First day of School, part deux

 It is amazing, but today, 9/28/2020 both boys went to school. I can't wait to hear how their day went! This is only two days a week for Daryl but it will be good for him to actually meet his teachers. I think he will engage more during virtual school once he has made those connections. 

Alex should be able to go every day but that is just as long as it is safe to do so. With COVID we always have to see what happens two weeks after any change is made. If things flare up the school is ready to send the kiddos back online. I'm not mad about it, they are doing the best they can. 

Daryl was so nervous last night about going to a new building he was driving me crazy! He was pacing, sighing and was super short with Alex and I. To help calm his nerves we spent and hour going through his backpack, picking out his clothes and talking about best times to wake up to make the bus. He settled on 6:20am but I think we will be able to push that back to 6:30am. He was ready in plenty of time this morning. 

I got to walk him to the bus stop this morning but was not allowed to take any pictures! 

At Alex's school I had to settle for a picture in the drop off line. All parents have to stay in their cars while their kids get their temperature checked. If they are good to stay, parents just drive away. It all happened so fast there was no time to get sad or worry. 

Can't wait to hear all the first day stories, even if it is actually the fourth week of school. ;-) 

Ready to go before the sun is up! 

You can take ONE picture before the bus comes mom.

Alex was so ready for today! 3rd grade here we come!

Waiting our turn for temp check in the drop off line. 
2020 you are full of surprises! 

Good Weekend for a Trim

So, I got super excited that the boys might be going to be in-person school next Monday on the 28th! That means back to school haircuts and we already have the supplies and shoes from last week. I've never been this on top of the back to school stuff, looks like I just needed an extra month to be ready. 

It was also a good weekend to say goodbye to the tree that has been blocking my driveway for two years. It is wonderful being able to pull all the way up to the garage! This is my second to last house project for the year so I was so happy to be making progress on that goal. 

I topped off my weekend with a 4-H club visit. There was a time I didn't get so excited to work on a weekend and arrange that day around when I was going to be busy. That has changed so much! I was so happy to be able to see one of my 4-H clubs and have them help me with a project that I was ready to leave the house at 3pm! I didn't need to leave till 4:30pm..... I have the best clubs and families and I miss being with them face to face! 

Before picture! 

After picture! Looking Sharp! Ready for school. :-) 

Before picture!

After! Also, looking sharp!

New Kansas Rocks (New to me :-)

 What do you do with your first weekend in months with no work and no kids? I take the time to finally drive across the state and check out the Kansas State Park, Little Jerusalem Badlands! It is four and a half hours from Topeka and very worth the drive. There is a walking path out to several points in the rock formations and it is a very easy walk. 

Of course while you are there you should just go ahead and check out Monument rocks, the only thing that will get in your way are cows in the road. Take time to explore Kansas, it is worth it! Next time, largest ball of twine and Garden of Eden. LOL 

My boys do road trips very well but I was very happy with my decision to make this road trip a grown ups trip. Don't feel sorry for them, just a month ago I drove them to Colorado, I've done my part! LOL 

This is the boys second week of virtual school but my first week supervising. On day number two I almost don't want to say it but, so far so good! The boys are logging on, participating in their classes and getting their homework turned in. I can't really ask for more. For the second day in a row I have been able to stop melt downs with the promise of ice cream after dinner. If this keeps working I should buy stock in Blue Bunny. 

The guardians of Monument Rocks near Oakley, KS 

Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park

More from Monument Rocks! 

Daryl at school

Alex at school, I don't know how he walks to his
desk either. 

Bill Snyder Highway Half

Yesterday, I ran my first half marathon for 2020. I was signed up to do the Top City Half in April but I lost all my training mojo and had to switch to the 5K. Originally, the Bill Snyder Highway half was supposed to be in May. I was relieved it was pushed back to Sept., I was not going to be ready to attempt it in May. 

Imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail with race details in Late July about the Sept. 7th race. I had COMPLETELY forgot about this race that I had already paid for. I knew it was coming up but I had failed to write down the new date. I had been running all summer to hit my monthly mileage goal of 50 but wasn't doing long runs. So I had to decide if I was going to be able to do all my long runs in one month to be ready for a 2+ hour race. 

With the encouragement of my friends I decided to give it a try. I completed a long run every weekend and got all the way up to 10 miles the week before the race. I was feeling good! 

I lined up with the 2:15 pace group hoping to clock a 2:14 time. My last half marathon was the KC Half Marathon in October of 2019. I ran a 2:16 in that race so I thought it would be good progress to knock 2 minutes off of that time. 

I was so glad this was the pace group I decided to go with. The pacers and other runners with the group were so supportive and gave great running advice. I learned so much running with them! The hills were in the first five miles and then we started going down hill until we hit town and then the course was flat. So at 8 miles the pacers encouraged us to speed up if we felt good. I did and I did feel really good until mile 12. OMG I started to feel it that last mile, and it was my slowest mile of the whole race! 

