Our Summer So Far...

This summer has been great so far! Tucker is learning the importance of sleeping late as well as good naps in the afternoon. These are the little things that make a momma very happy. Some of the activites have been......

baking bread with mom

Playing dress ups

Swimming with daddy

Tucker loves to jump off the side! He'll jump rather you're ready to catch him or not....

One of his favorite things we've done so far is go see daddy while he was driving the tractor. How exciting! He got to ride with Klay while he was helping his dad plant cotton.

13.1

This past Sunday I completed my first half marathon. It was the 11th Annual Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon-A Run to Remember. It was more than just a race, it was remembering all the 168 victims who lost their lives during this tragic event.

At the runner's expo on Saturday we looked through page after page of individual biographies of of each of the victims. I chose a 26 year old mother and teacher, and her 2 year old son to run for. This is the 2 year old's chair in the memorial.
4:30 am Sunday morning came pretty early. The race started at 6:30, which meant we needed to get to the starting line no later than 6:00 which meant we needed to leave our nice, DRY, warm hotel room at 5:00 to go eat. Let me emphasize the part about dry and warm because outside was not. Thank you Lord Jesus for rain, but seriously? Race day? We walked to a church near by serving breakfast and then found the starting line quickly there after only to hear the announcer say they were delaying the start for 30 minutes due to weather.
We found shelter in a parking garage close by and spent the next half hour doing some extreme people watching. I found out real quick that I'm not nearly as hard core as most others.
About 20 minutes til 7 we decided to make our way back to the starting line with everyone else-it was more like a herding experience with other cattle, I even "moo-ed" a few times to lighten the mood. Again, let me repeat I was definitely not as hard core as others. The rain had not stopped, but the lightening had. Oh Joy! 40 degrees and raining, perfect conditions.....
This is Katie and me waiting to start.
The gun went off right at 7:00, but starting so far back we didn't actually cross the starting line until closer to 7:15. Here is a picture looking towards the starting line from where we were.

The moment we hit the line we began to run. We ran downhill. We ran uphill. We ran past people that were stopping. We ran through Gatorade and water tables. We ran past people singing karaoke in their garage and handing out free shots to participants. We even ran past a wedding in progress of two other runners. It was definitely an interesting crowd, and it was entirely IN THE RAIN.

We never stopped running. Not once did we walk and that's the best feeling. We accomplished our goal of finishing under 3 hours and I accomplished my goal of not being last.

The best part is-I'm back to my Dr. Pepper, Oh how I've missed the wonderful nectar!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down form the Father of the heavenly sun.

James 1:17

Happy Birthday to my Angel!

Only in a Small Town

Only in a small town is the weekly newspaper the highlight of the week, and not because of its cutting edge news, but for the gossip columns and the sheriff's report.

Only in a small town it's an honor to have a handmade toboggan from an old friend, and only in a small town would all the residents that are lucky enough to own one of these authentic hats get together to take a picture to put in that weekly newspaper to honor that old friend.

Only in a small town can your 2 year old son play in the front yard with only a diaper and shoes on.

*no photo evidence required

Only in a small town can a field trip to the cotton field to jump modules be one of the year's highlights.

Only in a small town is The Dairy Queen on a Sunday after church more than just a place to eat, it's a social gathering.

Only in a small town is a ride on a four wheeler with dad perfect Saturday night entertainment.

Only in a small town can you find a snake in your classroom that isn't a classroom pet escapee, but an unwelcome intruder.
Only in a small town do residents drive to the fire to help others who are in the flames' path rather than turn and run the opposite direction.

Small towns are special and unique, and each is one-of-a-kind. I love mine and wouldn't trade it for all the malls, Targets, or Starbuck's in the world.

Does That Make Me Crazy?

It's that time of year.....when everything starts to speed up and I'm doing my best just to hold on and not to forget to keep my head on. But, honestly, I really do enjoy this time of year! Things are fast and crazy and I love it!

Does that make me crazy?

Tucker is going to be turning two soon, and I'm actually looking forward to it! I'm ready for this next stage....not that I'm wanting him to grow faster than he already is, but he's so stinkin' fun right now and learning so much I just can't wait until he's TWO!

I'm looking forward to 2.....Does that make me crazy?

My sister and her husband just ran and finished the Houston Half-Marathon in January (WAY TO GO SIS AND ROY!). Now they've got the running bug and have given it to me. As a family we will be competing in the Oklahoma City Half Marathon later this spring. Yes, you heard me correctly......I'm going to run a HALF MARATHON!

I'm training for a half-marathon, and I'm kinda enjoying it......Does that make me crazy?

Seeing how I'm training to become an amazing athlete, I'm really trying to eat...eh....better...aka trying to cut out the gallons of Dr. Pepper a day I was drinking. Let me tell ya....it ain't easy, but I can proudly say I have not had a drink of the glorious nectar in 7 days! However, this new wave of 'health' has driven me to cook more. Every night this past week I've cooked something new, and it hasn't been half bad! I absolutely L-O-V-E The Pioneer Woman, and all of my new recipes came from her. But, I fear that I've lead you astray......I've been healthy in the fact that I've stopped Dr Pepper, however, my cooking I believe has made up for it. I think I'm craving the calories rather than the DP. Take a look at the dish from last night: (thanks Pioneer Woman for this photograph of your Fried Round Steak)

I've quit drinking Dr. Pepper to be healthy but cooking more......Does that make me crazy?

Klay is still a student and doing great. He's taking two online classes and corresponding labs online, and doing a magnificent job I might add, as well as working 5 days a week on a construction job. Let's just say he's a busy man.

Klay's back in school and loving it.......Does that make HIM crazy?

Let's face it. We are crazy people living in a crazy world....there's really no way around it.

Thanksgiving Fun!

Last week Klay, Tucker, and I made the long trip down to Houston to see my sister and her family. Tucker made the drive with no problem and we had a great time spending time with family and cousins. The boys played endlessly, Katie and I cooked, and Friday Roy and I braved the long lines and took advantage of the great sales at Best Buy.......at 3 A.M. We attempted to get Christmas card pictures of all the boys in their new outfits (thanks Sassy!)......and it was definitely a small circus. Here are some of the best that I was able to get:This is a picture of my sister's boys Tate and Reece. These boys had a great time all week!We had a great time and so ready to see these guys again in a few weeks!

Happy Halloween I wish you!!!

This Halloween, we had the force........

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. Bring on Turkey Day!!!!