The Color Run ~ Twin Cities 2012

Many many moons ago, I heard about The Color Run ~ via one of my social media networks....

Totally sounds AWESOME I thought to myself - and quickly checked the calendar.

While it wasn't an ideal day for us (summer is so so hard to pack ONE.MORE.THING. into it, 

 with the addition of all of the regularly scheduled fun (birthday parties at the lake, etc)

We decided to run with it (get it, run with it? HA HA!) and sign up.

The Color Run did not disappoint.

WARNING....THIS IS A VERY VERY PICTURE HEAVY POST! ;)

Awesome, considering I was nervous to bring any photo taking devices into the Color Run!

Hurray for taking a chance!!

With 20,000 Color Runners to hit the Minnesota State Fairgrounds on Sunday, July 15th ~ 

I wasn't sure what to expect.

From the packet pick up 2 days before the race to the finish line - this was smooth as butta!

My hubs humored me and posed for a few photos before the start of the race...

And our little 6, going on 16 was excited to hit the streets, even though the 6 am wake up on one of her few sleep in days left something to be desired!

 

Amy, Suzi and I pre-race ~ 

 

And a rare family photo ~ (Never mind the grumpy kid in the pic - pics have to be his idea for him to cooperate.)

The power of the cell phone helped us connect with a couple more of our favorite Tweeps!

We're by the French Fry Building!

Us too!

Where?

On the grass!

Us too!

Where?

Do you see the 5 Eye Witness News Building?

NO? Are there 2 French Fry Buildings!

Aye Aye Aye! I cannot believe we were able to hook up with our running buddies before the start of the race!  There were so. many. people! YAY!

Amy, Kristen, Liz, Me & Suzi

Sparkly Liz ready to knock out another 5k! Go Liz Go!

A last group shot before we hit the streets!

We took off in group 3 - not too shabby!
The Color Run released approximately 1000 runners every 5-10 minutes beginning at 8 am, ~ 

The Blue Station!

It was hot, and humid. And there were a LOT of people.

Young, old. Short. Tall. Thin. Not thin.

Women and Men. Couples. Singles. Families.

The Dynamic Duo!

The cloud all melded together so it looks sort of hazy & pinkish - but trust me when I say, it was pretty spectacular!

A couple of non-professional video clips. If you visit YouTube - you'll see some amazing Color Run videos if you are interested - but, these document the here and the now.

We came, we saw, we conquered!

Have I told you all how much I love this man? The patient, laid back man who never bats an eyelash or raises a brow at all of my zany ideas, the good, the bad, the ugly ~ including signing the entire family up for a 5k in the dead of the summer, where the temps are in the 90's and we are up and out of the house by 6:30 am.

Seriously. #love

We got separated about 30 seconds into the race, (of course! HELLO, 20k people!) and we didn't all have cell phones on us. I was starting to get a lil nervous but never fear - It really worked out pretty darn swell!

My little man using a baby wipe to clean some of the color off. (Didn't work!)

Ah, the Color Run.

I highly recommend signing up for one of these spectacular events in a city near you!

There is a charity chosen for each city - and I cannot even imagine how much money is being raised for worthwhile charities all across the country.

I have no idea how much of the race entry fees go towards the charities chosen - 

but I do know that with the sheer volume of runners - that it has to be more than pocket change for these well deserving making a difference partners.

Together, we CAN make a difference!

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Box Tops for Education - You CAN make a difference!

If you know me, (and really, let's be honest here, most everyone who comes here does know me, I don't get a lot of random blog traffic ~)

Anyhoo - If you know me, you know I'm passionate I love finding ways to really make a difference -

Be it this, that, or the other thing, I'm constantly looking for little ways that I can make a difference, without it making a huge difference in my schedule, or more importantly, my checkbook.

Remember last fall when I told you guys about Box Tops for Education?

Well, now that I've got a kid in kindy and another one headed there in a few months (WHAT!?! I KNOW! oh, I KNOW!)

I'm even more on the look out for ways to give back, ways to make a difference. Especially in light of all the the headline making budget talks going on.

I had high hopes of attending a PTO meeting way back last fall. September came and went. I didn't make the meeting. October came and went. Nope, didn't fit it in. November. December. January.  Nothing. 

Finally, in February, I made it to a meeting. I was intimidated by this group that had been meeting for months (years even!) but, I went home with ideas swirling around in my head. I returned the following month, proposed an idea and 2 weeks later, we had successfully raised $402 for our school.

The next meeting, I found myself nominated for and accepting the Co-President of the PTO position for the upcoming school year!

WHAT?

I KNOW!

I'm not sure what I have gotten myself into - but, here's to jumping in head first and really making a difference!

So, now...get to the point right?

For years, long before we had kiddos we've been saving Box Tops for Education. I would simply give them to friends who did have kids in the school system.  Now that we are here ourselves - I'm seeing JUST how VERY VERY much these things add up!

Our school has been earning, on average, approximately $2000 each year, give or take.  Not too shabby right?

Well, it's certainly not pocket change.  All of those little .10 cent box tops for education really DO add up!

But, look closer at the diagram below...I entered in a couple of other schools in our hood -

Looks like we've got some work to do folks!

Our numbers look great - but, look how awesome the OTHER schools are doing?!?

Curious, I dug a little deeper -

You guys!! you GUYS!

One area school has raised almost ELEVEN. THOUSAND. DOLLARS. in one year!

$10, 836. in one year's time!

For clipping box tops and dropping them off at school!

Amazing, I tell you.

Simply. Amazing.

And now, it looks like we've got some work to do!

