High Five for Spring Break (3.24.23)

Hallie went to school on the Wednesday before spring break, and then we hit the road that afternoon bound for Midland. We returned home on Sunday, ready to enjoy the rest of our break.

Will and Tom - along with my parents - kicked off spring break with a fantastic 8-1 Lads win on Senior Night. My parents left Saturday morning for Arkansas, and the boys spent the weekend playing disc golf, grilling (Tom), and sleeping (Will).

The kids also took care of two families of animals over break: Teaka and Waffle at one house, and Coco, Apollo, Scout, and Princess Leia at another. They were very busy, but they adore animals and don't mind spending some of their break loving on our friends' pets.

Teaka and Waffle waiting for us.

The stupid time change messed with our sleep schedules and meant we were never up as early as we wanted to be during spring break, but we still managed to fit quite a bit of fun!

~

One

On Monday, Will, Hallie, and I spent most of our afternoon hiking at Lick Creek Park just outside of College Station. We traversed almost five miles on that beautiful day, and I LOVED being out in nature, talking and laughing with my kids. 

Two

On Tuesday, Will disc golfed with friends while Hallie and I went to Martha's Bloomers in Navasota for tea, shopped the farmers' and artisan market at Lake Walk in Bryan, and took spur of the moment photos in the Indian paintbrushes and bluebonnets on our way home. Hallie wrapped up her evening with a sleepover at a friend's house.

Three

On Wednesday, the kids and I made the drive to Jollisant Farms to pick strawberries. I'd been wanting to take them strawberry picking since they were itty bitty, and this spring break - Will at 16 years old and Hallie at almost 14 years old - we finally made it happen.

Later that afternoon we went to Big Shots Golf - for tee box games, miniature golf, and all the yard games available - with friends. 

Four

On Thursday, Will went disc golfing, Hallie and I went for a bike ride, and then both kids played baseball in the rain for hours while Tom grilled and we all watched our brackets get busted. Hallie and I also spent a few hours turning our strawberries into all sorts of delicious goodies - we made syrup/sauce, jam, and strawberry shortcake for dessert that evening. 

Five

On Friday, the kids and I bought unlimited passes at Grand Station Entertainment and spent the afternoon bowling and playing miniature golf, laser tag, and arcade games before Will headed to soccer practice - time to get ready for the playoffs! - and Hallie headed to a sleepover. 

Tom was in Nebraska from Friday through Monday, so when Will's Friday night plans fell through, he and I finished Psych - which we've been watching forever - and played washers until long past my bedtime. It was the perfect end to the week.

~

Spring break is never quite long enough, don't you agree? When my kids were little, school breaks felt SO long and I more often than not felt ready to send them back when breaks came to an end. Now that my kids are older, all I want is for them to be around more - I want more time with them. (And I want more time to sleep, to read, to work, to catch up around the house, for bigger house projects, to travel. So basically just more time.)

Madness, I Tell You

It had been a few years since I'd shared how our family's NCAA Tournament bracket challenge started, so I thought it would be fun to share the story again and then share our brackets for this year. It's a little less fun now that my bracket is COMPLETELY busted - thanks, Purdue - but I'm going ahead with the blog post as planned. 

~

Ferris Family March Madness began 19 years ago with a simple, friendly competition between newlyweds. 17 years ago our cat, Duke, joined the game when we developed a complicated treat- and toy-based selection system to help him fill out his bracket. 13 years ago we entered three-year-old Will's bracket in our online pool for University of Michigan graduate students...and he didn't finish in last place. (Here's a cute video of Will making his selections that year. He had a preference for teams with "W" names as well as Duke University because of his kitty best friend.) 10 years ago Hallie participated for the first time, adding a little chaos to the competition because no one wanted to lose to a pipsqueak who made her selections based on mascots and school colors.

Always the last one to finish her bracket...

For a few years we entered Tux in the competition, and while Will had plans to help Plié and Popeye craft brackets this year, he didn't have the time (or energy) required to help them both make 63 decisions using complicated treat and toy incentives. 

Using toys...

...and then treats to help Tux make his decisions.

So in 2023 it's just Dad vs. Mom vs. Will vs. Hallie. Our annual battle of the brackets will end in cheers for one and tears (not really) for the others, and then after all is said and done we'll talk about how much we love this family tradition and can't wait to do it all again next year.

