The Weekly Chase #45!

How was everyone's weekend? Mine was super busy but tons of fun! Friday was my birthday!!! Thanks again for all the wonderful birthday wishes! I had a great day! I was surprised several times from my awesome hubby, work, and friends! I'm one blessed girl! My family took me out to dinner of my choice...of course I chose Mellow Mushroom pizza! ;-)

Saturday morning I ran a local 10K race....the Senior Bowl Charity Run! A ton of my Sole2Soul Sisters were running this race. The weather was perfect...but my knee and hip weren't very happy afterwards. I'll have a recap up for you this week.

The rest of Saturday was spent doing Cub Scout events with the boys. Sawyer's den went to a local museum and learned about Indians, arrowheads, and bow and arrows. They loved it!

Saturday night it was Scout Day with the Jags! So the boys got to go to the University of South Alabama football game! And before the game they got to go on the field and be a part of the fan tunnel! When the football players ran onto the field they went through the tunnel and high fived all the scouts! My boys thought it was super cool! The Jags lost the game (it was close 16-17) but we still had a fun time!

Sunday morning we went to church. God really spoke to me through the message and about this injury I'm dealing with right now. God doesn't want me to worry...that's no way to live.

Sunday afternoon we tried to get caught up on laundry for the week. And then the boys had a cub scout meeting! Whew! Busy busy but lots of fun!

Now it's time for the Weekly Chase! I'm ready to tell you all about my goals for the week! I hope you link up with us and share your goals this week too!

Here's how I did with my goals last week!

• Goal #1: Follow what ever directions Dr. Justin gives me concerning my knee and hip. If you didn't read my post about my appointment then you can read it HERE! Dr. Justin did let me run this week! I even got to run the 10K race I wanted to run...although my knee and hip were feeling it. 
• Goal #2: Roll and stretch daily. Oh yes! And add icing into the mix too per Dr. Justin's orders!
• Goal #3: Help make Halloween fun for my boys. Yes I think they had fun! I'll tell you more about it in a post this week! 
• Goal #4: Happy Birthday fun! I'm not sure about the hubby (he seemed to have had a good birthday) but I had a great birthday! But I really need the candy, pumpkin squares (what I baked for the hubby's birthday), and cookie cake to be out of my house lol!

Here are my goals for this week:

Goal #1: Follow run directions from Dr. Justin. I'm not sure what he's going to tell me about running this week. I have a half marathon I'm supposed to run this next weekend but I'm not sure if it would be smart to run it. I'm going to see what he thinks. I see him again tomorrow.

Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. I'm rolling and stretching everything. And I'm icing the knee and hip at least once a day.

Goal #3: Plan activities for Thanksgiving and Christmas at school. My school has a Thanksgiving Feast. My class is dressing up as pilgrims. I need to find templates to make for their pilgrim costume. We are also having a Christmas program. My class will be singing a song and wearing a special shirt. I need to teach them the song AND work on their shirts. Whew! Can't believe it's almost time for the holidays!

That's it for this week! I'm praying hard that my knee and hip started feeling back to 100% soon! 

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for one of Pavement Runner's awesome running shirts!!!

QOTD: What are your goals for this week?

Family Camping With the Cub Scouts...Day and Night 2!

If you haven't already, make sure to read about our first night camping!

As I mentioned yesterday, I didn't sleep well that first night. But I did enjoy hearing all the night sounds. And my favorite part was waking up next to all my family! I loved seeing my boys' sleepy eyed faces when they woke up! They did some posing for the camera for me!

Then they wanted to pretend like they were still sleeping for the picture. Silly boys...like they would be grinning like that if they were really asleep!!! ;-)

And no photo session is complete without a goofy one!

I finally got them to get dressed and step out of the tent! We heard the bell ring and that meant it was time for breakfast! Each group of cub scouts took a turn preparing and serving the meals. Luckily breakfast wasn't our turn so we didn't have to wake up super early. We enjoyed a super yummy breakfast of pancakes and sausage!

Then it was time for the Rain Gutter Regatta Boat Race! Hayden was excited to race his boat! Sawyer was nervous since it was his first time. Our pack had a little over 50 boats that raced that day! Wow!

Hayden's boat was named The Haunted Boat...it is number 29 in the picture. Sawyer's boat was named The Frog Boat...it is number 28 in the picture. The boys had fun working on and decorating their boats this year!

Each cub scout got to race their boat at least two times. If they won their heat then they got to race more.

