Too Far Behind

I have gone way too many days without blogging and now I have SO much to write. I will start where we left off.
On Monday morning I was planning on leaving the house before everyone and I was going to have Danya walk to school and have Josh stay home with Jordy while I went to pick my mom up from the airport. I was surprised that Jordy woke up before I left and when I told him I was going to pick up Savta he asked if he could come with. I decided that there was really no reason he couldn't since she had already had the pox and he would just be sitting in the car. So I took him with me and we went to go get Savta. Of course I accidentally took the wrong lane at the airport and drove into short term parking rather than arrivals, so it took a few minutes longer than it should have. We finally got to Savta and Jordy was very excited to surprise her. We loaded all of her luggage and headed back. We went to Savta/Lisa's house first. Since Michali was asleep and Lisa's other kids were at school Jordy got to come into the house. He stayed while Savta unpacked some of his chanukah presents(Thanks to all the Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents who sent gifts!) until Josh came to pick him up/take the car. Once Jordy was gone we decided to begin our shopping expedition. We loaded Michali into the car and we headed to Petach Tikva to Kolav Sagol, the fantastic hat store. We spent WAY too long there and what I am guessing my Dad is going to consider WAY too much money as well! Then we stopped at the Aleph grocery store which is more than anything, something to see because it is the biggest grocery store that I have ever seen in Israel. We bought a few things there and headed back. After Danya came home from school she headed to English and then got to go to the Balsam house to see Savta. At dinner time Savta came to our house since we couldn't all get together due to the pox. On Tuesday morning Lisa, Savta and I all headed to the mall after getting all the kids to their places. We spent a nice morning strolling through Malcha and browsing the stores. No visit to the mall is complete without a stop at Pizza Hut, so we had lunch there. In the afternoon Danya returned to her swimming lessons which she is still loving! Tuesday evening Danny came over for his Tuesday night visit(have I mentioned that he teaches in Modiin on Tuesday afternoon so he comes over every Tuesday night to visit/do laundry/raid the refrigerator?). Shortly after he arrived Josh left to pick my mom up and the 2 of them headed to the funeral of Shirley Rothner. Wedensday morning Lisa, Savta, Michali and I headed to Yerushaliam. We stared at the Coffee Bean, then to Shkaliam, a store in Mea Sharrim, Marzipan, Chafitz Chaim butcher to buy corned beef(yum) for Shabbat and back home again. We got a large amount of stuff done in a short amount of time. Wednesday afternoon Danya ended up going to play with Savta and Meira after her English class and stayed there for dinner. Poor Jordy, all this time, had really been behaving really weel, watching Madagascar over and over again and playing the boat and motorcycle games on the computer. He really didn't complain too much. Thursday morning Lisa, my mom and I picked up my friend Devorah and we headed to Shital to hit the bead stores. Lisa and my mom had learned about my jewerly making skills on one of our outings and wanted me to make them some jewelry(why they didn't know about it from reading the blog is beyond me:). Since Devorah is the professional jewelry maker and is always looking for an excuse to hit the bead stores I thought she should join us to give her expert opinion. We spent a loarge amount of time deciding what to buy. More time had passed than we had realized and we didn't have as much time left after we were done so we eliminated most of our planned errands in the area. We did seem to find the time to go to the store that has the new sushi chef. We got some sushi to go and headed home. Thursday afternoon I took Jordy back to the doctor who finally gave us the OK and said he isn't contagious anymore. To celebrate us Cohen girls took the kids out to dinner in Modiin. We had a good time and the kids behaved most of the time. At one point in the meal one of the kids asked Savta if they could have ice cream for dessert. I pointed out that it would be cheaper if we stop at the grocery store in the shopping center and buy a box of ice cream bars on our way out. We were hoping the kids had forgotten since it was late and cold but kids never forget these important things and so we had to go buy the ice cream. I ran into the store while Lisa and Savta had to stand outside in the cold waiting. I know they will tell you they got the worse part of the deal on that one but while they were watching yelling kids I had to stand in line behind yelling Israeli's while the cashier couldn't make change in the 6 item or less aisle. I think it took me a half hour to pay. The kids were happy in the end because I bought a bo of ice cream comes and they really liked them! Michali was begging for one like the rest of the kids and while I know Lisa didn't really want her to have one how could a good Aunt leave a cute 1 yar old crying for ice cream while everyone else was getting one?? It's a good thing I gave it to her too because she had the most fun with it(I have some good pictures of her eating the ice cream but and way to lazy now to upload). We finally got home at about 8:30. The kids headed right to bed. Friday morning I was pretty happy to be sending Jordy off to school for the first day since last Friday. He woke up at his usual 7am and I gave him breakfast and got him all ready for school. A while later when I was all ready to take the kids to school I couldn't find Jordy. I told Danya to get him assuming he was in the attic playing computer but she returned saying he wasn't there. I looked in the living room and there he was sleeping on the living room couch. He woke up when I sat next to him an he said he was really tired. I figured if he was that tired maybe he needed another day off. He stayed home and of course didn't go back to sleep. I made a few things for Shabbat and broght them to the Balsam's. While I was there I made my mom the 2 bracelets she wanted along with 2 pairs of earrings for Lisa. I also made a chulent there. Friday night we went there for dinner. The kids were hoping to sleep over there but since Moshe seemed to be coming down with something and Jordy was just getting over something we decided it wasn't a good idea. We had to take our kids home crying and yelling that they wanted to sleep there. Ironically, Shabbat mornign the kids didn't want to return. Of course once they did they had a great time playing all day long. We had a really nice lunch and did something that I think was a first, ate almost the whole chulent! I think part of it was the fact that we didn't have any other main course so that was the focus, the other factor was we bought flanken at Chofetz Chaim and it was so good!! We ended up staying until Shabbat ended and again had a hard time getting my kids to leave. This morning Jordy finally returned to gan. He said everyone was excited to see him(lets see how happy they are when they all come down with the pox next week)! I went to my class and then picked my mom up to head to the Rothner Shiva house. We stayed there for about an hour and on the way back stopped to buy food for dinner. While we were gone Josh atteneded parent teacher conferences with Danya's teacher. She said that Danya is really doing well and is on the same level as her Israeli counterparts. She said her reading, writing, comprehention etc are all great. She said the only problem is that Danya is late to school sometimes(completely our fault!). When Danya got home from school she informed me that he class is having a Misibat Kriyah to celebrate the completion of learning all the letters, vowels and their sounds. I was aware there was a party from past notes but was under the impression that it was taking placw during the school day. Of course the party was called from 5 to 7pm! Yikes! So I picked Jordy up from Shiras and he, Danya and I walked to Savta/Balsam house. At 5 I took Danya and we went to the school(Josh was at a stone dedication for Rav Teller in Yerusaliam and would return after I left). We spent the first hour going from station to station doing different games, one station for each letter of the aleph bet. Most stations had activities that required reading. It was actually really cute and Danya had fun but I felt that they alloted too much time for these activities. It worked out well because since we were done I went to go get a seat at for the show they were going to do and ended up in the front row(pictures to come soon). The kids sang some songs, a Rabbi spoke and the teachers handed out certificates to all the kids. Then they let the kids loose on the dessert table and that is when the pushing and shoving began! It was after 6:30 and these kids were hungry! After Danya managed to get some cake we walked back to Savtas/Balsams where we ate dinner. At 7:25 I remembered that I was supposed to take Jordy to the Dr.'s office to get him a flu vacinne between 6 and 8pm. The kids put on their usual cry and scream becuase they didn't want to leave. I dropped Josh and Danya at home and Jordy and I continued to the doctors office. When it was our turn Jordy had no clue why we were there. We also both needed to get the second half of the hepatitas A vacinne we got before moving to protect us from stomach viruses. So we sat down and the nurse told him he was going to feel a mosquitoe bite and he happily sat down. I distracted him from his arm and pointed out the zebras on the other wall. Had he not turned around to see what was happening I don't think he would have realized that this was a shot but he did so he cried. I was pretty impressed because he only cried for a second. Then he enjoyed watching me get a shot. Had we left then it would have been great but then they came with the second shot for him. He tried to fight this one but again didn't really cry and took it like a man. We came home with about 700 stickers. Jordy even offered me one of his since I didn't cry but I told him he could keep it.
Is anyone still reading????

