Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue

We have had a fun few days celebrating the 4th of July!  We started our festivities on Thursday with Avery's camp at the Y.  The kids had a bike parade at a nearby nursing home then sang some patriotic songs for the residents and were treated to Popsicles.  We then had a picnic lunch back at the Y.  This is Avery's 2nd year doing this camp, and I think it's one of her favorites.

Our fun continued on Independence Day with a community picnic at the home of one of our church families, complete with rides on the fire truck.  Sam decided to pass this year, so I know Ned will soon be working hard to acclimate him with the trucks.  Avery, however, went twice.

 

After the fire truck rides was a short program {that my two had no patience for} and then a hot dog lunch.  Lunch is much later than our usual time so we had some happy and grumpy faces in the mix.

 

 

We rested after lunch then packed up lots of yummy food for our trip to Newsoms.  We enjoyed the annual parade, one of only a few that you get to see twice.  Avery collected candy and Sam tried to eat it.

We then had a cookout at Yaya and Poppa's and let the kids play for a bit.

The 4th of July is one of my most-favorite holidays and has been for a long time.  My earliest ones were  spent in Newsoms at my best friend's house, where there was a community cook-out, games, and a fireworks show on the railroad tracks put on by Carrie's dad.  I pray that Avery and Sam will always remember our family 4th of July traditions and remember all the fun we had.

Big Events

Memorial Day was a LONG time ago.  That's how long I've been trying to blog.  I started this post on June 6th and have had to change the title so that I'm not just blogging about one event from a month ago.  Life has been rolling right along!  The end of school was just extremely busy with testing, end-of-school events, planning Kindergarten celebration, and 18 lively Kindergartners to teach.  At the end of the day, I was exhausted.  As of tomorrow, I will have been out of school 2 weeks, and I don't feel like I have slowed down too much.  I couldn't just pick up the blog again without documenting a few big events we had in the last month.

We had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend.  That Saturday, we were supposed to have Alden's party, but the poor thing was sick, so we made some purchases for the house and had lunch out.  That night Ned and I went to Richmond for my bridesmaid's dress fitting.  The weather  was perfect, and we had dinner outside at P.F. Chang's.  We picked up a Ninja Turtle for Avery that night…don't even ask.

On Sunday we had three families over for a seafood boil.  It was such a wonderful night.  We had seven kids age 4 and under, even though we were missing two families.  Everyone played well and ate well, and all the kids left filthy.  We vowed to get together more often.

I had school on Monday for a make-up day.  That afternoon we went to Alden's first birthday party.  Both kids had fun playing with the outdoor toys at the Grizzards' house.  Sam's fun entailed getting really wet and sandy, so he came home without his pants.

Our next big event was Avery's preschool program on June 6th.  Pictured are the 3- and 4-year-old classes.  It's a small but great group.  They sang songs like Jesus Loves Me and The B-I-B-L-E and got certificates.  Avery has had a wonderful year in this program and is more than ready for Kindergarten, even if I am not.  She certainly did some growing between the first and last days of school.

We celebrated Father's Day and honored the special dads in our lives.

Aside from these big events, we've had a lot of little events that make life so good.  Summer fun is in full effect, and we've been busy playing outside, visiting the pool, and relaxing at home.

Our first pool trip of the season was a bit rocky, and this was the happiest these two faces were that day.  Sam did not care for the big pool one bit and took awhile warming up in the little pool.  Avery did some crying in her Puddle Jumper while her feet touched the bottom after forgetting how comfortable she had been in the water last summer.

We took Daddy on the next trip, and more hands helped everyone.  Sam still prefers the steps in the big pool, but at least he sits there for the length of our trip.

And finally, the highly anticipated wedding weekend was this past weekend.  My childhood best friend, Carrie, got married.  While I was honored to be a part of the day, I was also a nervous wreck.  I have a fear of passing out when standing still in one place for a long period of time.  I think it's a blood sugar issue, and I've had several close calls.  It was a busy wedding weekend, and the ceremony was pretty long, but I made it.  All of the bridesmaids were nervous about one thing or another, and we grumbled under our breath about the heat in the sanctuary, so it was good to know we were all in the same boat.  I felt like a new woman as I walked out of the church.

I know more big and small events lay ahead for the Lankfords this summer, and my intent is to do my best to keep up.

Week in Review ~ 5/17

Last week's high points were Mother's Day and the following weekend.  The week part was routine with nothing too exciting.

Mother's Day followed our crazy Friday night and Saturday of dress rehearsal, dance recital and wedding.  Ned got up with the kids but I wasn't able to go back to sleep.  Who can sleep when these beauties are calling for breakfast?  Mimi and Vincent had been at the beach and brought Duck Donuts home on Saturday.