Was pleasantly surprised to see that my chip time was 2:10:46, I knocked almost 6 minutes off of my 2019 time! So happy with this race and I have my running mojo back. Last night I actually signed up for another race in November! LOL I just hope it doesn't get too cold before then. I don't like to run in the cold. I said what I said! 

Also, took the best race pictures I have ever taken. Ya, this race was a total win. 💖

Yay, Finish line! 

Best pace group 2:15! 

My official results. Not too shabby! Can I break 2:10 in November??

August Goal Update

I'm not sure you will believe me but I think Spring Break is almost over! I picked up the boys computers today to start remote learning next week. It is already weird having to go to two buildings. It's not like our schedule couldn't use more chaos, bring it on! I can tell Daryl is nervous about middle school but he met the assistant principal today and he told Daryl it is his first year at this school too. He let Daryl know they will get through their first year together. I doubt the assistant principal knew how much that put Daryl at ease, that is just how cool the staff at the Middle School has been. 

I'm hopeful for an easy transition and a teacher with a lot of patience for Alex. He is the quiet kid for about two days, then watch out! It doesn't matter who you sit him next to, he is going to talk all day. He must get that from me. :-) 

This was a good month for some goal progress, mostly running, but that can be the hardest one sometimes. 

2020 Goals 

Read 12 Books: 9/12 

I am so close to finishing a book that I almost didn't update tonight so I could add to this goal. However, that would be disingenuous because it won't be done in August. So, this goal stays at 9. I do have three books on my nightstand and two of them have to go back to the library soon. Time to turn off the Netflix and get some reading done!  

 

Knit 4 Things (and no new yarn!): 3/4

Gave up on my vest. I was not happy with how it was turning out and every time I worked on it I got  more frustrated. So I did what makes me happy, I knit a hat! It worked so well I immediately cast on another hat. I might just knit hats forever......


Make 2 Quilts :DONE May 2020

I'm slowly but surly working on my bowling towel quilt. It will be my 3rd quilt for 2020. Since I hadn't made a quilt for probably five years, making three this year might lead to a big break from quilts! 

Run 600 Miles: 437

I got  76 miles this month! That is the most miles I have ran in one month for the year. About a month ago I almost gave up on my only half marathon for 2020. I had signed up for the Top City race in April but I didn't get the training in and I did the 5K. I was really disappointed in myself that it looked like I was going to waste another half entry this Labor Day. 

I turned to Facebook and asked for advice. It's not like I haven't been running all summer, I just hadn't done long runs. I got AMAZING advice about going slower, talking walk breaks and stretching. Most of all my friends didn't let me take the easy way out. "Don't waste that race entry fee, you can do it!" I took ALL of the advice and I did a long run every weekend in August. Even with vacation and all! I got on track and I should be ready to run on the 7th. 

Thank you running friends! 

Save 2,000 Dollars: DONE April 2020 
I didn't plan to save any money this month because of our Colorado vacation. However, it wasn't as expensive as I had budgeted so I was able to put away $241 for the month. Yay! I thought about just spending that on getting my tree cut down but it will be more expensive than that so I'm going to punt that project again. 

5 House Projects: No progress here this month but I did change one of the projects. I wanted to get my garage door fixed after I take out my tree. I just don't see that happening so I put on planting two additional trees on the west side of the house. I have no shade over there and I want some more trees. Now I just need to research the perfect kind of tree to plant in my yard. I want it to throw some shade but not be huge. I'm open to suggestions. 

Put in a ceiling light in living room:  Done May 
Put in a ceiling light in my bedroom office

Get a new stove: Done Feb
Remove a scraggly tree

Plant two new trees 

Last Friday Alex had his first soccer practice. It was very hot but he had a good time! 

If they want to wash the car, I'm not going to stop them! 

Same goes for mowing. Daryl actually asks to mow the yard! 

Friends and Fishing

 Last weekend the boys and I loaded up in the car to visit friends in Southeast Kansas under the guise of a fishing trip. If there is one way to get Daryl in a good mood for a couple of days find a way for him to fish over the weekend. He was excited to try out some of his new tackle from his birthday. I was excited to see my friend that I hadn't seen since January. 

The awesome thing about working for 4-H is it will give you amazing friends from all over the state. Then the programs brings you together 3 or 4 times a year so you can catch up on life. I know the youth have been disappointed with all the summer events being cancelled or held virtually. Just so they know, the adults are just as sad about this. We miss our people too! Thank you Jenny for hosting us, I think Daryl is ready to move in with you and the girls! Between the three farm ponds he fished he caught 23 fish! Cherry on the cake, he got to drive the Kubota. He was in country kid heaven. 

He would like one of these for his 13th birthday! LOL

Alex had fun exploring and was finding cool stuff. Like this antlers stick! 
Photo credit to Jenny, this was a split second before they fell!

Just a boy and his fish. 

The non fishers looking for cool rocks! 

Jenny got Alex and Tiffany digging out a coyote trap. 
They did this for an hour!