new hair, daddy-daughter dance and girls on the run 5k

Lexie, the girl who NEVER wants cut her hair, decided after months of debating, to chop off a bunch of hair and donate it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths where they make real-hair wigs for women with cancer.  We made an afternoon of it and she got her hair done and we went to lunch at McAlister's with just the girls!

Later that evening, she and Jacob got all dressed up for the Girl Scout Daddy-Daughter dance and had fun dancing the night away!

Like her brothers, Lexie trained all throughout the fall with the Girls on the Run program and ran her first 5K on a freezing December morning.

Unlike the boys program, Girls on the Run requires each girl to have a running buddy so she convinced Jacob to run with her.  While they weren't the fastest duo, they completed the 5K and had a great time!

let me run 5k

Nick and Ben both participated in Let Me Run this year and trained for several months to run a 5K with their school team.  We got up bright and early to go cheer their team on at the Let Me Run 5K in Charlotte.

Ben crossing the finish line at 25:54.  Way to go, Ben!!

The other three made signs to help cheer on Nick and Ben.

Nick crossing the finish line at 56:36.  Go Nick!!

5K Finishers!!

let me run

Nick participated in Let Me Run this spring and had a great time.  I love the program because it goes beyond running and encourages healthy living and attitudes in what could otherwise be a very difficult to reach target audience.

Let Me Run boys are courageous enough to be themselves.

Let Me Run boys push themselves to be fit in body, mind and spirit.

Let Me Run boys are loyal friends who encourage and support others.

Let Me Run boys trust that teamwork, unity, respect and perseverance open doors to greatness.

Let Me Run boys are honest with themselves and others.

Let Me Run boys responsibly choose what's right, never settling for what's easy.

LET ME BE ME.  LET ME REACH OUT.  LET ME RUN.

The Let Me Run season culminates with a 5K in Charlotte and it was awesome to see hundreds of pre-teen and teen boys from all over the Charlotte area excited and ready to run so early in the morning.

While Nick has never been an exceptional athlete (I'm bored, I'm tired, I don't wanna do this sport anymore), he was excited to start Let Me Run and still excited every Tuesday and Thursday after practice!  He set up goals at the beginning of the season, worked hard towards achieving them, and completed the 5K two minutes faster than his goal time!  Way to go, Nick!!

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let me run

This fall, Christopher participated in Let Me Run- a program that inspires boys through the power of running to be courageous enough to be themselves, to build healthy relationships, and to live active lifestyles.  He stayed after school twice a week for seven weeks in order to train for the culminating 5K event.

Ready to run!!

LET ME RUN BOYS are courageous enough to be themselves.

LET ME RUN BOYS push themselves to be fit in body, mind, and spirit.

LET ME RUN BOYS are loyal friends who encourage and support others.

LET ME RUN BOYS trust that teamwork, unity, respect and perseverance open doors to greatness.

LET ME RUN BOYS are honest with themselves and others.

LET ME RUN BOYS responsibly choose what's right, never settling for what's easy.

The 5k was held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and the last mile was on the racetrack!

Christopher finished his first 5k in 36 minutes!  Way to go!!

We checked out Speedway Christmas- a display with over 3 million lights- after the 5k.  

The Albaeck kids

Having fun at the petting zoo.