Half-Marathon Success

On Monday, May 25th, I ran the Laguna Hills Half-Marathon. I had been training for this for about 6 months. My goal time was anything under 2 1/2 hours. I kept up with my friends Michelle and Miles for 3 miles, then they sped along on their merry way. I stayed with my friend Rena till mile 10, then she went on her merry way.  I finished the whole thing in 2 hours and 16 minutes (and 7 seconds). Woohoo! I was (and am) unbelievably proud of myself.

A huge thanks to Bridget who came out to cheer us on at mile 4 and at mile 11 (when I REALLY needed some cheering on). And to Chad who brought the kids up there to the finish line, and who let me rest, ice my feet, and take a really long bath later in the day.

This race was SO fun. Finishing was one of the best feelings. I want to do another race; someday, I'll even tackle a full marathon. I'm sad that this one is over.

Anyway, here's me immediately after finishing; I laid down right away because everything was spinning:

And here's me about 3 minutes later, feeling much better.
And since Chad didn't catch me coming across the finish line, we did a fake finish.
Miles of Miles, Michelle the Gazelle, Hope, and Rena the 6-month pregnant lady who can still run 13 miles.
Me with my supportive children who came to see me across the finish line.

Here's Benji the next day, who prefers to think inside the (toy) box.
And here's Ethan who made a collage the other day. He used more glue than tissue paper.

WARNING!!! DANGER!!

Beware, everyone! THIS could happen if you take your children to Target with you:

And this:
Don't let these photographs fool you. It's even worse-looking in person. And these were taken the day of; it's even more bruised and black today. He definitely has a black eye.

How did this happen, you ask? No, I did not beat him.

Pull up a chair, settle in, and hark to my tale of woe.

It all began on a lonely Friday. I decided to go to Target and get all the things on my list. I got all of them, and then the kids were getting antsy, so I let them get out of the cart while I looked at the children's clothes on sale. Long story short, Ethan was running around, and I felt too depressed and tired to stop him. He wasn't really doing any harm anyway, except endangering himself. He was hi-tailing it around a corner, tripped and fell, and hit his poor little eye right on the corner of a metal shelf.

Of course he started screaming.

The three Indian ladies standing close by shot me glaring looks of disapproval. But at least one of them was nice enough to ask me if he was okay.

At first, I was irritated that he fell, but when I looked at his eye and saw the gash, the immediate swelling, and the immediate purple coloring, my heart skipped a beat. I told myself to calm down; it didn't look like he'd need stitches, and it was barely bleeding.

We got some ice from the food area, Ethan stopped crying, we checked out asap, and drove home fast.

This is why I love and adore SHOPPING SANS CHILDREN. Shopping sans children is one of my favorite activities. 

I ended the day feeling like a failure as a mother because what kind of mother lets her children run wild around the store?

This is not a rhetorical question, so when you answer it, please answer "Even the best ones" so that I will feel better.

Thank you.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Ethan and I made pink lemonade this morning. It was this month's recipe in his High Lights magazine.

And here's Benji doing one of his favorite activities: hanging onto my pants leg. He's really talented at it.
Benji is sick. Possible teething. Fever of 100.6 yesterday, ridiculously fussy and cranky. He's got a really runny nose, some coughing, and is drooling like Niagara Falls. He woke up LITERALLY EVERY HOUR last night except for 1 am. That would be: 11 pm, 12 midnight, 2 am, 3 am, 4 am, 5 am, 6 am and 7 am. That's 8 times my friends, 8 times!!

Back to some good news: Ethan says, "I love you" these days. He's been saying it for a couple of weeks without prompting. He'll randomly come up to me and say, "I like you, Mommy." When I come back from an errand, he'll say, "I missed you." When I kiss him goodnight and say I love you, he says, "I wuv you too." It's heart-melting!

Rainy day/Cold day/Hot day/One-child-is-still-napping-and-we-can't-go-outside-yet activities

I don't love being stuck in the house. I get stir-crazy and impatient with the kids. I often can't think of what to do to keep them entertained. A lot of these require supervision and/or a lot of clean up, but they're fun. I've been working on this list for awhile, and I'm finally typing it up for you. Feel free to add to the list if you have any brilliant ideas.

1. Make playdough and then play with it. Try some of these recipes. One is even edible!

2. Clean out the sink. Then dump a bag of dry beans or noodles in there. Give the kids some spoons, ladles, and measuring cups. They can "cook," and all the beans are contained in the sink.

3. Can bowling: get a bunch of cans out of the pantry. Set up 3 in a tower formation. Use a heavy can to "bowl" over the tower formation.

4. Mix corn starch and water. It makes a funny-feeling dough that's fun to play with.

5. Get the kids naked and put them in the bathtub. Smear shaving cream all over the side of the tub and let 'em go nuts. Turn on the shower to clean them off.

6. Look through family photos.

7. Play computer games. I love this website; it has a ton of games for many ages, and they are always adding new ones on there. This one is also good for ages 1-3.

8. Write and illustrate a story together.

9. Turn on some music and have a dance party.

10. Build towers. You can use blocks, Legos, cans, whatever.

11. Get out some pots, pans, bowls, spoons, and spices. Pretend to add spices and make a soup.

12. Make and eat cookies.

13. Call the grandparents. Let the kids talk on the phone as long as they want while you check  your email!

14. Blow up a balloon and play balloon volleyball.

15. Make sandwiches. Set a sheet out on the floor and have an indoor picnic.

16. Color in coloring books.

List of things I did today

Ran 5 miles

Went to MOPS and supervised a lengthy craft

Played with the kids for over an hour in the MOPS room after it was over

Drove home and fed everyone lunch

Put both dudes down for a nap

Cleaned the downstairs (vacuumed, swept, mopped, cleaned tables and the highchair)

Wrote 8 thank you notes

Uploaded pictures from the camera

Washed 3 loads of laundry

Made dinner

Walked with Chad and the kids to Joe's to buy coffee

Took a detour by YogurtLand and ate frozen yogurt

Washed the dishes

Re-cleaned the downstairs because it got messy again

And you wonder why I'm tired.