Oh Christmas Tree!

Today I am traveling to Memphis for the St. Jude Half Marathon on Saturday! I am so excited...despite the ice storm that will be traveling through tonight until Friday night! :-/ Make sure to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to see updates of my adventures all weekend!

For now...I'm going to tell you all about our Christmas tree decorating this year!

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year...as I'm sure it is for most of us! It's tradition in our house to always put our Christmas tree and decorations up on Thanksgiving weekend. This year we didn't break the tradition. Even if we'd wanted to...the boys wouldn't have let us! They begged all week (even before Thanksgiving) to put up the Christmas tree. I refuse to put it up before Thanksgiving because I believe that holiday deserves it's own recognition and doesn't need to be rushed. But the day after is fair game!

This year we put the tree up on Black Friday...after all the shopping of course! Aunt Katie helped the boys put the actual tree together (while Daddy napped on the couch...shopping wore him out lol).

They made sure all the branches were perfect!

Cullen did a good job supervising!

After the tree was up...Daddy and the boys strung the lights! Then we all took a dinner break. And couldn't resist going to one more store! The boys loved this snowman in Pier 1 Imports!

When we got home we started putting all the ornaments on. The boys just love helping! The final touch was adding the star to the top. It was Sawyer's turn to do it this year but he couldn't get it to stay on.

So Hayden finished the job!

And here's the finished product! Our tree isn't fancy but every ornament means something and that's what I like most!

Cullen now has a new favorite spot to sit!

QOTD: What kind of Christmas tree do you prefer? Real or artificial?

Family Fun at Fort Gaines!

My boys are fascinated by old forts! We've been to several of the forts here on the Gulf Coast. Fort Gaines was still on our list to visit! Saturday was a gorgeous day here on the Gulf Coast so we got in the truck and traveled about an hour to Dauphin Island to see Fort Gaines. What better way to spend the day then to be outside AND learn about some of our area's history?

The entrance to the fort! The boys love all the canons!

We entered the fort and then into the gift shop. It cost us (family of 4) $20 to enter the fort. Then we entered the courtyard. The boys oohed and aahed when we first saw the fort!

We immediately looked at our map and started following the self-guided tour. We went up tons of stairs and down tons of stairs. There were a ton of "secret spots" that were a little scary to enter. They were stairs that you would go down and they would lead you to a room or to the courtyard. The stairs were steep and small. But we conquered them all despite our my fears!

My boys going down the stairs!

Some of the stairs leaded to rooms like these. And Sawyer wanted pictures in almost all the windows lol!

Like most of the forts here on the Gulf Coast this one was built close to the Gulf of Mexico. The views of the canons, the fort, and the Gulf are amazing!

We even got to see several dolphins playing in the water!

We explored tons of rooms like this one.

We got to see the bakery, the blacksmith shop, the quartermasters offices, and the kitchen. We even saw the 10 seat latrine. It was fun explaining that to the boys! And they got a kick out of hearing how when it was high tide the water would come in and flush out the "potties!"

A really cool part of this fort were the volunteers they had! They had people dressed up in the clothes from the Civil War area. This lady told us all about the medicines they had and the herbs they used as medicine. She was super nice!

We also got to visit the kitchen area and taste bread and cookies that were made with the ingredients they used back then. This one lady told us all about washing the laundry. And she even let Hayden wash some!

This sweet little girl told the boys all about the games the children played back then...after all their chores were done of course. Sawyer had fun talking to her!

We had a great time visiting Fort Gaines! I think this one was one of my favorites!

QOTD: Do you ever visit Forts? Which ones are your favorite?

#GoalGetter2013 Update: October

November already??? I swear this year is flying by faster than ever! It's already time for me to tell you all about my #GoalGetter2013 progress for last month.

As you know, I've been using #GoalGetter2013 and the Weekly Chase to help me stay accountable for my running resolutions and weekly goals. I will be doing an update each month to help me stay focused.

Here are my previous updates:
January Update
February Update
March Update
April Update
May Update
June Update
July Update
August Update
September Update

Now it's time for the month of October!

Run 3 times a week: :-( I hate to say it but this goal did not go very well. As most of you know I am dealing with a hip and knee injury. So regular running just did not happen this month. I miss it so much! I did get to run one half marathon this month...but after that the knee has been injured. :-(

Stretch and roll daily: Yes! This has been vital in trying to heal from my injuries!

Daily Bible devotion: Most days. I'm still doing the She Reads Truth devotions but there have been days that I missed. I really want to get back into this routine because I believe it helps me so much.

Focus on the family: Yes! I think I've done great with this one this month! We've had many fun family outings including a camping trip and a fun run! I am so blessed with my sweet little family!

Per #GoalGetter2013 requirements, I posted the following picture on Instagram to show my goal progress for October!

For the month of November I am going to focus on injury recovery. I will run when I can. I also want to continue to stretch and roll daily. I also want to continue focusing on daily Bible devotions. This month I also want to focus on all my many blessings. I have so much to be thankful for and a lot of the time I take it for granted. 

I hope you are joining me for both the Weekly Chase and #GoalGetter2013!

Feel free to grab the badge and play along with us as we conquer our goals this year!!! All you have to do is take a photo of you working towards or completing your goal, use the hashtag #GoalGetter2013, and upload it to Instagram and/or Twitter! You can also post your picture on our #GoalGetter2013 Facebook page!

<br><a href=" http://www.roadrunnergirl.com " target="blank"><br><img src="http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p624/roadrunnergirl/goalgetter2013buttonsmall_zps78f45612.png"/><br></a><br>

I have a winner for the Pavement Runner Shirt Giveaway!!! Congratulations Jen M!!! Check your email! ;-)

QOTD: What goal did you crush in October?