The Pox

Last night after Jordy was asleep Josh mentioned that while changing him into his pajamas he noticed red spots on Jordys back. He also said that Jordy told him they itched. Josh suggested that he has the chicken pox. I told him I doubted it because he had the vaccine. This morning when Jordy got up I noticed that he not only had the spots on his back but also on his torso and a few on his neck, arms and legs. I took him to see Dr. Akiva(which Jordy thought was funny) and sure enough he has the pox! Akiva said it will probably be a light case since he had the vaccine. He prescribed some calamine lotion and benedryl and sent us home until they dry out. Jordy was quite content spending the day on the computer and watching TV. Danya went to Rachel Neumans house after school and was out most the day. I went to the grocery store in the afternoon and was there at the perfect time since it was empty. Before going to bed Jordy asked if he was going to school tomorrow and I told him no. Then he asked "Well can I least go play at Covi's?" I thought it was cute but told him that he needs to stay home until all the pox go away.

Shabbat in Raanana

Friday was a pretty quiet day. The cleaning guy came and I cook a few things for Shabbat. I also folded what felt like 300 baskets of laundry, although it was probably closer to 3. When the kids got home we got them ready for Shabbat and packed up and headed out to Raanana. We arrived at the Kirschenbaum home pretty close to Shabbat. The kids were all so happy to see each other. They spent a lot of time jumping on the beds and making a mess. For dinner Emily and David's neighbors joined us for dinner. This was really good for Danya since they have 3 girls and before dinner Danya decided she was mad at Simon and Jordy. The kids all played pretty nicely except for a few fights(mostly between Jordy and Simon). Shabbat morning I joined David in taking the kids to shul(Josh had already gone to a different shul and Emily was napping along with Eli since she got up with the kids close to 7). The walk to shul was quite entertaining as Jordy and Simon kept fighting about who was first. We got to shul well after the kiddush began. I met a few people and then we headed back, stopping at 3 parks along the way. When we returned we had to go on a wild goose hunt for Challah(David and Emily forgot to buy challah and they had 2 frozen challahs in the freezer, 1 of which we used at dinner). It took a while to locate a roll from a random neighbor but once we had it we sat down to a ton of food. Did I mention how much food they made??? Nobody was hungry! After lunch Josh volunteered to take the 3 older kids to the park while the rest of us napped. We got up a few minutes before Shabbat ended. After Shabbat we tried to help clean up as best we could(as much as Emily kept cleaning the mess, the place was trashed by the end of Shabbat) and then we headed home. Jordy was asleep in the car and Danya went to bed right after eating something.

What the Hail???

Wednesday was a low key day. The kids did their usual school and activities. Thursday morning Josh and I headed to Yerushaliam. We had a few errands to run and figured we may as well go early and go out to breakfast. We went to a cute cafe that had really good coffee. After Josh picked up a computer part he needed we headed to the Ben Yehudah area so Josh could meet a guy at the bank. While he went to his meeting I decided to peek into a few stores. First I ran into Devorah Katz who I hadn't seen in a while. Then I headed up to the Shekalim store and I ended up buying a couple skirts. On the way home it started hailing like crazy! This is by far the coldest it has been this year(nope, don't miss the Chicago weather one bit!). After we got home I picked up Danya so she wouldn't have to walk in the hail. Daniella came over for a play date which kept Danya entertained most the afternoon. When I picked up Jordy he asked if Moshe Schreiber could come over to play, so both kids had friends over. After the play dates left the kids ate dinner and Josh took them to the makolet because they wanted to buy gum. At 8 I went to the shul with Sharon and Akiva to see the Crossroads Comedy Show. A group of American comedians come to Israel to bring laughter and to raise money for the Crossroads center in Jerusalem. Unfortunately Josh couldn't come because he had to work but there was a large crowd and the show was great!

Water Water Everywhere

I can't remember what happened on Monday. I know that in the afternoon Danya went to her exercise class but I had no other recollection of the day...weird. Anyhow, on Tuesday I went to my aerobics class and then spent some time cleaning up around the house. Danya went to her new swimming lessons after school and was dropped off at home after. In the afternoon we had a guy come to install water filters for us. We got one on the house that eliminates 90% of the stones for the whole house. In addition, we had him install a reverse osmosis drinking water system that basically purifies the water so we can drink it. We now have a separate faucet with room temperature, drinkable water. Plus we have a water dispenser on our counter with cold water and hot water. I know it is lame but I am really excited about this. For those of you who don't know, we have been buying bottled water since we have moved here. It isn't all that expensive but it is a pain in the butt because we have to buy the cases of water and schlep them into the house. Then when we drink the water we have to take all the empty bottles to the recycling place. We are big water drinkers so we are constantly buying and recycling bottles of water, but no more!!! Danny came over last night for dinner in his usual Tuesday night visit. The kids were happy and made him play with them for a while.

