apples & honey

Monday was a vacation day for me so I could celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It was also Madison’s first full day with our family. We had a quiet morning at home and then went to an afternoon children’s service at The Birmingham Temple. There were about 30 kids there and it was perfectly paced. 20 minutes of “service” and 25 minutes of associated activities. Two of the activities focused on bees. Bees give us the honey we eat with our apples on Rosh Hashanah and they’re in danger so, in the spirit of Tikkun Olam, we built bee habitats and then did a bee craft.

Ready to celebrate!

Making our bee habitats with string, pvc pipe and hollow bamboo sticks.

Our bee craft. Steven didn’t want to dip his thumb in the paint to make his bees so he tried doing it with a popsicle stick. When that wasn’t effective, he recruited my thumb.

Amaya’s bees

Steven’s bees

Sammy’s bees

The kiddie pool was set up for tashlich. We talked about things we want to focus on in the new Jewish year (rather than transgressions from the prior year). Sammy wants to focus on doing a better job pouring his own cereal from the box. Steven and Amaya want to focus on staying in bed in the morning to earn more prizes. All worthy efforts.

Tuesday, the kids didn’t have school but I returned to work. But not before putting together this then & now of Steven and Morminer. Best buds forever.

On Tuesday, Steven finally got his 6th star and earned a lego set. He was so excited! (Since Tuesday Steven’s earned just one more star. It’s a work in progress.)

Madison did some Rosh Hashanah art with everyone.

Steven’s art was immediately obvious to me from the worm set parallel to the words.

Sammy made it through the painting before he was on to other things. Also obvious to me which was his.

And Amaya’s. It’s interesting to me that both Steven and Amaya are writing their S backwards, though Steven did write it correctly later in the week.

Tuesday night was soccer practice. We had our own little warm up when we first arrvied.

Can you see Steven sitting on the ball? He spent most of practice there. He just wasn’t interested in playing. There was whistle blowing and cheers of “go sis!” and “go brother!” and Coach G said it was fine as long as he was watching to learn while he sat.

Blowing his “whistle”.

Amaya stayed focused (and eventually took of her skirt) for the chance to ride home in the coveted 3rd row seat in my car. It had been Sammy’s turn but Sammy completely lost focus and ran off so Sammy’s consequence was Amaya’s gain.

On Wednesday, I returned to dance class after a 24 year break! I signed up for adult tap class at the same studio where SSA dance. I even have my tap shoes from high school. I love seeing my name written on them from all those years ago. The class was challenging but within reach and I’m excited to go back next week. It worked an entirely different part of my brain and it was fun to see what my body remembers. Though there was no finesse. At this first class, all I could focus on was my feet.

On Thursday, Steven, Sammy and Amaya returned to their dance classes. This year it’s tap and jazz! The kids are SO excited for tap. They’ve been talking about it since last fall. After class Amaya told me, “They taught us to shuffle but I already knew how because you taught us.”

Stretches! Amaya is in the 2nd row with the black jazz shoes.

It’s nice to see Amaya willing to partner up with someone besides Steven or Sammy. That’s been an issue doing partner work during soccer practice.

To continue a busy week, after dance class Madison brought the kids to my office so I could bring them to their back to school picnic. These pictures are a series of shots Jason took as the kids realized he’d arrived. Such joy!

Sammy continued developing his ability to secure food on his own. Like a big kid, he walked up to the pizza table and got his own food to bring back to his picnic blanket. It’s such a far cry from a kid who’d hold on to my pants at these type of events. It’s a testament to both how old he’s getting and how comfortable he is at the JCC.

Ms Shannon! Oh, how the kids love Ms Shannon, the center director. Especially Sammy. He literally vibrates with excitement when he sees her. It’s so sweet.

Sammy got a little creative early on Friday morning when he asked me to take a picture of him holding his camera displaying a picture he took of me.

Sam-Man also got the thrill of helping his Daddy shave!

On Wednesday night I got home from dance class and mentioned, to Jason, that a colleague bought me sushi for lunch. Amaya, tucked in bed, yelled downstairs, “Did I hear you say sushi!?!?” 🙂 I promised to bring some home later in the week and Friday was the night, as a post-dinner treat. The exciting news was that even Steven tried some this time and professed to like sashimi tuna. We’ll see if he eats it again. Amaya then also wanted to try some, when she usually just eats rolls, so Sammy shoved all he had right in his mouth as fast as possible so I couldn’t give any to Amaya.

Saturday morning was game #2 for the Airtime Tweeters. Steven insisted on jersey #3, instead of #2, and I agreed because I’m also someone who gravitates toward specific numbers. I understand his need.

This week’s game was better than last week’s in that Steven went in to play 5 or 6 times but it was still a bit of a struggle each time and he generally only went in for one play at a time. Sammy went in (mostly) willingly but spent his time primarily wandering around the field. He seemed to have very little interest in getting in the mix. Steven did run after the ball but complained that he wasn’t fast enough. Amaya probably got the most game time of the three and is still a little hesitant to get in the fray but I think she did kick the ball once or twice. Everyone was excited that Megan and Taco came to watch the kids’ game!

We all hit up the park after the game. Amaya got a kick out of pushing her brother in the swing.

Last week I connected with a new mom friend. We met via my work and then bumped into each other in the park last weekend. Her son will be in kindergarten with SSA and she’s relatively new to the area. After we saw each other, she sent me an email inviting us all to Owen’s 5th birthday party at their house. I was excited to go because I don’t yet know any other Thornton Creek school moms of kids who are the same school year as my kids.

We knew there would be bounce houses and, luckily, there were two. 🙂

The absolute hit of the party was a battery powered dune buggy that Steven, Sammy and Amaya took turns driving almost the entire time they were there. Steven, in particular, was beside himself!

The other hit of the party was the pinata and all the candy that came pouring out. All three kids were beside themselves. Everyone indulged a little and then their bags full of candy conveniently disappeared.

Sunday started with hours of painting. Steven had me up in the middle of the night for way too long so the morning also included a very long nap for me. I woke up just in time to rush off to another birthday party – this one for a pre-k classmate.

Ready to party!

This time the bounce houses were more our speed. One was just for jumping and one had a slide that Sammy and Amaya were thrilled with. Steven even tried it, too, which is a big step but he thought it was too fast and was “never going on that slide again.”