Bill Crews Remission Run

We did it.  It was freezing cold, but we did it.  All six of us braved the cold on Saturday morning to run The Bill Crews Remission Run.  I am so glad we did.  We had a wonderful time.

We left the house at 6:40 and arrived at the race site a little after 7a.  It was 26 degrees when we parked.  Drew dressed the boys and Elena while I picked up our chip timers.  It was a lot to get accomplished in less than an hour, but we did it...barely!  I took these pictures right after we arrived.

Ice on the pond and grass totally covered in a little ice and major frost!

 
Emma and Jonah's one mile race began at 8am.  Drew and I decided that I would run with them  for encouragement!  It would also help me warm up for my run.  We took off and Jonah really took off...so much so that Drew did not get him in the picture.

Before the race with too many layers of clothing to mention!

Emma is on the far right in the pink fleece.  I am right behind her.

I hollered to Jonah to slow down and thankfully he did.  Unlike our training runs they did not ask to walk as much.  In fact, Emma was running ahead of me and Jonah for most of the run.  At one point she ran back to us which resulted in me telling her to run on and finish!  She did awesome.  Emma finished second in her age group (8 and under) with a time of 10:34.  She was flying!

Emma crossing the finish line!

Jonah did so well.  He was tired and really cold despite so many layers of clothing.  He only walked a little bit.  I think he was encouraged by reminders of the heated tent at the finish line.  He ran hard to the finish!  Jonah was sixth in his age group (8 and under) with a time of 10:55.

Jonah crossing the finish line!

After their race with their finishers medals!

Before the 5K race, all the names of survivors and those who have died were read.  It probably took between 10-15 minutes to read all the names.  I did not hear Gil's/Peepaw's name read, but Drew and the kids did.  I tuned out the reading because I was already emotionally overwhelmed.  Finally, it was my turn and off we went.  It was cold and it was not my best race.  The course was nice...flat, nice scenery, and not too crowded.  There was ice on the course at several spots, but it was clearly marked with cones.  I truly never thought I would run a race in Texas with such crazy weather conditions.  I finished third in my age group with my time just under 24 minutes.

After the race, we were able to take some cute pictures of the kids and family pictures as well.  It was still cold, but the sun was out so it felt warmer.

Elena and Samuel waiting for Emma and Jonah to finish running.

Jonah all bundled...there was still ice on the pond, but it is harder to see.

Samuel kept trying to find things to break the ice.

This picture was taken after my race was finished.

This picture was taken after I got my medal.

During the kid's race and my race, we passed Gil/Peepaw's name on the course.  It was such a nice tribute to him.  The kids wanted a picture by his name, which we took just before heading home.

I definitely think this race will become a family tradition!  Drew and I were so proud of Emma and Jonah.  It was a lot to ask of them considering how cold it was.  They were troopers and ran their hearts out!!!  I like to think that Peepaw was smiling on all of us!

By the way, when we left just after 10a it was 42 degrees.  Texas weather was returning...thank goodness!

Ice not Snow...bummer!

A huge cold front moved into Houston on Tuesday morning (Feb1).  The next day rolling blackouts began because of increased demand on the power grid in combination with at least one power plant going offline.  That meant no school for the boys because the church was effected.  Drew experienced blackouts at work as well, but he worked all day. 

Wednesday morning puddles in our yard froze.  I took the boys out to look at them and Samuel promptly fell (I forgot to take a picture).  They had fun smashing the ice and walking on the crunchy grass.  Yuengling loved the cold weather and spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday in the backyard. 

A pretty rare sight for our Houston backyard!

All week long the forecasters were warning of snow!  How fun to have snow in Houston.  I did not tell the kiddos until Thursday and I should have kept my mouth shut.  The prediction was 1-3 inches and the result was nothing...a big fat nothing!  Instead we were blessed (not) with ice.  All of Houston and the surrounding areas were covered in ice.  Regardless there was no school.  Actually school had been canceled Thursday afternoon so at least we could sleep in on Friday.

My van covered in ice.  Despite a warm up, some ice remained on the van all day.

It looks wet, but really this plant was covered in ice.

So, with no snow to play in we were stuck inside because it was slippery outside!  The kids were bummed, but probably not as much as me!!!  The boys played with play dough for a long time.  The both love play dough.  Emma read a book...an entire book in the morning!   Elena walked around playing and looking mischievous!

Then, after a chat about her attitude, Emma planned a tea party for Jonah, Samuel, and Elena.  It was quite the affair.  She served water instead of tea, cantaloupe, turkey, cheese, and pretzels!  They had so, so, so much fun and I did not have to make lunch...bonus for me!

Our afternoon was filled with baking...blueberry muffins and pumpkin chocolate chip cake....YUMMY!  I have no idea what happened to the muffins.  They look ridiculous, but tasted good!

After a day of cabin fever we talked Daddy into DQ for dessert.  The ice had melted and the roads were dry by this time.  I had to take this picture of Emma because she looked so darn cute in my hat!

It has been a crazy cold couple of days.  I am sure we won't have too many more (if any!) snow days in Houston so I am glad we were able to have a fun day!  Although, don't get me wrong...I am ready for school to resume on Monday!!!

Drew takes good care of me!

It is cold here again.  It is cold like barely getting above freezing during the day and super cold at night.  We might even get snow tomorrow morning. 

Anyway, Emma, Jonah, and I have our race for Peepaw on Saturday so I needed to run today.  I could no longer hide under the covers in the morning.  So, I got out of bed, bundled up, and headed out for a 4.8 mile run.  It was hard to breathe at first and my legs were heavy after taking off two days.  I plugged away and ended up with a pretty decent time. 

When I got home, I was a hot/cold.  How happy was I to see this on the counter waiting for me.

 Isn't it awesome that Drew loves me this much?  What a guy!  I am super lucky!!!

Ferocious Mountian Dog (FMD) Lager

Drew brewed beer on Saturday....a lager and FMD is its name.  Samuel was his helper and help he did.  Samuel kept saying all day, "what's next on your list Daddy?"  It will be several weeks before the beer is ready to drink, but it smelled good!

Taking a break to pose for a picture!