Monster Mash

We had a wonderful time Saturday at the Landfall Halloween Party! We met our great friends and former neighbors, the Grants, there to celebrate! The boys were excited to get dressed as their favorite Star Wars characters. Jackson was Anakin Skywalker and Austin went as a Clone Trooper (which must've been popular choice as there were 3 other Clone Troopers there!). We enjoyed crafts, a DJ, an Indiana Jones Snake Pit room, a huge balloon drop, and a Fear Factor Exhibit with various "brains, eyeballs, bloody fingers" and any other body part you can imagine (all fake of course!). The highlight of the party, though, was the hayride which we all LOVED, especially due to the beautiful sunny 80 degree weather! It was definitely a nice kickoff to the upcoming week of Halloween fun.

Race Day!

Well, three of the four Durst family members raced this past Saturday at the YMCA. Jackson and Austin ran in a kids 1 mile fun run and did quite well. Jackson finished in 10 minutes 29 seconds and Austin was right behind him at 10 minutes 40 seconds (not bad for his first time running a full mile!). I ran an 8K that according to the brochure included a little trail running! Hmmmm...... Factor in a torrential downpour and windstorm the night before and you have yourself a bona fide MUD RUN. Needless to say, I was covered (there will be no pictures posted of that! Not pretty!). Luckily, we all three ended up with PR's (that's a personal record to you non-runners) that day!!!

Another Busy Weekend!

Well, I did finally take out the camera to capture some pictures, but not many! We had another busy, fun weekend. We started Friday off with off-season swim practice for both of the boys. They swam their hearts out for an hour Friday night and I definitely could tell by how much they ate afterward! Then Saturday, Austin had 2 soccer games (he scored 4 goals in the second game) and did some fall planting around the yard. Saturday nights have become "Family Movie Night" and it was Jackson's turn to choose. We all enjoyed big bowls of popcorn as we watched High School Musical 2 (we're trying to catch up on our HSM before the newest movie comes out). Sunday we got up and went to church (our boys LOVE our new church home) and out for brunch at Landfall. The boys love to go to Landfall to eat, especially brunch. They always use their best manners (shocking, I know) and definitely get their bellies filled (are you seeing a trend with eating around here? I can barely keep groceries in the house). Then off to a very fun bowling birthday party. Our sweet friend Jenna invited both boys to come and what a treat. It was their first time bowling and they both loved it. It will definitely be new outing for us to enjoy. Later, we were off to Jackson's running club, which thankfully ended up cancelled. I was wondering how he was going to run with that belly full of food from the party.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Goofball Austin and Jackson before swim practice (Check out Austin's ears!)

Austin before soccer practice

Jackson's liking the look of this ball!

The Clean Plate Club Session 3

Tod and I had the most fun hosting our supper club, The Clean Plate Club, this weekend. The Steens were kind enough to take the boys for the weekend and what fun they had at the Clemson-Maryland Football game (unfortunately, Clemson lost). Tod and I were left with a quiet and empty house! But it didn't stay quiet for long because the Clean Plate Club likes to have fun! Our supper club is made up of the nicest, sweetest people you could imagine. We all have kids and just get along so well. Lots of us see each other during the week but a few of us don't so it is great to get together, without the kids, and have some good food, good conversation, and good fun! We feasted on a lowcountry boil, thanks to Tod, and had a great time enjoying the weather (thank goodness the rain had all moved out) and some backyard ladderball. I believe Melissa Ervin and Ty Rabon were the declared champions! Unfortunately, I was having so much fun that I forgot to get my camera out so no pictures, ugh! Suffice it to say that a good time was had by all. Can't wait for next month!

School Days

Well, we haven't posted in a while mainly because we are settling into our school schedules and routines (you know how we love our routines!). Jackson is settling into second grade nicely and Austin just loves his kindergarten class. We are kept busy with daily homework, ugh, and plenty of afterschool activities. Jackson is continuing into the fall session of his running club. Austin is playing soccer and they will both begin weekly swim practices in October. Tod and Shayla are trudging along with their training plans to run the Battleship Half Marathon in November. In addition, we have found a new church home and we all LOVE it!