Hot Flaming Dude

At 6:30 I woke up to a strange sizzling sound accompanied by a very bad smell. I looked towards the wall where the dud shemesh switch is(where the sound was coming from) and noticed that the light was flickering, which it shouldn't be doing. I woke Josh up just in time to see flames shoot out of the box! Josh was able to turn off the switch and extinguish the flames but not before the box melted. We shut of the electric and tried going back to bed to no avail. The room stunk of melted plastic. In attempt to make the room smell better I opened the window, slamming my finger between the screen and the window, ouch! Our day was off to a great start! I got Danya ready and out the door with Josh and lazy Jordy and I walked over to his school a little later. After my aerobics class I came home and couldn't stand the smell! Josh had called the guy who installed the water tank but he said that this is not related to that. I was surprised to hear that since they are part of the same system but I guess coincidences happen, right? After showering in cold water I went over to the Mintz household to meet their new baby girl who is adorable! Then I came home and after a little while developed a major headache that I am attributing to the smell of melted plastic. I took a nap and woke up when the electrician was changing the switch for the dud shemesh. He said it was most likely faulty wiring in the original switch, making it just a major coincidence.

The end of Chanukah and Shabbat

On Wednesday I took the kids along with Lisa and her kids to Kibbutz Beerot Yitzchak to check out their Chanukah festivities. Josh had seen an ad about their activities and suggested we go, so we did. The kids had a great time petting animals, including a snake, jumping on moon walks, making pita, going on donkey rides and much more.



Jordy got to be part of a demonstration about bees and how they make honey. After we spent most the day there we took the kids to Burger Ranch before heading home. We tried to get the kids to bed at a reasonable hour as we knew Thursday morning was not going to be easy. Jordy ended up going back to bed after I woke him Thursday morning and Danya complained the whole morning that she didn't want to go to school. Eventually the kids did make it to school and Josh ran a few errands. In the afternoon the repairman came to replace our Dud Shemesh(for those that don't know we use solar power to heat our water and when the sun doesn't get it hot enough we flip a switch to use electricity to heat it-the whole system overall is referred to as the dud-pronounced dude-but here I am specifically referring to the tank that holds the hot water). It had a leak and was shorting out the electricity on Sunday night and we found out that it needed to be replaced. It took them all afternoon to change the tank but we finally had hot water again on Thursday night. Friday morning the kids still didn't want to get up for school. I rushed Danya out and dropped her off and then headed to the grocery store. Josh and Jordy slept a few minutes later and Josh took Jordy to school. Friday afternoon Danya went to play with Meira and Moshe and Ezra Silton came over to play with Jordy. That play date went south very quickly and Josh had to take both boys home not too long after they got here mostly because Jordy was being bossy. Danya stayed at the Balsam house for dinner and a sleepover and Josh and I had a nice, quiet dinner with Jordy. Saturday morning when Jordy woke up we realized our mistake. Usually Jordy and Danya play all Saturday morning together. Since Danya wasn't here Jordy needed someone to play with him. So I played a dozen games of Zingo and we built train tracks together until Danya and Meira showed up. We all had a much louder lunch together and then all the kids decided to go back to the Balsams. I was a bit apprehensive about Jordy going to play with Moshe but Lisa said they played really nicely. They stayed until after Shabbat which means that Josh and I got to nap.

More Chanukah Videos

Here is a video of Emily going down the Zip line. If you listen closely you can hear her screaming!

Some Chanukah Videos

Here are some videos I took over Chanukah....more to come....

Oranges

This morning Josh had to get up VERY early(aka. before 7am) so he could take his driving test. I fell asleep after his alarm and finally got up closer to 9. I quickly got myself and the kids up and out and we headed to Ra'anana to meet Emily, Simon and Eli to head to Shvil Tapuzim(Orange Path). We had heard that it is a great place where we can pick oranges and it has many kids activities. It took us a lot longer to get there than we originally anticipated but it was well worth the drive. First we bought bags to fill with oranges.


Then we headed to the other activities which included trampolines, moon walks, a car track andother climbing things.

We were there all day and the kids were having so much fun that they never stopped to ask for food. We didn't have much with us and the restaurant wasn't kosher so we finally got them ice cream and planned on heading to a restaurant in the neighborhood when we were done. We didn't anticipate staying until the place closed at 4! Emily then took us to their favorite restaurant that is attached to a gas station. Aside from the fumes it was a really nice restaurant. We can never go back though because a minute after we ordered Eli threw up all over the place. In typical Israeli fashion, nobody flinched and most people didn't seem to notice. Danya was a little grossed out but aside from the puke we had a nice dinner. We then hit 2 hours of traffic home(ouch) returning at 7:30, making for a VERY long day. We lit the last night candles and then got the kids to bed.

**I added pictures to yesterdays post so if you want you can take a look.

Passports and Bowling

Friday morning was pretty quiet. Jordy went to play at Ariella's house and Danya stayed at Ruthie's house where she had slept over the night before. Otherwise it was a quiet Friday. Friday night we headed to the Davis house for dinner. The kids were pretty decently behaved and we all had a good time. WE stopped over at the Balsam household to say hello on our way home(and enjoyed a second dessert too). Shabbat morning we all slept pretty late. We went to Glenwood for a Chanukah Shabbat lunch. It was really nice plus I didn't have to cook! On the way home we stopped at the Balsam house again so Jordy could play with Moshe. We ended up leaving both kids there and headed home to nap. After Shabbat Josh picked the kids up. Danya and Jordy were excited that Lisa and Nafi got them a small Chanukah gift. Jordy for some reason was very mad that he got 3 cars rather than 1. We didn't really understand this one but Josh quickly showed him that we can have car races. We all took part racing the cars around the dining room and Jordy forgot about how mad he was! Michelle came over later and she and I watched a few episodes of Grey's Anatomy to catch up with the current season. Sunday morning we had planned to get out early and get to Misrad HaPanim to get our passports before they closed at noon. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that we took this day to sleep nice and late. The kids were in bed until about 10! We rushed out the house at 10:45 and walked into Misrad Hapanim at 11:47! We then were given #244 and they were on #176. So we sat down and waited over an hour. We did eventually get our paperwork in and taken care of. Then we decided since we were in Yerushaliam already we should take advantage. So we headed to a falafel stand where I was impressed that Jordy ate a falafel sandwich with humus and pickles. Danya was a little more boring and had plain shnitzel in a pita. After lunch we walked towards Mea Sharim to go to Brooklyn Bakery. We ran into Becky Strapp who we worked with at Moshava about a jillion years ago. We stopped at a clothing store that was having a sale and bought Danya a few things she needed. Then we got to the bakery followed by the toy store to get a couple chanukah gifts.
We got home at around 6. The kids had a quick dinner and then headed to bed. This morning the kids did a reverse of the day before and woke up at 6am! Eventually we got dressed and out of the house. We went with most of the Silton family to the bowling alley for Danya and Jordys first game of bowling.

They had bumpers so the kdis did pretty well, Danya finishing with a 72 and Jordy with a 70. Danya will tell anyone who wants to listen about how she got a strike but really it was a spare. They were really cute and I loved watching then get all happy about knocking any pins down. After bowling we went to get pizza and ice cream for lunch. It was a nice day and we got to sit outside and enjoy the weather.

