Have a good Shabbos!

I just wanted to post before Shabbos here(or Shabbat I should say). Today was a relaxed day. They changed the clocks here last night so I lost my hour of sleep. I also didn't go to sleep right after I posted last night, I ended up staying up talking to Michelle until 2 in the morning(which was really 3 with the time change). So I slept until 9:30 this morning. Not long after I got up I went with David to the makolet and to the bakery. A note about the bakery..it is really really good. I would even venture to say that their rugalach are almost as good as Marzipan-Almost. I met a few people along the way. Then we took a break to eat some borekas for lunch and David insisted I taste the Pomerantz orange and apple juices. These are so good! They taste fresh squeezed. He wanted me to know that I wont be missing Tropicana or Mott's. Then he took me to a great flower shop. Flowers here are substantially cheaper than in America. I bought 2 large bouquets of beautiful exotic flowers totalling approx $20. I then took a stroll to Judy Simon's house(the woman who was so helpful taking me to see all the houses). I am now back at the Kaplansky's waiting for the water to get hot so I can take a shower soon and get ready for Shabbat. Luckily Michelle reminded me to turn on the dude shemsh, otherwise I would have a very cold shower! I guess that is one of those things I am going to have to get used to doing! Hope everyone has a great Shabbat and I will post more afterward.

A busy Day

Today was a different kind of busy. Not long after I got up Michelle dropped me off at a appliance store to get a feel for what kind of appliances they sell here and how much they run. Then Lori picked me up and we went to the grocery store. After that we went to a cafe for lunch. Then we drove some carpools, ran some errands, more carpools, more errands. Then Lori made dinner of Myrna's mac and cheese. Then the exhaustion hit! I am so tired and I am going to crawl into bed soon. They change the clocks tonight too so we lose an hour tonight. More after Shabbos!

...and more houses.....

I think I have seen every house for sale in Hashmonaim! The day started bring and early at 7:30. Michelle took me to see the house they rented while they were building at a little after 8. I really liked this house a lot. It is a single family house(just for those of you who don't know-houses here are either single family at 600 meters or duplexes, Du mishpachti-or Du's for short and a Du is 300 meters) with a lot of beautiful landscaping around it and a nice driveway. The inside is very nice with a total of 6 bedrooms and 3 and a half bathrooms. Large nice kitchen, laundry room and a large attic with plenty of room for kids to play, family room, storage etc. We are waiting to find out a price on this one but this is looking like the best option. I am not so confident we will get it as we always get our hope up and then don't get what we want, so we will see. After we got back I went out again with the woman here who does the real estate. She showed me a very nice rental possibility if we get to that point, 2 more fixer uppers and one new house being built. Then we stopped at her house and turns out she sells Imaga hats-so I bought 2 really cute ones. Then I went around with the builder we were going to build with initially before we realized he can't get us any land and then I went out with the guy who has the land and wont sell it to our builder. I think I am better off avoiding that whole situation, which is why it would be nice to get a already built. Plus if they build(either one of them) we get a Du rather than a single family. By the time I finished all of these errands it was already 3:30. I got back to Michelle and Davids and had a glass of water and then Lori came to pick me up. We went to a Naot sale that was so great!! Apparently the Yishuv has all these sales of different things at discounted prices. I got 2 cute pair of Naot, one are black sandals and the other brown Mary Jane's. Then I went with Lori to the makolet and we went to her house where we had dinner and chatted. Dov was telling me all about his trying out for some baseball team that goes to the Chez republic and competes. He really got so grown up! It was cute! At about 9 Lori drove me back to the Kaplansky's and we stopped in to a neighbors who had a clothing/jewelry/scarf/hat sale. I bought a few scarves that were cheap. I am now back at the Kaplansky's and I need to turn on the dude shemesh(water heater) so I can take a shower in a half hour. Good night!!!

Houses coming out of my ears!

