An adventure...

So Sunday after church Jeff and I went to Chili's to grab some lunch and were discussing what we wanted to do for the rest of the afternoon. We both wanted to do something, but didn't really have any great ideas. So I suggested that we go somewhere. Jeff agreed and asked where I wanted to go. I had no clue. So we finished up lunch and went home. Jeff started packing the car with the essentials: chairs, radio, ice chest, tent, etc. I got online and started looking for a destination. We wanted to go somewhere we had not been before. I came across the website for the Great Salt Plains Lake in NW Oklahoma. So we all loaded up, including our doggies, and headed west. Along the way, we came across a field that was full of HUGE sunflowers. It was beautiful.

Several hours later, we arrived just in time to find a campsite and watch the beautiful sunset.

The lake is very strange because the whole lake is extremely shallow. Because of this, you can't put any boats on the lake except for small fishing boats. I guess this is why there were very few people there. We were so lucky to find a perfect spot to camp. There was no one in sight and we had a sandy beach area just for us. The dogs were able to run free and act as crazy as they wanted. We were exhausted just watching them.

We had a wonderful time! Here's a video clip of the dogs. They ran around crazy like this pretty much the whole time.

Lake

We ventured out to the lake this past weekend. Jake joined us and decided he was going to learn to wakeboard. He did an awesome job! Here are some clips:





Keep in mind that this was his first real time to try! Hooray Jake!

Here's some video of my crazy husband as well:





And much to Jeff's disappointment, I did not partake in the ski/wakeboarding fun. Sorry. :)

Summer Fun!

I'm not really in a talkative mood, so here's a video from earlier this summer of my niece Monica bowling.

Sorry guys!!

I've been seriously slacking in the blog department. So here's a quick update.

* We're about to finish up our kitchen cabinets. Not sure if I told you before, and I'm too lazy to go back and check, but I tried to paint the cabinet doors but I didn't do such a great job. So my dear husband has spent the past few evening stripping the paint and sanding them down. That process is almost done, so the kitchen should be done soon.

* School started back. I signed up for prom committee. Not sure what I was thinking on that one. Summer went wayyyy too fast. But that means that football season is around the corner! Hooray! I'm ready for some cooler weather and watch parties.

* After a serious faceplant and subsequent nosebleed, I've decided that wakeboarding is not for me, much to Jeff's disappointment.

* Aislinn turns 1 next week! Where did the time go!? She's too precious! She starting to take steps.

* It's 10:30 on a Tuesday night. I should not be on the computer this late. However, I am feeling really yucky. I'm crossing my fingers I'm not getting piggy flu. I'm considering starting a movie. Making it to work tomorrow is looking less and less promising.

That's all I can come up with for now.
Later!
:)

Wakeboarding

Jeff and I decided to spend a relaxing weekend together at the lake. Just the two of us. So we got up Saturday morning, packed the ice chest, got some good music, and headed to the lake. We found a nice area to swim and relax where we had lunch. Shortly after, Jeff suggests we go over by the marina where there is a wakeboarding competition. He insisted he just wanted to see how it works. Riiiiight. Ya see, we knew before going to the lake that this competition was going on, but Jeff had decided not to enter, and just watch this time. Then next time they had one, he would know the drill.

So after watching for about 1 or 2 hours, Jeff wants to go over to the shore just to talk to the people running it. Since we couldn't drive over there in the boat, we went back to the boat ramp, loaded up the boat, and drove around to the shore. It had already been a long day, so we just planned on staying about 30 minutes then heading home. We walked down to the water and got in to cool off. Jeff then went over to get some information. About 15 minutes later, I saw him walking back, rather quickly, and with a grin on his face. "Tomorrow is a whole new competition! I can still enter!" So about 2 or 3 hours after arriving, we packed up and headed home. Jeff was so excited and had so much running through his mind, he couldn't really even talk. He just drove the whole way grinning and giddy.

All of the practice runs were done on Friday, so he would get one shot at this, with a boat he'd never wakeboarded behind. Below are three video clips from his run. He only got one run and was allowed two falls. Sorry for the terrible job taping this. The sun was right on my camera screen and I could hardly see where I was taping. If you watch the videos on YouTube, you can watch them bigger and see a little better.







I was really proud of him! I though he did really good considering he didn't get to practice AT ALL. The only thing that concerns me, is that I think he wants to quit his job and wakeboard for a living. He didn't say it, but I could see it in his eyes. Like a kid in a candy store, just looking at everything, and never wanting to leave. :)

Aislinn has found her voice...

