Pink Pride

This new sign was just installed at Jackson's school.  He was very excited about it, so we had to stop to take a pic.  PINK PRIDE!

Merry Christmas!

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year!  It is so fun watching Jackson enjoy the family time, but his favorite part is probably the gifts.  Here are a few fun pics:

Cars

Wow! That is a lot of cars!  And the wild part?  This is only a very small portion of his collection!

Meb!

As part of Meb's Dallas Marathon trip, he held a meet and greet at Luke's Locker this evening.  What an amazing experience!  I took the time to talk to each person, sign an autograph and take a picture.  Then he spoke to the group for about 30 minutes on his running career.  I found his stories of winning the 2014 Boston Marathon so fascinating.  Loved every single minute of it!

Dallas Marathon 2014

I set a new PR! I set a new PR!  What a great day!  I used Hansons training program again, wonderful preparation for a marathon.  I think 10 week of 60+ miles per week is the right prep for me after two successful marathons using Hansons.  But this year I also had over 100 barre3 classes under my belt too!  All in all it turned into a 3:30 day!  Almost two minutes faster than Detroit 2005!

Weather was pretty crummy, 65-70 with very high humidity (mist and light rain throughout the race) with very gusty winds from the south (35 mph).  I had considered going out slow, taking it easy, due to the weather.  But at the start I felt great (of course) and I really had to pull myself back.  I ended up knocking out quite a few 7:45s.  Obviously as the miles wore on, my pace slowed a bit, but I held it under 8s until coming off of the lake.  That part was so tough.  The wind was in our face.  It was raining.  I was hot and getting tired.  There wasn't any crowd support.  And it was uphill.  At mile 18 I started to feel the heaviness in my legs.  My glutes started tightening up.  I was worried.  But I kept pushing on.  I knew around mile 23 that I had a really good shot at a PR, that gave me the confidence to pick up the pace again.  I definitely gave it everything I had, left everything on the course.

After the finish, Ryan Hall was there handing out medals, he put my medal around my neck and said congratulations.  Super awesome!  I also received the 2014 Dallas Marathon medal at the finish line and the Dallas Duo medal (from running both the Rock n Roll Half and the Dallas Full).  Fun stuff!

I was feeling pretty rough on the mile walk to the car, rougher than I have remembered feeling after previous marathons.  But once I got to the car and sat down I was fine.  My legs just wanted a break.  Recovery has been really easy, some soreness in my legs of course, but very mild.

I have updated my 2015 Boston Marathon qualification time so that I can improve my seeding.  :)

Happy Birthday John!

We went out with Heather and John tonight in celebration of John's 40th birthday.  Dinner was actually a surprise party for him at Javier's, so to help disguise the plan we went for drinks and appetizers with Heather and John before dinner.  Super fun night!

Hook 'Em

We met some friends for dinner tonight at Gloria's.  After dinner Jackson wanted to get on top of one of the longhorns.  So of course I had to snap a quick pic.  So cute!

Ford Worth Zoo Visit

While Jackson is out of school for Thanksgiving break, we thought it would be fun to take him over to the Fort Worth Zoo.  We had a blast!  He wanted to hold the map and be our guide for the day.  And wanted to make sure we saw every single animal before we could leave.

Computer Time

Jackson has been begging to borrow my computer recently to play games on lego.com.  The cutest part was he kept asking me if I would know how to get him on to lego.com. :)  So here he is, working hard at the firetruck game while I cook dinner:

Brunch

We have rediscovered a new favorite Sunday brunch location.  Mattitio's  We used to go there a lot when Jackson was little and for some reason we stopped going.  We tried it again one day not too long ago and now Jackson asks to go every Sunday.  I think he likes being able to pick out exactly what he wants to eat, and go back for seconds.  I tried to duplicate a photo I took of Jackson and Scott from years ago, I always loved that photo with Jackson holding Scott's hand to cross the street:

Fashion Sense

I have always picked out Jackson's clothes for him.  Most of his clothes are on hangers in his closet and they are just out of his reach.  Until now.  He now wants to pick out his outfit all by himself each day.  Awesome.

Jackson's First Cowboys Game

We took Jackson to his very first Cowboys game today.  He has a BLAST!  He was well behaved and a bit overwhelmed, especially at first.  He watched most of the game and really liked the cheerleaders.  After the game we had a chance to go out onto the field and run off some energy.  He wanted to run plays with me, it was fun!

 

Happy Halloween!

Jackson picked out his Halloween costume this year.  At first he just wanted to wear last year's costume...which is fine, but it's quite a bit too small on him.  So he decided he wanted to be Captain America.  He has so much fun trick or treating, we came home with a large bag full of candy.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today was Scott's birthday.  It was a pretty busy day with a football game in the morning and then out to dinner with friends in the evening to celebrate!

The Color Run

Jackson's school's fundraiser this fall is a Color Run.  I love this.  So much better than selling candy, or magazines, or something I don't want to buy.  Plus, I love to see Jackson getting excited about running.  They had a little track set up in the park behind the school and the teachers sprayed them with colored cornstarch as they ran laps.  The run last about 30 minutes, pretty impressive with how warm it was today!

Player of the Week

Jackson earned the Player of the Week trophy at the game this morning!  Mainly he earned it from listening and following directions.  He has a lot of work still to do on his football skills, but listening is an important first step.

First Field Trip

Today was Jackson's very first field trip!  His class went to a local pumpkin patch.  There was a request to dress "like a farmer" and to also wear a red shirt.  Jackson was very adamant about wearing this hat, in fact we had to turn his room upside down last night to find it.  He has such a blast.  His favorite part was riding the school bus and the hay ride.