After I landed this morning at about 8am Tuesday I met up with Adam Fishman and he and I waited for Cheryl to take us from the airport to Modiin. They dropped me off at the Gerson's so I could admire Lori's cute belly and unload a suitcase. It is so great being back and seeing them again. Then we found out that I needed to be in Hashmonaim in 5 minutes to see houses, so Seth brought me to Hashmonaim and I was schmoozing with David and Michelle Kaplansky when the woman/Realtor called in a frenzy that we need to leave NOW! So Michelle brought me to her house and from there I saw a house, followed by another house, followed by another house...and it goes on and on and on...with her I saw 9 houses in about an hour and a half. Problem is I am exhausted and she is in a hurry so I can't remember which house was which and how many bed rooms/bathroom each had. I was taking digital pictures(not that I would remember which picture was of which house) but then in the middle my camera died and I didn't have extra batteries with me since I left in such a hurry. I do remember this....none of the houses was remarkable enough that I could say THIS IS IT. I basically saw 9 houses each with one major unfixable flaw. One had a stair case that was messed up and you would bump your head down each time you went, one had no dining room/living room, one had no play area, a few were just too tiny with no room for repairs. After I saw the 9 Michelle took me to see a house that belongs to a friend of hers and she took me to the school and makolet to get a feeling for the neighborhood. Michelle and David also took me to see a few that this woman didn't take me to. I am going with her again tomorrow morning so it is possible that I will find "it" tomorrow? I am just really confused. The builder we were looking to work with told me he has land for us now but he isn't sure how much. Then everyone says I should look into this other builder...I think maybe tomorrow after my head has cleared it will be better...maybe? After many house visits I hung out at the Kaplansky's making plans etc. Then we sat down for an hour to decide where to eat dinner. We went to a milchig restaurant that Seth and Lori brought us to in November that was really good. Now I am back at their house about to collapse and with a busy day ahead of me. I am going to take a shower and then crash! Good night(or afternoon)!

One Hour and 8 minutes

One Hour and 8 minutes. That is what the screen on the plane says…1 hour and 8 minutes until I land. Just a word about that screen that shows how much time you have been on the flight, how much time is left and what time it is. Who thought this would be a good idea??? Every 5 minutes I look at it thinking an hour has passed and am greatly disappointed to find I am wrong. So pretty much the past 10 hours has been broken down into 5-minute intervals. It is now 10:28pm in Chicago and I just ate breakfast. This has been a very boring flight. I have a window seat and luckily there isn’t anyone in the seat next to me. I slept for about an hour and a half, have watched the movie The Family Stone 3 times and the same episode of Friends, Everyone Loves Raymond and King of Queens 3 times. I finished 700 Sundays by Billy Crystal (fantastic book but not a good choice for a public read-I couldn’t stop crying and of course didn’t have any Kleenex) and am half way through another book. Interestingly enough I met a family member on the flight who I have never met before. Moshe Terin who I think is married to Josh’s second cousin once removed-I think-he wasn’t so sure either but his asking me if Josh ever figured out how to Lain led me to believe that he hadn’t seen Josh since before his Bar Mitzvah. I will post this as soon as I get an Internet connection and then will continue to update you all on the goings on in Israel. I am going to fill out my visa form now and then hope that another 5 minutes has passed!

