Mom on the run

Yesterday I ran the HomeRun 5K sponsored by my church and Habitat for Humanity.  The area high schools competed to have the most participants, so Stephanie and I signed up as high schoolers.  David and the big two played games while I ran, and a group of my students offered to push Kate and Will Risher in their strollers.  It was hot for late October, but it was also fun to only run 3 miles after training so much for the half marathons.  We finished in just over 29 minutes, 30 seconds, and we were impressed with our time.  It was so fun to have David and the kids (and lots of other people we knew) cheering for us at the finish line. 
About ten minutes later, my sweet student Maria came running through the finish line pushing Kate in the stroller.  Kate completed her first 5K!  Maria was a trooper because she had the big stroller loaded down with cameras and the baby bag instead of our jogging stroller, but she jogged--and talked to Kate--the whole time.  Will was being pushed by a walker so Kate had to trash talk him since she smoked him. 

The night before, the kids went to a Halloween party.  Although I detest Halloween and parties for grown ups, I think kids are adorable in their costumes.  This year Lindsey orchestrated the perfect combination for her and Benton--Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.  Benton loves Star Wars and Lindsey loves to match, so this costume idea was perfect.  B made Lindsey's outfit, and she didn't think I could pull off the sock buns, but I did with the help of lots of bobby pins, hair spray, and hair nets. 

 Ready to run!

 Luke reunited with his father

 Kate was not even winded after her first race

 Check out Leia's hair.  Also notice that her costume can easily double as an angel.  Two costumes in one!

 The kids insisted that Luke and Leia would have guns.  I don't advocate violent toys. 

 Luke Skywalker befriends a storm trooper

Luke Skywalker becomes a storm trooper.  Check out that pose--he is truly in character.

Ole Miss Homecoming

After a miserably cold and rainy Texas game, two weeks later we were back in Oxford for homecoming and it was 90 degrees and sunny.  October in Mississippi!  Benton used my ticket and went to the game with David, and Lindsey used Popsey and B's extra ticket and went to the game with them.  That meant Kate and I got to spend the afternoon shopping on the Square!  We spent most of our time at Square Books Jr., but it was still a fun outing. 

When we went back to campus and the game was over (and David was in a good mood because we finally got an SEC win), we went to the DG house for open house.  That house has changed so much over the past 12 years, but two of the staff are still there and it was so fun to see them.  They knew me because I lived there two years and David because he was a houseboy for four years, so as soon as they saw us they ran up and gave us hugs. 

All of the Rebel Ruffs--missing the one lone bulldog

Just for laughs

Today was the first half of fall break, and I had one item on my to-do list:  take a picture of the kids for our Christmas card.  After 151 pictures, we still have nothing that will work for our cards.  I went to Tupelo to get mom's help with the photo shoot, and the kids cooperated long enough to get dressed.  Although it was overcast, it was also muddy, which was the first problem we had.  Our bigger problem was Kate not wanting to participate, and our biggest problem was Benton's attitude.  So if our Christmas card has only Lindsey on it, I hope everyone understands.

We finally threw in the towel and went inside where Popsey was flipping the channels.  He stopped on an old version of Planet of the Apes, and Benton was quickly glued to the tv.  So much so that a little while later when we were all ready to go eat and B said, "Just turn the tv off, Eddie," Benton quickly shot back with "Don't do it, Eddie" without batting an eye. 

 Check out this pose.  If he was not so stinking cute, I would have left him in Tupelo.  But I brought him home where he quickly convinced his dad to watch Batman yet again.

This little munchkin loves to eat.  Although she looks like her mom, she eats like her dad.  We hope she will not become a picky eater like the big two.  The first week we tailgated she discovered Mary John's corn dip, and she went back for seconds and thirds until we finally had to cut her off.  She ate the dip with a spoon.  And it wasn't corn dip that a baby should like--it has tomatoes, peppers, and peas.  The next game, she went straight for the dip. 

13.1 miles completed

Stephanie and I ran a half-marathon on September 22 in Nashville.  Once we finished our master's degrees and gifted certification we decided to make a new goal that was not school-related.  She came up with the plan to run, and I reluctantly joined her.  I ran a half back in 2004, but I was younger with three less kids and plenty of spare time.  I did not honestly think I would be able to train for a half marathon this year.  We set our sights on the St. Jude Half in December in Memphis.  After we signed up for that, we found a women's only half in Nashville that benefitted the Chron's Foundation, and Steph's mom has chron's.  We signed up in June and spent three dedicated months training.  We ran our long runs together on the weekends (usually at 6 on Saturday mornings) and we ran our three shorter runs separately during the week--I ran three mornings before school, which meant I got up at 4:45.  People say I am crazy, but I truly loved training for the half and am so glad that we are running another one in December.  I feel like my life gets so busy on a daily basis that it is nice to have that time each morning that is mine.  David has been incredibly supportive and even attempted to run a couple of times with me (but quickly decided he hates running).

