Girl Power

Saturday was a banner day but soooooooo loooong. We took part in such an amazing event. It was the Daisy Dash - the culmination of the spring session of Girls On The Run. This is such a wonderful program and I'm thankful that Stinkerbelle was lucky enough to take part in it.

During the course of the program the girls learn about fitness while participating in activities designed to inspire confidence and pride in themselves. Studies have shown that between 3rd and 5th grade girls tend to reevaluate themselves and lower their expectations for themselves. The goal of this program is to counter that and show them that they can be whoever they want to be. This is Girl Power at it's very best and I strongly recommend it.

Naturally, there is a bit of running involved and even those who are less than totally fit can participate. It's wonderfully inclusive. Check out the crowds that turned out on Saturday morning. There were over 5,000 runners. Naturally, one was more important to me than the rest and here she is crossing the finish line. I felt like I would burst with pride!

After the race, my girls and I headed down to Clifton, a place I rarely get to but look at how charming it is. Dare I say... quaint.

We were there for the second big event of the day. It was the retirement party for the kindergarten teacher who taught both of my girls. She has taught in our elementary school for most of 34 years and I'm sure that there are many people who are very sorry to see her go. She is the one who caught Stinky's learning disability and we are eternally thankful to her. As you can see, my girls both love her and we wish her well.

That's just a sample of how our day went. Stinky played a softball game, DQ and I got our toes done and so much more. We finally returned home tired but fulfilled and found a nifty surprise.

At her party last weekend, Stinky and her friends painted birdhouses. They did a great job but i really didn't expect them to be used. I'm not sure what I thought they'd do with them. This is Stinky's and on Saturday morning we hung it in the breezeway leading to our front door. We didn't think it would be an attractive place for birds but guess what - while we were out somebody moved in. You may just be able to see a few twigs and a bit of fluff sticking out of the bottom apartment. How cool is that? We haven't met the neighbors yet but we're watching for them.