Haircuts, Dance Recitals and Christmas!

Which one of these children does not want to have their picture taken?

I'm sure that all of you can relate with me when I say that I love the Christmas Season and everything that goes with it, but it sure does get EXTRA busy during this time of year. We have had a busy couple of weeks, hence the lack of blog time. Knock on wood, but we have finally got our kids back to being healthy. Since Thanksgiving it has been one thing or another. First it was the coughs that took over 2 weeks to disappear. Then it was sore throats and fevers. Needless to say I have bumped up the number of times that we use hand sanitizer.

A couple of weeks ago we decided it was time for Trey to get his first haircut! As he is my first boy, this was definitely a new experience having to cut hair this early in life. I don't think Bayley had her first haircut until she was 3 and Kendal was almost 3 when she had her first haircut. Let me just say, that it is much more difficult getting a 16 month old to understand what is going on during a haircut. I decided he might cooperate more fully if he had a tootsie pop...bad idea. As soon as the hair started falling, it was all over the tootsie pop and all in Trey's mouth. And I really don't think it help much at all, because he screamed the entire time anyway. He looks so grown up with his haircut. At 16 months, he is extremely busy and into everything. He has figured out the art of climbing and will scale anything he can. He has surpised me a couple of times when I have found him stuck on top of the kitchen table, at the top of the coffee table, or on top of the bathroom stool!

Last weekend Bayley was able to be in her first parade. She had just commented to me the week before that she loved watching parades, but when would she be able to be in a parade. Well, that night at swim practice her coach announced that the swim team would be in the local Christmas parade the next week. Bayley was so excited and so cute sitting on the small swim team float. After it was all said and done though, I think she likes watching a parade more than being in a parade.

Kendal's first dance recital was last night. Spencer and Leigh as well as Grandma and Grandpa "G" came in from Georgia to watch the girls in their Christmas Dance Recital. Kendal was absolutely adorable performing to "Rockin' Christmas". There was a lot of jumping around, swinging arms and a little dancing. Bayley performed to "White Christmas". She has come a long way in 3 years. She didn't miss a step. She looked so grown up and was so good. I am so proud of them both!

This week is Bayley's last week of school. We have a couple of more Christmas parties, Christmas cards to get out, and treats to make for the neighbors, so it should be another fun-filled week!

Memphis Marathon

This weekend was the culmination of 16 weeks of training and dedication to running. After running 5 days a week for the last 4 months, most of the running done at 5 a.m. in the morning, I ran my first 1/2 marathon on Saturday. I can now check that off my list of "Things I would like to try". I am not a natural long distance runner, so this was a bit of a challenge for me. However, I have grown a new appreciation for running longer distances and the fun you can have doing it. I probably would have never have run a 1/2 marathon if it hadn't been for Jan, one of my old basketball teammates at Morehead State. She invited myself and 2 other ex-teammates, Shawne and Crystal, to train with her for this run. We all met up on Friday night before the race and enjoyed catching up and talking about how "crazy" we were to run. The race itself was exciting. There were approximately 12,000 runners, some serious and some not so serious. The course took us through downtown Memphis which is filled with history and is actually very beautiful. I set my goal time to finish the race in under 2 hours and 20 minutes, but I would have loved to have finished in under 2 hours and 10 minutes. Ultimately, I finished in 2 hours and 11 minutes after pooping out the last 3 miles. I'm not going to lie...running the last 3 miles of the race was one of the hardest things I have ever done physically. It was tough and every part of my body hurt towards the end. At the finish line, I vowed to never run a 1/2 marathon again, but my friend Jan said just wait, tomorrow you will start planning for your next one. I have to say she was right...I am already contemplating training for another race this spring. I love being in shape and when you are running this much you can eat just about whatever you want...and I LOVE to eat! Jeff and the kids accompanied me to Memphis and spent most of the time at the hotel. Unfortunately the kids are still a little under the weather, so we weren't able to do as much as we would have liked in Memphis. However, after our visit we definitely will visit Memphis again and hopefully get to do a few more things!