High Five for Friday (2.28.20)

One
My grandma - my mom's mom and my last living grandparent - has survived 88 years of life, but tomorrow she celebrates only her 22nd birthday. The kids think her Leap Day birthday is the absolute best; I think living to see 88 years is the absolute best.

Happy birthday, Grandma Geri!

Two
Our friends came back from Oklahoma to visit! We spent Saturday afternoon celebrating birthdays and catching up over laser tag, carnival games, assorted appetizers, and adult beverages.

I took zero pictures of any kid or mom friends, so I
borrowed this one of all these smiles. (Except for Will's,
who for years has been - and continues to be - friends
with lots of these girls but also who, as the only boy
attending the party, didn't want to be in their picture.)

Three
I forgot to mention last week that my brave girl survived getting this tooth pulled:

(look away if you don't like teeth or mouth pictures)

No, it was not loose. And yes, its entire root structure was still intact.

This baby molar has had structural issues for almost as long as it has lived in Hallie's mouth, to the point that two or three years ago the dentist filled it as if it had a cavity even though it actually didn't have a cavity. A few weeks ago a piece of the tooth broke off (Hallie has no idea how or when it happened) and the tooth started to hurt. The dentist tried filing the tooth down in hopes that doing so would lessen the pain, but when the pain didn't decrease, the next/best option was to remove the tooth completely.

The process was painful and a little traumatic, but Hallie hung in there and we're both so grateful her mouth doesn't hurt anymore!

Four
Monday night brought yet another orchestra concert, this one in preparation for the upcoming UIL competition. No small children ran on stage during any of the songs, but we still enjoyed the show. 😂

This is going to sound silly, but this video brought me to tears as I watched it the following morning. I feel incredibly lucky to live in a community with a strong public school system. The opportunities afforded to our students to learn and grow and succeed in all areas - academics, arts, athletics - are amazing and would not be possible without an unbelievably committed administration and truly dedicated teachers. These 13-year-old KIDS, preparing for their middle school's first-ever UIL competition as a full, symphony orchestra, CRUSHED it. As representatives of their school and district, as musicians, as their teachers' students, as their parents' children...they should be proud.

And per our tradition, we finished up our evening with a late dinner at IHOP.

Five
Happiness Highlights:

One more of me and my boy. 

Will has started passing my friends... 😂😭

Thank goodness for soup and applesauce!
She ate her body weight in both last week. 

This is how Hallie and Kara came home from school last week.

These two spent made strawberry shortcake with chocolate ganache
completely on their own. And they (mostly) cleaned up the kitchen!

Happy weekend, friends!