What's new? :)

Tons of things are new in my family so I'm going to highlight a few of the most recent newbies:

New Shoes:

I just ordered these today - they're sooo cute AND might move me a little closer to a minimalist shoe.... maybe. I had so much trouble with my shins when I first started running that I ended up having to completely take a couple of months off to heal so I'm a little nervous about jumping into a shoe that my body isn't ready for. I love the Brooks I have now and these babies were 50% off so, duh! New shoe time!! :)

New Cast:

Blurry J, because even with a broken arm, he's always on the move! He was trying to get in position for the way HE wanted to show off his cast......

That is how Josh wanted to pose with his new cast! Silly boy! (Like the mustache bracelet? Nice touch, I thought ;)

He only has to wear his cast for 3 weeks! Soooo glad it isn't going to be on for long! He really hasn't been having any pain with it either - so blessed. I met a lady tonight whose 6 year old nephew just broke his arm and he had to have it re-set at the ER because the bones weren't lined up! We didn't want a broken arm, that's for sure, but I'm so thankful that it wasn't that serious!!!

New Soccer Team:

Today was Cameron's first soccer game with his new team! It was HOT out there! See those bleachers? NO ONE sat in them b/c they weren't covered and it was actually about 10 degrees hotter there than on the ground!! If you can't tell by the wet look he has goin' on, this is right after the game.

Florida in August has GOT TO BE the worst time and place for outdoor sports! Poor little kids today were drenched! Cam's curls are going to have to be cut - it's time for his annual soccer cut! I'll post a before/after pic when we get it cut this week - he looks like a completely different kid every time we do it! His team this year is so cute! They're all silly, so we might not score a million goals, but they have a blast with each other. :)

So, what's NEW with you? :)

Doctor Day!

Today, we go to the Orthopedic specialist to find out about Joshua's arm. If it weren't for the fact that he can't use that arm, nothing would have changed about J's routine - he still tries to run, jump & climb like he did before! Keeping him still has been THE biggest challenge this week!! It's almost impossible!!!! I wish I had some of his energy - watch out Boston here I come! ;) ...but until I figure out a way to share his energy, I guess I'll just have to keep training....

Speaking of training.... I did some more running yesterday! :) I'm slowly figuring out how to get my schedule together. I'm still taking it slow so that I don't re-injure myself. I did Week 3, Day 1 & 2 yesterday from my old Couch to 5k program. I also ran through a few of the walk breaks....so I guess I'm not really following the program, but it is giving me specific time limits so that I am more aware of how far/long I'm pushing it so that I don't go too far too soon. One neat thing I've noticed is that I'm able to run an 8:15-8:45 pace more than I could before. I think the reason it was so hard for me before was that I THOUGHT it was going to be hard - so it was! It's amazing how mental running is! I just keep telling myself (yes, out loud.... so I can prove to myself that it's a do-able pace - if you can talk, it's considered a good target pace for a workout -- but I probably do look crazy since I'm running alone.....) "This is a good pace. I can talk, so I can do it." --- Positive thoughts? Yes, please!!

Are you following a training plan? 

I'm using a Couch to 5k program that I've already completed once before, to rebuild after injury. Of course I'm tweaking it A LOT to meet my needs! :)

Anyone trying to get ready for a race?

I'm running the Space Coast 1/2 on December 1st - eek! That's why I'm adding a little to the original program - it moves too slow for what I need!!!

What bones have you broken? How'd it happen?

Here's my story...

A Great Run, an Awesome Swim, and a BIG Fall....Josh's Birthday Weekend

A good friend and fellow 5th grade teacher miracle worker took Cameron, Joshua and me to the Omni @ Championsgate in Orlando..... it was FABULOUS! Josh's birthday is in a couple of days, and this was her b-day gift to him....
We started out with dinner at the T-Rex Friday night - the boys LOVED it!

Birthday Boy! 

  

Random People - Cool Decor, huh?

I started out my Saturday perfectly - with an early morning run - finally! I got to explore a very scenic area, and run over a bridge - yay for hills! I'm really not being sarcastic - it feels so good to finally be able to do some 'real' running after being out with my hip pain. Being a country gal, I've always thought that I wanted to run over a bridge, through those fenced in tunnel-looking things whenever I drive by one.... did it! AAAND stopped to take a picture of it :)
                                              

Here is a terrible shot of the beautiful palm trees that lined the street leading back up to the hotel entrance:
I tried to be not so obvious about taking the picture, so the angle came out horribly! I just feel silly taking pictures of random things in public!                                
                                             
 This next picture is of the sign at the entry - SUPER FANCY hotel!
                                           
....aaannnd this next picture is an example of how a follow the rules. obsessively. I feel so guilty if I EVER break a rule! I saw these beautiful paths that went through a perfectly manicured golf course, around ponds, sand traps and hills. But because of this sign:

