In the last few weeks . . .

In case you are wondering what I've been up to lately . . .

A few weeks ago I wrote about running my first 5K.  I have to tell you that I loved writing that post!   The 5K was a huge accomplishment for me and I hope to do many more.  Aaron didn't think I could do it so I was super stoked that I proved him wrong.  He was shocked that I stuck with the whole new runners program.  What confidence he had in me, huh?  You may remember from that post that my ankle was hurting pretty bad after I finished.  Well, I walked on it for days and the pain just got worse and worse.  Finally by Wednesday I decided to see a doctor about it and was lucky enough to be able to be seen that day.

I was happy to learn that it wasn't actually my ankle that was hurt and very disappointed to find out that it is in fact a Tibial Stress Fracture.  Which means I am wearing an air cast and have to wear it for 8-12 weeks.  Which meant no running at all for the first 2 weeks.  I'm just at the point where I can run 400 meters and walk 400 meters alternating on a soft track for a total of 2 miles.  I actually started back today.  I ran/walked for 1.5 miles on a soft track and I had to keep the air cast on - which wasn't that bad.  I was nervous about it because I didn't want to aggravate my injury but so far no pain!  I am excited to be able to run again because not running has been torture!

So . . . what else has been happening?

Adrianna has had her last few soccer games . . .

Photo op :)

Go #4!!

 I took this picture because her hair looks like a halo :)

And she goes for the goal . . .

She shoots . . .

She scores!!!  Look at how high she jumped.  Maybe she should be playing basketball . . .

Aaron took Ava to see The Hunger Games so I took Adrianna to Burlington City Park for a little bit.  Ava enjoyed the movie and Adrianna had a good time at the park.  I let her wear "dangly" earrings, ride the carousel by herself and get some Dippin Dots.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I got Dippin Dots, too.

Ava joined the Girl Scouts (no pics, sorry).  My Mom went with her to an all day badge blitz which included hiking, canoeing, and rock wall climbing.  All things I couldn't do so my awesome Mom went in my place.  She had more fun than I would've anyway.  I'm not a fan of lake water and woods.  Ick!  My Mom took pictures but alas, they are on her camera, not mine.  While Ava and Mom were having their adventures, Aaron, Adrianna and I hung out at the pool with my Step dad.  It was a pretty day but the water was too cold for me to get in.  Adrianna was determined so she and Opa would swim a little then jump in the hot tub.  Again and again.

 I went to a Mother's Day brunch with a friend . . .

We spent Mother's Day at my Mom's with my sister and her family and my Mother-in-law.  We hung out at the pool a little bit, played badminton, the kids rode the gator and scooter, played a little air hockey and Mom and Ava played the violin and mandolin for us.  It was a rainy day but we all enjoyed hanging out together and had a great lunch.  The girls even braved the pool for a little bit.  I'll have more pics of our Mother's Day fun and pics of what I made Mom this year up soon.

Two crazy girls in the pool!

Ava playing the violin

Well, that's all for now . . . 

Natalie

Farm Tour

My Mom, Step dad and I took the girls on a farm tour a few weekends ago.  It's a fun family event that the local Co-op's and local farms host every year.  You purchase a "ticket" for $25 and with the help of a map, you get to choose different local farms to visit or tour.  It was a lot of fun!  We only got to go to 2 farms but we were beat after that anyway.

We went to Fickle Creek Farm in Efland first.  Here we saw cows, pigs, sheep and chickens.  Lots and lots of chickens.  Did I mention there were chickens?

 It was really chilly!

Guard dogs!

Chickens

Sheep

 

There was a lot a walking . . .

 

Opa made a friend

The girls got to gather their own eggs

Adrianna had to get a boost so she can find a blue egg, too!

Egg loot!  They did a good job gathering the eggs

The eggs looked so pretty in the carton

Pigs! 

There was a pizza cart making fresh pizza to order so we ordered pizza of course!  Read more about Fickle Creek Farm here.

After we left Fickle Creek we headed on over to Chapel Hill to check out Spence's Farm.  It's an educational farm for kids and they also have after school and summer camps.  This was the girls' favorite!  Check it out here.  The main attraction . . . horseback riding!  There was so much to see here but the girls made a beeline for the horses.

The day was made for this little girl

Adrianna loves horses

She wanted to take it home

I had to convince Ava to ride.  I thought at first it was because she was afraid.  Turns out, she need some help getting on and off the horse because her little legs were sore from running the 5K the day before. 

She was glad she rode.  I love how this horse posed for the picture and looked right at the camera!

Adrianna having a conversation with a horse.  I think he was listening.

Checking out the swimming hole

The perfect tree to climb.  This tree also had several rope swings that the kids enjoyed

There was also a rope swing that was hung between two trees that you could sit on.  The girls decided to sit together which I though was cute so I was snapping pictures and before I knew it I had captured the funniest sequence of the both of them falling backwards off of this rope swing.  I wouldn't have laughed if they got hurt and I knew they weren't.  The swing was barely a foot off the ground.  I laughed so hard I cried and Ava was so mad at me!  So, to avoid embarrassing Ava, I am not including those photos. 

