GOTR Race Day 2016

Kara did not get to participate in the GOTR 5k this year, as she was in a math competition. So here she is at practice the day she was awarded the turtle to take home and decorate. The good news, is she and her team at the competition qualified for regionals. So look for her to be in more math competitions in March. 

We had a fun practice with jump ropes and hoola hoops. 

Kiersten played basketball with her friends. They struggled, because the ball was fairly flat. 

Kiersten and I were up bright and early so we could get downtown by 7:15. Ben stayed home with Evie to take Kara to the math competition. 

It was cold. They all started out in such great spirits, but we had some frozen fingers and tears by the time we were waiting for an hour. I don't think we needed to be there as early as we were. 

We got our faces painted, and wandered around to all the swag booths while waiting for the race to begin. 

The girls won some sunglasses, and got their hair spray painted. 

There was a good amount of huddling and cuddling going down. 

Here we are post race! Kiersten came in 36:06 and I came in 36:17. She knew that there were times she walked when she could have run, and is excited to beat her time next year. 

I realize that I look like a clown, but it was cold. And it's not my fault the t shirt was bright yellow. And I can't run with a purse, so brought a fanny pack. And I just happen to have blue running shoes and a pink jacket. I think the shorts are the real issue...

Kiersten manages to pull off the clown look, and still be adorable. After the 5k, she had a birthday party to attend at the nature center for some hiking and animal fun. Then, she had her last soccer game, so it was a pretty busy day.

Running mamas. We had a good time too. Someone's got to embarrass the kids, right? If not us, who? If not now, when?

One of the moms made headbands for all the girls that they received at the final celebration. They turned out super cute!

Now they get to start running their 26 total miles by April for the Go! St Louis fun run. 1 mile always seems so easy after they've had to run 3.

5th Grade Concert and Veteran's Day Assembly

Kara had a 5th grade concert. It was for the entire 5th grade, not just special chorus. It was fun to see all the kids!

They all sang so well!

For one of the songs, a bunch of kids came down to play the xylophone. Kara was sad her name wasn't drawn to play. She told me she is an excellent xylophone player. 

Love these girls! (and photo bombers...)

I told the boys to let me get a nice one, but at the last second they kept hopping back in there. 

The parents of the special chorus kids are invited to attend the veteran's day assembly along with the veterans and their families. 

The special chorus sings all of the songs for the armed forces. The different grades each join in on one of the verses, while the vets in the audience stand for their song. 

They did a great job. This is always a very moving assembly to attend. 

Turkey Trotters 2016

The turkey trot this year fell on a rainy day, but the girls spirits were not dampened. Kara had early math class, so I didn't get a picture of her before school. 

I thought this year's shirts were pretty cute, much better than the last couple of years. 

Kiersten's was first, so I headed to her classroom to hang out. 

She kept saying she was part of the leggings parade, since lots of girls in her class had fun leggings to run in. 

The grass was wet, but I was glad it stopped raining. It was actually a nice temperature for running. 

poor Kiersten had been sick for a few days, and was having breathing issues. I almost didn't have her run, but she really wanted to. 

Silly 3rd graders!

She did a great job, despite not feeling well. She was really wheezing by the end though. I think she'd have finished faster if she was 100%. She still ran a pretty good mile, 10:06.

I didn't have much time to hang around after she finished, because I was already late getting to Kara's classroom visit. 

I only got to spend a few minutes in Kara's class, but she was still happy to see me. 

She is the best one of my kids at looking for my camera when in a group photo. 

5th grade is one of our smaller classes. 

She would be walking until she could see me, and then start running again. I should have run with her to motivate her to go faster, but hardly any parents run with 5th grade, so I didn't want to make her feel awkward. 

Kara came in around 10:45, which is not bad at all, but I'd really like to see how fast she could do a mile if she ran the entire thing without walking. She's got those long legs, after all. She is constantly winning the speed drills at Tae Kwon Do, and she runs fast playing basketball. I think she just gets pooped out trying to keep up her speed for more than a few minutes. 

Evie pie was my last class visit, and I had perfect timing after Kara ran to get to her classroom. I even had a few minutes to wait in the lobby.

These guys were quite the unruly group to get lined up for a picture. We have 5 classes of first grade, and it's like they realize the power in their number. They're definitely a force.

The competition was also fairly strong among the parents to get in for a picture, so I just got this side view. 

Evie was a pretty good little runner. She even fell down, and just hopped right back up and kept running before I could yell out to her to do so. 

She was about 10:30. She was really tired, and said she felt like falling down in the grass. I didn't want her to because it was so muddy. 

I'm pretty proud of my little turkeys!