MS Blues Half Marathon

After four months of training, the MS Blues Half Marathon finally arrived, and we were ready for it! It was tough for me to get back into shape initially after taking about a year off from consistent running during my pregnancy with Judson. However, it felt good to get back into it and I began to feel like I could go for a run and not feel close to passing out. Barrett and I enjoyed doing a lot of our training together for this race. While the weather was still warm, we would sometimes take Judson for a ride in the jogging stroller while we ran, and later when the weather was too cold for him, we hired a babysitter to keep him a few times for our longer runs. It was so nice to have someone to run with, especially on the long runs. Barrett's hip was no longer giving him the same problems as he dealt with previously, so we were thankful for that. He was able to complete the training with no major problems.
My good friend, Lisa Ward, came up to Jackson to run the half with us, as well as our other good friend, Dana Sullivan. Dana was training to run the full marathon but unfortunately became injured and was no longer able to compete. She made the trip anyway, though, to cheer us on and to visit her son who is in law school here. When the race day arrived, the weather was perfect. Needless to say, we were a little worried about the weather after the freezing cold temperatures of the race last year. This year, however, it was in the mid 30's to low 40's, and it was sunny the whole morning. We started off the race with ear bands and gloves, which we ditched at the half-way point. Very encouraging to us was our own personal cheering squad- Caleb, Isabelle, Uncle Tim, and Virginia, who stood outside Virginia's house (which happened to be directly on the running route) with handmade signs to cheer us on! The course was somewhat difficult because of all the hills, but Barrett kept me going the whole way. I didn't get a personal best time, but I was surprised at how close I came to my time from the last half I ran. I was expecting to run it much slower this time, but Barrett's encouragement helped me keep up my pace, even when I would have slowed down.
After the race, we enjoyed the many good foods offered at the post race tent, and we joked (well, it was probably true) that we ate as many calories as we had just burned off!
Having a goal to work toward was a great way to get back into running and be consistent. Now I just have to decide what my next race will be!

Barrett and I in front of the big guitar after the race

Bryanne and Lisa

Bundling up after the race (we were colder after we finished than at the start!)

Caleb's 7th Birthday

Caleb's 7th birthday just happened to fall the day before the Blues Half Marathon. So, we celebrated with pizza (his favorite food and good carbs for a pre-race meal for us!) and a chocolate chip ginormous cookie cake. It was a double decker cookie with icing in the middle. We didn't seem to have any trouble polishing it off in a few days, though. After we ate, Caleb opened his presents from our family and his big gift from us this year was a new bike. He can still ride his old one, but this is a little bigger and has more room for him to grow. He has been enjoying it, and it will be nice when the weather gets warmer and we can be outside more. Thanks to Lisa Ward, my friend who was staying with us for the race, and Tim and Virginia, for celebrating his birthday with us!
For Caleb's birthday party with his friends, we waited until the end of the month to do a double party with his good friend, Wes Fowler. We did a joint party at Pump it Up, a place where they have lots of big inflatables for the kids to jump on. Part of the party was glow in the dark, so they all got glow necklaces and got to jump in one of the rooms where they had turned off the lights and just had strobe lights on. It was pretty neat and they all had so much fun. After the jumping was over, we went to the party room and enjoyed pizza (the kids polished off every last piece of pizza after working up such a big appetite!) and then a Star Wars birthday cake. Then Caleb and Wes got to sit on the big inflatable throne chair and open their gifts. Legos seemed to be the popular gift, so he has lots to build now. Overall, it was a very fun birthday for Caleb and very low stress for us. The Pump it Up crew even handled the gift opening process and recorded all the gifts for us (which can be one of the most stressful aspects of a birthday party). Later Caleb told us that it was his most fun birthday party ever!

