My 10-miler

Today was my big 10 mile run before the half-marathon on New Year's Day. I was very nervous because I was supposed to run it last week, but hit 'the wall' after only 4 miles....which has never happened to me before and I had to stop. But, today went very well and I had a great run. It took me 1:55:23 which is 11:33 minute miles. I ran it with my older sister....well, we started together. She's much faster than me. It only took her 1:40 and she even ran with me for the first 4 miles. I think I'll be ready on Thursday....the 1st of 3 half-marathons I'm doing this year....so far!

Merry Christmas

More Pictures.

Daddy's New Camera

Jim took the kids outside to test out his new camera. Here are Jacob and Larkin.

I did it.

Yesterday was little Sarah's funeral. I played the organ and accompanied the musical numbers....except my own. It was really hard. I sang right after Sarah's dad spoke....ugh. Although the family asked me to sing way back in October, nothing could have prepared me for how difficult it was going to be. I started very shaky, but as the song went on I was able to pull it together. But, I totally lost it on my way back to my seat. Even though this was very difficult, I am very thankful that I could do something. How do you help ease the burdens of a family who has lost their little girl? At least I could take care of the music for them.

I'm Thankful

This morning, my friend's 3 year old little girl lost her battle with a brain tumor. Deep down, I must have known it was going to be today. I tossed and turned with sadness for them all night and woke up with a very heavy heart. I just couldn't bring myself to run this morning. As I was power walking, I decided that I would make them a meal and take it over this morning. After I got home from the store I felt like making the meal was not a good idea today. It was only a few minutes later that I got the call. Although everything happened quickly, I'm thankful that they were able to have had time to make preperations ahead of time. I'm thankful that she did not suffer. I'm thankful that my friend and her family has the strongest faith I've ever seen. Right now, I couldn't be more thankful for my healthy kids and family. I would not be as graceful baring the most impossible burden that she is baring right now.

Toilet Paper Confusion

So while I was moving furniture I hear from upstairs...

Jacob: MOM! I need toilet paper!
Me: Okay, I'll send Rainey up.
Me (to Rainey): I'm going to have to take up two rolls.
Rainey: Why? Is Jacob hungry?

Let's Compare

When you compare these pictures of Larkin, you can really see that she is indeed getting hair. The first one is of her 1st birthday party and the second one was taken just after she turned 2. Maybe by the time she's 3 we'll be able to use all the bows that I've been making.

Jacob's Recital

Jacob has been taking piano lessons from my Aunt Melanie since the start of the summer. As I expected, he's doing great. He has always loved puzzles and math and so I knew this would be something he would be good at and love. His first recital was a couple weeks ago. He played 3 pieces. 2 of them were duets with me. He thought that was really cool. He was the only student to not make any mistakes (even I messed up).

During the Game

Aaron's family came to this game. Jackson, Rainey, Ashlyn, and Larkin had a great time running around and watch the game through binoculars.

Baseball

This was Jacob's first year in 'real' baseball...not T-ball. He did great and improved a lot during the season. And, although we weren't supposed to keep score, his team only lost one game!

Happy Halloween!

This year, Jacob was a TMNT (teenaged mutant nija turtle), Rainey Jewel was a 'kitty cat', and Larkin was a frog. The frog costume has been worn by Jacob and my 2 newfews, Jackson and Ryan. So Larkin is the first 'woman' to sport the awesome frog and she rocked it! I was surprised that she would wear it even with the hood. But, the biggest shocker was that Rainey let me draw a nose and whiskers on her face...and she loved it. For the past 2 years, she has not allowed an offical costume. She would never wear them.

Run.Drive.Sleep?Repeat

On October 24th-25th, I ran the Ragnar Relay race from San Antonio to Austin with 11 other 'chicks'. It was the most fun I've ever had. I can't remember when I laughed so hard. Our team was split into 2 vans. Runners 1-6 were in the first van and runners 7-12 were in van 2. I was in van 1. We started the race on Friday morning at 9:00. Our first runner began at the start with several other teams. After a runner's leg is finished, she hands the 'slap' bracelet to the next runner and she takes off. All the while the runners in the van are cheering her on. We were not allowed to stay with the runner the whole time, so we would drive ahead and let her pass and then drive ahead some more. I thought that I would be bored and so I brought a book and other things to do. I was so wrong! We talked, laughed, and cheered on our runners the whole time. So, after everyone in our van had run her first leg (we had 3), we went back to a hotel to shower and rest....then back to the exchange point to run again....and then again. Some of these girls were already friends of mine. But, there were 2 girls in my van that I did not know very well and 1 that I didn't know at all. We spent so much time together and went through so much that I now consider them good friends and miss them because I don't ever see them anymore. So the 'chicks' is because our team name was the CTR's...Chicks That Run. We wore CTR green shirts and a friend made iron-on CTR shields with 'chicks that run' for the back and a running Chick for the front. The same friend decorated the 2 mini-vans that we drove around. As the final runner was approaching the finish line, we joined her and ran it in together! We had such a great time, but we were very tired....especially the girls that were in van 2. They had to run in the heat of the day twice and their hills were really, really bad. But, the best part of all was something that we were not expecting....WE WON (for our all-female division)!! With the teams getting different starting times based on their average times, we had no idea who we were competing against or how close the times were. This was an experience that I will never forget. Thanks for such a great time! I love you Chicks!

