One Last Hurrah

We have certainly enjoyed our season passes to Wild Adventures this year.  The kids and I went numerous times during the summer and had tons of fun in the park and adjacent waterpark.  Fun as the passes were, we have decided not to renew in 2013.  A big reason for this is that Owen now has tubes in his ears and can't get them wet- so we're going to try to do non-water based activities this summer (as mush as possible).  Since our 2012 passes are still good, we decided to have one last hurrah at the park this past week.  Of course the waterpark was closed, but we still had plenty to do.  We rode the rides, saw a show with a talking Christmas tree, and saw the animals.  The kids were happy to ride all of their favorite rides one last time.

Jacksonville Bank Half Marathon

 I ran the Jacksonville Bank Half Marathon on my birthday this year.  This marked the first race where I ran in my new age group (35-39).  I'm getting old. The race was pretty good and I ran okay.  I had hoped to PR, but that didn't happen.  I didn't get to train as much as I would have liked in the two weeks leading up to the race and it was warm and muggy on the morning of the event.  I ended up with a time of 2.04.03, which I'm okay with.  This race was the last in the Tri-2B-Tuff series, so I got a special medal for completing all three races.

Since this is my last race of 2012, I would like to take a moment to reflect on what a great year of running this has been.  I ended up completing ten 5Ks, three 10Ks, one 15K, a five-miler, four half marathons, one duathlon, and one mud run.  I PRd in the 10K and 15K distance.  Also, I won overall female in two different 5K events and placed in my age group in several others.  In April I bought a road bike and I've enjoyed learning to use it.  One of my favorite things that happened this year was that I found some new running buddies- including my sister Quincy, whose progress this year has been amazing.

I have begun to work on my running calendar for 2013, and it's shaping up to be a good year.  I have made the decision to run my first full marathon next year, so that should be exciting.  I'm also considering a triathlon, but I haven't decided for sure.  Other things on my "to do" list include more mud runs, spending more time on my bike, and trying to improve my 5K time.  As always, if anyone is interested in running with me, let me know.  It's always fun.

Christmas Morning

I really had a hard time buying gifts for the kids this year.  They don't really need much, and they didn't ask for a whole lot either.  The one thing that they did want was a laptop.  The laptop ended up being the one "big" thing that Santa brought. This was really like a gift to Brian and myself.  Maybe now the kiddos will stay off of our computers.  In addition to the computer, Olivia and Owen also received clothes, art supplies, and various other goodies from Santa.

Our Christmas morning began around 7:30.  I'm so glad that the kids still sleep in on Christmas morning.  I remember that my siblings and I use to get up around 4 a.m.- which I thought was cool when I was younger (not anymore).  Anyway, the kids played with their Santa gifts for a few hours while I went to the church to see if I could help with the Christmas breakfast.  When I got back home it was time to open the gifts under the tree.  Brian and I gave Olivia a dollhouse for her Barbies, and we gave Owen some G.I. Joe toys.  The toys that ended up being the most popular were the Dream Light pillow thing that I picked up at the last minute.  That was the "one thing" that they both chose to take to Granny Buie's house for Christmas dinner.  Although it was a fun day, it was very tiring.  I had to come home after lunch to take a nap.  We ended the night by reading the Christmas story out of the Bible and talking about the true meaning of Christmas.  I know that it is easy to get swept up in all of the "stuff" that goes on at Christmas.  I think it's okay to participate in these festivities, but I also feel it's important for us to remember what it is we're truly celebrating.  I really tried to drive that point home with the kids this year, and I think that   they got it (as well as 4 and 6-year-olds can).

Christmas Eve

We kept with the tradition of spending Christmas Eve at my parents' house this year.  This is always such a fun time for everyone to be together.  We had our regular meal of spaghetti- and daddy even cooked a pot of chili this year.  After eating, it was time to open gifts.  We all received so many nice things.  Quincy and I got quilts from Aunt Connie (which we loved).  Sam was surprised to get a pack of crickets. It's been a long time since he's eaten those.  We were all so happy to spend this time together.

Pickles

During the holiday season, we had a special visitor at our house.  This visitor's name was Pickles, and he is an Elf (on the shelf).  Each day Pickles would hang out somewhere in our house and watch to see if Owen and Olivia were being good or bad.  At night, Pickles gave Santa a report and found a new spot to stay for the next day.  Well, that's how it was suppose to go- but not always.  Pickles turned out to be quite a mischievous little elf, and sometimes he got into things while everyone was asleep.  He did things like take some of the kids' candy, read Olivia's book, and rearrange things in their rooms.  Once we found him hanging from the light fixture with Owen's blanket.  That did not go over well with Owen, and the blanket had to be rescued immediately.  Even though he caused some minor commotion, the kids loved having Pickles around.  The first thing that they did every morning was get up and look to see where Pickles was sitting (and what he had been up to).  We will definitely be looking forward to Pickles returning next year.

Christmas Musical

The annual children's musical performance at the church went off without a hitch this year.  To get ready for this event, the kids and I listened to the songs on the way to school / work for over a month.  I guess the other parents did something similar, because all of the kids knew the lyrics to their songs really well.  Even though I love all of those classic Christmas songs, I'll be glad not to hear them every day for the next few months.  Olivia had a short speaking part this year, and she did a good job reciting it.  The kids did so well, in fact, that they attracted the attention of one famous man in a red suit, who was apparently in the neighborhood.  He popped in after the show to visit with the kids.   

Party Time

I was so excited to learn that my friend Becky was going to host a Christmas party for all of our close friends from high school.  Even though I see some of these girls at various functions, it's not often that we get together as a group.  Everyone was not able to attend, but those of us who did had a ball.  We ate, played games, talked, and watched football.  We also brought our kids, and it was nice to see them all play together so well.   I hope this becomes an annual tradition.

Floating in the Parade

The big news at the Christmas parade this year was that Olivia got to ride on a float with her girl scout troop.  She was sooooo excited to be in the parade.  She talked about it nearly non-stop in the week leading up to the event.  She really put a lot of thought into her role as "parade participant".  One morning I heard her weighing the pros and cons of using her hands to wave versus using her hands to throw candy.  After we decided that she could do both, she felt much better.

Those of use who were spectators were treated to a great time.  My favorite floats were those that played music and got the crowd to participate in the singing/dancing.  The kids loved seeing all of the floats and received lots of candy.  Olivia's float appeared toward the end of the parade, and we all shouted her name and waved at her.  She waved back, and we could really tell that she was enjoying herself.