Shoes, Shoes and more Shoes

After Danya and Jordy got bored playing in the basement this morning Danya decided to try on the roller blades that were supposed to fit her 2 years ago and she put on her helmet and knee pads and elbow pads and rode around the house. After that we got them dressed and I loaded them into the car. We went on a nice long drive to Northbrook Court for the buy one get one half off sale at Stride Rite(which to us is buy 3 get 3 half off). Danya and Jordy each got gym shoes, shabbos shoes and sandals. It is always funny buying them shoes because Jordy has an extra wide foot and Danya a wide foot so I don't go pick out shoes and ask if they have them in their sizes, I have their feet measured and they bring out whatever they have in their size. So for Jordy there was only 1 pair of gym shoes, 1 pair of sandals and 3 pairs to choose from of Shabbos shoes(we picked the cheapest). For Danya there was only 1 sandal that fit her well, 1 shabbos shoes and a few gym shoes but she picked out the one she liked the best. One hour, 6 pairs of shoes, 2 crabby kids! We then went to go visit Bubby Gladys at the nursing home. She was thrilled to see them(I confess we don't get there often enough) and they were thrilled to see her until they realized there was a waterfall with real fish! So they pretty much hung out by the fish. My parents were there visiting as well, so we got to see everyone. The kids got bored pretty quickly and they were hungry, so we headed home pretty quickly. We got home, the kids ate and played while I did a little organizing and then after much procrastination dove into the painful task of doing my taxes. Of course this took longer than I would have liked, but i think once it takes more than 5 minutes it is longer than I would have liked. After the tax stuff my parents came over with dinner and the kids were happy since Saba brought Danya a barbie doll and Jordy a train for his Thomas set. They happily ate their Hot Dogs and fries while Jordy started one of his favorite games which is telling Knock Knock jokes. The thing is he knows 2 and he tells them wrong every time. Then he makes them up and they aren't funny. Plus, I always tell him the same joke and he always cracks up. So we listened to about a thousand bad Knock Knock jokes. After dinner I went over the tax stuff with my Dad while Josh gave the kids a bath. After bath time my dad left and my mom tucked in Danya and I got Jordy into bed. Now we are onto our usual Sunday night of Sopranos and Grey's Anatomy. Then I think I might begin packing since I am leaving tomorrow morning. So the next post I put up will be from Israel and I will share all of my adventures!

Sing me a lullaby

Friday we did the usual. After I drove carpool home I went to run a few pre-Israel errands. I needed to get a couple things at Best Buy. Of course of the 4 things I needed they only had one. Josh suggested that we buy headsets for our laptops so that we can talk over IM. They weren't too expensive so I picked those up. We tested them and they work really well. This should work well when I am Israel and Josh is at work and the calling card is expensive and the cell phone minutes are expensive. I will report back! Then I went to one of those Indian stores on Devon to buy a adaptor plug for my laptop. When I got home Danya and Jordy were playing nicely at the table. Danya was drawing pictures upon Jordy's request. It was really cute. At bed time on Friday night Danya and Jordy both went into bed nicely but neither of them wanted to go to sleep. Danya was content laying in bed but when Jordy isn't tired he starts to sing songs. So first he was singing the ABC's then Danya started talking to him. She said "Jordy, can you sing me a song?" So he said "Yeah, what should I sing? Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star?" "Sure" then he proceeded to sing twinkle twinkle. After he finished singing that Danya asked him to sing her a lullaby to help her fall asleep(She often asks for a lullaby and either falls asleep during them or pretends to fall sleep during them). So Jordy sang her a lullaby but the really funny part is that Jordy doesn't really understand the tune to a lullaby and he just keeps singing and singing and singing. So Josh and I were sitting on the couch trying not to laugh too loud because it was hysterical and then Danya say "Jordy, can you stop singing?". It was way too funny! Shabbos was nice. Josh came home from shul and actually got Jordy dressed so we got to go. After Shul we went to Schuyler and Sarah's for lunch. We had a really nice time and the kids played nicely most of the time. Of course we had to leave with a tantrum, but otherwise it was nice. We went home and the kids played while we slept(they were going to take a nap too but that plan got scratched). After shabbos they ate dinner and went to bed. I went to Target and Jewell and now off to sleep!

