Green Thumb

Yesterday morning Josh and I took a trip to the gardening store. Even though my past attempt at gardening has failed:

(And yes I took this yesterday which means that I still have my dead plant at my doorway).

Josh has been working on the front lawn which is no longer a lawn but a rock garden. We needed flowers for the little flower bed in the middle so off we went. When we got there and were looking around I decided that I am going to make another attempt at gardening. Since we moved here I really wanted to plant a herb garden. I love the idea that when I need dill for my chicken soup I just go outside and cut some. Or basil for my pesto just go outside and take some. So yesterday I decided to go ahead and do it. I figured it was a $4 investment for the 3 herbs I purchased(we figured lets get 3 and then if I haven't killed them I will get more). We started with basil, dill and zatar. I planted them right outside my kitchen by our new patio. They look kind of sad as I wanted to leave room for more but hopefully, if I don't forget to water them, I will have a full herb garden soon. Seriously, it is the small things in life that make me happy. Josh planted the flowers in the front(and I am pretty sure he didn't realize I was taking this picture) and they look really nice. The kids were busy in the afternoon with their activities and friends. Then we went to the Balsam's for dinner as the Senior Kellman's were coming for dinner on their way to the airport. We had a nice time visiting with them.
Today was spent mostly at home cleaning and baking cookies. In the afternoon Josh, Danya, Nadav and I got to virtually attend our nephew's bris. Amazing what you can do with Skype. Thanks David for carrying us around and offering us a bagel. Mazel tov again to Matthew and Marissa on their son Amitai Yoseph! Here he is:

Mosaic

I haven't written about this yet, but a few weeks back I started doing mosaic. A friend has been offering to teach me about a week after we made Aliyah and I kept telling her I wanted to do it but we just never got around to it. Well a few weeks back we decided it was finally time to stop talking about it and start. I took pictures of my project-a large sign with our name(in Hebrew) to hang outside our house-on my cell phone starting from day 1 however when my cell phone deleted all my pictures I lost those as well. So here is where it is today.
I really enjoy doing it although it can take a while and seem tedious. I will keep you updated from time to time. After mosaics I came home and Nadav was taking the longest nap of his life-literally-3 hours long! He woke up after Jordy headed to swimming. The rest of the afternoon was typical. The kids were happy to eat pancakes for dinner-one of the only meals they all like-too bad it has no nutritional value-while watching Sesame Street on the computer. After dinner Nadav got his hands on an apple that was left over from Jordy's lunch. He LOVES apples, or as he calls them bopple(not to be confused with the Popple dolls from the 80's) but he rarely gets his hands on a whole one and is so excited when he does.

Playgroup

This morning Nadav had his first playgroup. Not sure why it took me so long to do this. When Danya was about a month old we started our first playgroup with Ami Strick and Judah Ripstein which grew and continued for about 2 years on a weekly basis. So since a few mothers had mentioned to me recently that their babies needed more interaction. So I decided to take initiative and get it started. Of course one mom didn't check her email, one baby was sick and one was napping. Once the napping baby(Merav) woke up we were 4 babies total. Nadav, the lone man in the group, was a little clingy but I think he enjoyed having other babies around(I keep calling them babies but some of them are really toddlers). After the playgroup Nadav was tired so Josh put him down for a nap while I headed out in the rain(yahoo!) to the store. When I came home it was pouring so I only brought in the perishables. Nadav and Josh were napping so I figured, if you can't beat 'em....so I napped for an hour. After everyone ate lunch I decided to take Nadav out for a bit since all he wanted to do was climb on the stairs. We went to the toy store and bought some birthday gifts which are overdue. Nadav enjoyed himself pulling stuff off the shelves-I can't take this kid anywhere! When we returned it was pouring again so I drove Jordy, Moshe and Meira to ceramics. Danya was home as her softball chug was canceled(it seems that it only rains on Mondays). Some of us ate dinner(Jordy didn't want any as he insisted he doesn't like rice and chicken). Then everyone (OK, not Nadav)played Wii and went to bed.