Aislinn has learned to squeal/scream and is quite proud of herself. It's pretty funny. Notice at the end, she becomes distracted at another child who has picked up a ball. She points and says "ba." She's so brilliant!

July Birthdays

This past weekend, the Willeford clan got together to celebrate July birthdays. It was Sissy's 70th, so we had a 50s theme. Here are a few pics from the party.

Jones climbing all over Papa Joe.

The Birthday People

Jones

Jeff and Annie

Me & Annie

I guess Ben and Will were too busy running around for me to get any pictures. :(

I know... I know...

I haven't posted in a while. I'll get back on it. I promise. In the meantime, here is a video of Aislinn eating an orange today at lunch.

June

June has been a very busy month and time has flown by!  Believe it or not, we are STILL in the process of finishing up our house.  After we got things back to a "live-able" state, work seemed to slow.  We've been out of town alot during the past fews weeks and just haven't gotten too much work done.  However, we're back on track this weekend.  We've actually gotten our to-do list down to one page!  Hooray!  As I type this, Jeff has made yet another run to Lowe's to get a few more items.  This evening I will be painting the bathroom.  Exciting...  Jeff and I both took off work Monday and Tuesday and are DETERMINED the get this house finished.  So wish us luck. 

******

Aislinn spent the night last night.  I think she was trying to tell Jeff and I NOT to have a baby of our own.  I'm guessing she doesn't want to share the spotlight.  She slept for about and hour and a half and the rest of the night woke up about every 30 minutes.  But she's so cute.  I didn't mind.  In her defense, she just got tubes in her ears last wednesday and may still be adjusting to that.  Also, she was sneezing alot so she may have been having allergy problems or something.   Not really sure.  So this morning, around 6:15 when she was ready to get up, she rolled over, looked and me and smiled behind her pacifier, and started to clap her hands.  Precious.

We took her to church with us this morning and she did very well.  Our church has a loud music service with a band, and she just watched in awe and kicked her legs.  Then, like a good baptist, she slept quietly during the sermon.  :)

******

Jeff and I decided that it would be a great idea to take BOTH Maggie and Lexie to PetCo to get new collars.  He wanted them to go so they could try them on in the store.   We had to get them new collars because over the past few weeks, the girls have managed to chew each other's collars to shreds.  Nice.

So we played fetch with them first in hopes of getting some of their energy out.  Yeah right.  Then we all loaded up and headed to PetCo.   The only thing that saved me from being pulled behind Maggie was the tile floor.  She couldn't get a grip on it.  She was spinning her little legs like the Flinstones.  Hahahaha... Lexie was about the same.  At first, Jeff and Lexie were in front, but that caused Maggie to panic and think she needed to catch up.  So we switched, and Maggie and I went in front, but then Lexie felt the same need to catch up.  Silly girls.  But we survived.  Hopefully they will get better over time.  We've been working with Lexie to walk on a leash and she's making some improvement.  It's really our fault because we don't do it often enough.  Mostly, we just play fetch in the backyard then the girls both jump in the kiddie pool.  

So anyways, we got them both new collars and made it home in one piece.  The girls came home and crashed like they had just run a marathon.  They've caught their second wind now and are wrestling around in the living room, chewing on each other's collars.   GRRRRR..  I just don't get it.  One will go limp and let the other practically drag her by the collar.  Then they switch.  Then they lick each other in the face.  Crazy doggies.

I'z like to spinnn...

Water Play!!!

Spaghetti

So if you keep up with my sister's blog, you know that there is daycare drama.  To make a long story short, Aislinn gets to go with me to school for the summer!  Hooray!  We have already had water play 2 days, finger painted, and today was spaghetti day!  And she's only been with me a week.  Here are a few video clips from the spaghetti event.  

Notice how she pauses then blinks slowly when the picture is taken.  Too funny!

She squeezed the pasta with all her might...

And thought it was HILARIOUS!

My crazy husband...

Aren't they so cute!?!?

Update

We're still at it.  Just thought I would post a few pics so you guys can see what we've done so far.  To make sure you remember, here is a pic of the kitchen before...

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And here is the kitchen so far!  As you can see, there is still much to be done.  The backsplash still needs grout, the outlet covers need to be replaced, and of course, the cabinet doors and drawers finished.  But at least it looks like a kitchen again!

And here's a hint of what the bathroom will look like.  We still have alot to go, but the new tub is in and the tile is up around the tub.  Here's a pic.
I think it's going to look really nice!  That's all for now!

Progress!!!

The countertops are down and the tile backsplash is going in!  Hooray!