Last minute travel plans

This morning was a busy one! When Josh woke up he told me he was on the phone until 2am with people in Israel. Turns out that Michelle Kaplansky looked at a few houses for us and she says it is worthwhile for one of us to get there before Pesach and take a look at what is there. This is all happening since the original plan of buying land and building isn't really working out so well and it is getting closer and closer to August and we still have no place to live. I drove carpool and while picking up Avery Lisa called on my cell to tell me they named their cutie Michal Avigayil. I got to work and proceeded to call the travel agent. Well I give him a lot of credit because within an hour he had me on a flight on Monday returning the following Monday-a direct flight from OHare! The best part was that it was a very reasonable price. So now I am going to Israel on Monday. I rented a cell phone, made arrangements with Michelle to stay with them, talked to Lori who offered to pick me up at the airport and scheduled a few appointments to see houses. Funny how this took 3 months to plan last time and less then 4 hours to plan this time!!! Then I spent the rest of the day working non-stop since I will be away for a week and want to be all caught up before I leave. I stayed late at work and when I got home Danya and Jordy had already eaten dinner. Jordy played his favorite game of unload the groceries. Then I went with Danya and Jordy to the basement where we watched the beginning of the movie Ice Age(it was on cable) and we had a good laugh-I thought Danya was going to hyperventilate she was laughing so hard. After the kids went to bed I spent some time making lists and discussing our housing possibilities and making plans. Nothing too exciting! Since I didn't take any pictures of Danya and Jordy I thought I would share one of Michal Avigayil Balsam!

New Books

This morning was our usual rush to the door. Jordy was really sad and crabby and I was worried he was getting sick. I tried distracting him this morning showing him the book I bought at the book fair last night at conferences. I found this really cute book called My Hebrew First Words book that has basic Hebrew words and their pictures. He was happy with that and completely forgot to be crabby by the time I got out the door. I drove carpool and then headed for work. After I got home Danya and Jordy were playing so nicely in the basement that I used that time to do some of my give or get work for Arie Crown. I do some work on their cookbook, calling bookstores and placing orders. So I did that for a while and got some orders in. Then I gave the kids some dinner and let them play some more. I read them the other book I bought Oh The Pets You Can Get. It was cute and they were laughing. Then they decided they were going to sleep and created their own bunk bed in the basement with Danya's bed being the desk and Jordy's bed being under the desk. Before they went to bed I showed them the pictures of their new cousin. Danya thought she was so cute and Jordy thought she was yucky, probably because the first picture he saw of her was before the nurses cleaned her off and she was a little gross. Then they went to bed and now I get to relax!

A New Girl Cousin!!!!

As you can see from the title of this post, we have a new niece/cousin!!! Lisa and Nafi had a beautiful baby girl today. She is 7lbs. 3oz. and 19 inches(I think?) and she was born at 11:29am. Mom and baby are doing well! Danya was so excited that it was a girl! When I told her she yell "yeah, now we have another girl in our family!!!". Jordy could have cared less.
On to our regular day...We did our usual rush out of bed running late morning. Danya didn't want to go to school today because she doesn't like Tuesday since they have music class and she doesn't like music class. I haven't figured out why because each Tuesday she tells me about the fun thing they did in music. Anyhow, after school I came home to report on the new baby. Then Danya and Jordy made some sort of art project with paint. Then I made dinner while Josh got to play The My Little Pony Boring Game. I left to go to Arie Crown for conferences after that. Danya's Morah said she is doing great and is really picking up the Hebrew and she thinks she will be fine in Israel. Her teacher also said she is doing better. She sometimes has a hard time when she doesn't get what she wants, but who doesn't??? Her teacher also told me that Danya needs speech therapy. I had noticed a few weeks ago that she has trouble with her S's but I thought it was since she lost her tooth since I was just noticing it. So the teacher said she brought her to the therapist and she said she can work with her. Luckily this is something that is done during school and I don't need to make an appointment for etc. After that I went to the mall to pick up some pants for Jordy for Pesach and a couple other things. I talked to Lisa for a while and now I am about to collapse...but I need to see pictures of my niece(and you can see them too...onlysimchas)..then i can sleep!

