Christmas in Texarkana

Last weekend we celebrated Christmas with family in Texarkana. I didn't take any pictures at all except to take a pic of Cade dressed in my MoJo's coveralls to ride the 4-wheeler! The kids had a blast and we loved getting to see everyone!!

Fun With Our Friends

Yesterday we met Chels, Brenda, Carter, and Colt in Grapevine. We walked around The Gaylord and looked at the beautiful Christmas decorations. We ate at a yummy restaurant in the hotel, and then we headed over to The Bass Pro shop to get our free picture with Santa. The kids had a great time playing on the boats, riding on the carousel, looking at the fish, playing with the remote control cars, and being their silly selves!

Preschool Musical

The girls had their school musical on December 16. I was able to take the day off work to come and see it (since it was at 9:15 am...not for working parents!). They did a great job, and since they were in school until 2:30 I was able to enjoy some Christmas shopping by myself! :)


Ella didn't mind Mommy snapping pictures, and Emmy wanted NONE of it!

On a whim....

On a whim while Chels and I were on our annual Austin shopping trip I decided to get my 2nd tattoo. It's the marathon symbol. My marathon was something that took everything that I had to complete, so I felt it was worthy of a tattoo. I had it put on the left side of my back just under my pants line.
Sadly these were the only pics that I took of our shopping trip! We had alot of fun. Chels has been waiting along time to shop for a baby girl!! She got lots of precious stuff!

Ready for Christmas!!

26.2

Last Sunday 12-5-10 I ran my first (and probably only) marathon at The Whiterock in Dallas. I had been training since August, but it was much harder than I ever imagined! I have never in all the times I've run gotten nauseous, but at mile 21 I got very sick at my stomach. This caused me to not be able to keep the pace that I wanted. I was 28 minutes slower than the 4 hour time that I was shooting for, but I'm still proud of what I've accomplished. It was such a cool and overwhelming experience that I'll always remember!
The best part about the whole experience was that I got to share it with my friends Julie and Carrie. They both ran the half-marathon. Carrie booked us a room at The W hotel which is right next to The AA Center. The W was amazing! Definitely the nicest hotel I've ever stayed at. We had a wonderful time together!
The morning of the race was freeeeeezing, but we bundled up well and rode The Dart Green Line to Fair Park where the race started. 27,000 people ran the race!!
The day after the race I could barely walk and felt pretty awful, but with much rest and lots of calorie replacement :) I am feeling much better!! I even ran this morning, and Sunday after the race I told Julie I wasn't going to run again anytime in the near future....I hurt!!
Here are my race stats......

Erica Stewart #4613

Arlington, TX, USA

Age: 32 Gender: F

Distance	MAR
Clock Time	4:29:17
Chip Time	4:28:32
Overall Place	559 / 1633
Gender Place	166 / 731
Division Place	166 / 731
Team Name
Tot Div	1633
Tot Gend	731
Tot Ag	731
10K Rank	395
10K Time	56:13
Half Rank	280
Half Time	1:55:55
20 Mile Rank	284
20 Mile Time	3:01:30
Finish Rank	559
Finish Time	4:28:32
Total Pace	10:15/M

Carrie, Julie, and I in the lobby at The W

The W lobby after we went to T.G.I.Fridays in The West End the night before the race.


T.G.I.Fridays

I took the picture accidentally, but it was a good shot of Julie's feet ready to run!!

Runners' Club

We have a runners' club at our school that is run by a teacher that I teach with and the PE teacher. Each Friday the kids grade K-6th run either a half mile or a mile depending on their age. Carson absolutely LOVES Friday afternoons! He always has to wear his Nike pants to school on Fridays so he can run fast. He and his friend basically sprint the whole 1/2 mile each week. This club is one of the many things that make our school a wonderful place to be!

Kindergarten lining up and ready to stretch!

Running fast!


Running the beautiful streets of DWG

Cheer/Football Party

We celebrated the PreK/Kindergarten Highlanders football team and cheerleaders at an end-of-the-season party at Fielder Road Baptist Church. The kids had a great time eating yummy pizza and sweets, receiving trophies and mums, watching a slide show, playing video games, and being WILD!! Here are some of the girls with their mums.


The cheerleaders cheering on the stage while the football players watched close by.

Carson and Emma enjoying pizza

Ella Cate

Carson waiting to get his trophy

Carson and his buddy Ethan


Fun at Fielder Road!

Daddy is 37!!

We celebrated Sam's birthday on December 2! Chik-fil-A and a cookie cake were enjoyed by all!!

Mavs Game

Last night we joined Chels, Carter, Brenda, and Colt for a Mavs game! Amazingly enough Brenda got the tickets for $2 each!! We headed out to Dallas early so we were able to go to Hooters in West End (free kids night! :), and then we let the kids play on the inflatables in front of The AAC before we went into the game. Everyone had an awesome time!

Cade and Colt

Ella and Carter having fun on the inflatable

Daddy and his girls at Hooters...girls didn't have Mavs gear, so they wanted to wear Rangers gear instead!

Me and the guys...I promise I'm not choking Car!

Feasting at School

Carson and the girls had their feasts this week at school, and fortunatley I was able to make it to both feasts. Carson had a really yummy looking feast! Home cooked everything, and I was the mom that brought the plates and napkins! Ha! Cooking has never been one of my strengths! :)

One of the moms made cupcakes with fondant turkeys and pumpkins on top. They were so cute! Carson thought that the fondant was clay, and he and his friend proceeded to re-mold it!

Carson with Jason, Sam, and Brennan





The girls enjoyed their feasts too!


As you can tell one of them liked the apples and cheese best!