Update

 This past week was busy with work but luckily it wasn't too exhausting and I got some annoying things off my checklist. I am figuring stuff out with yearbook. We have a theme and a cover! Bit by bit we will have a yearbook. Gabby was exposed to covid a week ago and she is mildly sick now. She doesn't want to get tested but either way she will have to miss school this whole week. Ugh! I hate this. Hopefully she doesn't have it and hopefully we won't get it. 

Ryan is such a quirky little kid. Lately he is obsessed with dogs and with overweight people and overweight dogs. He is very worried about being fat or obese. I kicked him out of the shed the other day and he was so mad because he was trying to burn fat. I explained to him that he didn't need to burn any fat and it was not healthy to be too skinny. Hopefully he will get over this obsession. Today after he did his job he said, "I don't really like when I do two jobs and all I get is kind words." Ha!. He also said the other day when I didn't want to help him with something and told him he needed to do it himself that "it's not my fault if I have a lazy personality."

Piper loves lego sets!

Garden treats

Scott has been taking the kids out on one on one dates.

40th Birthday Marathon

Back in April, I started to feel like I had more time and I wondered what project to take on. I already did a lot of work on my house and tons of mental work getting back into teaching and going back to school. I decided I wanted to take on a hard physical challenge so I decided that I wanted to try to run a full marathon. I also wanted to do it because I'm turning 40 this year. I immediately texted a friend and my brothers Hart and Gabe about it. I got my friend on board and an 80 percent yes from Hart. I signed up that night! I knew it would be hard on my body and I would have to be careful. When I trained for my half marathon two years ago I had to be careful about not running too much because my knees HATE it.  Since the beginning of June, I've been doing one long run of a minimum of 10 miles. I mostly just ran once a week on my long runs and did cross-training the rest of the week. My knees can't handle more running than that. They don't even handle that. I went on runs with my friend Shauna and I got my friend Brittany to join as well. Shauna ended up having to bail out pretty early as she realized she had a conflict the weekend of the marathon. Brittany ended up being my running buddy and we were able to do most of our long runs together. It was so nice to not get up at 5:00 in the morning by myself to go run say 16 miles. We had lots of bonding as we experienced all the things that come with running like snot and other bodily fluids. So much yuck. She also witnessed me fall twice. The ground was flat. There is no excuse! But I landed like a pro. I just roll with it and jump back up and start running.

Gabe decided to join in about a month ago. We thought he was totally crazy but he did it. He's a crazy person. Gabe and Hart had to get last-minute covid test results before they could race and it was really difficult to get tested and get the results in the time requested. I have my covid vaccine so I didn't have to worry about that. Hart thought he was out but he got his results at 2:00 in the morning on the day of the race. So crazy. My friend Brittany and I carpooled and we happened to come at the same time as Hart so we took the same bus ride up to the starting line. It was a fun bus ride up. It was dark and super early and we were laughing and chatting up some of the other runners. I was thinking how much we were probably annoying the non-morning people. It was fun though. We were having a good chat. We hung around for about 45 minutes waiting for the starting time. It wasn't too cold so that was nice. We started the race and Brittany and I ran together for about 16 miles. I was having digestive issues. After my third stop, Brittany kept going, I don't blame her. She's faster than I am anyway so it worked out. It was a lot harder to run that last 10 miles without her. Most of my training has been with her and it's much easier when you are running with someone. At about mile 16 my knees and hips were feeling pretty okay but I just felt so tired. The last 10 miles were a struggle. I had to walk and jog the last 6 miles. I just couldn't keep running. I didn't have the drive to totally kill myself by not stopping so I did a jog/walk to the end. My time wasn't that much slower with my jog/walks so I was pretty happy that it didn't slow me down too much. I almost cried at the end but I didn't quite. I think because I had allowed myself to walk I wasn't in the same headspace of when you are ready to die at the finish line. I mean I was so tired but it wasn't the same as when I ran a full marathon in college and I ran the whole time and pushed myself to the end. I crossed and balled my eyes right out that time. I'm really glad it's done. I'm glad I did it. I wish I could have run it faster but I knew that would be a challenge because training alone was a challenge. It was a good lesson in making adjustments and being realistic but still accomplishing a goal. 

