Oops, just realized I never put up a link to our September photos. You can find them here. We didn't take many, though. It has been a crazy month!
One week until my marathon! I can't wait until I'm sitting here writing a race report for you!
That's it from Boomerang Drive!
-- Holly
Art Line
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Baby Years Behind Us
I think it's official, we are no longer the parents of a baby. We now have two BOYS, 2 and 4. Hard to believe!
It's amazing, when you decide to have another baby -- you don't realize that you're not just having a baby, but will have a unique person with his own personality. I haven't known Thomas for that long, but I can't imagine a world without him. I mean, really, what did we smile at before we had this?
Happy Birthday, Thomas! We love you!
It's a great day on Boomerang Drive!
-- Holly
It's amazing, when you decide to have another baby -- you don't realize that you're not just having a baby, but will have a unique person with his own personality. I haven't known Thomas for that long, but I can't imagine a world without him. I mean, really, what did we smile at before we had this?
Happy Birthday, Thomas! We love you!
It's a great day on Boomerang Drive!
-- Holly
Monday, September 12, 2011
"At" Words
This week Alex is working on words containing "at". I started showing him some words this morning and was planning on putting word cards on a key ring so Alex can practice whenever he wants to. He's not always in the mood for writing, but today he wanted to make his own version of the word cards.
Hopefully he can work on using the initial letter sounds to figure out which word is which. We will also be doing some projects with the words -- which he loves to do. Today we will be making a cat puppet.
That's it from Boomerang Drive!
-- Holly
Hopefully he can work on using the initial letter sounds to figure out which word is which. We will also be doing some projects with the words -- which he loves to do. Today we will be making a cat puppet.That's it from Boomerang Drive!
-- Holly
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Three Weeks, Time to Taper!
I haven't written much about the running I've been doing all summer, but today I hit an important milestone and I felt it was worthy of a blog post. Today I ran TWENTY MILES.
Let's back it up a minute. In June, I began plugging away at an 18 week marathon training plan. The plan involves 4 days of running and one day of cross training each week, with 2 rest days. The runs each week include 3 shorter runs (usually 3, 4, and 6 miles) and one longer run (progressing from 8 up to 20 miles, with one shorter one every few weeks to give me a break).
Of course, I was training over the summer, and it was HOT. My solution was to get up early and get the runs done before the weather became unbearable. But let's face it, the humidity is still there even before the sun comes up. Some of those runs were quite uncomfortable.
So on many, many days this summer, my alarm went off at 5:00. I got up, ate breakfast (a waffle or banana with peanut butter), got dressed, and headed out the door while it was still dark. Although I felt like it many times, I never ignored the alarm and went back to sleep. With the exception of sickness and family issues, I got out there and stuck to the plan as close as possible.
Today I accomplished the biggest goal of the 18 weeks (other than the marathon itself). I ran 20 miles. It took me almost 4 hours. I ran at a slow, steady pace, stopped to refill my water a few times (it took me 60 ounces of liquids to get through it) and took a couple of shorter walk breaks when I needed to. I was dreading this run, was nervous about it, and now I'm DONE. It's interesting that you only have to run 20 miles in training in order to complete a 26.2 mile race. I'm sure I can do it, but right now I can't imagine it. The 20 was hard enough -- adding another 6.2 is a little daunting.
I have to stop and give credit to the one person that has made all of this possible for me: my wonderful husband. There have been many, many days when he has had to get up and take care of the kids all morning when I was running -- and often he keeps them out of the house longer than necessary so that I can stretch and relax when I get home. A few times I have headed out the door during dinner time, or just as he has gotten home from a long day at work, and he is always so sweet about it and never complains. Without his support, I could never accomplish this goal!
I am heading into the final 3 weeks of the plan, what is known as the "taper". This means that I now ease up on the schedule and allow my body to rest and recover, so I will be strong on race day. The longest run I will have to do between now and the big day is 10 miles. I am so ready to taper, because I am tired and need the break!
3 weeks. Three weeks from today I will be a marathoner.
That's what's happening on Boomerang Drive!
