A GAME STORE!!!!!

After the kids went to gan today my Dad arrived at our house. He had a bunch of meetings and while he was doing that I went to Yerushalaim to the mall to get something that Lisa requested I send back with him. It was nice going to the mall all by myself and while I didn't do a ton of shopping I did enjoy strolling through the mall and checking things out. I came back and picked up the kids from Gan. Then we kind of hung around the house until dinner time. Jordy played with his new trains he got for his birthday from the Balsam's, Kellman's and Saba and Savta. We decided to go out to dinner and there was a really funny conversation before we left. I asked Jordy where his socks were. He answered me in hebrew saying Ani Lo Yodah(I don't know). So I asked him Azah Cheder(which room?)? He shrugged. Cheder shel Jordy? He shook his head no. Cheder Shel Danya? he still didn't know so as I was walking out of the kitchen Danya asked Jordy what a cheder is. Jordy responded with Ani Lo Yodah(I don't know). It is funny to hear my kids speak hebrew but I am impressed at the rate they are learning. Jordy can really speak and seems to understand a lot. Danya doesn't speak and understand as much but she knows a lot. Then we went to dinner at a steak house we hadn't been to yet. We found out that right next to the restaurant is a bowling alley that has a video arcade in the front complete with tickets and prizes...A GAME STORE!!!! Danya and Jordy LOVE going to game stores and this is an activity that Pops is know for taking them to(so Pops you better come take them!). They had a tantrum when they realized we weren't going to the game store for dinner. We told them if they behave then we can go to the game store after. They behaved pretty well and we had a great dinner but it was really late when we left(my Dad actually left before we were done because he had a meeting) but we stopped at the game store and the kids were so happy to play games even though there was no skee ball. They had a meltdown before we left but calmed down once we were in the car. We ended up getting home the same time as my dad. Jordy went right to sleep while Danya noticed the catalogue from the US Toy Company. She wanted to know where it came from. I told her that Bubs gave it to Saba to bring to her because Bubs knew that she liked to look at it. Danya responded with "Awww....that was so nice of Bubs to send me my favorite magazine!". and then I spent a half hour on the new elliptical machine that arrived this morning! I am sure my legs will kill in the morning!

Nothing New

I think this is one of the first days in a long time that I have nothing to report. It was a pretty basic day, kids went to school, Josh and I went to the store, kids came home from school. They played, had dinner and baths and went to sleep...how boring and mundane! Oh, Josh went to parent teacher conferences for Danya tonight. The teacher said she is doing well and lately has really started talking in Hebrew. Nothing else to report...I will make an effort to do something more exciting tomorrow!

The Birthday Videos

Here is Danya's Birthday video...sorry it is so lame!



Here's Jordy's Birthday video...you can tell I was sick then as I look like I am about to pass out carrying the cake!



Not too much happened yesterday....I went with Michelle Mintz in the morning to see her new rental and to give her moral support as she signed her contract. Otherwise we hung out around the house. Bedtime was fun as Jordy decided to have the biggest tantrum of his life! It was nice once he finally went to sleep!!!

Where did I leave off?

