Stress

A cause for stress, or a way to release it?



There are many different ways to handle stress, and different people handle stress in different ways. For me, my outlet has been exercise. However, recently I have been toying with the idea of registering for the Des Moines marathon. Somehow, with the thought of the marathon, running became a new stress factor rather than a way to release it. I began to worry about things like, will I be ready, what kind of pace should I shoot for, will I be able to get in enough training time prior to race day.

The thing is, it is something I would like to do, and although I know the amount of time remaining to prepare is dwindling, there is no reason I can't meet this challenge without it causing additional stress. I simply need to keep in mind the reason I am running is for personal satisfaction and as a way to get away from the normal day to day stresses that life presents. In order to ensure that this does not become a source of additional stress, I do need to lighten up on my goals though. I am no longer going to push myself to complete within a specific time, but rather simply enjoy the fact that I am doing it.

I guess in typing this post, I have talked myself into doing this and will be registering to run the Des Moines marathon on October 18th.

Fun Week

Work is going to dominate my life this week. Not only do I get to spend two nights this week working, but on top of that I also have a ton of new projects and updates I need to make to existing projects and documentation due to my new director that started a couple weeks ago. Luckily, there is not a lot that is really required of me during the night implementations other than monitoring the work. Therefore, I hope to be able to complete the majority of my documentation updates during those times. This should allow me to keep my normal busy schedule during regular business hours.

Hopefully, it will be a nice relaxing weekend at home and I will be able to get some rest and things will return to a normal schedule next week.

Stromboli

My kids all love it when I make stromboli and I have gotten quite good at it recently. Generally speaking it is actually quite easy to make. However, I guess I got a little over confident, and decided to make some for Lindsey, Haylee, and Bennett the other night. In doing so, I learned a valuable lesson... not all mixers are created equal.

My dough simply did not turn out the way it should, and that makes making stromboli quite the challenge. I did manage to get it rolled out, all the good stuff added, and was able to roll it up and get it onto a pan for baking. However, it was far from my best work. Lindsey was extremely nice and polite about the whole thing and told me how wonderful it turned out, but the reality of it was that it simply was not as good as I had wanted to make for them.

I made some more over the weekend and it turned out like it should.


I had to bring some back for Lindsey to try, just to let her know how it is supposed to taste. Now, I think I might be making some more later this week.

Star Wars

This is what happens when a seven year old and a three year old play Star Wars and the seven year old gets the higher ground...


The three year old is always doomed to be the one to die.


Okay, it probably doesn't matter if he had the higher ground or not, but she dies so well anyway!

Odd but Nice

This weekend was a welcomed change from my normal weekend with the kids. At first, I thought I was in for a bad weekend because I was being told I needed to hurry home. Then when I got there, no one was home. That was a little frustrating, but not really all that out of the ordinary for Michelle.

Anyway, about 15 minutes later, Michelle pulls in the drive and drops off the kids and takes off. She never came in, and never returned for the rest of the weekend. She had not told me that she had any plans or anything. I guess that is the part that is so odd about the whole thing. However, without her at the house, I was able to have a really nice quiet relaxing weekend with my little ones. It was a great weekend filled with video games, books, snuggles, and tickles. Hopefully, this is the start of a new trend for my weekends with the kids.

Running

To give you an idea of how my running is going, I went and picked this up at the store on Monday.



Yeah... I know, it goes along with getting older. Hopefully, it will help me get back to where I can run with just the standard pain and fatigue one normally gets from running. Believe me, that's enough. I don't need any extra discomfort from bad knees. I'm not sure if it will help or not, or how long I will need to take it before I can feel a difference (if I ever will). However, I figured it can't hurt, and if I am going to have a shot at being able to complete a marathon, I needed to do something.

Back to School

Carter with his Transformers lunch box after his first day back at school...


He seemed very pleased with his first day, and loves his new teacher. I think it is going to be a good year for my little guy.


Emmy spent the day with her mom, but she was sporting her own backpack. She wants to go to school just like everyone else.


There are times when she acts like she is already ready to join them...


They simply grow up too fast!!!

Marching Band

I love how her little feet keep going while she is fixing her hair. She never loses a beat.



And the drum doubles as part of the uniform too!

Doing her own makeup

I have to thank Michelle for sending me this one. I think this was the first time she actually sent me a pic of any of the kids during the week.

I'm not sure Em is quite ready to do her own makeup yet, but she sure looks like she had fun in the process.

He's a Senior

It's hard to believe that Johnathan will be starting his senior year in just a couple more days. They start on Wednesday. He has quite the course load this year including French 5, Calculus, Chemistry, English II & III, US Government, and Economics (all honors classes, and most of them AP for college credit as well). He is taking all that on top of continuing in band and running both track and cross country. I'm sure he is in for a fun year, but that seems to be the way he likes it.

