Mama's Chair

Our newest furniture addition! It's so soft and comfy. Definitely Mama's chair, but I do share sometimes when you're as cute as this...

Bloggers note

This summer I'm going to try to get caught up on some old posts with the intention of simultaneously posting our recent summer activities. TRY is the operative word here as we are in the middle of selling a house, buying a new one, and hopefully getting settled in by the end of the summer and before I have to return to work (more on that in a separate post). If you want to see some older (newer?) posts, please scroll down past the summer bucket list.
~Katie~

Wordless Wednesday: P90X...it's a family affair

my life.

things I should never have to say to my children

ME: Gavin, get that out of your butt at the dinner table!

This deserves an explanation -- the boys like to smoosh stuffed animals into the back of their pants to give themselves a "big booty". Gavin decided to wear bring his "big booty" to the dinner table last night and was barely able to sit in his chair.

Run, Mama! Run!

Boston Mini-Marathon

Boston, GA

October 28, 2011

I was so glad to have the opportunity to run in one of my favorite area half-marathons again this year. Boston is a quiet, quaint little town about 45 minutes north of Tallahassee. I was excited about the race and felt well-prepared after several months of training. Unlike the freezing morning tempertaures we had last year, the weather was expected to be in the mid-50's and rising. Everything seemed to be lining up nicely for my race. Due to the fact that the boys had a football game that morning, my cheering squad this year consisted of Nana, Papa, and Keegan.

Ready to run!

This out-and-back race consists of mild hills and cow pastures on either side. They are quite entertaining, but rather stinky when the wind blows the wrong way.

My first 5 miles kicked butt and I was feeling great. The weather was perfect and I was ahead of pace. Just before mile 6, I tripped over some uneven payment in the road and twisted my ankle. Several people kindly stopped to help, but I knew I needed to drop out. Unfortunately, with an out-and-back half-marathon, at mile 6 I was just about as far away from medical assistance as I could be. While I waited for a bike medic to send for a golf cart, I heard myself saying to my boys, "Allison's never quit!" and I knew I had to finish even if it took me all day. I started to run again, since "Allison's never quit" and my ankle gradually started to feel better...or maybe it was the Advil. Either way, I finshed the race and beat my time from last year by over 3 minutes (2010 -- 2:12:16, 2011 -- 2:08:51). It wasn't the sub-2 hour half that I was shooting for, but I'll take it considering the circumstances.

While Mommy ran, Keegan hung out with Nana and Papa.

He waited....

...and waited...

...and waited some more.

FINALLY, I made it! And Keegan got to cross the finish line too!

On the way back to the car, we stopped to watch a train pass by.

We posed for photos with a John Deere tractor.

And saw an ambulance too! I was fortunate to not have to use their services, but did have to wrap my ankle and use crutches for a few days.

Hopefully, my 2012 race will meet my goal of a sub 2!

a decent birthday

Having my amazing family together for an evening of Decent Pizza, Tae Kwon Do, and beer is my kind of birthday night.

Logan and Gavin tried out for the "Splits Club" and made it!

As an honorary Den Mom and keeping true to Den class tradition, I was made to run down the "Birthday Tunnel" and receive kicks and punches at the end of class. They took it easy on me. This time.

And we're back!

Well, after a busy couple of weeks, the Allison's are slowly getting back on track. Here are just a few of our recent happenings. Oh, and by reading this blog, you are also giving me permission to brag for a moment about my perfectly awesome children! Of course, I will slowly but surely provide pictures to go along with our little update, but hopefully this will hold you over in the meantime.

1.  We went on a cruise and celebrated our 10-year anniversary! With the exception of Logan's seasickness on Night #1 (the boat was extremely rocky due to a developing tropical storm in the area), the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We visited St. Maarten and St. Thomas, but had to skip Coco Kay due to the weather conditions. They all want to go on another cruise for their next "birthday party".

2.  The week we returned, we played our final flag football game and held our end-of-season party. The Raiders were undefeated with the exception of the game we missed while we were on the cruise. They missed their defensive coach and their star defense duo!

3.  Also the week we returned, the Dragon System held a belt testing. The boys successfully demonstrated their forms, fighting, board breaking, and self-defense techniques and were promoted to the next level. Logan is now a brown tip and Gavin is a green belt. Gavin was awarded a double promotion for excellent effort and progress (the only one in the school!). I am a proud Mama!

