Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. Our family had one of the funnest Thanksgivings that I ever remember having. We started the day off by running in the Dallas Annual Turkey Trot. With over 35,000 participants, the race is the biggest Turkey Trot in the nation. They have both a 3 mile and 8 mile jog. Jeff and I ran the 8 mile race while pushing Lexi in the jogging stroller. It was great to be surrounded by such a fun group of people. Plus, it feels good to burn some calories before consuming your weight in holiday food! After the race, we hosted a Thanksgiving potluck at our apartment with some of our friends. We cooked our first turkey this year which, thanks to about 50 calls to my dad, turned out pretty well. The day came to a close with a little "Christmas Vacation" and perusing the holiday ads. What a wonderful day it was.

Getting ready to start the race. We had to let Lexi get the wiggles out before strapping her into the stroller for 1 and 1/2 hours.

Check out this crowd of people. It took us about 10 minutes to cross the starting line.
Our friends Mauri and Rick pushed their two children in the race with us. It was fun to have some company.

The race was in the heart of downtown Dallas. It was a beautiful setting.

Jeff and me during the race. We took turns pushing Lexi.

Lexi was absolutely perfect during the race. She kept busy watching all of the people and eating her snacks.

Jeff was obviously the photographer

Mauri and me chatting while pushing the kiddos.

What a view. It was perfect weather too!

At the finish line.

We did it. Now let's eat some turkey!

Our pride and joy! The turkey's ready to carve.

All of the yummy food.

Lexi's Big Girl Bed

Lexi has been very into climbing lately and unfortunately discovered that she could escape from her crib. To avoid a broken arm, I reluctantly converted her crib into a toddler bed. Things have been a little difficult since the transition, but we're slowly adjusting. Lexi's biggest challenge is trying to figure out how not to roll out of the bed. Poor kid.

Lexi loves bathtime, although the bathroom is always soaked after she's done.

Getting ready for the rainy season here in Texas.

Pay it Forward

I have bad news to report. Due to a VERY dissapointing response to my "Pay it Forward" blog, I've decided to postpone my efforts to send free gifts to my friends for a few months. I have to say that I thought more women would be excited to receive a free gift in the mail. For those of you who did want to participate, keep checking my blog, and I'll try to Pay it Forward again in a few months.

Reflections of Christ

A friend sent me the link to this video and it is amazing. It highlights the life of Christ. Please take the time to watch it.

http://mabrystudios.typepad.com/reflections_of_christ/2008/03/reflections-sli.html

Pay it Forward

For all you bloggers out there, a new craze has hit the blogging world. It's called Pay it Forward, and it goes like this. Leave a comment on this post that you would like to be included in a drawing for a free prize. Next week, I will pick 3 winners and send them something special and fun in the mail. Then, the winners continue the cycle and create a Pay it Forward post on their blog. We all know how fun it is to get a packgae in the mail, something besides bills. So, if you're willing to participate, go ahead and leave a comment. Good Luck!

The Pumpkin Dash

Today we participated in the annual Pumpkin Dash here in Valley Ranch. We had so much fun running the race last year that we decided we needed to make it a tradition. Jeff, Lexi, and I all ran the 5K then stuck around for some games and activities afterwards. We put Lexi in her Halloween costume and Jeff pushed her in the stroller which allowed me the freedom to run the race a little faster. My goal was to beat last year's time, which I did by a narrow 2 seconds. My finish time was 26.12 minutes. Yay for me! It was a fun fall morning for the Schramm fam.

The above 2 pictures aren't from the race, but I thought they were funny. I had to get the bassinet out for a friend this week. Lexi had a great time climbing in and pretending to be a baby. I can't believe our girl used to be small enough to sleep in that thing.

How manly is your man?

So, for the past 15 days Jeff has been attempting to grow a beard. Why, you ask. At first the answer was unclear, but after much thought I have come to this conclusion. Every man, at some point in his life, must embark on a certain rite of passage. This initiation of sorts involves growing a beard. Now, in a man's mind there is a correlation between masculinity and the beard. It seems that the thickness of a man's beard is directly proportional to his masculinity. Meaning, that the fuller your beard, the more manly you are. This is unfotunate news for my brother Eric, whose every attempt at growing a beard results in a myriad of dark patches rather than the desired full beard (sorry Eric). Men will test this masculinity several times during their lives by letting their facial hair grow. I know your man has done it, and mine has done it atleast 3 times since we've been married. So how did Jeff fare on this attempt? The beard was a little thin, but definitly better than some others I've seen. I guess my husband is a real man!

Now of course when Jeff shaved the beard last night, he had to have a little fun. Instead of shaving the entire thing, he gave himself a lovely handlebar mustache (I use the term "lovely" loosely). He actually likes the mustache so much that he is keeping it until Monday so that his classmates can see it. Uggggghhhh, I have to live with this mustache for 2 whole days.

Bad Blogger

I think I must be the world's worst blogger. I haven't updated this thing in over a month, but honestly, not much has happened. Life is pretty ordinary around here. I'm teaching aerobics 4 times a week plus applying for medical transcription jobs, Jeff is studying hard as usual, and Lexi is making an early entrance into her terrible two's. I sure love that kid, but she is definitely a full-time job. She gets into everything and whines incessantly. Needless to say, by the time Jeff gets home from school I'm pretty worn out. We did get her a new toy last weekend that has been keeping her pretty busy. We wanted something that Lexi could play with on our porch and get some exercise, so I drove an hour north and bought a plastic play cube I found on Craig's List for super cheap. It was definitely a great investment.

Well, that's pretty much life around here. See, I told you it was boring. Here are some pictures from the last few weeks of Lexi. I also included a picture of my new haircut, for my sister Jennifer's benefit. It's just too hot in Texas to have long hair.

Mmmm Corn!
Into shoes, just like Mommy
Getting an adjustment from Daddy
We call this the Oompa Loompa hairstyle.
Playing on her new toy we got on Craig's List




My new haircut

Eating noodles for dinner