Every Sunday, the prior Monday feels like a lifetime ago. I think it’s especially true with my recent travel schedule. I had 3 trips in 4 weeks which is more than I’d schedule given a choice but it’s not the norm and, all things considered, the kids have done great with it. This week, it was a three night trip to LA.

Monday was a quiet day at home. Immediately, Amaya was ready for stickers and the boys dove back into the ball cards they’d been sorting with Daddy the night before. Steven even told me that he was “doing ball cards like Daddy.”

Sometimes I think Sammy goes to play at the train table when Steven and Amaya are occupied so he can have it to himself in the peace and quiet.

We got to test run some awesome new bath towels that Daddy picked up! Rosie says that the photos don’t do them justice.

Tuesday was the day I headed to LA. I told them I had to go on an airplane “for the workplace” and Steven said, “Again??” Sammy told me, “I always want to be with you.” Amaya was nonplussed.

I was able to get the kids ready for school and set with breakfast which was nice. They’ve been making muffins with Rosie on Mondays and love eating them on Tuesday mornings. True to form, everyone wanted them differently. Steven wanted his whole with butter on top. Amaya wanted hers cut in little pieces without butter. Sammy wanted his in three pieces, a little warm with butter. These kids most definitely have points of view!

Sammy was upset because he wanted to see himself take the photo.

All better!

I’m working on pigtails for Amaya! Two ponies! Not bad but I need to work on cleaner parts and even piggies. I’m told I should get a specific type of comb and also do the pigtails from the front, not behind. Since the best way to do Amaya’s hair is when she’s distracted by her meal, I think she may need uneven pigtails for a bit longer.

Tuesday was Amaya’s first swim class!! Now that she’s fully potty trained, her tuition includes weekly swim lessons. Rosie stuck around this first day to give me comfort that it was a safe environment. It’s a zero entry pool and there are 4 kids with 2 teachers and an instructor. Rosie was told that most kids don’t make it in the water their first day but Amaya went in! I’m so proud of her for trying.

Tuesday night I was off to LA. I’d been worried about Steven because he’s so particular about me waking him up in the morning. I left a wake up video on Rosie’s phone to show him on Wednesday. These adorable children returned the favor with a video of their own. LOVE.

I think it also helped that they had the excitement of a visit from Grandma Sunshine while I was gone!

I was also treated to a goodnight video. Thank you, Rosie!

Kind of a non-sequitur but this is where the the photo showed up in my photo stream so there is where I’m going to pause and talk about it. On 1/27, the kids’ school had a community Shabbat. There’s a Shabbat service every Friday for the kids but, at this one, family was invited along with “members of the community” like police officers and fire fighters. Steven told me he saw two police officers and a fireman there. So lovely that they do this for the kids.

Last week we got access to photos that another parent took at the community Shabbat. I scoured them for the boys (Amaya was home sick) and found this one of Steven and Sammy. I just love, love, love that Steven is sitting on Miss Penny’s lap. It says so much to me about the care they take. Our kids are in great hands.

When I travel to the west coast I often take a red eye home which I’m always miserable about as I board the plane but happy about when I’m home so early in the day. On Friday morning I had a chance to see the kids before they went to school and then had the whole afternoon to hang out. Best welcome home!

Our family photos were rescheduled for Saturday and were a bit of a shit show as one might expect when you try to get three strong willed three year olds to cooperate in photos for an hour. Last weekend I came prepared with m&ms to bribe Steven, Sammy and Amaya but I was unprepared this weekend and I paid for it. I tried to bribe them with future m&ms which only went so far but, sure enough, as soon as the photo shoot was done, off I went with my three 3 year olds to get some m&ms. (Also, for what it’s worth, I was planning to go by myself to get a breather but Amaya asked to come with me. Then Steven. Them Sammy. I’m a sucker and my “breather” turned into a trip to the store with the kids. They were great, though. Excellent listeners.)

Jason is working on some home renovations so we all went to Ikea today to do some shopping. Three hours later and the kids had explored most of the store and we left with nothing we went for. Sounds about right!

Everyone got their own “ruler”.

They loved following the arrows.

Moving in! Steven’s even taking measurements.

If we had room, I’d love to get SSA a tent like this. Steven and Amaya spent a good 20 minutes in there while Jason and Sammy wandered the store.

When Steven saw this he said, “It’s like where the doggies go!” He remembers that from a dog show we saw back in mid-November.

Making herself comfortable.

Making himself comfortable.

Lunch for 5 at Ikea!

Ready for the Super Bowl!

Oh, potty time. Lord help me. I made three trips to the potty at Ikea. One trip for Amaya. One for Sammy. One for Amaya and Sammy. In this last photo, Steven was crying because he was scared of the automatic flush toilet and I had to hang onto Sammy because he thought the potty seat was shaky. Selfie skill level – MASTER.

It was a great trip. So much fun to see SSA explore.

Our final adventure for the weekend was a haircut for Sammy preceded by a “haircut” for Amaya. She was mostly interested so she could use my iPad. In this photo, Steven is telling Amaya that her drawing is beautiful. <3

I got tired of holding the iPad for Sammy so I finally propped it on a stuffed animal and my knees. I only have so much to give!

Steven this week!

A text exchange with Jason from my flight perfectly sums up Steven:
Me: Bumpity Bumpy Bumpy
Jason: What would Steven do if he were there?
Me: Explain air currents and pressure to me.
Jason: And say, “OHHH! I LOVE fluid dynamics!!!!”

Dinosaur tail!

Mr. Focus

Walking his monkey while wearing his monkey.

Helping Daddy paint

FaceTime with Nana

Taking care of Baby Jenna. Her clothes were in the wash after haircuts and he was very worried she’d be cold without her clothing. Sweet boy.

Sammy!

Two Sammy stories this week. First, after naps today he was the first up and, as I was hugging him, this was our exchange:

Me: I love you.
Sammy: And I love you.
Me: Your love is such a gift, Sammy.
Sammy: And I love Miss Penny.
Sammy: And I love Miss Lena.

His teachers! lol I’m so, so glad he loves them but there I was thinking we were having a special mommy/son moment. Nope! But it’s wonderful he has so many people in his life that he loves.

At bedtime, I asked him what song he wanted me to sing.

Sammy: Hmmmm. Let me think. I like songs about monkeys.
Me: “Oooh oooh ahhh ahhh this is a monkey song!”
Sammy: I didn’t tell you that I wanted you to sing a song about monkeys. I told you I like songs about monkeys.

Working on letters.

Big news for Sammy this week! He decided he wanted to start wearing “purple underwear” and use the potty! He’s doing great. I’m so proud and also so happy we waited for him to tell us it was time. (Steven is adamant that he’s not ready yet.)

Tried using Wonder Pets on my iPad to get him to poop. Just like with Amaya, it’s not a good go-to idea. One and done with that. He’s such a big boy, though. Blows my mind.

Amaya this week!

Just a few photos of Amaya from the week. Here, I was telling her about Poppy Steven. She asked me why “baby Mommy” was poking his face, lol.

Getting a spin in the chair from Steven! She loves to spin in that chair!

That’s all I’ve got! Have a great week!