4.  Also the week we returned, the boys were selected for the "Iron Man" boys local competitive gymnastics team. So the Allison's will now be adding competitive gymnastics 4 hours a week to our booked calendars.

5.  On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we bought a long-overdue new car to replace the 1998 Civic that I purchased as gift to myself when I graduated from college the first time. Jay took it for a test drive and brought it home to show us. Though previously owned, it was love at first sight (especially when we saw the low mileage). "Do you think the 3 car seats will fit in the back seat?" Jay asked me. "Of course!" I replied. So, back to the dealership he went to sign the paperwork. When the car came home under new ownership, we placed the 3 car seats in the back seat. Or tried to. They don't fit. So we are on a feverish hunt for the skinniest car seats in America.

6.  We enjoyed a quiet, relaxing Thanksgiving at home with the family and my parents. We started the day early with our annual tradition of Turkey Trotting and ended the night early with plenty of food and spirits. We needed our rest for our 3AM Black Friday wake up call.

7.  We celebrated Jay's 37th birthday on Monday with a visit to a local hibachi restaurant. The kids loved the "drama" that goes along with the full hibachi experience and enjoyed trying to catch shrimp in their mouths.

8.  This weekend, we will continue our annual tradition of a holiday visit from Craig, Christi, and family. They come into town the first weekend in December for our downtown winter festival. The boys are marching in the parade with their TaeKwonDo school while the rest of us will bundle up and wait outside for hours and hours to see Santa on the firetruck at the conclusion of the parade.

I guess that brings us up to speed. It's a busy life, but it's a wonderful life.

Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday: Mama's Boys

Mommy's famous again!

So, 10 years after my 15 minutes of Boot Camp fame, I made the local paper again. In my bathing suit. Without warning. No chance to apply make up or a cover-up. Great.

Here we are at Trousdell Aquatic Center doing a little summer swimming with one of my teacher friends, Randi, and her son. This is the July 5, 2011 edition of the Democrat. The boys were so excited to see themselves in print. I, on the other hand, felt a little differently!

Mother's Day

I enjoyed a fabulously perfect Mother's Day this year complete with homemade cards from the kids, swimming at Troudell pool, a massage package gift certificate, yellow roses, and a PediEgg (gross, yes, but I have been wanting one for a long time now and Jay knows it. It was actually a very thoughtful and practical gift!).

Gavin makes me laugh. His Kindergarten class did a fill in the blank project for Mother's Day. Here is what he wrote:

My mother is the most wonderful mom in the whole world. She is as pretty as a diamond. When I was born, I think she was 31 (I was not! That would make me 3 years older than really am today!). Her favorite food is broccoli (????? Maybe I was trying to get him to eat his veggies and said that?). In the good old days when mom was little, she used to go to Disney (quite true). My mom is really good at running (Yay!). I wish my mom would play with me every day (I wasn't aware that I didn't). I wouldn't trade my mom for Coca-Cola (this is saying A LOT!).

Nana's roses from all the grandkids!

Recruit Coddington Revisited

Eleven years later, my FOX Boot Camp half-shirt has become my child's "Easter Egg Decorating Shirt". We never really understood why those FOX producers made us wear those silly half shirts to begin with, but boy am I glad my "pre-pregnancy abs" were the ones viewed on national television as opposed to the soft abdominal muscle cavity I have been blessed with in 2011. Funny that this shirt fits Keegan as a three year-old.

fabulous new blog updates

I know you've all been waiting for this. Now you can....

1.  Read my blog from your mobile phone so you'll never miss another Allison moment!

2.  Use the +1 feature to publicly say "____ likes this and you should check it out too" via Facebook, Twitter, etc.

3.  "React" to my post (quickly let me know that you like what I've written...or hate it).

I blog for my family. So my kids will be able to remember their childhoods and so those of you living far away can keep up with us. Before Facebook and blogging, I was horrible at keeping in touch, but this makes it so easy that I have no more excuses. But...I don't know you're reading if you don't make a comment every now and then!

locks of love

Before: 11 inches of my hair are about to be cut off to donate to Locks of Love. After: photo by Gavin.

It's shorter than I normally like to wear it, but a nice change.
Mine will grow back with time, unlike the child I donated it to.