RUN THRU HISTORY 2016

The Run Thru History (which I have run every other year since 2012, when I started back to running), had a new course this year. For the first time ever, the route remained completely within the military park (which added a few longer uphills and took away the nice downhill finish...)

We woke the kids nice and early (James was clearly thrilled with the wakeup on his first day of spring break...), after having already eaten our breakfast and downed some coffee, and were quickly on our way to find a good parking spot.

Jean stayed in the car with the kids for the start of the race (and while we warmed up), so we don't have any "before" pictures (it was a little cold and they wanted to play their Kindles anyway), but here are a couple of the starting ceremony from The Vicksburg Post and Rod's Racers:

I love that this race always starts to the firing of a musket!

By the time we finished the upper loop, the kids were out at the figure-8 crossing point, cheering everyone on and helping the volunteers hand out water and clean up dropped cups. I stopped briefly for high-fives before heading into the south loop. They were still there, helping and cheering, when I came back and headed to the finish chute, and it was wonderful having them and Jean out there (I really love having family at races, especially knowing how hard and/or boring spectating can be - I greatly appreciate the effort!) It was a good race day for me. I didn't set a distance PR (it's not a PR course, really - too hilly!), but I did manage a race PR (by 30+ seconds) and obviously a course PR (since it was a new course this year - one that was expected to slow the front runners by about 2 minutes due to the added hills). I ran a 54:04 (the race is not chip-timed, and since I start in the middle of the pack, I go off my Garmin time) and am very pleased with the effort. My main goal at RTH this year was to actually run the whole thing (the hills are no joke, and I usually walk a couple of them during the race), and I succeeded, so that feels good. The physical training can only take you so far and I think that whole "90% mental" aspect of running really comes into play during a race - you have to convince yourself that it's ok to hurt for a while, you will get through it, and you'll be stronger because of it. Sometimes you need a time goal, sometimes you need a "rabbit" to chase, and sometimes it's as simple as running the hills (no matter what speed you go). Christina loves hills and she's pushed me up a lot of them lately in prep for this race (and she's much better at them than I am). Unfortunately, she was recently sidelined with a stress fracture and couldn't be there today. I used her as motivation to run the hills because I wanted to make her proud - simple as that. When it start to hurt and my legs got shaky and I couldn't breathe, I pressed on because I knew she would if she were there. It was a beautiful day to be out running and the race was well staffed with volunteers. I do think the course was a little harder, but it wasn't terrible. The only thing I hope they change for next year is the route of the 5K walkers... they did the south loop this year and followed the flow of traffic, as the 10K runners did, so there was major overlap for the last 1-2 miles of the race (which was a problem because they walked in large groups taking up the entire road, leaving very little space for runners to squeeze past). Maybe the race director can have them walk against traffic next year, so at least they'll see us runners coming?...

Cora and I ran Jay into the finish line (and you can easily see the nasty little uphill finish we had this year from the angle of Jean's photos - the chute was just around the corner, in the grass across from the Visitor Center). Today was the longest distance Jay had run in about 6 months by at least 3 miles (especially because he warmed up with me before the race) and I applaud him for making his racing return on the famous RTH course (I love our military park and run there often, but rarely along the hilly route this course follows - for a reason).

Next up was the Blue/Gray 1-miler for the kids!

Both kids did a great job and ran the majority of the course (James got a side stitch about halfway through and had to walk with his arm raised above his head, taking deep breaths, and Cora rotated between walking and sprinting, despite our 'tortoise and the hare' storytelling beforehand). Cora took off during the last quarter mile and neither Jay nor I could keep up with her. Luckily, Gramma grabbed a shot as she ran past her to the finish line!

All the kids received medals as they crossed the finish, which made them very happy! We hear Cora won 3rd Place in her age group (we had to rush out to soccer, so didn't stay for the awards ceremony), so we'll get a picture of her with her cannon at a later date.

SUPERSTAR READER

By the skin of his teeth, James made his 3rd 9-weeks AR goal today!

(It gets harder each quarter as the books get longer and harder - he's up to level 2.4 now for testing, and there are more points required to meet the goal. He was feeling a little sick this morning, but wanted to go to school to take his AR test because he knew he needed just one more pass to earn his award. We think he was the only kid in his class to hit his goal this quarter too...)

JAMES TURNS 7

James started his birthday celebration with balloons and streamers, even in his sleep...

Cora picked out her very own gift for him this year (at her pleading). And new wrapping paper. And a bow. (She told me at bedtime, "Mama, don't forget the bow!", when I told her I was going to wrap his presents.) And she made him two cards (each with LOTS of hearts and 'I love you's).

When neither kid stirred the next morning, we scooped Cora out of bed to stand in the hallway and sing the birthday song to James' closed door. When even that didn't get him out of bed, we had to call him out with the promise of Cora's birthday present.

He hadn't noticed the balloons on his bed, so they had to go back to check those out before we could head out for the gift though.

That grin as she gave him her present!