So, what do you say? Will you all save your box tops?

You can find them on everything from cereal to granola bars to cake mixes to ziploc baggies to yogurt!

I'd love to take your box tops for our school - but, if you don't want to share them with us, that's totally fine too!

But PLEASE, please drop them off or mail them in to your neighborhood elementary school.

Chances are they not only take them, but rely on that money as well!

Your 10 box tops added to her 10 box tops added to his 10 box tops = SUCCESS!

This is one teensy tiny way you can make a difference in the lives of many, many children with minimal commitment! And together, we really CAN make a difference!

If you sign up HERE you can select any school you want and earn FIVE BONUS BOX TOPS automatically credited to your school! (That's .50 gang! That adds up pretty fast!)

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Just Write. Kindergarten.

It's not a new ritual...it's quite old really.
But the circumstances surrounding the ritual are different.
She's a school kid now after all.

Kindergarten.

I ask 'how was your day? what was the BEST PART?'

Every day she answers with something different.

I liked rest time.

I had so much fun making a bead necklace!

I loved music. The library was so much fun!

I really liked coloring my name with different colors and bubble letters.
*****
Every day I ask 'what was your least favorite part? what part wasn't so fun?'

'Recess' she answers.

Recess? Who doesn't love recess?

I press, but not too much.

'It was too hot,' she answers.

Recess. She answers again on the 2nd day.

On the 3rd day, she mixes it up 'when you picked me up. I wanted to stay longer.'
I take comfort in knowing she is happy there. Having fun.

So much is changing. She rolls with it.

Day 4. 'Recess,' she says again.
'It was too hot for me,' the lies spill off of her tongue.

I hold her close & tell her she can always talk to me. Tell me anything.
I tell her that I can't fix something if I don't know what's broken.

She looks at me with her big brown eyes.

She knows I mean it.

She feels my love.

She trusts me.

A single tear rolls down her cheek.
And then another. And another.

Kindergarten.

*** The Extraordinary Heather from the EO is doing a linky-dink on Tuesdays that she is calling 'Just Write' -
I read her post as well as a few others early this morning...and tonight...as I sat down with my computer...I too decided to...

Well, just write.

Cake Pops!

Cake Pops are all the rage these days...
And WOW, are there some ADORABLE cake pops out there!

EEK!

Now, I'm no stranger to cake pops -
Remember when I thought I could just whip up a batch?

BWAHAHAHAAAA!
Yeah, not so much...

One day, while perusing the interwebs...I stumbled upon Beki Cook's Cakes ~ What I was looking for, was someone local who might teach a class on how to make a topsy-turvy/mad hatter cake...

Instead, I found this via Beki's website....
Cake Pops Classes...

Inviting some friends over to learn the tricks of the trade?
Sounds like a GREAT time to me!!

Beki showed up with everything we would need...
(and was able to fit 9 of us around my table in our teeny tiny kitchen!)

She brought us each sections of cake, already made up & ready to go...

Our first instructions were to crumb the cake...

& everyone got busy following instructions...

Then we added a dollop of frosting to the crumbed up cake...

(the ratio is approximately 1 cup of frosting per cake mix)

After mixing...

You'll get some cute little balls like so....

Here are the gals, hard at work making balls of cake!

Beki brought along all of the supplies we would need, including some nice deep glass mugs that she uses to melt the candy coating ~ ah yes, skinny-ish deep glassware to melt the candy! All the better to dunk your cake ball in my dear!

(And all that much harder to retrieve the skier down when your cake ball falls off the stick mid dunk! THAT my friends, is why you should never forget to dip the stick in the frosting BEFORE placing the cake ball on the stick! oops!)

Another great tip we learned? Beki uses a heating pad (cover removed) to keep her glassware and awesome frosting bottles (so so so much easier than icing bags! HELLO!) heated up - think, portable, foldable, lightweight warming tray! GREAT IDEA!

As the cake pops were being created...

A couple of little taste testers showed up...

I think they got a sugar high just from seeing the mass production of cake pops that was going on!

What a fun way to spend a Monday night with girlfriends!!

Kelly & Sam

About half of us have attempted cake pops before ~

but every single one of us learned a thing or two...

Tips like...

~ Add 1 Tablespoon of Vegetable Oil to the candy melts...do not let the candy melts get too hot

~ Only work with 5 or so cake balls at a time...keep the rest in the fridge while you work, in fact, make your cake and cake balls a day ahead of time and put them in the fridge overnight...THEN, the next day, tackle the decorating - that sounds like SO much more fun to me than trying to tackle everything at once! AND...then your cake will be nice and solid!

~ You CAN use the freezer in a pinch - but if you do, you are at high risk for cracking candy coating! Temperature changes ya know!

~ Do not be afraid to tap off the excess candy melt. Gently tap the stick on the side of the melt dish until all the excess is off...spinning the cake pop almost guarantees the cake ball will fall into the melted candy - use the tap method!

~ Instead of a frosting bag, get yourself some of those plastic bottles from your local craft store for creating your swirls & lines, letters, etc (think the ketchup and mustard bottles at some restaurants, only white!! and, with candy melts, NOT ketchup and mustard!)

~ Go immediately from the candy melt to the sprinkle station - cake balls set up fast!

What a fun fun night for me and the girls!

Beki was a wonderful teacher ~ patient with our shenanigans...

I can't remember the last Monday night I had that was this much fun!

And...my gift for hosting the party?

A cute little cake pops gift pack! Awesome!

Can't wait to put my new skills to use again soon!

You can read Jen's recap by clicking here!

Anyone else have any great cake pop tips to share?