A hurricane, some cousins, and a crazy monkey!

Okay, from the title of this post you can probably tell how crazy our weekend was! As we made preparations for a possible hurricane, Clara and Bill were actually on their way to Wilmington with Hayley and Ella. Yes, most of us try to get out of the way of the hurricane. The Steens actually head toward the storm. They arrived Friday afternoon just in time for us to play a bit before dinner. After eating, we organized our sleeping arrangements so as to keep the kids on the ground floor. Hayley and Ella got the guest bedroom and Jackson and Austin camped out in our room on an air mattress. Clara and Bill were the only ones brave enough to sleep upstairs. They ended up in Austin's room. The storm turned out to be pretty mild (thankfully) and we all awoke the next morning to just a messy yard and residual rain and wind gusts.

Clara and Bill were pretty much on babysitting duty all day Saturday while Tod and I cleaned up the yard and put the outdoor furniture back where it belonged. The kids played well all day and were pretty much worn out when we went to Longhorn for dinner Saturday night. It was fun to see the look on everyone's faces as we walked in with 4 children ranging from 7 to 2 years old since they thought they all belonged to me and Tod. We even had some people come up and tell us how well behaved all of our children were! We just smiled and said, "Thank you!".

Then Sunday, we all headed to Monkey Joe's for Austin's final birthday celebration (and the reason for the visit from the Steens and Glenn girls). The kids all had a blast running and jumping and harassing Monkey Joe. I think Austin was a little sad that his final birthday party was over. We had celebrated with (1) just our family at Jungle Rapids, (2) with the Dursts, (3) at home on his actual birthday, (4) his celebration at school, and (5) his party with his friends at Monkey Joe's. Needless to say, after 5 parties, he was a little spoiled and it was time for him to come back to reality.

(Clara) Mimi reading princess stories to the kids.

The kids after dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse

The boys at Monkey Joe's before the party started.

Austin getting his surprise visit from Monkey Joe

Mimi and Hayley working on a craft project.

School, birthday, and a 5K to boot!

We have had a very busy week this last week in August. Jackson began second grade on Tuesday and we had Tod's parents come visit for the weekend. During the weekend we managed to celebrate Austin's 5th birthday (which is actually on September 2) and cheer Jackson on in his running club's end of summer 5K.

Jackson had a great first week in second grade and we got a fantastic end of the week report from his teacher. It seems he is settling in nicely and following all of the class rules (no big surprise there; Jackson LOVES rules). Here is a picture of him on the first day of school:

Then we had the Dursts come in Friday for a fun labor day weekend! Saturday night we all went out for some delicious Italian food and cannoli for dessert (or Obi-Wan Cannoli as Austin calls it! Can you tell how much of a Star Wars fan he is?) to celebrate Austin's birthday. We came home and opened presents. Austin was on top of the world and LOVED all of his presents from Grandma and Granddad!

Silly Brothers!

Scooby-Doo Card!

Grandma really does a good job wrapping her gifts. No one can ever get into them!

Star Wars!!

Austin and Grandma

Sunday late afternoon, we headed over to Halyburton Park for Jackson's running club's end of summer 5K. I think we were all a little anxious about how it would go. It was the longest distance any of the kids had ever run with the club and we were about to find out what they were made of! The temperature was in the high 80's but boy was it humid! We kind of expected their times to be in the 50-60 minute range so imagine our surprise when the first two runners came in at just over 27 minutes! Their parents hadn't even made their way to the finish line yet! With times like that (these are 7 year olds) we feel sure they have a bright future in track! Every few minutes another runner would cross the finish line. It was very exciting and the best part was that EVERY child finished within 45 mintues AND with a huge smile on their face. I think even some of the parents were inspired to try a little jog this week! Here are some pictures:

The start of the race

The finish line

The Awards Ceremony

Jackson getting his medal from his coach

One big surprise for Jackson was a special award given to him by his running coach for the most miles run throughout the summer season. Not including the 5k on Sunday, Jackson ran over 18 miles during July and August. His running coach likes to say,"That's a lot of miles on those little legs!"

We had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend and now we look forward to Austin beginning kindergarten this week. We'll keep you posted!!!