Time flies

when you're having fun, or so they say. I think it flies by when you have 3 kids keeping you busy. Now that Caleigh is on summer vacation, it's either going to fly by faster, or crawl by, making me wish that school didn't break for summer. Speaking of school, Caleigh finished kindergarten and will be in grade 1 in the fall, and Aidan will start JK. Both will be there full days, so it will only be Brynna and I at home on the weekdays. I'm sure there will be lots to do and I will be able to get lots done with just 1 kiddo to keep entertained.

It's been interesting so far, on Friday the kids and I picked gobs of cherries from our tree, but you wouldn't really know it from looking at the tree because there's still so many there. Kevin and I froze 5, 4 cup bags on Friday night, then Saturday I pitted 2lbs of cherries and Kevin made brandied cherries with. On Sunday we did 2lbs more brandied cherries and I finished them off today(Monday) by making a cherry crisp.

Something has been eating/tearing up my veggie plants, and my herbs. Sunday I found both my cucumber plants, a couple of snow pea plants and bean plants pulled up and the tips of my parsley eaten. My spaghetti squash plant also had one of it's flowers broken off. Last night I spread some chili powder around the plants, and today I went out and got a couple of pepper plants(since I read that peppers will keep rabbits out) and some replacement cucumbers since if I reseeded now, we probably wouldn't get any veggies before it got too cold/wet for stuff to mature.

Brynna is growing by leaps and bounds. She's cruising around the couch and coffee table, and is getting 4 teeth on the top at the same time.It's hard to believe that she's almost a year old now. Caleigh has learned very quickly how to ride a big 2-wheeler, and Aidan is getting started using the balance bike to get himself caught up with Caleigh(she's really fast, and he hates getting left behind).

Finally Have Time

It's been a while since I updated the blog, and a lot has happened. Brynna's had a tummy bug, problems with hydration during high heat/humidity, continuing to get her teeth, a small little hernia, learning to feed herself Toasty Os, learning to stand in her crib, and her first dip in a kiddie pool. Caleigh has continued to improve at school(last week I had quick chats with her teachers and was so proud to hear how she is adapting to changes in routine without panicking or getting upset, how she is improving in her interactions with people), and at home(she's becoming so helpful with anything you can imagine). Aidan is having a good time helping and is getting excited for school in the fall(and for his birthday party where I've promised to make him a dinosaur train cake).

I've been making a lot of progress myself, both in my running and in my moods. I don't know whether it's the medication, running, being able to get outside more, or more likely, a combination of all of the above. I'm on week 4 of C25K, and it's going really well. I wasn't sure how I would do running longer intervals(3 and 5 minutes at a time), but I did well with it. I had to push it a bit for the 5 minute runs, but I felt really good at the end. However, I've discovered I'm not quite dedicated enough to running to go out in the rain(especially when the weather is supposed to improve throughout the day).

We also got our veggie garden in this past weekend, and I'm really excited about spending more time working on keeping it growing and weed-free this summer, along with the perennial gardens out front.

Nice Weekend

This past weekend was so nice. On Saturday, we spent time doing some work out front(Kevin trimmed dead/crowding branches off the maple tree and I weeded the rock garden), then we all went for a walk to the garden centres at Loblaws and Home Depot to see if they had any interesting plants that we might like for in the yard or to plant in the rock garden, and we may remove the rock and just plant spreading plants of different varieties.

On Sunday, Kevin counted collection at church, after lunch I did my first run of Week 2 in C25K and it went great, then after that we all went for a walk along the pathway and down to the little creek to find rocks for the kids to paint to look like bugs. After that, while Kevin was at a town hall meeting at the church, I went crazy pruning the forsythia in the backyard. Now it's not massively huge, and we can see the ferns growing around it, some of which I'm considering transplanting out front because of the shade from the tree. We had dinner with Pat, Peggy, Matt and Jess, which was a really nice way to end the weekend.

Run 2, Week 1

This one just about did me in, but I managed it. My shins are hurting a bit, and my outer thigh muscles were super sore until this afternoon. It's not discouraging me, though, I'm going to keep up with it. I may progress at a slightly slower pace, like maybe do one week for two weeks instead of moving on to the next week right away, all depends on how I'm feeling.

I have my follow-up appointment with Dr Trant on Monday, and hopefully I'll have read at least those 2 chapters of that book that she recommends people read first.

I did it!!!

I ran it! I did the first C25K run this afternoon and it felt good, despite the snow flurries and the cold wind! It was hardest around the 6th and 7th run repeats, but the 8th went so smoothly. Doing the warm-up walk from our house down to the path and towards Maitland works perfectly. I get to almost the end of the second cool-down walk before turning around, then I make use of the spur path out to Field St., and only have to turn around for a bit to get the last repeat in so I don't have to cross Iris St. I managed to figure out the podcast transfer late on Saturday, and have all 9 of them on my phone now in preparation for the following weeks. My shoes are comfortable, and I don't have any pain at all, I'm just tired. It feels so great to get out of the house for even just a half hour without any kids along. I think I may have to pick up some way to carry water with me in a hands-free manner because that made it a little hard to keep my hands/arms relaxed while running.

Starting Fresh

I've got everything I need, with the exception of the podcast, to make my start at the Couch to 5K running program. I'm hoping that I can get the computer to phone transfer sorted out before sometime during the day tomorrow, and then I can get myself started tomorrow. I'm hoping that by doing this, not only will I get in better shape(I'm not able to keep myself interested in just strength training anymore), but it will also help my mental state to get away from the house and the kids for a half hour or so 3 times a week. I just hope that the weather co-operates tomorrow for me, and that I can actually get away, regardless of whether it's Mother's Day or not.

Anybody's Guess

We discovered yesterday that the woolly bear caterpillar we found in the garden shed has made it's cocoon! Now we wait and see when the Isabella Tiger Moth will emerge.