We love the bows Amaya made with the kit from Aunt Dale & Uncle Arnie and she had fun wearing them throughout the week. <3 They’ve been a good motivator to let me do her hair, too.

Tuesday was flu shot day which Amaya has been dreading for a year. Literally. Back in early September she burst into tears when she heard it was almost fall because it meant flu shots were coming soon. That girl does not like pokes.

Gabby generously offered to tell the kids about their flu shots when they got home from school so we didn’t have to tell them earlier in the day.

Me: What number do you want to go? 1, 2, 3 or 4?

Amaya: Zero

Sammy made a friend while we waited.

So did Steven.

Shots were a nightmare. Truly. Sammy was a brave guy. He wanted to go first but decided to let me go before him. I had to physically restrain sobbing Steven and sobbing Amaya. Amaya was in such bad shape that the nurse had to use one of her hands to hold Amaya and do the poke one-handed. Brutal. But we got through it!

Even post shots, Amaya was not please. But she did it!

I stayed home from work on Wednesday for Yom Kippur and the kids stayed home for the morning. As a last minute audible, we decided to stream services rather than attend. I found one that looked appropriate and it meant I could get the kids to school earlier.

But first, Sammy inspired the kids to do sailboat races in the bathtub!

He wanted something to float on his boat and we realized very quickly that a cotton ball (my idea) is a terrible idea because it absorbs water. He kept at it, though!

Steven didn’t make a 3D boat like Sammy. Instead he made a boat on the water with waves.

Our service, with special guests Anna and Elsa singing reworded Frozen songs about being sorry and apologizing. Perfect!

I love taking these kids to school.

Since I was home from work, I also got to take the kids to dance class. A treat for all of us!

Waiting for the bus on Thursday – the last day I need to wait outside without the benefit of the bus tracking app that I hadn’t even known was a thing. Hallelujah!

“Amaya, your brush is beautiful!”

<3

We kicked off our weekend decorating buckets for a school project.

Sammy finished some artwork for Savta.

In preparation for a s’mores fun run, we got out some of our winter gear. Sammy grabbed his Batman hat from Aunt Annette.

“I’m going to flap the ears up like this when I finish the race!”

The s’mores fun run! There were crafts, games and live music plus a 1 mile family fun run where you pick up s’mores supplies along the way.

Before the race! Amaya hated it. She spent most of the time saying things like, “Why do they call this a fun run? It’s not fun.” Steven and Sammy were all about it, though. Off they ran and ran and ran!

Weary runners with our race medals.

Flapping those ears!

This was the first time SSA got to melt their own marshmallows.

We wrapped up the evening with a hayride and some playground time before heading home to bed. Such a fun night!

We started our Sunday watching the series finale of My Little Pony. SADNESS. I was legitimately bummed to say goodbye to the Mane Six. SSA prefer to watch new shows/episodes rather than repeats so I’m not sure how often we’ll get to see the ponies going forward.

As the weather gets colder we’re back to Legos. Hooray!

We closed out the weekend at the Maybury Farm pumpkin fest. The kids had a blast running around and today was another reminder of how far we’ve come from the days when activities like this felt nearly impossible on my own.

Amaya looks so much like Charlie in this picture.

We got some pictures from Amaya’s teacher this week.

Sammy was Star of the Day on Thursday!

Have a great week!