Halloween!

 Phew!  We made it through and enjoyed another Halloween. Between the three kids there were 5 plans, and everyone had a good time.  A treat for me was time with all three of them, each in a different way.  TkPk with Sender and Hersh as my escort, popping in on Lu and her friends.  We are very lucky!  We also had the Aplebaum bonfire, and many birthday parties.  Big kids are locked in on school work and bat mitzvah prep, we've got piano lessons, and all the BM to-do's!  Dress shoe shopping with Hersh, and hopeful sparkly sneakers for Lu.  

A full week!

 Last week we had our first 5 day week since September---it was long and full, and we all survived (and I dare say, thrived?) .  We enjoyed Shabbat dinner in pj's and practicing our karaoke as we inch toward Lu's bat mitzvah!  Sender shared that he feels excited he is becoming a better swimmer and has a goal of 3 swim meets this year.  Hersh dropped lots of seconds from his swim times, continues to hustle to make great grades, and took the Amtrak to NJ for the HTF Shabbaton.  I attended Lu's first pointe class and she is getting deeper and deeper into prep for her BM.  It's exciting and overwhelming!  We also went pumpkin picking and missed Hersh:( but we reunited and had a great family dinner at Stained Glass Pub.  Onward to Halloween!

All the hagim.....

 Well, the first half of October has flown by, with each week being irregular and beautiful.  Lots of hagim, sukkah meals, parties, a trip to Hershey Park to ride roller coasters, PSATS, swim team for Sender, pointe shoes for Lu and lots of bat mitzvah planning!  The government is shut down which has impacted Jacob who is still working but not getting paid...we will see where things land.  The weather is cooler and now we will have a month (!) of full weeks--how will we survive?!? And thank gd, the hostages have returned home.  We are so grateful.