1/2 Marathon

Well Sunday was the day I had been preparing for. My buddies Amy and Candace got together and decided we would help each other get in shape and lose some extra pounds. We have emailed each other every day our progress and triumphs. All of us have lost weight. We met at 5:15am and headed downtown. We got down there at the perfect time and found parking without an issue.

 At the start line we met up with one of Amy's friends and one of Candace's friends. I enjoyed chatting before the race with all of them.

 We began the race and got separated right away. Candace and I stuck at same pace. About 3 miles in we crossed the Alamo and Bill and George were there to snap our picture. KK was excited to see me but cried when I went running on.

 Bill said KK did excellent. He was high fiving runners as they went by and giving me hugs each time I ran by him.

 We kept at a pace of 14 minute miles pretty well. At mile 9 my knee gave out (which it did in 2010 half marathon that I ran in Austin) and I struggled the rest of the way. I sent Candace on to finish and I hurt the rest of the way but I was determined to finish.

We did awesome ladies.
Summer: 3:00
Candace: 2:58
Amy: 3:54

Job well done. We were all glad that it was over!!!! We are feeling healthier about our eating and have found a great accountability system. I hope we keep it up. I think all of us are feeling better about losing a couple of LBS!!! We will meet again soon for the Color Run!! Can't wait.

Went to the chiropractor today and he thinks it is my IT band. He gave me some exercises to do. He cracked me and I am feeling much better but really sore.

Movie Outing

Saturday we spent the day cleaning the garage out. The boys played outside all day. On Sunday, I wanted to have a little quality family time so I decided to set up a movie date to see Wreck it Ralph. Now I had to set it up because I did not think that KK could make it through a movie but what I did know is that he normally has been taking a nap right around 11:30am. SOOOO..... I got everyone up and we were out the door by 10:30am and off to the movies. I stopped at Target for a new curling iron. I am going to try a little curly hair look for winter! :) We got to the movies around 11 and I just knew on a Sunday morning no one would be there. WRONG!!! It was almost sold out! We got our seats, popcorn and drinks and headed in. KK started eating popcorn during the previews and then once his belly was full he cuddled right down in my lap and at 11:40am little boy was OUT!!! He slept the entire movie and woke up with about 10 minutes left. He was perfect through the whole movie. I love it when my plan works.

 I feel like I never get a picture of all three boys so I snapped one of them on our way out the door. I think the older boys enjoyed the movie. I thought it was pretty good. My jaw did hit the floor when someone used the "P" word. Yeah, you heard me right! The "P" word. What are the movie creators thinking. I just don't get it. Just make clean movies. The kids will be entertained regardless of the words used. UGH!!! (My only complaint)

Boys watchin the previews and getting ready for the show.

Halloween

Pirates was the theme this year!! Here are the boys getting into a little pirate brawl!

 KK liked the sword. And the little rag on his head was the hit of the night.

 I went over to Ashley's for a little cousin time. We played in the front yard. Here are the really scary pirates. Hadleigh biting the hook and KK with the lawnmower. :)

 Finally I went home and trick or treated around the circle one time. Kiernan would only go up for candy if they had a dog. It was so funny. He got tired pretty quick and then we went back and handed out candy in the cul-de-sac. KK and I retired to bed fairly early.

Halloween is just not my favorite holiday so I am glad to put it in the past and on to the fun holidays. Can't wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas!!!

Last Year Halloween

WOW!!! What a difference a year makes. I have this one picture of the boys last year at the pumpkin patch. I took none of KK and a pumpkin.

 We did not get to trick-or-treat with the cousins but they did stop by late that night to visit. KK was fast asleep by the time they got there.

 And here was my little octopus last year. Love him!! Under the Sea theme is in the past and I can't wait for the cousins to get together tonight. They will be looking oh so cute!!

Extended Family

Our Uncle Arlon came to visit over the weekend and when he is in town we all come running. He is such a great guy and everyone just loves to be around him. We gathered in Natalia for a little visit and lunch. It was great to see all of the family since we don't get together very often. Kiernan was in a bit of a mood so we had to leave a little early. Not sure if he is trying to get sick or what?!?

Pumpkin Carving Party

We set KK up at home with two seventh grade neighbor girls and we were off. I was very nervous leaving him but the girls did a great job. They had a little trouble getting him down but other than that they did a great job. We were home by eleven and they were both asleep. Super Great Kids!! We went to church and then headed to our friend's house for the party.

Amy, Bill and Candace getting dirty.

 This was the first time we had ever really attempted carving. Amy and I both used templates and began the detail oriented task. We were regretting the ones we chose half way through it.

 Here they are from left to right. The first one won third place. She decided to carve the outside of the pumpkin instead. Pretty cool idea!! Then came Amy's Pluto.

He is Pac-man which eventually took FIRST prize!!!! Took them a total of 5 minutes to do it. They said smarter not harder. I'll have to remember that next year.

 Here is my Goofy!!

Bill's is the breast cancer symbol with an E and D for my mom, Elyse and his friend, Dori.

 Candace and George did a great job too. Candace did the which and George did the haunted house. George actually got 2nd this year!!!

 Here are the other end which I did not end up getting very good pictures of at all. It was like I started off good but then there was so many that I fell off the wagon. I even think I didn't get a picture of the end one with hello kitty and the alien. Dooohh!!!

