Christmas Card 2014

 Here's this year's Christmas card. If you read this....and you didn't get one, it's because I don't have your address. So, if you want one next year....send me your address! :)

Fiesta Texas Christmas Fun!

We went to Holiday in the Park at Fiesta Texas before Christmas. We'd originally planned on going on a Friday night. Drew brought home a pizza for dinner and we ate quick to get out there. Well....stellar parents that we are--we didn't check the schedule and lo and behold, they weren't open. "Park's closed folks..." is what we chanted the whole way home while the kids were crying in the back seat. To turn things around, Drew announced that we were going to Krispy Kreme for donuts. YAY!!! He'd just gotten a text from a friend for a free dozen donuts since it was National Donut Day. So, I went in for our free dozen--BUT you had to buy a dozen first! Needless to say, we didn't need two dozen donuts, so we left empy handed with two broken heart-ed kids. Hudson pepped up with the promise of watching a new episode of "Gold Rush" and Gracyn was consoled by getting to watch Scooby Doo in our bed. Clearly, we were going for "Parents of the Year!" We checked the schedule and went the next day. They loved it--especially all the lights and getting to drive there in the dark!

This is a glimpse of ten years down the road...

Love this little cuddle bug!

They were SO pumped to get the first car of the roller coaster! They held their hands up the whole time!

This & That

A little more of December happenings...Gracyn lost her tooth at school and got a tooth necklace to put it in. You'd have thought she won the lottery--she was SO excited!! It's the little things, folks!

She was SO worried that the Tooth Fairy might take her necklace by mistaking it as a real tooth. I tried to convince her that she wouldn't, but she wasn't taking any chances--she hid it so the Tooth Fairy wouldn't find it! Ha! When I went in to check on her before I went to bed, she had her pillow clutched in her hand. Sweet baby girl!

We went for a Saturday morning family run, and Gracyn decided to climb this tree instead of playing on the playground. I thought she looked so cute up there.

This little guy needed some persuasion to climb up--he's not a big fan of heights.

Gracyn learned some Christmas dances and got to perform for us. Here she is with her good friend, Alexia.

You may be wondering why she's missing her shoes...I forgot to pack her dance backpack. I had a feeling like I was missing something, but I couldn't pinpoint it--but I did remember snacks and water bottles for the kids, library books to return, dance leotard, skirt, tights, bow, and shoes to wear to dance, and the ipad....so in the grand scheme of things, I remembered quite a bit. Only forgot one of the most important things! She was SO gracious and just said, " That's ok Mommy, these things happen." Love this sweet girl!

I got to spend the evening with these two precious friends. (We were out until midnight just chatting away! Looked at my watch and it was 9:30--and when I checked again it was 11:45!!) Love these two and treasure their friendships!

Hudson's Christmas Program

Hudson had his Christmas performance at school. He was a king--and the cutest king you ever did see!! I didn't take any pictures because I was video taping it. Hopefully I can get some of Pop's pictures. Brier was an angel and Towns was a shepherd. So thankful that Hudson gets to go to school with his cousins and they can make memories together.

I picked up Gracyn from school early so she could watch his performance. She was so sad that she was going to miss it--and I didn't tell her she was leaving school early. She was so surprised when they called her to the office saying she was leaving for the day. We had a great day all together and went to lunch at Alamo Cafe afterwards. Love these two with ALL my heart!!

Birthday Party Fun!

Right after the 1/2 Marathon, we had a birthday party to go to. The kids had spent the night with Meme and Pop, so we picked them up on our way home from the race. We showered and got ready and headed out the door for the Tucker's house. (Our mind set sure has changed from running a FULL marathon. 13.1 miles seems like nothing once you've done 26.2--and all the training you do for a full, that's an easy run.) We celebrated Drew's 4th birthday with a full petting zoo in their backyard!

Gracyn loved feeding the rabbit--but steered clear of the goats. 

They both really enjoyed riding the pony, digging for gold nuggets in the sandbox, dart gun practice shooting and more!

Yummy smores!!

They loved their mustache straws they got with their favors!

Happy Birthday Drew!!

Life Lately

Here's a little bit of what we've been up to lately....