This is Spence's sister who entertained us with music form the accordion and singing.

 And to complete the day . . . hula hoops!

This girl is the hula hoop queen!

We had a great time visiting the farms.  Maybe next year we can visit a few more farms.

Natalie

Get your running shoes on . . .

Well, I ran my first 5K yesterday!  The Dogwood 5K in Mebane.  I was so nervous before the race began.  A few days before, I had read that there were around 500 people preregistered for the race.  The day of the race of the race, around 600.  When the times were posted there were 531 names on the list!

My sister and one of her boys were able to come spend the afternoon with me and go to the race with us.  She was our personal photographer :)  I think she really enjoyed getting horrible pictures of me because there sure were a lot!  She is my little sister.  Really, she got some great pics of all of us!  They were also able to stay afterwards for dinner which was great.

Our biggest fan, Noah!

 OK, if you don't know me then I have to tell you that I don't like to sweat and I used to agree with my Mom that the only time you would see me running would be if someone was chasing me.  If you know me, I'm SURE you already knew that!  (I also don't like to be outside or get dirty).  And why would anyone want to bring self-inflicted pain on themselves by running?  About 10 weeks ago I joined the New Runners Program in my town.  They promised to take you from not running at all, to running a 5K in 10 weeks.  Couch to 5K.  So for these past 10 weeks I have been running with my new runners group and another friend who has been so encouraging (thank you Faith!!!!).  After huffing and puffing at least 3 days a week for 10 weeks, sore muscles and several running related "injuries" later, I am able to run 3.1 miles without stopping.  People, this is HUGE for me!  Our running club had run this 5K course 2 previous times with so we would know the route and know what to expect.  See, most of us had never run a race at all before.  I have been to several races to cheer my husband on and Ava did her first 5K last year, but I had never experienced the adrenalin rush and excitement of actually being in the race.

I knew what to expect from a spectators point of view, where to stand to watch, when to expect the first runners back and the ones you are supporting, and the excitement of your friends or family crossing the finish line.  I didn't know what to expect as the herd of hundreds of people "line" up (it's more like a crowd) at the starting line.  What was even more nerve racking was that I knew how many people were running and I knew that there was only about half that amount entered in the race last year (somebody please correct me if I'm wrong on those numbers but if I remember correctly, I looked at the race results last year and there were around 288 people).  What happens if the people in front of you are slower as the gun goes off?  What happens if the people behind you are faster than you and you get knocked down?  Will trying to get around people slow me down and cause me to exert more energy than I'm used to?  Will my time be better or worse than practice time?  Will I really get that last burst of energy at the end when I hear the crowd cheering for us at the finish?  I'm glad to answer a big "YES" to that last question.  Will I be able to keep a steady pace?  The mentors from running club had gone over all this stuff with us a few weeks before but you really have to experience it to "get it".

All these questions on top of worrying where my 9 year old, Ava, was in this massive crowd of people.  Will she get trampled?  Fall down?  Get hurt?  I scanned the crowd in front of me for about the first mile before I saw her and I am relieved to say that she did awesome!  She did not get trampled or fall down (nor did I) and she finished about 4 minutes ahead of me.

I started off great!  I dodged people here and there and had a good pace going.  It was completely different than running with my running club where there was usually around 20-30 people running.  I did get slowed down a little and had to dodge around people and maybe it did take more energy.  I also had to look out for all those kids who were running.  You know, a shoe comes untied - just stop and tie it, right in front of me :)  They did great though!  I am so thankful to live in a town that is truly passionate about health and fitness and getting our kids and their families active.  All of the elementary schools in our town now have running clubs for the kids.  A big shout out to all of the teachers who coach these kids and take time to get them ready for the race!!!  One of these people just happens to be my friend, Erin, who is an awesome runner (triathlete) and a huge inspiration!  Another one of these is Ava's 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Gibbs.  I was thrilled to see all the running club coaches from our school running with their kids.  There was also the PE coach, Adrianna's 1st grade assistant, 2nd and 3rd grade teachers, and more coaching the kids and running.  I was happy to see so many of the coaches come back and run with kids after they had finished with their first groups.  Yes, that means that they finished, ran back to find more running club kids - passing me along the way - and running back to the finish again! 

Like I said, I was doing great for the first two miles.  At the 2 mile mark, there was a lady calling out your time as you passed by and at 2 miles I was at 21:15.  I was thinking, heck yeah!  Keep this pace up!  But, with only one mile to go, I started pooping out.  There were hills.  And inclines.  And did I say hills?  I slowed way down but saw some fellow new runners and decided I needed to keep up.  I'm happy to say that I ran the whole time and gave it my all at the end.  Even though I felt like my lungs were going to explode and my left ankle was going to detach from my leg.

