Another snow day in Dallas! Surely this is it for the year. Austin got to venture out into the snow for the first time. It was pretty short lived. He was sick and not appropriately dressed. He has not gained a full appreciation for the snow yet. But he has developed a new love for his stocking hat.

Here is a video of Paul and Halie having a snowball fight.

So Halie has started to show off her creative side. The other day at Nana's house (Nana is the inspiration for any and all of the creativeness she has) she set up a table scape for a drawing all by her self, completely unprompted. Today she drew a picture of a home office she wanted to set up in her room. She drew up four different plans and then went off to work! Too cute!

A little behind...

I have not had a whole lot of time to sit down and write in a week or so. There is so much I have put a mental bookmark on so I would remember to get it in here, we'll see how well my brain is working today.

I help teach Halie's Awana's class at church. We have 14 four and five year olds in the class, 4 of which are girls....you do the math, yes, 10 boys. Awanas is on Wed nights from 6:30-8. I am sure that time works well for the older kids, but for kids this small, who have had a full day already, they are tired and a little wound up all at the same time. Last Wed night was an exceptionally wearing night, they were all crazy and some of them were being very proficient at not minding Amanda (the girl I teach with) or myself. We were in chapel and the kids are suppose to sit on line drawn across the floor with velcro tape (again, not a good idea for four year olds) and listen to the story. They were all in their own worlds, doing their own things, not minding (I don't think I should verbalize what I wanted to do to these kids, they might not let me teach them anymore if anyone from the church would read this!!!) and then it hit me. These are just 14 four year olds who aren't listening. God has to watch every single one of us not listen and do our own things all the time, over and over and over again. And He is still patient, still loves us and has not left us. It is truly amazing. I love how He doesn't ask us to do something He hasn't already done. First thought done.....

On Sunday, Mom, Dad, Paul and I all ran our first half marathon! We all made it! Paul did awesome, ran it in 1hr 48 min. I did it in 1hr 54 min, my goal was under 2 hrs, so that was exciting! Now that I am a few days removed from it I can say it was fun, I didn't really find the fun in it while it was actually happening though. I am not really sure where we ran, I just ran as hard as my body would let me. I am still feeling it. This endurance training is all new to me over the last few months and my body is having to get used to it. It wipes me out for a few days after a long workout like that. Paul took me out for a 40 mile bike ride yesterday. Again, not so much fun. That is the most I have ever ridden, and it makes me realize how much more I need to get out on the road over the next few weeks. I have to squeeze a 56 mi ride in between a mile swim and another half marathon here in 4 weeks. I am beginning to regret my decision to run this race. I am learning how much of this battle is mental and I know that regret is not helping me win this battle. Onto another life lesson. Life is short. As I crossed the finish line of the half marathon, I looked over and saw paramedics doing CPR on a man. It was exceptionally scary because I knew Paul finished ahead of me and I couldn't find him anywhere. I had to go by twice to make sure that the man on the ground wasn't Paul. Praise the Lord it wasn't him. The man did die. He was a healthy 32 year old man who ran the race in 1 hr 47 min with his brother, so he was in good shape. He crossed the finish line, gave his brother high five, went to get a bottle of water and just collapsed. That was it, his time on this earth was done. Very sad, it has gotten me a little down all week. He had a wife and two little girls, 1 and 3 yrs old. It seems there have been constant reminders around me that every day is a truly a gift, but it is amazing how quickly I can forget that.

Austin has really started to become a little boy recently. I looked over the other day and he had gotten out a bunch of plastic animals, had them all set up and was making his version of animal sounds and moving them around. He has moments where he will disappear and actually be playing instead of destroying something. He still does have the moments of destroying things too though.

Both the kids are getting sick. I thought it was just allergies at first, but I'm not so sure now. Austin has had a fever since yesterday. Halie hasn't had a fever, but her cough sounds horrible. I feel sorry for the kids of nurses, mine included. We wait and wait before taking them to the doctor. Any other kid gets taken to the doctor and gets medicine the first day they are sick, my poor kids have to go at least a week before they get anything. Hopefully they'll get better soon!

If anyone has ever wondered what the mother of an 18 month old boy does all day, here it is...... She either chooses to wade through the amazing mess they can make in a very short period of time (these 3 shots took about 30 minutes for him to accomplish) or she constantly follows him around picking up as he goes, getting nothing else done....ever. I have joined the camp of wading through the mess until he takes a nap. I seem less stressed out and get other things accomplished while he destroys the house and gives me more work to do! Everyone told me that having a boy would be different than a girl and honestly, I didn't believe them. Halie has an extreme amount of energy, so I figured no boy would top that. Austin doesn't have the same energy level, he is just destructive and loves to throw things. Very different than I remember Halie. He has recently started sitting in chairs other than his high chair, playing very intently with cars and stacking blocks. All fun things to watch as he grows and explores his little world.

This weekend we were able to take a family trip up to the lake house, just the 4 of us. We had a great time. It was the first time in a long time that we just got to hang out as a family and play together. We spent alot of time outside playing on the swing set. Halie is an amazing swinger now. She said she teaches the kids at school how to swing. Austin loves the swing, he sat in it most the time up there and would bat your hand away if you tried to get him out. Paul and I both almost injured ourselves showing Halie how to do cartwheels. She is coming along very nicely! We played football, Frisbee, board games, had a scavenger hunt and just had fun being together. It makes me very excited for Paul being done with school here shortly and getting to hang out with us more!

Tonight we were all loaded up in the car, headed to the gym for spin class, actually driving down the road and Paul says "Wow, the weather just got really nice, I think a family walk sounds better than spin class". Ok, twist my arm.... So, we turned around and took a walk. Halie decided she wanted to work on her running. She wants to do a kids triathlon this summer after she turns five. She said "I am good on the bike, but i need to work on my swimming and running for my race". Nana bought her a long sleeved running shirt a while back that she wanted to wear, she looked so cute on her first run! I am so sad I forgot to take a picture. She did great, she ran for 4 minutes, took a break and then ran for 8 minutes and took a break, then finished it up with a few more minutes, 15 all together! She has a pretty natural form, maybe we have a future runner on our hands! I have a feeling she may be a little sore tomorrow. She was very proud of herself!