We miss Daddy

Jim left for Australia on Oct 10th. The kids really miss their daddy and ask for him everyday. He should be getting home on Saturday....if his ear infection clears up! He flew all the way over there and is sick. The doctor told him to not go to work, but to stay in bed. If the antibiotics work well enough, he'll fly home.

Larkin opening presents.

Happy Birthday, Larkin

Larkin Bailey turned 2 years old on Friday, Oct 17th. She is a wonderfully entertaining little child. She is my mostly talkative baby and she has a very good vocabulary for a 2 year old. She loves to sing and knows all the words to the songs they sing in primary. She loves to give hugs and kisses, which is different from Jacob and Rainey Jewel. As you can see, she still trying to grow some hair. I swear, it's starting to come in. It's mostly growing in the back and she's is still fuzzy on top.

PS

Happy 4th birthday Jackson! See you at your party tomorrow, buddy.

Crazy Life

Our lives have been a little crazy lately. Jim has been working both Australia and Nigeria hours. This means that he has been getting maybe about 6 hours of sleep..during our daytime and works all night. This also means that I'm pretty much a single mom. Just when we thought it was over, it wasn't. But, we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Note: he leaves for Australia in 10 days and will be gone for about 2 1/2 weeks. For some insane reason, I decided that this would be a great time to create my craft room which would not only house my desk for my own crafts, but a new storage unit for my supply overflow and the kids' crafts, and a table where the kids can create. I'll post pictures when it's all finished. We're also in the middle of moving Rainey Jewel in with Jacob (she sleeps on his floor anyway) and turning her room into a play room. And, we're transitioning Larkin from her crib to a big bed. Life has been crazy and my house is a mess. Those are 2 factors that would drive any woman insane. On top of that, I've got my race that I'm training for (12 woman 196 miles relay race from San Antonio to Austin) that is quickly approaching. And now I've realized that Jim will be out of town for my last week of training and for the race itself.....nice. What's girl to do? Shop! What else? Tomorrow, I'm leaving my house 'as is' and taking the girls shopping. In my de-cluttering and organizing, it has come to my attention that my kids need new clothes. With the new fall season and my kids growing like the little weeds that they are, they have nothing to wear. This is a problem that I love to remedy.

Jacob's Teeth (or lack thereof)

Jacob has been loosing teeth right and left. In fact, during Ike, Jackson (our cousin) and Jacob were rough housing and Jackson kicked outa wiggly tooth. Jacob has more money in his piggy bank than I do.

Larkin's Arm

On Friday September 5th, Larkin fell off my parents' couch (Dad and I were sitting right there). I guess that she fell just right because she broke her arm. I chose a hot pink cast and won't let anyone sign it (because then it would look dirty). She had a difficult time for the first day or two, but got used to it quickly. She had an x-ray this past Monday and everything looks great. 2 more weeks to go!

Happy Birthday Rainey Jewel

Our sassy Rainey Jewel turned 4 years old last week (Sept 20). Because of Ike, I did not have time to plan a fun party, but we still had lots of friends over for cake and ice cream. I made her the pink princess cake that she asked for. I enjoy making the cake, but I don't claim to be very good at it.....don't look too close! One of her presents was make-up (thanks a lot Melanie). She had a lot of fun applying the purple eye shadow.

Hurricane Ike

I admit that I was a bit excited for a hurricane. We have had so many fause alarms and it looked like we were going to get some good action this time. It wasn't until several hours before Ike made landfall that I started to become worried. The storm surges were already 10-15 high. They were saying that Galveston Island would be completely under water. Fortunately, we were very lucky. We had no damage (thanks to the new neighborhood, we had no big trees) and we only lost power for 5 days. Here are some pictures of our neighborhood. There are still many, many people that are without power.