High Five for Friday (8.23.19)

I cringe when I think about the possibility of readers believing our lives don't include the bad and the ugly along with the good, so in the name of transparency, I am kicking off today's post with a confession: this week could have gone better. A LOT better. But weeks like this one are exactly the reason I started writing High Five for Friday posts in the first place; for me there is no better way to wade through the mess than to focus on the small moments of beauty and peace. So here are my high fives for the week; we fought hard for them, which makes them all the more valuable.

One
The first full week of seventh and fifth grade wraps today! Both kids like (Will) or love (Hallie) their classes and teachers, but Hallie accumulated quite a few emotional bumps and bruises while adjusting to her new grade, her new school, and the absence of one of her best friends, who moved away over the summer. I can only hope she will emerge from this acclimation period a stronger little girl.

We have a couple of evening swim parties on our calendar, but beyond those two gatherings the weekend ahead of us looks relatively low-key...and for that I'm grateful.

Two
Nutcracker auditions took place last Saturday, and after a L...O...N...G week of waiting, on Thursday we found out that Hallie will be dancing in the Nutcracker as a Polichinelle. (Polichinelles were previously bakers in our production.) She is beyond thrilled - and relieved, to be honest - to have been cast in the production, to have been given the part she so desperately wanted, and to have the opportunity to finally dance with her besties once again. The last three years of Nutcracker casting haven't gone as well as Hallie would have liked, so this news was a wonderfully welcome surprise.

Besties in their baker costumes. (These aren't official Nutcracker attire,
but a set of beautiful replica costumes that my mom made for them.)

Kara and Hallie performing the Baker Dance in their 4th grade Variety
Show. (Avery goes to a different school, so she didn't perform with them.)

Three
On Saturday night we celebrated a wonderful friend's birthday by paying tribute to her favorite decade. Side ponytails, scrunchies, and t-shirts supporting Jesse and the Rippers were my jam back in the 1980s, so I pulled all three out - along with my hot pink patent leather high heels - for Rebecca's party. Long live the 1980s, and happy birthday, Rebecca!

Four
Will has been looking forward to school sports for years, and earlier this week he finally joined his first school athletic team. He plans to run cross country this fall (hello, 6:45am runs) and is considering basketball in the winter or track in the spring as his second sport. (At Will's middle school, participating in Athletics - which replaces PE - requires kids to try out for at least two sports and play at least one sport.) I'm a little worried about balancing middle school cross country with club soccer, but I'm looking forward to learning more about the sport and cheering Will on at his cross country meets!

Five
Happiness Highlights

Tux ALWAYS sits in my desk chair, even though he isn't
allowed to do so. I was thrilled to come home and find him
on the actual desk...was it possible he finally understood
how much I want him to "GET OUT OF MY CHAIR!"?!

Possible, but not probable. Either that or he just doesn't
care at all about my rules. We couldn't help but laugh.

All my babies. Tux misses his kiddos but is enjoying the
peace and quiet now that they've gone back to school.

The kids insisted on a first day of school photo for Tux.

After an insanely hot and exhausting weekend - FOUR games in 100+
degree weather - Will's soccer team officially started their season with
a 2nd place finish in the Houston Youth Cup.

Happy weekend, friends!