After we came home Danya went to a friends house and Jordy hung out at home. We all went to Lisa and Nafi's to eat their leftovers from a Chanukah party they had. After that we headed home to light candles and get the kids to bed.
Pictures of bowling to come tomorrow.

Party, Pictures and Shabbat Shoes

Yesterday was the kids last day before Chanukah vacation. I really wanted to be lazy and sleep but I fought off the laziness and went out with Lisa to run some errands(basically I was too lazy to drive so I made her take me to run my errands). After all the errands I picked Jordy up from Gan and then drove Danya to her English class. I stopped over to say hello to Michelle who is VERY pregnant and to drop off some carmel donuts I bought for her. I ended up staying and chatting with her and her mom for a half hour and then picked Danya up from English. Then we headed home to get ready for the Chanukah party we were hosting. Josh's cousins Toody, Ronna and Moshe and their kids, Seth and Lori and their kids, Danny and Lisa and Nafi and their kids(even though they aren't Yudkowskys) came over and everyone ate a lot of pizza! We had a really good time and the kids played nicely. Towards the end Josh, Dov and Danny went outside to play pinners, which is a game involving a tennis ball and stairs.



Once everyone left Jordy had a bit of a meltdown and was screaming until he fell asleep. This morning the kids woke up kind of crabby this morning. I convinced them that it would be fun to organize the attic and their toys. For some reason they fell for it and we got started on a HUGE job. The kids got their movies straightened out while I started sorting out the toys. We continued this for a while until we got bored. Then we all got dressed and headed out to get our passport photos taken. You can't get an Israeli passport until you have lived here for a year and we hadn't gotten ours yet. If you are getting your kids passports you have to bring them with you so we figured when better to do that than when they are on vacation? After the passport pictures we stopped at a shoe store and got Danya new Shabbat shoes. Jordy needed some too but they didn't have any good boy shoes so of course we had to go to another store afterward to get Jordy shoes too. By then we were all tired and headed home. I really wanted to crash but Danya insisted that we continue organizing the attic(I think she was amazed to see how many toys we had hidden in the boxes. How could I say no to that??? So we did for another couple hours. Then Danya wanted a friend to come over so we called Rachel Neuman to come over. Jordy wanted to go to a friends house but insisted on wearing his Shabbat shoes, which we wouldn't let him do, so instead he cried and yelled for an hour. Before lighting candles Danya got a call from her friend Ruthie to see if she wanted to sleep over. Last year Danya had a sleepover there and I had to pick her up at 11pm because she was to tired and couldn't sleep. I didn't think it was the best idea but she went anyhow. Jordy went to sleep at a decent hour and I am hoping he sleeps a little late tomorrow but and doubting it will actually happen.

Happy Chanukah!!!

On Friday morning, after taking the kids to school, we packed up for Shabbat. My in-laws tried picking up Danya from school but I had the time wrong so they waited for her to come home. They left with Danya to head up North and Josh and I headed out a little bit later with Jordy in tow. We drove way up north to Kibbutz Lavi(near Tiveria). They have a recently renovated hotel where we spent Shabbat. Josh took the kids swimming in their indoor pool before Shabbat which was a highlight. The food was good, the weather was good and the hotel was beautiful. On Shabbat day, after lunch, we went on a personal tour of the Kibbutz thanks to my in-laws friends Marc and Kay Betsy Flanzer who live there. The kids really enjoyed seeing all the animals and watching the cows get milked. On Saturday night we went to Tiveria and walked along the boardwalk. The kids got pizza and ice cream and then we headed back.
Jordy went right to sleep and Josh took Danya back to the pool for another swim. After Danya went to bed Josh and I headed back to Tiveria for dinner. We lucked out and ended up at a restaurants opening and got free wine and appetizers. Sunday morning we packed up and headed out to Beit Shean. My in-laws brought us to an archaeological dig site where the ancient city of Beit Shean was recovered. It is about 200 years old and is amazing to see. It had a beautiful HUGE amphitheater and a lot of bath houses. The kids actually seemed interested and enjoyed themselves.

After that my in-laws headed to Yerushaliam while we took the kids to the Kosher McDonald's for lunch. After that we headed to Terat Tzvi. We really were only going to stop for a few minutes to shop at the meat outlet but decided to stop in and say hi to Josh's kibbutz "mom" from when he was there. Luck had it that she was at her art studio and she was really excited that we stopped by! The kids played some computer games with her daughter while we looked at all her beautiful artwork. She gave us a beautiful stained glass picture that she made(she has windows in shuls and artwork at Yad VaShem).
We crammed it into our car and then geared up for the long drive home. We got back around 6:45 and got the kids dinner and into bed. On Monday Josh and I ran a few Chanukah related errands in Kiryat Sefer. The kids were in and out most of the afternoon and I went with Danya to an activity at her school where the kids went from classroom to classroom doing Chanukah related art projects. It was really cute and I am sorry I forgot to bring my camera. After that I came home and helped my mother-in-law with her Chanukah feast! She really knows how to make a party! The Kleimans came over and Danny joined us and boy did we eat! The best part was that Bubs made her delicious latkes(yes, I am still glad even though I can still smell the latke smell from outside the house!). The kids were very excited that they got so many Chanukah presents and it wasn't even Chanukah yet!!! Unfortunately, when the kids went to bed they had to say goodbye to Bubs and Pops since they were going to be heading out before the kids woke up. Jordy wouldn't say goodbye for some reason but Danya did very tearfully. We were glad they were able to come spend time with us but are sad to see them go-I see more laundry in my future. Hopefully they will come back again soon! Jordy woke up this morning very worried that Pops took him Chanukah present back(I am guessing since Jordy wouldn't say goodbye he threatened to take the gift back?) but was relieved to see it was still there in the attic. We got the kids out and I went to my aerobics class. Otherwise the day was pretty lazy today. We lit Chanukah candles and Danny came for dinner . He brought the kids walkie talkies for Chanukah. They had a little difficulty getting a hang of them but finally caught on and had fun. Danny hung out here for a while and he and Danya were having fun drinking their tea together and cracking up but I am not sure why. Danya went to bed a little late, after Danny left.
HAPPY CHANUKAH EVERYONE!!!!

***I tried uploading pictures but Blogger isn't working properly so I will try to add them tomorrow.

As Promised

Here is a videos from Jordys Misibat Chanukah(I was going to upload more but they are such big files that it took almost an hour!):




Today after getting the kids to school and my exercise class I came home to organize the wall unit in the attic. I spent a lot of time looking through old pictures. I feel like it is a sin to throw away pictures but I have SO MANY(but very few of Jordy-poor second kid who was born in the digital camera era). After Danya came home from school we went with my in-laws so they could see my parents house. We picked Jordy up and then came home. Josh and his father went to Yerushaliam to the funeral of Rabbi Teller and I got a babysitter so my mother-in-law and I could join Lori at the Chanukah Botique in Modiin. There wasn't much there and we bought very little.