Happy Birthday Jordy

Friday morning Josh, Nadav and I headed to the mall as we had heard that each Friday they have a bunch of different places offering Shabbat take out. We figured since we were going out for lunch and we were just us(and Robert) for dinner it was a good opportunity to try it. We bought a few things there and then headed to another take out place and picked up a little more food. Danya came home with Meira from school and Jordy stayed at Moshe's for a while. Robert came over and we all got ready for Shabbat. During dinner you'll never believe what happened. Yup-you guessed it-the power went off. I guess it wasn't the plata(hot plate). Josh got the security guard to come over to switch it back on but we decided it is time to get an electrician.
Shabbat was Jordy's birthday-7 years old! In the morning Jordy woke up early as did Nadav. Jordy wanted to play with Nadav in the morning so he did and Josh and I went back to bed for a little bit. Danya and Jordy went to the kids minyan and Nadav and I actually got dressed and made it to shul for 15 minutes. We went to the Zemel's for lunch. When I asked if it would be ok for me to bring a birthday cake for Jordy Robin insisted that she would make a cake for him. Jordy was so excited at dessert time when there was a blue birthday cake for him! After lunch we headed home and the adults and Nadav napped. Danya and Jordy headed to the Siltons where they stayed until after Shabbat. Josh took them to the parent child learning and then home and to bed.
Today Jordy was really excited to go to school as his class had a field trip to Olam HaArvaz(Goose World?). I headed to book club where we discussed The Space Between Us. My 4 word review-Good book. Bad ending. After book club Josh headed to an eye doctor appointment. He hadn't had his eyes checked in about 30 years so I made him go. While he was gone Nadav napped. Danya and Meira played in the afternoon while Jordy was at English. Then Jordy came home and Danya went to a school for a special activity. In the evening I remembered I had a birthday present for Jordy from the Balsam's and Kellman's. Jordy was so excited to get a kids exercise video. I know, it sounds crazy but a few months ago he came up with the idea that he wanted an exercise show and has been begging for one since. He was jumping up and down when he realized that was what he got. He went right to the attic to try it out and then Nadav joined him. It isn't the best video but you can see them dancing around(or exercising).
Danya came home and the kids had dinner and went to sleep.

Mazel Tov!

Before I get into the regular boring stuff I would like to wish Mazel Tov to Matthew, Marissa and Ori on the birth of a baby boy this morning. I would share a picture of our newest nephew and cousin however I haven't seen any of the 7 Matthew claims he took.

Now, on to the regular news. After my last post I had intentions of posting the pictures and videos I took in the past week or so. However on Tuesday when I went to use my camera phone I noticed it said the memory was full however there were no photos there(I often use the phone for pictures when I don't have time to find my camera). I had a few funny Nadav videos and a bunch of pictures there. I will take it to the phone store next week and I hope they can recover them(along with the 50 songs on the MP3). In the meantime here are the few pictures I did have on the regular camera. We got more balls for Nadav's ball pit from a friend who wanted to get rid of hers. Nadav was really excited and since the ball pit(which is really a tent rather than a pit) is now a little more full.
Here is Nadav after he put Wacky Mac on his head.


Here is a video of Nadav. It is hard to take pictures and videos of him lately because the minute he sees the camera he says cheese(as you can hear in this video) and if he is standing he comes over to where you are with the camera. Whenever Danya leaves her helmet on the floor Nadav puts it on and often his eyes are covered and he crashes into things-good thing he is wearing a helmet. This time he can see but he is still cute. Also you can hear him asking for his favorite person-Jordy. He asks for him all the time.


Last night Josh and I went to Jeffrey Stein's wedding in Jerusalem. It was a really lovely wedding and so lebidik(never typed that word before). It's always nice going to Chicago simcha and seeing people we don't get to see all the time.
Tonight Jordy did not want to go to sleep and then he mentioned that he needed to bring a treat to school tomorrow as he is the Kochav HaShavuah(the star of the week)in his class. I told him if he goes to bed nicely right now I will get him his treat. He stopped to think for a minute and in a cute voice said "hmmm....that's a tough one" while putting his finger to his face in a thinking pose. It was really cute and Josh and I got a laugh.
And tonight's blog wouldn't be complete without a few Danya comments. When I told her she had a new cousin she asked me if it is a boy or a girl. I told her it is a boy and she responded "Why are there so many boys in our family? First there is David, Danny, Daddy, Avi and Matthew. There there is Moshe and Yoni...." and she went on adding up all the boys. It was cute. Also she made a project today at an activity which is a boat with someone sailing on it. She told me she made it to give to Jordy for his birthday and that she knows what she is writing on the card "Happy Birthday Jordy! My heart is always sailing with you". I asked her who told her that and she said she made it up herself! Too funny!

