Country Music Madness

The only picture of Leigh and I at the race

16 weeks of training, many early morning runs (5 am), logging way too many miles on a treadmill, passing the finish line in Nashville....priceless! I did it, again. I can't believe I signed up for the craziness of training and running another 1/2 marathon, but I did. They are almost becoming addictive...almost. My time was 2 hours 12 minutes and 45 seconds. Not my best time, but I'll take it any day. I'm not a long distance runner...in fact I really don't enjoy running unless their is a ball that I am chasing, however I run to stay in shape and so that I will be able to eat what I want to eat. It was a lot of fun this time training and running with my sister-in-law, Leigh. She is a much better runner than I, so she keeps me motivated to want to do better. Maybe next time I can hang...but don't count on it.

The kids and I drove up to Nashville Friday morning so that we could do some fun stuff while we were there. We spent some time at the Expo gathering free goodies and then the kids and I headed off to the Adventure Science Museum. We got in free because we are members of our local science museum, which was great for me, and the kids enjoyed the new stuff at this museum and had a great time.Trey the crazy ambulance driverKendal working hard to get her heart pumping

After the museum we headed to the hotel for some swimming, then dinner and then we called it an early night. Leigh and I headed out about 5:15 am for the race, but due to traffic we barely made our start time of 7 am. It was crazy running with 40,000 people. That is a lot of people....and running 13.1 miles surrounded by and dodging hot sweaty people just adds to the exhaustion. Jeff and the kids attempted to make it to the finish line, but there were just too many people. I totally appreciate that they even attempted to come and I was very glad they were able to find me and pick me up so I didn't have to walk home.

We had a great time and I'm glad I did it. However, I am very much looking forward to doing something other than running when I go to the gym next week, whether it be a spin class, the elliptical, or weight training.

The kids had a great couple of days. Besides going to Nashville, Thursday night was their Family Fun Fair at school. It's basically the school's big fundraiser where they have a big carnival with rides, games, food, etc. Bayley was stoked because she won once doing the cake walk and once doing the teacher treat bag (a bag full of treats). They all had a great time and walked away exhausted and happy. Kendal also had a softball game that night. She continues to improve and understand what's going on each and every game. In fact, Thursday night she was playing short stop and made an unassisted out at second base on a ground ball. We were all very excited!
Kendal at bat
Sunday picture

10 Years...Seems Like Just Yesterday

As of April 22, 2010, Jeff and I have been married for 10 years! So hard to believe. We were reflecting last night on what 10 years has gotten us:

• 4 Beautiful Children - Bayley, Kendal, Trey and Adison. They are all so much fun!




• 8 moves to 4 different states.



• A new career. When we married 10 years ago we both were planning on Jeff retiring from the military. The Lord led us down a different path and now we are enjoying our current employment with Pfizer.



• Numerous church calling which have helped us grown and learn.



• Experience!

• Good times and great memories!



• A better life than I ever even imagined!!

Happy Anniversary Jeff! I sure do love ya! We are planning on taking a short trip once I can ensure that my sweet Adison can go a couple days without her food source (me).

Chicks

Better Late than Never

I've been neglecting blogging this year for one reason or another. In the back of my mind I always have a list of what I need to blog about and why, so today's post is my better late than never post. The biggest reason why I blog is to document/journal what is going on in our lives right now. We have definitely had quite a few things happen in the last couple of weeks so here are the highlights.

Spring Break 2010

The girls had spring break from school the 3rd week in March, way too early if you ask me. It was still quite cold outside and from what I have heard it was even colder down south at the beach, so we decided to hang out here in good old Birmingham and do some of the fun stuff around here. Our first trip was to the McWane Science Center. It is a great big science museum filled with fun stuff for all ages. It seems like everyone else on spring break had the same idea that day, but despite the large crowds the kids had a great time. We liked it so much we headed back again on Wednesday where once again we fought huge crowds, but still had a good time. Our next mini-trip was up to Huntsville, Alabama to the Space & Rocket Museum. To tell you the truth I was expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised by the large amount of activities and exhibits for the kids to enjoy. We had a great time and I definitely think we will try to make it back up there sometime this summer. Friday we spent the morning at the mall where Kendal got her nails painted, then we met Jeff for lunch and Jeff and Bayley headed to the movies to see the Lightening Thief. Spring break flew by, but overall I think the kids had a good time. I always think it is a good sign that the girls were excited to head back to school the next week, however it definitely made us all pretty anxious for summer to come along.