Sawyer's den, the Tiger Cubs, started the race first. He was so nervous! He got up there and did great...until he saw that the other boat beat his! Then the tears started flowing! He stopped blowing on his boat and gave up. But the whole pack started cheering him on and he eventually finished his race! What a hard lesson!

The next time Sawyer raced he did great! He didn't win but he also didn't cry! I talked to him before his second turn about how I run my races. I never win but I always finish. I was proud of him for finishing this time without tears!

Hayden did great with his turn! He didn't win any of his heats but he was ok with that. He still had a good time racing!

After the races was the award ceremony. There were trophies for the winners of the race. There were also ribbons for different categories for the boats. Both of my boys won a ribbon! They were sooo excited!!!

Sawyer's boat won 1st place for Most Colorful!

Hayden's boat won 2nd place for Best Decals!

After the awards it was time for lunch. Sawyer's den had to prepare and serve. It was great to see my sweet baby up there serving lunch to everyone! And he loved doing it!

After lunch we had free time until dinner. Andy took his den (he is the Bear Cub Den Leader....Hayden's den) on a hike. Sawyer decided to go back to the campsite and play with friends. And me....well I relaxed in the sunshine! I also had a pretty bad headache so I just wanted to rest some.

After their hike, Andy and Hayden came back to the campsite and played for awhile. They even had a friendly card game with one of the other scouts.

And of course I had to get in a family picture in front of the tent with our matching Scout shirts on!

Then it was time to get the boys in their uniforms for the formal dinner. Hayden's den also prepared and served the awesome Taco dinner!

After dinner it was time for the Pack Meeting and Bonfire! Each den had to present a song, stunt, or skit. The Tiger Cubs (Sawyer's den) went first. They did a cadence that was soooo cute! They did a great job!

The Bear Cubs (Hayden's den) did a skit called The Invisible Bench. All the scouts were sitting on an invisible bench until the last scout said he had moved the bench over there. Then they all crashed to the ground! It was cute!

After all the dens performed and all the advancements were given out it was time for the special Bobcat Ceremony. Sawyer was earning his Bobcat Badge. He was nervous because he remembered when Hayden got his Bobcat Badge. Each scout has to become one with the Bobcat by drinking the "bobcat blood." Sawyer was super scared about this! But he drank it! :-)

The parents joined their scout on stage to present him with his Bobcat Badge. The badge had to be put on upside down. The scout is not allowed to turn the badge right side up until they do a good deed for their parents. So to make it more fun our pack has a tradition where the dad turns the scout upside down and the mom pins the badge on right side up!

After the scouts got their Bobcat badges they were allowed to pet the Bobcat! ;-)

Once the ceremony was over we all headed back to the dining hall for a pack tradition...cobbler! They had cherry and pineapple cobbler, apple cobbler, and peach cobbler! Yum! Then it was back to the campsite. We enjoyed another evening of sitting around the campfire and the boys had fun running around in the dark playing!

That night we all slept a whole lot better! I think we were all exhausted! We did get woken up in the middle of the night by Hayden. We heard some shuffling around and he was standing up (with his eyes closed) trying to find a way out of the tent. Then I saw him grab himself and I told him to not go pee! Andy got up with him and as Andy was putting on his shoes Hayden ran out of the tent in his underwear wearing one shoe and carrying the other! He was running as fast as he could towards the woods...and he was still asleep! Andy finally caught up to him and asked him what he was doing. Hayden told him he was going to the tent. Andy took him to the bathroom and they came back and went back to sleep. It's funny now but it was a little scary at the time. Hayden was apparently sleep walking because he doesn't remember any of it. If we hadn't woken up and he had gotten out of the tent and took off it could have been bad! So glad we heard him!

The next morning we had another yummy breakfast....breakfast burritos. Then it was time to clean up and pack up. We had a blast camping again this year and can't wait for our next camping trip!

I will say that my shower and my bed felt soooo good when we got home! ;-)

QOTD: Do you have any experience with sleep walking? Should I be concerned about Hayden?

Family Camping With the Cub Scouts...Night 1!

This weekend was our annual fall camping trip with the Cub Scouts! Last year was our first year in scouts and first year camping and we had a blast! So we were all looking forward to doing it again this year!

We loaded up right after the boys got home from school on Friday and headed 45 minutes away to the campground. We had to drive two cars this year because Andy had to bring over these for the Rain Gutter Regatta Boat race!

I'm sure several people were wondering what that was in the back of his truck! Finally we reached the campground and the boys were so excited!!!