The kids and Ned had cards and gifts, which meant that someone wasn't listening.  I had requested a gift a month earlier and knew it would be arriving during the week.  We got ready and went to church where Avery sang and played the bells.  We had 2nd Sunday lunch at church with Mimi then came home so that the kids would nap.  I thought it would be a good idea to try for pictures right before nap.  It actually wasn't the best.

After the kids napped, Ned took them to deliver Mimi's present.  We then picked up dinner and headed to my parents'.  We had a good visit and my mom's favorite present was a lap full of babies.

During the week, we played golf, had our last dance, and stayed busy.

Friday was exciting not just because it was Friday, but because it was package day.  Window treatments for the family room and my Mother's Day present arrived.  I saw this sign awhile ago on a blog and knew I needed it.  I told a friend that if I couldn't tattoo this line on my arm, then I would have to hang it in my breakfast room.  I've never been one to buy decorative things for a house, especially for the wall.  I moved into Ned's house filled with duck prints, then we lived in a rental, and now we are starting to add things to this house.  Usually I second guess myself, but not with this.

Saturday was spent working in the yard, playing, and grocery shopping.  After naps we went to Lowe's to pick up some things for outside and also to look at washers and dryers.  We are having horrible issues with our 2-year-old washer, and it looks like it will be cheaper to buy a new machine.  To take the sting off of that blow, we had dinner at Chick-fil-A and a treat at Sweet Frog.  That's one of our favorite summer nights out, and it's so wonderful to know that summer will soon be here.

Weeks in Review ~ 5/3 & 5/10

The past two weeks have gone by in a flash because we've been so busy.  Week before last was my week back to school after spring break, and of course it was packed full.  Mimi came to keep the kids that Monday night because Ned and I attended a restaurant opening.  She brought this beautiful pastel portrait that Ned's aunt Rene had done for Avery.  She used a picture from the blog when Avery was three, so it was a complete surprise.  It is just perfect hanging in our living room, and we look forward to adding one of Sam when he's about the same age.

Hair appointments and meetings filled up our afternoons and evenings after that.  I was supposed to have Kindergarten registration that Wednesday, but it was cancelled because of bad weather in the area.  There was a tornado warning where we live, which is also where Avery is in school and Ned works.  Avery spent about 30 minutes in a tornado drill, head down and all.  That was so hard for me to hear, but we had teachers notifying us of how well everyone had done.

After all of the excitement during the week, we were ready for a fun Saturday.  After some time at home and some golf for Ned, we went to Community Day at Southampton Academy.  We could see lots of bounce houses as we drove up, and I had to make sure Avery understood that school would not be like that each day.  We had a good time walking around, and the kids enjoyed a big bounce house to themselves several times.  Of course, several times it was packed full and I was a nervous wreck.

We had dinner at Mary'z Cafe after Community Day.  Mary'z used to be in my hometown and we enjoyed takeout when we ate with my parents.  It's now moved so we used the opportunity to go.  We did not think about poor kids trying to have their prom dinner there, but we laughed that Sam's antics were good birth control for them.

We enjoyed a Sunday at home the next day and skipped out on church.  I knew the next week and especially weekend would be so hectic, and I wanted an easy day at home to relax and get a few things done.  It was the perfect amount of rest and accomplishment as we finished some cleaning and got lots of things hung on the walls.  The weather was beautiful and we spent lots of time outside, too.

This past week has been busy too.  My Kindergarten registration was held Wednesday, which left Ned to get both kids to dance since his mom was out of town.  Everyone did well and came home in one piece.

Friday night was dress rehearsal for Avery's dance recital.  Ned picked Avery up from school but had to take her back to the office since his mom was gone.  Sam and I joined them and I got Avery ready.  We left Sam crying at work for me and hurried to be a rehearsal by 5 p.m.  It then didn't start until 5:30.  Avery performed 5th and 21st, and we left a little before 7 p.m.  I was beyond hungry and tired at that point but glad to be done.

Saturday was rush, rush, rush.  I got up, got ready, and went to the store.  In between those events, Ned cut the grass.  A young girl from church came to keep Sam, and the three of us were at the school for the recital by 1:15.  The recital was really good and Avery did a great and typical Avery dance performance.  The two hour recital seemed a little longer since the air was not working properly.  We also had a major storm with hail while we were inside.

We rushed home and found a happy Sam, which was good considering it was his 2nd non-family sitter.  Ned and I quickly changed clothes, and Mimi came to keep the kids while we went to a wedding.  We spent the night dodging downpours but had a great time celebrating with Ansley and Mark and enjoying some adult socialization.  I knew it was time to go {and time for new shoes} when I lost feeling in my toes.  Laying down on the sofa never felt so good after our busy day.