Hooray for school spirit!

The elementary school across the street from my house held it's annual walkathon today, a fundraiser that to my mind far outshines selling candy bars or cookie dough. Drums began beating at 7:15 as the local high school marching band warmed up, police cars were everywhere. I sat on the porch and then on the steps by the sidewalk, enjoying the chaos. The police cars, with lights flashing, blocked streets; a balloon archway went up over a side street, marking the finish line; people in mostly red shirts (the official walkathon shirt was white by Lily B. shirts are red) hurried toward the school in record numbers; folks I knew waved at me. You could sense the happiness and excitement in the air, and I could certainy sense it in Jacob, as he prepared for his second walkathon with his dad accompanying him.

It seemed to take them a long time to get organized, so I snuck inside to dab on some makeup, or make the bed. Every time I went back out it still seemed chaos, so I'd go back in to do one more thing. The result of course was that I missed a chane to get a picture of  "my boys," but I got them in the driveway as they headed to the school, and I got one of the mass of people heading out through the neighborhood. Christian sent me the adorable one of Jacob's first-grade class in front of the school sign.
In my excitement at catching father and son in the driveway, I managed to get a terrific shot of Jacob's feet and a video no less of my feet walking. Jacob tells me sometimes, "Reading is just not my thing." Well, Jacob, photography is just no my thing. But I keep trying.
Jacob is blessed, as my kids were, to attend  neighborhood school with great spirit and great parent involvement--and his own parents are very involved. Tonight they will all three go to Spirit Night, an event with bounce houses, food, and other attractions. I'm glad those days are behind me, but I'm glad that Jacob and his family are enjoying them.
And I loved the excitement and chaos this morning.

My day started with marching drums about 7:30 in the morning. Sophie got so excited we had to go out on the porch early and listen to the drums--which can get rather repetitive, especially before you've had coffee. But there's something really neat about an elementary school that puts on a neighborhood walkathon instead of selling candy to raise funds--there was so much school spirit. The majority of parents marched with their children, and the Paschal HIgh School Band led the way, behind police cars with flashsing lights. Parents and children alike wore their red Lily B. Clayton T-shirts, and you could feel the excitement in the air. Jacob is lucky to go to this very special school. It was a long day for him, because tonight was family fun night, complete with hot dogs, face painting, bounce house, super-high slides, and all that kind of thing. His mom is out of town on business and pouting about missing all the fun.
I on the other hand had a relatively easy day--after I could get my car out of the driveway, when the parade festivities were over, I ran a couple of errands, did odds and ends, ate an early lunch and had a good nap. Jacob spent the afternoon at the neighbors' playing with three-year-old Abby. They created sidewalk art, of  which he was very proud. I got to stay home and clear stray junk off my desk. By the time his dad arrived to take him to family night, I was able to settle down and get some good solid writing time. Just wish I knew where this novel is going.