High Five for Friday (11.6.20)

Catching up on a couple of weeks worth of high fives after last week's High Five for Halloween!

One

And just like that, cross country season - and with it, Will's middle school cross country "career" - has wrapped. He plans to run track come spring and hopes to run cross country for at least a year or two in high school, so while his running days are far from over, it's still bittersweet that we've come to the end of this chapter.

Though Will ran well, the district meet didn't go exactly as he or his team had hoped it would. I won't get into all that here, because what played out and the end result don't warrant high fives. I will, however, share a high five for these two women, who have coached Will for the last two years.  

They make a great leadership team, playing off each others' strengths as educators, coaches, and athletes. They motivate and inspire with positivity, encouraging runners to push themselves to their own individual full potential, whatever that might be. They handled this year's ever-changing rules and restrictions well, always keeping the lines of communication between themselves, runners, and parents open and making sure everyone knew what was expected. They implemented the same ever-changing rules and restrictions just as well, making sure everyone on the team and attending meets stayed safe. And in that last district meet, I watched them go to bat - in an incredibly difficult situation - for Will, and I know their actions that day and the day that followed made him feel so much better. We'll miss them tremendously.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, and because it all still rings true, I'm going to share the post I wrote at the end of last year's cross country season. "Cross country meets are church, man. Run somebody across the finish line today. Or let yourself be surrounded and carried across. Both: Heaven."

Two

Less than 24 hours after receiving an email from our (Hallie's) beloved company director asking if we wanted to come meet and hold her baby, we were masked, sanitized, and at her front door, ready for cuddles. A charmingly sweet and easy-going baby, Ben was oh so tolerant of being passed between three delighted mamas and four giddy girls. Such beautiful moments...

Three

Dorothy and Ruby left us for their forever home. 😢

The last picture I took of Dorothy. I was showing 
Hallie why her name should have been Neopolitan.

TUMMY. RUBS.

I was especially sad to see Ruby go. We worked so hard to earn her trust and eventually her love, and it still makes me tear up to think about her having to adjust to a new mama all over again. 

Look at sweet Ruby's face on her first night
at our house. She was so scared.

And then look at her face two weeks later.

I'm not sure she could feel any
more at home or at ease in his arms.

But as I've said in previous posts, loving on these sweet babies brings us so much joy and has been one of the most spectacular silver linings in this otherwise dumpster fire of a year.

Four

For the first time, friends of ours road-tripped with us to one of Will's soccer games. It actually worked out perfectly - the littles, one of whom doesn't much love the outdoors and both of whom don't like watching soccer, stayed with Nonny (best playdate EVER), while the bigs and their once-soccer-playing/still-soccer-loving mamas made the drive to Houston. I so enjoyed having a "soccer expert" to chat (and almost get kicked out) with during the game, and I know it meant a lot to Will that both Mandi and Kaylee came.

Five
Halloween was a (masked, socially-distant) blast!

We certainly couldn't skip our Halloween cupcake tradition.

For the first time ever, this little baker helped.

She attempted one cupcake in each design, and
for her very first time, I think she did a great job! 

                     

                                  

Six
Last but not least: a bonus handful of Happiness Highlights.

I don't know what exactly is happening here, but
it made me smile. Tux enjoyed his two kitten-free
weeks in between the Oz babies and RBG.

Ice cream for dinner. Sometimes I'm fun.

Will's first orchestra "concert" of the 20-21 school
year. They set up the students - only the students -
in the gym and recorded the performance for
family members and friends to watch later.

First fire day - these boys were in heaven. (As was Hallie - she
did three straight hours of school sitting in front of those flames.)

When Tux pees on Will's bath towel,
Mama doesn't turn on the fireplace. 😂

Happy weekend, friends!