High Five for Friday (4.21.17)

1. On Thursday night I "graduated" from the Leadership CSISD program. (CSISD stands for College Station Independent School District.) Late last summer, a friend and I applied for and were accepted into the program for the 2016-2017 school year. Alongside other community members - parents, teachers, administrators, and those with a vested interest - we attended monthly meetings, each of which focused on a specific topic related to education in our district. Our superintendent and other district leaders covered budgets, boundaries, accountability, and facilities as well as instructional technology, innovative teaching, fine arts, extracurricular activities, and career and technology education, and I walked away with a much broader base of knowledge about the history, current state, and future of our district. I would highly recommend participating in this program to anyone who lives in my area, and to those who don't live near me, I encourage you to look into whether your school district offers something similar.

"Graduation Day". We had just toured and this photo was taken on the
stage inside the in-progress intermediate school that will open this fall. 

2. Also on Thursday night, my inlaws arrived for a visit. We enjoyed our time together - celebrating Easter, celebrating Hallie's birthday, relaxing, and working hard - and thanks to their help, Tom and I have squeaky clean gutters (inside and out) and a brand new backdoor to show for our four-day weekend!

3. The Easter Bunny brought the kids kites in their baskets, and the three of us spent a lovely 30 minutes flying them on Easter afternoon. Mother Nature delivered just the right amount of wind to lift the kites and keep them up in the air...along with 85+ degree temperatures that meant we were sweating buckets by the time we went home. That's springtime in Texas, folks!

4. If you want to see what pure joy looks like, watch a child watch a cat chase bubbles.

5. Happiness Highlights:

This 10-year-old suddenly enjoys coffee. And not coffee with
sweetener added...just black coffee. He is his mother's daughter...  

Big cat, small box. Never fails to make me smile.

This kiddo stumbled upon and insisted on wearing Hallie's
new cat ears headband. It even matches his outfit!

My big second grader reading with her kindergarten buddy.

Thank you, Mandi, for my new car decal!

She picked out and bought this chick sleeping mask all on her
own. It's kind of cute during the day...and kind of creepy at night. 

My girl learned how to fold napkins all fancy schmancy. 

Happy Friday, Chasing Roots!

Linking up with High Five for Friday here: