Surprise Packages!

Last week the kiddos received a special package from Auntie Rita. They were so excited!

Jai got an Upside Down Show Remote! That is his absolute favorite show! He was bouncing up and down on the bed. I love Gracie's expression in this picture!

Please ignore his green teeth. He had just had a green apple slush. haha! 

Can you tell he loved it?!

He also got some cute cars and a snack bottle and bowl. 

Here is Gracie showing off her 2 cute scarves! She loved them!! :)

He couldn't wait to start using it while watching the show! 

Thanks so much Rita! That was very thoughtful of you and it made their WEEK! We love you! :)

The big 3-0!

Yes, you read that right. I'm 30. But, so far it's been awesome. I think this is going to be a wonderful year. I have never felt better...and I'm loving my awesome friends/family that I have been blessed with. 

My sister in law, Rita...drove down this weekend from Richmond and I was so happy that she was here to celebrate with us! 

Rita (Sr.), Nydia, and Little Rita! :)

My sweet Jai...

Jai and 'Mee-Maw'

The kiddos playing their new favorite game.

My mom and stepdad made an awesome 'Taco' meal! Thanks mom and Larry for a great meal and a DELICIOUS cake! Mmmm!
(They always stray from picture time...that's why I have no shots of them)

Present and Cake Time!  Don't you love my ridiculously good looking 'Birthday Princess' hat?!

My sweet Grace

Wow...my cute little family got me my first Vera Bradley bag. I'm not usually a fan of hers...but I've been wanting this purse for about a year now. LOVE it! :)

...and my thoughtful Gracie remembered that I had wanted a handheld water bottle for running and she did tons of chores to earn money to buy it for me. I LOVE it Gracie! 

I received very generous gifts from gift cards to cash, to a DATE NIGHT!!! I can't wait to redeem it. Thank you all!!!

My sweet husband and I. Paul, I told you to order the glare free glasses. You never listen. Tisk tisk! :)

This is a terrible picture of me...but I had to show off my sweet niece Mary Catherine. 

We picked some baby pumpkins from the garden. Eeek. Love.

Then I told the girls to get their 'game faces' on for some kickball! We rounded up the family, and had the best time! 

Paul and Jai running bases...

I love Paul's face/stance in this one. He was a beast and the biggest cheater EVER!! haha. 

I totally wish I had gotten the picture of Rita chasing down her big brother...it was hilarious! 

The whole kickball gang! We had so much fun! 

Thank you guys for everything. It was truly the best birthday yet! 

If it didn't hurt, everyone would do it!

I've been training for my 10k for a while now, not nearly as hard as I should have been though. I was a little worried about how it was going to go. I traveled to Davidson, NC for it...and had to wake up at 5 to get ready in time. Yawn! It was a very quiet and lonely trip, but I was pretty pumped to knock it out. My headphones were broken, and I ordered some off of a Groupon deal from Skullcandy! They arrived on Friday, just in time. Aren't they cute? :)

This was my racing bib for the race...

...and my shoe tag (for time results). 

I am not a fan of t-shirts...but since they come with the race package, I usually get it in Paul's size so he can show off my accomplishments...haha. It ends up being more of a housework or painting shirt. 

My sweet kiddos couldn't come...but they were rooting me on from home. Thanks Gracie! :)

This was a crowd shot of the half marathon runners. (13.1 miles) They started the race 10 minutes earlier than us. The girl in the front with the sports bra (ha) and teeny shorts was a beast! She was one of the 'celebrities' of the race and is training for the Olympics. She was the first woman to cross the finish line in 1 hr 22 min time. Woah! Let me clarify this for those who aren't familiar with running and racing.

I finished my 10k (6.2 miles) in 1 hr 6 minutes. She finished her half marathon (13.1 miles) in 1 hr 22 min. What?!?! So bad a#$! 

I did it! This was my best 6 mile run ever. The weather was PERFECT. I think it was about 60 degrees! The course was beautiful with the rolling greenway. I had a lot of fun and am so happy that I checked a 10k off of my bucket list! And...I did it one day before my 30th birthday! Stoked. I feel better now than I think I ever have...and this was a HUGE accomplishment for me. Now, it's time to train for that half marathon! :)

After the race, I headed back to my mom's to celebrate my sister in law Angela's birthday! We had a fun time! Happy Birthday Angela!!! :)

Weekend Festivities!

We had a very busy weekend! We had a lot of things planned, and unfortunately didn't get to do everything on the list. On Saturday, my brother and his family took Gracie to the Air Show. She had a great time...although she did get a little dehydrated. From what I understand it was pretty hot out there in the sun! She recovered! Thanks for taking care of her CC & JoJo! :)

Next, we went to our good friends (Erik Stephens & Johnny Smrdel's) Grand Opening of their new clothing store, Centennial Trading Company. It looked awesome! We are so proud of them! If you live in the area, it is located at 282 E. 4th Street in Winston Salem. Check them out! 

We had then planned on attending Arts Based Elementary's 10th Anniversary! However, while at Centennial my glasses broke and I couldn't see a thing. :( We ended up going home and digging up some from our dating years. haha. So, I am now wearing ones that I can barely see out of due to old age and puppy teeth marks. Yikes! I was happy to find out that my glasses were still under warranty, so I should have some brand spankin' new ones in a few days. Woot! 

On Sunday, we went to the Stokes Stomp, which is on the Dan River. It was a lot of fun! Paul helped some friends run the Pakora booth. Yum! The kids and I went down to the river and had a little 'picnic'. A nice little boy came up and taught the kiddos how to skip rocks. They had a lot of fun doing that. The weather was awesome and we had a great time. 

They had a little kids kayak station where the kids could kayak in the river. It's very shallow there. That was such a cute idea. I don't think I've seen that done there before but I could be wrong. I think I may let Gracie do it next year. I'm sure you all are aware of how terrified I am of water with my kids...and with Paul not being there to help me juggle both of them...I didn't feel comfortable letting her do it this year. However, Liam and Mary Catherine (their cousins) came to the festival as we were leaving. Chrissy (their mom) shared some cute pictures of them doing it. From what I understand, MC fell over in hers and was soaked! haha. Poor thing. I think they had a great time though. :)

Later that afternoon, I had a football scrimmage. Yes, you read that correctly....I played football. A group of friends have started an All Girls Flag Football League and yours truly has joined the team. Yay! I turn 30 years old this weekend, and I'm going all out for it! haha. I meant to get a 'team' picture before we all left...and am just now noticing that I forgot to do that. :( 

We had a great time. 

Next week, we are heading to the beach. Stay tuned for a new blog on that!