Super kids

We of course over slept this morning, which happens pretty much every morning. So we were rushing out the door this morning. Danya insisted on bringing her new My Little Pony to school. She said all the other kids bring toys and the Morah's allow it. I wanted to give her the old line of "If every other kid jumped off the Brooklyn bridge would you?" but I think she is too young to appreciate it. We were in too much of a hurry to fight with her so gave in warning her if she lost it that I don't want to hear her complain. When I came home she told me that she left it at school on accident but she was confident that it was on the Morah's desk and she would get it back tomorrow. Jordy was happy to unload the yogurt from the bags I brought home today(I do most of my shopping on my lunch break at work, so I often come home with bags from the fruit store, Hungarian, a trip to the library etc..And each day when I walk through the door Jordy wants to see what I have). He had a fun time stacking them high and then he insisted on eating one. Which is a whole other argument in our house. Danya loves yogurt and always finishes hers and Jordy like to open the yogurt but never eats his and usually spills it all over. But...I can't stop buying them because Danya eats them and don't want to discourage Jordy from eating it, but he never finishes it. Each time I throw out an untouched yogurt from Jordy I say I won't buy another one but then we run out and Danya begs for them. This is an ongoing crisis in our home! Anyhow, after a snack/dinner of yogurt and cucumbers Danya and Jordy were running around playing and tackling each other. Then Jordy decided he wanted to make his blanket into a cape, so I tied it best I could as his cape. Of course Danya wanted to do the same. They ran around for a bit and then we went upstairs to play the My Little Pony board game(which would be better titled My Little Pony BORING Game). We played this until the doorbell rang. The heater repair man came by. I reported about how Josh repaired the heat but ever since then it has smelled like gas. Josh thought I was crazy and insisted he didn't smell it. I decided I would rather be safe than sorry so I had him come out. Sure enough there was a little leak. It was worth it to me to pay the money just to be right and not think I am crazy(and also so our house wouldn't blow up). After that excitement the kids played some more and Josh came home from work. Shortly after I left for an Aliyah seminar. Just a word about the Aliyah seminar(since this blog was started to also keep track of the whole process)...This was the 3rd one I have been to. This one was about shippers and movers. It was really great to be able to ask all the dumb questions I had, like can I keep my clothes in my dresser or do I need to put them in boxes? Do I pack or do the shippers pack? And get some straight answers, but with each answer I get I worry more and more about the next step! For weeks all I could think about was packing, moving, shipping. Now that I have most all those answers I am worrying about the next thing. I guess this is just the beginning! I think I would feel a lot better if I knew where I was going to once I got off the airplane, and if I knew I had a place where I would put all of this stuff I am shipping. One day at a time, right??

Hair cuts all around

This morning we woke up at my parents house and the kids were happily playing but got dressed quickly when I told them to. Josh picked us up at about 9:30 to take us home where we wrapped the birthday present for Chana Abrams birthday party. Josh brought Danya to the party and then took Jordy to his parents to begin Pesach preparations. I got some quiet time at home and did some reading and took a nice nap. Everyone returned home about an hour and a half later. They ate some wacky Mac for lunch and were playing in the basement when Adina came over for a play date with Danya. All 3 kids played nicely for a few hours. After Adina was picked up I took Danya to get a hair cut and then we went to Osco with the money Danya had saved up to get the my little pony toy she insisted she really wanted and needed(she was short a dollar and has been offering to do any chores possible to earn the last dollar, which she did). We got home and Danya and Jordy played a little more and had some shabbos leftovers. Then Uncle Danny surprised us with a visit. We hasn't seen him in a while since he had been in Israel so it was good catching up and hearing about his adventures. He played with Danya and Jordy for a while, trying to teach Jordy how to throw a ball. Jordy was kind of getting it for a little while. A funny story about when Danny was here. Danny was telling me a story and he used the word stupid and the kids both froze and Jordy told him "Uncle Danny, don't say stupid, that's a bad word, no calling names". Danny thought it was funny that he was getting told on by his 3 year old nephew. After Danny left Josh gave Jordy his haircut. This was the first time Jordy let Josh cut his hair without flipping out. So now Jordy looks like he could enlist in the army. Danya and Jordy had baths and off to bed.

