One
I'm a little late in sharing these, but HOLY COW, do they deserve a spot in a HFFF post.
Ashley Siegert with Fig-Mint Photography did a fantastic job with our dance photos this year. Hallie actually liked most of her individual pics (which isn't always the case):
This is one of my favorite pics - taken after we were joking around about how lovely all of our girls looked but how we all looked considerably less "made up."
Two
On a dance-related note, recital season 2024 has come to an end! Hallie performed in both her ballet academy's production of Cinderella and her studio's "storyline" show/recital, and she did a beautiful job.
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| Headed in on day one! |
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| Jazz - when they first put on these costumes we thought they resembled scuba suits, but they ended up looking great on stage. |
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| Grasshoppers from Cinderella |
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| Mr. John |
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| Ms. Aya |
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| Ms. Christi |
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| Dance mamas (taking advantage of a very "smoothing" filter 😂) hanging out and waiting for day two shows to start. |
I just realized that I have no pictures of me and Hallie, nor do I have any pictures of her with Tom and Will, even though they came to one of (they performed each show twice) both Cinderella and the storyline show. Oops.
Three
We have new babies! Pathos and Adansonii went on their merry way, back to their previous foster en route to their forever homes, which freed us up to take on a tough socialization case. Kiara, Kovu, and Vitani (the Lion King 2 litter) had never met humans just 24 hours before they came into our home, which meant (means) we had (have) our work cut out for us. When they first arrived (and for multiple days afterwards), all three cowered in the corner of the bathroom behind the toilet, huddled tightly together in a tiny little tangle of skinny legs and floofy fur. They were terrified of us, hissing whenever we approached, but we knew we could change that. (Hallie has a reputation within SKR for socializing some pretty feral and/or fearful kittens: Aretha 1, Aretha 2, Aretha 3, Dumpling, Bill/Molly/Annie.)
Kiara started warming up within about three or four days - I think she's the smartest of the bunch, so she realized fairly quickly that Hallie and I were the ones who fed them, and that we're both really good at giving tummy rubs. She was slower to warm up to Tom and Will, but that's normal because they're bigger and louder and their voices are lower. Kovu took a little longer to come around, but where Kiara adjusted slowly over a few days, Kovu adjusted almost all at once - it was like a switch flipped and he went from terrified to little love bug. I don't have favorites, but he's my favorite. 😉 Vitani is proving to be our most challenging socialization case in quite a while, but we're still working on her and I have every confidence we'll eventually help her realize that people are good and kind.
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| Kiara |
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| Kovu |
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| Vitani (she was SO angry at me for weighing her...and then SO angry at me when I tried to make her leave the "weigh station") |
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| The girls in Hallie's sweatshirt. |
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| Kovu got a turn too. |
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| Litter box photo bomb. |
Four
A good friend of mine is moving away, and honestly, I'm feeling pretty broken up about it right now. We had a going away get-together for her on Tuesday night, and we had a blast...though it didn't give any of us closure as she prepares to leave. Instead it just made us want to plan more get-togethers, so it looks like a road trip to Oklahoma will be on the calendar for fall!
Five
Happiness Highlights
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| In case you didn't recognize him, that's my boy...with a shaved head. Last weekend he guest played with a different Cavalry team, and despite the fact that almost all of the parents know Will, most didn't realize it was him until halfway through the first game. I hate this new do, but he played really well in this tournament (the morning after he shaved his hair off) so he feels awesome about it...and I'm (now) trying to be supportive. |
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| Tom and baldy playing a little pool in between recitals. |
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| Hallie's last dance class this year was Throwback Thursday jazz, during which Ms. Isabella rocked her own throwback (she was a Kilgore Rangerette) ensemble. |
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| Tom's branched out (beyond the Lads) and made McPherson matracas for my friend Kristen, whose son is going to play soccer for the McPherson Bulldogs. |
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| I mowed the lawn (Tom likes to mow but had a busy week, so I was just trying to lighten his load) so I had to take our traditional "look at this beautiful smooth lawn" picture for him. |
Happy weekend, friends!
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