Thanks Gila!!!!

After dropping the kids at camp I realized that I left my cell phone at home which usually would just be an inconvenience but today Gila and I had lunch plans and we were going to call on the cells when we were ready, so I headed back to get my phone. Then I went back to Skokie to make a few returns at Old Orchard and attempt to track down an illusive bridesmaids dress for Avi and Eva's wedding to no avail! I should have ordered it online on Saturday night but I waited too long and they no longer have it in my size and now I am back to square one...ugh! Then I headed to the bank to discuss the many confusing banking issues that I probably should have dealt with a while back but haven't gotten around to. So here we are 2 weeks to D-day and dealing with the major issue of banking! Anyhow there are a few options and they aren't so difficult and aside from the bankers shock and amazement that I am moving away from Chicago to a war torn country it all went well. Then I headed to Slice of Life to meet Gila. I decided that I should treat her to lunch since she was going to treat me to an afternoon of packing! We had a nice lunch and then spend the next 3 hours packing! If you ever move I highly recommend Gila as a packer! She was bored with my Milchig dishes and complained that the 3 boxes that she packed were not a challenge and if I wanted to keep her the next hour she needed more of a challenge, so I led her to the basement of toys where she rolled up her sleeves and dug in! Within an hour she had 4 boxes of toys going! All in all there were 8 boxes sealed today! The kitchen is DONE! Danya came home and opened the milchig drawer to get a fork and said Hey, where is our silverware!!! Now that most of their toys are packed the kids are getting a little restless but we will try and keep them entertained! After I finished off the few boxes Gila left open with the help of my mom I got the kids in the car and we headed to Matthew and Marissa's house. We were excited to go there since this was our first visit plus Bubs and Pops were coming along with Becca, Elan and kids. We had a great dinner and the kids all had a great time playing! I was surprised with a birthday cake which I was really not expecting until Jordy sat next to me as they were getting dessert ready and said he wanted a piece of Birthday Cake. Josh took the kids home while I stayed to look at the wedding pictures and then I headed back. I was welcomed by a newly bathed Jordy who threw up after they got home. Everyone went to bed and I cataloged all the days packing and am heading to bed!

Danya's party

We slept at my in-laws on Friday night after having dinner with the newlyweds. On Saturday morning we walked back to our neck of the woods even though there was a excessive heat warning since the shul sponsored kiddush in honor of our Aliyah. It was a very nice kiddush and I talked to some people in the shul for the first time in 7 years! Then we went to Schuyler and Sarah's house for lunch with Missy, Dina and Gabe. We had a great lunch and the kid had a great time playing up until the end. It is only a fun afternoon if you leave having a temper tantrum. We got home and collapsed in the nice cool air conditioning. After shabbos ended I went back to packing mode and packed 2 and a half boxes. Then this morning I packed and packed and packed. My parents took Danya and Jordy out to lunch so it made it easier for me to pack the basement. I packed 6 and a half today! I also did a lot of prep and organizing so that tomorrow I should get a bunch done. Then this evening Danya had the girls over from her class for a going away party. The girls were all happy to be together. They enjoyed their pizza and ice cream and generally seemed happy to spend time together. After they left Danya was putting some cream on her foot and Jordy wanted to know why she was putting whipped cream on her foot...that was cute! Then Danya had a while tantrum before bed about why we are moving and she won't see her friends.

I'm Tired

After I posted last night I packed 3 more boxes! I finally went to bed at 1. Then at 4 Jordy woke up! He came and insisted on sleeping in my bed. I insisted on him using his own pillow but he insisted on sharing a blanket with me(which involved a lot of kicking). Around 6:30 he was pretty much up for the day. Then he decided that he should wake Danya up...poor Danya! She may have slept another hour! When I brought her to camp she asked me if I could bring her home so she could go to sleep. Then I ran more and more errands. I went to my last Aliyah meeting. This was an important one...the one where they tell you what you need to do when you get off the airplane and what documents you need when you go to all the government offices. Then I was going to come home and pack except I am so tired from my lack of sleep that I did some more organizing but no packing. My mom brought the kids home after they had dinner so they pretty much came home and went to bed and that is where I am heading!