We went to Nashville on a Friday, checked in our hotel, and walked to a little family-run Italian restaurant that was full of runners fueling up on carbs.  We went to bed early that night because we had an early morning Saturday.  We loved the race atmosphere, but that race was hilly.  We had been warned that Nashville was hilly, and we thought we trained with lots of hills.  However, Olive Branch hills are not the same as Nashville hills, so we ran a bit slower than we anticipated.  But we finished it running, and that was our goal.  The race was fun, especially when we reached points where there were spectators cheering.  At one point, we were met by some hecklers who made derogatory signs toward women such as "The roads are safe for the next three hours."  At the end we were exhausted but elated.

We showered, ate lunch, shopped, shopped, shopped, ate supper, ate yogurt, and changed our original plan to go to a movie and instead were in our pajamas watching football in the hotel before 9:00. 
Unfortunately, we both woke up with injuries Sunday morning--my foot and her hip.  Her hip had bothered her for weeks, but my foot was a new injury.  It worried me because the pain was intense.  I have taken two weeks off and think I'm ready to run again. 

Training for our second half!

Hotty Toddy time!

I did not update the blog at all in September because it was an insanely busy month.  The weeks are intense, and most weekends in September we were in Oxford cheering on our much-improved Rebels.
Kate and Lindsey look adorable in their cheerleader outfits, and all three kids have a blast in the Circle before the games.  We take the kids back to the apartment before kickoff then enjoy the game (if it is an enjoyable game) without the kids.  It is nice to have access to a sitter and an apartment in Oxford this time of year.

Our little Pele, and other updates

Benton is in the heart of his first soccer season!  Benton loves to be on the field, but he could really care less if he has the ball.  He just likes to run with the pack.  Whenever the coach asks if anyone is ready for a break, Benton quickly volunteers.  He loves to sit on the bench.  He thinks "riding the pine" (as my high schoolers call it--I'm using the hip lingo) is so fun because he gets to watch the game and play with his friends.  We think it is a small victory that he claims to like soccer and always does what the coach asks.  We are hoping next season he will be interested in actually making contact with the ball. 

Lindsey loves her new ballet studio, but I'm not crazy about it because it's a long drive from our house plus it's a "dance" studio.  I could pop in the Just Dance video on Wii and she would get the same result as she does at her class.  However, when I suggested that we take a ballet break she broke into hysterical sobbing so we are sticking with it.  For now. 

Lindsey also had a tennis lesson this week, and David (who is a tough critic when it comes to tennis) said she did extremely well.  She clearly has tennis in her blood (clearly not from me though) so we are glad she wants to take lessons. 

Kate has no extracurricular activities other than being drug to every one of her siblings' extracurricular activities.  Monday is ballet, Tuesday is soccer, Wednesday is church choir, Thursday is soccer again.  Friday we crash and usually prepare for an Ole Miss weekend.  Life is busy but we are so grateful.

Lindsey met her reading goal for the first nine weeks and is doing well in first grade, although first grade is much tougher than kindergarten.  When she brought home math homework that involved identifying properties of 3D shapes, I knew we were in trouble. 

Benton loves school.  We are amazed daily how much he loves school.  He comes home singing the songs and telling us about all he has learned.  We owe him an apology for all the apprehension we had.  He has moved his owl a second time, and this one was for "pinching his friend."  When I asked him why he pinched his friend, he quickly said, "I didn't pinch my friend.  I not like that boy I pinched." 

Kate is still our handful.  She has a habit of pulling hair.  Some days Lynn will save me chunks to prove how much she pulls.  I try to defend her to say she has a complex because she still does not have hair.  However, she bit a child yesterday and I had no justification for it.  The girl is just mean.  But she is also so sweet and loving and adorable.  We have our hands full with that one.

 B on the sideline with our neighbor Sydney

 He's the middle one on the bench--the one with the shortest legs.  I couldn't zoom in any closer but thought his little legs looked adorable.  This is his favorite spot on the soccer field.

 It wouldn't be a family event without Kit there too.

 Sweet sister made a sign for B.  Notice the hand grabbing for the camera on the left.  As I said, handful.

 The lime boy amongst the red team.

 Goal kick--look at that form!

The smallest spectator, itching to run out on the field.