St. Jude Country Music Half Marathon

The weekend is finally here for the St. Jude Country Music Half Marathon. It has been on my calendar since December and I have definitely put in the miles required to finish the race.  I had a horrible Germantown half marathon so was truly trying to be prepared mentally and physically for this race. I had heard plenty of horror stories about the crowds, the heat, the hills and the fact that it is a very tough race. I really wanted to give it a try since this was the first year that St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was the primary benefitting charity, so I gave it a good try!!

Gary and I were joined by our friends Zack and Lauren for the race.  We drove up on Friday mid-day and hit the expo unon arriving in Nashville. The expo was HUGE and had been going on for 2 days. I could not believe the sheer volume of people and stuff. Zack had registered originally for the full marathon but upon injury this spring to his achilles, opted for the half. He was placed in starting coral 1 (yes, the FIRST coral) based on his estimated time to complete. I was in coral 14 which to me did not sound that bad when I saw that there were going to be over 30 corals!! We got our numbers, swag bags, t-shirts (they had ladies cut shirts which was great, but I hate a red shirt) and headed to the hotel to check in. We reserved our room back in January and glad we did because it was centrally located and was not to far from the finish line.

Gary and I then headed out to the St. Jude Heroes Pasta Party to honor all those runners that had fundrasied for St. Jude in the months leading up to the race. I was excited about the dinner and for Gary to meet folks that I work with, to hear from our CEO and to hear patient stories. There was even a short concert by country artist Jo Dee Messina. It was a great night with good pre-race food.

Headed back to the hotel so we could all get a decent night of sleep. Zack and I decided we needed to be up at 4:30 so that Gary could drive us to LP field and catch the shuttle buses to the start line. There were so many folks catching those buses it was insane. Very well organized and we got on and to the race start by 6am.  Took a potty break and took my place in my coral for the 7am start time. It would take about 20-30 minutes for my group to be called to the start line but still just wanted to be in place. It was cool/cloudy at the start but we knew it was going to be hot with a forecasted high temperature of 84 and lots of sun.

The race was the toughest thing I have ever done. It was hot by about mile 3, hilly before we even hit mile 1 and hard the entire race. It was nice to have the distraction of the bands along the way and there were cheerleaders lining the course the entire way. That was impressive to me. Gary met me at mile 3 and mile 9 which were St. Jude cheer stations. Surprised that I saw him but glad to see a famliar face. He knew that the hills were tough and told me afterwards he could not believe them when he saw them. I knew I could finish. I ended up walking 2-3 times for a few minutes to catch my breath or make it up a hill or eat my food that I had brought along the way. It was a good race. I finished in 2:29 which is my slowest half marathon to date, but it was the hardest. I know that I can run faster and finish with a quicker time on a flat course. That will come in December for the St. Jude Memphis Marathon.

Glad I raced. Proud of myself for my training. So happy that Gary was along to cheer for me. Zack finished in 1:36 which was 10 minutes slower than he was shooting for, but an amazing race for him. Lauren was a great cheerleader as well. She and I are going to do the Road Race Series this summer/fall and do the Memphis half in December. Should be fun!!

zack and i are ready to go at 5am!!

all smiles at the finish line!

notice zack has showered and returned to the race site by the time i finished!!

me with my cheerleader for the day!

Elementary Fine Arts Night

Thursday afternoon we were notified that Caroline had a piece of artwork selected to be on display in the lobby for Elementary Fine Arts night at the Cherry Road Campus. She was so thrilled. Luckily we did not have any major plans for the night, except for Gary, so Anna, Caroline and I were able to make the show. Caroline loved the fact that her art was on display and she proudly stood by it to pose for pictures.

After we toured the artwork, the girls and I stayed for the program which included the recorder ensemble, a drama presentation and the honor choir. All of the students did a great job and Anna has something to look forward to for 5th/6th grade if she wants to be a part of any of the groups.

Anna was a little disappointed that none of her artwork was selected. We tried to encourage her by reminding her that she has art on permanent display at LeBonheur Children's Hospital here in Memphis. Of course, like Caroline struggled when it was Anna's birthday celebrations, Anna had her moments. But that is only natural and I would be surprised if it did not happen!

Caroline posing with her picture

Such a cute bird picture!

Anna with her friends Kennedy, Sophie and Lainie. Lainie had a picture selected for the art show as well.

Field trip to the Zoo

We love our membership to the Memphis Zoo, but it is extra fun to visit with all of your friends from school AND most importantly have a day without school work or tests!! The third graders all loaded up on the school bus and headed to the Zoo for a day of fun on Tuesday. It was a perfect day weather wise with the temps a little cool in the morning and pleasantly warm by the afternoon. I took the day off work to enjoy the trip with Anna. I enjoyed the fellowship with the group of moms and dads that walked around together for the day. Anna had a great time with her friends and the picnic lunch was great as well.  Gotta love nearing the end of the school year when there are so many fun things planned. Can make the parents weary trying to make it to everything but the kids are so thrilled!! Achievement tests are over and so we are on the downhill of third grade!!

anna with emily love that all the third grade went together!

anna, katie and lainie

silly girls enjoying the dinosaur exhibit

cute girls

gotta have a picture of the giraffes....my favorite!