Regression

When deciding on whether or not to get a new dog, my concerns were things like: Will she like us? Will she be sad to leave her first family? Will Maggie like her? Will Maggie be sad that she's no longer the only child? 

After having Lexie with us for a little over a week, I now realize that my concerns were a bit dramatic. What I should have been asking myself was: Will they EVER stop playing? Will they give me any attention and stop playing with each other? Will Maggie become more independent and not really care as much about coming inside to see me?

Turns out that Lexie was a great addition. They are really fun to watch and they look so much alike! Sometimes I call them by the wrong name. Maggie, however, has regressed. She is back to that wiggle-sideways-giddy-snorty-puppy-dance. She has almost totally forgotten how to sit. The girls have to sit before they get their treats, and Lexie ALWAYS sits first. Maggie has lost it. I'm so disappointed. I thought she would be a good role model for our new dog, but turns out she needs to take some lessons from her new sister.

Lexie

I can't get them to sit still long enough to get a good pic.

This is the best we could do. (After throwing the 

ball a million times to get them to calm down)

Yuck

I worked this afternoon/evening on removing the tile in the entryway.  I had no idea how hard this would be.  I took me 2 hours to go from this:

to this:

I gave up at this point.  

Awwwwww....

I came home to find this in my disaster of a kitchen.  Hooray!  Tile!  And a really sweet husband.  :)

Remodeling Day #572

Well we're still at it. I think we've finally rounded a corner. We are no longer in demo mode, we are now in fix it all back mode. We were originally going to get new countertops for the bathrooms, but they didn't have the right sizes. So we decided to get new counters with new tops and sinks in them. We were looking at prices for the custom sized countertops, and we realized that it would be cheaper just to get a whole new cabinet with sink. So we went for that. This morning when Jeff opened the box, he informed me that the cabinets did not come with the top and sink like we thought. DOH! So, hi-ho, hi-ho, back to Home Depot we go. Turns out that all but about 2 of the styles came with tops, and of course the ones I picked did not. So we bought new tops and returned home.

Well, started to return home. So I was driving, and we were about to pull out of the parking lot when I saw a momma duck and about 10 little fluffy tiny duckling following her. The momma duck had a very broken leg and could hardly walk. It broke my heart. So I pulled over. What exactly was I going to do? Catch this duck and her ducklings that were waddling down 71st? Yup. That was my plan. My husband quickly informed me that I had lost it and reminded me that I have a mounted duck in my house. He also reminded me of the disaster of a house that was waiting for us. So, I decided to take him back to the house, get a box, and come back to rescue the poor little duckies.

So. I called my sister to see if she had any suggestions and she said that Jake and Autumn would be over to help. By the time I got back, several other people had stopped and they had already gotten all the baby ducks into a box. They couldn't catch the mother duck though. :( So I decided that I probably couldn't help her considering that she could still fly just fine, which would make her tricky to catch.

So I went home. We took out the old cabinets and installed the new ones with the help of Jake! Thanks Jake! I had to make one more quick run to Home Depot to get a pipe fitting for the sink. I asked Autumn if she wanted to go, and she said, "isn't that where you just came from?"

So for the next project, the tile. Of course, we were needing something else for that also. So I made a third trip to Home Depot. After that, Jeff got the tile down in the small bathroom. Hooray! Tomorrow we will put down the grout and the small bathroom will be kinda almost sorta done!

The other bathroom and the kitchen are a different story. We decided to replace the tub. So when we took out the old one, we decided to go ahead and put new sheetrock up. So all that has come down. So now, it's pretty much a disaster. Autumn was over and looked around. She said that the kitchen wasn't so bad, but the bathroom looked like a tornado hit.

Jeff is working on installing the tub right now. We started shifting our attention the tub about 2 hours ago, but of course, we found something else we needed from Home Depot. So we went back and guess what we saw! That's right! Momma ducky! Made me so sad all over again. I just knew she was looking for her babies and had little ducky tears running down her beak. Jeff wasn't so touched. He looked at me and asked what exactly I expected him to do. "Well catch her!" Silly boy. So he went after her with a towel, but she again flew away. So we came back home to get back to work.

And as I type Jeff is still in there working. It's almost 11 on Saturday night, but here's the deal. The tile in our bathroom can't be walked on, and the bathtub to the other bathroom is currently sitting in our guest room. We've both been working all day and we are a sight to see. We must shower! So Jeff's working on getting that done, and if we can't get it running tonight, we may end up having a slumber party in the living room floor and going to my sister's first thing in the morning to shower before church. What a mess! BUT, I'm getting really excited because I think it's going to look really nice once it's all done.

