Gone, but not forgotten

Yes, I know. You've about given up on blog posts since my last post was ohsolongago! I had about given up too. Granted, the last half of the school year was insanely busy. But really, the past six months have included many things I really just did not want to think about, and writing forces me to think about things. So, like any mature adult does, I just ignored the things that were tough for me. I also do really dumb things when I'm stressed, like committing to marathons. I've found that there is mental value in being too physically exhausted to even contemplate worrying about ANYTHING and these huge steps out of my comfort zone give me something harmless to focus my worries on! Nontheless, I'm determined to make blogging a part of my regular schedule. I stink at keeping up with the kids' baby books, I'm not a scrapbooker, so I rely on this blog to document our family activities.

So, who would have ever thought I'd be such an emotional mess about Hayley starting kindergarten? Ugh! There are many positives to this kindergarten adventure. Namely, I get to spend a LOT more time with my little girl. She attended PreK every weekday last year and she'll be going to kindergarten at a community school this year, a decision I have absolutely agonized over. The community school seems like it will be a great mix for us. While technically we'll be considered homeschoolers, Hayley will attend an actual "school" on Tuesday and Thursdays and the curriculum will be guided by a teacher. I will teach her at home on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Todd will also be going to 3 year old preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we actually should have a lot more time together then we did this past year. And I suppose that's good and bad! While both the kids are lost without each other, I've definitely been refereeing my share of knock down drag outs. Turns out Todd isn't nearly as passive as we thought! I "think" we're making the right decision in terms of schools, so I think I'm just having a hard time accepting that my little baby is suddenly old enough for elementary school.

We're into our second week of summer vacation and absolutely loving not having to be somewhere every single morning. I'm finally getting the chance to check off some items on this long to do list. Amazing how carting two kids to half day preschool everyday can completely eat away your day! I've still done my share of chauffeuring, however. Todd ended the school year with two weeks of ISR swim lessons, and when his ended, Hayley started swim lessons at the YMCA. Hayley has become an absolute fish in the water. The child who refused to back float through three years of ISR lessons is now a champ at the backstroke. We'll be starting the next level of YMCA swim lessons in a week. The goal is to get Hayley proficient at the different swim strokes and then possibly move her to a developmental swim team just to keep her comfortable in the water and as a continued form of exercise for her. We've had several practice triathlon runs and she is SOOOO excited to participate in an actual event at the end of July. She really loves to run (and she's good at it) and I'm so looking forward to the day we can do a race together!

On top of swim lessons, Hayley has been taking golf lessons as well. Todd is not old enough, but the golf pros have been awesome at including him in the lessons and both the kids seem to really enjoy them.

I've been doing my usual road race training with the IRunMommies and have been busy running a month long Green Smoothie Challenge for the ladies. It's involved a lot of writing, but has been rewarding to see these moms get so excited about the changes they are seeing in their energy levels and the wonderful healthy changes that are spreading to their families. I figure the more moms and kids I get on board with these green drinks, the less it will make my family look like the weird ones! ;-) It's been brutally hot way before it should be this hot here in Florida, so running in this heat has been a challenge. I'm a tad bit, okay a LOT bit nervous about beginning marathon training in the next few weeks. I've been fighting plantar fasciitis for almost a year now and am finally getting some relief after a few acupuncture sessions. The relief from the severe pain is making me feel a little bit better about getting all those miles in, but I still have a ways to go in order to feel completely pain free.

Brian has been hard at work and after a long day at the office, often has come home to do more coursework for this Advanced Joint Professional Military Education class he's been taking. For the first time in our married life, he actually has vacation time built up. Vacation time that he HAS to take. Not just the kind where he's told he has it, but really isn't allowed to take it. I'm not sure either of us quite know how to handle it, but we're going to try to handle a small (dare I say it) "vacation" to the north Georgia mountains in a few weeks. If we haven't lost all our marbles by now, I'm sure they will definitely be lost after a 9 hour car ride there and back with Hurricane Hayley and Tornado Todd.

Donuts with Daddy Day at school
Graduation Day with Uncle "Wee" (Lee)
A visit from our Kentucky cousins

	Todd was ENTHRALLED with this golf ball collector. He did everything but take it completely apart to figure out exactly how it worked.
1st lesson	3rd lesson, big improvement in form!