Christmas With The Stunkard's

This year we were in Lubbock on Christmas Day. We enjoyed spending time with Toby's family. Cason especially enjoyed playing video games with his cousins Travis and Ethan. Other than going to see the movie, Frozen (which was awesome!), we hardly left the house. It was very relaxing!

 On Christmas Eve we read the story of the birth of Jesus, made a birthday cake to celebrate Jesus' birth and the kids got to open 1 present. They got Stompeez!

Don't judge the cake. It was supposed to say Jesus. I never claimed to be a cake decorator! At least it tasted good!

 Christmas morning was a riot! Cason first woke up at 2:30, then 4:30 wanting to open presents. By 5:30 he was wide awake. Molly woke up at 6:30 so that's when we all got up.

Molly was so excited to see what Santa brought for her! She was jumping up and down and squealing, "This is what I've always wanted"! She is holding the diaper bag for her dolls that Santa brought her.

Cason was super excited about his presents too!

Cason carried this little dude around the entire time we were there. Toby and I had a semi-serious conversation about bringing him home with us but then snapped to our senses real fast. Whew!

I love these silly kids!

Molly showing off her fancy jacket and purse.

Cason got a crane truck to add to his fleet.

Molly and Cason with Papaw and Granny

Christmas Fun

This has been a great Christmas season! We have had a lot of family time with a lot of giggles.

 This year we never got around to going to visit Santa BUT Santa drove by our house on a Fire truck!

Our neighbor friends made this really cool sign.

There he goes!

It was so cold and we waited for an hour and a half! But it was worth it!

 Since we spent Christmas Day in Lubbock this year, we let the kids open their big gifts a week before we left. The tractor was from BeBe and Grandad and Toby and I so of course they had to come share in the fun!

His dream come true

Molly got an art table. This girl loves art!

 Our attempt of pictures in front of the Christmas tree before church one morning.

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 Cason's preschool had a Christmas program before their class party.

Here he comes. All smiles!

Grandad captured this picture of Cason looking like he was somewhat enjoying himself.

This is how he really was. He cried through the entire program! We aren't sure why. I guess he wasn't feeling it?

He perked up at the class party!

Disappointment

Not a fun title for a post BUT I have faced utter disappointment this weekend. The Dallas Marathon was cancelled due to severe winter weather. The metroplex is "entombed" (not my word) in ice. Not snow. Ice. And a lot of it.One of the weather men said that this was due to the McFarland Signature which effectively relocates the north pole to the state of Kansas. So it has been cold! The sleet started on Thursday afternoon and continued through the night. School was cancelled and so was everything else. The temperatures didn't get above freezing until today (Sunday) but the damage was already done. I understand why they cancelled, for the safety of everyone involved, but it doesn't make it any easier to stomach. I would have run if they would have let me! I TRAINED for this. Running 4 days a week. Giving up my Saturday mornings. It was hard y'all. Really hard. I was excited about running the marathon but just as excited for the crazy training to be over. Running has consumed my days and my thoughts. It not only effects me but my family as well. I know Toby was looking forward to this being over just as much as I was. As much as I want this to end, another part of me wants vindication. I have to prove to myself that I can run 26.2 miles. I have come this far so I might as well keep going. Honestly the thought of training again makes me want to cry all over again but I have made some wonderful running friends who will see me through this. So Katy, Bethany, Stephanie, Michelle and I are officially signed up for the Cowtown Marathon on Feb. 23. I can't say I am excited. I am going to need a lot of prayers to see me through this.

Just to prove how bad it was here are some pictures of the kids and the ice. I am thankful for the time we got to spend together as a family and a nice warm house where the electricity never went out!

A Different Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving holiday did not go as we had planned but it ended up being relaxing and we got A LOT of stuff done around our house!
Our Thanksgiving started on Fri. when Toby and I took the day off to go to Cason's Thanksgiving Feast and performance at his school. It was so cute but unfortunately I forgot my camera. These are the only pictures I could get.

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After the feast is when all the fun began! I took Cason to the doctor for his 5 year well visit and apparently he wasn't well at all! He had RSV. It wasn't really a big deal because he wasn't feeling bad at all but Molly had the exact same cough as he did so I was pretty sure she had it too. I bought a breathing treatment machine and prepared for a weekend of breathing treatments. Wellllllll by Saturday afternoon Molly was SICK SICK SICK. She had a high fever and acted pretty miserable. Long story short, she was finally diagnosed with RSV and strep but spent 5 really miserable days of sleeping and moaning. Once we got the antibiotic for strep she was back to her normal self in 6 hours!
Since she was sick on Thanksgiving Day (and by this time Toby was too) my family postponed our Thanksgiving dinner until Fri.
Here is a picture of our family of 4 on Thanksgiving Day. We got Texas Land and Cattle take out and it was delicious!

