The Jacksonville Bank Half Marathon

Last Sunday I participated in the Jacksonville Bank Half Marathon. This almost didn't happen because Brian had a change in his work schedule at the last minute. Fortunately, I have the best mom in the world and she woke up a 3 a.m. to come to my house and watch the kids so that I could run. This was the last race in the Tri-2B-Tuff half marathon series (three half marathons in three months). I really enjoyed this race. The marathoners (aka- the crazy people) ran a portion of the same course as the halfers, so I was able to stay with a pacing group for the first couple of miles. This really helped me out. My time was 1:56:37, which put me under the two hour mark (finally). I was thrilled with my time. This was a great way to round out the year.





Since this is my last race of the year, I would like to take a moment to reflect on what a great running year this has been. I ran eleven 5Ks, two 10Ks, one 15K, four half marathons, and one duathlon. I set a PR in each category except the 10K. I am currently (and excitedly) working on my running schedule for next year. One of my goals is to run more half marathons. I find that this is my favorite distance for racing, and I want to do more of those. I am also hoping to purchase a quality bike and work toward more duathlons. This may or may not happen- we'll see how the money goes. I think that I also want to try a mud/obstacle run next year, so I'm on the lookout for one of those. I've got a rough draft of a schedule sketched out already, so if any of you run or are looking to start running next year- let me know. We'll carpool =)

Olivia's Christmas Dance Performance

Olivia's dance class had a short presentation for the parents this week. The girls were given cute little reindeer ears to wear with their leotards. Olivia's class presented two routines- a ballet and a tap. Olivia did well in both. Here is a link to a video of the ballet routine, which was the better of the two. (The link will open youtube). The video is about a minute and a half long. As you can see, the girls do a great job until the end- then someone starts fooling around and they all catch a case of the giggles. Enjoy!

Children's Christmas Play

The kids had a small part in the children's Christmas program at church this year. Owen was a sheep, and Olivia was a shepard girl. The pre-k group sang two songs- including "Baby Jesus" (see video below). Those pre-k kids know that they have lots of energy. I get tired just watching them. After the play was over, we enjoyed finger food with our church family. Santa made a guest appearance, and the kids got to sit on his lap. Olivia asked for a pillow pet for the second year in a row. She did get one last year, but she wants a pillow pet "family". We couldn't get Owen to talk to Santa, but he did sit on his lap. I was a little disappointed that Owen wouldn't tell Santa what he wanted because he is so hard to buy for. He hardly ever asks for anything- which is pretty much the opposite of what Olivia does.

Run, Reindeer, Run!

The kids and I participated in the YMCA Reindeer Run 5K and 1 mile races this morning. Ava and Claire, who have apparently been bitten by the running bug, also participated. The kids were given reindeer ears to wear during the race, and Santa came all the way from the North Pole to help the little "reindeer" stretch before running. Owen and Olivia did not run fast, but I'm so proud of them for not giving up. All of the kids made it across the finish line- some (Ava) faster than others (Owen)- and received medals for participating. After their run was over, Hannah took the kids to the playground area while I ran the 5K. My friend Krystial and my sister Quincy were also running in the 5K, so we all lined up to begin. I started the race at a good pace and was able to keep it up the entire time. I finished with a new PR of 24:30, and I won first in my age division. I received a medal and a Christmas ornament as a prize. To be honest, I was surprised that my time as good as it was because I've not been able to be on the road much lately. This was my last 5K of the year, so I'm glad to have PR'd .

Christmas Parade 2011

Monday was our town's annual Christmas parade. The theme was "Light up the Night", and all of the floats were decked out with Christmas lights. In fact, the entire downtown area was set up to impress. There was Christmas music playing on the downtown speaker system, there were vendors selling glow sticks and funnel cakes, and they were giving away free cookies and hot chocolate at the bank. We met up with the Murrays, Walkers, and Boyettes at our "usual spot". Daddy had parked his truck early to ensure that we got to be in our desired location. Before the parade began, the man from the newspaper came and took a picture of daddy with the kids (similar to the one posted on this page), and it ended up in this week's edition. The kids were really into the parade this year. They were so excited to see all of the floats and to catch the candy. The highlight of the parade was that a local costume company had people out walking in some of their costumes- including Mickey, Minnie, Dora, Spiderman, Hello Kitty, Barney, and Mario- to name a few. When this group of characters got near to us, all of the smaller children from both sides of the street ran out to give them hugs. I think that Olivia successfully hugged 75% of the characters. She was on a mission. As always, the parade ended with Santa Claus. The weather was just perfect, and everyone had a great time at the parade.

More Swim Lessons

In August, Olivia completed a session of swim lessons at the YMCA. It went so well that I enrolled both her and Owen in the October-November session. Today was the last lesson of the session, and there was a little awards ceremony at the beginning. Each kid received a repot card that charted their progress and a medal for their effort. Owen completed the level 1 requiremets this session, and Olivia completed level 3. The kids absolutely love swimming lessons and they look forward to going to the YMCA every week. I am sure that we will continue lessons with both kids after the new year.

