High Five for Friday (1.24.14)

To be perfectly honest, I haven't done much "high-fiving" this week. The over-worked, anxious, and exhausted husband, the sick kiddo, and the cursed tooth forcing us to subject the other kiddo to unpleasantries like oral surgery and orthodontia have weighed heavily on me throughout the last seven days. On top of that, a number of people I love are struggling - in ways I can't fix - right now. My heart aches for my husband, my kids, and these wonderful friends and extended family members.

I've learned from experience, however, that I always feel much better when I "force" myself to find - and then share, via pictures and videos here on Chasing Roots - the good. So here are a few of the stories, photos, and videos that made my world seem a bit brighter this week. They all gave me a reason to look up.

1. Speaking of looking up, I simply adore these Up-inspired photos.

2. Happy cows may come from California, but the best cheese in the United States - according to the World Cheese Awards - still comes from Wisconsin. What I wouldn't give for an authentic Wisconsin cheese curd right now…

3. Just as Will inherited his cold weather and snow-related craziness from me, I inherited my cold weather and snow-related craziness from my dad…here he is, last weekend, carrying on the swimsuit snow angel tradition.

4. Because my sister's kiddos are still relatively young - Lily just turned three and Carter will be one next month - and not quite ready for swimsuit snow angels, she's had to exercise a bit more creativity in how she passes on these family traditions. When the Polar Vortex brought snow (and negative 15 degree temperatures) to their area of Illinois, Lily in particular couldn't believe her parents wouldn't allow her to romp around in that "fluffy white stuff". Sara and Jeff came up with a pretty awesome solution though…

Yep, that's multiple shovel-fulls of snow in the bathtub. Clearly the idea went over well with both kids, who spent as long as a three-year-old and a one-year-old can stay focused on anything building snowmen (you can see Olaf in the second picture) and eating snow.

Perhaps my favorite part of all this is the fact that Lily is wearing snow pants and mittens…and no shirt. Now there's a Midwestern girl.

5. And lastly, whenever I need a little cheering up I watch Saturday Night Live cast members break character. These clips never fail to drag a laugh out of me.

Happy Friday, friends!

Linking up with High Five for Friday!