Coming soon to a Blog Near You....

...Videos!!!

Jordy had his misibat Chanukah at his gan today and I took a lot of pictures and videos! Only thing is I am too tired now to upload the videos since I know it will take long(sorry to Jon who I know is checking in since he missed it-come back tomorrow). But I am getting ahead of myself.....
This morning after the kids got out the door we rearranged the wall unit in the attic(photos of that also coming soon) and my father-in-law anchored them to the walls. Then my mother-in-law and I went to Petach Tikvah to go to a hat store. I think she was surprised by the large amount and the variety. We spent quite a lot of time there and I got some presents-thanks Mom!!! Then we decided to check in at the Sam's Club sized Aleph grocery store in the same shopping center. I had forgotten just how big and how much they have there. Just walking through to browse took a while. We came back just in time to bring Danya to her english class. Not long after that I went wth Jordy to his Misibat Chanukah. He was a little clingy when we got there but once the program started he was happy. The first 45 minutes was a program with some songs and dances. Then there were 5 stations of projects. We were there for 2 hours(no, that wasn't a typo, it was a VERY long evening). Jordy had a great time and was thrilled that it ended with jelly donuts and a gift of candy to take home.



After we got home and Danya finished her homework I took her to a friends house who was having a sale of children's clothing. The clothes were from America and very cute. I bought Danya 2 corduroy skirts and Jordy 2 pairs of corduroy pants for Shabbat for about $60-not too bad. Then I came home and changed and headed out to my aerobics class.
For those of you who are reading my blog since Lisa isn't updating her blog, and you know who you are, here is a picture of Michali from today, isn't she cute?
The fun visit with Bubby continues :)
That about it for now-tune in tomorrow for the videos of the party!

More IKEA and the Election process

After exercise class and getting the kids out the door we headed back to IKEA to get the broken parts repaired and buy a few more things(along with another visit to the IKEA restaurant). After Jordy returned from aftercare Moshe came over to play. I am happy to say they played nicely the whole time! Jordy didn't hit Moshe once!!! Danny came over later and hung out for a while playing with the kids. I headed out to the youth center to vote since today is election day. I have to say that I now understand why in America that there is no campaigning near the polling place. I was bombarded as I headed down the street. Fliers, people and posters. The people who were running for the local offices were all standing outside the polling place ready to help convince you to vote for them. The process itself was very simple. They handed you 2 envelopes and you stood behind a curtain. There were slips of paper for each party and you took the paper for the party you wanted and put it in the envelope. That was all...no hanging chads. The whole thing took about 1 minute from signing in and showing your identification to leaving. Not too bad!

The Robbers Ate My Homework

Sunday was a usual day. My in-laws headed to Jerusalem for the day and the kids both had play dates in the afternoon. Both came home exhausted from a busy day and an even busier few days. Both went to bed pretty early. This morning, after waking up at 6:45, my father-in-law thought it was weird that his laptop was missing. Josh took a walk through the house and realized his was as well along with a few other items. Turns out that we were finally hit by the neighborhood thieves. There have been many break ins lately and it is always at night while asleep and they usually take electronics. In our case they also took Danya's backpack outside and dumped it out(perhaps in search of a laptop or a MP3?). They left the bag and the books but for some reason they took her Dora The Explorer pencil case(perhaps there is a need for those on the black market???). Danya was really distressed by this and we had to call the school to let them know that she wouldn't be bringing her books since we needed to leave them where they were for the forensic guy who the police sent. Basically Josh had to tell Danya's teacher that she couldn't bring her homework because it was stolen. Right away we noticed how dumb that sounded...who steals homework??? Anyhow, bottom line is that everyone is safe and sound. The laptops can be replaced as can the broken DVD player and the few other things they took. Apparently they hit the neighbors across the street after us and their daughter woke up and called the police but they got away. We filled a police report and got our copy but as Jerry Seinfeld says "Unless they are giving the crook his copy, I don't think we are going to crack this case". Of course all this took up the whole morning and then the afternoon was filled with carpools and play dates. I made dinner for a friend whose husband was in the hospital for a few days and before I could blink it was 6pm! Bubs, Pops, Danya, Jordy and I headed to Burger King to get the kids dinner. Jordy insisted he wanted a hamburger with lettuce. He has never had a hamburger before and I am not sure what possessed this but he ate the whole thing! Danya had her usual chicken nuggets and fries. Then my in-laws and I picked up dinner from a cafe' and we headed home to eat. After dinner I headed to my toning class and then came home to do some work. Danya is sleeping on the couch as she was scared to sleep in her room by herself and Josh was working at the dining room table. Hopefully she will get over this soon.

Negligence

I notice that it has been a while since I updated the blog last. Sorry about that! I feel even worse since the past few weeks I have met/seen people who read the blog regularly and commented how much they enjoy reading it. I feel like I am letting them down! Sorry!!!
Last Shabbat we had some potential olim, Eric and Tammy Mandel over for lunch along with Nathan and a very pregnant Michelle Mintz and family. We hope we were successful in getting them to settle in Hashmonaim and be our neighbors. The next memorable thing that happened was this past week we got a HUGE rain storm. The marpecet off our bedroom flooded and the water was just piling up making a swimming pool. Josh had to climb out the window in order to clean the drain. Later that day Josh's parents arrived for their visit. They were real troopers as they schlepped Josh's hockey sticks with them along with many other fun surprises such as Romanian hot dogs and salami. Danya and Jordy hit them up for presents as soon as they walked in but they delivered with socks and underwear! I think they were exhausted but they fought through it making a trip to the grocery store and a dinner of leftovers. Thursday we went with them to IKEA. They bought us a great Chanukah gift of a wall unit for the attic. We had the TV on the cardboard box it came in up until now. Unfortunately on the way into the parking lot the car that my in-laws rented got a flat tire which coincided with a huge downpour of rain. Luckily while we were hemming and hawing over what to get my father-in-law had time to change it. We ran a few more errands later in the day and then came home to get ready for Thanksgiving. Josh and I left Bubs and Pops home with the kids while we went to the Shul for a party hosted by a couple here. They make a potluck Thanksgiving dinner every year for all the Americans on the Yishuv. They provide the turkeys(8 of them in the 25 lb. range!) and some other items and then everyone bring something making for a VERY big dinner. We ate a ton and had a good time chatting with friends. On Friday I spent most the day cooking and getting ready for Shabbat. Lisa and Nafi stopped by with their friends Gila and Donny who we have heard about for years but had never met and were beginning to wonder if they were Lisa and Nafi's imaginary friends. I am happy to report that they do exist. (How was that for a shout out Donny???) Friday night we had a nice quiet dinner. Shabbat day Dudy came over for lunch to ridicule/be ridiculed by my in-laws. The kids went out to play I the afternoon and we got to sleep a little. Tonight Josh and I took advantage of the built in babysitters and went out to dinner.