Wow, my blogging has been very sporadic for the past week. Friday morning I woke up and while the voice wasn't mine, I was able to talk without wanting to cry. Josh took the kids to gan and I started cleaning up a little and packing. We headed to Yerushalim at about 3 to go to the hotel to spend Shabbat with my Dad and a whole bunch of Rabbi's from Chicago. The kids were really excited to go back to "Saba's Hotel". We got there and Shabbat was starting soon so we got ready and headed downstairs. Even though Shabbat was at 4:30 dinner wasn't until 6:30 to accommodate all the different places everyone was planning davening. We finally headed to the dinning room at 6:30 and the kids went running when they saw Rabbi Shandalov. We think Danya was hoping for some KJBS potato kugel, but was happy to see him regardless! We had a nice time at dinner where the kids threw tantrum after tantrum. I could hardly talk by the end, but it was nice catching up with Rabbi Shandalov! We headed up and Jordy went to bed pretty quickly. Danya couldn't fall asleep in Saba's room since it was to light so we moved a couch cushion and she slept on the floor of our room. In the morning I took the kids to breakfast #1 and then after shul we joined my Dad and Josh along with Rabbi Poupko and Rav Schwartz for breakfast #2. After that we went on a walk to Gan Hapamon where the kids had fun playing but we were melting at it was so hot! We headed back to the room where the kids played and we rested until lunch which was at 1:30. We had a ton of food at the hotel buffet. Then the exciting moment that Danya had been waiting for was here...time to go to Daniland. What is Daniland you ask? It is a game room for kids at the Dan Hotel that they played in last time we were there. So we headed there and the kids played there for 2 hours until Shabbat was over. After Shabbat we headed to the mall for some dinner. We ate at the food court. The kids had hot dogs, Josh had Chinese and I had Thai. This was the first time we went to a food court since we were here and it was fun being able to get whatever you wanted and eating together. Then we strolled around until the kids lost it and we headed back. They went to bed and we all read for a while and then went to bed too. At 8am I was woken up by my cell phone ringing. Danya came in then saying she had been awake but didn't want to wake us(so sweet). I turned the TV on for her in the other room and rested until Jordy and Josh woke up at around 8:30(my Dad had to get up at 6:15 because his touring was early, so we said our goodbyes last night and will see him again Wednesday). Then we all got dressed and headed to breakfast(yup, we ate well this weekend). After a massive breakfast we packed up and headed out. We went to Har Nof to a sporting goods store that Josh looked at a few weeks ago. We ended up leaving a lot of money there as we purchased a elliptical machine(mostly for me) and a pool table(mostly for Josh). The elliptical will arrive tomorrow and the pool Wednesday(with the help of a crane to get it to the attic...stay tuned for those videos!). We came home and settled in. Danya went to Karate(which was switched from Tuesdays to Sundays) where she had to purchase a uniform(I am sure it has a technical Chinese name but uniform will have to do). She was all excited that she got a white belt since some kids are testing for orange belt and I didn't want to break her heart and tell her white belt means you are just starting, so I didn't. After the kids got to bed we had the first official gathering of our new book swap club. Basically we are going to get together once a month and swap books and we will buy some new ones along the way. These meetings take place here(which is VERY convenient for me) and everyone was here for about an hour from 8:30 to 9:30. Then I folded 3 baskets of laundry and now I am heading to bed! Enjoy some pictures from the parties and the weekend. Note that Danya is showing off her blue Gymnastic beged(outfit). I will try to get the birthday videos up tomorrow.

Birthday Week and Tonsillitis

Sorry I missed a few days. On Tuesday night I got a fever and on Wednesday morning I woke up with a horribly sore throat. Of course that is the one day the doctor has only evening hours so I had to spend all day in pain until I saw the doctor at around 7pm. He took one look at my throat and said I have acute tonsillitis. He gave me antibiotoic and said it should be better in 48 hours. I was feeling even worse this morning so I had Josh call the doctor and ask for a pain killer(Josh had to call because it hurts to talk) and she(different doctor) asked that I come in. She said it is a severe infection but since it isn't cutting off my breathing she isn't going to put me on steroids, but she put me on a serious regime of Advil, Motrin and Tylenol. In the meantime we have been busy. On Tuesday was Jordy's birthday and he was excited and kept saying "I am bigger now". Tuesday evening we had Michelle Mintz stay here as she was looking at houses. I felt so bad because I couldn't help her too much as I could barley talk. We also had Jordy's birthday party on Wednesday afternoon. There were 8 kids total and they ate lunch, had cake and were on their way. Jordy had fun and that's what counts. That is about it. When I get up later I will put up some pictures from the 2 parties.

Danya's Belated Party (we survived!)

This morning Josh wasn't feeling well and stayed in bed. I took the kids to school and then I went to the grocery store. Then Lori, Yocheved and I took an adventure to some industrial area of a kibbutz to go to the Natuzzi warehouse. We didn't find anything but it was an adventure nonetheless. After we got back I went to a craft store to buy a project for Danya's birthday party. Then I came home, decorated the cake, set up and got ready. I picked up the kids and they were so excited for the party! The guests finally arrived and I found myself surrounded by a bunch of Israeli kids who kept talking at me and most the time I had no clue what they wanted! While Josh would have been better off in bed, he had to help me with the kids. I found that they were VERY hard to control. The other funny part was the party was lead in hebrew and Danya and even more so Jordy responded in hebrew! Jordy is becoming a Israeli very fast! He was yelling "Ani rotzeh mitz tapuchim, Ani rotzeh od"(I want apple juice, I want more) at the top of his lungs. It was funny to hear. By 6:20 Josh and I started counting down the minutes until the parents picked up their kids! Danya was so excited for everyone to leave so she could open her gifts! After all the excitement I got the kids into bed around 7:30 and then I collapsed in front of the TV! I will post the pictures tomorrow(the camera is downstairs and I am too tired to get it).

