Finally. Mission Accomplished.

   This past Sunday was the half marathon I'd been training for. I FINALLY finished it!  With NO walking.  This had been a goal of mine for so long that it was really bothering me not to have done it. I didn't particularly even want to run one anymore, I just wanted to do it because it was an uncompleted goal. I got hooked, though. I remembered why I had enjoyed running in the past and loved the race day experience. The crowd and volunteers were awesome and it was fun to run with a good friend.  Tom was a trooper to watch the boys while I was running, then let me take a nap that afternoon b/c I'd gotten next to no sleep. I'm doing another one next weekend in Tulsa and should be able to run it faster, and training for one at the end of January with a goal of  2 hours. That's a stretch for me. I mean, a HUGE stretch. We'll see. Anyway, I cannot believe we didn't get a pic of the 3 of us that went. Darn. You could get your pic taken at the end of the race but since I still felt like vomiting, I chose to stagger through the food line and try to settle my stomach. Free beer was an option. I have no idea how someone could drink a beer after running 13.1 miles. Or worse, 26.2. I saw a shirt that said "I thought this was 2.62 miles!" Cute. There was also one that said "If you can read this, I'm not last." I need that one. One of the signs someone was holding said "Run like Tiger's wife is chasing you." I feel sorry for that poor woman but the sign was funny. There were several cheerleading teams along the route and a marching band. All the distraction definitely helped.

   Saturday was awesome. Our friends are adopting two kids from the Caribbean. They hosted a thanksgiving lunch for us in a gorgeous house on the river and all the food was Caribbean themed. The weather was absolutely perfect so we spent all afternoon outside. The older kids played on the canoes and Walker took a long nap so Tom and I could relax a little and enjoy the day. Harris was thoroughly occupied with his partner in crime.

I probably shouldn't say partner in crime, it was more like victim that day. They were playing in a sandbox and Carter started crying, and said Harris tried to push him. Harris immediately said "IN THE WATER" (as in he was tryting to push Carter IN THE WATER) and then put his hand over his bottom in preparation for the spanking he knew he deserved. There were a couple of incidents that afternoon. Not his finest hour. In his defense, he missed a nap, but still knew what he was doing was unacceptable.

The picture below is so funny to me, because that's what the girls decided to do while we relaxed. All the pics of the guys are of them playing washers or hitting wiffle balls and we felt the need to find a spot and pose.  But I love this pic because I LOVE these women!

It was such a treat to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather with good friends. Living so far from family, I'm incredibly thankful to have people in our lives that we can depend on. And every Monday, I'm so thankful that I'm able to stay home with our kids. Harris is on a kick of asking me if we can do things together. And I love that it's ME he's asking to read books or work puzzles. Walker played pretty independantly this morning while I was in the kitchen, but randomly came in to be picked up for awhile, then was content to go do his own thing again. I do not take for granted that I'm the one that gets to hold him when he wants some affection. But I'm always excited for naptime, don't get me wrong :)  Anyway, I'm clearly in the mode of Thanksgiving. I hope you notice things to be thankful for today. And my spell check doesn't seem to be working, so when it starts functioning again I'll be even MORE thnakful. I just spent a couple of minutes trying to spell definitely. And I still don't know if it's right.

"We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."  2 Corinthians 5:20