LB Marathon weekend, I am a beach bum

We have been juggling through October. Trying to manage work (so much work), school/volunteer obligations, kid schedules/sports/activities, home and the Dodgers. 

Over the second weekend of October, JT ran the Aquarium Kids 1 mile Run for the 3rd consecutive year, (Here is 2011 and Here is 2012) HeaBug had her first in-house gymnastics meet, and Mr. B and I ran the Long Beach International Half Marathon.

Dads were unable to get away from work this morning (last year they biked the course) but the rest of us Booths made our way to downtown for the kids to participate in the run. JT came in 5th in his age group!

HeaBug participated in an In-House gymnastics meet. It was the first in a monthly series of three meets to acquaint the girls with the process and experience of competing. There were 4 events, Bars, Beam, Vault and Floor. These little gymnasts were so super cute!! She did a great job!

Mr B got home about 10:30 at night, we were out the door by 5:30am. Greek yogurt and red bull for breakfast.

We prepaid to park in the parking structure at the Pike. After finding a spot on the roof, we made our way down to the starting line. The waves took off at scent intervals. In truth I didn't even care if we were late, I was just so glad to be hanging out with my favorite person. 

I paced Mr B for about 3 miles and we made good time, about 9:30 minutes per mile. Then came the Powerade table where we kind of got separated. He was ahead of me, now following an old Asian man in an orange running club jersey but I had them both in my line of sight. At the mile 4 loop I had to stop to use the restroom and lost them both. At 5.5 I finally texted Mr B that running separately was not the date I had in mind. He stopped following orang shirt man and waited for me as I rounded the lighthouse. We then ran together until mile 7 when he got a horrible hamstring cramp! We pull over to stretch it out and as he does, there's ANOTHER cramp! This time on his quad. Poor guy. I know they can be so painful. We slowed our pace down a lot and did most of the rest at a walk some/jog some. Mr B kept telling me that I could go ahead but this run was about getting to be together and while I am pretty competitive, I'm not a PR chaser either. My goal for any/every race is Just Don't Die. And to finish of course.

We crossed that finish line at 3 hours on the money. Earlier when trying to convince/encourage Mr B to participate with me, I said I'd drink the free beer with him at the end. We don't drink anymore, aside from sips of champagne at a wedding or swishes or wine at a food pairing, for a variety of reasons but mostly for our health. But I'll tell you, something about sitting in that beer garden, live music and tires from running a half marathon, elated from doing something I love with someone I love, drinking our free ice cold Michelob Ultra while eating cheez-it's and a rice krispy treat from the post race bag... Well, it's going down in my mind and my favorite post race moment to date. 

We made our way to Johns first, limping in and ready to order the chili fries that we earned just burning through and estimated 1800 calories... We ended up with a chicken club and a Greek salad. Live life on the edge right?! Lol.

He enjoyed lunch with me and then this guy, he went back out to the job site Rock Steady was working on. 

Kudos to Mr B for running a half marathon on no training.

He is crazy.  He is amazing and I am glad every single moment of the day that I'm his girl. 

Reflections Art: Top of the Hill

J.T. entered into the National PTA Reflections Art program with another photography entry this year. Well it was really last year since entries are due in October.

Almost a whole school year later, we found out that he won the Award of Excellence (aka 1st place) for his division and category in our school district.

This is so exciting. He was thrilled!
This is his SECOND time winning this honor. Last year he won with a piece called "One Mile Shoes". Mr. B joked that he is going to have to branch out past taking pictures of shoes.

Here he is at the Reflections Event.

 

This is his winning entry. The theme was "The Magic of a Moment".

Last year, we went for a run together and on that day, he used my phone to capture this image. His artist's statement read: 

The magic of a moment is when you are climbing a hill and you finally get to the top. 

So young, so deep... sometimes.

 Congratulations J.T.

Emerson Olympics

Each year at JT’s school, they hold a fitness day fundraiser. The purpose is obviously twofold. To raise money and to teach the importance of fitness. You may have heard of, donated to or attended something similar… think jog-a-thon, trike-a-thon etc. 

One of my gals decided she wanted to chair the even this year and early on, health and fitness being high on my importance list, volunteered to assist. She had an amazing theme picked out, the Emerson Olympics. With the summer games just having passed in London, Olympics were still fresh on everyone’s mind so it really gave the kids something to relate to. We have a few olympian parents and members in our community. She was able to reach out to them and they agreed to speak to our students about the importance of fitness and working hard in school. We had an opening ceremony, a lighting of the torch, and olympians speak to our kids. Each class was assigned a country, given a flag and their donation packets. They were pumped.