Goodbye Ma

It is with a heavy heart that I pass on the news of the passing of Josh's great grandmother and Danya and Jordy's great-great Grandmother, Ruth Yudkowsky Raby, known to all as Ma. Ma was 106 years old and we will miss her dearly. We were lucky to have known such a wonderful woman. She will be missed.

The past few days

Friday morning we were up nice and early as Danya was excited for her belated birthday party in gan. She took extra care in getting dressed and we headed to school. After bringing them I went to the bakery and then to drop off something at a new neighbors house to welcome them to the community. Then I went home to clean for Shabbat. I went to get the kids from Gan and Danya was all excited and had a great time at her party. Here is a picture of Daniella and Danya(they were looking into the sun when I took it, hence Danya's hand over her face). Abigail Smolensky and Heather Novick came for Shabbat. It was so nice having them! They are both such nice girls and they kept offering to help. We brought them with us to the Silton's for dinner on Friday night where everyone had a great time and the kids made a mess. Then on Shabbat morning 2 other girls joined us as they were on the Anywhere in Israel program and needed a place to eat. This is a program for kids in the seminary's and Yeshivot that will set them up for Shabbat in different communities. We had volunteered to be hosts and had yet to have anyone. These girls were supposed to be at someone else's house but they couldn't have them for lunch so I offered to take them. We played some fun Jewish Geography and then after they left Abigail and Heather headed to a nap. I had great intentions of staying up so Josh could nap but I couldn't keep my eyes open. After the girls left Danya and Jordy had dinner and went to bed and Josh and I stayed up to watch a lot of bad TV.
This morning, after dropping the kids off at gan, I headed to Yerushaliam to pick up my sister-in-law, Jodi. Jodi is in town for her nieces bat mitzvah so we kidnapped her for the day. I brought her to Modiin and we went out to lunch at a Cafe and then did a little shopping. After that I brought her to say hi to say hi to Lori. Then we went to the gan to get the kids. My kids were happy enough to see Jodi, but were even happier when they saw she had presents! So she helped them set the toys up and then we gave her a tour of the house. We also did a webcam with the family in Florida which was entertaining as usual. My kids were really excited to talk to and see their cousins. We have to do that more often. Then I took Jodi back to her hotel. When I got home it was almost dinner time. My kids had dinner and then went to bed. Then I had a meeting of a few women who are trying to assemble a book club/swap. Since it is hard to get books there are book clubs here that you either buy books as a group and take turns reading them, or you bring books and swap. There is a very large group here that does it but it is closed and not accepting new members. So a few of us got together to arrange another one so we can have books to read! I am heading to bed but Josh is in the attic with David and Eytan Kaplansky watching the Bears game. Every once in a while they give out a collective applause or groan. Go Bears!

Cookies

This morning I actually got out of bed before Danya or Jordy woke me! I couldn't believe it! Of course as I headed down to eat breakfast Jordy woke up so there went my peace and quiet. For some reason, even though we usually wake up, get dressed and out the door in 15 minutes, we sill didn't get out the door early with a full hour. I went to ulpan and while I was there got a disturbing phone call from Lori. She wanted to let me know that Josh's great grandmother, Ma, who is 106 has pneumonia. Obviously at 106 there isn't much that can be done but pray. I called Josh to let him know and he decided to go to the Kotel to daven for her. After ulpan I picked Danya up and we headed home. I realized that I had a 2:20 haircut appointment all the way on the other side of the yishuv but no car. Plus there was no way Danya was going to make that walk. So Danya and I power walked to Lori's where I left Danya and then I raced to the other corner for my appointment. When I was done Josh picked me up. When we got home the electrician was just leaving us a note that he was there and leaving. We let him in so he could run an electrical line in the attic(something he was supposed to return to do last week) but after a few minutes of work he realized that since the wall is concrete he can't tack the wire on so he needs to come back on Sunday. He did hang up our name/address sign. It's official...we live in the Saltzman house(actually the Zaltzman house). Danya came home and wanted more money so we can go to the toy store to buy something with her tooth fairy money. We told her she could clean her room and toys for a shekel(I know....so mean...giving her 20 cents for all that, but she doesn't know any better). She did it so fast! Then she and Jordy played on the computer with Josh(actually I think Josh was playing on the computer while Danya and Jordy climbed all over him). The kids had dinner and went to bed. I ran to another store since the butcher didn't have the fish loaves I had ordered. I am all done cooking for Shabbat, so all I have to do is clean tomorrow. I made chocolate chip cookies for the first time since getting here. I hadn't made them yet because the bar pan I usually use is bigger than my oven. So I made them this week but the problem is that there is no light brown sugar in the country, only dark brown, and the white sugar isn't as finely ground as in America. So I ended up with VERY lumpy cookies. Josh saw them and wanted to know if I had made oatmeal cookies! He tasted them and said they taste the same, I guess it is just the texture? Weird right? Off to bed!