Beds...check

This morning it took a little longer to get out of the house since I had one extra kid to get out the door, as Adina slept over last night! Once we walked out we turned around and came right back in again. It was raining(I hadn't noticed) so we came back for rain coats. After drop off I made a quick stop at Dominick's to buy Onion Powder since rumor has it that the Onion Powder in Israel isn't the same. Then I came home, did some sorting and then headed out to the Mattress King. I bought beds for our guest bedroom which was very exciting since that was the last major purchase on our list before the move. So I got to check that off the list...hooray! The rest of the day was driving D&J home, organizing and packing. Alex took D&J to the park this afternoon so that was a nice break and they were thrilled! That is about all I have to report for today! Now I am going back to my Google search for kid sized headphones. Anyone have any advice??? I can't seem to find any...there was one but I can't find them for sale anywhere...Oh well! Night!

Hooray for Gila!!!

Another busy day! The events of this morning seem so distant now! After dropping off the kids I headed to the mattress store to buy a bed for our guest bedroom. The only problem was it was 9:35 and the store didn't open until 11. So I had to change my whole morning plans. I stopped at Old Orchard to buy sponges at Crate and Barrel and of course got side tracked at the Ann Taylor loft where I bought a skirt. I stopped at my parents house to pick something up and drop something off. Then I went to the Dr. where it was my turn to get the Hep. A vaccine. Then I went to my daily trip to Linens and Things(it is either there or Bed Bath and Beyond everyday lately!). Then I picked up Jordy and we went to buy milk. On the way to CVS to buy milk I was talking to Josh on my cell phone and Jordy asked if I was talking to Daddy so I said yes and he asked if Daddy was coming home for a play date today. I thought that was funny! I asked him if he wanted Daddy to come over for a play date and he said yes. After the milk run we went home where Gila met us. Gila then went straight to work and packed boxes #33, 34 and most of 35! She really worked hard!!! After she left Jordy and I ran to go get Danya but my van had a flat tire! So I called my mom and luckily she was home and able to go get her. In the meantime I was able to fill the tire and hopefully it will stay full! Since my mom was already over we went through the pantry and she took stuff she wanted since I am cleaning out. Then Josh came home and we started getting dinner ready when the doorbell rang. It was Rina and Benyamin. They came to say hi since they couldn't make it to the party the other night. We had a nice visit with them and while they were over Shlomo dropped off Adina for her sleepover. All the kids played nicely. After Benny left Danya, Adina and Jordy went to watch a show in the basement and then they headed for bed. I then continued the organization and packing of the kitchen and completed box #35. Now I am going to bed!

The Beginning of the End

I have been getting some criticisms on the fact that I haven't reported since I packed box #31 so here is the update(although I really only packed #32 today!). Last week was filled with errands for the move. I did a bunch of sorting out and organizing to prepare for the next stage of packing. Last week at camp the kids had holiday week and they came home with projects about the different holidays which was really cute. So here are a few pictures of Jordy eating the hamantashen he made! Alex came by one day to visit the kids which was a treat, Jordy got a Hep. A vaccine, we had a girls breakfast out etc. etc. On Friday Lisa, Nafi and the kids came to town. We spent Shabbos at my parents with them. On Sunday morning I went to a shower for Eva which was a lot of fun! Later Sunday we said goodbye to the Balsams. Then we headed to our going away party which was hosted by a bunch of our friends. It was a fantastic BBQ and we had a great time! We really were sad for the party to end because we were having so much fun! Of course we realized as it ended that we never took pictures...So Avi or Gila...When you read this if you could e-mail me those pictures we took at the end..Thanks!!! Thank you so much to all our friends...We really had the best time and we can't put into words what your friendships mean to us! After the party we came home and waited up a little to call our lawyer in Israel. For those of you who hadn't heard the story, the guy who is selling us our house decided last week he wanted to break the contract. So we have been waiting all week to get a final answer from him(and our lawyer has been working hard). Well he sent us an e-mail earlier on Sunday saying we should call him but we got it too late in the afternoon to call. So we called later and he said that the owner agreed to sell and he got him to sign another document saying he is selling it. So we are back on track! Today, Monday, before camp we went to Dr. Goldberg for Danya to get the Hep A vaccine. We also said goodbye to Dr. Goldberg(in hopes that we don't need to visit him in the next few weeks)and took a picture with Dr. G so we can send it to him to hang on him wall. Then I took the kids to camp. Then I headed to the dentist where I got a monster cavity filled. I tried with no novocaine but it was so deep that it went into my gums that there was no way I could handle it...I wimped out and asked for the Novocaine. I was there for an hour it was so bad! Then I headed home to begin the kitchen packing! Box #32 is complete and hopefully tomorrow we will get #'s 33-35 at least! The fleshig side of my kitchen is all cleared out! Weird!!! That's about it for now! I will try to do better on keeping my loyal readers entertained on a daily basis! So happy to hear I have so many loyal readers!!!

