6 on Saturday

I hate that it's been so long since I posted about the girls!  We've had so much going on that it's hard to get to the computer to write on the blog...but here we go!

Here are 6 reasons I'm loving my girls this week...ok, this month ;)
1.  The girls had so much fun trick or treating!  They actually got to trick or treat twice.  Once at Winthrop in the dorms and then again on Halloween. 

We had fun with our annual tradition of going to Maggie's teacher, Mrs. Chamberlain's, neighborhood.

2. Robbie has been able to go to some of the girls' events at school recently that I wasn't able to go to.  I was jealous, but happy to see pictures!  I'm looking forward to being able to go to Campbell's Christmas program in December.  Maggie's class had a Harvest Celebration and Maggie was the "Mother" when they acted out the story, The Enormous Turnip.  Campbell was able to go, too, and they all enjoyed a snack of pumpkin bread that Maggie's class made.

He also got to eat Thanksgiving lunch at Campbell's school.

3.  It is so nice now that the girls can play together and have fun keeping each other entertained...although sometimes they don't make the greatest decisions like last weekend when Campbell cut several 2-inch hunks from her hair.  It's a good thing I love her hair when it's bobbed!

4.  We got the girls school pictures back recently.  They are both growing up so quickly!  I hate that Campbell wasn't smiling bigger in her picture, but it is still beautiful.

5.  The girls are getting very excited about the upcoming Christmas holiday season.  One of Maggie's favorite sights that she has missed since last year, are the Santa flags our town puts up in the downtown area on the street lights. 

6.  We are so blessed with technology these days.  I love that I can take funny/cute/random pictures of my girls all the time!

A check on my bucket list

I know I usually post about the girls and what they are doing, but today I wanted to share my most recent adventure.  It all started after Maggie was born and I decided to try to get in shape with the Couch to 5k running program.  I had never run before for exercise but it seemed to be pretty convenient and effective, so I tried it.  Somehow, even though I wouldn't say running is fun for me, I was hooked.  I have run 5k races and done mini-triathlons, but I kept saying I would never run a distance race like a half marathon even though deep down I wanted to...just to prove that I could do it.

A few months ago some friends of mine started talking about training for a half marathon and then meeting at a central location (we are from all over the country) to run it.  These girls are all moms of preemies who I have gotten to know over the years and we jokingly call ourselves the "Preemia Mafia".  We settled on Nashville's Hard Rock 1/2 Marathon this past weekend and started training.  I started training this summer...although I have to admit I was in a little bit of denial that I would actually run the race. Honestly, if the race had a 5k or 10k option, I probably would have chickened out and done one of those, but it didn't.  Robbie was an amazing support and would take care of the girls for me so that I could go for my runs in the evenings or weekend mornings.  I couldn't have trained without his total support.

So, last Friday I loaded up and drove to Nashville all by myself for a girls' race weekend.  Friday night we went to dinner and carb-loaded!

I laid out all of my gear Friday night because I was so scared I'd forget something!

Four of us ran the race and one came as a cheerleader (she trained to run with us but had to have surgery 2 weeks prior so she wasn't able to run).

Robbie and I had many discussions about my goal time.  My "dream" finishing time was 2 hours and 30 minutes but I was worried since I never ran the full 13.1 miles in my training plus Nashville is pretty hilly.  I decided I would just try my best and as long as I finished the race, I would be happy.  As I was coming down the last hill, I started walking because my knees were hurting.  A girl came up behind me and encouraged me to keep running.  She had been behind me all the way and didn't want to see me slow down so close to the finish. I am so happy she said something to me.  As we rounded the next corner, I could see the finish line and knew I might make my dream time.  The girl is the one in the red and gray next to me.

This was my watch as I crossed the finish line:

I made it!

That afternoon we celebrated by going to Antique Archaelogy, the store from the TV show, American Pickers.  While we were there, we ran into Mike from the show!  He was really nice!

We then went to a winery and enjoyed a wine tasting.

That night we met some of our other Preemie mom friends for dinner and drinks. From left to right: Rhonda, Nancy, Christi, Rebecca, Lacey, Julia, Amy, and me and of course, little Becca.

It was an awesome weekend of fun, friendship, and running.  I had such an amazing time.  I am so thankful for Robbie putting up with all of my training and then the hassle and expense of me going out of town for the weekend.  He and the girls surprised me with the sweetest card they hid in my suitcase!  I am thankful for my mom who also supported me and bought me a reward outfit!  I don't know if I could have made it through the race so quickly if my sister hadn't called and talked me through about 5 miles of the race!  I truly couldn't have accomplished this milestone on my own and it was so special to do it with such awesome friends!

Halloween Party 2013

Halloween is a Compton family favorite.  Not the super-scary stuff, but the fun dress up and get candy stuff.  Robbie and I also love Pinterest and trying fun new things (even when some don't quite turn out as well as we'd hoped! So, we invited a bunch of the girls' friends over to celebrate and had a blast!  Our girls were so excited for the past couple of weeks leading up to the party, had a great time at the party, and have talked about it constantly since.

Some of the fun food:
These ghost cookies made with biscotti dipped in white chocolate with mini chocolate chips eyes were a hit!

We always love this pumpkin-shaped cheeseball:

The "Mummy dogs" were not quite as mummified as usual this year...

Campbell put the finishing touches on the cupcakes:

We had some fun activities planned:

Bowling for ghosts with a pumpkin

Painting mini-pumpkins (Did you know that Crayola now makes washable paint pens?!)

A Haunted Play House

And, of course, Bobbing for Apples

But, as always, the kids had the most fun with our regular backyard play equipment (trampoline, swingset, sand table) and just playing with each other.

With 20 kids it got a little wild and crazy, but I'm pretty sure they had fun and I know we did.  Thanks so much to everyone who came out!