One
As of 1:30pm, we are officially on winter break.
I honestly can't believe we survived a complete semester of virtual school, and I'm so proud of my kids - and a little proud of myself, honestly - for successfully navigating this drastic shift in learning style. Both Will and Hallie managed to maintain a positive attitude (about 80% of the time) and persevere on even their darkest days, and they're emerging from these four months with excellent grades, with vastly increased technical IQs, and generally healthy, both physically and mentally. Which is good, because in 17 days we're going to start all over again...
We plan to remain virtual for at least the first few weeks of our second semester (though Will will continue going to school for basketball practice, Athletics, and Orchestra), but we have the option to switch to in-person if/when we're ready.
Two (Part 1)
Last Thursday Will's fall soccer season came to an end, and yesterday Hallie wrapped her fall season of dance. Just like I can't quite believe we survived a semester of virtual school, at times I can't quite believe sports seasons happened at all...and I'm so grateful for the leadership teams, coaches, and teachers who made it possible for these kids to keep doing what they love during a pandemic. No, these seasons didn't look exactly like what we expected or would have chosen if given a choice. But what a gift, to not only still be allowed to participate, but also to have had the opportunity to learn how to be flexible and accommodating, protect and care for others, and appreciate the small things.
Two (Part 2)
Though the event looked a bit different than in years past, our dance studio managed to pull off an amazing "Christmas Carousel" holiday production to end the season. For the last few years this night has been one of my absolute favorites, and the same held true this year; in fact, if I were ranking days in 2020, last Saturday - which also happened to be our 10-year Tex-iversary - would easily fall among my top three.
My friend, Anne, in her Facebook post about that day, said it best:
While COVID has stolen many dance moments from us, SSD (our studio) gave them all back last night. The teachers and staff were outdoors for over 12 straight hours. I saw the studio owner steal away to nurse her infant in a car in between dances. I cannot fathom the hours and hours of planning, prayer, and execution that went into giving this gift to the dancers and parents, and I hope they know how appreciated it is, how much they filled some empty places in our souls.
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| Tippy Toes (assisting) |
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| Kinder Combo (assisting) |
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| Tap |
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| Jazz |
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| Hip Hop |
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| Contemporary |
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| Ballet Academy Dancers in Blue |
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| Ballet Academy Skaters |
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| Company |
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| Company |
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| Company |
The next few of Hallie's short solos are courtesy of our
friend Danielle House, who is a budding photographer!
Two (Part 3)
And because we couldn't take our traditional post-Nutcracker photo of these two, these pics of them at the Christmas Carousel (scroll to the bottom of series) will have to do. 😉
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| 2013 |
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| 2014 |
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| 2015 |
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| 2016 |
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| 2017 |
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| 2018 |
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| 2019 |
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| 2020a |
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| 2020b |
Three
As bad luck would have it, our second week of quarantine overlapped with middle school basketball tryouts. Thankfully, Will's coaches graciously allowed him to tryout on the Monday he returned, and later that day we found out he made the 8th grade B team. He was both thrilled and relieved, as was I.
Will would want me to add that while he would've willingly and gratefully accepted a spot on A team, he wasn't expecting or even aiming to make that team. He made the 7th grade B team last year and loved it, so 8th grade B team was his goal - I think there's a little less pressure, and he played (and will likely play) far more on the B team than he would on the A team. So it was "a win" all around.
They played their first game last Thursday, and while they didn't bring home the victory, they mounted an excellent comeback to finish within four. I can't say I enjoyed sitting on gym bleachers with lots of other parents and siblings (though this year they are limiting the number of tickets sold to games to make social distancing in the stands possible), but it was SO exciting to watch these boys on the court again.
Four
Ruth, Bader, and Ginsberg have now all left us for their forever homes...just as Tux was finally starting to tolerate them. And while saying goodbye was - and always is - hard (especially for Hallie), we already have our next "batch" of sweet babies! (More on the FOUR of them in a future post...)
Five
Happiness Highlights