Box #31

After dropping the kids at camp I stopped at the dentist office and picked up the kids dental records, went to the eye doctor and picked up a glasses prescription and my records and then bought a new pair of glasses. After that I came home to pack box #31. I was really excited because in the back of Jordy's closet(amongst some of my other clothes) I found a skirt I have been trying to find for the longest time! I picked up Jordy and we went to the store. Later we picked up Danya and then headed to Rebecca's so the kids could play in the pool and the sprinkler. They had a blast! Then we headed home for dinner and bed!

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot

Man is it hot today!!! They said it is in the 90's but with the heat index it feels like 105. I believe it! I ran some errands this morning and then after I picked Jordy up we went to the post office to mail out some of my ebay sales. Then we stopped at Bagel Country for some ice cream. Then we went home to the comfort of the air conditioning. The thermostat is set at 73 but it has been holding at around 78-80 for the past 2 days. We picked Danya up and then came back home. They played and ate dinner. Then Savta came to babysit while Josh and I went out to dinner with Schuyler and Sarah. We had a great time with them(I know you guys are reading this!)and came home stuffed and exhausted!

Weekend

Friday Danya and Jordy were a little tired but they were happy to be back in camp. We did a lot of laundry and a lot of cleaning up. I ran some errands and did some packing. Then I packed for Shabbos. Friday was Alex's last day working for us and we had a tearful goodbye. She brought gifts for everyone and we gave her a gift. We were sad but I reassured the kids we would see her before we leave and we will see her when we come in for Avi and Eva's wedding. Then we headed to Bubs and Pops house for Shabbos. On Saturday morning we woke up to the hottest day of the summer yet. I took the kids to shul where we met Josh and then we walked to Gila and Avi's house for lunch. It was a VERY hot walk! We had a great time at lunch with the Needles and Missy and crew. We ended up staying until about 6pm! Then we loaded the kids up and headed back into the heat to Bubs and Pops! They couldn't believe we had returned and didn't just stay home! The kids played and ate dinner and went to bed. When Shabbos was over we left the kids there and went home. We went out bowling with Zev and Becky and Tal(Orly isn't in town) and then to DaNali's. Today since the kids went with Bubs and Pops all day to Janice's beach house I got to sleep in. Then I did a lot of packing and organizing. Josh took a bike ride and then helped in the packing. After that we went out to dinner and back to work!

