Boosterthon 2015

The kids' elementary school had a new fundraising event this year which replaced the 5K run that the PTO has put on for the last 10 years. It was called the Boosterthon.

The Boosterthon team was at the school for 2 weeks interacting with the kids & having pep rallies & giving out prizes while encouraging the kids to get pledges for their school. And on the last day, which was February 20th, the kids participated in a 2 mile fun run.

Alex was so excited for the Boosterthon. 

He came running out with his class grinning ear to ear.

But he quickly went from this

to this. (He got nervous & uncomfortable because he didn't know what was going on.)

But then once he started running, he was fine.

Well I said running, but I meant walking. 

I'm pretty sure he did not run. At all.

Just walked & talked. With friends.

But he did awesome! 

He walked the entire hour & completed 30 laps, which was 1.875 miles.

(And that's a lot for the boy who gets tired walking a quarter mile from the house to the playground!)

I'm so proud of him & his whole class. Way to go Kindergarten!

Addy was also super excited for the Boosterthon.

She actually ran though.

She did walk a few laps

and take some water breaks.

But she ran most of it.

And she finished all 35 laps which was 2 miles!

Way to go Addy & all of 2nd grade!

Valentine's Day Parties

The kids had their Valentine's Day parties on Friday, February 13th.
(Which was also Nick's birthday.)

During Alex's party, the kids made a cute heart craft.

And then they made homemade trail mix for their snack.

During Addy's party, the kids made a love bug craft.

And then had ice cream sundaes for their snack. Yum!

Both their classes passed out their Valentine's cards earlier in the day before the parties started.

But here are their card holders.

Alex wanted his to be Skylanders & INSISTED that it be a bag, not a box.

So we put Snapshop (he's a good guy) on one side.

And Kaos (he's evil) on the other.

 Addy, on the other hand, only had one request. That her box be an elephant!
I was a little puzzled over how we would pull this off, but then my crafty side took over & it was really quite easy. And it turned out adorable!

Both their box & bag were filled with cards & candy & little toys.

And not surprisingly, Alex someone dug right in as soon as we got home.

Brownie Day at Camp Casa Mare

Last Saturday, our Brownie troop went to Camp Casa Mare to a Leaders in Action event. This event was cool because our Brownies had a group of Cadettes (6th, 7th & 8th graders) that were their 'leaders' for the day & they helped our girls work on their Wonders of Water journey.

Upon arrival, the girls played on the playground with lots of other Brownies while my co leader got us checked in.

Then we split our girls into 2 groups (smaller, much more manageable groups for the Cadettes, lol) for their sessions.

In our first session, the girls worked on their Love Water badge by learning interesting facts about water & making a personal commitment to conserve water. Addy committed to using refillable water bottles instead of store bought plastic bottles.

For our second session, we played games.

Like Red Rover

and a team builder game where the girls had to pass a hula hoop from person to person without unlinking hands.

Our third session was making beaded bracelets in one of the dorms where the Cadettes were staying.

And our fourth session was decorating refillable water bottles & water bottle holders.

We had a little bit of time before our last session started so we let the girls play on the playground.

Making a rock angel!

Our last session for the day was snack time, where the girls made fruit kabobs.

(Addy had fun making one, but of course she didn't eat any of it!)

We were also supposed to work on the Save Water badge during our last session, but for this badge, the girls are supposed to come up with a plan for the troop to save water & since our girls were separated, we really couldn't do it. And honestly, our Brownies & the Cadette leaders were so exhausted by then! 

So instead, we just enjoyed the rest of the beautiful day on the bay by checking out some of the cool things at Camp Casa Mare.

This was our first time to go to Camp Casa Mare but I'm sure it won't be our last!

(Because it's by far the best Girl Scout camp I've been to so far!)

#Project365

One of my goals for 2015 is to learn to use my new camera in manual mode & so to help accomplish this I decided to participate in a photography project called Project 365. The object of the project is to take a picture every day through out the year & post them somewhere. 

So far, I've been taking most of my pictures with my iphone & posting them on Instagram. But I plan to also take some with my camera throughout the year (hopefully in manual mode.) And I'll post them on my blog once or twice a month.

So here are my pictures from #Project365 for January...

What do you do when it's too wet & cold to play outside? Go snorkeling in the bathtub, of course! 1/365

Winter Weight Loss challenge started today. Successful first day even though I'm battling strep throat & Addy insisted that I make her fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Didn't even have 1! 2/365

A perfect Sunday afternoon! 4/365

Nothing like spending your Christmas money on some of your favorite things... My Little Pony, Little Live Pets (she definitely need 1 more bird) & As Seen On TV toys! 5/365

Out with the old & in with the new. 6/365

ZOOM!

And now a 24 hour white diet. 7/365

Getting my nighttime snuggies with this sweet old kitty. 8/365

Oh hey there puppy puppy! 9/365

RAWR 10/365

Cupcakes + nerf guns= best birthday party ever! 11/365

I did something today that I loathe... I ran with my hair down. 13/365

my little reader 14/365

Back in a classroom today. Feels so natural but boy does it make me tired! 16/365

Will sit for bacon 17/365

Helping Daddy with some man's work 18/365

Perfect kite flying weather 20/365

So this just happened & now Addy has 1 less tooth! 21/365

Vintage mini cooper that I saw in our neighborhood 24/365

We do lazy Sundays great around here 25/365

Having some much needed coffee after another day of subbing 26/365

She stayed home sick from school today yet somehow convinced me she's well enough to camp in the backyard! 27/365

Playing video games with Alex... Also known as being dominated by a 5 year old! (Except when we play Mario, I dominate at Mario!) 29/365

After school play date at the park on this gorgeous day 30/365

17 Wildtree freezer meals done & done! 31/365