Brrrrrrrrr!!!!!

Friday was typical. Got Danya out of the house in the morning and headed to work. After work I picked up carpool and came home to get ready for Shabbos. Danya and Jordy played a cute game in which they needed to wear their slippers and dance around the kitchen. This of course was cute but not the most convenient place to play while I was cooking for Shabbos. Josh made it home about 16 seconds before the 18 minutes was over. We had a nice semi-quiet dinner. Danya and Jordy were happily playing for so long we didn't even notice that it was 9:30 before we benched. As we were heading up to bed we noticed that the heater was making it's noise that it always makes when it breaks(which is always on a shabbos...Murphy's law). Sure enough we woke up Shabbos morning freezing cold. When it was time to get ready for shul Jordy pulled his game again about how he didn't want to go and he wouldn't get dressed. I felt really bad because Danya was all dressed and really wanted to go. But we didn't make it. Josh finally came home with the Amsters and we quickly decided that we should load up the food and move to their house since it was 62 degrees. It was a little embarrassing to be pulling a red wagon with a cholent in it, but we made it without too many stares. We stayed there for most of the day and headed home right before shabbos was over. After shabbos Josh determined that the heat wasn't something he could fix. We had to be at the Arie Crown auction an hour later and had a babysitter lined up so we made a few calls to see who was home and we ended up picking up the babysitter and bringing her and the kids to my parents house to sleep over. Josh and I went to the Arie Crown auction where we ate a ton of Chinese food and bought nothing. It was nice to get out. After bringing the babysitter home Josh was able to get the heat working but I stayed at my parents since the kids were already sleeping there.

Snowy Day

Well things are defiantly back to normal here...Danya did not want to get her shoes and jacket on and had a tantrum this morning when I rushed her into the car this morning for carpool. She of course calmed down after a few minutes. I got home a few minutes late today since there was a gross snow storm here this afternoon causing everyone to drive 2 mph. When I got home Danya and Jordy were happy to see me and Jordy immediately went through the groceries I brought home looking for something for him. He was slightly disappointed when he saw raw chicken, potatoes and Challah. Oh well! After Alex left Jordy wanted a cup of water but he wanted me to get him the cup and he wanted to fill it with the water himself. So he moved the kitchen chair to the sink and was really proud of himself when he filled the cup with water and then drank it(**Just a note about the picture...My children prefer to wear no clothing, so please don't take offense to the picture of him in his underoos). He and Danya continued to play and watched an episode of Dora the Explorer. After Josh came home he gave them a bath. I took Jordy to dry him off and get him into bed. His arms were wrapped into his towel and he had a drop of water dripping into his eye. As he was trying to pull his arm out I was unwrapping him and his arm flung right into his eye. I thought he was going to go crazy crying but he started cracking up...The kind of laughing where you can't catch your breath laughing, he thought it was hysterical. Then I got him into bed and tucked him in. I went to tuck Danya in but she requested Josh tuck her in like Bubs and Pops used to tuck him into bed when he was a little boy. Now I am going to go cook for Shabbos!