We unloaded the rain gutters and then we found our camping spot. Andy and the boys got busy setting up the tent! This year we had our own tent! Last year we had borrowed one since we weren't sure whether we would like camping. Andy did lots of research finding the tent he liked the best and the best price.

Andy liked this one the best because it had a little screened in porch on the front. It was perfect for taking off our shoes and not getting grass in the actual part of the tent we slept in.

After we got everything set up we ate the dinner we had grabbed on the way. Then it was time to relax and play! There were no scheduled activities for the night so we had fun sitting around the campfire and visiting with everyone!

There was some roasting of some marshmallows! It was a serious event as you can tell from Sawyer's face! ;-)

Of course there were glow sticks! And we even made the ever popular "Fairies in a Jar" that I've seen on Pinterest numerous times! I think ours turned out pretty good! I LOVED the red ones!

And of course...this momma had to have pictures with all her little men...and her main man too! They had a hard time keeping their eyes open for the flash lol!

The boys ran around in the dark with their glow sticks for hours! They had a blast! When else are they allowed to play outside after dark? And stay up hours after their bedtime? We finally convinced them to go to bed (or at least get into the tent) around 10:00. Of course it was about an hour before it quieted completely down.

How did we sleep? Not great lol! I kept hearing crickets, cicadas, and all those other night animals. We even heard an owl which I thought was super awesome! Even though I didn't sleep well I kind of enjoyed hearing the night sounds! I know....I'm weird!

Stay tuned tomorrow to find out about Saturday and the Rain Gutter Regatta Boat Race!

QOTD: Do you like to go camping? Do you prefer a tent or a camper?

The Weekly Chase #39!

Monday is here again! It seems like time is just flying by! Must be a consequence of getting older lol! Can you believe yesterday was the first day of Fall? Fall is my FAVORITE time of year!!! I love it! Of course here on the Gulf Coast it still feels like summer. But I'm hoping for some cooler weather soon!

I had a great weekend! Friday night me and the hubby went to a co-ed baby shower! It was really just a good excuse for the couples in our Sunday School class at church to get together! We have 3 ladies in our class that are pregnant...so we celebrated! One of them is my good friend Ragan! Look how cute that baby bump is!!!

Saturday the boys in my house did a service project for Cub Scouts called Coastal Cleanup. They went and picked up trash and debris along the bay! The weather was yucky but they had a good time! Here is my Sawyer with some of his Tiger Den! So funny! Thanks to Sawyer's Den Leader Mrs. Martha for the picture!

While the boys were working I headed to Pensacola with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for a Thirty-One Party. I LOVE Thirty-One bags and will admit that I bought a few more! ;-)

After the party the rest of the family came to our house. We went shopping, ate dinner, and hung out for a bit. I love getting to spend time with my family! And in preparation for the boys' first Cub Scouts meeting for the new school year...Grandma sewed on all of Sawyer's patches for him! Thanks Grandma!!! This is his first year as a Cub Scout and he is so excited to join Hayden in all the fun!

Sunday we went to church. Then we came home and had a lazy afternoon. I love Sundays for that! Later that afternoon we headed to the boys' Cub Scouts meetings. Andy is Hayden's den leader so they stayed together while I went with Sawyer to his meeting. Fun stuff!

Now it's time for another Weekly Chase! I'm ready to tell you all about my goals for the week! I hope you will join us in linking up your goals too!

We have a great challenge for this month! It's back to school time so Molly wants us all to learn something new or do something new each week!

Here's how I did with my goals last week:

• Goal #1: Run 3 times this week. I only ran two times. My hip started hurting after Tuesday's run and so I decided to rest on Saturday instead of doing my long run. 
• Goal #2: Try a new recipe (challenge goal). :-( I've not been doing good with this goal! I guess it's because I hate to cook! 
• Goal #3: Work on St. Jude Fundraising. I sent some emails out and got another donation! Yay! I still have a ways to go....so feel free to help me out and DONATE HERE!!! ;-)
• Goal #4: Roll and stretch daily. Yes! I've done great with this goal this week especially since my hip has been hurting.

Here's the goals I am chasing this week!

Goal #1: Rest and run on Thursday if the hip is feeling better. I'm hoping the rest will help my hip out. I don't like being injured!

Goal #2: Complete my monthly calendar for school. We have to turn in a monthly calendar with our activities and what we will be teaching each week. I need to get my October calendar done this week!

Goal #3: Get my Fall decorations up. Fall is my favorite season! I can't wait to get out all my decorations...pumpkins and scarecrows here I come!