I'm sure one day when we're old and gray, we will look back on these crazy remodeling projects with fond memories. At least that's what I keep telling myself each weekend as I find myself totally exhausted, sore, and with paint STILL in my hair even after I've washed it a zillion times.

Lexie

Maggie has a new friend! We finally caved in and decided to get another dog. Her name is Lexie. She is a 3 year old yellow lab. Here are a few videos from their first evening together. The videos are pretty hard to see because it was almost dark.

Look who's getting big!!!

Kitchen Update

Well Jeff wanted to tile the countertops and I felt a bit differently.  So Jeff began asking around to everyone we ran into and ALL of them said to not tile the countertops.  I tried not to smile.  Finally, he called our real estate agent and asked him what he thought about tile countertops.  "Hate 'em" he told Jeff.  So finally, without having to talk him into it, Jeff decided all on his own that it would be best to not tile the countertops.  We are still doing a tile backsplash which I think will look very nice.  

I have started painting the kitchen cabinets.  I had no idea how much work would have to go into this.  I painted 2 coats on the shelves inside, and so far, 2 coats on the outside.  The outside it going to have to have at least 1 more coat.  The doors all have either 1 or 2 coats, but just on one side.    

I worked on Friday from 5 until midnight, and today so far from 8 until 3, with about an hour break to run over to my sisters.  I'm friggin exhausted.  I really thought I could get this done much faster.  Hopefully, I can get it all done by tomorrow evening.  I would love to have at least part of my kitchen back for next week.

I would post pics, but I'm in my lazyboy and am not getting up to get my camera.  

And a special thanks to my dear friend Megan for coming over to help me paint today!

My new kitchen!

Well, we got almost all of the flooring up yesterday. Both bathrooms and the kitchen had not one, but TWO layers of linoleum that had to be removed.  We still have to remove the tile in the entry way.  No sure, but I'm guessing this may involve a sledge hammer and I really want a whack at it.  I told Jeff this, and he just laughed.  I'm not sure that he understood that I was serious.  In preparation for painting the cabinets, we moved everything to the guest bedroom.   It's not the most convenient, but not nearly as bad as the three months we were homeless while we looked for a house to buy in Tulsa.  

I had every intention of starting the painting today after school.  Not 3 minutes after leaving the parking lot, Melissa calls and talks me into going to Old Navy.  Fine, I told her, but I have to hurry.  Well, once we got there, she bribed me into going with her to the mall.  So, by the time I got home, it was after 5.  So I'm thinking that I may just start tomorrow.

Autumn is going to be staying the night with us on Wednesday night and I'm hoping she isn't afraid.  We only have one working bathroom and the kitchen.. well, you saw it.  I think we may make a quick run to Bristow to pick up a trailer we need and eat dinner there.  So that's one meal this week I won't have to worry about.  Oh, and also, my family meets every Thursday for dinner, so that's TWO!  haha!  So that leaves today, Tuesday, and Friday.  Hrm... Sandwiches, hot dogs, and... ummm.. sandwiches.  Yum yum!  Anyone wanna come visit us?

Demo Day 1

Well the demo has begun. As you may know, we are redoing about half of the house over the next four weeks. There is no turning back now. Demo began on Saturday and here are some pictures for you of what we have done so far.

Here is the kitchen on Friday.

And the kitchen on Saturday evening.

Here is the bathroom wall behind the bathtub.  

And here is all the tile that was on the wall.

Today, we are going to be removing all trim and baseboards, ripping up the flooring in the kitchen and both bathrooms, moving everything from the kitchen cabinets to the spare bedroom, and hopefully begin painting the cabinets.  Wish us luck!

Home Improvement

I guess I should have known when I married Jeff that my life would include a never ending project of some sort. Currently that project is in the home improvement department. These are the types that I like. We decided that we are going to paint the kitchen cabinets white. Hooray! This was a HUGE deal because Jeff HATES to paint wood. He prefers the natural look. For those of you who remember the kitchen cabinet project at our house in Chickasha, you may understand why Jeff's letting me choose this time around. So that will be the first step. Paint the cabinets.

Next, we are going get rid of the linoleum and tile the floor. Hooray! I love it! And the countertops. This one is still up for debate. Jeff wants to tile the counters as well. I do not. I think that they will be hard to keep clean and stain. He disagrees. I'll let you know what we decide.

Also on the list, we are going to tile the two bathrooms while we're at it. One of the bathrooms will be getting new tile around the tub as well and both will get new countertops. Also still debating on those countertops.

