What a great weekend!

Hiking down the mountain. It was quite slick and steep toward the top!
Taking a break!

How cute are they!!!!

Here we are making our way down Stone Mountain. We weren't quite brave enough to trek up the mountain, which probably was a smart idea because going down wasn't a cakewalk either! We were thankful for the nice semi-cool day and semi-cool water fountains at the bottom of the mountain!!!

Friends!

These are such precious children!!!

Our usual self-shot!!!

We spent the day yesterday at Stone Mountain Park in Georgia. We had such a great time! I haven't been since I was 11 years old and it has changed so much! The kids had such a great time. (I would have had pictures of this awesome ropes course they did.....but my camera was dead and I had to ask a lady behind a sales desk to plug it in for me. ARRRRRGGGHHH! Thankfully, that worked and I had pictures for the rest of the day.) Our time just flew by and I am sure we could have spent another day there. I am so thankful for such great friends. It just wouldn't have been the same without them!!!

I am loving baseball...esp. this cutie!!!

This is James' first season of spring baseball and he loves it!

He is the lead-off batter and he gets on base every time he is up!

He is catching on quickly...I, on the other hand, do not know very much about baseball, but that has not stopped me from yelling.....um...cheering!!!

I am slowly learning the terms and Brian lets me know if I have called out, 'play is at 2nd', but in fact the play is not at 2nd. I am sure the coaches just love me!!!

Well, I am just trying to be supportive, so most of the time I stick with phrases like, '3 up, 3 down' and 'let's get this out', and 'way to watch the ball'. These usually work!

We are really enjoying the family time at the ballpark. It is just great!!!

Look at that form!Emma and Rose-just some of the adoring fans!
He is a lot more brave than I would be!

Emma is making sure James is not thirsty!!!

The Marathon!!!

I cannot even begin to describe what a wonderful experience this was for me. I started training for this marathon the weekend after Thanksgiving. So, if you do the math, it took me about 4 and 1/2 months. In that time span, I have learned to both love and hate running... but I think I have ended up on the love end of it. Doing this has taught me more than just the love of running. It has taught me that I am capable of more than I think, and that it isn't all about winning or going the fastest, but doing your best and being happy while doing it. ( As Anna told me....Mama, you are not a Kenyan!)

My goal was to finish with no broken bones in my feet (which I wasn't so sure that was going to happen since I am EXTREMELY flat-footed), and to cross the finish line with a smile on my face! I accomplished both of these, thanks to my BFF, Monica, and had such a great time doing it! While this will probably be the one and only marathon for me, I will definitely keep running and I might just have a new running partner! Brian said he will do a half with me in the fall!!!!

I know we still look so fresh, but this is mile 9!

Mile 18... we had had a tough few miles!!! Thanks for the support girls!!!

Down the shoot!

Monica,

I don't even know how to say thank you to you!

You are such a wonderful friend and I am sure God has brought you into my life to show me how to be a better person. I never would have even thought about running a marathon if you hadn't suggested it! The half was going to be a push for me, but you said I could do the whole 26.2 and I believed you. Thank you for spending your Saturday mornings with me, running and talking. I don't think the training for this could have been more enjoyable!

You know you are blessed with a true friend when you are inspired to be better every time you are around them. I have that in you.
Thank you! I love you!!!

2nd marathon post!!!

A hug for my biggest supporter right after the finish line!

Brian, thank you for taking care of our precious babies all of the long hours it took for me to train for this. I could not have done it without you!

I love you!!!

I am so glad my Dad got to come to this very special day for me!!!

Thanks for all of your cheers, Dad!!!


My support group!

Dad, Alli, and Mel,

Thank you for all of your support, your cheers, your smiling faces, especially on MILE 18 ( I really needed that!), and especially for the memories on the car ride to Nashville that I never will forget! You are all so precious to me and I can't thank you enough for being there for me!

I love you!!!

Wow! I can't believe it!!!

Phil. 4:13...as it says on the back of my shirt!!!

Here we go again!!!

Last night, we were having dinner at church with the youth group and Luke knocked his front tooth out!!!
He is still the cutest 3 year-old I know!!!

That brings to mind something similar that happened with James.....at church. He knocked THE SAME TOOTH out at church when he was 2!!! I knew they were alike, but WOW!!! When it happened last night, James said, 'Luke, you knocked your first tooth out!' , like it is just supposed to happen! Well, I guess with my boys....it is!

Snow and Snakes!!!

