Our friends have a large garden in the back of their Sonoma house with lots of fruits and veggies – grapes, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. – to pick. Avery was particularly fond of the small green apples she got to collect and at one point told me, “I love having a farm in the backyard.”

-M

The girls had off school on Thursday and Friday so good friends invited us to their family home in Sonoma. It was an amazingly relaxing time, with the girls swimming, making and throwing water balloons, and playing other games outside. (As for the adults, we just hung out, and even got some shopping in.) After a crazy few weeks of work, it was exactly what I needed, too!

-M

As a getting-to-know-you exercise, Avery’s new teachers asked the third-graders to write little books containing facts about themselves. Avery brought hers home yesterday, and here’s what I read in hers:

I have a sister named Zoe
I love swimming
I like to visit Israel
I like playing soccer
I love to play Minecraft
I love to read

Sounds about right…

-M

Brandeis hosted this week’s cross-country meet, and Avery and I got to go and cheer on all the runners. Below, a photo of the group.

-M

In honor of the new year, Avery’s class recently walked to nearby Lake Merced to do tashlich; along the way they collected and removed garbage bags full of trash.

-M

School pick ups aren’t generally my favorite time of the day: Though I’m always happy to see the girls, I’m often also kind of tired from work or the day’s events. But yesterday’s pick up was particularly fun, with Avery and her friends performing “Hamilton” songs while we waited for Zoe to get back from cross country practice, and then Zoe joining the three girls for an adorable group hug.

-M

Speaking of cross country, here’s a peek of Zoe at her second meet. And it was a good one: She was the 12th girl (and first 5th grader) to finish.

-M

The beginning of the school year has been particularly eventful for Zoe. She joined the cross-country team (though she has been part of the school’s running group, this is her first official school sport) and she became part of the school’s youth mentoring board. She had to apply for the latter position, which involves weekly meetings with 11 other students. As described in the school’s newsletter:

The Brandeis Youth Mentoring Board officially launched this fall as part of the Brandeis mentorship program that began in the fall of 2016. This youth board consists of students in fifth through eighth grades who, says Dean of Student Life Sharona Israeli-Roth, “want to support and make a difference in the mentorship program by actively helping to create mentoring activities and serving as leaders to the rest of our student-mentors.” This Brandeis Youth Mentoring Board will work to make the mentorship program meaningful for the entire student community. Students interested in participating on the youth board were asked to complete an application that included the questions “Why are you interested in joining?” “What do you hope to gain from your involvement?” and “What are some of your ideas for the mentoring program?”

“We were so impressed with the many students who applied to be part of the board,” adds Ms. Israeli-Roth. “Because of how many applications we received, we decided to select three representatives from each grade.”

As Zoe wrote in her application, she loves working with little kids and she has a lot of ideas for ways to improve the mentoring program. She was super excited to be chosen.

-M

The girls on our way to services today…

-M

It’s Rosh Hashanah, and Avery and a few of her classmates have a message.

-M

This is my craziest time of year at work (hence my lack of posts here), and I worked at a major event all last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. While finishing up a few things Sunday afternoon, Zoe — sitting across from me at the dining room table – – told me, “You’re doing a really good job at work, Mommy.”

:)

-M

Not long after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, the girls’ school arranged a letter-writing project for students at a Jewish day school there. Avery wrote hers – a new year’s card for Rosh Hashanah – the other day after school.

-M

It rarely storms in San Francisco – I can count on two hands the number of times I’ve heard thunder here – so it was a big deal when a thunderstorm came through the other night. Avery was a bit scared at first (such a San Francisco kid)! but then her dad suggested they head outside to watch the rain and count the seconds between the lightening and thunder, and she was a-okay.

-M

The girls are back into the swing of things of school; it’s almost as if no break had been had! They’ve both been busy with getting-to-know-you type projects, with Zoe also working with her classmates on expectations for fifth grade. As described in the school’s newsletter:

To set the tone for the year, the 5th grade spent time this week putting together a grade-wide agreement. On Tuesday, the students brainstormed a list of ways that they want their classroom to look and feel, as well as a list of things they will need in order to feel successful. To build on that, groups of 10 worked together to narrow down and categorize the list into 4–5 categories. After presenting their ideas to the rest of the grade, the teachers reviewed and created the 5th Grade Classroom Agreement, which will be signed by all 5th graders.

During the recent heat wave we headed down to nearby Half Moon Bay to cool off and enjoy some beach time. It was a grey day but the cool breeze made up for it!

-M