This Is Not Humorous!

While I was at work today, Kirsten was playing on the tire swing and the whole swing came crashing down with her on it. My Mom called me at work and told me that I might want to come home and see it. I am not one who gets concerned about bumps and scrapes very easily, but I came home anyway. I first took her to my chiropractor who x-rayed and said that her humerus bone was indeed fractured.

He suggested that we go to the orthopaedic doctor just to be on the safe side. He was pretty sure that the growth plate was not involved but wanted a second opinion. The second doctor agreed with the first one and Kirsten will be in a sling for at least three weeks and will not be allowed to run or to train or compete in any of the upcoming athletic events that we had been planning on. But she is a real trooper and is being a good patient. I asked her if breaking her humerus bone was humorous, but I did not get much of a laugh out of her.

Pontotoc Lions 5K Race

It was a beautiful, yet cool and windy, morning to run this morning. There was a decent turnout for this race in Pontotoc, MS.

The runners are waiting for the gun to go off.

Martha started this season almost where she finished last season -- a very fast 22:16 -- a speed that won her the award of 1st female overall. One of Ms. Heather's runners from Blue Mountain College, Tuesdae, came in 2nd female overall (1st in her age group);and Catherine came in 3rd female overall (1st in her age group). Alec had a very fast first race of the season (especially good for this hilly course) with a time under 26:00. I do not have his official time yet and someone was blocking the clock in the picture I took, but I found out later that it was 25:55. Macain and Brandon finished 1st and 2nd in their age group and were only seconds apart at the finish. Brandon's time was 23:13 and Macain was a little ahead of him. Josh finished third in his age group and was super fast today. It was fun to watch all of our runners today.

Kirsten finished with a respectable time of 28:22. We expect good things out of her this season.

The kids were all waiting on the awards and the door prizes.

Austin -- another of Ms. Heather's BMC runners -- won 1st place overall with a super fast time of 16:43. This was not his personal best, but he said he was pleased as this course is difficult.

Ms. Heather was well represented by her college runners and her homeschooled runners. We missed her today as she was running a race in Memphis.

This is a picture of Martha with her 1st female overall trophy.

Spring Break in Stone Mountain, Georgia

We left for a short trip to Stone Mountain, Georgia, on Friday morning. We stopped at Shoney's for a great breakfast on our way through Tupelo.

Alec was so excited to start on our journey.

He sat in front for part of the trip and helped navigate. He really enjoys reading the Garmin.

Kirsten is chilled out and relaxing at the start of our trip.

The view from our hotel room. The hotel sits in the shadow of Stone Mountain, it was so close we could almost touch the mountain. On the other side was a gorgeous lake that was so beautiful at sunset and also at sunrise.

We went out to eat at Outback Steakhouse for our anniversary/Alec's birthday supper. He was born on our 7th anniversary and we usually celebrate it together.

We made time to get a run in on Saturday morning. The kids thought it great fun to run "all alone", my back was not doing great so I had to walk while they ran. They left me a whole lot longer than I was comfortable with, and I was so glad to see them running back towards me. I spent a lot of that time praying for their safety.

Kirsten looking cute in her Spartan running hoodie.

Getting ready to start our fun day with the Sky Hike -- a series of challenging rope and board elevated obstacle course. The first course was 12 feet off the ground, the second was 24 feet off the ground, the third course was 36 feet of the ground (it was closed).

Alec showed absolutely no fear as he raced through all the courses. Many were very difficult and he just sped right through them.

Kirsten, on the other hand, was very cautious, and at times wanted to quit. But she perservered and made it throught the entire course.

The both made it to the top of this climbing wall. This was Kirsten's third time to the top of a climbing wall, but Alec had not made it before this trip.

Posing for pictures.

Alec wanted to keep going, but I made him stop for a picture anyway.

Kirsten snapped this picture as we were climbing to the top of the mountain. It is a 1.3 mile hike that is very steep at the end.

Waiting for their parents about half way up. I was having to go slow to not futher injure my back.

