All Caught Up

No idea what I did last Thursday.
I do know that last Friday was the day of the plague. I woke up with a HORRIBLE flu and could hardly move all day. Robert was by us for Shabbat and I have no idea what everyone ate for dinner-I hope they didn't starve.
Shabbat morning I was feeling a little bit better and dragged myself out of bed and we went to friends for lunch. I hope they didn't notice that I didn't eat but Nadav was eating off my plate so I think I was clear. Later in the afternoon we had 3 couples over for meat Seudat Shlishit/couples Settlers(team Saltzman won).
Last Sunday eludes me.
Last Monday we had book club and it was a little sad as it was the last book club for 2 members who were moving back to the states. We are going to miss you Suzanne and Yocheved! I then went to Suzanne's house to take the tour so that I can show it to perspective buyers after they leave for the states. Monday night we headed into Tisha B'Av and for the first time in 9 years I went to shul for Eicha. I spent the evening organizing some drawers.
Tuesday we spent the whole day in the house in our pajamas. The plan was to let the kids watch as much TV as they wanted and to keep the AC cranked up. In the AM we all cleaned out the attic a bit. It had a ways to go but it was a good start.
Wednesday everyone was back to camp and gan. I headed to aerobics and then Josh and I finished cleaning the attic. At night Danya slept over at the Balsam's and Moshe slept over here.
Thursday I think I went to the grocery store in the morning. Not sure what else I did.
Friday we attempted to get to the pool in the morning but it didn't happen so Josh took Danya and Jordy out to Falafel. Later in the afternoon we finally got out to the pool for a while. Nadav is fearless at the pool and he wants to jump right in. His favorite thing to do it to lift him out so he can jump in. Quite a workout for the arms. After the pool we returned home and got ready for Shabbat. Friday night dinner was quiet.
Shabbat morning Nadav and I headed to shul just as it was ending. We hung out at home most the day playing cards and games and napping. In the late afternoon we took a walk to say goodbye to the Neuman's but they were napping so we went to the park and then to the Balsam's for a bit.
Sunday morning after going to the gym I joined Dvora and we went to the new IKEA. Guess what? It is just like every IKEA except-it is closer to home, has underground parking and they have hummus in the cafeteria. We did very minor damage and enjoyed our salmon lunch and headed home. In the afternoon we all just hung out at home and the kids played computer and watched TV(this is the theme of our summer by the way).
Monday after taking the boys to gan/camp I headed to the gym for Zumba. Then I was going to have Danya come with me to the grocery store. As we were getting ready to walk out the door Lisa called and said she was taking Meira out to ice cream and does Danya want to come with them. I gave Danya the option of either going with me to the grocery store or with Lisa to ice cream. Guess which one she picked??? So I headed to the grocery store alone. In the afternoon I took Nadav to return to the grocery store as the good cereal that my kids like was on major sale with a limit of 2 so I had only bought 2 earlier and wanted to get more. At 5:00 we tried packing up and leaving for the pool however we didn't actually leave until 5:30. It was really warm so we stayed in the pool until 6:30. Nadav enjoying jumping into the pool and Danya and Jordy swimming and shooting everyone they knew with the water guns Josh bought them on Friday. At 6:30 I took Nadav out of the pool and we sat on the side and he started eating the pizza I made for dinner(I found the dough recipe from my home economics class I took in 8th grade!). He was so hungry and between bites he happily yelled "pizza". Josh, Danya and Jordy joined us about 15 minutes later and everyone enjoyed their dinner. When we got home Nadav went straight to bed. Danya and Jordy returned to their summer activity of computer playing and TV watching.
Tuesday I returned to the gym and ran on the treadmill the farthest I have ever run straight which was 7 kilometers, almost 4 and a half miles. After I returned Danya and I went to get haircuts. Jordy played with Moshe B. in the afternoon and later Danya went to Meira's birthday-Happy 10th birthday Meira!!! The boys had hot dogs for dinner and Danya ate pizza at the party.
Wednesday morning after aerobics Josh, Danya and I headed back to the grocery store-we eat a lot of cereal and when it is 25% off you buy as much as you can! I also needed some things as that night was my coffee to the soldiers night and we were low on hot cups and sugar. So Danya and I bought what we needed while Josh rode his bike from the grocery store to Modiin to return something. While we waited for him to return Danya and I looked around in the art store. Then Josh came back and bought 2 more boxes of cereal-Trix and Honey Nut Cheerios, and we headed home. We had a plan to return to the pool for dinner. We were so close to being ready at 5 and then the phone rang and the kids needed to be changed....we didn't get out until 5:30. For some reason Jordy walked to the car without shoes and I didn't notice as I was on the phone and when we arrived at the pool Jordy was barefoot and couldn't walk through the parking lot full of broken glass. Luckily I had seen Moshe B. walking into the pool as we pulled up so Danya borrowed his crocs so Jordy could walk to the pool area. After swimming we ate our noodles with the Balsam family who were eating their shnitzel. Danya was very disturbed by the bees that wanted the melon we brought with so I am not sure how often we will be doing dinner at the pool. After we got home and Nadav went to sleep I made cookies for the soldiers. Lisa joined me as my regular partner Lori was in the States. Everyone liked the cookies and coffee and we headed back. I dropped Lisa at home and then I stopped at the Neuman's to say goodbye. They will be missed! We hope they return soon!
Thursday morning I ran again(7.2 kilometers) and then came home for a quick shower and was back out again. I was showing my friends house again. After doing that I came home and started Shabbat prep. Before I knew it Jordy was home from his last day of camp. He really enjoyed camp this summer and it is to bad that it is only a month long. I picked up Nadav and we hung out and played all afternoon. I made taco burritos for dinner which Jordy and Nadav wouldn't touch however Nadav loved the con on the cob I made. I then made challah and some more Shabbat prep when the kids went to bed.
OK, I am all caught up so stop sending me threatening email-you know who you are :) I will make an attempt to use my camera soon as I realized I haven't posted pictures in a while and I will TRY to update more often but no promises!

