Matthews Elementary Boosterthon Fun Run

First of all, we would like to say a HUGE "Thank You" to everyone who supported Sean on his run.  He was very motivated to do the best he could to raise support for the school.

The Spring fundraiser for the Sean's school is the Boosterthon FunRun.  The kids are tasked to raise support either by flat donations, or a pledge for a per lap basis.  Sean was able to raise $7 per lap and $60 in flat donations for his school.  He was able to complete all 35 laps in the time limit, so he raised a total of $305 for his school, and his teacher gets 10% of that for the classroom.

The day of the fun run was VERY cold, but they were still SO excited to run the race.  They had a DJ calling out all the class names and encouraging the students along the way with fun music and unique lap themes such as "run with a friend" lap along to the song 'Lean on Me' and "high five" lap where they ran by all the parents/supporters and gave everyone a high five.

Here are some pictures from the race:

Sean's teacher, Ms. Jarvis leading in his class

Sean was carrying his class' banner

Sean's class lined up ready to go

Sean is at the front of the line

Ms. Jarvis

checkered flag leading the kids around the first lap 

They marched the first lap

Sean is behind the student in the red coat in this picture

Marching the first lap

Running the 2nd lap

Sean was having SO much fun running

Turning the corner

Having fun 

The backs of their shirts had a picture of a track with numbers for the teachers to mark off when they completed each lap.  

 You can't tell how cold it was outside, but they warmed themselves up quickly running!

Amber didn't realize how cold it was going to be when she left the house, so she just put the girls in their fleece jackets instead of their heavy coats.  Lilly didn't have a hat and was crying that her ears were cold (even though she was covering them with my hands) so Amber pulled her nursing cover out of the diaper bag and tucked it around her head and into the back of her coat.  You can tell from the look on Brilee's face how miserable she was.  Their poor noses were freezing.  It wouldn't have been so bad if the wind hadn't been so strong.  

 We made a sign to cheer on Sean, but unfortunately it was too cold to keep holding it the whole time.  Lilly's hands were too cold to keep holding it.  But Sean grinned from ear to ear when he saw us holding it :) 

 Amber forgot to take a picture of Jack bundled up in his carseat in the stroller, but he was perfectly quiet the entire time--very happily sleeping away unaware of the events that were taking place.

The memory stick on the camera became full after this picture, so I couldn't take any of the end, but he was still going strong at the end!  They played "Eye of the Tiger" for the last lap and everyone was cheering them to go as fast as they could.  He ended up running 36 laps, but only 35 count towards his amount pledged.

We are so proud of Sean's great attitude during the race and for being so diligent to the end.  Thank you so much for supporting him on his very first fun run!  Sean sends his sincerest thanks!

Learning to Ride

At the end of the summer last year I'd worked with Sean a little on riding his bike without his training wheels. We have a small hill in the back yard and he was able to get some good speed going down the hill, but quickly had trouble trying to peddle through the grass around the playset.

Our neighborhood has a lot of hills which isn't an easy environment for a new learner.  A neighbor who has 2 boys a little older than Sean, told me he always uses the bus parking lot behind the school.  DUH, why didn't I think of that.. it's perfect!

So, this past weekend I took the training wheels back off and we loaded up the family to go over to the school.  While Amber and the girls played on the playgrounds, Sean and I tackled the bike riding.  He was very timid at first, having not tried this in several months and nervous of the hard asphalt beneath him.  After one excruciating lap, I decided to transition to the flat, somewhat grassy field besides the parking lot.  Immediately his attitude changed from self doubt, to I think I can do this.  Within no time he was riding around getting the feel of the bike, learning to keep his balance, even successfully navigating turns.

His confidence soared and he ventured a trip over to where the girls were playing.  After that success, he pushed himself more and decided to try a lap around the running track.  This is where he had his first major spill of the day... you gotta remember those brakes buddy!  Even after the crash, I was so proud of him that he wanted to keep trying.

A couple more sessions like this one and I think he'll be training wheels free.