The final thing on the list is to rip up the tile in the entryway, and lay tile there as well. Lots of tile. Lots and lots.

Sooooooo. First thing is the cabinets. We were planning on starting those this weekend. Today while at work, I get this text from Jeff: "What did you do to your pot?" I was confused. So I asked what he was talking about. He replied with, "Yours is cracked and there is water all over the floor."

Grrreeeat. Just what I wanted to hear. And what did he mean "what did I do to it?!" Does he think that I got really angry and hit it with a hammer? Not sure about that one. I'll have to ask him when he gets home. Sooo, that bathroom has just been moved up to the top of the list. The flooring has to come out ASAP as it is all wet with water underneath. And we now need a new commode as well. Fun times!

New Sounds

Spring Snow

These pictures were taken about 2 hours ago, and it's still coming down! Crazy weather!!!

Aislinn

Here are some video clips of Aislinn from this week. Enjoy!

I did this!

I backed this trailer! And I was really proud of myself!

New Addition to the Willeford family!!!

No... I'm not pregnant. Hehehe... BUT, we do have a brand new baby in the family! Jason and Becky welcomed Anne Elizabeth Willeford on Monday, March 2nd. Both mom and baby are doing wonderful! Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

Spring is coming!!!

Look what God and I made!  These are in my front yard.  I love it!  I can't grow anything usually.

Bad Blogger...

I'm a bad blogger.  I think to myself, "oh, I should put that on my blog" several times a week.  And then I don't do it.  

This weekend we went to Duncan to visit the Willefords.   First, we dropped off Maggie at my mom's in Bristow.  Then, on the way down, we stopped at Ed's in Chickasha.  It was pretty good, but not quite as good as I remembered.  Then we continued on to Duncan.  I always enjoy going to see them.  For some reason, when we stay with Jeff's parents, Jeff doesn't feel the need to bug me about sleeping in.  I always sleep so good there.  And, it never fails, I wake to the smell of bacon.  Ohmygosh.  That is the best!  And again this past weekend was no exception.  Our nephew Will had stayed the night also so we could see him.  So I woke to the sound of Will laughing with Jeff and the smell of bacon.  Could not have been better!  After getting up and having pancakes and bacon, I laid around on the couch for a while while Jeff and Will played.  

Later, we went to Norman to have lunch at Jason & Becky's house.  Will rode with us to Norman.  It was SOOOO cute how every cow we passed was just as exciting as the previous one.  We had hot dogs (also my favorite) and assorted chips and dips (again, a favorite).  They just had an outdoor kitchen built and it is AMAZING!  I love it!  I can't wait until it gets warmer and we can eat outside.

We headed home around 5:00 with the intent on meeting up with some friends in Tulsa.  By the time we picked up Maggie and made it home, it was after 8.  Well, for us married old folks, apparently 8 is too late.  Once we made it home and hit the couch, it was obvious we were NOT going to be going out.  So we watched a little tv and headed to bed.

Today was our usual Sunday routine.  Went to church. Went to lunch. Went on some adventure.  Today the adventure was taking an oversized chair from our guest room to my grandmother's basement in Bristow, and returning with a dresser that we are going to re-finish.  We'll see how that goes.

Now, I'm in for the evening while Jeff works on his Jeep (a never-ending project).  I've got a homemade pizza in the oven and it is smelling wonderful.  I can't believe that another weekend is already over.  This next week is supposed to be in the 70s and near 80 so I'm excited to maybe grill steaks or something fun!

That's all for now!

Oh. My. Gosh.

First, I just finished my new Pilates video and there is a chance I may not be able to go to work tomorrow.  Second, the weather is wonderful outside!  I love it!  Third, I should be cooking dinner instead of playing on the internet.  Jeff will be here any minute.  And fourth, here are some of the most adorable pictures ever!

Random

I don't really have much to discuss right now. It's Saturday. Jeff and I are going to a wine tasting party tonight. We really aren't the type that would fit in at such an event, but it's at my mom and Joe's, and it will all be family. Should be interesting. We have to bring two bottles of wine. They assigned each guest a different type to buy. I'm not sure how to pronounce mine.

Here's a few random pics from the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Aislinn at my moms.

Ooooo.  It's SOOO bright out here!

That's better.

Thursday...

On Thursday I will be watching Autumn and Aislinn as well as making 100 rice krispy treats for the youth lock in. If anyone is bored, feel free to come join the festivities!!! It should be an interesting day!

Aislinn

Here's a video of Aislinn playing at my moms house.  She's getting so big!

Ice