A small high school reunion. Had an absolute blast and was impressed with my carving skills. Thanks Krystal and Jimmy for the southern hospitality!!

Pumpkin Patch

We missed church last night so we headed out this morning to meet up at mom and dad's church to see the cousins. We got all the kids dropped off and went to church. Then we picked them all up and headed out to the patch. We had to do pictures quick because KK and Hadleigh are just not into pictures.

 This was as good as we could do which I actually thought turned out pretty good for 6 kids. I snapped one of Gavin but Roy didn't want a picture by himself. He did say that I could take a picture of him with his pumpkin once it was carved. So I will get one on here of him once that is completed.

 Kiernan learning from his older brothers.

 And the babies, I mean, toddlers playing in the patch.

 I am having a really hard time getting Kiernan to smile for the camera and then I had a brain ball. I put him on top of a pumpkin and waited for him to fall off. Once he fell I screamed and the result was a perfect smile.

 My favorite!!!! This smile is so hard to capture but I got it!!

KK @ School - LOVE his teacher!!!

Kiernan goes to an at home day care that is literally two doors down from our house. It is extremely convenient for Bill and I and are crazy schedule. KK absolutely loves Mrs. Ana. He runs to the door and bangs on it when I tell him it is time to go see Mrs. Ana. When we are outside playing on the weekends he will go and bang on their door. He just loves it. I have no problem dropping him off. He runs out of my arms. I guess the only thing still working for me is that he still runs to me when I come to pick him up. Thank goodness he misses me. :) She does take them around town in her car which makes me nervous but that is something small I can handle for the terrific care that she provides my son. You can just tell she absolutely LOVES my boy. She text me pictures of KK each week of different activities that he is doing. I just want to share a few.

 

She asked me the other day to send KK with one of Gavin's old t-shirts because she feels like she can never do "messy" activities because I always have him dressed up. (Sorry I gotta keep up with my sister's taste in clothes. Plus mom and Ash are in charge of his wardrobe!!) So today I receive this picture..... OMG!!!! You have him painting!!! I love it!!!

 She also sent me a picture of my lil' guy snoozin'!

 She takes them up to McDonald's. He eats 2 whole chicken nuggets and black beans out of her salad.

 Then they get to play on the playground. She says that when he goes through the tunnels that he is a chick magnet. Mrs. Ana says he will have four or five girls following him. OH Lord. Save me.

She cooks them all kinds of meals. No wonder he never eats anything that I cook him. Guess cooking from scratch and out of a box is completely different. Guess he will just have to adjust to both because mama only knows out of a box. She also sits him at the table in a regular chair with a breakable glass and plate. REALLY??? Glad he is so good for her.

 She also took him to her gym this summer for a little swim time. Yes I did give her permission to do this but as you can see she is totally trustworthy. Look how little he was.

 Finally she took the kids to the pumpkin patch. This is the only picture I have of them together.

 He also goes to school with one other little boy who is 15 days younger than KK. Here are the two little buddies.

 KK giving him a hug.

So nice to have piece of mind while you are working that your kids are being takin care of.
I do have some sad news that Mrs. Ana's dad lives in Mexico and was kidnapped for ransom. She is very sad and not sure what is going to happen. If you don't mind say a little prayer for her and her dad, I would greatly appreciate it.

Trip to Dallas

We had not been up to see Bill's Aunt and Uncle in a really long time. Bill has been itching to fish and so it is easy for us to go up there to fish because they live on the lake. Kiernan actually got into fishing down on the dock. He liked to point the fishing pole at things and bounce it around. He loved the ducks and to feed the fish. I thought he was getting sick on the way up there but throughout the weekend he seemed to kick whatever he was coming down with.

 Friday was a rough ride up there and we didn't get in until about 9:30pm. So KK and I went straight to bed. Saturday morning I went on a big walk with him and took him all over the neighborhood. We ended up at the park and he played on the equipment there for about 30 minutes.

 We left early to hit the ole' In-and- Out and catch the Cowboys game in the car. I sat in the back and played with KK on the way home. Big grins and of course his turtle. He loves that thing.

Kiernan turned 16 months yesterday. He is such an awesome kid.

Roy's 7th grade Football

So I can remember waiting so many years to finally be in 7th grade so I could play sports at the school. Roy is finally getting that chance. He has talked about it for years. The first game was chaos but now they are finally starting to figure out how to play football. The kids have been getting concussions, injuries, and quitters after the first week so it has left Roy's team a little skimpy. I think it is sort of a blessing because every kid is getting moved around to try and see what they can do and which position is best for them. They also get to play offense and defense so they are super tired when they get home. ( A PLUS!!)

 So we get to the game and we see Roy's red shoes and #4-0 is the quarterback. Setting up the kid next to him for a little hand off.

 And the kick off returner. (Not sure if there is a specific name for that position)

 And a corner back....

 Airing it out for his first in the pocket throw. Unfortunately, this one was picked off.

 Ohhhh. and he is so skinny he can't keep his pants up.

He seems to really like football and he really likes the coaches. He is very competitive and he doesn't like to lose which they are doing a lot of. But he comes home tired. He doesn't have a lot of time to get into trouble. He came home after this game very frustrated but he is working hard and hopes to keep his QB spot although the coach has already rotated him out. Hopefully we will find out what position he likes best or where the coach thinks he will best at and I will work with him this summer to get him better next season. This is all a learning curve.