 

I didn't run on them! I didn't want to get in trouble!! :(

After my fantastic run, I got back to the hotel room just in time to scarf down a doughnut :( and get ready for the pool! We spent a good 5 hours out in the water, between the giant pool, water slide and lazy river, we were busy! The boys had a blast, but we didn't get any pictures because we didn't bring an 'valuables' down from the room. I was afraid my phone would encounter some pretty serious water damage. :/

 

This is the 'lazy river' - the boys actually fell asleep in their tubes, Cameron in his own and Josh laying on me, so I hooked Cameron to our tube with my feet, and we did about 10 laps while they got their naps!!! :)

Around 5 o'clock, we ventured over to the playground, and that's when IT happened.... the FALL..... Josh fell off a piece of playground equipment and didn't get up. I was terrified! His right arm just laid underneath him on the ground as he cried....it was horrible! I picked him up and he seemed to calm down, but he still complained and didn't want to move his arm. I pretty much held him the rest of the night, hoping that he just needed more rest and he'd be better in the morning.

   

We had a low-key dinner, and Josh seemed to feel better - but notice that you can't see his right arm? He really wasn't using it much at all. When we woke up the next morning, it was still hurting and it was swollen, so we packed up, checked out and headed to Watson Clinic Urgent Care in Lakeland. They were amazing! We were done - x-rayed, splinted & ready to go in about an hour! Just simply amazing! So thankful we didn't have to go through an ER wait on top of everything else!!


Have you or one of your kiddos ever broken a bone? I broke my elbow when I was in high school! Actually did it during the first home basketball game of my senior year! :( We didn't realize it was broken at first, and I tried to go back in after icing it for a few minutes! Hardcore - haha!

Fancy hotels intimidate me. How do they make you feel?

Josh broke his arm at his birthday 'event'. Anything like that ever happen to anyone else??

Just Smile :)

Sometimes, all you can do is just shake it off and move on. Although that doesn't seem like the number one choice, it's better than the alternative - getting angry & bent out of shape or sad & grumpy. There's so so so so much going on in the world today in general, not just my own personal sphere of influence and when I think about what other people are dealing with, it makes me feel like I need to just get over it! But.... tomorrow, I really, really, really want to leave my classroom before 4:00.... actually, I'd be happy gettin' out of there before 5:00! My training plan has taken a major hit.... I've only run once this week so far... I missed cross-training on Tuesday... and I just remembered I have a HUGE stack of papers to grade already....AAAHHHHH!!!! Wait, I mean.....

If I keep smiling, maybe my inner self will catch up.... fake it 'til ya' make it because it is what it is - no reason to get all ruffled up!

Babies Everywhere!!!

 Today we had a 'Class of 2002' baby edition photo shoot. It was really awesome to spend time with great friends, catch up and see our kids interacting (that last part was pretty funny - my boys are the 2 bookends - obviously I got started a little earlier than the rest of the group.... but ANYWAY.... I thought their expressions and reactions to the babies were priceless!).

I told Joshua that if he smiled, I'd get him a snickers and I'm pretty sure he kept some form of a smile plastered on the entire time after that!

"Get me outta here!"

I'm smiling, somebody take a picture!

I'm soooooo over this! (clearly he forgot about the snickers - notice the crying baby leaned over on him!)

...aaaand I reminded him about the Snickers.....

Sure hope someone else there got one with Joshua actually smiling, since everyone ELSE is cooperating in this one!!!


Back row in top picture Me, Calli; Front row: Aimee, Jessica, Alisha.
Bottom Picture: My Joshua, Aimee's Sadie (born so very early that she is definitely a miracle baby!), Calli's Jamison, Alisha's Piper, Jessica's Corbin and my Cameron.

Do you keep in touch with childhood friends?

Today was my rest day, tomorrow is a run day + my first day back teaching - summer is officially over in our house! :( How do you balance family, work & running?

The Weekend Before.....

School starts!! AAAHHHH!!!!! (j/k.... kind of......)

I waited until the weekend before school starts to hit the back to school shopping. Worst. Idea. EVER! My biggest problem is that there were no 'warm weather' clothes for us! Cameron and I both need school clothes that accommodate the INTENSE Florida heat, as well as the school's dress code & that was next to impossible. Around here, the kids don't start wearing jeans until, like, November so Cam needs tons of shorts. How many pairs did we find yesterday in his size? 1. Yeah, that's right. Jeans were EVERYWHERE! Really?? It's 100 degrees outside! Good thing I already had several pairs, so maybe we'll try a different mall next weekend....

