~*~*~HALF MARATHON~*~*~
Bryan and I, along with a friend of ours that we met while we were in Corpus (who has also moved to Little Rock), ran in the Music City Half Marathon last weekend!! We had SO MUCH FUN!!! Bryan's parents helped us out by watching the girls for us (and, of course, cheering us on)!! Thanks, Jay & Jenny!!! I think the whole thing was a little anticlimactic for the girls, but Bryan, Rita and I had a GREAT time!! We had to be at the starting line before 7 AM, but it was well worth it!! Bryan ran the 13.1 miles in just under 2 hours. Rita and I did it in just under 2 hours and 30 minutes. I couldn't believe when it was all over that we truly ran 13.1 miles!!! I can definitely mark that one off my Bucket List!! Who knows?!?! Maybe we'll run another one in the future?!?! I am thinking maybe the Princess Half at Disney World one year!!! There would be a lot more incentive for the girls there!!! ;-)
Here are a few photos from the event...
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| Bryan, Me & Rita before the race began!! |
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| Oh, and did I mention that there were 31,000 participants?!?! This was the view from the start line!!! |
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| Bryan and me before the race began!! |
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| The race was Saturday morning. Saturday night they had a free concert downtown for all the participants. This is Rita and me posing with a cardboard cutout of Rodney Atkins!! We had a BLAST!! Oh, and as we were walking in, they were handing out free bags of M&M's. You better believe we took them up on THAT offer!! :-) |
~*~*~PICNIC TABLE~*~*~
I mentioned to my friend Rita (you can see her smiling face in the above photos) that I wanted to make a preschool size picnic table for the girls. I had found the plans online and was ready to buy the supplies and dive in. She said she thought her 4 year old son would love to have one, too, so we headed to The Home Depot, bought our supplies and got to work!!
I have another woodworking project up my sleeve, but I think Bryan and I will tackle that one together. We just need to go buy the supplies!! :-)
~*~*~FIRST SEWING PROJECT FOR... ME!!!~*~*~
I have made quite a few things with my sewing machine since I received it as a Christmas gift several years ago. (Thanks, Mom & Dad!!) Most of what I have done has been projects for the girls (dresses, Busy Books, etc.). I have done some mending of current articles of clothing. The one thing I HAVEN'T done is make something for myself!! This past year for my birthday, Bryan gave me some American Express gift cards to use however I want to. I have been hanging on to them for quite some time as I haven't made the time yet to go shopping just for me. There have been quite a few reasons (no one to watch the girls... I'm having a fat day... The list goes on...) Upon completion of the picnic tables, however, I had a couple of projects I'd seen on Pinterest that I wanted to give a whirl. One of them was a dress for (GASP) me!! I decided this would be the perfect time to break into those gift cards!!! So, yesterday, we ate lunch together, then the girls went to their rooms for nap and quiet time, and I went to Hobby Lobby!!! I was chompin' at the bit all afternoon to get started, but I knew that there was no way that I could work on this project while the "Things" were still awake. As soon as they were in their rooms for the night, I got the sewing machine out and got to work!! I had a deadline... You see, tonight, we went to a potluck BBQ on base with some of our friends, and I was DETERMINED to wear this dress to the BBQ!!! In less than 3 hours, I had whipped out this baby...
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| You'll have to excuse the late-night hair, makeup, etc., but I was very pleased with the outcome!! I wanted something to "embellish" the dress, but nothing has caught my eye just yet. I have found an idea that I'll try at a later date, but I made my deadline and wore the dress tonight to the BBQ!! The other girls there told me it was very cute!! I sure hope they were telling the truth!! ;-) |
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| Here's a nice self portrait from the car ride to the BBQ tonight!! :-) |
~*~*~BACK TO TRAINING~*~*~
Since pinning on his pilot wings in November, Bryan has been "on hold" with his training. While we were still in Corpus, we got to have A LOT of family time!! We tried our hardest to cherish that time because we knew that all good things must come to an end. Upon arriving here in Little Rock, Bryan was given a job on base in the International Student Affairs Office. He has really enjoyed his time working there and has learned quite a bit!!! I'm sure he has some stories to share if you ever sit down and ask him!! :-) It's been quite a while since he's been in the classroom, and tomorrow is our last day with him before he's back to the grind!!! Thankfully, his job with the International students concluded on Friday, and his training doesn't start until Tuesday, so we get a long weekend before we're back in training land!! Once this training is complete, however, he will be qualified to fly the C-130J!!!! WaHoo!!! He's been plugging away at pilot training since we left Abilene almost 2 years ago!!! Can you believe it's been that long?!?!
While he HAS been working here, we have had a very "normal" life. His work days were very regular. For the first time EVER we got to feel like a normal family. He was home for dinner every night. His work day was like that of a civilian working in an office. I often teased him that this must be how the other half lives!! HaHaHa. One of our favorite things to do since we've been here is have picnic lunches on base with him... The girls and I would meet our playgroup buddies at the park on base and play all morning, then, when lunch time rolled around, and our friends went home, we'd break out our picnic supplies, and Bryan would join us for a little lunch!! We sure are going to miss those times!!!
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| This is a photo from our last picnic lunch!! Maybe we'll still be able to do this on occasion!! :-) |
~*~*~HOW DO I GET TO HEAVEN??~*~*~
You know, sometimes kids ask questions that really catch us off guard. Last night was one of those nights for me. I'm not sure I handled it exactly the way I should have, but I did the best I could for thinking on my feet!!
As I was leaving Thing 1's bedroom after tucking her in and reading her story, she pointed out to me that it was getting dark outside. I said, "yep, sure is!". That's where the easy answers ended... Her next question was, "Is Jesus watching me?" I said, "Of course he is!! He's ALWAYS watching us. He always takes care of us!!" She said, "Where is Jesus?" I told her that he is in heaven. She said, "Heaven is really far away, isn't it??" "Yes, honey, Heaven is really far away." "Well, Mom, how do I get to Heaven??" "Well, when it's time for you to go to Heaven, Jesus will come and get you." "But it's so far away, how will He get here??" "Well, honey, the angels will come with Him. They'll fly down, pick you up, and you'll all fly back together." "Will the animals come with Him?" "Yes, dear, the animals will come too, but don't you worry about all of this, when it's time, Jesus will make sure that you're well taken care of. I love you. Good night." Mom exits the scene hoping she handled that in an acceptable manner... So, I'll leave you with this question... What do you think you would have said? She just caught me so off guard!! I have no idea where it came from, and there was no mention of it again today!! I'm happy to help her understand, but I don't want to scare her with too much talk of death or the fact that when it's her time, the rest of us may or may not be going with her... YIKES!! I knew these questions would come up at some point... I was just hoping I'd be a little more prepared!!
I guess that's about it for tonight. Thanks for joining me on this little bit of catch up on our lives!! Hopefully I'll have more to talk about soon!! We are just hanging out around here. Everyone has been happy and healthy, and I couldn't ask for more!!!
Have a fantastic week!!
Love you guys!!