Adison is 6 Months

Hard to believe my baby is already 6 months old. I took her for her check up and she weighed 15 pounds 7 ounces and was 261/2 inches long, which equates to 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. She is a funny girl, definitely a momma's girl. Her demeanor reminds me quite a bit of Kendal's when she was this age. She is a happy baby, however she is not one to quickly smile at strange faces...she will study you out first. She has just started rolling over and sitting up on her own. She grabs at just about everything and thinks that all things are intended for her. She is most entertained by her big brother Trey who can get her to crack up just by walking by. She refuses to take a bottle, which has made her and I pretty much inseparable. I am working on getting her to use a sippy cup, but she is stubborn enough to give me a good fight each time I do. It is so much fun to watch her little personality develop. She is such a great addition to our family.

Trey's Surgery

Last Friday was Trey's surgery to have his tooth removed. Jeff accompanied him to the hospital, which worked out well so that I could stay home with Adison as well as prepare for Kendal's birthday party that afternoon. The surgery was first thing in the morning and everything went well during the surgery, however as Trey was waking up I guess he bit his tongue pretty good. In fact I think Jeff was more concerned about Trey's tongue than the missing tooth. Now that we are 4 days post-operation, the tongue has definitely given us much more difficulty than anything else. He is still pretty sore, however the swelling has gone down dramatically. The only other complication Trey had was a little bit of nausea after the surgery. Jeff had promised to take Trey to Krispy Kreme donuts after the surgery since Trey wasn't allowed to eat all morning. Well I guess as Jeff was checking out at the register he sat Trey on the counter at which point Trey began to projectile vomit all over the store. Jeff said it was awesome...not in a good way. He also puked one more time on the way home, but did a good job of hitting the bag. Other than those few things we are glad to have Trey on the mend. I'm definitely kind of sad that he is now missing a tooth. It makes him look to grown up. Fortunately it is a bottom tooth, so he still has his infectious smile intact.

Kendal's 6th Birthday

Yesterday was Kendal's 6th birthday. She has been counting down the days until her birthday for at least 6 months, so we are excited that yesterday finally came. She had her birthday party last Friday at our house and invited a few friends from school and church to help her celebrate. We decided to keep with the theme of the weekend, which was Easter, so we had an Easter egg hunt, decorate bags for the Easter eggs, decorated cupcakes, and played lots of games. Overall the party went well, however, next year I will remember better how tired my cute Kendal is by Friday afternoon. It was her party and she decided to "cry because she wanted to" just because she wasn't winning all of the games. I love the competitive spirit, however, the crying could have been saved for another day. Yesterday for her birthday she wanted cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Trey, Adison and I took cookies into her classroom during snack time and for dinner we told her she could eat anywhere she wanted and she picked good old Chick-fil-A. After Chick-fil-A her daddy talked her into dropping by Krispy Kreme's for dessert and then we headed to the ball field for her softball game. It was a busy fun day!

Here are a few things about Kendal at 6 years old:

• Kendal is a great helper when she wants to be. Trey will be throwing a fit over picking up or putting on his shoes, and Kendal will step in and offer to help him just about everytime. I can always count on her to help me fold laundry and most of the time do just about any chore without complaining.


• Kendal is very competitive. She loves games and she loves winning. She is playing softball and so far I think she likes it all right. She is the youngest on the team, so she is learning lots this year. I think by next year she could be one of the stars if she decides that what she wants to do.


• Kendal loves to write. As a result of her love for writing, her reading is coming right along. She is picking things up very quickly and surprises herself often with her abilities.


• Kendal can still be a firecracker, however she is definitely toning it down as she gets older.


• We love our Kendal and are so glad that she is a part of our family.

Easter and Conference Weekend

We had a wonderful Easter and Conference weekend. It was so nice to listen and enjoy the words of our church leaders. Jeff and I definitely were reminded of the importance of our roles as parents. I'm sure over the next six months we will spend much time studying the great council given to help us to be better parents to our great children.

It was a nice treat to be able to spend all day Easter Sunday here at home listening to conference. The kids set up their sleeping bags so that they too could listen as they worked on a few quiet activities to help with the reverence. We played games after conference and dinner and overall had a great day.

Definitely a long post, but a much needed one.