Family Tree

This morning after the kids left I really wanted to go back to sleep(lets be honest, I want to go back to sleep every morning after the kids leave) but I fought the urge. I went with friends to Ramot to pay a shiva call. We stayed for a while and came home right in time for gan to end. Danya ended up going out to a friends house so I took Jordy and we went to the grocery store. He was surprisingly well behaved. Which leads me to a side point that I am not sure I mentioned yet, on Shabbat the kids were a train wreck so I told them if they wanted Chanukah presents they need to behave and I made them charts to get smiley faces on. They are so excited about the charts that all I have to do is ask if they want a smiley and they behave like angles! Anyhow, after the store Jordy and I went to pick Moshe up from daycare and we brought him to Lisa's and all the kids were playing together. I dropped Jordy at Karate and hung out with Lisa for the 45 until Karate was over. Then we headed home and I did some work while Josh gave the kids dinner and put them to bed. I went to my aerobics class and then returned to do more work.
Funny story from today...While Jordy was eating lunch we had a really funny chat. I can't remember how it started but Jordy was asking about Josh and my parents. In the beginning he wanted to know who Josh's Mommy and Daddy were. I turned the question around on him and asked him who Josh's parents were. He looked at me unsure. I asked who is Daddy's Daddy? He said very confidently "Nafi". I repeated, Who is Daddy's Mommy and Daddy? Then he said Lisa and Nafi. So then I said no, so he started guessing, Lanie. Then I thought I would try a different angle so I asked him who my mommy and daddy were. He was not sure so he tried the Lisa and Lanie answer. Poor kid was so confused. I told him that Lisa and Lanie are my sisters just like Danya is his sister. Then I asked him who Daddy's brothers were and he had completely given up at that point. Once we hinted with the "Uncle..." He jumped in with Danny. Then we told him David, Avi and Matthew as well. Then we were really trying to get him to realize that Bubs and Pops are Daddy's Mommy and Daddy so Josh asked him who else we see when we see all the uncles. He still couldn't get it! As soon as I gave him the "Bu..." sound he got it right away! I think we need to go over the family tree since he is convinced that Nafi is his grandfather!

High Energy

This morning I tried out a new class at the gym. It was taught by they high energy teacher who I love. It was a very high energy way to start the day. I usually take classes at night so I am not used to feeling so energized in the morning. After the class I went back to Lisa's to help more. We finished off wall unit which made me a little jealous since Josh and I still have our books in boxes since we still need a wall unit. Time to get that taken care of I think! Danya and Meira came home from school and they played while Lisa and I worked. At 4 we all went to pick up the little boys and then Lisa drove us home. After we got home Danny came over. The kids were really excited to see him. They have been making signs to welcome him for weeks and they are finally on the door(I should take a picture tomorrow because they are really cute!). The kids had baths and then went right to bed. Danya must have been tired because she got into bed when Jordy did and didn't ask to stay up later. After the kids went to bed Josh and Danny headed to play hockey while I did some work. Now I am ready to crash because that was too much energy for me this morning!!

Too Long

Uh oh....too much time has past since my last posting that I can't even remember what I have done since then! I am sure it involved errands, carpools, cleaning and cooking! I remember that on Shabbat Josh went to the further shul for davening Friday night and got caught in the first downpour of the season on the way home. Shabbat Lisa and Nafi came with the kids for lunch and the kids continued playing all afternoon. Sunday, after getting the kids out the door, I went to my parents house/Lisa and Nafi's for moving day. The workers were moving all the stuff to the appropriate rooms while I unpacked the kitchen. I was there most the day and we got a lot of accomplished. Not long after I got home I was heading to Raanana to a belated birthday party for David Kirschenbaum. I got suck in bad traffic but it was worthwhile since it was a fun night. We went bowling and then out to dinner. Today I headed back the the Balsam abode to unpack more. We really pushed forward, unpacking the storage room and half the china cabinet. The rest of today was spent watching the kids ride their bikes and then lots of carpools. Josh left to meet Danny and pick up his luggage. Danny then went directly to Tel Aviv but we will see him soon. It's been a busy few days and I am heading to bed.

Happy Birthday to Josh!

Shabbat was pretty quiet. Friday night Meira came over as soon as Shabbat began and stayed until Nafi was done at shul. The Balsam family stopped by on their way to their dinner out. After we ate Jordy went to bed. Then Danya read to me and Josh from her new book "Morris the Moose Goes to School". Her reading has gotten much better and she is really proud that she can read as nicely as she does. Towards the end of her reading I made tea for Danya and Josh. They sat in the kitchen drinking the tea and talking about Chanukah. Danya wanted to know what gifts we got for Chanukah as kids. She was very curious about the underoos that we both got(what kid didn't get underoos???). We told her about some of the other things we got. Danya couldn't believe that there were no Leapsters when we were kids. I told her that one of my favorite Chanukah gifts was a Spirograph that I got a long time ago. She asked me "What is a spider breath?" Josh and I got a kick out of that! Shabbat morning the kids played and went to the park until we heard crying coming from down the block. Jordy had fallen off his swing and hurt his tummy and face but he was surprisingly better when we told him he could have chocolate milk. Danya went to her friend Rachels house for lunch. Then Jordy spilled the chocolate milk and had a melt down(yes Ari, a meltdown). We made him wipe up the mess. Then we ate lunch and Jordy had another meltdown because he wanted to cut the challah that Josh had already cut. It was determined during that meltdown that Jordy NEEDED a nap. After lunch and a game of checkers we all went to take a nap. I can't believe it but Jordy actually slept (with his feet in my ribs) for almost 2 hours. Danya returned with Meira and they played pretty nicely. Jordy and I played another game of checkers and were about to start the match game when Moshe and Nafi came over. We played one game as a team against Moshe and Nafi but Jordy was really mad at Moshe for winning(really Jordy is always mad at Moshe regardless of what he does) so the next game Moshe and Jordy were on a team against me and they won(I didn't even let them). WE made havdalah and the kids played and ate dinner. Then Danya remembered she had homework so she did it right before bed. After putting her to bed I went to a friends house who taught me how to make jewelry. Overall it was a very exciting birthday for Josh! In a few days when he is feeling 100% we will celebrate properly.

What's a mouse?