This is not a picture of us, but that person looks like they're about to run people over with that buggy, and generally, that's one of the dangers of 'Back to School' shopping! :)

....and then lunch....actually made me cry! Literally. :( Basically, we went to a certain Italian restaurant - my sis, Cameron (7), Joshua (almost 4) and me. I was a server when I was in school, so I know a table with kids can be stressful, but the boys were doing pretty good. The service overall was pretty terrible, but hey, that happens..... and then...... I had taken J to the bathroom & and a different server came to cash us out. When we got back to the table, everyone was ready to go, my sister & J went on while I put our boxes in a bag...... (building suspense...) and I was just about to talk out the door, when the server (who had pretty much neglected us the whole time) came running around around the corner and said - "The book is empty!" - accusing us of not paying!!!! I was in shock! I didn't even know how to respond.....so as I dug out the receipt from my GIANT purse, I started crying! :( Luckily for me, unluckily for the restaurant/server, my sister came back in right as all of this was going on.

I am quiet and very non-confrontational, so while she 'handled' it, I left and continued the shopping trip. :) She walked away with a $50 gift card, which will be used at a different restaurant b/c who wants to go back somewhere like that??

Today I'm taking the boys to a 'photo shoot'....pictures to come later... lots of orange & blue (local school colors, not gators ;) and lots of babies!

Do you have a sibling-body guard? (If not, you should get one, they're great! :)

Any race training going on? From my blog, you'd probably think this chick doesn't run! :( I'm having to ease back into it after an injury and it really kind of makes me sad to think about where I was, and where I am now. I was doing 10 mile long runs..... yesterday's long run = 3.6 miles of running/walking. But at least I'm back out there!!!! :) I'm running in the Spacecoast 1/2 December 1st & the St Pete Rock'n'Roll 1/2 Feb 9th!

Yummy Green Goodness & Ducks! ;)

I don't have the time/$/energy to shop for/clean/cut all of the produce it takes to make those super healthy green smoothies everybody's blabbin' about these days. The people who have the time/$/energy for that are probably also the people who make homemade vanilla extract for everyone they know as Christmas gifts..... I just don't have the focus/patients/drive for that kind of thing. Sooo.... I found something pretty awesome at Walmart last night:

I'm usually the last one to hop onto a trend, so everyone and their mamas may already be drinkin' this, but hey, better late than never!

Oohh! And, speaking of 'Hey!' - The new episode of Duck Dynasty was on last night! I didn't get to see the whole thing, but Cameron & I will definitely be watching it this afternoon...or wait, no, tonight AFTER super-late soccer practice.... (remember: no 'time' to make green smoothies....) Yay for Duck Dynasty!!! :)

I think I'll make Cam put on a beard-wig (fake beard, beard-wig?) - I feel a possible Halloween costume coming out of this.... (That guy LOVES this show - I actually read Willie's book to him - it was a GREAT book for both of us!!)

Have you ever seen Duck Dynasty? Do you have a favorite? Cam has 2 favorites: Jase & of course, Uncle Si. I think they're all hilarious, but I tend to side with Cam-ba-lam too!

Do you make your own green smoothies? What about homemade vanilla extract? (Fixation with the vanilla extract is a long story related to facebook posts and over-achieving Martha Stewart types...love it and REALLY wish I could do it.... but I just can't....I think I'm missing that ability in my DNA....)

Done any new running trails or training lately? I'm barely back to running after my injury, soooo glad to be back!!

Confession....

I love crossing things off of a 'To-Do List' - actually, I even love looking at a list with things crossed off of it! Sometimes, when I do something that wasn't on my list, I add it JUST so I can cross it off. BAM! :)



Oh What a Day!

 So....This morning was my first 'official' day back in my classroom - official in that all of the teachers & staff were back today & we had to be there 8:00 to get our meetings started. For me, it also meant that I had to get up super early to get dressed in 'real' clothes and get Joshua ready for his 1st day back at school (pre-K).

In my half-asleep, running-late-on-the-first-day rush, I went to grab my body spray.....

.... see any potential problems here? I definitely missed the adidas spray and gave my self a full-frontal spray of bug spray!!! :x GROSS!!!!!! 

 

And Josh was in a *great* mood this morning - sooooo ready to go back to school (sarcasm)

See the excitement?

It was all downhill from here - his teacher had to pry him off my leg!! :*( It was soo sad - heartbreaking!!! (I picked him up as soon as we were done & we went to get ice cream!!)

 

Now...the moment you've all been waiting for..................... pictures of my room!

Here are a few of the awesome things I found on Pinterest and copied.... prepare to be dazzled (j/k;)

 ^brag board

^daily schedule, assignments & objectives

ooohhh and notice the clutter? ^ Wellll... there's more of that... I know, it's a giant mess of junk everywhere - but you just HAVE to see the 'before' so you can appreciate the 'after' :) Ready for the mess? Here goes.....

 

^future motivational wall :)

^ Promethean Board that I LOVE, a wall for problem-solving strategies & the edge of the homework wall :)

If you look closely, you might be able to see my desk under there.....