Goal #4: Roll and stretch daily. I've got to get the soreness rolled out of my hip! Me and my trigger point therapy kit have been best friends lately and will continue to be so this week.

Goal #5: Try a new book (challenge goal). I'm not doing good with the cooking goal so I'm changing my challenge goal! I'm not reading anything at the moment and really want to find a new series to read. 

So that's it for the week! I'm hoping to be a little more successful with my goals this week!

QOTD: What are your goals this week? Have any book series suggestions for me?

Cub Scouts Family Camping Trip!

This weekend we went on a family campout with the Cub Scouts! I wasn't too sure about this...sleeping in a tent and no place to plug in my blow dryer and flat iron??? Ugh no thanks! But for my boys I will do just about anything...so I agreed to go. And yes...the weekend totally surprised me! I had a BLAST!!! And so did my boys!!! :-) Here's the rundown of our weekend! There will be tons of pictures in this post...hope you don't mind! :-)

My sweet boys posing for me when we arrived at the campsite!

They had so much fun helping Daddy set up the tent!

After the tent was all set up the boys had a blast playing in there and reading books!!! They were super excited about the tent!!! 

Friday night there weren't any schedule activities. It was just a night to get your campsite set up and to do what you wanted. The boys had fun playing with some of the other kids and Andy and I had fun visiting with the other parents! We sat around the campfire and talked! The boys LOVED the campfire!

The first night in the tent...I didn't sleep very well. I would doze off and then wake up. I would get hot so I would kick off my covers...and then I would be freezing!!! It was also very humid that night and we could hear drops of dew falling on our tent throughout the night. Not to mention the animals sounds we heard...crickets chirping and this clicking noise which drove me nuts!!! We learned the next day that the clicking noise was actually beetles eating the bark on the trees.

We woke up the next morning and it seemed like the boys slept good. While we waited on breakfast (each den had a turn in preparing a meal throughout the weekend) Hayden helped gather firewood for that night's campfire. They had a blast finding these huge limbs and cutting them up for firewood!

After breakfast (pancakes and sausage) it was time for the scouts to race their Rain Gutter Regata boats that they had been working so hard on. They each got to race at least 2 times...sometimes more depending on if they won their heat. Hayden did so good with his! He raced 3 times...but only won 1 out of the 3 heats. But he was ok with that...he had fun!

After the races we had lunch (grilled cheese or PB&J sandwiches, chips, and carrots and celery) which the Wolf Den (Hayden's Den and the Den my hubby is the leader of) had to prepare. It was fun watching the boys get excited about helping make a meal!

After lunch we had the awards ceremony for the races....Hayden's boat didn't win but he DID win a ribbon! He won 3rd place for the Best Scout Design for his boat! His boat was named "The Nature Boat" and he put wolves and insects on the sail. He was so proud of winning that ribbon!!!

After the awards ceremony we were on our own until dinner. Our pack went on a nature hike through the woods! 

After the hike the boys played all afternoon until dinner. They climbed under the bell, climbed trees, built a fort out of pine straw! You know...just boy stuff! :-)

For dinner we had tacos...the boys ate tacos like I've never seen before! All that playing made them hungry!!!

After dinner we had a bonfire and held the pack meeting. Each den had to perform a song, stunt, or skit. Hayden's wolf den did the emergency broadcast system...they howled like wolves. 

Then in the case of an emergency...they all screamed and went wild!!! It was super cute and the boys loved it!!!

After the performances it was time for those that had earned badges to receive them. Hayden earned his bobcat badge! But first there was a little initiation so to speak.

They had to drink "bobcat blood!" I asked the Webelos scouts (who were older) next to me what it consisted of...they told me it was V8 juice and pickle juice! I immediately thought...Hayden is NOT going to do that! But Andy told me he said, "Daddy I want to drink it." And he was brave and drank it all!!!!

After he drank the bobcat blood, Andy had to hold him upside down while I pinned his badge onto his shirt...supposedly the badge has to be upside down until it is sewn onto his cub scouts shirt.

After the bonfire we had smores in the fire. We stayed up playing and talking around the campfire and then it was time for bed. We were all super tired! That night all four of us slept great! The weather turned cooler that night too so that helped I'm sure!

Here are my sleeping boys that last morning!

We had a great time! I'm so glad I went and I see many camping trips in our future!!! :-)

And one last picture....I just had to share one of Hayden all decked out in his Cub Scouts uniform!!! Sooo handsome!!!

QOTD: Have you ever been camping? Do you like it or hate it?