Running lately

Lately, exercise for me is chasing after a dog who stole something, or trying to bathe a child who clearly doesn't want to take a bath. With E gone, running  means pushing a double stroller or running on a treadmill at the family gym on base. Base is 20 minutes away, and the kids interrupt me constantly so I never really get to run, so pushing a stroller it is. However, we are in the middle of summer here, and it is around 100 every day. I am limited to early morning or late evening. I have tried both, and neither are working very well. The farthest I have run in about 3 weeks is 2 miles. I figure since I am pushing 65 pounds of kid while doing it that I can really count it as 4 miles. I decided just to call June a rest month, and start fresh again in July. My times are going to be slow, and my stamina will probably suck again, but not much I can do when life gets in the way. I am sure I could try harder to squeeze a run in, but I haven't. Since I can only study at night, I also have to choose between studying and running. Studying wins. Here's hoping to a fresh start in July.

Picture post

I had a long, ranty post in my head about things that are bothering me lately, but I don't want to put that out in the world. So I decided this will be a post full of pictures from the last month (so basically just pictures of my kids.) Did I mention that the girls are at summer camp this week which means I have 4 hours of freedom for 3 days this week? It is wonderful. They have fun, and I have fun. It is win win.

Hannah's last day of school

Visited the mouse

She's cool and she knows it (my niece is on the right)

Meeghan did not like it when I woke her from her nap

Hannah's birthday party

We took a girls day trip to Disney 

And they are gone

My mother-in-law has been here for the last two weeks with my niece. It has been interesting watching two very different 5 year olds interact. I do not have a relationship with my sister-in-law, but I feel like I should send her a bottle of wine. Her kid is a handful. Let's just say, she didn't like the rules of my house and told me she doesn't like me. (I do have a lot of rules, but it helps keep the sanity with two kids around.) They left this morning, and it is amazing how quiet the house is even with my girls still here. E also left yesterday morning for a DET. It is only for a few weeks, but Meeghan doesn't understand yet so it is has been hard listening to her ask for daddy. She scraped her knee, and really wanted to show daddy. I told her I would have to take a picture and send it to him since it would be gone by the time he was home. The upcoming a deployment is going to be hard for that little girl.

I still haven't looked through my pictures from the last two weeks. Hopefully I can do that soon. Between playing hostess and student, I haven't had much time on a computer.

Summer vacation

Summer has started for Hannah, and ironically I am still in school. Her last day of pre-k was Friday, and we promptly left for Disney after her program. It has been a crazy 5 days.

Disney was hot and crowded which is to be expected for the end of May. However, E and I snuck out to Hollywood Studios Friday night after the girls were in bed, and we waited maybe 2 minutes for Toy Story Mania. There was no line! It was awesome. My mother-in-law and niece are visiting as well. It was Tiana's first time since she was 1 to visit Disney, and she didn't really seem impressed. Nothing made her happy, and all she wanted was a stupid sucker. Meeghan called it an early night on Saturday because she is terrified of public restrooms, and refused to go in a diaper. Her fear is making it difficult to go anywhere. Despite some issues, I had fun and my girls had fun. I have a ton of pictures, but I haven't even looked at them yet.

Since we have been home it has been constant go, go, go. Laundry, school, party planning, babysitting. I watched one of Hannah's classmates Monday so I had three 5 year olds, and a 2 year old. The classmate and Tiana ended up shutting Hannah out, and it really hurt her feelings. It was her first taste of mean girls. I cried a bit knowing it wouldn't be the last time.

It has been interesting having another child here for an extended amount of time. Especially one that is parented completely different than mine. The relationship between E and his sister is strained so we never see our niece. His sister has very different ideals than him, and so they take a different approaches to life. The way she parents is very different, and the stuff I have been able to get out of Tiana makes me sad. I have been asking questions to get an idea of what life is like at home for her. She spends a lot of time in her room. She doesn't play games with her parents. She is an only child, and she struggles with playing with other kids. She hasn't been in day care or school much. She doesn't know her alphabet, can't count to 20, she can't spell her name, or read and write. She is behind her peers for starting kindergarten, and it makes my heart hurt. I have tried some homeschooling with her while she is here to help her a bit, but I have no clue how much her parents will do with her. Plus, she is kind of mean, and full of attitude. I know a lot of kids have an attitude, but hers is nasty. Like I said, it has been interesting.