucas caught 327 fish.  Mimi took Avery strolling while I got ready and did some cooking.  Avery thought "Cuckoo" had come just to see her and loved an extra set of eyes for all of her tricks.  She entertained herself so that Courtney and I could visit, and then we got some more visiting in once Avery went down for a nap.   Once she left, I rested because we were going to friends' for dinner.  Avery was in her bed for 3 hours and would have stayed longer.  We went to Jay and Connie's and cooked steaks with their family and Lucas, Kristin, and Emerson.  Avery was happy to see "E" and magically made it to 6:30 before having dinner.  We were having fun, and Avery and Emerson were enjoying each other, so we stayed until 8:15.  I had no hives or breathing problems over Avery's late bedtime.  She went right to sleep when we got home, and Ned and I both fell asleep watching TV.  It was a busy day but such a fun one full of so many friends.  We don't have a huge extended family, so it makes me so happy to see Avery loving our friends and them loving her.

This week we're celebrating the 4th several times and preparing for the beach.  I also hope to have everything ready for Avery's party.  Happy Independence Day!

Construction ~ Week 2

At first glance, it doesn't appear that too much went on this week.

However, I think things were quite busy.  See the tractor?  Avery is hoping Mr. Clint includes that with the house.

This week the brick was finished around the foundation, the foundation was waterproofed (that's the black around the bottom), and rock was put in the garage in preparation for the cement to be poured.  I'm sure there was some other stuff going on, but we haven't gotten out to walk around this week.

Behind the scenes, we picked out our doors and finalized our siding.  I like when we have to do things that are a part of closing the house up, because it will look like a house then.  Ned also had to make a call to the power company to get that set up.

I don't think they worked today, because they are waiting on our roof trusses, which will come Tuesday, and the form that goes in the porch for pouring it.  The plan for next week is to get the garage and porch poured, and then I think they'll begin laying the sub-floor.  Our contractor will be at the beach the same week that we are, but the men will be here busy working.  I'm afraid we're going to miss an exciting week of framing that week, so I'm hoping to find a camera that my mother-in-law can take some pictures with.  We may have to request a picture message!

They're moving very quickly, but I'm trying not to get ahead of myself as far as hoping we'll be in it earlier.  Plus, the quicker they move, the quicker I'll have to make decisions.  Ned was moaning today about having to make decisions about a security system, and I had to roll my eyes because this is only the beginning.