Aaron crossing the finish line!

Ava getting ready to cross the finish line!  She got some encouragement form Dad :)

 What excitement when I was coming around the bend towards the finish line!  I saw my hubby and Ava waiting for me at the corner.  Ava jumped back in and ran with me through the finish.  What an awesome girl I have!!  I had tunnel vision and my sight set on that finish line.  I had no idea where my sister was or my friends.  The only other person I did "see" was Tammy, an awesome running club mentor, holding her hand out for a high five as I ran by.  That was great!  People were clapping and yelling and it really did make me speed up.  But crossing that finish line was the best feeling.  A feeling of relief, elation and accomplishment.  By "the best feeling" I mean emotionally because I was in some pain!

Getting my high five from Tammy!

My girl helping me out at the end!

Almost there!  I'm sparing you the back view of me actually crossing the finish line.  You're welcome.

Cheering on the rest of the runners!

After cheering on the rest of the runners, we mingled with friends and took pictures.  I just have to say that this was so much fun and it was even better because Aaron, Ava and I all did it together.  Of course we had a post race celebration at a Mexican restaurant with friends!

So, you are probably wondering what my time was . . . Well, I will proudly post that my time for my FIRST 5K was 34:38.  A little better than I did on our practice runs.  I guess that's not so bad for my first ever race and the fact that I've only been running seriously for about 10 weeks.  Ava on the other hand did awesome and came in 3rd in her age group!  Her time was 31:43.  Go Ava!!!  Aaron's time was 24:15.  A full 10 minutes before me!

One tired family!

She's done and feeling good!

Before I even ran this race, Ava and I have already planned our next 2.  But first I'm going to rest this ankle!  Hopefully I will be better in a week or so and be able to keep up my running.  I'm looking forward to running more races with my family and hopefully catching up with them in the future :)

While we were running our race, my Mom took Adrianna to her soccer game.  Guess what I missed?  My baby girl scoring 4 points in her game!!!  What!?!?!

This is not a picture from that game but I imagine this is what her face looked like after scoring all her goals :)

I think we may have a new advertisement for Brooks running shoes :)

Here's to future races (and better paces)!

Natalie

Fro Yo and Lonely Boy

It was a great day in the Glancy house :)  Both of the girls had a friend over for a little part of the day.  Adrianna had a friend spend the night last night so they woke me up early for waffles and coffee.  The coffee was for me.  The girls played a little while then I took Adrianna and her friend shopping and to lunch with me.  After dropping her friend off at her house Adrianna and I went home.  Ava's friend was already at the house and they were playing basketball and having a good time.  Adrianna was a little jealous so I distracted her by asking her if she wanted to work on some embroidery projects we have going.  The answer was a quick "Yes!".

She is embroidering a tea towel.  See her little tea pot and cup?  So cute.  Her stitches are getting to be pretty good for a 6 year old.

I just started a tote bag from Sublime Stitching.  I can't wait to get it finished!

 On another note, Adrianna scored her first goal in soccer last night!!  Whoo hoo!  I didn't get a picture nor was I recording it.  I decided after her first game that I wasn't going to take my camera to every single game because I thought the pictures would mostly all look about the same . . .  

 I did get a pic soon after with my phone.  Here she is - with pink hair of course!

After Ava's friend left, I started dinner and the girls made videos of themselves on my computer.  They are so funny!  Ava tends to do more book report videos and Adrianna makes a bunch of faces and noises.  On one of the videos that they made together they reminded me of the alien Muppets - the Yip Yips.  You know, they said "Yip yip yip" and "Nope nope nope".  Well, if you don't know what I'm talking about, look here.  I hope you laugh like I did when I watched it!

After dinner Aaron Took us out for frozen yogurt at the Purple Penguin.  We love this place.  They always have a great selection of fro yo and tons of toppings!  It's serve yourself so we have to watch the kids, they will fill their cups all the way to the top if you aren't watching.  Not only would that be too much for them to eat but it can start getting costly since you pay by the ounce.  Which is the discussion we had over our fro yo, why is "lb" the abbreviation for pounds and "oz" for ounces.  I was thinking "it's got to be Latin" but Aaron said "it's got to be Latin" so I looked it up on my magic phone and yep, they are both abbreviations for Latin words.  Of course since Aaron actually SAID what he was thinking and I only checked my facts before I spoke, he thinks he is a genius and so do the girls.  Oh well.

I think the best part of the day was the drive home from getting fro yo and coming back to the house.  Here's why . . .  One of our new favorite music groups in our house is the Black Keys.  We all like their music and sing along to the songs.  This is what we were listening to in the car.  On the way home Aaron had me look up the music video for the song Lonely Boy and let the girls watch it.  Check it out on You Tube if you haven't seen it.  So when we got home we decided to pull it up on the computer and all of us dance like the guy on the video.  It was so silly but it was so much fun!  Look out You Tube!  You may have a new video coming soon!