This morning I was feeling much better, which is a good thing because I had to get ready for Shabbat whether I felt better or not. I got the kids to school and went straight to the grocery store. I avoided Rami Levi which is the crazy store that I usually go to but avoid like the plague between Thursday afternoon and Shabbat. I went to Supersol in Modiin and was pleasantly surprised to see that if you go at 8am on a Friday morning there is parking and no crowds. I hadn't been to the store in a week and a half and bought a lot! That said, I made the round trip in less than an hour. Josh is still not feeling 100% and I feel bad that we can't do anything for his birthday tomorrow. I guess it will have to wait until next week. I came home and did some cooking, cleaning and 4 loads of laundry. I also stopped at someones house to pick something up and went to the bakery to grab some challah. Lisa called at noon that Danya came home with Meira and that the girls are playing there but can I pick Moshe up when I pick Jordy up since Lisa needed to be at the house for the delivery of the appliances. The boys came home and for a very long time Moshe was watching Jordy play computer and he didn't seem to mind. After a while I felt bad and insisted that Moshe have a turn. Turns out that Moshe never plays computer! I told him he needed to take the mouse and click on what he wanted to choose. He asked me what the mouse was! Then he picked the mouse up and put it against the screen and clicked! This story really belongs on Lisa's blog but she hasn't updated in months so my guess is she isn't going start now. I have to go now and get everyone showered for Shabbat, so Shabbat Shalom!

Training Wheels

Todays post is dedicated to my father-in-law who pointed out that I haven't posted in a while...this ones for you!

Things have been pretty status quo. School, work, cooking, shopping.

In the exciting news department Danya has learned how to ride a 2 wheeler. Josh took the training wheels off her bike and she is so proud of herself and her new abilities! While she was riding her bike Jordy was riding his until his training wheel fell off. At first he was really mad but then he realized he can roll the wheel and chase after it, so a fun time was had by all! (There is a video attached with Danya riding her bike. Let me know if you have trouble getting it to work).





On Sunday we went to my parents house to help Lisa and Nafi with the arrival of their lift. It was pretty smooth sailing since everything was unloaded into the living room since the house wasn't completed. On Sunday night Josh and I went to Ra'anana for what was supposed to be dinner with David and Emily but since there was a Bears game on Josh and David got take out and watched the game while Emily and I went for sushi and shopping(or more specifically to mock Israeli style). A good time was had by all(except the Bears who lost). On Tuesday I was sick, I seemed to pick up a 24 hour bug from someone we ate Shabbat lunch with. The good news was it was 24 hours, the bad news was that after I finished it Josh got it and for some reason his is taking about 48 hours. Hopefully he will be better by his birthday on Saturday(which we have no plans for).

While it is starting to get cool here it is by no means cold. I put on a sweatshirt if I go out at night but otherwise the kids are still in shorts and t-shirts and we are hoping it lasts a little longer.

Food Network

Again, things have been slow here lately. We went to the Gerson's for dinner Friday night. It is funny that we live so close to them but really don't run into them too often now that Danya and Tamar aren't in school. We really need to make plans to see them. We had a great time and had to drag the kids home because they didn't want to leave. For Shabbat lunch we went to the Siltons. Since the weather was so beautiful we ate outside. We stayed until about an hour before Shabbat ended. The other day I was watching the cooking channel(which we don't usually get but the cable company hasn't been great and as a way of saying thank you everyone is getting a whole bunch of channels free for 3 months) and Danya came up and watched with me. First of all she got really hungry watching. Second, as they were putting the food on the plate and garnishing it with fresh berries and sauces Danya commented "Wow, that is so pretty!". Obviously I am no gourmet!

Sushi and Facebook

OK, it has obviously been a while since my last post. A few highlights since the last post:
A week ago I had to go into my office in Ramat Gan for a meeting. On the way back I stopped at a sushi restaurant and picked up some lunch for me and Lisa. Danya was hungry when she came home from school and decided to try a sushi. She loved it! She ate 3 pieces and asked me to buy some for her next time I get some!

I think Michali wanted some too!


Also, the kids were playing baseball in the backyard the other day and Jordy insisted on wearing the batting gloves that Danny left here, how cute is that!


In other news, Gila Needle just introduced me to the wonders of Facebook and now I am addicted!!! For those of you who aren't familiar, it is to college kids what AOL was to us. It is basically a networking thing but it is unbelievable how many people you can find from years ago! Warning-it can be highly addictive!

Free Stuff

This morning, after getting the kids out the door, I went with Lisa(and Michali who has started pronouncing my name very well) for a tour of Modiin/grocery shopping. I showed her where a few places are so that she will know how to get there. Then I went with her to the store to show her all the good things to buy. I got home a few minutes before Danya was due to arrive. I quickly threw dinner into the Crockpot. Then the phone rang that she was at Daniella's and could she stay and play. So I had until 4 free. I spent about a half hour cleaning the kitchen which needed an overhaul. I picked up Jordy and Ariella came home with us. They played nicely. Josh came home from mincha with Danya, who had been at her Chug Torani(Torah/educational activity?)at the shul. Then I ran a few quick errands. On the way home I heard the radio announcer ask if anyone wanted a free coffee mug they should call in. Since I was already holding my phone and I love free stuff(who doesn't???)I figured why not. So I called in...and won. They talked to me on the air I will be receiving a free coffee mug courtesy of 93.6 RAM FM, middle eastern radio station! Of course Jordy wouldn't touch the dinner I made(why do I even try???). Danya was brave and took a bite and then declared "it is not the taste for me". Danya is very sensitive to peoples feelings and has decided this is the best thing to say so that people who do like something won't think she is making fun of them, rather stating that she is different. Danya had bologna and Jordy ate Cheerios. After dinner I headed to work and have been very busy all night.
Did I mention that I got a new camera before the chaggim? I bought it because it is small and compact so I can keep it in my purse and take pictures all the time. I even bought a second rechargeable battery so I will never miss a photo. Guess where the camera and battery are? On my desk next to my computer. I probably should work on putting it in the purse so I can actually use it!

2 Trips to the Bank

This morning Josh and I spent about an hour sorting out and filing all the old mail and papers that had been piling up. Then we attempted to go to the bank. I say attempted because when we got there and saw the line was 30 people long we decided it just wasn't worth it. We then went grocery shopping and came home with about 5 minutes to eat something before we both left to pick up kids. Josh got Jordy and I picked up Danya to take her to a doctors appointment. She had a scar on her arm from falling but last week it turned into this gross rash that itched. After a week with hydro cortisone nothing changed so we brought her to the doctor. The problem is that for some reason Danya hates the doctor here. She has been to her about 3 times and none of her visits were invasive or included shots, so I am not sure why. Maybe because she is a proper British woman rather than laid back, funny Dr. Goldberg? Anyhow after looking the doctor started a sentence saying "When a rash like this is scratched..." and at that point Danya burst into tears saying "I try not to scratch it". I think she thought she was in trouble. Bottom line is Danya has ringworm(which is a fungal infection) and we have a few antibiotic creams to make it better. We came home and Danya did her English homework and then I brought her to English. On the way back I picked up Ezra Silton who was coming over to play with Jordy. After English I took Danya to Modiin to pick up the medicine and try the bank again. There were only 3 people in line(and it still took a half hour). The good news was 2 people behind me was the woman who I used to go to for pedicures. Last time I tried calling her I got a message saying the phone number had been disconnected. I was so happy to get her new phone number! After that I brought the boys to Karate class and Danya and I stopped to buy her a school sweatshirt as it is going to get cold soon! Came home, fed the kids and headed to work!