Trip to Hungarian

Well today was a semi-normal day. School started an hour late today since everyone was recovering from Purim. It was nice since I am usually rushing Danya out the door in the morning. This morning she had plenty of time to play, eat, watch a show and get dressed. She didn't even complain when I told her to put her shoes on. It was a nice for a change. When I came home from school Danya told me all about her field trip to the kosher grocery store Hungarian. She wasn't all that impressed but there was one part that made her very happy, she got to see them making potato kugel!!! Danya loves potato kugel and would eat it for 3 meals a day if we let her. So that was the highlight of the day. Then Danya and Jordy got their bathing suits on and went to the basement to play swimming pool. Which then turned into another of their favorite games Danya and Jordy Land. This entails them collecting all their blankets and pillows and piling them on the floor and singing a song about Danya and Jordy Land and then jumping into the pile of blankets and pillows. They ate some dinner and then I went out as soon as Josh came home from work with the girls for Girls Night Out, so I can't comment on their bedtime ritual. (I hope you enjoy the picture that Danya took of her favorite stuffed animal so cleverly named Mousie).

Chag Samech!!!

After realizing that the 8:30 Megillah reading I was going to really started at 8 Danya and I left to go deliver Shalach Manot. Danya was really excited when she realized that sometimes when you give someone a Shalach Manot they give you one in return! She couldn't believe how much junk food she got! We took a break from delivering so I could hear Megillah at 11 and then went back to Shalach Manot. We hadn't delivered Shalach Manot for a few years as we always sent through the Yeshiva but this year we went back to the old fashioned way for the ones in our neighborhood-I forgot how long it takes to do all that Shalach Manot delivering! Danya and Jordy spent the rest of the afternoon eating tons of candy while i ran to work for a few hours. Then Josh and I came home and picked up our costumed kids and headed to a Seudah/Misabah at Rina and Eitan Dickman's house. Man was it a P-A-R-T-Y! They had a clown and face painting in their basement for the kids and then they had a tent in their yard for the seudah and a band that helped keep us entertained(the real entertainment was watching all the men who wouldn't know Haman or Mordechai if they were standing in the middle of a room holding up a sign with their name). Danya spent the whole evening with Benyamin Dickman who has a serious crush on her. He kept holding her hand...It was really cute....Here are a few cute pictures of them! Jordy really liked the clown and keeps talking about how he juggled and was so funny! Jordy and I left a little earlier than Josh and Danya since it was getting late but they are both home and exhausted from all the Purim excitement!

Happy Purim!

Another busy day! It started out normal. Danya not wanting to get her shoes and jacket on for carpool. I went to work and the kids did their usual school/Alex. I stopped on my way home to pick up a costume we were borrowing for Jordy from the Ripsteins. When i got home Jordy tried on the froggy costume and he loved it! Then Danya wanted to make shalach manot for her friends. We counted out enough paper bags for the girls in her class. Then I told her to decorate the bags with her crayons(in order to buy a few minutes to assemble the Hamantaschen dough that needs to refrigerate for an hour). When she started coloring Jordy sat next to her at the table and picked one of the bags and started coloring. Danya didn't like this at first so I told her that I would give her another bag. After about 5 minutes she completed 1 bag. I told her she needed to color all of them. She whined "All of them, that will take forever". At which point Jordy announced that he was done coloring the one he was working on. Danya quickly decided that Jordy was her worker and said OK Jordy, we have to finish all these bags, so color this one next and gave him another bag. I was so proud, her own little sweat factory! Danya and Jordy finished their shalach manot assembly line and Jordy did a little painting. After Josh came home we all got ready and the kids got their costumes on and we left for shul. Of course we left in a rush(as we always do) and I forgot my camera, sorry, no pictures.
At shul Josh took Danya into the "quiet" megillah reading since she is scared of the gregor noise and i took Jordy to the loud one. He sat nicely until the first Haman and we found that he doesn't like the gregor noise either. So he and I hung out in the hall the rest of the time. I was happy that Danya made it through the whole reading. After Megillah we stayed at shul for the break the fast dinner. After stuffing our faces we were entertained by the break dancers who dance at halftime at the United Center at Bulls games. It was very cool(Jordy's words). Josh brought the kids home after the dinner at about 9 and i went to the Amsters for Megillah reading take 2. I came home and made some Hamantaschen for Josh to take to work and assembled our Shalach Manot and now off to bed.

