New Years Eve

Happy New Years!  After all this time, COVID 19 continues to inform our decisions so we decided to stay in together and to ring in the new year together.  It is always helpful to have sweet treats after a delicious dinner.  What will the new year bring???

First Clean Teen

Magic Mountain

Over the break, we were so excited to hear that Magic Mountain was requiring masks, checking for COVID 19 vaccinations, and negative tests before entry!  So, we decided this would be a great day to take the boys.  Unfortunately this was not just our idea!  It was pretty busy but despite that the boys were able to ride Tatsu twice and Goliath.   This was great especially since we only stayed a few hours.  The boys had a fun time.  When will we head back???

Teen Clean

We are so proud of Noah that he had his first Go Fund Me for a beach clean up fully funded!  These are the tools that he purchased with the donations.  He was super excited that Old Navy also donated money to help this cause!  What Noah plan next???
 

Merry Christmas

Merry masked Christmas.  We are so happy that we can celebrate Christmas with the family.  We did it a little different this year by asking that everyone take a COVID test before coming over to celebrate and to wear masks.  In all honesty, this is the only way we could celebrate together in these times.  My dad was feeling better and since he now has the booster shot we felt comfortable inviting extended family over.  Windows were opened, air filters were purchased, and tables for dining spanned across 3 rooms.  Merry masked Christmas... hopefully this is the first and last of this kind.  What will it be like next year???
 

Big boys

Big boys.  Noah is 15, taller than his father, and doing well his first semester in high school.  Micah is 13, taller than his mother, and also doing very well in his first semester in 8th grade.  Both boys are working hard in highly accelerated math courses, Honors programming, playing sports, attending Hebrew school (Micah is preparing for his Bar Mitzvah), and enjoying the freedom that eluded them last year at the height of COVID (when there were no vaccinations for their age group).  I still limit some of the activities that they can attend (which they think is unfair).  I think back to all that has happened and I am incredibly proud of these two because they navigate through their world with kindness and respect (and with a stressed out Mom).  What will 2022 bring???

Time with Emma

This was the first time Emma stayed the night in Los Angeles on her own and she absolutely loved it!  The boys were especially nice to one of their favorite cousins.  We had a great time hanging around Playa Vista, shopping at 3rd Street Promenade, and strolling Candy Cane Lane.  When will Emma visit again???

 

LACMA

Kehinde Wiley, the artist of the Obama Portraits, is an alum of the boys' middle school!  So we had to make a quick and special trip to LACMA to view his art before it leaves in a few weeks!  This piece is so wonderfully vibrant and amazing to see up close.  I love that the boys have their LACMA cards that give them free access to art!  When will we visit again???

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Bubbe and Aunt Julia came to Los Angeles to visit the family and celebrate the last night of Hanukkah!  Today Jawsh met them at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.  They had a nice time going through the exhibits.  The special exhibition features Hayao Miyazaki which spans all of his movies and illustrations.  When will the boys have a chance to visit???

 

Happy Chanukah!

Chanukah celebrations have been pared down for us because we are doing our best to keep everyone safe.  The boys have been going to masked teen meetings at Cool Shul once every few weeks and today we sent individually packaged Randy's donuts that they could pass out to celebrate Hanukkah but that the kids could eat at home.  It feels like a lot of extra work, because it is, but well worth it to keep everyone happy and safe.  When will we have a Chanukah celebration???

Oh, Christmas tree

Last year we celebrated Christmas over Zoom.  This year, the kids wanted to be together and decorate the tree so that's what we did.  I love decorating the tree because there are so many old ornaments that remind me of a special time in our lives.  This year, my sister allowed Kaitlyn and Noah to pick out new (tacky) ornaments to represent each kid:  Micah's ornament was a bucket of fried chicken and Noah's ornament was sushi!  Go figure.   What will Christmas be like this year???

 

15

Happy 15th birthday to Noah.  Today is not only Noah's birthday but it is also Thanksgiving!  My mom made seaweed soup for his birthday and for dinner we had all of the Thanksgiving fixings.  Last year, we celebrated over Zoom but this year we did not invite our extended family to keep the gathering smaller due my Dad's health and possible COVID exposure.  Noah was just so happy that he got to celebrate his birthday with his cousins.  Cousins are our first friends and we are really thankful that they are close.  We have gratitude that we get to spend time with one another.  What did Noah wish for???

Hello cousins!

We finally had the opportunity to meet baby Harper!  She is 8 months old and so adorable!  Atticus is now 3 years old, but the last time we saw him was on his 1st birthday.  We kept our visit short and stayed masked the entire time.  Noah and Atticus had a great time playing with his train set and hopefully it brought back memories for Noah who loved Thomas as well.  When will we see them again???

Magic Mountain

Noah was pretty adamant that he did not want to do anything for his 15th birthday.  It could be the age, the time, the circumstances.  But I continued to encourage a celebration with his friends and he finally agreed.  Noah and his friends went to Magic Mountain for the day and had a great time.  We drove back before dinner and they had dinner at Hop Daddy which they really enjoyed.  Happy Birthday to Noah!  I think he would say that I made the right call on this one, wouldn't you say???
 

Boo!

I thought last year was it.  Family costumes were over.  And I was ready for it.  But the boys surprised me this year... they were down for one more year!  It started organically... Micah wanted to dress up for school (so he wouldn't have to dress out for PE) and I suggested a panda onesie.  He agreed.  Then we were invited to an outdoor Halloween get together and Noah and Jawsh were open to dressing up too.  They thought of other bears and then we remembered that the We Bare Bears had a human character, a Korean girl, who I could be!  It all sort of worked out... even though this reference is obscure to many, it made sense to us!  Will this be the final year of family costumes???

 

Unraveling Again

Unraveling Again...  This is one of Jawsh's larger pieces measuring 36x48 and one of the most intricate in detail.  This has been a labor of love as he works full time and then tries to find time to create his own art.  What will his next piece be???
 

Mini me

This is a first.  My student, L, made a mini pumpkin in my likeness.  I found this to be so funny so of course, I had to take a picture.  Will this ever happen again???
 

Club Volleyball

Volleyball is a new sport that Noah loves to play.  It all started with his high school not allowing tennis to be counted for PE credit due to some restrictions.  He signed up for 6th Period Volleyball to receive credit and to hold that PE spot for tennis in the Spring, and then he ended up really enjoying the game of volleyball.  The Coaches really encouraged Noah and after attending a clinic he tried out for a club team to gain some experience.  Even though he has never played an actual game of volleyball, Noah was selected to join the team due to his potential and skill set.  After some lengthy discussions, we allowed Noah to join the Santa Monica Club Volleyball Team.  What position will Noah play???

Soccer

COVID 19 took a toll on all of us... and it still does.  But most notably, Micah was not allowed to play in his final games with The Blue Jets in the Spring.  This was such a hard decision but we explained our reasoning and he understood.  Now that he is fully vaccinated, we are able to revisit soccer again and this time Micah is playing with his old coaches and a few friends.  This is not the same as The Blue Jets, but Micah is just happy to be on the field.  He plays Center Defense and he looks great, especially considering he took months off from playing soccer.  What type of season will he have this year???

13

Micah is now 13 years old!  Where did the time go???  Here are his top 13 things that he enjoys: guitar,

music, family, sports, games, friends, beach, soccer, dogs, food, cooking, movies and reading.  He is enjoying his 8th grade experience and making more friends.  What will this 13th year bring him???