Mud Run, Round 2

The boys survived it again! Yesterday was the USMC Mud Run in Gaston. CJ was probably the most prepared...Jay and Josh are both runners...and then Rip did a variety of "mental reps" :) along with playing basketball and volleyball of course.
They made it through in right at 2 hours. Here are a few pictures of before, during, and after...

Pre-race

Team sponsored by Pee Dee Academy haha!

And they're off! Team 828

Coming out of one mud pit. They had to either crawl through on their stomachs or go over/under the logs.

Mid-race pic

Into the big mud pit

Then Stacy decided to get in on the action :)

Stepped right into a mud spot and lost her shoe in it! haha!

Moving a little slow around obstacle #30

Over the muddy wall

Fireman's Carry

Trade-off

Made it through!

The guys had a celebratory beer at home. This drink was extra special because it came from our summer trip and tour of Brooklyn Brewery with Robbie! They loved it! Beer infused with whiskey

It happened again...

I promised to write more...and it's been over a month! It's been on my weekly to do list every week, but I'm sorry it hasn't happened like it should have!

A lot has happened in the last month...
School started and has really taken over my life! Super busy with 24 kindergartners...
Here are some crafty things that I helped with around school...

I tried to put together a fun bulletin board in the teachers' lounge this year...

Outside my door, I hung a giant owl with my kids' names on all the feathers. 

Whoo's a leader in 5K?

My sweet mom offered to help out! So she put together some super cute pillows for my reading center. 

I stitched these curtains to add a little color.

I repainted this seat and covered the old, dirty cushion. Plus my mom's cute pillow

And here's my reading center

AND this was a big project...I sorted and labeled all of my books. It took DAYS. I know all these books are no longer organized but at least they started that way.

Reading and Writing centers

My desk

I repainted some older shutters from my parents' house and then used them to display our leadership habits.

And here's my room!...Hasn't been this clean since!

I've also been on the Paleo diet since I last wrote, and I LOVE it! I'm down about 8 pounds and am feeling so much more healthy! It's definitely time consuming since I'm not eating much from a package, but my body feels great. 

Fresh bananas, avocados, and tomatoes

I LOVE avocados and eat them almost everyday. So, so good!

Paleo Lemon Muffins (I added blueberries)

No dairy or wheat. Mine definitely don't look like the picture, but they tasted great!

Here's my breakfast one morning: Lemon muffin, awesome trader joes sausage, banana, and tomatoes

I've found lots of great recipes on pinterest. Hopefully I can keep this going. My weight is now less than what's on my drivers license! Love it!

Lantern Update

Yay! So excited!
My sweet dad and his friend Bob came up to our house yesterday to work on my lantern. As I mentioned in my last post, I bought a brass lantern from Habitat Restore for $20!

Here it is in all it's shiny brass glory.

I wanted to replace this brass chandelier that was in our hallway.

Unfortunately, after dad hung the new lantern, we ended up with 2 problems...

1. It didn't work! While dad was connecting it, we did have a spark issue at one point. (Scared both of us to death!) So we didn't know if there was an issue with the wiring in the lantern or the old wires in our house.

2. The other issue was that it would be hanging from a spot in our hallway that was definitely not centered. We're guessing someone added on the closet on the left side. When they added it, they had to move the chandelier over with a hook. The problem with the new chandelier is that there wasn't enough length in the wire to pull it over to the side.

So my amazing dad and his buddy Bob fixed it all! They fixed the house wiring and then replaced the wiring throughout my lantern so that it could be more centered.

Yay! It looks great!

Plus I still can't believe how much it looks like this $1700 version! I'm pretty happy with my latest update!

Habitat Restore

Last weekend, mom and I took a load of junk donations to the Habitat Restore. We found a new location and decided to try it out. They had some great big frames, a few neat pieces of furniture, and some pretty lighting...I came home with this not so cute lantern

Brass is definitely not my thing....and I am in a house surrounded with it! But I liked the shape of this and figured that I could turn it into something a little more modern.

 I was able to take the pieces apart pretty easily...

Add a few coats of spray paint :)

And then get everything put back together.

 Here are some pendants that I was able to find that resembled my new lantern. They're all a little different. The structure is similar, but the price tag is definitely not!

$485 version

$900 version

$1700 version!

 My sweet dad agreed to come up and help me out for the day. I thought the new light would look great in my hallway. So dad was able to take down this brass chandelier.

As we find anytime we try to start a project...nothing in our old house is to code. Dad pulled about 4 wires from the ceiling and they all looked terrible! Super old, brown, and no clue why they needed quite that many.
We saw a few sparks...but finally got everything connected.

Sooo happy with how it looks!!!

$20 light + $5 spray paint

Not too bad!

UNFORTUNATELY, it's not working yet! As I said, we saw a few sparks...so we flipped the breaker then we weren't able to get the power back to the wires. Dad will be coming back up to look at it again this week with his buddy. Hopefully we'll get everything sorted out. For now, I'm very happy with how it looks.

When we returned from our trips this summer, we had to spend some extra time in the yard. This lovely "tree" was actually a massive weed that grew up right next to our door. Thankfully Rip was able to get it out along with a few more...Yeesh!

Beach Weekend

We had a great time hanging out with friends at the beach house last weekend! We have several friends that have made it out every summer, and we also had some friends who came for the first time. Love them all!
It was definitely a packed house, so we all thought back to our college days when we'd sleep on the floor...air mattress...or wherever.

Sid had an easy time making himself at home & sleeping comfortably :)

Rip & the guys planned some basketball time...Josh was SUPPOSED to dominate, but I don't think that plan played out for him...

Then the guys decided to play some Spikeball...

Check out those muscles!!

Of course, I had to include the standard beach pic :)

This sweet girl was a blast! And it was so cute to watch her with Sidney! She kept giving him kisses all over his face with her mouth open...haha!

 So happy that my camp loves were able to be with us! LOVE them!

Here's a few throwback photos from past summers at the beach :)

Summer 2006

Jbomb was too funny that summer...he fell asleep EVERYWHERE!!

in the dunes...on the floor downstairs...on me!...and of course in bed

Rip & some of his favorite bros

2008/2013

*We missed you this summer--Finny, Benji, & Brent!*

Rip & Josh 2006

Missed you Josh!

2008

Hahahahaha!

Wish that Casey & Tia had joined us!

2008

Had a great time with these two!

With our besties!

2008 USC Graduation Weekend/2013

With my love & his stache! 

2008 USC Graduation Weekend/2013

And, of course, a beach weekend would not be complete without Rip's creepy mustache!

Not sure how the tradition got started (or why!) but it shows up every year!

Also can't believe the fro & how skinny he was!!

2006/2008/2013

Thanks to everyone who made it out this summer! Over 20 people (+Sid & Charlie) throughout the weekend! We had so much fun & can't wait for next year! :)