My first 5K

I like to run. That is something that I NEVER would have thought I would say! Six weeks ago I decided (along with a few wonderful friends)that I would run my first 5K. We kept each other motivated, and had a lot of fun working up to 3miles.

We ran the Healthy Living 5K at the Pea Ridge National Military Park. Here is a picture of the soldiers. They started the race by firing a canon! It was really loud!




Here is a before picture. It was SO COLD out there...about 34 degrees.


And we're off...


The race was great. My biggest problem was a little yapping dog that was at my heels. I was so annoyed that this lady let her dog go so far out in front of her that his nose kept touching my heels. I tried to cross to the other side, but she let him follow me! That made it hard to stay in my zone, but eventually I was able to leave her in my dust :)

Here is my wonderful family that met me at the finish line...even though they were freezing!

 

We did it!

Me, Kjerstin, Nicole, Stacie and Diane...Linsey was so fast, she got away!

My goal for the race was to run the whole thing...no walking. And I did it! That made me feel great. So even though I may never be a fast runner...I'm a runner.

The Coolest Transformers Ever!

Yes, I know that it has been over a week since Halloween. I usually post video clips that I take with my camera. Sadly, my camera is broken. I had to use the video camera, and I have finally figured it out!

I promise it is worth the wait!

You are about to see my boys as the coolest (and cutest) Transformers ever! (I suppose I am a little biased!)



Eight rolls of Duct Tape - $32
Headlights that really light up - $6
Having your kids think you're the coolest mom ever - PRICELESS

I estimate that it took 25 hours of blood, sweat and tears to complete both costumes. (Seriously, when I am using a box cutter, there is blood involved.)

So what are we going to be next year...?


Thursday night we went to the school for the Costume Carnival. The Transformers were a hit! The boys eventually got tired of transforming for everyone and posing for pictures, but they had a blast!

Here are a few other pictures of our Halloween fun.

We started off with trick-or-treating at dad's new office - Wal-Mart. Then we went to Sonic for the free hot dogs and soda. The kids enjoyed their hot dogs in the back of dad's truck.


Adeline had quite the sucker collection. She wanted them ALL! We tried to take them away for a picture...no way!


All four of my cuties...it was NOT easy to get this picture!


My two beautiful fairies!


Abbott was such a ham! He really got into the part!


Trick-or-treating was so much fun! The boys got into "vehicle" mode while Anna knocked on the door. After they answered the door, the boys jumped up (transformed) and said "trick-or-treat!". It was a blast and everyone LOVED it!


What good looking Autobots!

Pumpkin Patch

I LOVE fall! I love crisp mornings and sunny afternoons. I love warm sweaters and apple pie. I love changing leaves and two weeks off school. I love Halloween and Thanksgiving. And I really, really love our annual trip to the pumpkin patch!

As I sit here writing this I am wondering why I love taking my kiddos to the pumpkin patch. Is it the smelly animals or the muddy shoes? The overpriced pumpkins or the drive to the middle of nowhere?

All of the above! I love letting letting everyone loose to go find their perfect pumpkin! And I love that it is a tradition to meet grandma, cousin Lexi, and Aunt Brittany for the hunt! It is convenient that Lexi's birthday falls close to Halloween so we can always do both in the same weekend.

I could hardly keep up with Adeline as she ran around the place. I got her to sit still for half a second for this picture.

 

She picked her pumpkin. It's almost as big as she is!

 

Anna tried really hard to find a pumpkin she liked. I think she examined every pumpkin there. Unfortunately, every pumpkin had a flaw. She was interested in the green ones still attached to the vine, and was disappointed when I told her she couldn't take those.

 

She ended up choosing two tiny gourds instead of a pumpkin. We told her she couldn't carve them, but she couldn't be swayed. She loves her little gourds. Anna definitely marches to the beat of her own drum!

 

Abbott likes BIG pumpkins. Mom vetoed his first choice. When you are paying by the pound, you have to have some limits :)



Not bad for a second choice...and still pretty big!



A little help from brother!



Aiden had the hardest time choosing. He's such a perfectionist! He hunted and hunted!



Looks good!

Silver Dollar City

We had such a great time at Silver Dollar City this weekend. We bought season passes because we weren't going on a family vacation this year (because the vacation $ went to mom and dad's cruise!!!). SDC is no Disney World, but I never could have guessed how much fun our family would have there! Disney is one week and it's over...we have been to SDC five times (and we'll go again at Christmas!).

It has really become a special place for us. It's just us, with no interruptions. We aren't rushed or stressed, we just make our way around the park hitting our favorites and trying a few new things along the way.

They have the BEST frozen lemonade. We all love it, especially Adeline who hogs it all!

This month they have it decorated for fall. I loved the decorations, so I made the kids pose for quite a few pictures!

 

 

Waiting for the boys...pretending to ride!



My boys rode the Powder Keg for the first time (that's a big roller coaster!) Abbott got off and said "Let's do it again!" Aiden got off and said "I'm never doing that again!" They are so different...and I love them both!

 

It kind of looks like she's poll dancing...


I took the girls on the butterfly ride. Adeline liked it at first...but quickly decided that it was way too high! In this picture you can see that she is trying to climb out of the bug and I am holding her down. I don't see big roller coasters in her future...

 

What a crew!



We will be getting season passes again next year, even if we do go on a vacation. It is a two hour drive to our favorite family togetherness time. You can't beat that! And as a bonus...Abbott is insisting on eating more vegetables so he will be tall enough to go on the Barn Swing next year...whatever works!

Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Sparks was at our local Sam's Club on Saturday. My sister, Lindsey, drove 3 hours to go with me to see him! We had to wait in a line that wrapped around half the store...but it was SO worth it!

Here is a guy that can write amazing love stories (chick stories) and he is absolutely adorable! On Saturday I found out that he is also an incredibly nice guy!

It was so fun to meet him and get our books signed.

Here he is signing away

 

He invited me to come behind the desk with him for the picture!

 

Lindsey was jealous...she didn't get to go behind the desk!

 

We were still in the store when he finished signing books...so we asked him for one more picture! What a guy :)

 

The Gruffalo

Didn't you know? There's no such thing as a Gruffalo!

We went to the Walton Arts center on Monday to see an adorable performance of The Gruffalo. For any of you not familiar with this book, it is a very popular children's book in the UK. I don't think it is as popular here, but it is really cute. The whole thing rhymes and tells the story of a mouse who took a stroll in the deep dark wood.

We took our three older kids and left Adeline at home. I felt kind of bad about that, but it was REALLY nice to get to sit through the ENTIRE show! All three kids kept saying they missed Adeline...they can't wait to see Adeline, etc. It was really cute to see how much they love their baby sister.

We couldn't take pictures during the show, so this is everybody waiting for the show to start.


And we went for ice cream afterwards (of course!)

 

It was a really fun family evening that the kids will be talking about for a long time.

New Twilight Trailer!!