Happy 5th birthday LUKE!

Luke is now 5 years old. It hardly seems possible. In my mind, it seems like he is this 3 year old, running around, doing whatever he can to give me a heart attack. Though he still does that, it is not as often, thank goodness.

It is hard to imagine that Luke will be going to kindergarten round-up in the spring and starting kindergarten next fall. Time really does fly....sometimes. I think he is really going to mature a lot in this school year. Cooper grew a lot emotionally between when he turned 5 and when he started kindergarten. I am looking forward to seeing some maturity in Luke. He can be such a sweet little boy, but other times, when he is in the midst of a Defcon4 fit, he throws things, tries to hit and other destructive actions. I know with a little time, he will be able to get a handle on his emotions and not have to hurt others when he is frustrated.

He is still not fond of loud noises, but he is doing much better. I try to prepare him, when I know that something is going to be loud (like a fire drill). Other times, I will cover his ears and hold him close so he will feel secure and not afraid. Unfortunately, he still will not go to the circus because it is so loud. I feel like he is missing out, but maybe he will conquer this in the near future.

He is still wetting the bed at night, which is getting really old. Sometimes, he can go a whole week without doing it, then the next week he will wet the bed every night. We have tried every trick: no liquid after 6pm, go potty before bed, bribing him, etc. The only thing that ~might work, is when I take him around 10pm, and then when I am up with Claire at 2-3am. No fun for either of us, but it sure beats changing and washing the sheets!

**I look forward to this coming year and seeing Luke change emotionally, physically and spiritually. **

John's iPad

John got an iPad, for some reason. Let me just say, that thing is REALLY cool! The different things that you can do on it are amazing: shrink stuff, enlarge things, copy and move things, get on the Internet with the touch of a finger, etc. The kids think it is their person game-toy. They play Plants vs. Zombies on it, and it is just hilarious! I have not played, do not intend to ever play that game, but it sure is funny to hear the kids' in-depth discussions about a golden egg, buying plants and zombies eating your brains. All 3 of them contribute to this discussion and I am left to just sit back and chuckle with the sincere concern that they have over it.

Another thing? Luke learned how to watch videos on it. Yes, he went to google.com and put in 'Luke', and ended up getting all these hit for Luke Skywalker on YouTube. So here is Luke, under the covers of our bed (he said he could see better, I think he was hiding), watching these Lego Star Wars fights on YouTube. Funny and scary at the same time! We finally had to make a NO VIDEO rule, just for the sheer fact that really, anything could pop up and he would watch it. That could end up really bad, so we just had to go with the new rule. He does not seem to upset about it...

Only 9 out of 11 Miles

I headed out to run 11 miles this morning. I was ready! I had new shoes on, new socks, new sports bra, new running shorts and felt confident that I could do it. I had mapped my run out on mapmyrun.com and knew exactly where I was going. I had my oatmeal, with 1/2 a banana. I had 2 jolly ranchers and $2 in my pocket to stop and buy some water around 5-6 miles. I was good to go!

I set out ~7:15 a.m. and it was already 83 degrees. Usually I would not think that was hot, but it sure was not cool. Also, it was so ridiculously humid that my shirt was literally dripping sweat just 1/2 way into the run. I ran my route opposite of what I usually would have, thinking I would avoid some monster hills. No such luck. Instead, I hit ALL the hills, alright, just a LOT later in the run.

At mile 8, my legs started to feel really heavy. After 2 more hills, I felt like I was just barely moving faster than a sloth. As I was heading up a slow incline that seemed to last for a mile, I just totally hit the wall. I literally felt the energy completely drain out of me. I have NEVER hit the wall before. Yuck. I was so mad at myself, but there was nothing I could do. Besides take the walk of shame to get home. How embarrassing. I have NEVER walked home. It probably took me 30-40 minutes just to walk those last 2 miles. I thought I would run the last mile home. Nope, that lasted 2 minutes and I was back to the shameful walk. In that 30-40 minutes, I had completely talked myself out of doing the marathon, ready to take 1 pair of my shoes back and tried to make up an injury that would prevent me from running 26 miles.

After a little pep talk from John, a 2 hour nap and some positive self-talk, I was ready to face the prospect of training for and running the marathon. I am going to run that 11 mile loop next Saturday, just in the opposite direction than I tried to today. Maybe that'll make it tolerable, we'll see.