High Five for Friday (2.24.23)

One 

Tom survived Dad & Daughter Week at dance! This ended up being a pretty easy year for him, at least in comparison to the year he tore a tendon in his knee. He missed contemporary because of a meeting and tap because of his weekly music session, but was able to attend hip hop and jazz. 

Two

Will had an orchestra concert on Thursday night, which I attended while Tom participated in Hallie's jazz class. The students did a wonderful job, and seemed well-prepared for their upcoming UIL competition. It's so fun to think about what 5th grade orchestra, 6th grade orchestra, middle school orchestra, and high school JV orchestra sounded like, and to both remember the progress made each year and compare each year to what high school Varsity Orchestra sounds like now.

An orchestra concert evening wouldn't be complete without a trip to IHOP, so of course we tried to go there...but there was a 45-minute wait (a party of 30 had come in right before us and they only had one chef and one waitress working) so we tried RX Pizza (swamped) and Mad Taco (closed) before heading to Freddy's. It was the first time we'd all eaten dinner together in weeks though, so I'll count that as a win!

Three

On Saturday afternoon and evening, Hallie performed in her ballet company's Encore Gala. The dancers all did a lovely job, and this spring show was a wonderful way to wrap up the company season. (I didn't take any pictures of Hallie dancing because I wanted to truly watch, but now I regret that decision. I also forgot to take pictures of Hallie with Tom, Will, and/or me, which I'm also disappointed about.)

Four

Happiness Highlights

No pictures...I want to remember that Hallie attended a Bengal Belles (the dance team at her soon-to-be high school) pre-tryout workshop and crushed it. She decided not to tryout for her freshman year, but she had a great time and felt really good about herself and her skills after attending that session.

Again, no pictures...I want to document how awesome it is taking friendships to the next level. Two soccer mom friends - who I've known and spent time with on both the high school and club sidelines for years - went out together last weekend. We had such a fantastic evening eating and drinking and talking about all the things that never come up when we're sideline socializing. 

One more picture-less highlight...on Monday, when the kids were out of school, Will and Hallie spent about an hour and a half playing at the park, picking up drinks, and putting gas in Will's car, just the two of them. The gas station stop wasn't the most exciting, but they were hanging out together and that's all that mattered to me.

On to Happiness Highlights with photos:

On Sunday afternoon Hallie and I went
to a "Kitten Shower" for our kitten rescue.

The establishment where the event was held - Downtown Uncorked -
offered a specialty drink for the shower. I'm a regular at Uncorked, and
when I was there two days prior, my friend Jenn and I suggested to our
favorite waitress that she create a fun kitten drink...something with
"purr" in the title. So she did! 

It was delicious and beautiful!

My niece Lily's middle school cheer team placed
eighth at state! She's on top on the far right.

And my nephew, Carter, crushed it at his
tumbling tournament...on his birthday!

My parents and their friends, hiking in Arizona.
They're still out there crushing it, and I love that
about both of them.

Five

And now for your weekly Lads update! 

Last Friday night the Lads took on Magnolia West, and the game was brutal in more ways than one. Mag West is a notoriously difficult place to play with regard to fans and referees (we had to sit on the opposite side of the field from the Mag West fans because during their game earlier in the week, parents had gotten into a fight and two moms had been arrested), and we felt the pain. Nothing went the Lads' way - most certainly not the referee's calls, a poor one of which resulted in Mag West's first goal of the night. Somehow the Lads found themselves down 0-4, but then in the second half they clawed their way back to 3-4 before the time ran out on their comeback.

On Tuesday night the Lads faced Brenham at home, and they managed to eek out a 2-0 win and *hopefully* get themselves back on track. Hallie came to the game and we - all the fans - told her she had to keep coming since the Lads are undefeated with her in the stands...she actually called the game "exciting" (the first positive word she's ever used to describe soccer in the 13+ years Will has played), but couldn't commit to attending the rest of the season's games.

#wegoagain tonight!

Happy weekend, friends!