And then it was time to rush to school! We sent a special snack (blue frosted sugar cookies and juice boxes) so his class could celebrate his birthday. When I picked him up at the end of the day, I told him we could go do anything he wanted and get any treat he wanted. He chose to go home and eat a cupcake, then play Minecraft with Cora on their Kindles. (They had just received their Kindles a few minutes before Gramma arrived, since there was some homework to do first.) 

Once daddy got home, he opened the rest of his family gifts. More Legos! from us, from Gramma, from Grambot and PawPaw, and from Uncle Davey and Auntie Taryn. He got a couple swimsuits and a cool octopus shirt (from Uncle Jamie), some board games (from us), some books and an activity book (from Gramma), and "That's Gross" science kit that both kids are excited to get to work on!

The one thing he specifically requested for his birthday was Minecraft Story Mode, and our failed attempt at purchasing the in-ap upgrade was saved by Uncle Davey and Auntie Taryn's Playstation version (thanks you guys!)

(He was so excited to get started reading these that he barely paid attention to anyone or anything else the rest of the evening...)

(Reading one of the Goosebumps books that we'd loaded to his Kindle to Gramma at dinner.)

His dinner choice? Fox's Pizza. To be followed by Bop's ice cream. Though he happily "settled" for Fox's complimentary birthday cookie pizza instead of ice cream. Especially since we gave him two slices...

Happy 7th Birthday James Henry!

HOLY HAIL!

Gramma arrived today! She texted us from the corner gas station at the same time we received a Code Red Weather Alert for "Severe Thunderstorm, Hail, Tornadic Signature, Tornadic Debris". I texted her back to hang up the pump and GET HERE NOW. I paced around the front yard pulling down bird feeders and tucking kid toys into the sunroom for a few minutes and as soon as her car entered the driveway, it hit. Wind whipped through the trees, rain poured down sideways, and hail started to pound the carport. 

She parked and we ran inside to watch from the window, phone in hand to listen for a tornado warning, in case we needed to retreat to the bathroom (the "safe zone" in our house, though James badly wants a storm shelter - and we're seriously looking into it!) The storm lasted 20 minutes, with just 5-10 minutes of intense hail. It was crazy. Every year here I think I've seen it all, and then something new comes through. The hail was anywhere from dime-sized to about half the size of a baseball. When we went back outside after the storm to check for damage, we found a single piece of hail that hadn't fully melted (even 20 minutes after the storm!) and was still quarter-sized. We saved it to show Jay. A local friend took the below picture from our Elementary school down the road, and it depicts the hail size and density of cover accurately. CRAZY. And while one tree snapped, we didn't sustain any roof damage and Jean's car made it under the carport just in the nick of time!

JAMES HENRY, SOMETHING SPECIAL AT 7

I told James today that 7 is my favorite number, and he just smiled his calm and knowing smile.

Our boy is growing up. He has very definite and defined opinions, personality quirks, likes and dislikes, thoughts and questions, interests, abilities, concerns and worries, preferences, talents and skills, things he knows, things he thinks he knows, and things he needs to work on. There is far too much that makes up James at this age to try to successfully put into words... 

The best of him? His love (what he gives, and what he gladly receives and always needs), his trust (he gets braver every year, and while we know some things are hard for him, he gives us the benefit of the doubt and is willing to try new things as long as we promise to help and stay by his side), his ability to forgive and always see the best in others (his friends, his sister, his parents - he is SO GOOD to all of us). His compassion (I'm so thankful he hasn't outgrown this - he has always been one of the most compassionate children I know). His intelligence and curiosity (don't ever doubt him for a second - he knows and understands more than you think he does, and if he doesn't, you can bet he'll ask around until he figures it out). His joy in the simple things (riding bikes with mama, wrestling with daddy, playing on the swing with Cora, just sitting and reading books - just ask him, and he'll tell you what he loves to do with each of us). He still needs (a lot of) help focusing and following directions, but honestly, if that's the worst he ever gets in trouble for at school?... We are working towards a solution for that anyway, as best as we can. 

He is 7, and he is growing up, but he is still little. He's in First Grade. Lower Elementary. He's young and has a lot to learn, and has a long way to go to mature, and that's ok. He is amazing in so many ways, and his (spiritual and intellectual) growth this year has impressed his father and I beyond expectation (and we expect a lot from our kids - perhaps too much, sometimes). He is bigger (48" tall and 53.5 lbs) and stronger. Yet he still has all his baby teeth (though as Gramma pointed out to us, his face is changing and his jaw is growing - those baby teeth have spaces between them for the first time ever). The years certainly don't slow down, but how can we complain when our son is growing into such an incredible person?

He is our beautiful boy, our day dreamer, our sweet and snuggly little guy. He is funny and witty and silly, and filled with a drive to discover his world. James makes each day brighter for the rest of us just by being present. He is truly a gift!

TO THE RESCUE

With both of our resident bat biologists out of the office today, I had the pleasure of rescuing this little thing (sorry, I didn't check gender) from the Casa Grande building and relocating it beneath a nearby bat roost. It was a little grumpy with me for moving it from the warm building to the shade outside... so very ferocious, eh?

16 TINY FEET AND A BUNCH OF CHEEPS

Jay's dream came true! Well, my dream too. And the kids...