After this year, he intends to go onto college and get his undergrad in genetic engineering. After that, he has his heart set on Harvard Law. We'll see how that goes though. I think he is considering using Drake Law as a secondary choice if he has to.

The Family

Well, I said I would put up a new post letting everyone know how things went with meeting the family.

Hmmmm... where to start?

I'm just kidding. It was a good weekend, and I had a great time meeting the family. I was a bit nervous about the whole thing at first, but it was really nice and I felt like everyone welcomed me in.

Thank you for including me, and I hope there will be many more weekends to come just like it.

Meeting the Family

Hmmmm.... what to say?

I am meeting Lindsey's family tonight for dinner and then a full family reunion tomorrow. I'm not really sure what to say or what to expect for that matter. Lindsey has told me that she thinks I will fit in just fine. However, her sister asked why she would introduce me to everyone at once rather than one crazy family member at a time. Should I read between the lines and come to the conclusion that Lindsey thinks I will fit in because I am just as crazy as everyone else?

I'll post an update after (if) I make it through, and let you know how everything went.

Time for a Haircut?

It's starting to get a little long, and guess what. She has NEVER had it cut yet. We thought about having it cut on her third birthday, but that didn't happen. I'm not sure if we want to wait for another birthday to cut it though. I don't want it short or anything, but a trim might be in order.

Video Wallpaper

I just had to share the new wallpaper I have on my phone. I get to see this bubbly little happy dancing face every time I go to use my phone now, and it never fails to make me smile.

Happy Birthday Carter

We celebrated Carter's 7th birthday over the weekend. It was a little late, but he had a lot of fun, and the party was a success.

Johnathan did some card tricks to help with the entertainment.

Of course Andrew had to join in the fun and do some magic of his own.

It became quite interesting as they both kept trying to out do the other and turned it into a competition as to which one was the better magician, and of course the kids loved the entire show.

I just thought I would throw in a picture of Em after having had her cupcake. As you can see... she loves her cupcakes.

Summer Vacation

It's almost that time of year. Summer vacation is nearly at an end. Only one more full week remaining before it is time for the kids to be heading back to school and for them to be asked by their teachers... "What did you do over summer vacation?"

Johnathan's answer would more than likely be somewhat simple. Something along the lines of "I worked and hung out with friends." He is always the quiet one and keeps things pretty short and sweet. However, he has been known to get a bit lively now and then amongst his friends.

Andrew's answer would be really difficult to predict. He is quite the creative individual and can be quite a character. He is always fun. So the one thing you can be sure of is that his answer would be amusing and probably in the form of a nice little humorous anecdote.

There is absolutely no predicting what Carter would say. The only thing to be certain is that you will get an earful for an answer. You have to be careful when asking open ended questions of Carter, and be prepared to listen for awhile when you do. Carter loves life, and loves to talk and share everything with anyone that is willing to listen.

Emmy is the only one left that will not have anyone asking this question. She's still only 3, so has a couple more years before she will be off to school with the rest of them. However, if she were to be asked that question, I think her answer would be quite simple. Something along the lines of "I played with my brothers." And then proceed to ask if you wanted to play.

Pierced

Haylee had her ears pieced today for her birthday!

Getting ready and making sure the marks are even before starting...

Giving Claire Bear a hug before the first one...

One down, and still smiling!...

Time for the second one. Still calm and relaxed...

All done! Still happy and smiling. She did wonderful!


Everyone was surprised at how well she did. Not even a flinch or anything, just all smiles and hug and kiss for her mom when she was done.

Volleyball

This was a couple of weeks ago, but we had a fun day at the park.

We started off nice and clean and happy about the prospect of playing a little bit of sand volleyball...


Then she started having a little more fun playing in the sand but still had the ball at least...


She was having so much fun, she got me down there to have a little fun too...


It was a great day, but for the rest of the time at the park, I couldn't get rid off all of the sand sticking to me everywhere.

Simple Concepts

I have been in the process of preparing myself for divorce for some time now. In order to help with this, I have done a great deal of reading on the subject, primarily in order to help ensure my kids are okay and will be able to have a smooth adjustment. In all of the reading I have done, there are several items that are shared and consistent throughout all of the literature I have read.

1. Always be available to listen to your child.
2. Don't argue or fight with your ex-spouse if your child is within listening range.
3. Use consistent discipline. Your child should have the same rules no matter where they are.
4. Don't criticize your ex-spouse in front of your child. Remember, they are the child's parent too, and by criticizing them, you are indirectly criticizing your own child.
5. Don't try to buy your child's love. This only leads to resentment and all the child really wants to know is that you love them. There are much better ways to demonstrate this to them.

To me, these recurring topics seem like pretty simple concepts. However, in witnessing how others handle divorce and handle day to day interactions and activities, I can see why these topics are published by so many different sources. For many years I was hesitant to move forward with my divorce due to my kids. However, by having a complete understanding of these simple concepts, I know that my kids will actually be better off in the long run because of my divorce.