This one made me laugh! It is super hard to take a picture with the timer! 

Finally on Friday we were able to have our real Thanksgiving with my family and my mom's WONDERFUL food!

The boys and Molly had some football playing fun! This is proof that she was feeling better!

BeBe had gingerbread houses to decorate for all the kids. They loved it and ate at much sugar as they put on the house!

Cason and Molly's finished product!

On Thanksgiving Day Cason and Molly helped me come up with a thankful list. But I lost it. It was a rough week people! So here is my Top 5 List:
I am thankful for:
1. A God that answers even the smallest prayers.
2. A healthy family for most of the year
3. A husband who works hard even through illness
4. My funny and energetic kids. 
5. My parents and sister who postponed our celebrations so we could all be there.
 

My New Goal

Most of you know what I have been up to these past 3 months. Or I should say the torture I have gone through these past 3 months! This is more for my kids to look back at one day.

I have been training to run a FULL MARATHON. 26.2 miles people! It has been so hard but very rewarding so far and I haven't even run the actual race. I have been a runner off and on since high school but after getting pregnant with Cason and then Molly I didn't exercise much (let's be honest, at all). Last fall I heard about the Color Run 5k and got some friends from our church to sign up to run it with me. I started with the Couch to 5k training plan and realized how much I had missed running. It got to the point if I missed any of my runs I was not in a good mood! I ran the Color Run on Apr. 6 (my birthday) and it was a blast!

The aftermath

After that I decided to do the 5k to 10k training plan. During that training I decided to skip running a 10k and signed up for a half marathon! 13.1 miles.  I trained all summer long and ran the Hottest Half on Aug. 25 the day before the first day of school. We ran around White Rock Lake and it a reasonably cool day for August. I finished in 2 hours and 28 min. Unfortunately Toby wasn't feeling well and my parents were out of town so the only picture I have is from my phone at the starting line.

My medal and a free Dr. Pepper 10! My favorite drink! 

The PCS Dallas Marathon is on Dec. 8. Only 12 days away! I think I am ready. My longest run so far has been 22 miles. I have run in 100 degree weather, freezing weather and sleet, rain, thunder storms, at 4:40 in the morning and at night. I have had several close animal encounters. 1 dog, 1 armadillo, 4 skunks and 1 coyote. My body hurts most days but I feel good at the same time! I am praying for good weather and a relaxed body during the race. I keep telling myself, I CAN DO IT! We shall see......

Cason is 5!

Cason turned 5! He has been looking forward to this birthday for a while. He keeps saying, "When I turn 5 I will _____". He has a whole list of things he wants to accomplish now that he 5!.
At his 5 year well visit (it actually turned into a sick visit and he had RSV) he weighed 39 pounds. He can't quite get out of the 30's! He is 50th percentile in height, weight and BMI. He is a healthy boy!
He had a great birthday!

He started the day opening 1 present

Cason in his birthday crown.

He picked Chick-fil-a for lunch of course!

I took a half day off and brought cupcakes to Cason's pre-school class. I won't be able to do this again so I loved having the chance to do it!

Opening the rest of his presents with a little help from sister.

He got to pick his birthday dinner and he wanted pineapple pizza!

5 Year Questions:
What is your favorite color? every color
2. What is your favorite toy? tractors and trucks
3. What is your favorite fruit? pineapple and watermelon
4. What is your favorite tv show? Super Hero Squad
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Chick-fil-a, Rosa's bean and cheese burrito's and McDonalds
6. What is your favorite outfit? shirts with trucks
7. What is your favorite game? I don't like to play games
8. What is your favorite snack? chips chocolate
9. What is your favorite animal? dogs
10. What is your favorite song? God our Father
11. What is your favorite book? Otis
12. Who is your best friend? Rainey and Beau
13. What is your favorite cereal? Dada's favorite kind (Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds)
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? climb trees  
15. What is your favorite drink? Dr. Pepper
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? nothing
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? blueberry pop tarts
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? pineapple pizza with no meat
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? rock star

Dear Cason,
Happy 5th birthday sweet boy! I know you have been looking forward to this day for a while now! I also know that you are excited to start kindergarten now that you are 5. I pray that kindergarten will be a good experience for you. You are doing great in pre-school and your dad and I are so proud of all of the things you have learned so far. I love the way you take care of your little sister. Even when she doesn't appreciate it! I also love your energy! Happy birthday!

Love, Momma