A Wonderful Christmas Time!!!

We had such a wonderful Christmas. I am always so sad when it's over. Grayson and I went to 4 Christmases in 2 days..It started at my Grandparents' on Christmas Eve. We had a Mexican feast!! Then we opened presents and took TONS of pictures. Then we went to his Grandparents' for more presents and more pictures. Christmas Day, we went to my Mom's for lunch..presents, and pictures. (Do you see what they all have in common?? haha) Then to his parents for presents and pictures. Technically, we had 5 Christmases because we went to his Aunt's house for supper. It made for a busy 2 days, but I wouldn't have it any other way!! We get to see everyone we love and have so much fun!! Here are some of the pictures. My sister Tara has an AMAZING camera, so we always get great pictures with it!

Tara, me, Mom, and Shelby

All the cousins (minus Jeff who is in Scotland)
Tara, me, Nana, and Shelby

Tara, me, Papa, and Shelby

Grayson and I

Every year, Grayson and I go with my BFF Hayley and her hubby Andy to dinner and then to see the lights on the Fayetteville Square. This year after we froze to death outside..Grayson suggested ice cream. Sooo...we went to Orange Leaf (used to be Moon Berries..used to be Orange Mango). It was delicious..we forgot all about being cold outside!!

Hayley and I

Grayson and I

I hope everyone had as wonderful of a time with their family and friends as we did!!!

Busy Crafting

Shelby and I have been doing some more canvas painting. We are definitely getting better at it. We love doing them!!!

I LOVE this one!!! Shelby and I both made one for our houses.

Ready to decorate for Christmas!! Shelby made this for me.

This one I made for myself..why not?


Shelby made as a Christmas present.

I made as a Christmas present.

Shelby made this card holder..it will have clothes pins on it to hold the cards.

Baby present I made.

For a teacher friend.

Legal.

The Birthday Princess!!!

Shelby is officially 18!!!! She loved the crown I got her.
I also got purple window paint and decorated Bubbles (her car's name).

She was very excited to see her car painted..she still has it on there.

Tara and Shelby

Me with the Birthday Princess

Me, Shelby, and my SIL Blaire

Me and my sweet cousin Rachel

Mom and Shelby

Dad and Shelby

Shelby is officially legal. Legal to vote..legal to smoke- which she won't be doing. And legal to do anything else that you have to be 18 to do..I obviously can't think of anymore legal things to do at 18.

I cannot believe my little sister turned 18 last weekend!! I still feel like she should be much younger than she is. We had a fun party for her at my parents' house the day before her birthday. It was family and friends. My older sister Tara has an AMAZING camera and took tons of pics of all of us.

My mom ordered pizza from Gino's East in Chicago and had it shipped for the party. That's right..we had the same food at Shelby's party that Katie Holmes had for Suri's birthday party. Yes..we are that cool. Ha! It was sooo good! They cook them halfway in Chicago and then freeze them..then they ship them in a day in dry ice. We finished cooking them, and it was almost like we were back in Chicago!! We had other food to go with it, but none worth writing about especially since we actually had pizza flown from CHICAGO!! :)

Mmmmm...it was so good.

She opened all her presents and then blew out her 18 candle on her cookie cake. It was such a fun night!!!

Happy 18th Birthday Shelby!!!

Running

I'm training for a half-marathon that's in November. That's 13.1 miles...or "crazy" as Grayson likes to call it. I work with several teachers who are hard-core runners, and somehow they talked me into trying it out. I started running 3-4 times a week back in early June, but since I went out of town for two vacations..I have really been doing it since July. I started running with a good friend of mine that lives a little ways down the road..Carrie. She is a persnoal trainer, so she really helped me get going! She is amazing..she would usually run our 3 miles while pushing her baby Dillon in his stroller, and she was never out of breath! Lately, I've been running with my two teacher runner friends..Lisa and Karen. Lisa is training for a marathon, and Karen and I are training for the 1/2 marathon. They've both done them before, so I have been getting lots of good advice from them. They are both very strong runners, and I look very pathetic compared to them.

