it's been a while

For more than a year now I haven't been able to get this app to work to upload photos. And guess how often I download my photos to my computer and then sit down to write a blog? That's right, it's been 10 months.

This weekend I went away and had 4 days without my kids. It was relaxing and amazing and a great chance to connect with some of my favorite strong ladies. It also really made me want to blog about the things I saw when I got back. They had changed so much! I returned to two kids who are noticeably taller, the little two. The length of Ziyan's calf is astounding to me!  I returned to really appreciating how funny Zayd is. I returned to be completely enchanted by Ziyan's creativity and fervor for life. And I returned to be reminded that though she is known for her brilliance and determination, Zahra is also a really sensitive little girl who needs to be encouraged to stay so brave.

Here's some musings from this week:

I finally gave in and just told Ziyan that it was Halloween. He asks every day and he's so disappointed when I say no. And he doesn't remember the trick or treating part so it's really only about the costume. This resulted in him wearing his costume to Zayd's soccer practice last night and then Chipotle afterwards. And he's definitely wearing it right now at school. So I hope this really cheap costume is going to last until October 31st. But I might go make a additional costume in case this one loses its luster in the next two weeks.

Zahra can't get enough of math and has spent the week sitting at the island with me doing 3 digit addition and asking me to "make it hard". 

Zayd is the most hysterical. I was having a talk with the kids about how to identify safe people if you ever feel like you're lost in a public place. I mentioned that moms with little kids are a great option. Zayd immediately quips "Right, because they already have the kids so they don't want to kidnap you. Plus because they have kids they know how hard they are and they definitely don't want any more work."

Ziyan's currently obsessed with the Lion King. His favorite song is the instrumental stampede song. He listens to it all the time and imagine what the characters are doing when the violins get anxious sounding or the brass starts to swell. He's also amazing at this finger game he invented where he assigns a different Lion King characters to each of his hands and then acts out the scene where Mufasa is trying to climb up the hill and Scar pushes him back down. His ability to entertain himself is much appreciated and simply awesome.

Zahra is obsessed with these tween shows that air on Netflix including Fuller House. I watch them and cringe and can't imagine these are good for her, but she really connects with them so I'm letting it go. And since Zayd has been allowed to bring a little fortnite into his life, really how do I begrudge the Tanner sisters??