I know, I know. It wasn't very nice to go pick up baby chickens and then drive through ChickFilA on the way home... We've been talking about getting chickens for at least a year (and I want guineas too, someday...) and when I tagged Jay in our vet's 'baby chicks for sale' post on Facebook the other day, he couldn't think of a reason why now wasn't a good time, so a few days later we were choosing our babies and bringing home 8 tiny chicks!

It was a surprise to the kids (we literally decided that morning, bought the essentials at lunch, and picked them up while the boys were at soccer practice) and to say they were thrilled is an understatement. They LOVE their babies and have already named some of them (names like Chickaletta - from Paw Patrol, Chester, Chatters, etc... perhaps they'll all have C names?...)

We kicked Maxine out of the sunroom (temporarily, and it's not freezing outside anymore, so she's ok, I promise!) and set the chicks up in Buster's dog crate (as extra protection, in case Maxine gets in or Buster comes barreling through). We added pine shavings and a cardboard wrap (to keep them from sneaking out between the bars while they're still itty-bitty, which we hear won't be too long, and also to keep them warmer), a floor heater and a heat lamp (which we've since lowered after these photos were taken - initial temperature is supposed to be 95 degrees for the first week, then drop by 5 degrees per week), and a feeder and a waterer.

We mostly left the chicks alone the first night (once they were settled in their new home, anyway), but since then the kids (especially Cora) will hold them for 10-15 minutes at a time, as often as we'll let her. Each kid has their favorites (luckily, not the same birds), so Jay and I make sure to cuddle/play with the others so everyone grows up friendly.

Whenever Cora holds this little one, it cheeps and cheeps and cheeps...

Actually, any chick she holds cheeps. And she talks right back to them.

So, what did we get, exactly? The vet wanted us to have a variety of chicken and egg types, for fun, so we got two Bantams (those are the ones with the feathery feet), one Wyandotte, and some Ameraucanas, Olive Eggers, and Easter Eggers. They all have color coded rubberbands on their ankles until we figure out who is who (because we're new at this and my birding skills do not extend to baby poultry).

The Mille Fleur d'Uccle is the most popular variety of Belgian Bearded d'Uccle Bantam. James calls this one Chester, and if it turns out to be a male, we likely won't part with it (though any other roosters will probably be re-homed elsewhere so we don't annoy our neighbors). If it's a hen, she will lay very small white eggs. (Quick note, we have added chickens to our family with 3 goals in mind: reducing the tick and chigger population in our yard when we let them roam free-range, reducing the number of farm-fresh and store bought eggs we need to purchase - we eat a lot of eggs in our family, and simply to enjoy them as pets. Bantams have the reputation of being friendly, so we're looking forward to having some feathered friends out in the coop.)

The Porcelain Dutch Bantam is James' second favorite chick. As long as it turns out to be a hen, it will be our smallest bird (and will lay tiny brown eggs, but not very often). It will grow to have a long tail, and a blueish beak and legs/feet (hidden beneath all those feathers). Both Bantam breeds tend to do better in warmer climates, so they're good Southern birds.

The Silver Laced Wyandotte is described as hardy and active, and a good layer (another brown egg producer). They are supposed to be easy for first-timers (they're docile, but do as well in confinement as they do free-range), so hopefully we can keep this one happy no matter what.

The Ameraucanas are a purebred chicken that lays blue eggs. The mixed breed chickens (the Olive Eggers and Easter Eggers) will lay green, blue, or even pink eggs. We should be able to tell them all apart easily once they're older (and also once we commit to memory which rubberband color belongs to which breed, before we take them off). Cora is currently obsessed with what she calls "her twins", which are identically colored chicks (grey and black) with blue rubberbands (our vet's designation for Amercaucana, since they lay blue - the Olive Eggers and Easter Eggers have green and purple rubberbands). All are prolific egg layers and considered robust, so they're a good starter breed too.

Our vet sent me this picture to help explain what the different breeds will lay:

Olive Egger eggs are in the front row (olive/brown and speckled), a regular (store bought) brown egg is in the center of the second row, a Mille Fleur d'Uccle egg is at the far right of the second row (tiny white), Ameraucanas eggs (blue) are on the third and fourth rows, and the rest of the fourth through sixth rows are Easter Egger eggs (blue, greenish, pinkish). (She also has Marans eggs shown here, which are dark red, on the third row back on the left and center.)

For the next month and a half or so, they'll live in the sunroom, safe and warm and growing (it's amazing how quickly they grow!) Before we know it though, they'll need to be outside with lots more space, so we've gotten started on their coop already. We'll be re-purposing our old A-frame swingset (inherited from the previous home owners and which has sat empty for years, ever since the wooden bench swings rotten apart) and a nesting box donated to us by the Martins last year (told ya we've been thinking about this for a long time!) We know we have a lot to learn, and we're grateful to know so many friends that raise chickens (so we can spread our questions around and not annoy any one person too much...), so feel free to shoot us advice as we go along - I'll likely post about the chickens and their coop every couple of weeks as we progress - wish us luck!

SUNSET SOCCER