My parents and my sister Trisha came to town to watch us all run our race. It was fun going to dinner with the family and having a visit with my parents. We didn't get too much hang-out time but it was still great.

I am very sore today. I can hardly walk and my knee is very unhappy. I think I will be okay. I need some time to rest. I don't think I did lasting damage. My knee is fine when I don't run. Fingers crossed. 

I decided I wanted to make some chocolate chip pancakes but needed to get some strawberries and whip cream from the store. I had to ice my knees, take some IB profin, and take an Epsom salt bath first. After that, I felt like I could drag my legs to get the supplies. I decided to get some bacon and orange juice for a belated Piper birthday breakfast. It was yummy. I used a recipe I have my students use and it is good!

I met a fellow FCS teacher for lunch today to help her out. FCS is so overwhelming and the information is confusing. I think I helped her out. She was really overworking and stressing. I shared a bunch of my stuff with her and I think she will feel much better. I was happy I could help her out. I had lots of help when I started which was a lifesaver. 

Alright well, enough novel. Peace!

I went to pickup my bib and I got #1. Woot! 

Prerace Photo with Gabe and Hart

Pre-race pic with Brittany.

Finish line!

Sooooo tired!

Cute family

Sweet friends

Awesome family

Post run pic

Fan club

My phone stats

Belated birthday breakfast.

Update

Monday was labor day and we went to Pojos for more Piper birthday celebration time before the Cannons headed back to Utah. The kids always love to spend time there. Nothing much else to share. Somehow the school week felt EXTRA long even though it was a short week and I was tired and cranky all week. I'm hoping this week at school is better. I was in a mood! I have two BAD classes and that is hard and I'm not great at being super strict and mean. Ha. I just have to think that some of the really hard boys in my classes probably struggle in every class and my class is their favorite since they get to cook. I try to think about it from that perspective sometimes to help me have a better attitude about them and try to let them and myself have a good experience. It's hard and I have more patience at times and much less at other times. 

My marathon is in 6 days! I went on a 10 mile run yesterday and it was hard. Some running days are just bad. My knees and hips hurt. I also rolled my ankle on a rock and couldn't walk last night. Luckily after some ice and rest I can walk today. I hope I can make it through my marathon and I hope I have an okay running day. Please everyone, don't let me run another marathon. Thank you in advance.

Cute! Haha.

Pojos!

Garden onion!

Gabby friend project.

Cute!

 

Piper's Birthday, and Cannons Visit

As far as I know things are going well so far with the kids at school. Things are going pretty smoothly with the exception of lack of school bus drivers. Scott has had to drive the kids to school in the morning and then take a late lunch and go pick them up after school. I hope they get a driver soon! I've adjusted pretty well to working again and have a pretty good rhythm. I haven't felt overly stressed out or tired so that is nice! I went on a 3 mile run on Wednesday and it hurt my body! I guess I wasn't recovered from my 20 mile run. I didn't do a long run this weekend because of that. I rode my exercise bike for a few hours yesterday. My marathon is less than 2 weeks away. I hope I can do it! 

Gabby's rat Clover died on Friday. There have been a lot of tears. Rats are social creatures so I made the mistake of buying two new rats without realizing that they can't be introduced immediately. I had to go and buy a separate cage. Oy! Pets. Not my favorite thing!

Piper's birthday was on Thursday. I made her favorite dinner (lasagna) and made her a chocolate cake. We had cake and opened presents that night. The Utah Cannons came up for a visit per tradition this weekend. We have had a great time so far. Friday night they came and we had taco soup and chatted and Piper opened some presents. On Saturday we went and rode bikes and scootered the green belt. The Cannons are staying at a hotel right next to the river and the greenbelt. It's a fun location. That evening the kids went swimming and we had pizza in the hotel room. The Utah Cannons woke up early and went and watch the hot air balloons. I asked my kids if any of them wanted to get up at 6:15 and go see the balloons and they all said no, (hooray). The Boise Cannons a had a lazy sleep in morning. Today we have mostly been hanging out around the house. Nicole took Piper to the mall to pick out some birthday gifts. She came home with some blinging stuff. Tonight after dinner we walked to Jullion park. I'm not quite sure what is happening tomorrow but I suspect Pojos is in our future.