Change in Plans

This morning we overslept and Josh got the kids to school around 9am. I figured since I was already too late for ulpan I may as well go back to bed...so I did. When I got up I checked my e-mail and there were 50 e-mails from ebay confirming my listings...problem was I didn't list anything. So I spent the next hour clearing everything up with ebay and deleting my account(which was a little sad being that I had a rating of 94 but better safe than sorry). I then confirmed our Pesach plans and booked the rooms. We are going away for the whole week and Avi and Eva will be joining us for the first couple days! I am pretty excited as I have never gone away for Pesach before. Then I headed to Shilat to go to the fruit store, the regular store for a few items and to home center to get a mini heater since our room just doesn't get warm enough for me(I hear my mother-in-law reading this and laughing at me). While I was in Shilat I got a call that our lighted name/address sign was ready and I should pick it up. Since I was there I picked that up too. Then I came home and started the challah baking process. I figured since we were going to go out for both meals that I would try the challah recipe here and see if it comes out the same since the yeast is a little different. I figured if it came out ok I would bring it to the 2 meals and if not then no major loss. While I was well into the process I got a call from the people we were having lunch at saying their daughter is sick and we have to reschedule. This was fine since I am having 2 shana aleph girls, Abigail Smolensky and her roommate Heather Novick, and I did want to have a meal at home. The problem was I just came back from the store! So I pulled together a menu that doesn't require me to shop outside of the makolet. Jordy helped me kneed the challah, he had fun sprinkling on the flour and punching the challah. The kids ate dinner and went to bed and I went to aerobics. After aerobics I made 2 side dishes, so I am well on my way!

Fixed

I finally fixed the problem I was having with uploading pictures. I should have know that while I was making a final attempt and I was reporting the problem in another screen it finally worked! Apparently I needed to clear out my cookies...who knew?
Today was a semi-productive day. Josh and I went to a gardening store to pick out plants for our front lawn but realized that we had no clue what we were doing. Do we get a lot of sun, a little sun some sun? Do we want annuals, perennials? How big do we want each plant? What size in the area we want to cover? So we are going to have to go back with the gardener. Then we stopped in at a carpenters warehouse to find out about making a wall unit for the attic to hold the TV, the movies and some books. Problem was we decided to stop in last minute and didn't have the measurement, so we need to go back. Then I came home and started making calls regarding Pesach. Avi and Eva will be in for the first day(notice I said day and not days...only one Seder!!!) and since it is substantially cheaper here to go away we wanted to do so. Problem is that nobody told me we were supposed to look into it last pesach! One of the places I called had one room left, a lot had none and there is one that had one room available for the full week and another room for the first days. I think we are going to go with that once since it is the only place I can find a room at for less than $5000(apparently the expensive places don't sell out as quickly as the cheaper places!). I need to call the woman back tomorrow and confirm, but it looks like we will be in Nes Amim which is in the Galille. Danya's teacher called me and said that since they never had a party for her at school they want to do it this week. Since another kid is also having the party I only need to bring the party favor. So Danya and I headed to Kiryat Sefer and bought whistles for 27 kids(I am sure their mothers will hate me!). Danya had a play date with Daniella and then went with her to Karate. She really likes it and came home and demonstrated her block/jab/cross routine. The kids ate dinner and watched a little TV and headed to bed.

