Spring Break with Caiden

My Spring Break flew by, and I wouldn't have it any other way!  I Minecrafted everything I could think of for Caiden's room.  Since we moved after he left and he never saw the place, I really wanted him to feel like this was his home too.  Trey generally sleeps in there, but I didn't tell Caiden that.  I just didn't want him to think he didn't have a space of his own or for him believe we forgot about him.  He loved it!  I racked up many, many cool points there!

Caiden arrived on Friday, May 15th, alone.  He was nervous about flying alone, but we knew that although we too were apprehensive, he is very mature.  He ended up loving it.  As he got off the plane he said, "That was so cool, I want to do it again."  His wish would come true two weeks later :/

Unfortunately because our schedules didn't coincide, I was only able to see him on the weekends.  It was hard knowing he was so close, yet still too far away.  We were able to make the most of it.  The first weekend was a lot of traveling and trying to see everyone, my family, my father's family and my husband's family.  My sister took us in that night he flew in and we spend Saturday at the playscape in San Marcos.

We played a few rounds of parkour; he beat me every time.

Sunday night Caiden read to his brothers before bedtime.  HR and I took the boys to daycare Monday, I skipped class, and we took Caiden to the aquarium, the two-story Whataburger in Corpus (per his request because it's the "best burger place ever" and there are none in Cali), and then to the beach for an hour or so before heading back to pick up the boys.

At the Aquarium

The second weekend I took Caiden and his best friend/cousin Katelyn to see The Croods in 3D.  My mom and younger sister joined us.  I normally wouldn't go to the movies, let alone a 3D one, but he really wanted to see it.  More cool points!

The 3rd and final weekend we spend with my husband's family celebrating Easter and visited with my mom for a bit before driving all night to San Antonio Saturday.

Lawn darts; he beat me yet again!

Sunday morning Caiden and I said bye to the boys and HR before heading to the airport.  As we left, Trey got emotional and hugged Caiden tightly, to which Caiden replied, "Such a harmless thing (to want to see his dad), but it hurts so bad."  He's too wise.  At the airport he saw that he would be flying with a girl about his age who was also an unattended minor.  He looks at me and said, "I guess I'll have to make the most of it."  What a ham!  Miss my wise little man.  Can't wait for Summer to have him back!!!

Minecrafting

In case you aren't familiar with the game, this is a screen shot from Minecraft.  I just want you to see how blocky everything is.









Caiden is coming to visit for 2 weeks during his Spring Break.  I wanted to do something special for him.  He is really into the game Minecraft, so I began minecrafting a green storage ottoman of his into a creeper character. Minecraft is all about square, pixelated images, I thought scrapbooking paper would be perfect for some wall art.  I printed out a Steve and Diamond Steve on photo paper and mounted them onto scrapbook paper.  From the available colors I had, I also managed to make a cow and a pig.

Then I was stuck about how to hang my art.  I didn't want to put holes in them.  I used to use a glue gun at school, but I was afraid it would tear the sheet rock.  I thought about using the tacky gummy stuff, but I couldn't find any.  Square frames aren't exactly the standard.  This morning I found these:

$6 dollar store decorative frames

They were almost perfect!  The scrapbook pages are 12x12; the openings in the frames were about 11.5x11.5.  I had to cut my squares down.  I died a little inside as it threw off my proportions slightly :(
I kind of wanted to redo them, but it was time consuming to get it right the first time around.  I'm sure Caiden will not be bothered (though he's a lot like me and probably WILL notice).

No one makes Minecraft licensed bedding. To solve the bedding issue, I bought green sheets and a brown comforter.  I pained a creeper face on one corner of the pillow.

I so wish I could paint one wall green, but we are renting.  I am now on the hunt for some bright blue curtains.  I plan on painting blocky white clouds on them.  I can't wait for Bubba to see his Minecrafted room!!!

