Cassidy's pictures

I finally got around to getting Cassidy's 5 year old pictures taken yesterday and here they are!

Holy Haircut!

After 4 years of his longer hair Brenden decided that he was ready to get his hair cut. It's football season again and he decided to go with the faux hawk cut. I think he looks great and I'm also having a hard time getting used to it LOL! He's had his great longer hair for so long it's strange to see his full face again!

Spencer's 8th Birthday

Spencer turned on 8 on Sunday, May 1st and we had his birthday party that day at the YMCA Rec Plex. At the Rec Plex they have a basketball court, dodgeball court, air hockey, foosball table, pool tables, ping pong table, and video games. He had a great time! All he really wanted to do the whole time was play basketball, he loves basketball, and it was the theme of his party too. And he ended up getting 2 basktballs for his birthday as well! So, without further ado, I give you birthday pictures.

He was so exctied when he saw that this is the Lebron James Miami Heat Jersey he wanted so badly. And the picture below is one of the two basketballs he got. This one is actually from Brenden and Cassidy and is the Miami Heat colors.

Race Report

Brenden and I ran a 5K this morning. It was my 3rd race ever and Brenden's first. Let me tell ya, Brenden is awesome. And I think he's hooked on racing! Brenden placed 62nd out of about 220 people in the race. He finished in 29:54 and was running a mile at a 9:37 pace. Freaking awesome! I'm so, so, so proud of him! Then there's me. I did well, not as good as Brenden but give a girl a break. He's younger, faster and much, much skinnier LOL! So I finished 114th and my time was 44:18 and my pace was 14:13 per mile. I had to stop twice to tie my shoe and I could've finished about a minute quicker if I hadn't had to do that :) Anyway, I am proud of myself too because my goal today was to finish this year better than last years time and I did because last year it was 47:26 and I finished 146th out of 216. It was a really great race day and now I need a nap. And here's some pictures from today to share with everyone

He pushed himself really hard at the end and had to lay down to avoid throwing up! I told him not to sprint that last block because this would happen but the people cheering really get you excited it's so hard not to sprint.

This was after we were done.

Another 5K coming up!

I'll be running the Strides for Mental Health 5K in downtown Lancastesr, Ohio on Saturday April 30th. Brenden will be running it with me. After seeing me run it last year, both boys decided they wanted to start running with. However, only one can keep up. That's not entirely true, Brenden is faster than me! Spencer can't quite keep up, but he's 7. Brenden has been playing football for years and is 11 and he's just faster....all there is to it. He's hoping to finish in a good enough place to get a medal. I think it's the top 3 in his age group. His age group is 14 and under which could be sucky if there's a lot of kids older than him in the race. But with football on his side, he just very well may beat those other kids. I certainly hope so. I know I won't be getting any medals. My goal this year is to beat my time from last year. Last year this was the very first race I'd ever run and was proud of myself for finishing, but not proud of how undertrained I was. So this year I feel better prepared and I know how to stretch better too! Wish us luck!

Ballet pictures

The boys get their time to shine here on my blog during football and basketball season. Today is Cassidy's turn. Parents don't get to sit and watch at ballet class every week, instead there are 2 times a year that she has parent observation week. Today was one of those days. And the recital will be in the end of May. So here are some pictures of our prima ballerina. She is really good and listens so well. She knows the routine without needing any help from the teacher. The purple outfit is the costume for the recital. Miss Susan had the girls try them on and run through the routine once in them. Then they changed back into their other dance outfits they came in today.

The weather outside's delightful

These last 2 days have been beautiful outside! If it's nice again tomorrow Brenden and I are gonna run outside to get ourselves ready for our 5K on April 30. Running outside is way different from running on a treadmill so I have to start getting myself back in the swing of doing it all myself instead of relying on the treadmill to keep my legs going. Running outside leaves it all up to me, my willpower, and my brain that likes to tell me to stop because it's hard. I just have to learn to ignore that last part and keep going! I wanted to cook out on the grill this weekend too but Richard said he has to clean it before cooking on it again since it's sat all winter so it's a no go for burgers and dogs :( Aw well, plenty of time for grilling very soon!

Happy 5th Birthday Cassidy!

Well, my baby is now 5. I took her to a children's play museum yesterday for a mommy daughter afternoon and then last night was her birthday party at the skating rink. She had a blast and we had a lot of guests there. So here are some pictures.

LIMBO TIME! How low can you go?

DO THE HOKEY POKEY!

These remaining pictures are from the AHA children's museum

Cassidy, I am so happy to be your mommy. You are such a wonderful little girl and I'm so happy I've been home with you every single day of your life to watch you learn and grow. I love you so much!

This week's running report

This weeks' running went well. I ran 2 miles on Monday, 2 on Tuesday, 1.12 on Thursday and 2 today. So I didn't run on Wednesday due to Cassidy having a stomach bug but I did fit in a 25 minute Jillian Michaels workout and I did some kettlebell and weight exercises. I didn't want to run so I could be right there for her and be able to hear when she needed me, which was often and there was an morning of holding and rocking. Sorry running shoes, but I'll give you a day off any day to hold my kiddos while they are sick. Then on Thursday I thought I'd increase my speed by an extra 1 mph and as you see I only made it 1.12 miles that day. But I'm okay with that. The speed was great for my legs, no pain or anything. In fact, I loved going faster. However, the breathing just wasn't right. Going an entire 1 mph faster than my normal speed was a lot to get used to with my breathing. Instead of deep breaths I was only getting short chesty breaths and I ended up with a horrible throbbing pain on the ride side of my neck. So to be on the safe side, and you know, in an effort to not pass out from lack of oxygen, I called it a day at 1.12. Which then leads us to today, Friday, and I ran 2 miles again. Wanting to change things up a bit today so I compromised and upped it just .5 mph over my regular speed for the first mile and then for the second mile I went up 1.5 mph over my regular speed to do some speedwork sprints and I did this for 2 minutes, then slowed it back down to regular speed for 1 minute and then repeat. That was fun to do and I'm doing this to help get my lungs used to the faster speed and build up my lung capacity. It's amazing how good my legs feel running that faster speed. Now to get my lungs caught up and I'm good to go. Monday I jump up to 2.25 miles and I may take a 1-2 mile run outside if it's nice enough this weekend.

for my fellow runners

I've been asked to post about the The Fresh Air Fund Half Marathon. I tried to copy and paste some info but couldn't get it to work. you can find out info about The Fresh Air Fund and the half marathon which benefits children at http://www.freshairmarathon.com/ If I lived in NYC or was ready for a half yet I'd be running this. I'm not quite there yet but a lot of my fellow runners are and since you love to run, why not run for a good cause.

A running road block

I have made it to 2 miles (all running) and my knee has decided to hurt. I ran on Monday and it started hurting a bit then on Tuesday morning it was feeling worse than the day before but I ran anyway figuring I'd play it by ear when I got on the treadmill and if it hurt too bad I'd get off. Well it actually felt better running on it but then afterward it started throbbing again. I iced it which made it nice and numb but the pain returned when the numbness wore off. So I'm taking the rest of the week off of running so I don't hurt it so bad that I can't run for months. It's actually feeling just fine again now, no pain at all but I want to give it plenty of time to properly heal so I can go back full speed ahead on Monday. I'll pick back up at 2 miles and move right along. I have run when I'm extremely tired, through knee pain and through just not feeling like it but did it anyway. I'm liking the change in attitude I see in myself and the dedication and follow through. I truly enjoy running and can't wait to beat my time from last year in my 5K on April 30th.

Some basketball pictures