I have been running in shoes that aren't made for running.. Nike Shox. I love my Shox, but I never knew how horrible they are on your body until the past few weeks. They are really bad on your feet, shins, knees..I could keep going and going about this. I have been having this terrible pain in my lower legs after I run. It usually starts on the front of my legs and ends up getting my calves to hurting too. It basically feels like my shin bone is one giant bruise. Apparently that is called shin splints. Now I know. They are PAINFUL! One night, my shins were on fire and then my entire calf muscles tensed up, and I could hardly walk..I had to hobble back for 1 1/2 miles. Horrible.

Anyway..I finally went to Rush Running in Bentonville to get some running shoes. I love that store!! They put you in "neutral" tennis shoes and stick you on a treadmill. There is a camera that records behind your feet, and the store employee played it back to me in slow motion and determined what kind of running shoes I need. She gave me four brand options and I walked around the store in each one and picked the most comfortable pair. I have ran in them twice now, and they are AMAZING!! Unfortunately, this week, my legs (shins) are still very sore from the 5.5 mile run I did on Saturday in my Shox. I'm hoping they heal quickly, so I can get back on my training schedule.

My running shoes

Weekend in Dallas

We had such a wonderful 3 day weekend!! Grayson and I left Friday after school with his parents, Drake, and Blaire and headed to Dallas. We got there so late that we checked in and went straight to bed. Our hotel was very nice! It's the Omni Fort Worth. Because we were in Dallas with Shiloh, we got a really good deal on the rooms. That made us all very happy!!

Saturday, we got up and headed to Six Flags. I have never been, and it was a really cool place! I don't ride very many rides. I hate roller coasters...I'm not a fan of rides that flip you upside down..I mean, I get carsick, how could I ride those rides and not puke?? I still had fun watching Grayson do all these CRAZY rollercoasters! Elaine also didn't ride much, so that helped.
Grayson, Drake, Greg, and Blaire on The Batman roller coaster..scary!!

That night, we met up with Grayson's aunt, uncle, and cousins for supper by the Fort Worth Stockyards. We ate at Cattlemen's Steakhouse..it was YUMMY!!

Sunday, I was happy because we got to sleep in. In fact, we didn't even leave the hotel until noon. We all met back up and headed to Frisco to go shopping. However, I was disappointed b/c one of the main reasons we chose Frisco was Sam Moon's..which is closed on Sunday. If you have never been, it is amazing!! It is a jewelry and handbag store that has millions of cute, cheap jewelry!! That night, we ate at Cheesecake Factory with the whole bunch plus Grayson's cousin Heath and his sweet, pregnant wife Jill. I was glad they came..it was nice having people our age to hang out with.

Monday, we got up super early to head over to Dallas Cowboy Stadium to watch Grayson's cousin Colt (he's a senior at Shiloh) play Trinity- the #1 high school team in the nation!! And let me tell you..they were good! The school apparently recruits from Fiji Island..and they are BIG boys! I think the Saints did pretty good up against them..we are very proud of Colt..he's very good! The final score was 80-26..which sounds really bad..but they scored a lot there at the end. After the game, we all went to eat lunch and we stopped by Sam Moon's. It was definitely worth the wait. I love that place!!

Dallas Cowboy Stadium

Our amazing seats down front on the 50 yard line!!!

Grayson and I before the game

Jill and I wearing our cute shirts Aunt Michelle had made at Monogram It. The writing is sparkly gold, and on the back it has Colt's number 33. There were about 10 of us girls wearing them and cheering Colt on!

We got in VERY late Monday night, and this morning I was definitely wishing we had 2 days off instead of one..I'm already ready for the weekend, so I can get caught up on my sleep!!

Addicted

This week I've been working in my classroom. I already had some paper lanterns hanging..but I had bought more last year and waited til now to hang them. Shelby counted..I have 18 in my room. Yes, I know I'm addicted to them..I love them..I have so many bright, fun colors..I have some that are paisley printed..floral printed...I just love them. I even have 3 more huge ones in the hallway in front of my door. Oh well...they're cheap..and did I mention that I love them?

I've added one more since I took this picture....

Birds, Blooms, & Bubbles

I was never good in art...I did the assignments, but I was never an artist. Shelby has been trying to convince me that we should try and paint canvases. With my artistic background, I have been reluctant. This past week we decided to give it a try. Friday was our first official craft day. It included several trips to Hobby Lobby, a trip to Sonic Happy Hour, and successfully painting 9 canvases!!!