Ringling Bros.

 A few weeks ago Brian and I took the kids to the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus.  We both remember going as kids and thought that this would be a fun experience for Owen and Olivia.  In the end, I don't know who enjoyed it more- the kids or their parents.  It was so entertaining.  We witnessed all of the usual circus fair- acrobats, trapeze, tightrope, clowns, lions, tigers, elephants.  It was a blast.  I think everyone's favorite was the globe with the motorcycles.  Those people are crazy to ride in that cage.  They certainly must practice a lot. This was definitely a fun afternoon.

Jacksonville Bank Marathon

 On the last weekend of 2013, I ran the Jacksonville Bank Marathon.  I was really hoping to do better in this race then I did in my first Marathon, but I did not.  I finished in 4:54:54.  I think that a big part of the problem was the rain.  It started raining between mile six and seven, and continued to pour throughout the rest of the race.  In essence, I ran in the (sometimes heavy) rain for about four hours straight.  Even though I was hoping for a better time, I am happy to have finished this race in under five hours.  This is definitely a race that I'll never forget.  

The Jacksonville Bank Marathon was my last race of 2013.  In all, I ran twelve 5ks, three 10ks, one 5-miler, one 15k, two half marathons, 2 full marathons, one triathlon, and several fun runs with the kids during 2013.  I PRd in the 10k distance, which was not something that I expected to do. The new year is already off to a great start.  Last week, I completed my first 5k of 2014- the Cool Shark 5k- and placed first in age group with a time of 25.06.  I hope to continue to increase my time and distance in this new year.  I also want to learn to swim a little better and complete a few triathlons this year.  

Christmas Collage 2013

 Here are a few extra pictures from Christmas this year.

Christmas 2013

 We had a fun celebrating the birth of Jesus and spending time with family this Christmas.  We followed the usual tradition of having supper at my parents' house on Christmas Eve and then going to my Granny and Papa Buie's for Christmas lunch.  We were so happy for Granny Mel to spend Christmas with us.  Cassie's boyfriend Nick also came down, and we were glad to spend time with him as well.

 Olivia and Owen have really been getting into Star Wars lately, so Owen was thrilled to receive a lightsaber from Uncle Sam.  Olivia also got a lightsaber, so there have been a few epic battles going on around our house here lately.

 Olivia has been asking for a trash can to go in her room for months now, so she was happy to finally get one.

 Before going to bed, the kids laid out cookies and milk for Santa.

 The cookies and milk must have put Santa in a good mood because he came bearing gifts.  When the kids woke up (at 4 a.m.!) they discovered that good ole' St. Nick had left many nice things for them- including Skylanders Swap-force.  Brian helped them set this up and they played it happily until this tired old mama woke up around 7.  

 Naturally, after I was awake and Granny Mel arrived, the kids wanted to unwrap the gifts under the tree.  They were excited to see the gifts from Brian and I- a Nintendo 2DS.  This was the gift that they had been asking for all season long, so they were thrilled to get it.

After another round of gift-opening at Granny Buie's house, we were all tuckered out.  Poor Owen fell asleep on the couch.  It was certainly a fun day, and we were so happy to spend it with loved ones.

Caroling

 It is a tradition for the members of our church to go Christmas caroling every year.  Even though I have known about the caroling, we have never attended in the past.  This year, though, the kids put in to go- so we did.  Before the caroling, we had a nice chili dinner to get us fueled up for our journey.  After we ate, we climbed onto the back of a large flat-bed trailer.  The trailer pulled us around the neighborhood where we stopped at the houses of some of our older church members.  There were a lot of people caroling, so it would be to much for us to unload / reload at each house.  Therefore when we stopped at a house, we all just stood up on the trailer and sang from there.  It was really cold that night, and we were all doing our best to stay warm.  The kids got a little squirmy toward the end and wanted to go back. When we finally made it back to the church, we had hot chocolate and cookies waiting on us.  That was a nice treat.

Christmas Parade

 The town Christmas Parade is one of the kids' favorite annual events.  This year it did not disappoint.  Among our favorite participants were the marching band, the float with the light up angel, and Santa on the fire truck.  The kids really enjoyed the parade (and  getting candy at the parade).

Christmas Musical

 The kids did a great job at the church Christmas musical this year.  They sang familiar carols and read some inspirational holiday messages.  Olivia and Natalie both had speaking parts- which they pulled off flawlessly.  Olivia read the M&M Christmas story and Owen turned the letter of a cut out M&M to go with what Olivia was reading.  Following the performance, we had finger foods and visited with a very special guest- Santa.