Fame and Drainboards

This morning I quickly checked my e-mail in between getting the kids breakfast and getting them dressed. I was excited to see that I got an e-mail from Jennifer Weiner in response to an e-mail I sent her a few days ago. She had posted a question on her blog and I responded to it never really expecting a response. Apparently she liked what I had to say and wanted my permission to put it on her blog. So take a look, my name is there on the Monday January 15th post. After the kids went to school and I went with Sharon to show her how to get to Kiryat Sefer and all the stores there. We also went to a Kol Bo(all purpose store) and then to the grocery store. I was really excited to find the hanging drainboards that are in the cabinet above our sink(not sure how descriptive that is but if you have been here you are familiar with them). Ours were gross and needed to be replaced since day one but I haven't been able to find them and there they were in the Kol Bo. After shopping I picked Danya and Tamar up from gan and took them to and from gymnastics. After that I picked Jordy up from the birthday party he went to. Then we did a few more rounds of back and fourth carpools until it was time for dinner. Danya ate a really bizarre dinner that I need to report on. I generally don't report the meals I serve my kids because they are probably questionably, but I needed to share this one....she started off with a bowl of corn, followed by sliced avocado, after that she had some baked potato that she wanted mashed. After that she ate half my salmon steak! What a weirdo...all those were foods she requested! Jordy wanted no part of any of that and he ate a waffle(see...that I why I don't report what I feed my kids....even Danya commented that he was eating breakfast for dinner). After dinner and bath time the kids headed to bed(after Danya talked to Meira). I headed out to toning and now I get to fold more laundry...woo hoo!
Here are the latest pictures from my parents house!
**Ugh....still can't put up pictures...I will work on it and get back to you!

Party Planning

This morning was a lazy day for me. After the kids went to gan I did a bunch of laundry and watched TV....that was it...nothing exciting. When I picked up Danya and Jordy I brought Danya's birthday party invitations with for her to distribute. Some of you reading this may be saying to yourselves "Wasn't Danya born in October?". Yep, you are right, but you may remember that we moved into the house on her birthday and then the next week was Succkot and then we went to Chicago, so we never got around to it. Well since Jordy's birthday is coming up we didn't think it would be fair to celebrate his birthday before hers, so we are having a party now. We stopped at our neighbors house to drop off an invitation and we invited their daughter over for a play date. She came over along with another friend. The neighbor is Israeli and a hebrew speaker. They all played fine though and most of the afternoon. After everyone left the kids ate dinner and went to bed. Josh watched the Bears game while I went to a new Oleh meeting on the Yishuv. The point of the meeting was to see what Olim need help with and ways the Yishuv can help the Olim. It was interesting and hopefully there will be progress made with the ideas and suggestions discussed. When I returned Josh was still watching the Bears game and there was 2 minutes left in the game. I watched about 10 minutes and there was still a minute 30 seconds to go, so I gave up, but I did hear the Bears fight song playing, so maybe that is good news for he Bears.

Teeth, Party and Throw-up

Friday morning we were almost late but I kept reminding Jordy that they were having his gan birthday party and he didn't want to be late. He was so excited that he kept saying in a very excited voice "We can't be late!". We walked in on time and as he walked through the door the Morahs made a whole production about his arrival, he was so excited! Since his friend Yehoshua also has a January birthday we shared the party with him. Parents aren't allowed to go to the party. We were told to bring a cake or cupcakes for 31 kids, send some balloons to decorate the room and bring a little toy/goodie bag item for 31 kids. Yehoshua's mom made a dunkin Hines cake and brought the balloons and we got the goodie bag stuff. When I picked him up from Gan, Jordy was so excited and said he really liked the party. His Morah pulled me aside to tell me that Jordy not only understands Hebrew, but lately he responds in Hebrew and they love that he does. I asked what he says so the teacher said she told him to sit in a chair today and he said "Ani Lo Rotzeh"(I don't want to). I was laughing that the first thing he learned was to say no! While we were getting ready for Shabbat Danya lost a tooth! This is number 5 I believe! I had to explain that the tooth fairy doesn't come on Shabbat but after Shabbat we will have to leave the tooth. Friday night was mostly quiet. Danya wanted to sleep over in Jordy's room and since they were both well behaved we let her. I kept hearing Jordy coughing and about a half hour later Jordy was crying. He had thrown up from all the coughing. Like he always does when he is traumatized, Jordy asked for his old house and he insisted that he go to the doctor at once. We got him cleaned up and Danya cheered him up while we gave him cough medicine. They headed back to bed but a few minutes later Jordy, trailed by Danya, came to our room to say his tummy hurt. I calmed him a little and then he was happier. We sent them on their way but accident prone Jordy walked right into the door frame and bumped his head. Poor kid never gets a break! So we calmed him down again and then they finally went to sleep! This morning he wasn't feeling good when he woke up and he felt a slight bit warm so I gave him some Tylenol, but then he was fine. The Silton's came over for lunch and we had a good time. The kids all played together nicely and let us enjoy most of our lunch. Later in the afternoon an Israeli friend of Danya's came over to play. It was funny hearing Danya talk to her. Danya's understanding of Hebrew isn't as good as Jordy's but since she doesn't usually play with Hebrew speakers we don't get the chance to see how she does relating, understanding and speaking. She did well. Jordy held his own as well and Natalie(pronounced nA-tA-lE) stayed until Shabbat was almost over. After Shabbat was over we played clean up the attic(not such a fun game according to Danya and Jordy). Then Jordy and Danya(who is anxiously awaiting a visit from the tooth fairy, who she named Tinkerbell)went to bed.
Here is a picture of Jordy, Yehoshua and their Morahs...just kidding, pictures won't post again...I will try tomorow!-January 16th-I finally got the picture to post!!