-- Holly
Let's back it up a minute. In June, I began plugging away at an 18 week marathon training plan. The plan involves 4 days of running and one day of cross training each week, with 2 rest days. The runs each week include 3 shorter runs (usually 3, 4, and 6 miles) and one longer run (progressing from 8 up to 20 miles, with one shorter one every few weeks to give me a break).
Of course, I was training over the summer, and it was HOT. My solution was to get up early and get the runs done before the weather became unbearable. But let's face it, the humidity is still there even before the sun comes up. Some of those runs were quite uncomfortable.
So on many, many days this summer, my alarm went off at 5:00. I got up, ate breakfast (a waffle or banana with peanut butter), got dressed, and headed out the door while it was still dark. Although I felt like it many times, I never ignored the alarm and went back to sleep. With the exception of sickness and family issues, I got out there and stuck to the plan as close as possible.
Today I accomplished the biggest goal of the 18 weeks (other than the marathon itself). I ran 20 miles. It took me almost 4 hours. I ran at a slow, steady pace, stopped to refill my water a few times (it took me 60 ounces of liquids to get through it) and took a couple of shorter walk breaks when I needed to. I was dreading this run, was nervous about it, and now I'm DONE. It's interesting that you only have to run 20 miles in training in order to complete a 26.2 mile race. I'm sure I can do it, but right now I can't imagine it. The 20 was hard enough -- adding another 6.2 is a little daunting.
I have to stop and give credit to the one person that has made all of this possible for me: my wonderful husband. There have been many, many days when he has had to get up and take care of the kids all morning when I was running -- and often he keeps them out of the house longer than necessary so that I can stretch and relax when I get home. A few times I have headed out the door during dinner time, or just as he has gotten home from a long day at work, and he is always so sweet about it and never complains. Without his support, I could never accomplish this goal!
I am heading into the final 3 weeks of the plan, what is known as the "taper". This means that I now ease up on the schedule and allow my body to rest and recover, so I will be strong on race day. The longest run I will have to do between now and the big day is 10 miles. I am so ready to taper, because I am tired and need the break!
3 weeks. Three weeks from today I will be a marathoner.
That's what's happening on Boomerang Drive!
-- Holly
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Girls on the Run
I am excited to be a part of something awesome this fall: I'm going to be an assistant coach for the Girls on the Run (GOTR) program.
What is Girls on the Run? It's an after school program for girls in grades 3-5. The mission of Girls on the Run: "We inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running." Lancaster is one of 183 GOTR councils across the US and Canada. Last season, almost 100,000 girls participated.
The girls meet after school two days per week (since I have the boys to find child care for, I will be only coaching one day each week). There is a designed curriculum that focuses on positive self image, team building, healthy habits, reaching for your goals, and other life skills that are important for girls at this impressionable age. Each meeting involves a lesson, team sharing, and a fun filled workout. At the end of the program, the girls celebrate with a 5K!
I am so excited to be able to volunteer for this amazing nonprofit organization. Not only is it a chance for me to be involved with elementary school girls and be a positive influence, since I have been out of the classroom for a few years now, but it is a great opportunity for me to share my love of running and fitness. I know that even as an adult, I struggle with body image and self esteem on a daily basis, and I will probably take just as much away from this program for myself as I am giving to the girls!
That's it from Boomerang Drive!
-- Holly
What is Girls on the Run? It's an after school program for girls in grades 3-5. The mission of Girls on the Run: "We inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running." Lancaster is one of 183 GOTR councils across the US and Canada. Last season, almost 100,000 girls participated.
The girls meet after school two days per week (since I have the boys to find child care for, I will be only coaching one day each week). There is a designed curriculum that focuses on positive self image, team building, healthy habits, reaching for your goals, and other life skills that are important for girls at this impressionable age. Each meeting involves a lesson, team sharing, and a fun filled workout. At the end of the program, the girls celebrate with a 5K!
I am so excited to be able to volunteer for this amazing nonprofit organization. Not only is it a chance for me to be involved with elementary school girls and be a positive influence, since I have been out of the classroom for a few years now, but it is a great opportunity for me to share my love of running and fitness. I know that even as an adult, I struggle with body image and self esteem on a daily basis, and I will probably take just as much away from this program for myself as I am giving to the girls!
That's it from Boomerang Drive!