Subaru Distance Classic

I earned my meal on Thanksgiving morning by running the Subaru Distance Classic Half Marathon. This is the second half marathon in the Tri-2B-Tuff racing series. The course was nice- it went through a residential neighborhood in the Orange Park area of Jacksonville. I finished with a new PR of 2:01:00. I was a little disappointed because I was hoping to break the two hour mark and I didn't. Still, this is my fastest time to date and I do have one more half to run before the end of the year. Hopefully I'll meet this goal at the Jacksonville Bank Half Marathon in December.

Decorating the "New" Tree

I'm glad that I didn't buy a new Christmas tree last year because I got a "new" one this year. Actually, Granny Buie got a new one and I got her old one. My "new" tree is definitely an upgrade over my old one. The old one was being held together by tape- literally. The kids were excited about the new tree, and they couldn't wait to decorate it. We started by hanging the ornaments that we had collected during the year. Owen and Olivia each had new ornaments from Disney World, Hilton Head Island, Lancaster, and Saint Augustine. About two minutes after taking the picture with the new ornaments, Owen dropped his Disney ornament and it shattered into a million pieces. So, he is now the proud owner of a non-breakable Cinderella's castle ornament (that use to be mine). The kids had a great time decorating the tree, and the finished product looks pretty good.

Fire Station Field Trip

Olivia's Pre-K class had its second field trip today. The kids were able to visit a local fire station and 911 call center. Brian was off work and was able to go with them. At the fire station the kids learned what to do in case of a fire. They also practiced how to crawl under the smoke and were allowed to help spray the fire hose. Every kid was given a firefighter hat as a reminder of their trip. Here are some pictures from today's excursion.

Poppell Farms Field Trip

This past week Olivia's Pre-K class took their first field trip of the year. They went to Poppell Farms. This trip had originally been scheduled for mid-October, but had to be changed due to bad weather. Brian was going to chaperone, but the rescheduling (and a mandatory conference call) left him unable to attend. Fortunately Cassie was in Blackshear for Halloween and stepped in at the last minute to go with Olivia's class on the field trip. All of the pictures and details of the trip were provided by Cassie. Olivia's class participated in a variety of activities- they saw farm animals, took a hay ride, played on the bouncy thing, and rode the cow train. Each student was also allowed to choose a small pumpkin to bring home. Olivia told me that she picked a "perfect" pumpkin, and she was very excited to show it to me when I picked her up. Olivia was especially excited that Aunt Cassie was able to go with her. From what I hear, everyone had a great time.

Halloween in the Merry Old Land of Oz

We kept with our tradition of having a family "theme" for Halloween this year by dressing as the characters from the Wizard of Oz. This was a no-brainer given the kids' absolute obsession with this movie. This year's theme was made even more elaborate by Cassie and Quincy- who dressed as Glinda (The Good Witch) and Elphaba (The Wicked Witch). Once again, we met up with our family at Granny Buie's house and then went trick-or-treating in her neighborhood. The kids did a great job of going house to house this year. All Brian and I had to do was pull up to a house in the golf cart, and the kids hopped out and went up to the house on their own. We didn't have to get out of the golf cart much at all. Like last year, we got lots of positive comments about our family costumes. Once it got dark, we went back to Granny's house to help hand out candy to those who were still trick-or-treating. Cassie and Quincy were there holding down the fort, and they had it rocking. They took passing out candy to a whole new level by creating a "Wicked" theme at Granny's house. They even had the "Wicked" soundtrack playing in the background. They were a definite hit, and several people came up to get a picture of the good and wicked witches. Below are some of the pictures we took. As you can probably, we had lots of fun with this theme. Everyone did a good job of getting into character.

The Georgia/Florida Game

My two favorite college football teams are Georgia and anyone who's playing against Florida. The Georgia/Florida rivarly is legendary. Although Georgia hasn't won this game since 2007, they were favored to win this year. I love college football, but I haven't really been able to go to a game since I had Olivia. So, when my dad called last week to ask me if I wanted to go with him to the Georgia/Florida game, I jumped at the chance. (I mean, are you kidding? Go see the Dawgs whoop up on some Gators? Yes, please.) The GA/FL game is always played in Jacksonville, so daddy and I loaded up early on Saturday morning and made our way to EverBank Field. We arrived early enough that we were able to walk around and check out the "scene". We waited for the players to arrive and we cheered for them as they got off the buses. We actually had a really good spot for seeing this (check out my photo of quarterback Aaron Murray). After watching the players enter, we went into the stadium ourselves. I was surprised to learn that Anna and her husband were also at the game and were sitting near-ish to us. I went and talked to them a bit as we watched the teams warm up.



















As kickoff approached, the stadium began to fill with fans. Georgia got off to a slow start, and the score was 17-3 Florida for a good part of the first half. Georgia began to show improvement before halftime, and then made a comeback during the second half. Georgia ended up winning 24-20. The movement from being behind to winning made all of the Georgia fans really excited. The stadium was LOUD, and it was awesome. I'm surprised that I'm not hoarse from all of the cheering I did. When the game was over, the stadium erupted. The fans were cheering all of the way out of the stadium and into the parking lot. To say that the atmosphere was festive would be an understatment. It was so much fun. I know that it will probably be awhile before I get to go to another Georgia game. But, if I only get to go to one game every couple of years, I'm glad that THIS was the game I got to see.

And as a sidenote- Brian was also excited for the win, even though he is a Florida State fan. (No, I don't know how it happened that he likes the Seminoles, but at least he's not a Gator).