Ulpan

Today I went to Ulpan for the second day in a row. I have noticed something, when I actually go and pay attention I learn something! It wasn't too bad until the teacher told me that I have to make a speech on Wednesday again. I can talk about anything I would like...anyone have any ideas? I spoke about training and running the 5K last time. After I picked Danya up from gan we went to Shilat to to 4 stores. First we went to a lighting store to order a name sign to hang outside our house. Then we went to Shum Pelpel, which sells a ton of American products. I needed teriyaki sauce and they had it. Then I wanted to stop at this store called Gastronome because I was told it was a health food store and I was curious, but it wasn't a health food store at all. Waste of time! After Shilat I brought Danya to Neuman's to play. Later I ran a few pickups and got the kids home. I then got ready for the Wolfe wedding. Josh was supposed to go to the wedding with me but he realized he just couldn't miss that much work, so I went without him. It was nice seeing all the Chicago people and doing a little catch up. It was a beautiful wedding and we stayed pretty late(the we being me, Chani and Moshe Turk and Gail and Reuven Turk, who I got a ride with).

IKEA

This morning I got the kids up and out of the house and when Josh got back from shul we got in the car for our big outing to Netanya to go to IKEA. Now those of you who are familiar of my experiences with IKEA(bad) are probably wondering why I would step foot in the store, but everyone here is all a buzz about how great IKEA is here so we had to see what all the talk was about(plus we were told they have a great restaurant that we wanted to check out). We were specifically in search of some sort of stand of unit for our TV(see picture of TV on the floor). We found a couple that were OK, but nothing great. We did find a small stand to put the American TV we brought(American TV's are wired differently and can't be used for reception but they can be used with VCR/DVD/Playstation etc so we brought ours for the kids to watch their movies on) and an easel for the kids which I incidentally had been looking for in America for a while but could never find one I liked. We were also in a hurry and didn't get to eat at the sit down restaurant but Josh was happy to get a hot dog on the way out at the concession...only in Israel! I would like to comment that this IKEA was very similar to the one in Chicago(or more specifically Schaumberg). The whole layout, the writing down the item #, getting your boxes and the checkout. I am guessing the downfall would be that the instructions are in IKEA(my definition of very bad, vague directions) AND Hebrew. I think we are probably better off having not found something! I can't even imagine customer service! OK...I am done ranting about IKEA and the grudge I am holding for over 7 years with them! After IKEA we made a quick stop at Toys R Us to look for a basketball thing Josh wanted to get. Then we headed home. I stopped at the little book store to buy dry erase markers(markerim in Hebrew) and chalk. Then I picked up Danya and we brought Daniella with and the girls played school for a while. Then Sharon came over with her boys to play with Danya and Daniella. Josh brought Jordy home from daycare and then Lori stopped by with Myrna and Nana to see the house. Later, Michelle picked up both girls and took them to a Karate class. Daniella has been going and loves it and Danya has expressed an interest in going so we let her try it out. While she was gone Yvonne Geldman came by to measure out table for table pads. Then Danya came back from karate and the fun began. Not sure how it started but Danya and Jordy were fighting like crazy and then Jordy went nuts! He had such a massive meltdown! We finally got him calmed down and after dinner I got the kids to bed. A long day!
*Jordy recently started wearing his Tzitzit to gan-here is a picture of him modeling.

Let There Be Light!

