Labor Day Chickfila 5K 2011

When I started running back in May, I went ahead and signed up for several 5k's so that I wouldn't quit.  This was the last of the 3 5k's before running a 10K in October.  Here is our crew before running...my mom, dad, brother Jonathan, friend Ambere and some of my mom's friends as well!

It was so fun to get to run with my family again as well.  I am so proud of my mom and dad!  They have come so far....both are running and dad has lost 30 lbs. and my mom has lost 50 and is a weight watchers life member (she has reached her goal just must keep it there).  I was so glad Jonathan came to this race because we don't ever get to run together and almost run the same pace (he is a little faster than me!), and we are running the half together in December so it was fun to run with him.  He usually runs a 29:30 and I usually run a 31:30 so he convinced me to keep up with him and he promised he could get me in under 30.  Well I kept up through mile 2 and then we hit a huge hill and I got behind.  He ended up finishing at 28:01 and I came in at 29:37.  So not too bad and I achieved my goal of under 30 minutes!  Thanks Jon-Jon...13.1 here we come!!!

My running buddy Ambere before the race...

The next time I will come through this exact finish line I will be coming in from 13.1!  I think I can, I think I can, I hope I can!

Here is my Nike Ipod for the race although I just realized my dates and times are off on it.  I didn't run this in June and I certainly did NOT run it at 2:44 a.m.! Ha!  And I forgot to turn it off until I remembered about a minute after running...ugh!

The weather is absolutely perfection here today!  It was a little chilly this morning, but ended up being 70, sunny and windy, perfect for running weather!  So when we got home I got the bright idea to run my long run today.  I ended up running 7 miles in 1 hour 16 minutes, totaling 10 today.  My legs are paying for it today but the weather was in my favor today so I took advantage of it!!!

I do not post these to brag by any means because I am a really slow runner (nothing to brag about!), but I wanted to keep track of my journey to the half marathon.  It is my blog so alot of it just for the (my) record. I am the poster child that ANYBODY can do this!  I struggled on week 1, day 1 like everybody else and had to work hard to get here.  Some days are easier than others and I still have SOOO much more to learn and achieve along the way.  If you think you "can't" do it, give it a try, you might surprise yourself! AND you might actually enjoy it too!  :)

Here are some pics from late Saturday night and Sunday morning of the girls when Precious was here.

Lucy is such a girly girl!

Lucy got to sleep in between the girls on Saturday night and was soooo excited can you tell?!?!

The girls picked out coordinating outfits from Karis' closet so they could look alike.  :)

Tonight we are sitting with the windows open listening to the rustle of the leaves in the wind.  I LOVE Fall weather...bring it on!  WOOHOO!  Looking forward to great weather this week!

Our weekend so far...

Since school has started, Karis has wanted her friend Precious to come spend the night and we just haven't been able to before now.  But Precious was able to come home with Karis from school and spend the night.  She was thrilled!  Last night we had Karis' favorite meal (roast, homemade mashed potatoes/gravy and green beans) and they played dress up, watched a movie, and played with dolls.   They did their makeup themselves...can you tell? haha

All cozied up in their pj's....

Lucy has NOT left their sides from the second Precious walked through the door!  She loves playing with them and the big girls have been so sweet to her.  She even laid between them for an entire movie before bed.  I told her not to get up that it was movie time and she didn't move the whole movie.  We went up to check on them at 10:00 last night and everybody had fallen asleep during the movie EXCEPT Lucy!  When Jay picked her up to come down to her bed, she started crying and wanted to sleep between them ha!  

This morning was so productive!  This past week Jay and I have gone through our house and collected things to take to moms for a yard sale she is having later this month.  So Jay loaded everything up and drove it to moms while I conquered some other things in the mean time....divide and conquer!  After breakfast, I took the kids to the park so I could run.  I ran my usual 3 miles and then we went to vacuum/clean out the car (oh it was soooo bad I was embarrassed!).  Then we got back and I trimmed back bushes and then cleaned out the garage all before lunch woohoo!   I was determined to get all my "chores" done so we could enjoy the rest of the afternoon.  After lunch and a MUCH needed shower, I chilled on the couch and read my book while the kids played some and Jay watched college football.  Then while Lucy was napping, I took the other three to the pool for possibly our last swim of the season...sniff sniff.  

I finished this book and it was so good!

I had originally planned to take Precious home sometime after lunch but when I mentioned it to the girls they didn't want her to go home.  So I mentioned maybe her mom would let her stay until after dinner.  Then I said, "Well Precious when do YOU want to go home?"  She said, "Well what's tomorrow?"  I said, "We have church tomorrow but if your mom lets you, you can stay an extra day and go to church with us tomorrow."  Then Precious said, "Wellllll, how about I stay until Tuesday?"  haha  Needless to say, she is staying until after church tomorrow...I don't think her mom would go for Tuesday haha!

So we came home from swimming and everybody had baths and then we had Karis' second favorite meal, taco salad.  Jay offered to go to the store for me the other night when I was running and as I was getting out the lettuce for tonight's dinner, I noticed it looked a little different.  Check this out...

It is "living" lettuce which caught my attention.  Then I turned it over and it is living...it still had roots!  Pretty neat...never seen such a thing.

We spent the rest of the evening watching the rest of DVR'ed Ole Miss game (pitiful) while I blogged and just chilled.  I love days that are a mix of productivity and relaxation.  They are the best!  Looking forward to tomorrow and an extra long weekend!

End of the work week recap

Just some pics...

Playtime with friends...

These sweet babies, Everett and Hazel, are more and more fun each day.  They grow up so fast and each little phase is fun to watch them grow, learn and play.

Yesterday, I had the two of them playing near each other and I captured a precious moment when they were discovering one another.  Everett was in the bumbo and Hazel was moving around on the floor and she discovered his feet over to her left.  She started grabbing/playing with them and I guess it was tickling him and he was laughing out loud at her.  It was soooo cute!  Then she would laugh back and go back for round two!

Thiiiiiis little piggy went to the market, thiiiiis little piggy stayed home....

Hazel has also discovered toys but really likes to....

...chew on them!

Look at those precious baby blues!

These two will be fast, forever friends very soon!!!

J-U-M-P!

One of the kids favorite things to do is to jump off of this stool in my bedroom.  They do it nearly every day if I allow them.

"On your mark, get set, GO!"  

Lucy, "Axton...get in line ahind (behind) me....Axton, let's hold hands!"  She thinks she is the boss these days!

Now JUMP!

I think they liked it!

Sweet friends :)

Disclaimer:  No one was hurt in the filming of this post!