Simchat Torah and Beyond

Last Wednesday my parents took the kids to Eretz Nehederet(aka. the fun place) while Josh and I stayed home getting ready for Chag. On Wednesday night, after going shul hopping, we had dinner at the shul across the street. It was really nice and I only had to make a dessert. On Thursday, again after shul hoping, we ate lunch at Rimon shul. Another good meal that I didn't have to cook! Good thing we became members of both shuls! Thursday night I attempted going to the grocery store however it was closed. After that my mom and I went to the basketball court for Hakafot Shniot. We did a little dancing, a lot of socializing and were there a while. On Friday my mom went with me to the grocery store. Then we came home and I cooked. The kids were happy playing all day. The Balsams came for dinner and stayed late(Jordy asked to go to bed before they left). Shabbat day we did the same, the Balsams staying all day and the kids playing(sometimes nicely). After Shabbat my parents babysat while Josh and I went out to dinner(because we hadn't eaten enough in the past few weeks!). When we came home we played some pool(I defiantly get my pool skills from my parents). We said our goodbyes as my parents were leaving at 2:15am and we weren't staying up to send them off(sorry!). Sunday morning we jumped right back into things-Danya and Jordy went to school and late in the morning all the craziness of the past few weeks caught up with me so I took a nice nap! The kids returned from school and played Leapster most of the afternoon. Danya also did her homework. The kids had dinner and some ice cream for dessert since we had some leftover from Sukkot.

Succkot

On Wednesday I have no recollection of what we did but I am sure it involved cleaning and cooking. I did catch a picture of my Dad vacuuming the living room rug. See, he does help sometimes!

On Wednesday Aviah came to stay with us for Yom Tov(which for her was 3 days while for us it was one, Chol Hamoid and Shabbat). On Wednesday night we ate dinner in our sukkah(nope, it didn't fall over)with Aviah and the Balsams. Josh also slept in the sukkah. He wasn't so happy when the Arab village called to prayer at 3:45am over their loudspeakers and woke him up. On Thursday my mom and I got the kids ready for shul and we were about to head out when my Dad and Josh returned since shul was over. We then all headed to Vered and David Klein who live across the street from my parents house. We had a great time at their house and stayed very long! From there I took Jordy to the Rotter home for Ariella's birthday party. Jordy was happy to see her(as usual). Right before Yom Tov ended we came home. After Havdalah we fed the kids in the sukkah and put them to bed.



On Friday we let the kids have friends over since I was home cooking. Danya had Tamar over and Jordy had Ariella. They all played nicely and allowed me to get Shabbat cooking done.

Friday night we were our core group(us, my parents and the Balsams) plus Aviah and Max(who was staying at Lori's) and Josh's cousin Yoni from Beit Shemesh. We had a nice dinner and afterward Bracha and Neil Rothner came over and we all sat around talking until around 11pm. Shabbat day my Mom and I made it to shul before it was over. We were the same group for lunch and we were in the sukkah until after 2. Some of us took short naps and others walks to the park. After Shabbat was over Josh and I decided to take advantage of all the babysitters in the house and we decided to go see a movie. We asked Aviah if she wanted to join us and she said she wanted to stay home. We then asked my parents if they wanted to go. They joined us but saw a different movie. We saw The Bourne Supremacy, which was a good movie, was the first we had see since Rent was in theaters(how lame are we???). Sunday morning I went to the grocery store quickly. When I returned Josh and I loaded up the kids and we headed to Yerushaliam. We were going to see the Sukkariah which was supposed to be a sukkah made out of candy(sukirah). Well guess what? It wasn't! It was Sukkah made out of tarps and decorated with candy shaped decorations and it had bubble gum dispensers which had gum balls you could purchase for s shekel! Man was that a waste of time! The kids weren't as disappointed as I thought they would be(or as I was!). The only problem was that on the way back to the car Danya's gum ball fell out of her mouth and she had a tantrum. Sunday night Nocky and Ruanne came over for dinner. It had been a busy summer and we hadn't really seen them much since my in-laws were here so it was nice seeing them and catching up. On Monday my Dad had a meeting in Tel Aviv for work so my Mom came with us to the Safari in Ramat Gan. The entrance and exit to the Safari you drive through an open area with animals roaming free and they come up to your car. It was pretty cool. Even better than that was the inside which is a zoo. They really had a lot of animals and we had a great time. Highlights were the kids getting to go on pony rides and the train ride(mostly because at that point we had been walking for about 3 hours and we finally got to sit down for a half hour). Also, Danya nticed the mommy baboon was cleaning the baby baboon and Danya asked what it was doing. I told her it was cleaning it and she said maybe it is checking for lice! We have been here too long!!!


We were there for around 5 hours. On the way out Josh took this picture of a Zebra that was standing outside his window. If he moved the camera any close I think the Zebra may have eaten it. When we got home the kids went right into the bath because we smelled like a zoo! The Geldman's and the Balsam family came over but Josh and I left them all with our kids and we went to Toody's BBQ(Jer-did I spell it right???) in Beit Shemeh. We had a great time, as usual. Josh really seemed to be enjoying himself when he remembered that Seth drove and he could have a few drinks. We left stuffed and tipsy which made for a funny car ride home with Seth and Lori(as the only sober one, I am not sure Seth really enjoyed the ride as much as the rest of us). Today Danya and I went out in the morning to run a bunch of birthday party related errands. We came home about 15 minutes before Ronna, Ira and Jenny Kellman arrived for lunch. It was really nice seeing them(although it would have been nice if they at least brought Maayan with them). After lunch my parents took the Kellman's to see their house. I made a cake and prepared fr Danya's 7th birthday party(her birthday is tomorrow). She was so happy when her friends started arriving. The kids had fun doing their art project and playing unwrap the prize. The also enjoyed the cake and sang "Afo Ha Ugah"(where is the cake) for Bubs even though she wasn't there. Danya was also excited to unwrap her birthday presents. After the party we were all kind of pooped out. Savta gave the kids dinner and got them into bed while Josh and I were working(thanks Savta!). Now I am all caught up until tomorrow! Anyone still reading???