Yesterday I had to get out of bed early since the electrician, who was supposed to be here last week, was coming at 7:30. He was coming to install our dining room fixture since the handyman couldn't do it. After the kids went to gan the cable guys came to hook up our tv! I say thing with excitement since I have been having some serious TV withdrawal and it has been over 6 months since we had a TV. After the light was up I headed upstairs to zone out watching TV for a little bit. Of course I realized that this was not Comcast cable but Israeli YES which has about 3 decent channels and some of the shows are a bit outdated, but I don't care....I need a TV fix! I took a break from Oprah to pick up Danya from gan and take her to gymnastics. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. One funny thing, I turned on the TV for Jordy and Blue's Clues was on in hebrew. Jordy wanted to know when Blue learned hebrew! After the kids went to bed our neighbor, the landscaper, came over to discuss what we are going to do with our lawn/garden etc. We figured out what to do in place of the bushes they pulled out when they redid the street. Otherwise we left the rest open and we will figure it out in the spring. I headed to the gym and then back home to watch some very old Sopranos and yesterdays Jay Leno show.

A Lucky Story

Yesterday was a cold, rainy day. After getting the kids to school Josh went to Ulpan and I ran some errands. I went to the money changer and then to the bank in Modiin. After that I headed to shilat where I went to Home Center to get the extension cord I forgot to buy on Friday at Ace. Then I went to the grocery store. I learned that when it is a rainy Sunday morning the store isn't crowded and you can get in and out without getting trampled(this doesn't happen any other time). I picked Jordy up at Gan and Danya went to Daniella's for a playdate. Jordy was very excited about the speakers which Josh had finished setting up. Since the cable/satellite TV wasn't set up yet we tested it with a DVD. Later Danya and Daniella came here since Michelle had to drive to Malae Adumim. The girls and Jordy were not playing very well together, Jordy kept bothering them, so I distracted him with his Thomas train set. We haven't seen it since it was packed in August, so he was happy to play with it again. After Daniella left Jordy and Danya had dinner and then joined me while I was doing yourself fitness. It was cute watching Jordy in his blanket sleeper and Danya in her fleece PJ's doing leg lifts! After putting Jordy to bed Danya requested I read her a 101 Dalmatians book. She brought her stuffed animal dalmatian that Bubs and Pops got her for Chanukah to head the story. Danya was so excited as I read about one of the dalmatians named Lucky since that is the name of her dalmatian(it says so on the tag). She exclaimed "That is so cool that Lucky is part of a real story!". She was so happy and went to sleep cuddling Lucky.

A Big Jump

Friday morning Josh went to play football in Modiin and I had some errands to run. I was going to go shopping with our new neighbor Sharon, to show her some good stores, but her son was having a hard time at school and she ended up having to stay with him. So I went to the makolet, Ace Hardware(where I forgot to buy one of the 3 things I went for) and to the food takeout store in Shilat. Then I went to pick the kids up from school. On the way home Jordy climbed on some rocks and insisted on jumping down even though I told him not to. Guess what? He landed smack on his face on the brick paved ground. I don't mean that his feet touched the ground and then he hit his face, I mean he landed on his face. I was really scared to pick him up because I was sure there would be blood and teeth all over the ground but amazingly so he didn't have a scratch. He was screaming and his nose hurt but he was ok. He did have a little blood dripping out of his nose later, but he really was fine. We then went home where the kids played in the attic. When Josh returned from football he also went to the attic to take a look at the new speaker system. He and Jordy spent some time opening it and setting it up. Jordy was very insistent on helping with the screw driver and carrying the right parts to hand to Josh, it was cute. Then we got ready for our first quiet Shabbat in a long time. It was a good week for a quiet one since it was cold and rainy outside. We had a nice quiet dinner and went to sleep. This morning Josh went to shul across the street and when he came home he helped as the kids and I were collecting some toys and relocating them to their new home in the attic. Then we all got dressed and went to the Salzman's for lunch. Yup, that wasn't a typo, there is a family on the Yishuv and their last name is Salzman. It is the same Zaltzman in hebrew but in english they don't have a T. Since we have been here they have been so nice and have invited us about 4 times and this was the first time we didn't have plans. We had a really good time there and the kids had fun since their kids played with them. Danya was also especially happy since they had coleslaw for lunch, which they thought was funny. We came home and Josh read to the kids while I took a nap. Next thing I knew Shabbat was over. A few hours later the babysitter arrived and we headed to Alon Shvut for the Bar Mitzvah of Yehuda and Adina Rothner's son. Josh and Yehuda are second cousins so it was a family event. We had a good time seeing a lof of family. On top o that we have some friends who live in Alon Shvut that we got to see and my friend Yael Kleirs is also cousins so I got to spend some time with her. Overall we had a very social night. We drove Lenny and his boys back to Yerushalim and came home.

