Life Gets Crazy

 Things have been getting a little crazy this summer in the Wear household. I finally have said goodbye to sticking to a bedtime and hello to fun family time after hours. We were lucky enough to get tickets to a Royals game last week. We left Campbell with my cousin (Thanks Kate) and headed off to the game with Emery. She had SO MUCH FUN! Our seats were wonderful and the weather could not have been any nicer. After watching 6 innings, we decided to walk around the new K. Emery had fun in the Kid Zone, and Dave and I had fun finally getting to spend some time together without a 9 month old attached to one of us.

 Emery and Dave

 Emery watching the game

Another thing we have been loving this summer is Jazz in the square at Zona Rosa on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The music is always great and Emery gets to play in the fountains. We always just bring a blanket, towel for Emery, and a cooler with whatever and chill out. It's the perfect way to spend an evening together.

Oh, and did I tell you have have a stander???

Picking a 5K

I am super proud of myself for sticking with my runs so well. I have been running if not every other day, then every other other day =) And the goal of running my first 5K is actually starting to become a reality. But now to choose which one. Kansas City has so many fun 5K's. I googled Kansas City 5K's and it suggested this page which was great! But now to figure out which one to attempt. There is a Glow Run 5K in July that is at night with tons of glow sticks! Rock the Crossroads is also in July which is a night run and sounds fun. The Farmstead Stampede is at the Deanna Rose Farm and is for them and is in August. September is the Broadway Bridge 5K which I really would like to do AND the Zoo run. October has tons of fun Halloween 5K's through graveyards and stuff which sounds like fun. I honestly think that I will be ready for a 5K in August or possibly even July. So I think I may keep my eyes on the Glow Run which is located in River Market in Downtown KC on July 14th. There I said it, so that will be my goal.

Now on to a little rant about running and then I'm done. So on my runs I have been using my Nike+ with my iPod and the sensor thing in my shoe. Most every time recently after my runs, it's been telling me that I have been running 2+ miles. And after this last run I had on Tuesday when it said I had run 2.12 miles I was thinking, heck ya, I'm only about a mile away from a 5K this is great! Then I decided to make sure that my sensor was tracking me correctly so I drove my car around the same route I took. And you know what it said? 1.8 miles! Ugh! That sucks! So now I have to recalibrate my sensor so it's more accurate and I can start feeling good about my runs again when I hit that 2 miles. And, just for giggles, I drove the same route in Dave's car to see if there was much difference. Nope.

Work? What? What's That?

This week has been so out of my normal routine! Normally I could care less about staying on a certain schedule, but when I'm trying to run every other day and write down everything I intake, getting out of the swing of things can be rough. Here's the situation...

Monday, Memorial Day. I was off with the whole family. When I'm not at work, I don't write down what I eat because I have two kids that are constantly wanting my attention. And I give it to them. So since I'm most likely not eating right, my body says, "No Erin, don't run today. Run tomorrow." And I say, "Okay".

Tuesday, back to work for most people. But not me! It's my scheduled day off. But since schools and daycares were closed on Mondays and I pay for my kids to attend 4 days a week, they both went to their places, and I went to Parkville for a run. And it was a little hard, okay a lotta hard. But whatever, I did it and felt good afterward.

Wednesday, back to work for ME! I was super excited to see my kids after being gone for 4 days and the last time I saw them they had all just graduated! Wednesday was pretty typical at work, nothing out of the ordinary. But then at 5:00pm, 30 min. before I leave to get Campbell, my classroom phone rings. It's Campbells school and he has a fever of 102. Great. So I wait for Dave to pick me up (because we carpool to save on gas) and ask if he can take tomorrow off to watch Camp. Of course I already knew the answer. They are super low at his work and he is training some new guys. My mom and husband were out of town too or else that would have been my next option. But alas, I had to call up to work and let them know that I wouldn't be coming in on Thursday. Ug!

Thursday, operation find out what's wrong with Campbell. He has a fever, runny nose, and horse coughing kinda. My bet was strep. I got a nice early appointment only to find out of course, it's some virus. He throat is swollen though but they tested for strep, negs. No ear infection and no blisters on his body for hand, foot and mouth. Usually with a virus I hear, "It's just some virus going around. Keep his fever down and plenty of rest and fluids. Call us if dah dah dah." Okay, thank you. At least I had peace of mind. So Campbell is pretty lax all day. Plays a little, gets some meds, eats some, sleeps lots, repeat. Around 3pm I ran out of infant motrin, so I switch to tylenol. Fever goes up to 104 degrees, under his arm, WITHOUT adding a degree. I was freaking out! First, of course, I call my mom. She is over at my house in like 2 min. and starts getting cool wash cloths and putting them all over his body. I'm not sure even how long he just layed in my arms letting us put these cool cloths all over him, but it seemed like forever. FINALLY, after lots of advise from FB friends and a call the Children's Mercy Nurse Line, his fever is starting to go down and he is starting to move again. Thank goodness. But of course, I wasn't going to take him back to daycare on Friday, so here we are again, trying to figure out who can stay home with him. Dave was not an option with so much stuff going on at work. I was not an option, working only one day so far this week and already knowing that we were low staffed. Thank goodness my Mom had come back in town the night before. And of course, she was more than happy to watch him. Here is a little picture of my poor baby Campbell with all those cloths all over him.