Are you participating in March Madness? If so, did this past weekend bust your bracket or are you still going strong?

High Five for Friday (3.17.23)

 

One

We survived our first Regional Dance America (RDA) festival! More to come - Midland was certainly an adventure - in a future post...

Two

My mom (both of my parents, but my mom in particular) went so far above and beyond while Hallie and I were out of town. They came to Texas to watch two of Will's soccer games, but they ended up lending a hand with a couple of organizational projects, driving Will around (his car is in the shop), keeping an eye on Plié and Popeye, helping care for our foster kittens, cooking, cleaning, etc. My mom also helped me navigate a dance-related crisis from afar, baked cookies for the Lads (I always bake for them for home games, so she carried the torch in my absence), AND...she painted my kitchen ahead of some work we're having done in a couple of weeks. I am BEYOND grateful.

Three

Y'ALL. These two are the absolute best: sweet and social, fun and funny, fans of cuddles, and FULL of personality. Fostering is considerably more difficult with Plié and Popeye than it was with Tux, and I think we'll need to give Plié and Popeye breaks in between fosters, but Vivian and Kit (who we call Vivi and either Kitty or Dot - I'm not sure why I feel like her name should be Dot) have been a delight to have around and I'm so glad we opened up our home to babies again. 

Their favorite places: when I crouch down, Vivi climbs
up on my back/neck/head while Kitty asks me to pick her
up and put her on my left thigh, where she snuggles in. 

Four

Happiness Highlights

My (and three friends') March flower subscription -
gorgeous, right? My mom handled pick up of all of
our flowers while we were in Midland.

So happy to celebrate this now 14-year-old, who
I've known and loved for more than a decade. 

She has always found beauty along her path.

Tom has really been flexing his grilling muscles lately,
and luckily, the rest of us get to benefit from his skills!

Five

And now for your weekly Lads Update!

The Lads played their final regular season game last Friday night. I couldn't attend because I was in Midland with Hallie, and while I HATED missing the game, I was so grateful that Tom and friends provided me with updates. My dance mom friends can verify that I was in fact following along - and updating them - as the Lads scored each of their EIGHT goals!

The Lads are headed to the playoffs, and they earned home field advantage for their first game. The details are below - we would LOVE to see you at the game, and if you come, we'll give you one of the "Lads original" 3D printed noisemakers that Tom has been making all season! 

~

Happy weekend, friends!

The Adventures of Plié and Popeye, Episode 4

Because these two have been ridiculously sweet recently...

This guy LOVES being near water. When I'm getting ready in the morning he rubs my ankles until I put him on the counter (he can't jump that high), and then he plays in the sink. 

When he hears the master shower turn off, he comes running to watch the water drip off the door.

When he hears the kids' shower turn off, he comes running so he can lie down in the tub (yes, in the water) and watch the water drip off the curtain.

Will likes to air dry post-shower (he hates drying off with a towel, which is weird because when I was little I also hated the process of drying off), so Popeye's favorite time to snuggle Will is when he's just out of the shower and still dripping wet.

Sometimes he still uses his phantom limb to "scratch" his head. It's adorable.

He still loves riding on shoulders and being carried...and still climbs off as soon as you sit down. He's like an infant who sleeps while you're pacing the floor but wakes up as soon as you sit down.

He also still loves Cheerios. If Hallie is eating Cheerios, he's sitting next to her, asking her to share with him...which she always does.

He's an epic napper, preferring to sleep the day away in Hallie's unmade bed...which she uses as an excuse to not make her bed.

This girl is feisty, but deep down she has a soft heart. (For Tom. And sometimes for the rest of us.) Lately she's become a little friendlier and snugglier, especially with Hallie...when she's in the master bed...on Tom's side. 😂

Look at Kara's face - shock and happiness. "OH MY
GOODNESS CAN YOU BELIEVE SHE JUMPED UP
HERE BY HERSELF?!"

She's discovered sunbeams, and likes to spend time with them in the mornings.

These two pipsqueaks like to play hide-and-seek together, but they don't take turns - she's always the hider and he's always the seeker. She's pretty good at the game...him, not so much.

They've brought so much joy into our home.