Told ya' it was ugly!

But what you can't see, is an idea I actually got from a lot of the runners' blogs and facebook motivational pages I've been reading... I'm making a motivational wall! The kids and I are going to set goals through out the year and update our progress, and even celebrate when we reach one! YAY! I'm also going to gradually add motivational meme type posters to that section of the wall & encourage the kids to add motivational quotes of their own - so excited about this - yay for being positive & uplifting! :)

 

 

****Omigosh! How could I forget.... I finally ran today!!! YAAAAY! I haven't run in over 2 weeks! *gasp* I've been doing hip strengthening exercises (xray and specialist said no bone issues). I did Week1, Day 1 of my old couch to 5k program (including warm-up only totalled 2 miles) - HUGE step back from the 20+ mile weeks I was doing before - but I DO NOT want to reinjure! I am taking it slow!! My 1/2 in December might be super slow, but since it's my 1st ever, it'll still be a PR! ;)

What Do Teachers Do on Their 1st Day of School?

 They hit the snooze button for an hour, that's what! I had all these wonderful plans for what I was going to get done between 4:30 and 5:30 this morning, but apparently, my subconscious felt that hitting snooze every 15 minutes was better........ :|

          ANYway, I am forcing myself to make time for breakfast - banana w/peanut butter & honey, and a gallon of coffee. :) We'll have a special 'Welcome Back' breakfast at school this morning, so of course, I'll eat again then! :)

 

        As I've said before, one of my 'life' goals is to take more pictures, so get ready - later today (fingers crossed that I actually remember to take the pictures!!) I'll post more of my '1st Day Back' pictures. Today is just the first day back for teachers, we don't get our kiddos until next week. Just brace yourself the awesomeness that is to come!!! ;)

 

What time do you get up in the morning? Is that with or without snooze??

 

What was your favorite grade/subject in school?

I'm a little partial to 5th grade! :) My favorite subject has always been Reading - I was an English major in college (not an education major - wanna talk about a tough transition - whew!)

Just a Quickie....

I've had a super-busy, running-all-over-the-place (errands, not actual running) kind of week. The boys have been doing Vacation Bible School all week from 6:30-8:30 at night, I've been sqeezing in a million hours working in my room, I got an x-ray on Monday & I'm going to a specialist today! Whew - that was tough to even say!!
One of my reasons behind this blog is to force myself to take more pictures of my life...epic FAIL. No pictures of this week, but I still have 1 day left to try to capture the madness, so when the dust settles this afternoon evening tonight, I will add some pics!

Selfies @ Church :)

Josh and I were hanging out in the nursery by ourselves at church this morning so, naturally, we took a selfie. I haven't upgraded my phone yet so we had to do the old school way where you can't see what you're doing.....obviously! :)

Upgrading my phone in a couple of months - iphone or android? Help! I can't decide!!!

Lunch!

Guac, mozzarella, red peppers, lettuce & a little ranch dressing - yummy! :) I think I'm going to start putting guacamole in everything!

What Have You Done This Week?

I have done a whole ton of stuff and absolutely NONE of it included actually running. :(

Warning: Teacher Rant Ahead
My oldest spent his mornings at Vacation Bible School, so Joshua and I spent our mornings in my classroom getting ready for the upcoming school year. I got a few things done, but spent a lot of time running back and forth between the bathroom (which is actually in a completely different building) and my room so Josh could take a potty break or looking for supplies in the janitor's office and another completely different building - 5th grade is in our very own special place on campus, far, far away from everyone else, so there are a lot of "completely different buildings" on campus. And, no, in 'Far, Far Away' we don't have our own bathroom - that's a problem ALL YEAR LONG... but apparently adding a whole new set of bathrooms is a pretty complicated process, so we just suck it up and walk the extra yardage.

Warning: Runner Rant Ahead
I have spent my usual running time this week trying to meditate more on my Bible and prayer time + I've also been trying to NOT have a hip injury. My hippish area has been hurting for a while (this area is at the front of my hip joint - not sure if it's the leg or the joint? so it's 'hippish') and I was trying to make it go away with rest. Didn't happen, so, I made an appointment at our local general med. office so I could get the referral train rolling sooner than later. I have an x-ray scheduled for Monday.... and I'm taking some NSAIDs in the meantime. :(

So, instead of running, I have been reading all ABOUT running, following some awesome people on Facebook, reading some great blogs and of course my Runner's World issue that came in the mail yesterday!

Facebook:
Run Hard - Always Finish
Scrambled Legs Running
Distant Runners
Running4Him

Blogs:
The Hungry Runner Girl
Skinny Chick Blog
Laced Up With Lipstick

Ever had an injury that required rest? How long did you have to take off?


How do you find balance in your life? I think this will be my LIFELONG struggle!