Merry Christmas Y'all

Keeping tradition alive with our drive to Indiana.  Four kids and three dogs smashed in our van as we headed to Little Rock, Arkansas for the Klove Christmas Tour concert.  The concert was great and the kids were troopers after sitting in the car for 10 hours.  Damon asked if it was over after the first song...concerts aren't his thing.  By the end of the night he was laying on the floor trying to fall asleep.  We left the next morning trying to get to Indiana before the snow hit.  The last 5 hours we drove through freezing rain, and we saw many trucks and cars off the road.  We made it there safely and woke up the next morning to 6 inches of snow.  The temp got down to -12...brrrr!  We actually got to go sledding this year and we did a little ice skating too.  We built our first igloo and the kids had a blast with it.  Damon spent a lot of time outside in the snow...he couldn't get enough.  Christmas was as usual.  After Christmas Don and I flew to New York for a little getaway.  We had a great time. Donnie and colbie are the only two who were sick this year...amazing!  Such a great trip as always.  View Album for more pictures.

Rock N Roll Half Marathon

Before the rain hit us.

Don and I ran our second half marathon in San Antonio.  My mom flew out for the weekend to watch our kids again.  This year we decided to stay at a hotel downtown near the start line.  That was the best decision we could have made.  Rain was in the forecast and we were trying to figure out what to wear.  We got to sleep in a little later and we walked to the start line with our garbage bags on.  It was a light rain right before the race started.  The weather was great for the first 6 miles...and then heaven opened up and let all the rain out for the last 7 miles.  It was pretty awful.  Our goal was to finish in 2 hours so we just kept running.  We crossed the finish line in one hour and 59 minutes!!  Crushed it!  As soon as we stopped running the cold weather with our wet clothes made us pretty miserable.  We had a short walk back to our hotel room...so happy!

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Hurry up...it's freezing!

1:59 finish

Thanksgiving & Tree Decorating

Decorating the Christmas tree has always been a fun memory for me.  I love making this a tradition with our kids too.  We cover the tree in all of their ornaments we have collected over the years.  We talk about each one.  Putting the star on top of the tree is another story.  With four kids, it's hard to take turns each year.  So this year Don helped each one put the star on the tree.  Everyone was happy except for one child...guess who?

Clark Games

On Thanksgiving Day, we have our annual Clark Games.  This includes: A Baseball throw, the broad jump, a sprint & a long run.  They really get pumped for it.  There may or may not have been tears falling down a certain someone's face when winning wasn't happening for this individual.  Overall, it's a good healthy competition among siblings where we get to see them at their best....and their worst:)

Halloween Fun!

I sure love Halloween in San Antonio.  It's funny to see what the kids actually decided when it comes time to getting ready.  Cadynce is very predictable as she's been a witch for three years in a row now!  Donnie gets excited about a costume that we find at the resale shop, but this is the first year he's actually worn what he's picked out.  Damon and Colbie are just excited to sift through the dress up box and decide what they are in the mood for.  This year it was Captain America and Elsa.  We walked around with friends this year which always makes it more exciting.

Boxer Boogie 5k

Cadynce and I signed up to run a 5k with Riggins.  She has been running after school twice a week with "Girls On The Run."  She is highly motivated to do races that involve dogs:)

Fall Parade

The Fall Parade at preschool was so cute.  Colbie was so excited to be a crazy haired mermaid.  I couldn't help but laugh when I looked at her.   Damon was a cute little ninja turtle.  I was in charge of Damon's fall party.  His lunch included all the things they had learned about that month.

School Pumpkin

Each year the school has a pumpkin contest for the kids to participate in.  They choose a storybook character, and then transform the pumpkin any way they like.  Cadynce, Donnie and Don really love taking on the pumpkin contest.  This year Cadynce chose the characters from the book Sisters.  Donnie chose Captain Underpants.  They take their creations to the school library where they are all on display for the week.

Colbie's 5

Can't believe this girl is 5!!!  Sweet as pie, but don't mess with her...she's one tough cookie:)

Donnie had a great Fall Baseball season.  It's been one year since we joined Northside Little League.  It's been so much fun watching him improve each season.  He played a lot at 2nd base, some at pitcher, and occasionally 1st base.  He hit a little bit of hitting slump this season, but ended the season hitting the ball again.  Don coached the team once again.

First Day of 1st grade and 3rd grade

I'm not sure who was more excited for the first day of school, me or the kids:)  Donnie has the same teacher that Cadynce had in 1st grade, so he was jumping for joy when he found out.  They both had a great first day, and have a lot of new faces in their classes.

How Will We Survive Without Them?

My parents took Cadynce and Donnie back to Indiana with them 10 days before we were going to drive there.  How did we survive without them???  It was pretty easy actually.  We had a new friend over each day to swim with Colbie and Damon, we went to the movies, we had ice cream and donuts.  We had an easy-going 10 days...maybe even too easy:)  Colbie learned how to ride without training wheels too.

Damon new crocs

Art Works Studio

Finding Dory

Drive to Indiana.

Jack & Carol's Visit

My parents flew out July 4th to spend a few days in paradise:)  We watched fireworks from our back patio, ate at the best taco place, hit golf balls and watched the kids swim for hours and hours.  They were so lucky to take Cadynce and Donnie with them back to Indiana.

Top Golf

Torchy's Tacos

Swimming for the net

Dinner in paradise