Born to Run

I have been intrigued by the whole barefoot running craze. Vibram Five Fingers have moved from a group of avid runners wearing toe shoes to a full blown fad. The other day when I tried them on, school children were buying a few pairs. I wanted to know more about why people were choosing to run barefoot. Enter this book by Christopher McDougall:



I really enjoyed reading the book. As an avid runner, it was both inspirational and informative. Some interesting quotes from the book:

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."

"Shoes block pain, not impact! Pain teaches us to run comfortable! From the moment you start going barefoot, you will change the way you run."

"When your feet aren't artificially protected, you're forced to vary your pace and watch your speed: the instant you get recklessly fast and sloppy, the pain shooting up your shins will slow you down."


On Thursday, I gave it a try. I ran 3 miles with "barefoot" shoes. I did not purchase the Vibram 5 fingers. When I tried them on, I had a ridiculous time attempting to get each toe in the appropriate toe spot. I could not commit to spending half the day getting shoes on my feet. Plus, aesthetically, they fall somewhere in between froglike and Big Foot. So I bought a pair of Merrell's that have a thin bottom. They protect your feet from objects on the road but with the thin bottom and large toe box, they still encourage proper running form.

The shoes did force me to focus on my form. In traditional, cushioned running shoes, you end up pounding your heels because of all the extra padding. When running barefoot, it causes you to shorten your stride and land in the middle of your foot. I really enjoyed the run and they are really comfortable. You feel like you could run forever. They also make great every day shoes. I was told to proceed slowly though as your body has to adapt to the new form. The barefoot running wakes muscles you didn't use as much when running with traditional shoes. My calves have been tight for two days!

Growing Boys

Big Bro "helping" Lil Bro

Last Tuesday, the boys had their 2 year and 4 month doctor appointments. It was my first time taking both boys to the doctor by myself, but they did great. They're both on track developmentally and physically. Trent continues to be consistent in his height/weight ranges. He is 37 inches tall (97th percentile) and 32.5 lbs (95 percentile). Sean is 26.5 inches tall (95th percentile) and 15 lbs 14.5 oz (75th percentile). The doctor gave Sean the green light to start on solid foods so we'll be starting that sometime in the near future. Overall, good checkups for both!

Blessings

I'm a big Laura Story fan. In turn, so are my boys. It's kind of comical because they can be upset and as soon as I start playing Laura Story music or singing Laura Story songs, they calm down. She has a beautiful voice and her songs have great lyrics. She has a new album coming out on the 12th. You can download the new album here.
Her new single is called Blessings.

Repurposing

Tonight I made Trent some really comfortable flannel pajama pants. They're worn in, super soft, perfect kind of pajama pants. How do I know? Well, they used to be mine. I wore these pajama pants religiously in college. They were actually my college roommate's, but I eventually inherited them. Anyway, along the way, they got a big hole in them. A patch would look funny so they sat in my closet in a bag of clothes intended to throw away or be given to goodwill. Alas, the bag never made it to either destination. So during naptime today, I decided to go through the bag. I realized there were so many items in the bag that could be repurposed for the boys to wear. So now, Trent has a a great pair of pajama pants!

Diversified Skill Set

Ahh, the life...

Today's morning went a little like this:

Architect - constructed castles, made of sand, with a surrounding moat
Ecologist - collected and identified trees, sticks, pine straw, pine cones, rocks, etc.
Teacher - explained the letter A, identified colors and played games to learn names of different kinds of fruit
Athlete - Ran 2 miles pushing 75lbs in front of me
Baker/short order cook - baked rolls for tonight, made lunch
Housekeeper - 'nuff said
Physical Therapist - Encouraged tummy time and dancing
Mediator - kept numero 1 from inadvertently harming numero 2

Spice Rack

So excited about my new spice rack! Jesse made me a spice rack that hangs on the wall, right next to the stove. I love convenience and extra counter space. Perfect!

Celebrating Two with Thomas

Our Thomas filled Day

On Saturday, we spent the morning with Thomas the Train. Trent is a big fan and really enjoyed all the Thomas related activities. There was plenty to do! Some highlights... (clockwise on the picture) We played with Thomas the Train trainsets, played in the sand and bubbles, got a Percy tattoo, took our picture with the famous engine, fed some goats, and rode on Thomas!

After naptime, we celebrated his birthday meal with all the grandparents and great-grandma Janet. We had a cheese and cracker platter, followed by Shepards Pie for dinner, and chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes for dessert.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes - Yumm!!

The cupcakes were delicious. It was a new recipe, but they really turned out well. I only let Trent have one, but he definitely let me know he wanted more!

Blowing Out the Candles!