Shopping sprees, marathons and hugging the porcelain potty

Go Team Pink! Today we ran the relay of the White Rock Marathon. It was a fun experience! Running in 40 mph wind gusts around the lake--not so much fun. Spending the day with friends was fun. All the girls did a great job! Jenny organized us and took care of all the details. Even getting the cute pink shirts that we got so many compliments on! Thanks Jenny!

Waiting for Jenny's leg of the race!

Lacey ran Emily to the hand off to Jenny. Lacey ran me in too! Plus, Lacey ran 15 miles of the race--just for fun. Then Lacey and I had a big ole burger and fries to celebrate the race.

Emily finished her leg! We then headed downtown to find the finish and Jenny. We literally got stuck in traffic because of the race. Keeley and Emily got out of the car and directed all the other cars to back up so we could take an alternate route. Way to go girls!

I am proud of all of you. Thanks for running with me!

Saturday.

Lainey woke up at 2 am on Saturday morning and threw up. She was up again at 6:00 am sick. So I went ahead and got up and went to Albertson's to get the essentials. Sprite, Gatorade, crackers, etc. The sky was so beautiful. I stopped to take a pic.

So the iPhone doesn't really capture the pink sky but I tried! I was the only shopper in Albertson's that early!

About Lainey, she was so great during the stomach bug she got. She made it to the potty every time. She was concerned about waking up her brothers in the middle of the night. She was unusually cooperative while feeling really bad. I thought to myself, maybe she is maturing and can handle pain and discomfort a little better than a young child.

However, this afternoon she fell down and scraped up her knee. Seriously, you would have thought that someone had amputated her leg. She couldn't walk. She cried hysterically. She need immediate medical attention. I guess I will need to wait a little longer for that maturity while in pain or discomfort.

Later that morning, Kyle's parents drove in to Dallas to help take care of the kids for the day. Little did Sherry know that she was actually going to have nurse duty that day. She and Lainey stayed in the "sick room" while Diddy Daddy and the boys and aunt Casey played elsewhere!

Kyle and I were busy at the mall at the annual Thomas family Christmas shopping spree! Every year we all meet at the mall and my parents give us envelopes with some cold, hard cash in it! We get two hours to spend the money on us! Not gifts, not for the kids, no bills--just things for us. We meet for lunch and show off what we got!

We look so forward to it every year. It is so fun to spend time with my siblings and sibling-in-laws without our children! That never happens!

Some people go and scout out the mall to plan their shopping out. Some just wing it. Some just go and buy a pair of shoes and a sweater.

I did pretty well. Ann Taylor Loft was having a big sale. Buy one and get the second item free! Nic and Haley and I spent a lot of time in there. Nic went a little crazy on this shopping spree. She bought things with color, cream colored pants and skinny jeans! The fashionista has arrived!

Haley is always fun. First, we had to convince her that she could not use most of her money to buy a juicer. Or fuzzy Crocs. She got some great stuff. She even found stuff for her mom to get her for Christmas and for Rob to get her. (otherwise known as going over what we got in the envelope!)

Here I am with Haley trying on hats. We didn't get them. This was after lunch when we made Rob go back and exchange the ill-fitting jeans he bought at the Gap. He found some that were a lot better.

Here are some pics of my nieces and their new outfits from Forever 21. Can you believe how precious my nieces are? They are getting so big!



Thank you so much Mom and Dad. We always have such a great time. We look forward to it for months leading up to Christmas. You guys are always so generous with your children. I love you!