Summer Tease

It was about 92 degrees with a cool breeze, but the sun was hot.  It was much nicer in the shade.  I thought twice about going for a run because the sun was bright and beating down on me as I walked outside.  What was I thinking?  It was a gorgeous day out.  Summers here are easily in the triple digits, even without considering the heat index.

I ran a long run yesterday, so I only wanted to run an easy 3.  I should really have taken the day off, but tomorrow is my long day + client, and it's difficult to get a run in before I have to pick the boys up from daycare. I would prefer not to leave them there until it closes.

I ran contnuously:
1/2 mile warm up
1 mi @ 9:24
1 min jog
1 mi @ 9:17
1/2 mile cool down

I ended up pushing myself a little instead of an "easy" run, but it wasn't a hard workout either.  I guess yesterdays 6.6 mile run was just the break I needed to push through.  My legs were a little tired, but my abdominal area and lower back were not sore.  It was a pleasant surprise.  (Since I had my back surgery and c-section, I have had some constant aches and pains.)

 

The Impasse

This morning I went on a long run.  I ran about 6.6 miles.  I didn't have my watch, so I wasn't sure how far I ran at the time.  The first part of my route I've run several times before, so I knew where my first 3 miles were.  My goal was to run for an hour, but I ended up running a little more.  Lately I have been stuck in a run rut.  I have been running 2.5-3.5 miles for several weeks and just couldn't get passed that 3.5 mile mark.  I think last week I finally ran about 4, but I struggled through it and had to walk halfway through.
Today I struggled for the first two miles.  I really just wanted to turn around and go back home, but I purposely set out to run away from home for about a half hour so that I would be forced to run (or at the very least walk) back.  After two miles I stopped to catch my breath and figure out what I would do about this:

At the top right of the pic is a bridge.  I quickly decided I would not be running on the bridge.  It is a two lane bridge, but two cars barely fit and there is no shoulder, not to mention it is at least a quarter of a mile in length.  I decided I did not want to play chicken with oncoming traffic.  Then I thought about running through this, if you can tell there's a road/trail on the other side of the "ditch" (aka waterless canal).  I decided against this option as well.  The grass is high and we have cacti and rattlesnakes, among other dangerous critters around these parts.  I decided to turn around and run a different route.  

After stopping briefly to contemplate crossing this bridge, I began to run again and struggled to jog the third mile.  Then something awesome happened~I got a second wind!  I was able to run the second half+ smoothly and easily and without thoughts of wanting to just get home.  It was a great feeling. I really was able to just enjoy the beautiful morning, soak up the sun to try to get rid of this bad boy:

If you look closely you can see the remnants of the RAD tattoo I had
when I ran with the grad school girls in early February!

I actually wasn't ready to stop when I did, but I had to get back to the boys.  The sitter asked that they be picked up by 9:30 am so that she could have time to get ready for church.  It was 9:15 when I got home and I had time for a quick rinse before picking them up.  I'm really looking forward to this week and the following week and having a little extra time to run.  My Spring Break technically starts Thursday 12:15 pm.  I actually can't wait for my Spring Break to be over because Caiden comes that Friday for 16 days =)

Falling in place

Things are falling in place, finally.  I got my client a few weeks ago, the week several assignments were  due and even a test. It was a rough week, but things have started to get easier.  I've finally seen for myself, I am not going to ruin his life, lol.  It's not quite as bad as I'd worked it up to be.

Living here has made it easier to be a family.  HR has been home on several occasions when we might not have been able to see him had we been "home" in Weslaco.

Story time before bed.

Last week I didn't get to run much.  I came down with something...sinus infection maybe.  I had a difficult time breathing and had a terrible migraine for two days.  This week I got back on track.  Sunday I did insanity, and yesterday and today I was able to run for about a half hour each.  

Caiden called HR today, and we all got to talk to him.  We are trying to arrange for him to come during his Spring Break (which is 2 whole weeks and then some).  We are all excited!!!  Trey has a had a language explosion and Ryan is unstoppable.  I think he will be my little runner!