Caleb's ginormous chocolate chip cookie cake

Caleb's new bike

Jumping at Pump it Up

Eating pizza with Wes


Discovering that Luke Skywalker and Darth Vador's light sabers actually light up

Opening presents on the throne chair


Judson happy with a glow stick to play with

Christmas

We celebrated Christmas Day this year with just our immediate family, like we did last year. We got to enjoy watching the kids open their presents in the morning and see what Santa had left them in their stockings. We had to make sure the wrapping paper went immediately into a trash bag since Judson's favorite part of opening presents was chewing on the wrapping paper! Caleb and Isabelle had fun helping him open his presents- they got him a little soccer ball and went to Build a Bear and made him a teddy bear that has a Saints jersey. They named him "Drew". Caleb and Isabelle each got their own Bible, which contains many pictures and short bible stories for them to read. They both enjoy bringing them to church and reading it on thier own (Isabelle of course likes to look at the pictures). Caleb got a new Wii game and a big nerf gun. Isabelle got a matching nightgown for her and her American Girl doll, Kit. That was the biggest hit, I think. She wore that nightgown the rest of the day and that night, and basically didn't want to take it off for about three days (I made her so I could wash it).
Later that morning, we Skyped with Grammy and Pappy and they got to watch the kids open the gifts they had sent. It was fun to get to spend some time with them, and even though they were hundreds of miles away it felt like they were right there with us! Caleb and Isabelle got their own watercolor palletes and nice watercolor paints, among other art supplies, to enhance their budding artistic talents. Then the kids got to see Grammy, Pappy, Uncle Heath, and Nana open the gifts from us, so it was neat to all be a part of each other's day on Christmas.
For our Christmas dinner, we enjoyed a Logan's Farm honey baked ham, that we got for free as a gift from one of the clinics that gets business from MEA.
Overall, Christmas day was a relaxing and fun time that were were able to spend as a family and reflect on the gift of Jesus Christ as we celebrated His birth.
The week after Christmas, Barrett's family came for a few days and we then celebrated with them and opened gifts together. Despite some really bad weather that came through the day they were traveling to get here, they made it safely. We enjoyed a traditional New Year's dinner, with Grandmamma's black eyed peas (no cabbage, though!) and then it was like Christmas morning all over again as we opened gifts with them.

Christmas morning

Getting their new Bibles

Judson's new Saints bear

Isabelle and Kit with their matching nightgowns


Christmas the next week with the Jones' side of the family (Isabelle with Kit and her new outfit)


Judson with Uncle Tim

Judson's favorite part was playing with, or eating, the wrapping paper

Granddaddy with the kids

Grandmamma and Granddaddy with the kids

Isabelle's 5th Birthday

We celebrated Isabelle's 5th birthday at home on her actual birthday with just our family. Isabelle had asked for an American Girl doll, Kit, for her birthday, so that was her special present this year. She has loved that doll! She takes her everywhere, sleeps with her, eats with her, and brushes her hair and changes her clothes. For her birthday party with her friends, we went to Harry the Potter, which is a paint your own pottery place. The first hour we ate pizza for lunch and had cupcakes, and then Isabelle opened her presents. Then all the kids got to choose a piece of pottery to paint, so they worked on their creations for the last hour. Almost everyone she invited was able to come, and I think everyone had a good time. After the store glazed and fired all the pottery, we got to distribute it back out to all her guests so they have a favor from the party that they made.

Isabelle with her new American Girl doll, Kit (from the Depression period)

Eating pizza at Harry the Potter

Cupcake time

Opening presents

Painting the pottery

Nutcracker and hunting

During the first weekend of December, Barrett and Caleb went on their second annual hunting trip to Buck Daze in Georgia and met some of our friends from Florida there. Caleb got to see his good friend Johnny while spending some quality time with his daddy. The best part was that they shot an 8-point buck as well as a small doe. We know have our deep freezer full of venison, which we have been enjoying over the last month. While the guys were hunting, Isabelle and I went to see a ballet production of the Nutcracker. It was a great performance and Isabelle really enjoyed it. It was extra meaningful this time, I think, because she has been taking ballet for the last year. Judson, since he is a little too young for the guys hunting trip, opted for a babysitter while we went to the ballet.

Isabelle with Caroline Jones, who danced the lead role of Clara in the performance. (She also goes to our church)


Caleb and Barrett with their 8-point buck

Caleb with his friend Johnny