It was a great day and it was such a treat hearing the kids talk to their parents after school and tell them what a good experience it was. We ended up raising $17,000 for our school! Isn’t that crazy awesome?!

A month of collecting pledges and donations went by and before we knew it, our games were upon us. Thursday morning, bright and early at 6am, there we were to decorate and transform our playground for the kids.

The lunch benches became the olympic village, banners and streamers hung and floated on wind. Flags dotted the rooftop. The grassy area was strung with banners and flags and the eight 8’ balance beams our Rock Steady Guys built for me were placed in the center. The whole playground was divided into 9 stations. #1 Cardio Warmup, #2 100 yard dash, #3 arm ropes and jump ropes, #4 hula hoops, #5 shot put, #6 kick a goal, #7 centipede run, #8 monkey bars, #9 balance beam. Then they ran around the front of the school to the finish line where they received medals and took a class picture with the rest of their country at our awesomely decorated backdrop/handball medal podium. 

I was stationed to take photos all day which was tons of fun. Mr. B and HeaBug came and helped all day long. Like all day. Love them so much. He spent this time after spending the majority of February traveling for work. I was so glad to have his company and he was just the best. He went and got us John’s for lunch (Our favorite local burger spot) and just spent the whole day being amazingly supportive. (And handsome, he’s so good at that!).

He's got talent. JT signs I'm Yours at the Emerson Talent Show.

Weeks ago, this guy says he wants to sing at the talent show... with some friends. I say sure. I printed out his lyrics, switched out the word "damn" for "man" and found a karaoke instrumental version for him to sing along to.

In my dreams, he's playing an ukulele and singing. But I'm cool with this too.

At no time during the rehearsal period did I hound him or even go watch. I didn't "stage mom" one single bit. He picked his song, his music, his outfit.

We bought the tickets and our Ohana... including Maga, Tutu, Auntie Nini (Breezer) and Uncle Edward came to watch the show. We sent him a gram. They were delivered back stage. I sent him a giant pixie stick. For courage.

We were nervous for him. He came out there, the 8th act in the show and did it. We were so, incredibly proud of him. Hea Bug yelled out as he started to sing, "That's my brother!" It was the best.
He got a trophy, it's up with his baseball trophies. And the talent show poster... it's hanging on the wall...

Love
Mrs. B

Special Person Day: JT loves Dad

Each year at our awesome Charter School, every student chooses and writes an essay about one Special Person. This year, JT chose his Dad. We attended an assembly where one student from each grade reads their essay aloud and presents flowers to their special person. After the assembly, we went to JT's class where he read the essay he wrote for his Dad.

Of course Dad is his special person. These guys are pals for the long haul. <3

AGA's SECOND Booth Gymnast of the month!

Way to go JT. We have another gymnast of the month! JT is in the All Star Boys 6-12 program at AGA. His coach, Scott is very tough on him. For good reason. This little guy is ridiculously skilled and strong. We expressed interest in him advancing to the team/competition level so Coach Scott has been expecting a lot more of him lately. We are so incredibly proud of JT and his crazy gymnast skills!

"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be" -Ralph Waldo Emerson

June 16, 2011

So proud of our little man! He has finished Kindergarten! What an amazing year of growth, learning, and accomplishments! At the last award's assembly, JT was given the "Most Improved"award for the leaps and bounds he made with his penmanship. We were there celebrate his achievements!

The last day of school was spent with all the other Kinder Classes as we walked to El Dorado Park for a fun day of play. There were bubbles, games, relays and face painting. Each class rotated stations, they had such a fun time even though we were experiencing June Gloom weather.

Kinderbration was hosted by 2 classrooms at a time. So smart to have only the families of 50 students in the auditorium as opposed to all 100 kindergarteners at the same time! 

We were treated to super cute songs and we got to cheer for our kids as they were presented with awards (JT got a Math Super Star award!) and then their Certificates of Completion. The wonderful Mrs. S choked up a little when offering sweet words of kindness about our children. I know that JT will remember how much he loved and learned from her for his whole life!

At the end of the day, we went back to class and collected all the projects, books, tests, and memories of kindergarten. Can't wait to come back and experience 1st grade!