Be My Valentine Run

This past weekend I ran the Be My Valentine Run put on by one of my college cross country/track teammates, Ceci.  She has created several races in the past two years that are fun, lively and hard to get into if you wait too long.  She is making quite a name for herself in San Antonio.  I have signed up for a few of her races before, but I have been unable to make it~once I was busy have an emergency C-Section, another was about the time Trey had his seizure.  I almost missed out again due to....I will diagnose myself to spare you some details....a stomach bug.  I decided that although I was drained and didn't feel up to it, I would surely regret it.

Don't you just love Ceci's run logo?  This would totally be me and HR!

I ran into some old faces from college, and I had a blast running the course which was on the river.  It started and ended at the San Antonio Museum of Arts, which my husband and I took full advantage of after the run. The scenery was beautiful.  I ran nice and easy and chatted up some of the runners (Ceci, you and your runs are definitely well liked!!!)  I had goals for a run time, but I didn't end up trying to pursue them.  I just took it in.  It had been a rough weekend, full of disappointment, but I made the best of it all, including the run.  I ran close to a 9:00-9:15 pace, but finished in about 29 minutes, due to having to stop a couple of times to retrieve my sock which had bunched up at my arch and was causing a blister.

One of the race sponsors was Alamo Beer.  After the race I got a beer for HR.  While he was drinking it he noticed something floating around in it.  It was very likely some plastic from the cup itself. So, while he's looking down and swirling it, some guy walks over and asks if there's something wrong with the beer.  HR tells him there's something floating around.  The man says, "Well swirl it around a little more and maybe the Virgin Mary will appear and you could charge people to see it."  THEN, he proceeds to introduce himself as Mr. Alamo Beer himself.  The founder/owner in the flesh.  We had a drink with him.  I totally name-dropped and told him that Ceci was a good friend and got me hooked on it.  He was a pretty cool, down to earth guy.

One of the things my husband loved about the run is the intimacy.  I've been running since I was 9 years old, and I don't think I've ever participated in anything like it.  The bib numbers are personalized and as you come in every person is called by name and cheered in.  The owner of Alamo beer was walking around introducing himself and making sure everyone had a good time.  Ceci was taking single/taken photos.  It was well organized, well run and well worth the travel (it's a 2.5 hour drive for me) even if I didn't get to "race".  There was just a feeling of....well, like everyone is family or friends.  It was such a good time.  We didn't get to stay too long after because the boys weren't feeling well, but I can tell from the pictures that we missed out on even more.

Rad Run

Today was the Color.Me.Rad Run.  Many of the CSDO grads participated and it was a blast!

Brianna, Tori & Me

The three of us rode up together.  All of us grads had planned to make shirts and coordinate our outfits, but it's grad school and finding a time when everyone could meet was rough.  We decided to make our own fashion statement.  We also happen to be the only newbies that participated.  (We are first semester grads, the others are second).

We found some more of our group

 
So, we made our way to the start line.  The wave times that people registered for basically meant nothing.  To keep things moving they had several waves within each main wave.  We just happened to be cut off from the first 10:15 wave, so we were at the start second 10:15 wave.  We were so spunky and energetic that the MC called us out.  He wanted US to start the wave.  We had lost a few of our team members in the cattle herding process, so he was cool enough to make everyone make way for them to get through.  We were directed to trip anyone that tried to pass us in the first 100 meters or so, lol.  Have I mentioned our team name?  PURE AWESOMENESS counted down in the MC's megaphone to start the next wave.  So cool! I think we all ran those first 100 meters, some walked, some ran, some did both, but we all had an amazing time.

The MC is the dude in the middle, the one that looks like a smurf!!!

After with the original musketeers + Adina

After the run we went to eat on the bay.  It was a beautiful day and the live music was great.  I wish that part of the day didn't have to end.  Now, the dreaded H-word.  Homework all evening so that maybe I can enjoy the Superbowl tomorrow.