Great Wolf Lodge

The kids didn't have school February 1-3rd so my friend, Laurie, and I took the kids to The Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX. It's a great resort for kids with an indoor water park. We left Monday and got home late Tuesday night. It was a fabulous time to go as there were absolutely no lines. We left the men at home since they had to work...poor fella's! :)

Laurie checking us in...

Carter enjoying the hot tub...

Halli & Taylor...

Lauren, Katelyn, & Laurie...

Mmmm....dippin' dots!

We ran into lots of people from our school/neighborhood who had the same great idea. In fact, one of Taylor's best friends was there too! They had come with a group of friends as well so Taylor had 5 or 6 of her friends there to hang out with. She was in heaven!

Taylor & Samantha ...
Lauren & Katelyn ...Ready to head home...

Taylor, Lauren, Halli, Carter, Zack, Katelyn, & Laurie

This may be a new tradition as we had a great time! :)
Thanks Laurie for inviting us!!!

Am I a quitter?

So, I hurt...when I run. My hip hurts all the time. A few years ago, my hip hurt so bad from running, I went to the doctor and he said I needed to stop running. So, I did and it SLOWLY got better...like 6 months later. Last year, I started training for my first duathlon. I started running again. I was fine. Then I did my first triathlon. All was well. But when I started doing this, my hip started bothering me again. Maybe I'm running too much, trying to build too fast, or maybe I'm just getting old...I don't know. All I know is that I hurt. We've cut way back on our training which helped my shin splints (and Laurie's knee) but my hip seems to be getting worse. So, for now, I am not seeing a half marathon on the horizon. Although I do see another duathlon, triathlon, and maybe a 10k on the horizon. We are still running 3 miles, at the crack of dawn, 3 days/week in addition to our other workouts (step class, cycling, and weight training). I'm just thinking that I need to cut out the long runs...at least for now. Does that make me a quitter...cuz' I'm kinda feeling like one? :(

We won!!!

Carter had his 3rd basketball game today and we won! Woo-Hoo! It was a nail bitter...16-14. We were tied with 10 seconds left on the clock when we scored.

How do you spell FUN? ...W-I-N!!!

(Carter's #1, blue jersey, hand on ball)

Good defense buddy!

Spectators?

Lauren, Taylor, and Lauren's friend, Katelyn, coloring. Can you tell they were really into the game? :)

Grandma enjoying the action...

I'm Speechless...

Now that is sexy!!! ;)

Think I can get Dave to sport that look? ha-ha

A hunting they will go...

Dave took Taylor hunting again a couple weekends ago and she got her 2nd deer... She's hooked! She keeps asking when he will take her again. Shocking, I know as I can't imagine anything worse! :) Our freezer is stocked with ground venison and sausage. It actually tastes pretty good and is extremely lowfat. It's "organic"...that's for sure!

Dave's truck was filthy!

Playin' Ball...

Carter's playing basketball...his favorite sport! I've enjoyed watching him as he loves every minute! He had his 2nd game on Saturday. We've gotten creamed both games which hasn't seemed to bother Carter much...he just loves to play the game! He runs up and down the court with a big smile on his face whether they're winning or losing. :)

In other news...we realized we overdid it on our first week's half marathon training as both Laurie & I suffered some injuries. So, this past week we took a step back, re-evaluated, and decided to build up a bit slower. We are aiming for a half-marathon in April instead, which will give us more time to train allowing us to increase our mileage at a "safer" pace. This week we had to back way off to let our knees, hips, and shin splints heal.

Training ...week 2

Monday: 3 mile run/walk

Tuesday: rest day

Wednesday: 4 mile run/walk

Thursday: weight class at gym

Friday: 3 mile run/walk

Saturday & Sunday: rest days

Ice Skating...

Training...week 1

Laurie & Halli

Danskin June 2009

My good friend, Laurie, talked me into doing a half marathon (13.1 miles) with her the first weekend in March. (Is she a good friend if this kills me?) So, we have started training. We've been getting up at 5:30 a.m. and running before we get the kids up and off to school. If you know me very well, you know that #1 I'm not a morning person and #2 I really do not enjoy running nor is it a strong point for me. Not to mention, Laurie is a strong runner and it's kickin' my butt to try to keep up with her! I plan to blog our training sessions each week to help keep myself motivated and to remember all the hard work. If you have any suggestions/pointers (Tonia, I'm talking to you!!!) please share! I need all the help and support I can get! :) We only have 8 weeks total to train...Ahhhh! Here's what we did last week...

Week 1
Monday: 3 mile run; step class at the gym

Tuesday: weights

Wednesday: 4 mile run; cycled 13 miles

Thursday: weights

Friday: 3 mile run

Saturday: 6 mile run

What have I gotten myself into?

Teamwork...

Happy Birthday Dave!

This Fabulous man......is 38 years old today!

I feel so lucky to have found him, married him, and spent the last 15 years with him by my side. There are so many things I love about him. Here are my "top 10"...
10. Dave takes great care of himself. He faithfully works out every day and watches what he eats. Therefore, he has a strong, healthy, good lookin' body!

9. He likes to try new things and has hobbies of his own. This year he started taking a martial arts class (Filipino knife fighting), got involved in competitive shooting, took Taylor hunting, and went zip lining, kayaking, and crossed a couple sky bridges with me!

8. He is very neat. Much neater than I am in fact. Shocking, I know! (that's a joke cuz' I'm kinda messy!) This post, click here, pretty much sums that up!

7. He is handy. He can do, fix, make, figure out ANYTHING! He is amazing. Look what he just did for me (it was my Christmas present from him)...He built me this awesome table in my laundry room with drawers and everything!!!

And, before Thanksgiving, he turned this closet...

Into *drum roll please* this...

He ripped out the carpet, laid tile, added 2 extra can lights, built shelves, cut an opening in the wall to access more storage space under the stairs, sheet rocked, and painted. This gave us tons more storage space (that is a big deal in Texas as the houses have very little storage space).

This... ...is where he cut into the wall and floored in more storage space under the stairs. We were able to get 24 buckets and several cases of #10 cans in this space allowing us to move all the food (pictured below) we had in our guest bedroom closest downstairs!

I told you he was amazing!

6. He supports me in everything I do and is proud of my accomplishments.

Dave, Laurie, & I after finishing a 25 mile bike ride. Dave met us at the finish line, camera in hand!

Crossing the finish line at my first Triathlon... I never could have done this without his support. He picked up the slack while I was training, encouraged me, played "Mr. Mom" so I could participate, and got up at the crack of dawn to bring the kids to cheer me on.

5. He is a hard worker and has an outstanding work ethic. He is great at what he does and has always been a good provider not to mention extremely smart. Because he works so hard, I am able to be a stay at home mom which is all I've ever wanted to be! I am so thankful for that.

4. He is a worthy member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He is a good man.

3. He makes me laugh everyday.... He is witty, eccentric, and has a great sense of humor!Although, sometimes a little embarrassing! :)

2. He is a the best Father. He is Patient,goofy, fun, and kind. Not to mention, he gets up every morning and makes the kids a hot breakfast.

1. He is the love of my life and a fabulous husband!Cheers to you babe.Happy Birthday!!! We love you!