13 (point one!)

This morning, Jason and I ran the same half-marathon that he ran last year. I can't believe I actually went through with it! Quite honestly, usually I'm a quitter when it comes to things like this. It was the furthest I've ever run and only my 2nd race, so I'm pretty excited that I did it.

I had 3 goals: 1) To finish. Period. 2) To not finish last. 3) To finish in under 2:30. (I know that's not very ambitious...I'm slow and steady; I'm not looking to win any awards.) I'm happy to say I met all 3 goals. I was really nervous 2 weeks before the race, but pretty calm this morning and in the week leading up to it. I think part of me knew I was prepared and part of me figured I'd find a way out of it. The only thing I was worried about was the weather. It was cold...26 degrees at start time, but 19 degrees with the wind chill. It didn't end up being too much of a problem, though.

Thanks to Jason for being so encouraging about training, for running with me, pacing me, and talking to me. Thanks to my parents for taking the kids not only during the race, but last night, too, so I could get a good night's sleep. And to the fun women in my ward who were so willing to go running with me while I trained.

I may never run again. I'm really sore. But (obviously) so proud of myself!

"Shows Initiative"

Colin's really into climbing lately. And getting his own snacks. And doesn't seem to feel guilty about it, either.

Another Year

I've been blogging for over a year now, and it's brought to my attention that our lives are incredibly redundant. And I don't just mean the little things...cleaning the same dishes, washing the same clothes, fixing the same jam-and-butter-sandwiches-on-white-bread-with-the-crusts-cut-off, but the big annual events, too. I think I could just take pictures of my kids each year and superimpose them into the same scenes...pumpkin patches, beaches, sledding hills. We'd still do that stuff, of course, but maybe I could leave my camera home and stop trying to capture the moment.

All this just to say that we went to the annual NC State Fair (again, and will go again next year), that we rode the rides (again), ate fried food (again), and had tons of fun (again). You can see Ethan riding the slide last year, and below. And eating a deep-fried twinkie last year, and below (and in the same arena, even).

We did mix it up a little this year. First, we were joined by my parents for the first part of the night, and then by our friend Ryan and his 2-year-old son, Oliver, for some rides (above) and for the demolition derby. To be really honest, I didn't even know exactly what a demolition derby was. (It's bumper cars with real cars just in case I'm not the last person on earth to figure this out.) It was extremely entertaining. Ethan was really into it, and Jason had the time of his life. The car below was one of our favorites. This is right after they put out a fire under its hood. And it was still competing. It lost more than one tire, and was still competing. It was disqualified after the second fire, or the driver would have kept right on going. Crazy. All the pictures above are from Saturday night. Jason and I went alone on Friday night to check it out. We had a little friendly carnival game competition between us. One of the things we did was shoot 20-gauge shotguns at a paper target. Twelve people compete at a time. It was me, Jason, another girl, and 9 men. Guess who won? That would be me. I won a 12-pound frozen turkey. The funny thing is, I was the only one that needed help loading the gun. I shot a 12-gauge shotgun when I was 16 (and I was the oldest one there...you gotta love Idaho), but haven't picked up a shotgun since. It was either beginner's luck or I'm a natural with a shotgun. I'm not planning to find out which it is. Stay tuned for more state fair pictures...exactly one year from now.

Happy Halloween!

Preschool fun... ...and games"I will get candy." "Score!" Sugar highs.

Fall Farm

Last week my mom took me, my sister-in-law, and our 4 kids to a local farm. We had so much fun. We went for a hay ride (picture below), picked out pumpkins, ran through the maze, fed the animals and fish, raced plastic ducks (Ethan's favorite part) and went down the slide (well, everyone but me). The only good slide picture I got was of my sister-in-law LaDonna, and I'm not sure I could get her permission to put it on here. She looked very cute, of course. You can see Ethan going down the same slide last year here. Last time we went, Colin was 9 days old, so he enjoyed it much more this time.

We had to leave before we were done having fun to get to preschool, which was very sad for the boys. Their cousins stayed and played for hours. There's a train, a moon bounce, and a gazebo filled with corn kernels to play in. It's not as weird as it sounds.

Thanks for a great morning, Grandma!

This morning

We were sitting at the table doing some art work when Ethan suddenly put his hand up to his ear and started "talking" on the phone:

"Hello?"

(pause)

"We're just doing some art for our friends from our field trip." [That's how he refers to our vacation.]

(pause)

"Yeah, we're going to do that a little later."

(pause)

"No, we're not going to do that because I don't have enough dollars."

(pause)

"What?"

(pause)

"What? What?? HELLO??"

(pause)

He puts his hand down on the table, looks at me, and says, "I guess my cell phone's broken, too." [Jason and I have both been having problems with our iPhones and AT&T's service. Ethan's over it.]

Grass at Last!

We finally had our sod laid last week. We are excited to have a yard instead of piles of red clay.

This one is taken from the cul-de-sac across the street. You can see the retention pond across from the house, the townhouses to the right, and our neighbors to the left.

The view approaching the house from the front of the neighborhood. Notice Ethan thwarting Colin’s attempts to crawl into the street. The back of the house from the back left corner of the property.

Looking along the right side of the house toward the front of the property.

Now we just need the temps to warm up a little so we can go out and enjoy it!