Rain

So more than a week has gone by and only one person complained that the blog wasn't updated. Does that mean that nobody reads it or that you have just learned that I have become lazy?
Nothing earth shattering has happened here. Last Shabbat we had Robert, who I realized not all of you know. Robert is my sister-in-law Eva's brother(did you follow that?). Robert was brave enough to make Aliyah by himself over the summer with no family and very little hebrew. He has recently begun his army service. As he is a Chayil Boded(lone soldier-a soldier without immediate family in the country) he is entitled certain things. Rather than rent an apartment which he would just return to on the occasional weekend he is "renting" a room in our house and whenever he is off for a Shabbat he comes here. Poor guy was so exhausted last week I thought he was going to fall asleep at the table Friday night. We hope we refuel him and help him get some good rest so he is ready to face the week on Sunday. So back to last Shabbat-we had the Gellers and Joel(Claudia is out of town) over for lunch and it was a fun afternoon. As they were leaving the Silton's came by and hung out for a bit. Saturday night Robert was really excited that he could stay over and get a drop more sleep Sunday morning(he got a ride to the bus station at 6:15am).
The week was pretty quiet. On Wednesday afternoon Nadav seemed to be wheezing, which coincided with Merav's bronchialitis(which I know is a RSV virus but isn't coming up on spell check). So on Thursday morning I took him to the doctor but of course the wheezing was gone.
This Shabbat Robert did not join us however Mira and Jason and family were in the neighborhood so they came over for dinner on Friday night. We also had a friend of Danya's stay over as here parents were away. Friday night the kids were off the walls.
Shabbat morning the kids(except Nadav) were all up as early as 5. By 9am they were all fighting and crabby. Danya's friend and Jordy went to shul and Danya went back to sleep. We then went to the Gerson's for lunch with Jeffrey Stein, however Lori was sick. After lunch Danya, her friend and Tamar came over-bad idea. We also picked up Moshe B. as well. Danya and her friends spent the rest of the day fighting, screaming and being nasty to each other. When Shabbat was over it was a relief to get Danya's friend out just to have some peace and quiet. We had the kids go to bed early in hopes that Sunday would be better.
Today we had a gas balloon delivered(which was a total foreign concept to me before we moved here-rather than having a gas line and unlimited gas to your home you have lines attached to a tank that is outside your house and when the tank is empty-which you know when your stove stops working-you have the tank or 'balloon' replaced). Every 5 years each houses gas line has to be inspected. Today we had that done. After some confussion about who was doing the inspection, the inspector(rather than the balloon delivery guy) showed up. It actually worked out well for us as we wanted to move the BBQ from the side of the house to the back of the house and they guy was able to do it.
Last night a rain storm began that promises to last for a few days. Here's hoping as the kineret is very low. It has rained on and off most of today.
That is all I have for you tonight. Tomorrow I will try and remember to take the pictures and videos off the camera and update you a little more about the kids.

Tummy Ache

Nothing really exciting to report today but I had a funny Jordy story to share.

Tonight Jordy was telling me that last night he had a tummy ache-
Jordy: After I made on the potty last night I thought I had to throw up so I leaned over like this(sticks his tongue out) but I didn't have to. It was in the middle of the night so I didn't wake you.
Me: If you need me in the middle of the night you can wake me.
Jordy: I didn't need you, I needed the toilet.

Hope you enjoyed that one as much as I did!

Boy am I embarrassed. It has been REALLY long since I posted. We are in a New Year and apparently my resolution was not to update the blog more often. Oh well. Anyhow, I can't go into all the daily details so here are some highlights going back a week.
Last week I invited a few families to join us for meals on Shabbat and nobody was available. So it was just us and Robert. We were just happy that we had electricity(I bought a new blech so hopefully that will be the end of that problem....hopefully). Nadav has taken a liking to Robert and when he walks in the door he reaches for him which is funny because clearly Robert isn't so comfortable holding him, but he is getting better. Danya had a friend who joined us for lunch on Shabbat and stayed until after Shabbat. On Saturday night the kids were really excited to go to the pizza party at the parent child learning. They also got a little prize. After they returned Josh and I headed to David and Emily's for Settlers and Bacardi-and a bizarre game of Wii Price is Right.
Sunday morning I took Nadav to the doctor because his finger was very swollen and red. I was a little worried he broke it-the kid is all over the place, slamming his hands in the kitchen cabinets and drawers and falling down all the time. Turns out it isn't broken, just a bug bite. Nothing a little Israeli Benedryl can't cure.
Today we-or I should say Jordy-experienced an Israel first. After the age of 6 all vaccines are given at school here. When Danya was in first and second grade she didn't need them as she has already had the ones they were giving in the states before we made Aliyah. Jordy on the other hand did not. So today at school he recieved his MMR shot. I LOVE THIS! He was-wait for it-excited to go to school to get his shot! He came home and reported that he was brave but then listed all the kids who cried. Had I taken him I would have had to hold him down and there would have been kicking and screaming. What a great idea!
Tonight we had a party for Jordy's class. They finished learning all the letters so they had a Yarid Otiot-A letter fair. There were stations for each letter and different activities for each one. It was really cute and Jordy had fun. I took a video of the song the class sang however there were 2 kids blocking Jordy so I won't put it up. At the end of the party they had dinner and we came home. Nocky and Ruanne stopped over tonight to drop off some stuff from Bubs and Pops-thanks for the Salami, Liquor and pacifiers!
Here are some random pictures from this week: