Catching Up

What happened to all of those posts that I had planned for the past week or so? Oh yeah, that's right- they never made it from my head to my blog! The past couple of weeks have been a blur of activity and craziness - now it's time for me to get caught up (I apologize- this will probably get long!). I have had 5 or 6 different posts planned in my head for the past few weeks but life got in my way.

Baseball tryouts are over and teams have been formed. I think baseball is the sport of choice for both Riley and Isaac. I am very excited to go watch them play this summer but it also means that life is about to take crazy to a new level with our schedules! This week brought coaches calling to let us know of last minute practices and trying to arrange schedules to get everyone where they needed to be. It is only going to get worse as the summer arrives- Riley will have games on Tuesday/Thursdays and Isaac will have games on Monday/Wednesdays. That also means they each have practices on the opposite nights- the nights the other has games. It is a good thing that we are getting to know some of the other families and that we can carpool to make things work!

It's time to PLAY BALL!

We are also in the end of the school year rush to get things done before school lets out. Riley will be moving into middle school next year -I can't believe that I will have a middle schooler- how did that happen? He is excited but that means the past few weeks have been a bit crazy as he has had to make decisions on his music options and we have had (or I should say Tim has had to go to meetings while I had to work) to learn about the middle school and get all of the band information. Riley has decided that he wants to play the saxophone so that has meant that we had to get him signed up for summer band lessons trying to work around the other activities and fun classes he is taking this summer. 



Please help me to have patience and
for my ears to be forgiving as he learns to play!

I would like to take this opportunity to apologize now to our neighbors- I am very sorry that the first lessons will take place during the summer when the windows are open. At the same time I also appreciate that you will get to enjoy this experience with me!!! Our summer schedules are starting to look very crazy! I don't think the boys will have much of a chance to say that they are bored!!
The past week has also been busy getting Riley ready for the big 5th Grade field trip to Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center. Each of the elementary schools in our district take turns taking their 5th grade on this three day/two night field trip. The classes do all kinds of fundraising throughout the year to help pay for the trip. I know he has been very excited since he first heard about it when a few of the neighbor kids went several years ago. He will be doing all kinds of things that he loves and I can't wait to hear what he thought about it!

Yesterday (and even some the day before and on our weekend trip to Iowa) we celebrated this special little boy!!

At 4:07 PM on May 9, 2005 he entered our lives- screaming (for the first SEVERAL hours) and ready to take on the world! What a journey it has been since! I can't wait to see what the next several years will bring. The above picture is a great reflection of Isaac- so full of life and excited to see what is next! I am planning to do an "interview" with him to help me remember him at this age- watch for that to come in the next few days.

Tim and I had a great time volunteering for the first time at a race- we helped out at a water stop for the Grandad Half Marathon last Saturday. Last year we ran but with Green Bay coming up soon and the course change to include a 2 mile downhill start, we didn't want to chance anything. We decided that we wanted to do what we could to support the race by volunteering instead. It was fun to be on the other side of things once and I am sure we will be volunteering for more races in the future!

Tim and I at the water stop!

 After the race we loaded up and made a visit to our family back in Iowa for the rest of the weekend. While we were there we were able to get in our 12 mile run on a beautiful (and very quiet) stretch of Iowa gravel road along the Turkey River. We ran to the locally "famous" 10-Mile Bridge and had my mom and the boys meet us there to pick us up (and bring Gatorade).


Such a clever name for a bridge that is 10 miles
up river from the Keystone Bridge in Elkader.

What a beautiful place to run!

Tim caught me being silly with my favorite fuel- Honey Stinger Chews!
That reminds me that I need to get more before the marathon!!

Doing a little stretching while we waited for our ride. I am loving my ProCompression socks on my long runs and for recovery after! I need to get hooked up with them to do a review/giveaway!!

I had also intended on doing a great post about May being Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month and Monday, May 6th being Melanoma Monday. Even though the 6th has past it is never too late to talk about it! Here is a great  post that I found by Running for Bling that I wanted to share- Are you sun safe? Check it out!

I know that I am working on being more sun safe! I am still not perfect but after having melanoma once I am more likely to get it again. It was such a scary time in my life and continues to be scary everyday! There are still times that I get a feeling of panic out of the blue (more often than I would like to admit)! They told me during one of my appointments that every little twinge of pain or every cough, etc. would make me wonder if it was something more. At the time I didn't think that I would think that way- I was just relieved to know that they had gotten all of it! I was wrong- I wonder all the time if little things are a sign of something more! When out for a run and I am more short of breath than normal, I am thinking that it is in my lungs- never mind the fact that I am running faster and pushing myself more, I automatically think it is the cancer! When my legs are sore or I feel shin splints coming on- I think maybe it is something in my bones, never mind the fact that I have increased my miles drastically getting ready for my first marathon! The fear of recurrence is never far away and it only takes something little to bring up in my head. I don't want anyone else to have to face this so I can't say enough about prevention! Wear your sunscreen- it only takes a few minutes to apply and it could save you in so many ways down the road. I also can't say enough about detection! I can't help but wonder how things could have been different if I would have asked about my spot sooner! I had noticed it for years. Would the outcome have been different if I had checked it out sooner- I will never know! Don't worry about your doctor thinking you are overreacting by asking about spots that you are worried about- do it before it is too late! It is better to at least have them look at it than to worry or to have waited until it has progressed to something more! OK- off of my soapbox!

I missed doing  The Weekly Chase for this week and at this point I will wait until next week to review my goals and make new ones. This week I have continued to work on the same goals from last week.

The last random thing I wanted to catch up on was my April totals.

April Stats

• Total= 148 miles
• Running= 112 miles
• Biking= 31 miles
• Swimming= 1 mile
• Walking= 2 miles
• Yoga= 3 classes attended

First Quarter Stats

• Running= 342 miles
• Biking= 181 miles
• Swimming= 6 miles
• Walking= 8 miles
• Total Human Powered Miles for 2013= 540 miles

One of my 2013 goals is to run 1000 miles. Here is where I stand with that goal:

• January= 68 miles
• February= 72 miles
• March=90 miles
• April=112 miles
• Total for the first quarter= 342 miles
• Only 658 miles to go to reach my goal!

This post was very random and very long but I think it gets me all caught up! All of the craziness is finally out of my head! I promise I will work harder at keeping myself on track with my blog posts in the future!  

I will be working all weekend so enjoy it for me too!