Advent Wreath Workshop

Austin is enjoying his pancakes!

Tod and Jackson LOVE pancakes!

The beginning of our wreath project

Working hard and having fun!

The finished product! Not perfect but it is OURS!

As many of you know, our family began attending a new church at the end of the summer. We are now so happy to call St. Andrews Covenant Presbyterian our home church. One of our favorite things about the church is the AMAZING childrens program. Last night, we all attended the Advent Wreath Workshop and had so much fun. Our friends the Ervins and the Heffrons were also there, which made it extra fun. We began the evening by enjoying a yummy pancake supper (who doesn't like breakfast for dinner?). After we all had our bellies filled, we began working on our Advent Wreath. The whole family contributed and we think it turned out beautiful. We are excited to begin lighting the candles very soon! The kids went on to make ornaments and decorations. Some were a little complex even for the adults but they all turned out great. What a fun way to spend a Sunday Night with family and friends.

Battleship Half Marathon 2008

Well, as I am sure all of you are sick of hearing by now, Tod and I ran the Battleship Half Marathon here in Wilmington this morning. Tod has run it before, along with the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon 2008. I have never run the Battleship but I had an awesome experience in Myrtle Beach running their half marathon earlier this year. We have both trained really hard. Tod is a much better (faster) runner than I am but we were both pretty well prepared for the race. Anyway, we woke up to 45 degree and sunny weather, perfect running weather. Tod was injury free for this race and I was not. Along with a number of nagging injuries, I also have a chest cold. No amount of good weather could save me. Around mile 7, I knew my goal of 2 hours 15 minutes was no longer possible. My next step was to finish within 2 hours and 20 minutes. By mile 8, I knew that also was no longer a possibility. Finally by mile 10, I knew that beating my Myrtle Beach time of 2 hours and 25 minutes wasn't possible. The death march began and I struggled to even finish. With the help of my trainer who ran with me, I did manage to finish with a smile on my face. It was a lesson in humility. It was also a good lesson for this control freak that I am; I cannot control everything. My final time was 2:36. Considering the walking and talking and complaining and whining that my trainer (thanks Roxanne!!!!!!) had to endure for 13.1 miles, I was pleased with my time. It could have been much much worse.

The great news is that Tod set a new personal record with a time of 1 hour 50 minutes. He will go on to train for the full marathon in Myrtle Beach in February and I will take a week or two off from running and I will be sticking with 5k's and 10k's for a while! I need a break from running, physically and mentally.

We didn't capture any pictures but we both think they'd be pretty painful to see anyway!

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!