Keeping It Real: Walk-a-thon

This year I dipped my feet in PTA-land.

I was ever-so-slightly involved last school year.

Usually my preference is to just keep the majority of my volunteer energy and hours in Cade's classroom and sign up to help with PTA events as needed.

You know, be a "worker-bee."
I like being a worker bee.

But this year I decided I should get a little more involved,
so I agreed to head up the school walk-a-thon.

It's actually a no-big-deal type affair, which is why I chose it.

It's good to inch your way into these things, you know?

So I held my little meeting with some ladies at my house to plan the walk-a-thon.

I was fine with the idea of keeping it simple and promoting healthy habits and lifestyles and raising some money for the kids to buy some new PE equipment.

These ladies on my committee had some great ideas and were totally energetic.

This was a far cry from those high school and college group projects that I dreaded.

(you know, the projects where one person does all the work for the entire group)

These ladies were the antithesis of those awful experiences I've had in the past working in groups.
(I know I'm not the only one!)

I can say that the whole affair turned out really awesome -- not because of me-- but because of the ladies on my committee.

And because of my awesome right-hand man, Kyle.

He is always my life saver.

What could have been a low-key, hour walk around the school yard passing out water and otter pops

{Which would have been fine. Nothing wrong with simple, seriously!}

turned into ....

A morning pep rally complete with Cosmo (you know, the BYU mascot who is a legit local celebrity), several BYU Athletes, a 7 minute video on healthy lifestyle habits that was narrated by Jimmer and his then-girlfriend, (now wife).

30 minutes of walking, running and skipping around the school yard with darling little signs with tips on being healthy.

Green smoothies {yes, my friend Mary made enough green smoothies to feed the ENTIRE school!} and bananas.

Hand-out of prizes (two per grade) randomly to the students.

And to top all of that off,

we brought in over $2,000 to spend on some awesome PE equipment for next year.

You know what else? It was supposed to rain that morning.
I was so nervous I made a playlist of music and begged Melody to be my back up girl to do aerobics with the kids in case we had to be inside.
She happily agreed.
Fortunately we were able to go outside, but I was so lucky to have such an awesome plan B.

Kyle saved the day and managed little busy-body Ruby, picked up balloons and checks from local businesses AND took pictures of the event. What would I do without him?

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A little fuzzy, but this is Cosmo "sneaking" into the school after he helped Mary bring in 16 gallons of green smoothie goodness.

The Pep rally!

Pep rally from the back...can you spot Cosmo? He was awesome and did a bunch of flips for the students. The LOVED him.

Pep rally...interviewing the athletes asking what they did in their "free time" -- none of them said watch TV or play video games. Phew!

Ruby during the Jimmer video.

Mary pouring her green goodness and the awesome Kohl's team helping pass them out. Believe it or not, the kids LOVED them!

One of the beautiful signs my awesome friend Annie made on the fly for me.

An awesome shot of the schoolyard, the walkers, another cute sign courtesy of Annie and the gorgeous mountains.

Thank you, Shelf Reliance!!!!! They gave a generous sum of money. {As did Kohl's, Doug's Auto, SelectHealth, Pointe Pest Control and generous parents of Hillcrest students.}