Even sick as a dog he is still so precious!

Friday, WORK! Hello Kids! Hello Ms. Laura (my oh so positive co-teacher). Work went well. It was nice to spend time with the kids again AND be able to get all the June newletter stuff out on time. I was in such a great mood all day, I was actually looking forward to a run that night. After work, I picked up Campbell who seemed to be doing much better and headed home for some quick dinners so we could all go to the park. Of course, Campbell had to take a quick nap right after dinner, so Emmie and I went on a walk around the neighborhood where I was pretty sure I smelled some leaking gas. So I called the gas company to report a possible leak. Well by the time I got a hold of someone, I was already on the other side of the neighborhood and the guy wanted an exact address of where the leak was. So Emery and I speed walked home, I dropped her with Dave and an awake Campbell, then ran down to the house I smelled the gas at and gave the rude man the address. When I got home, we were all ready to hit the park. Dave played with the kids while I did my Week 5 Day 2 of my Couch to 5K program. It was so nice! I kinda wish it wasn't an every other day running program.

But anyway, so I worked a solid 20 hours this week which sucks, but Campbell I feel is on the mend and I'm back into my running routine. Hopefully all goes well this weekend and I can wake up early enough on Sunday to get a run in before 12:00 mass, then Emery's baptism afterward, and then a 2:00 baby shower for my cousin. We'll see.

Memorial Day Weekend

Celebrating Memorial Day Weekend when you have a young family is very different then the ways we use to spend it. But you know what, I like this way a little better anyway. Run down of my weekend. And I always start with Friday even though I had to work, it's still Friday and I consider it the weekend.

Friday at work went by SO FAST! It was Pre-K Graduation day for my kids. We have been working so hard with them for this. We woke up early from nap (though most the kids were already awake b/c they were so excited) and started getting ready. First we sent the few kids that still had another year of Pre-K over to Pre-School so we could focus on staying on time. We got the kids to sit down for a quick snack so they wouldn't be hungry during the whole thing. Have you ever worked with 20 hungry kids?  Kids that were not at school that day but were graduating started arriving around 2:50pm. We sent everyone to the bathroom and started putting on gowns and caps. The kids were so excited to be putting on their caps b/c my co-teacher and I had been making such a big deal about them. As soon as every ones tummy's were full, bladders were emptied and camps and gowns were on as straight as they were going to get, I started getting the kids together for a quick picture before we headed up. Now this was a challenge all in it's own. The past 2 graduating classes were only around 15 kids or so. Posing 15 kids for a quick picture is not a problem. But this year we had 22 graduates! I had to get a little creative.  I had the kids standing, kneeling, standing on chairs, and then in the very back, standing on the table! And the picture still wasn't to my perfectionist liking, but we were running late and the kids were getting antsy so I snapped what I could and we got moving. Here is one of the shots. Don't they all look so grown up!!

We lined up in our line and started heading upstairs to graduate. I have never seen or heard the kids so quite on the way upstairs! We got to the room and Holy Heck did we have a turn out! It was packed. The kids sang their songs great and then it was slide show time. I worked FOREVER on this thing and was SO nervous. But it was a hit. The kids loved it and the parents loved it. The kids walked to get their diplomas while I read off their names and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Example: One little girl wanted to Jasmine and Sleeping Beauty when she grew up. One boy wanted to Build GPS's. We had a future costume designer among us and an builder who wanted to build play places for kids. These kids are amazing. After some cake and punch and talking with everyone, it was time to go home. I wish I could say that I did something, anything, with my family Friday night, but I was SO exhausted, I fell asleep around 8pm.

Saturday morning was adventurous. Dave worked in the morning and I thought it would be fun to head to the River Market with the kids to pick up some produce for the week. I'm not a complete fool though. I invited my mom along to help with the kids. Got my produce and Emery got to ride the train (aka the lady with the barrels hooked up to her lawn mower and charges $2 a ride, genius!).

After some short afternoon naps, we were off to my friend Courtney's house for her son's 1st Birthday. Emery had a blast playing with the other kids and Campbell used his charm to woo the ladies. After the birthday party, we picked up a pizza and headed home. Everyone was pretty tired so we stayed in the rest of the night.

Sunday morning was typical again. But finally we got the kids outside to play! It was the first time the kids got into their bathing suits. They looked SO CUTE. We got the water table out and let the kids at it. Campbell was having so much fun. I'm pretty weird when it comes to letting Campbell crawl around outside, I just don't let him, but today was I a free spirit and let him do whatever.