First of all, I don't think I will ever get the hang of this program! The snow pictures were supposed to be first, but we will just go with it!!!!

We all know we had some beautiful snow last Sunday and we did get a chance to play in it for a few minutes before church. It was very nice!

On Thursday, we went out to the Alabama Wildlife Federation place.......I don't really know what it is called, but I will definitely be going back. There was a live snake encounter and the kids just loved it!

Yep, I have to admit.....I thought it was called a 'bald' python. Just for all of you out there like me, it is actually a balled python.

This snake was pretty cool. I just held it in one hand while I had my camera in the other, trying to get the kids in position to take their pictures! Anything for the shot, right?


This one was my favorite! It is a corn snake and it is very pretty!!!!!

My fam!!!!

Yep, go ahead and make the one snowball for the year, James!!!

Happy President's Day!

Who doesn't love chocolate icing?!!!
Our penny cake!

Yummy!

My little generals!

We had a great time Monday, celebrating President's Day with Monica and her children! Yes, we actually celerated the presidents on President's Day! We made George Washington hats, read books and made a chocolate penny cake! Fun, Fun, Fun!!!

Well, I did it!

Monica and me after the race!

She is the best, and could have EASILY smoked me if she wanted to......but she didn't!!!!
I think my HUGE smile says it all!
13.1 miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have to say, that was EASILY the hardest thing I have ever done. About 5 miles into it, I was thinking......I don't know if this is all I thought it was going to be.......I just don't know about this.......when is nap time????? Granted, I have only been training for less than 3 months and I probably shouldn't have ignored the days on my schedule that said 'cross train'. Also, I should have eaten something before the race! Yeah, I know that was silly!!!! All of that might have helped! And I KNOW could have been better on my diet! I guess I can call myself a runner now, and therefore I need to eat more like one!!! My official time was 2:17! If I continue to be blessed with good health I will be looking forward to more races and better times in the future!!! My marathon is in 8 weeks and I am going to do another half before then!!! I will keep you posted!!!

It is just amazing!

Look how tiny it is!

Anna has now been taking violin lessons for 1 month. She just loves it! You know how you hope and pray that your child will find that one thing or talent that he/she was just meant for. Well, I think that Anna has found hers! Playing the violin just comes naturally to her. What a blessing! (and I am only a TAD bit jealous!)

What a blessed year!!!

I already stated that I was training for a marathon, but I didn't say why. Well, I am turning the big 30 this year and I feel like I am at such a great place in life. I needed to do something that made me feel good about myself. I have always had great admiration for runners. Their endurance, hard work, discipline and even their nutritional values have always impressed me, so I thought I would try a 1/2 marathon. Well, when I told my great friend Monica about it........she convinced me that I could do a FULL MARATHON!!! Of course, I couldn't say, 'I can't do that!!!!!!' (After all, this is my year!) So, I started to train in November and with Monica's help I am getting there! I ran 10 miles on Saturday! It was the longest I have ever gone, and without even walking once!!! My 1/2 marathon is in two weeks and I am so excited. God has blessed me through my training. I am still feeling great and my children see what hard work and discipline looks like!

This is so sad...

Christmas Day!!! Anna and her new bike. She didn't think she would be able to ride such a big bike, but she mastered it in a few minutes....like she does with everything!
We went for a family Christmas bike ride. He made it all the way to the park.....but not quite all the way home! He worked really hard!!!

Christmas morning!

Look how big he is! He loves FINALLY having a good bike!!! He is such an athlete!

Anna with her 'Old Papa'

My precious ones!!!

Well, here we are at the very end on January, and I just TODAY downloaded my Christmas pictures!!! Wow! I guess that is a testament to how busy I am....or how lazy, I am not sure which one! Well, we were very blessed this Christmas! We had a great trip down to FL and then came home Christmas Eve to wake up in our own home Christmas morning! Here are some pictures of our 'good times'!

An update on our fam!!!

I know it has been a while, but here is where we are right now....
Brian- 1)Being a great youth minister 2)working hard on school

James- 1)very eagerly awaiting baseball sign-ups 2) after watching faulkner basketball games, he is now eagerly awaiting next year's sign-ups for basketball too!!!

Anna- 1)has just started violin lessons and it is PRECIOUS!!!

Luke- 1) working hard at his one goal in life....making us all laugh!!!

Me- 1) I am enjoying school with my kids 2) spending most of my spare time training for a marathon!!! I am up to 8.5 miles. I never thought that would be possible. 3) making a resolution to be better at keeping up with my blog.....really.