We stopped by Krispy Kreme after school one day for Gracyn to get her free birthday donut. What a treat!!

Hudson and I went downtown to get my race packet. We had to ride the shuttle bus to get to the convention center and Hudson could not have been more excited!! We sat in the front row right behind the driver and he didn't stop talking!

Ran into the Big guy at HEB one afternoon--a great incentive to behave while grocery shopping!! Wish he was there year round!!

Whipped up some Christmas goodies...this is for Hudon's teacher because he's in the Owl Class.

Jewelry holders for my friends and family...(I don't know why this picture is upside down and it won't let me fix it!!!!)

And I made a Texas t-shirt for me and Amber.

Gracyn was so excited to catch a butterfly in her bag!!

This little guy took a break helping me Christmas shop to get a back massage. Ha!

San Antonio Half Marathon 2014

Drew and I ran the San Antonio Rock-N-Roll half marathon this year. We really hadn't trained all that much--and I've been having trouble with my foot, so I hadn't even run in two weeks. The doctor confirmed my internet diagnosis of Morton's Neuroma (inflamed nerves in the bottom of my foot.) I had one steroid shot that actually made it hurt worse when I ran and then got a second one six days before the race. I could barely walk on Tuesday and as the week progressed, my foot got better. It didn't hurt too bad when I ran on Friday--but I didn't have too high of hopes for the race on Sunday. I went in thinking that I just wanted to finish. The little training that I did do....I was running really good times though. Here we are at the starting line....it was the perfect weather for a run!!

I think one thing that really helped our race was starting near the front. We put down to start in corral 3!! It was nice not having to get past all the riff raff and all the walkers and slower runners like we do when we start farther back. I started out strong and figured I'd keep it up until my foot started hurting and I couldn't go as fast. BUT....that never happened!! I ran my BEST race EVER and finished in 1:55:05!!! (I even beat Drew's best record-sorry Honey!) My foot started to bother me around mile 11, but I pushed through because I was so close to finishing and I knew I was close to beating my old personal record. I had a lot of people praying for me and I felt the Lord's presence throughout the race. I know that HE helped me run my best race because I could barely walk just a few days prior. God is SO good and HE gets ALL the glory!!

I love sharing these experiences with Drew and that we both enjoy running together. We've already signed up again for next year (just the 1/2)....and we're thinking about maybe doing another full--maybe Houston in January 2016?? I can't believe I'm even thinking about it. We're crazy for sure!!!

Pancake Breakfast 2014

We had our annual pancake breakfast at church this year. The kids had a great time making crafts, eating pancakes, seeing Santa and hanging out with their cousins and friends!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

So, we decked the halls as soon as we finished our turkey & dressing....the kids couldn't wait to start decorating--well, mainly Gracyn. She was ready to get down to business and make her Christmas list for Santa. She was such a sweet sister and did Hudson's too. :)

Here's Hudson's "Christmas List"

*Hot Wheels

*Paw Patrol?

*Legos

*???

*Coloring Books

*Puzzles

*Stuffed Animals

And

Gracyn's "Christmas List"

*Frozen stuffed animals

*Coloring books

*Frozen pillow

*Legos

And, here's what our tree looked like when I first plugged it in. :( Every year it seems to get worse and worse! But, it's still a beautiful tree...and I really don't want to have to pay $500 to get another one.

I just put some new lights on it--and it's as good as new!

She thoroughly enjoyed decorating the tree.

Her new ornament this year is Elsa--surprise, surprise!

Hudson got in on the fun towards the end.

They both LOVE the tradition of getting to unwrap a Christmas book every night. I'm so glad that I think ahead and wrap them all back up before putting all the Christmas stuff away every year. I barely have the time to wrap all the presents to go under the tree, let alone 30 plus books!!

This is the new ornament I made for the kids this year. They love them!

 Buddy, the Elf, has made his appearance again! Gracyn is so enthralled with him! The first thing she does every morning is look for him. And it's crazy how quickly she can spot him! So far he's only stayed in the same place once--he was having such a good time playing "Spot It" with Rebecca (her American Girl doll) that he just kept on playing another day. ;)

He was playing with the pom poms from her jar this morning....