Attic Day

I finally returned to ulpan today after an extended Chanukah break, extended in the sense that everyone else had been back for 3 classes and I chose not to be. Yup, I am still a bad student, some things never change. After ulpan I came home happy to see the attic was almost done! Danya came home and played on her scooter with our neighbor Eli until it was time for English. Danya was really excited that English was taking place at our house today since Tamar was sick. She thought it was hysterical that Mrs. Zachs was coming over! I picked Jordy up from daycare and after English was over we headed to the Silton's where the kids played nicely for about an hour. Then we came home and the kids ate dinner. Once they went to bed I tackled the attic. I swept it forever and it is still dusty. Then I sorted the boxes and took out the TV. I had called earlier to turn on the cable. Problem was that there isn't an electrical outlet anywhere near the cable cord so we need to get an extension cord. Also, we finally fixed our couch. When the lift came we asked the guys to assemble the couch and they said they couldn't since there was no hardware. We looked all over for the hardware. Last night I noticed that it looked like it may be possible to slip the back cushions into the brackets on the base of the couch, and sure enough 5 minutes later the couch was assembled! Here is a video of the semi-finished project.
Now all we need are bookshelves, cabinets and a TV stand...IKEA here we come!!!

Shop Til We Drop

Danya woke up in the middle of the night screaming hysterically. I went to her in a daze to find out what was wrong and she told me her foot was itching her. Once I calmed her down she asked me to stay with her in her room. So I sat on her bed and eventually leaned against her wall waiting for her to fall asleep. After a few minutes she said to me "Mommy, you should go get your pillow, you look uncomfortable". I then headed back to bed. She then overslept in the morning. Josh had already taken Jordy to gan and we had our real estate lawyer here with a guy who was measuring our house for taxes by the time she got up. I hurried her out to gan. After that I picked Jodi B. up from Lori's as we were heading to the mall. Amy was supposed to come with but she was sick and couldn't come. So Jodi and I met Sunny at the mall where we had a fun brunch. Then we did a bunch f shopping and headed back. When I got back I picked Jordy up from a playdate and then we came home to check out the progress on the attic. Alan is almost done with the floor and he said tomorrow he should complete the floor and the baseboards(hopefully). I brought Danya home from her playdate and gave the kids dinner. After some confusion about the plans, Lori called and picked me up(Josh stayed home with the kids)to go to Sheva Brachot for Melissa and Jonny. We had fun at the restaurant but ti started very late and I got home at 11:30. Goodnight!

Floor

Tuesday morning we all had a hard time waking up. Once we got the kids to school we hung out at home. Alan came to install our attic floor. He said it will take a few days but he made a lot of progress throughout the day. Francie came with me to pick Danya up from gan. Daniella came with and she and Danya had a playdate. Josh dropped Francie off at the bus stop as he was heading to Yerushalim. The kids played nicely all day. After Jordy came home and Daniella left I gave the kids dinner and we got them to bed early since they were exhausted. Later in the evening Josh and I took turns going to a LaChaim in the neighborhood since their daughter got engaged to Elisha Rubin. I was impressed by the number of Chicagoans at the LaChaim. After that I came home and collapsed!

Mazel Tov

As I was sure it would, I overslept this morning. I was impressed that I got downstairs at 8:14 to get the kids dressed, give them breakfast and make a lunch for Jordy(Danya gets lunch in Gan) and we were in the car at 8:26! I saw Tami dropping off Tamar for gan so she came back with me to see the house. Then Josh, Francie and I went to run a few errands. First we picked up our dining room light fixture that was ready. Then we went to Kiryat Sefer to pick up a wedding gift and 2 bar mitzvah gifts. After that we looked around and came across a furniture store that we may buy a second trundle bed at. After Kiryat Sefer we decided to go to Modiin as there was a new bagel shop that just opened. We got sandwiches and took them home to eat. Then I did the gymnastic carpool run followed by the English carpool and the daycare one. Before we started getting ready for the wedding Danya was in the kitchen eating and I noticed she had opened her umbrella...why? I am not quite sure but it made for a cute photo op. Then we all got ready and headed to Melissa and Jonny's wedding. The ride was about an hour long. It was a beautiful wedding and Danya especially had a good time. She was the life of the party and was on the dance floor all night. Jordy fell asleep after the chuppah and we laid him across 2 chairs at the table and that was how he spent the rest of the night. I am sure there were more entertaining stories from the wedding but since it started late and we left before it was over, at midnight, I am too tired to remember.