teton trek here we come!

hanging out in cat country

Triple Party 2012

In just a span of a few days, we enjoyed Anna's 9th birthday, our good friend Lauren's 31st birthday and Gary's 41st birthday. Anna came up with the idea of celebrating them all together and calling it Triple Party 2012. We hosted Zack and Lauren at our house and enjoyed a nice dinner of taco fiesta. We had a game of cornhole in the backyard, enjoyed the warm temps and then some yummy cupcakes (everyone's favorite flavors) afterwards. I thought it would be fun to give each birthday person a new hat to celebrate with during cupcakes. I had fun picking out each one but loved Lauren's the most. Gary prepared a cool power point video of famous things that happened each year that our honorees were born. Kind of fun walk down memory lane. Good fun with good friends. How will we celebrate Triple Party 2013???

In keeping it real....Caroline was devestated it was not all about her. She wanted a hat and of course a gift. Poor thing...she nevers gets any attention does she??

the honorees in their specially selected hats!

Happy 9th birthday Anna!!

Today is Anna's 9th birthday! She has been excited from the moment she woke up!! We made her a sign for the kitchen and had balloons lining the staircase as is our usual birthday decorating.  Gary's mom, Gary and I joined her for lunch at school. For her treat to share with her class she asked for us to bring doughnuts. The kids were so excited. Kind of fun to have a doughnut with your lunch!! That afternoon we enjoyed gifts and a nice celebration with the family. After soccer practice, she wanted to have Memphis Pizza Cafe for dinner and then Yougrt Mountain for dessert. That was a perfect way to wrap up the day! Can't believe I have a 9 year old...where has the time gone??

She was so excited when she woke up! She's 9!

Fun to celebrate at Yogurt Mountain

Easter Day

We had a pretty calm Easter Sunday but it was nice to spend with so much family. Gary's mom was in town through Tuesday night so it made it special for us to spend the weekend celebrating the The girls were out of school on Monday and Gary took Monday and Tuesday off to spend with his mom and the girls so I was the only one to bed early on Sunday! Happy Easter!

the girls in all their glory with their easter baskets

sweet sisters

ready for church

mandatory silly pose

the zyrieks

three generations....gary with his mom and the girls

gary and his mom

the girls with mimi and papa

Easter Egg Hunt

Gary's mom arrived on Thursday night for the long Easter weekend. First activity on the list was for the girls to enjoy Good Friday off from school and with Gammy. The girls were interested in doing an Easter Egg Hunt and we had not even done a single one yet this year. All of the popular ones in town were going to be during Anna's soccer game on Saturday, so the hunt on the square in Collierville on Friday seemed like a good choice. Mom offered to drive the crew out to Collierville so Gary's mom would not get lost. The reports were that the weather was nice, the crowds were too big and the ladies organizing the hunts were not very organized. The hunts were by age group and as she would start a single age group she was say "Are we all ready" and so ALL the kids would go and hunt for eggs. Then they would make the kids that were the older ages put the eggs back. This went on 2x and got old fast! Anna ended up with only 4 eggs having to put back the golden egg she had found the first time. Not so fun but at least the girls had a good attitude. They then had to wait in line for a balloon animal. The grandmothers were very patient with this process. Maybe the Ladies Auxillary will have a better plan next year or be more organized. Maybe we can find a better solution next year ourselves!! The Botanic Gardens was great last year!! Hope did not have an egg hunt this year because they wanted to have a Spring VBS and have kids participate in a mission project instead of the hunt. Great idea and that is for a later blog post. Good start to Gammy's visit despite the craziness and the girls enjoyed the hunt plus lunch with their grandmothers. 

Caroline with her eggs



After having to put them back several times, Anna ended up wtih only 4, but still had a great time

the girls with gammy

i think the line took 1 hour to land these balloon animals!!

Anna's birthday @ Bumbletees

Anna had her 9th birthday party at Bumbletees Sewing Studio. It is located in Germantown and Anna has fallen in love with the place. As you have seen in previous blog posts she has taken 2 sewing classes at the studio making a pillowcase and a tote bag. She really does enjoy doing crafty type things (I wish I was more crafty!!) and so we thought it would be fun to have her party at the studio. The studio has done a few birthday parties and suggested an appliqued pillow case project for the girls to work on during the party. They only allow up to 10 girls so it was a great sized party. Each girl designed their own pillowcase and enjoyed picking out the fabric for the designs. Some of the parents that stayed helped to cut out the designs and get them on the pillowcase. The 2 employees helped stitch the designs while we enjoyed cupcakes and opened presents. They all turned out great and the girls were all so proud of their designs. My mom helped Caroline with hers and she had great ideas too. We ended up buying Anna a sewing machine for her birthday. She is doing a camp this summer where she can use it and hopefully I can take a few classes and learn as well. Always a good skill to have! Fun birthday party with some great and creative minded friends. Anna is blessed wtih great friends.

the birthday girl hard at work

everyone was busy on their designs

me with the birthday girl! she is growing up fast!

mimi ironing the pillowcases....her therapy is ironing!!

ready to blow out the candles...caroline on the side to be the assistant.

sweet girls

all the girls with their finished creations!