Pictures

I lied

OK, so I didn't post on Friday..I realized all our pictures were on Josh's computer which was with him at work. So I am posting now! On Sunday we went to Florida. We flew with my parents and our babysitter Alex. We rented a car which was supposed to be a 8 passenger mini-van but the rental car place was out of them so we had a 15 passenger cargo van! I felt like a bus driver! We drove to the house rental place, picked up our house keys and headed "home". We got to our Villa which was a 7 bedroom house with it's own private pool. The kids were excited and couldn't wait to go swimming. A little while later cargo van #2 drove up with the Balsams and the Kellmans and the fun began! After getting slightly settled in lain, my dad and I headed to our first trip to Publix grocery store. Where we used 2 shopping carts to get supplies! (Once bagged we needed a 3rd cart!). When we got home Josh, Nafi and Ari were in the pool with the kids having a blast! Josh fired up our charcoal grill and got moving on the Romanian hotdogs and chicken that I brought along. We had found buns, fries and other side stuff at the store. After dinner Jordy went to bed. Danya stayed up and joined us for girls swim. The pool was freezing since it was dark but we had a good time anyhow! After girls swim Danya went to bed and we planed to go to Disney Monday morning bright and early. On Monday morning we spent a while making lunches and then headed out to the park. Everyone had a great time and we really covered the whole park. Plus we saw Mickey and the parade(except Danya had to go to the bathroom so we missed some of it). A really funny thing was there is an area called toon town(or something like that) that has Mickey's and Minnie's house and you can go through it. Danya and Meira spent the whole time going "I can't believe we are in Minnie's house!". It was cute! After Disney One van took all the kids and most the adults back "home" while I took my parents and we drove for a half hour to pick up dinner from a milchig restaurant. Then we drove a half hour back. After we ate Alex, Lanie, Ari, Josh and I headed back to Disney for the fireworks(or should I say ran back?) and after the fireworks we went on one more ride and then saw the 11pm starlight parade. We got home about 12:30am. Tuesday morning My dad and I headed out at 6:45 for trip #2 to publix as we had underestimated the amount of lunch fixins we would need. When we got back we all made lunches and headed to Universal. At Universal we first took the kids on to the Shrek 4-D ride which scared the heck out of them(Jordy sat on my lap the whole time which his face covered crying "Is it over yet?"). After that bad call(although all the adults loved it!) we headed to the kiddie part of the park. We took them to a Barney show which they absolutely LOVED! Then they got to meet Barney which was even better!!! Then we ate lunch and tried to avoid all the rain. We got in line to take Danya, Jordy and Meira on the roller coaster but as we were about to get on it shut down due to storms. So we played in the ball pit area while most the adults went on ET. After that we took the kids to a water park part where they had a blast getting soaked! They also had a room that was like a ball pit that you could shoot the balls....I think Josh and Ari may have had more fun there than Jordy! After Universal we headed back for BBQ #2. Part of which had to be done under an umbrella(my umbrella will forever smell like chicken!). Then everyone pretty much collapsed. We were all too tired to go anywhere! Wednesday morning Josh, Nafi and Alex took the 4 older kids to Seaworld while the rest of us went outlet shopping. A good plan for everyone! The reports from Seaworld were great...Everyone had a god time there. We had a good time shopping. After shopping my dad and I hit Publix for the 3rd time getting dinner fixins. We made pasta and grillers and eggs(I had brought a few pots and a strainer along). After Publix my Dad and I drove the Kellman's to the airport as they were leaving tonight. When we got back the Seaworld crew was home and hungry! They were eating dinner. After dinner(and of course the daily required swimming!) we again all collapsed. We did a little packing too. Thursday morning I took the kids swimming for a little bit after packing. I figured we have a dryer lets take advantage of the pool in our backyard! So we swam again and had a good time! Then we got dressed, finished packing and headed out. We returned the keys to the house, brought back out school bus/rental car and checked in at the airport. The kids did pretty well on the plane back and we all survived!!! We had a great trip and we are looking forward to doing it again!!!!

It's been a while

I am too tired to write a real post but this is just to let you know that a REAL post but I wanted to let you know that tomorrow I will be catching you up on our trip to Florida and our Israel plans. See you tomorrow!!!

Monday and Tuesday-Party, party, party

On Monday I was hoping that the kids would sleep in but was disappointed when they woke up bright and early! We hung around the house for a while and then ran a few errands and then headed to Bubs and Pops to eat a belated brunch and for the kids to play with their cousins. There was apparently a miscommunication because not long after we got there David and Jodi took their kids and said they would be back in 15 minutes...2 1/2 hours later they returned. Danya and Jordy were quite bored and upset but were ready to finally go do something fun! We headed downtown to Navy Pier to poppy water for the kids to play in the water for a little bit before we had to be at Sheva Brachot. They had a great time. Then we went to Sheva Brachot number 1. We had a good time even thought Danya had a dozen tantrums because she was so tired and wanted a hotdog for dinner. We went to see the fireworks on the roof but had a bad view and we left since everyone was tired and crabby. This morning we slept a little later than usual and got dressed and headed to Avi and Eva's LaChaim. We had a great time there too! More food, more family, more fun! After the LaChaim we took it easy and rested until it was time for Sheva Brachot number 2. We headed out again for more food, family and fun! This one was a bit more casual as it was a BBQ in a backyard and the kids were able to run around and play. Everyone had a great time and now we are home getting ready for a "normal" day tomorrow! Here are some more pictures (the wedding ones are courtesy of Jodi B., Jeffrey B. and Reuven T.)! Enjoy!!!