Merry Christmas!!!!

Sugar... sugar.... sugar

aka, Gingerbread Houses....

My favorite Christmas decoration....

 

I love Christmas decorations....  I love themed trees, homeade ornament trees, wreaths with big bows, weaths with evergreen and pine cones, burlap incorporated into mantles, huge poinsettias, Santa collections and beautiful manger scenes.  This year, this is my favorite decoration in the house.... a classic wreath made by the hands, from the hands of my amazing kiddos. 

Letters to Santa

Dear Santa,

We've been pretty good this year.  For Christmas I would like...

Austin - an iPod, a skate board, a basketball, books and a 4-wheeler

Avery - books, an iPod, shoes, clothes, and a Wii game.

Caleb - a remote control helicopter, new tennis shoes, an iPod

Love,
The Maurers

Heavy heart

My heart is heavy and hurting.  I can't stop reading the headlines about the Newton, CT tragedy as more details of the incident unfold and we learn more about the innocent victims.

12.14.12 is a day we will always remember.  I will remember the very moment that I read  that many of the victims were Kindergarten students.  I have two amazing Kindergarten students.  This tragedy hits home and I fight back tears everytime my mind wanders into a scenario of what I would do if I was the mom of one of the victims.  It's just too much and those precious souls were taken from this earth much too soon.

I've been praying a lot since Friday.... I pray for comfort and healing for the parents who have lost their children.  I pray for those policemen who will forever have visions of children lying on the classroom floor.  I pray for teachers and their safety and their devotion to our children. I pray for the town of Newton, CT.  I pray that education and children's safety will become more important than standardized test scores. I pray our country can come together and stand up against evil.  I pray that mental health will be taken more seriously. I pray that my children will one day be able to start their school day with a prayer right before the Pledge of Alligiance. 

God is good and he will get us through this.  We need to remember to keep him in our everyday life and not just seek him out in the extraordinary tragedies. 

BCS 13.1

Back in September, I was looking for a little motivation, a little something to work towards, a little confidence booster, some goal that incorporated me burning a few extra calories and fitting into "skinny" jeans.  I use that term loosely because there will never be anything skinny about my jeans, or thighs.  Anyway, I frequently get emails about runs/races since I've done a few over the years and saw that there was half marathon in early December in College Station.  At the time it seemed perfect - cooler temps in December, 3 months to train, running through Thanksgiving to run off extra turkey calories, early Sunday start time, close by, race t-shirts, great way to kick off the Christmas Season....

As time got closer, I realized there were other obstacles I didn't consider.  First, temps refused to dip below 75 until well into October, maybe November which made it tough for longer runs.  Second, early Saturday mornings are usually best for me to take time to do long runs but in the fall I have a husband that hunts and isn't always in town to watch kiddos while I run.  Third, I'm busy... between work commitments, kids activities and life I didn't have big windows of time to lace up my shoes and hit the road and truth is I didn't make it a top priority.  

Fast forward to this past weekend, the big run.  I didn't feel ready.  The weather wasn't in any runners favor as temps started off in the 70's and you could cut the air with a knife thanks to the humidity.  None the less, I lined up with 3,000 other runners, most running a half marathon others running a full 26.2.  When the gun went off, it was just one foot in front of the other.  I had a new playlist downloaded with some oldies but goodies that helped pass the time.  FloRida really helped me along Mile 9.  I ran the whole thing minus 2 water stops.  At mile 12 I was right behind my goal time and almost stopped to walk, but I could see the downhill finish and pushed along.  Final time 2:01:11, just above my goal time, but I'll take it.  I've got a great medal and finisher t-shirt to prove it.

On a side note, if anyone reading has ever considered running a half marathon, I highly recommend this race!  It was so organized.  The race director did a great job of communicating all aspects of the race and they went above and beyond when they saw temps were going to be warm and humid.  Best part, the course was FLAT.  My training is done here on the backroads of Washington County and every step is at an incline, either uphill or down.   I just might have to try it again....

Peace Be Still

Nothing like sitting back and letting your kids remind you about the true meaning of Christmas.  St. Paul's CDS always does a great job making sure we are reminded that Jesus is the Reason for the Season.

2012 Lighted Christmas Parade



"Christmas Around the World".... the 2012 Lighted Christmas Parade in Downtown Brenham took place last weekend.  The sidewalks were packed and the streets were all a glow as floats for differnt community organizations/businesses and schools paraded down the streets of downtown Brenham.

 Frenchman Caleb Maurer

 St. Paul's CDS Ocean Treasures showed how the county of France celebrates Christmas.

 Salem Lutheran Church trailers.... 3 Maurer kiddos rode along

City of Brenham flaot.  A&A rode along on this one...