She ate mashed potatoes

Today was a busy day! After breakfast Danya put on her Purim costume and we headed out to the Arie Crown Purim carnival. Danya and Jordy had a great time playing games and winning prizes. After the carnival Danya went to Adina's for a playdate. I brought Jordy home and tried to get him to take a nap, something that I am never successful at. He played happily in his crib for an hour and then wanted out. I took him out and we drove to the park where Josh was playing roller hockey. Jordy was very excited to see Josh playing hockey but when Josh came over to say hi to us Jordy told him to go back and play hockey. We left the park and drove to the hospital to visit Bubby Gladys. Jordy was a little freaked out at the beginning I think more from all the other people, Cousin Janice was there with Auntie Thel and Uncle Eli along with Savta. Once everyone walked into the hall Jordy happily offered Bubby a cracker. Bubby told us about how she ate mashed potatoes for lunch. Later in the conversation I told Jordy to offer bubby a cracker and he said "She ate mashed potatoes". Bubby thought that was funny. Jordy fell asleep on the ride home of course. When we got home he woke up as I took him out of the car. So we turned around and went to the grocery store. After shopping we went to the Drapkin's to pick up Danya. When we got home Danya ate the hot dog that Tami gave her. Jordy ate dinner and they played for a while until bedtime. Once they went to bed Josh and I settled in for an evening of The Sopranos and Grey's Anatomy.

Shabbos

Friday night was a nice quiet evening. Before dinner Danya wanted to put on puppet show of the story of purim. She had made puppets of all the people in the megillah in school. She put on a VERY entertaining play that was quite accurate. We were impressed that she had learned so much. The play was hysterical and Jordy was cracking up! After her play we had dinner and then did some reading and went to bed.
Shabbos morning Jordy did something he has never done before, he jumped out of his crib. Why he is still in the crib is a whole other story, he switches from crib to toddler bed pretty often but has been favoring the crib lately. Anyhow I am pretty sure Danya encouraged him to jump out on to a pillow that she strategically placed on the floor next to his bed. He made it out without breaking anything although he cried a little bit which leads me to believe he wont do it again. Danya and Jordy played nicely in the morning and then I went to get them dressed to take them to shul except Jordy would not get dressed. He insisted that he wanted to only wear his Aleph Bet t-shirt and was very stubborn. So...Josh realized we weren't at shul and came home to get us. He ended up taking Danya with him while I stayed home with Jordy trying to get him to get dressed. In the end we never made it to shul.
During lunch Danya was talking about her dress so I asked her if she knows how to say dress in Hebrew(this is a game we play often) and she said yes, Dresselah. Apparently she thinks that Hebrew is just English with a funny pronunciation! Man is she going to be disappointed when we get to Israel and nobody understands her!
After lunch we took the kids to the park since it was such a beautiful day. They happily played for an hour and then we headed home. Danya and Jordy played for a while while Josh and I napped/yelled at them to be quiet. After Shabbos Danya and Jordy had some soup with Kanadel and then went to bed since they were exhausted. Josh and I actually got a babysitter and went to a Evan Shisaya concert to see Zev Goldberg play. When we got there we realized that Zev is no longer in their band since he has started his own. So we stayed for a few songs and then went to Taboun.
I didn't take any pictures of the kids tonight since they were just going to bed after shabbos but I connected the camera to my computer and realized that there were some pictures of Jordy playing with his cousin Yoni, so here is a picture from that. More pictures to come tomorrow!

Welcome!

Welcome to my Blog! I started it to share the boring details of our daily lives with everyone who wants to know them. So if you are so inclined you can check this out from time to time and see what we are up to and maybe I will actually pick up that camera that I have collecting dust and put up some pictures of Danya and Jordy(I know, I know-you thought I didn't know how to work the camera since I never send pictures). That is all for now-Just a little introduction!