A view of Atlanta from about 3/4 of the way up.

We thought this was the last of the hike, but we were mistaken. We rounded the corner and had another steep section to go. The view was so worth it and I thoroughly enjoyed the climb.

On top of the world.

Zooming in to the view below. The people and cars were so small.

We got to see a glass blower make a vase and it was truly fascinating.

One of Alec's favorite pasttimes is putt-putt.

Our whole family played this time, as it was included in the price of admission. Mitch and I usually do not pay extra to play golf.

Heading back to the hotel to go swimming.

Alec had a whole lot of fun.

Time to relax in the beautiful pool room. The hotel was gorgeous and we loved every minute of our trip. Two buffet breakfasts were included for all of us in our hotel package, and it was truly amazing. Everything was handmade and delicious.

Outside the hotel on the patio, the kids played chess with this huge chess set.

Alec loves ice cream and this was his birthday dessert. It was so good! We ate at Applebee's for supper on Saturday night.

Sunday morning was rainy and cool and the mountain was just as pretty with the low hanging clouds surrounding it.

The kids were the first two on the Sky Hike on Sunday morning and Alec went just as fast on the three times that he did the whole thing. Kirsten only did it twice but she was not as scared or cautious this time.

Getting ready to ride the train around the mountain.

Alec is using his birthday camera to take pictures.

One of the beautiful buildings we saw on our trip on the train.

This train is an old train that was set up in an old-timey section around the mountain.

These store fronts were fun for the kids to see.

Stone Mountain gave us an amazing family time of fun and fellowship. We truly enjoyed all the sights and just being together away from work and school.

Back to Cross Country -- Finally!

On Thursday, we had a very busy day. We left for Tupelo/Saltillo area at 11:15 to get the girls to art with Ms. Vicky by 12:30. These are two of the things that Kirsten did in the 2 hour lesson...

A pencil drawing of a cat face...

...and a painted tile. I think that they are both fantastic! After art was over it was time to head over to the cross country trail in Tupelo to meet up with the fellow Spartans. We had a great turnout and had some new faces. This season promises to be exciting and full of new things to learn. After the practice was over we had an impromptu gathering to celebrated Catherine's birthday. We did not arrive home until almost 7:00 and we were tired, but it was a very fun day. Friday evening, Kirsten and several of her friends had a sleep-over at Danielle's house to celebrate her 14th birthday. I don't think much sleeping happened, but a whole lot of visiting, laughing, and knitting happened. We picked them up this morning and then did a little shopping in Tupelo. We are a little tired but planned on biking this afternoon, but it just will not stop raining long enough. Maybe tomorrow...

Busy Day Yesterday

We have been so busy this week that I will try to catch you up on our family. Wednesday took us to Tupelo to eat a breakfast brunch with dear friends at Cracker Barrel. It was a lot of fun to see some of our running buddies and to eat with them. After breakfast, the kids and I did a little shopping and then met up with some more friends to visit a while and then bring two of their boys home with us to spend the night. Brooks and Chandler were a delight to have in our home and Alec had a good time being host to some friends. It isn't all that often that he has spend the night company and he usually just has to put up with his sister and her friends' loud visiting. Thursday morning we got up and got a picnic lunch together to take to Tippah Lake. It was a beautiful day (at home) but at the lake it was pretty chilly. That did not stop the boys from having fun though. They just zipped up their jackets and kept on playing.

Brandon and Alec were racing their cars on the road by blowing on them to see who would win.

Brooks and Brandon spent a lot of time on the scooters.

Brandon, Brooks, and Alec raced to see who would win.

Alec and Brooks are waiting on their turn to go. Chandler was there too but I guess I didn't get him in any of my pictures. The kids were all over the place and I couldn't keep up with them. It was a great day to be at the Lake because there was almost no one else there and the kids could run and we didn't have to worry whether they were disturbing anyone else.

After we got home from the lake it was off to Tupelo to go skating with the homeschoolers. The kids always have a great time; it just made for a very busy day.