Spirit of Boise balloons

Hotel shenanigans 

Playing in the river for a bit.

Our greenbelt adventure.

Papa riding Gabby's bike because she stole the electric scooter.

Presents!

Gabby got this present for Piper. 

Ryan fell asleep upside down on the love sac. 

Presents!

She's 10!

Farewell party for Jaynee last Sunday. I will miss her! 

I took Piper on a subway date last Sunday. 

Kids Go Back To School

It was a big week last week. My kids finally went back to school. I've been working since August 6th so that felt like a long time for them to be home while I was at work. I'm glad they will be back in school now. Gabby was pretty nervous about going to Middle School. She didn't sleep very well the night before. Piper was super nervous about being the big sister in charge and getting herself and Ryan off to school. Luckily Scott had Thursday off of work. It was helpful for him to be home. He had to take Gabby and Corbin to school because the bus didn't show up (they are very short on bus drivers, it's a mess). He then walked Piper and Ryan to school. I didn't get a ton of feedback from the kids but I know Piper and Ryan got great teachers that we've had in the past so I'm happy about that. Gabby seems to be adjusting to Middle School. Corbin is chill as usual and doesn't seem to worry about much. He is the big man on campus this year, 8th grade!

Work for me last week was good. It wasn't too stressful or tiring. I have a couple of classes that are a little out of control. I sent a bunch of parent emails last week. I'm hoping to reign it in! 8th grade boys! 

I ran 20 miles yesterday. Luckily it was overall a good run. I went with my friend Brittany and we couldn't believe how fast it went and how good we felt. I think it was because of the cooler temperatures. We've been training all summer and even when we would go for a run at 6:00 in the morning it was still kind of hot. It felt really good to run in cooler temperatures. The run was very manageable and okay until mile 16, after that all bets were off! The last 4 miles felt longer than the 16 before it. I just had to keep moving and tell myself to keep moving my feet. Our pace was MUCH slower on the last 4 miles but we did it! Holy smokes it felt good to get to mile 20 and be done. I was very tired the rest of the day and didn't do hardly anything. I'm still very sore today. I think I need to go take an ice bath. Brrrr. My knees have been hurting me the whole time I've been training but I got new running shoes and it has helped. My knees felt pretty okay the entire run yesterday which was encouraging. I'm worried the race will get canceled because of covid. I will be very disappointed if that is the case. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! The race is less than 3 weeks away.    

We stopped for a quick bridge pic, 9 miles in.

These goof balls.

I love when they hang together. So cute.

Middle Schoolers! 8th grade and 6th.

Scott walking the kids to school.

4th grade!

2nd grade!

First week! Check!

 Wahoo I survived my first week of teaching. It was okay and not okay. Ha. It's an adjustment to be in the mindset of thinking about what I need to do next all the time, by Wednesday I was feeling pretty overwhelmed and a little depressed about the constant strain of feeling like I'm in survival mode. Luckily Thursday and Friday felt much better. I will be okay as long as I can have some days where I feel in control. Even though I taught Teen Living last year it was so different where a lot of the year was strictly online, hybrid teaching. and on a block schedule. I have two classes with a lot of rowdy boys. I was very strict with them and I'm hoping that I can keep them in control. So far so good! Keeping my fingers crossed. I'm also in charge of the Yearbook this year and I'm definitely nervous about it. 

On Friday after work, I drove to Rigby to watch my sister Trisha in her community play The Sound of Music. I barely made it just in time for Trisha's first lines and solo. She did a great job. The play was excellent except it was too long! That's always my beef with theater. Oy! Over 3 hours....no thanks! After she got home from the play she and I were able to chat for a bit. The next day we went to breakfast together before I left. It was a quick trip but it was fun. 

My kids start school this Thursday. Hooray!

Tin Foil Dinners

Floating at DeMeyer Park

Smore's via the oven. 

I put up some lights and a banner in my classroom. Not much but cute! 

The playgoers. 

Sisters!

Kids and their rats. 

Gabby trying to reach the pedals! 

Scott let Corbin and Gabby do some practice driving. 

Gabby built a fort!