Monday, November 25, 2013

Update

Time for a cell phone picture dump!  Here's what we've been up to...
 
Today is the first cold day we've had since Spring, we've had a beautiful and warm fall here in Virginia and we enjoyed it fully!  I'm pretty sure the boys played outside every single day...
 
 Jackson lost a tooth...
 And wrote this note to the tooth fairy...
 Tyce had a playdate with his preschool friends...
 Josh got a new bike...

The twins have become quite the little entrepreneurs, really wanting to earn money.  Jackson thought he could sell paper airplanes for $1, haha unfortunately he hasn't had much business.  Josh thought he could make homemade envelopes and sell them for $2 each.  I told him no one would spend $2 on a homemade envelope (made with lined paper even!).  He came home the next day from school BEAMING from ear to ear and pulls out a $5 bill out of his pocket...look mom, I sold two envelopes for $5!  She didn't have $4 and I didn't have change so she just let me keep the $5.  Haha, somewhere I'm sure there's a very upset mom!!!   I am proud of them for their creativity and desire to earn money though. 
 I took Tyce and his friends to McDonalds one day to play and they had a blast...
 I swear these three boys are wrestling all the time.  They're so lucky to have brothers...
I've been the treasurer on the Cougar PTO board for about a year and a half.  It's a lot of work but I feel obligated to volunteer since I'm one of the few stay at home moms in the area.  Last Saturday we had a holiday shop where the kids could come in and buy stuff for the family members while the parents shopped at the vendor fair in a different room.  It was our first year doing it but I think it went well!
We had our last playdate with Krista and Alyssa, they moved to California today and we are going to miss them...

Jack got stuck in the monkey rings, hilarious...

Now we're just getting ready for Thanksgiving, looking forward to my parents coming in about a week, and getting super excited for Christmas!!!! 

Friday, November 22, 2013

Tyce's PreSchool Pow Wow

Tyce had his Thanksgiving Pow Wow program today at preschool and it was CUTE!!!  He's been walking around singing his songs all month and was so excited to perform them.  He, and the other kids, did NOT disappoint!  It was precious.  Here are some pics...
 
Walking in...
 
 Singing...
 Here's his whole class...
Daddy even came!  He took the morning off (well not really, he worked from home) and we dropped him off at work afterwards...
Indian Tyce and pilgrim Leah, Traci and I think this pic will end up in their wedding video some day  :)


 Tyce and his teacher, Mrs. Blue...




What a cutie pie!  I swear it seems like just yesterday we were there watching the twins pow wow! Here's the link to that one if you want to take a trip down memory lane.  :)  Next up is their nativity program which I LOVE! 

Another update post to come soon...

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Jenn's First 10 Mile Race!!!

For the past two months Parker has  been bugging me about signing up for the Manassas Park 10 Miler.  He thought with all the running I've been doing I may as well make a race out of it!  I finally signed up about three weeks before the race and was super nervous about it.  I knew I could run 10 miles, I've done it a couple times, but I didn't know what to expect in a "race."  I usually run alone and  didn't know if I'd like the race environment.  Luckily this race was pretty small so it was a good first race for me. 
 
Here I am ready to go in the morning...
Ready to go at the starting line...
Parker surprised me with signs that the boys made.  They each picked out what they wanted to say.  Jackson's says "I love you mommy," Josh's says "Don't Lose Mommy," and Tyce's says "Go Mommy!"  Haha this is what I saw when on my 2nd mile...
The first two miles were on the road and I was doing great, then I got to the golf course.  OH MY GOSH.  Luckily I didn't know what the trail was like through the golf course or I probably wouldn't have done the race.  There were sooooo many very steep hills, up and down.  The uphills were so hard, my legs were burning and the downhills were hard because they were so steep I was worried I'd fall forward.  I had trained on hills and run two big ones and lots of gradual ones each run but I was not prepared for how long and steep these were.  About mile 6 I ran by an attendant who pointed me up this big hill, I said, "are you kidding?"  Haha, he responded..."it just gets worser from here mam!"  Thanks for the encouragement dude!  He was right though, it got "worser" and harder.  :)  I was surprised to see my fans cheering me on at hole 16...
Here's a little video Parker took of me, I promise I'm moving even though it doesn't look like it!  Haha those hills just killed me...
Once I got out of the golf course I was relieved but tired.  Running through the neighborhoods was more of what I was used to but my legs were so sore from the hills that it was harder than usual.  I was SO excited to see Matt, Lori, and Adam cheering me on at the corner of Manassas Drive and Carondelet then Traci and her girls were cheering me on at the 7-11.  Here's a video she took, I LOVE how the girls were cheering for me (they're usually so shy and quiet and reserved)...
I had no idea how much it would mean to me to have people cheering me on but it meant SO much!  Parker had a gps tracker on my cell so he was able to find me four different times on the route.  Seeing everyone really kept me smiling and kept me going.  I imagined myself sprinting across the finish line but I didn't have much energy left by the end.  My time was 1 hour and 37 minutes.  My mile averages were mostly 9s with two 10s and two 8s.  According to my phone and two other racers I talked to it ended up being 10.2 miles so taking that into account my average mile time was 9:18/mile which I am THRILLED with considering the hills I had to climb!  Here I am finishing...

 
I got 2nd place for women and 8th place overall.  I passed two guys which was fun and I didn't let anyone pass me!  Well, obviously except for the 7 that beat me but they started out ahead of me from the very beginning!

I am so glad I did this race and so proud of myself.  It was a very challenging course, the lady who got 1st place told me it was the first race she's had to walk in 30 years!  I feel like if I can do those hills and still run 10 miles that I could do a half marathon with more gradual hills.  Now I'm on the hunt for a fun half marathon to do! 

After the race my stomach and legs really hurt, I took a nap but couldn't really sleep because my legs were so tight.  Parker and I went out to dinner that night to celebrate and our steaks took forever and sitting in the booth was brutal, my calves were cramping up big time.  Today I'm even more sore but I know that it was worth it! 


Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Update

Here are some of the goings on in the Morrill household...
 
The boys spend most of their afternoons and evenings outside playing swords with the neighbor boys...
 
 For family game night Joshy chose Twister, I'm glad I was able to be the spinner  :)


 The boys had Monday off of school so we went to the bouncy house...
Jenn, Katrina, Lori, and I...
The weather is getting a little colder and the boys are loving their blankets Auntie Nicole made them...
 Yesterday we went and had lunch with Parker in DC...


 The twins loved the Bocce Ball court on the roof...



Fall in Virginia is SO beautiful and as I was driving into DC, down Constitution, past the White House and all the other national monuments I was reminded how cool it is to live in the Nation's Capitol.  I miss family and that is a daily struggle but days like this remind me how blessed we are to be out here. 
One last pic that I found on Parker's phone, this is when he took the twins to play laser tag...they LOVED it!