-- Holly
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Preschool at Home
Now that Alex is 4, we are at the point where we are facing some major decisions about what we want to do with him as far as school goes.
Many parents in our area send their children to 3 year old preschool, and then 4 year old preschool. Last year, we didn't see a need for Alex to go. He seemed so young to me, and I wasn't ready for him to leave. More importantly, though, I couldn't come up with a good reason to send him. He knew his alphabet, many letter sounds, numbers, shapes, colors, etc. He was involved in church Sunday school, plus another Tuesday program at our church that runs just like a preschool classroom. Through MOMS club, he is always going on play dates and doing activities with other kids. We just didn't think, at the age of 3, that he needed to start school. So we waited.
The question came up again this year: do we send him to preschool 3 mornings a week? The answer we came up with was no. For some of the same reasons we listed above -- he is very social and has lots of interaction with other kids, and he knows a LOT of stuff already. I'm pretty sure that if he was given a kindergarten placement test now, he would pass it. He has always been one to read, do puzzles, workbooks, etc. and he has picked up a ton of information just on his own over the past year. He doesn't NEED preschool for the education benefits. So since I'm home with Thomas anyway, and there was so additional benefit to us to send him, we decided he would stay home.
Just to make sure he IS ready for kindergarten next year, though, I am ready to start some preschool work with him at home. I am trying to get some things organized this week (somehow that didn't happen over the summer!) and we are going to get started next week. Our big focus will be pre-reading skills: letter sounds, word building, sight words, and letter writing. We will do some math: counting, sequence, number writing, patterns, time, money, and more. I am excited to get started and see how much he can do. I am hoping that he will be doing a little bit of reading by the end of the year. I will give you all blog updates as often as possible and share his work with you.
We are still undecided at this point about our plans for next year. I'm hoping to do a lot of research and thinking and praying about it and make a decision by spring. We are leaning toward homeschooling at this point, but may consider sending Alex to a Christian school next year. We're going to play this year by ear and see how Alex is doing and also get a sense of what he wants to do and what will be best for him.
I'm enjoying having my boys be little and am in no rush to send them off. :)
That's it from Boomerang Drive!
-- Holly
Many parents in our area send their children to 3 year old preschool, and then 4 year old preschool. Last year, we didn't see a need for Alex to go. He seemed so young to me, and I wasn't ready for him to leave. More importantly, though, I couldn't come up with a good reason to send him. He knew his alphabet, many letter sounds, numbers, shapes, colors, etc. He was involved in church Sunday school, plus another Tuesday program at our church that runs just like a preschool classroom. Through MOMS club, he is always going on play dates and doing activities with other kids. We just didn't think, at the age of 3, that he needed to start school. So we waited.
The question came up again this year: do we send him to preschool 3 mornings a week? The answer we came up with was no. For some of the same reasons we listed above -- he is very social and has lots of interaction with other kids, and he knows a LOT of stuff already. I'm pretty sure that if he was given a kindergarten placement test now, he would pass it. He has always been one to read, do puzzles, workbooks, etc. and he has picked up a ton of information just on his own over the past year. He doesn't NEED preschool for the education benefits. So since I'm home with Thomas anyway, and there was so additional benefit to us to send him, we decided he would stay home.
Just to make sure he IS ready for kindergarten next year, though, I am ready to start some preschool work with him at home. I am trying to get some things organized this week (somehow that didn't happen over the summer!) and we are going to get started next week. Our big focus will be pre-reading skills: letter sounds, word building, sight words, and letter writing. We will do some math: counting, sequence, number writing, patterns, time, money, and more. I am excited to get started and see how much he can do. I am hoping that he will be doing a little bit of reading by the end of the year. I will give you all blog updates as often as possible and share his work with you.
We are still undecided at this point about our plans for next year. I'm hoping to do a lot of research and thinking and praying about it and make a decision by spring. We are leaning toward homeschooling at this point, but may consider sending Alex to a Christian school next year. We're going to play this year by ear and see how Alex is doing and also get a sense of what he wants to do and what will be best for him.
I'm enjoying having my boys be little and am in no rush to send them off. :)
That's it from Boomerang Drive!
-- Holly
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