Thanksgiving!

Well, here are some pictures from the race. Katie has most of them, especially the action shots because Matt left our camera in the car. If I know Katie, it will take her a little while to get them to me or on her blog. So, you will just have to wait for those. This me, Joy (Katie's sister-in-law), and Katie before the race. We were very happy then and looking energized.

The kids were troopers and kept the guys busy while we ran.
Rachel likes to pick her nose every now and then and I just thought it was funny.

Matt has now taught Rachel to lay in bed with him. So here they are cuddling.


The 10k over in Clearwater was not a pleasant course. It was hot, about 80 or so degrees and much of the run was in the sun. I actually got tan lines. They only provided water 3 times, but that was not enough for me since it was so hot. There were a few inclines and one good one towards mile 5. I actually saw one girl passed out on the ground with the paramedics around her right after that hill. I wonder why...The race seemed to take forever and my Nike chip wasn't calibrated to the correct distance so it was telling me I was done with the race when I had like a mile left. Ugh. I fixed that issue on Sunday. The race ended in Clearwater High School's stadium. Once I hit the track, I sprinted to the finish line. Some older guy was racing me at that point, but I beat him! My time was 1 hour and 5 minutes. I was so happy to finished with that race, but it wore me out for the rest of the day. We went to Matt's parent's house first for lunch and then went home for a nap. For dinner, we headed to my parent's house. Then, we went to Katie and Josiah's so Katie and I could do our Walgreens and CVS Black Friday shopping. Who knew that drugstores could have such great deals. We got a lot of product and made a good amount of money!

On Sunday morning, I did my 8 mile run. I was so close to the end until I encountered a big mean rottweiler. I thought that I just wouldn't make eye contact and run by. Ohhh noooo. He barked a lot at me and then I decided my legs could hold out a little longer for me to turn around and backtrack just a bit. So, that stupid dog made me run about a quarter of mile extra. My big toe has a blister on it and I am thinking I am going to have to buy some running shoes.

Rachel has a runny nose and Matt had a migraine today. However, Chuck and Lie to Me are coming on tonight so that is bound to make our night better!

Choo Choo!

One of Rachel's favorite things to do is watch for trains. Well, now if she hears one coming, she will drop whatever she is doing and run as fast as she can (some of you can picture this cute little run) to the window. We have to keep the blinds up for her all the time, otherwise she tries to lift them herself. She has learned how to do the chug a chug a chug a chug a choo choo line. Instead of moving her arms in circles though, she does kind of flaps them up and down. That is what she is doing in the next few pictures. She will however fill in the choo choo part. My Mom is getting her a train for Christmas filled with blocks. Two things she loves in one gift! Awesome!






Matt has also taught her to lay down next to him on the floor on pillows. I guess she thinks it is a game, but he loves his down time!

One of Rachel's famous and lovely open mouth kisses. We love em in this household!

That cell phone kept her laying there for awhile.

She also likes stacking her nesting cups. However, we have lost about 3 or 4 of them, so it doesn't work as well these days.

Guess what sound was coming out of this mouth?

A big fat WHINE
I have class tonight, but then I am off until next Tuesday! Matt also has Wednesday through Friday off, but has to work on Saturday because of the new schedule he got put on. We have a busy week ahead of us! Matt and Rachel are coming to the race on Thursday morning, so hopefully we will have some pictures this time.

Just an Update

There is really nothing new going on with this household. I am trying to balance my time between school (only four weeks left!) and running (which seems to take up a lot of time) and of course Rachel. I am really slacking with school because I can. I don't know what their grades are and I am always tell them to let me know if they want know their grades, but no one does, so I don't figure them until about two weeks before the final. Katie and I are running more these days. Between the four days we run, we put in about 16-18 miles per week. Soon, it will be going up. We have our 10k on Thanksgiving morning. It is a good thing I can do my baking the night before because I am going to be really tired after driving to Clearwater so early in the morning, running 6.2 miles and then driving back. Can we say NAP! Good thing I won't be doing my normal Publix shopping that day. Matt is doing fine, but he is on the hunt for another house to buy. The one that they were supposed to buy had extra leaks and mold, so the deal is off.

Rachel is healthy (praise God!) and a handful! She associates the bed with Daddy (I wonder why...) and loves to climb on the bed and jump. Anything daredevilish she pretty much likes. This girl has no fear. We have been going to the park a little more lately and she is now playing on the bigger playground with bigger slides and stairs/ladders to climb. She loves it. Blocks are a new favorite toy and the shape sorter is always a big hit with her. Of course, she still loves books and stuffed animals. She likes pushing her truck, tractor, and race car on the floor and making a vroom noise. She is on one nap a day finally with the exception of Tuesday and Thursday. I love it because she usually takes at least a 2 hour nap and has slept up to almost 4 hours before. Here are some pictures, although they are not great because I have mostly just not remembered to take pictures.

Rachel likes to take off and put on clothes. I have caught her taking her shirt off while sitting in the Publix shopping cart. She is always up for taking whatever clothes are in the laundry basket and trying to dress herself. Silly girl.

The cutest minnie mouse EVER!

Lauren and I were going to take the girls to Busch Gardens before it started to cool down a little bit and be too cold to play in the water. She wasn't feeling well that morning and the weather was not looking favorable to our plans. Later, the sun came out and it was a beautiful day out! I let Rachel play in the sprinkler for about 30 minutes in the backyard. She was more interested in the ball and the piles of dirt that Matt put down to level out our yard. She was a mess when we came in. I sat out in a chair and read. It was really nice. She has learned a few new words since the last post. I can't believe how quickly she picks up on things now. Flower and flip-flop are pretty recognizable. She loves playing with blocks now and tries to say it, but it sounds like "bla." I keep trying to get her to say Publix! She had a little cold last week and I was really hoping to avoid taking her to the doctor, so we gave her some cough and cold medicine that had been free in recent weeks. Two great things: it actually worked and it was free! Sadder news, I think my tummy bug might be back and i was totally ready to go to the gym tonight for 1.5 hours and back to the class I had been really wanting to go to. We shall see if I make it. Our computer and printer are both having issues. We just bought a new printer because they are pretty cheap. We have a friend fixing our computer. I am just hoping to get a little longer out of our computer. I am going crazy not being able to print coupons right now.

We went to my parent's house for Halloween last night. We had pizza and then took the girls trick-or-treating around the little street my parent's live on. They were too cute! Rachel wore a borrwed Minnie Mouse costume. She was absolutely adorable. The dress was short and her bloomers were hanging out. So cute on little kids! She enjoyed walking around and getting candy. Since she couldn't say trick-or-treat, I got her to say Boo to everyone. When the mosquitos came out, we ran inside. I can't wait for the cooler weather to take out the bugs.

Here she is getting prepped! We always fix her hair in her princess chair. I have some tinted chapstick and put some on her so it looked like she was wearing red lipstick. She loves it.