 Him and Emery played for over an hour at the table. Campbell decided it was time to explore other places when Emery took a bucket and filled it with water and poured it over his head. After some evening grocery shopping, we sat down for dinner, got showers, and then ALL went to bed.

Monday! Memorial Day! A day to BBQ with family and be at the pool/lake. A day to remember those who have fought for us and are still fighting for us. A day to spend together as a family. Well, we did the last two. There was no BBQing for us because most our family was out of town and we (okay, I really just mean I) don't really BBQ much anyway b/c we (again, really just me) don't eat meat. On a side note, this will be my first summer as a vegetarian and it is sure to be a very hard one seeing that my family will find any reason to get together and smoke some meat to eat together. But I will just have to plug my nose and be stronger than the delicious smell of ribs and bbq sauce. Anyway, so instead of all that other stuff, we went on a family shopping trip to Zona Rosa. The kids were wonderful walking around Zona and going into the stores. Campbell got some summer shorts and tshirts while Mommy found some Dick's Sporting Goods gift cards in her wallet that she had forgotten about and got herself a new Nike+ sensor for her runs =) Emery restrained from running in the fountains as well. It was nice to get out with everyone because it doesn't happen too often. After shopping, we headed to Dave's Dads house to spend some time with them. Went out to eat at Corner Cafe and then headed back again to their house to play in the driveway and jump on the trampoline.

Big change from the Memorial Day's I use to spend at the lake with friends, but I wouldn't change it.

Week 5! Finally

I finally ran Week 5 of my Couch to 5K program! After weeks of doing Week 4 Day 3, I finally grew a pair and just went for Week 5. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I honestly thought I was going to die on this run before I even ran it. But I did really well with my food intake today, fueled my body well, and after the kids were in bed, hit the pavement. It was great. It felt great. I loved it.

Next run Friday!

Pre Mothers Day Post

So I have a whole lot to write for Mother's day. It was a great day though. Breakfast in bed, Dave took care of all tasks with the kids, we played outside, and I got a Pinterest project done! Pics to come!

We are Living in a Material World, and I am a Material Girl

Seriously, who doesn't love gadgets. I love them all. And now that I have been running again (okay technically, I have only ran 3 times but still, I'm getting off my ass. I also just want to throw in there that I will be running tonight too) I want all the fun gadgets that they make for running.

Of course every runner needs a good pair of shoes. There are so many different kind of running shoes out there though! And I have a hard enough time finding good shoes because my feet are HUGE! (We're talking size 11 here people). Oh and did I mention that they are super wide too?! Ya, so finding good shoes for me is usually a challenge. BUT, I did find these Mizuno's at Dick Sporting Goods and they were like heaven on my feet. Or what I can only imagine what your feet would feel like in heaven.

They are $149.99 which I would not normally ever spend on ANY pair of shoes (not totally true, I did drop a pretty penny on some UGG's last winter) but they say that if you serious about running, you need a good running shoe. So these are what I am saving up for now. Lucky for me, I'm still sitting on some Dick Sporting Goods Gift Cards from Christmas. You can find the shoes here.

Okay, so the shoes were not really a gadget, but they are expensive like most gadgets so they count. Now on to something I don't really need, but I REALLY WANT! I already run with my iPod touch. Love it. Love the running apps I have on there and my music and how small it is. What I really want though, is the new iPhone. I think a new one is coming out this fall maybe. I don't even need that new one, just an iPhone would be nice.

Oh to have internet where ever I go and be able to post my runs right away on my run logger so I don't forget. So what is stopping me? Honestly, my husband! He thinks that if I get an iPhone then he should get one too. I have NO IDEA why. He has an iPod, he loves it. ALL he does on it is play games. He doesn't use the iCal, or have his contacts uploaded onto them, heck he doesn't even ever check his facebook! So why does he need an iPhone? I don't know either. I do understand a little though, I mean, who doesn't want a smartphone? But he is firm on that if I get one, he needs one too, and we just can't afford a phone plan with both of us having one. So, I'm still stuck with my no internet dinosaur phone that doesn't even work half the time. Eh, you win some, you lose some.

The last thing that I'm going to write about that I want, and actually can have, is the Nike+ SportWatch GPS.

This thing would rock my world. Water resistant, accurate GPS, keeps time, pace, milage, heart rate, calories burned....need I go on? Ya, it's kind of expensive ($169.99 on Amazon) but I think it something that when I get into a little more milage, I'm going to need. So I will wait it out. Maybe it will be a little gift to myself after my first race or something.


I do have a Nike+ sensor already and the app on my iPod, but I feel like the battery runs out of that little sensor thing SO FAST! So I am stuck buying a $20 sensor every so often and it's just redic! Just let me have the rechargeable watch!

So there you have it. My gadget running list. All wants, no needs.