New Shoes

Here we are again...a week behind.
Last Wednesday-hmmmm. I know I went to aerobics. I don't remember too much except that I wasn't feeling good and I had pink eye. I went to the doctor who gave me medicine for a sinus infections and drops for my pink eye. I headed home and to bed. That is about all I remember.
Thursday- In the morning Josh and I ran a few errands. One was supposed to be a really quick stop at the cell phone store to fix Josh's phone as he accidentally left his in his bathing suit pocket on Friday and took it for a swim. Turns out our contract was almost up so we ended up getting new phones which took a while. In the afternoon I think I did some cooking. Then I took Nadav to run a few errands in the mall. On the way there Nadav took his shoes off in the car(yes, I am going somewhere with this). When we arrived at the mall he was holding one shoe but the other was no where to be seen. I didn't have time to look for shoe #2 so I put Nadav in the stroller and figured I would find it later. We then joined my parents at their house along with Lisa and kids for dinner. We said our goodbyes to Saba and Savta and headed home. We couldn't find the shoe when we got home but I figured that it was dark out and I would find it in the day. I decided that maybe it fell out of the car in the mall parking garage so I headed out to the mall again to check the lot. To no avail. I then headed to the airport to pick up Seth Gerson who had returned from the states.
Friday morning I took a shoeless Nadav to gan as we still couldn't locate his other shoe. Where could it have possibly gone??? Josh took Danya and Jordy to the pool while I cooked and cleaned. When I picked Nadav up from gan he had just woken up from a nap and he was still tired. When I got him home and he said "tired" I put him in his crib and he napped for an hour while Josh took Danya and Jordy to get "Friday Falafel". They returned home and Shabbat prep finished eventually. We had a large dinner and then the kids headed to bed. Josh headed out to a Shalom Zocher for neighbors of ours while I curled up with an amazing book which I will tell you more about after it is published.
Shabbat morning I took shoeless Nadav to shul for a short while. Then Seth came over for lunch and we had a nice time catching up. Daniella also came over for lunch as well. After lunch Jordy went to Yehousha's house and Danya and Daniella left and Josh and I both got to nap while Nadav was. The Brodsky's showed up later for Settlers and an impromptu seudat shlishit.
Sunday, after getting everyone out the door and going to the gym, I returned to Josh telling me that someone who was interested in buying our car had taken it to their mechanic and they made us an offer. After a few minutes of haggling the deal was done and the guy said he could go transfer ownership right away and give us a check. Since we were eager to sell and he was eager to buy we went right then. We headed to the post office where the forms were signed and we were happy to be done with it. Later in the afternoon I took Nadav to the shoe store to buy him new sandals. Josh tore the car apart 3 times and still couldn't find the missing shoe so we gave up and bought him new shoes.
Monday morning after going to zumba Josh and I went to a bris for our neighbors baby. I then ran a couple errands in Modiin including the bank. Good times! I can't remember anything else from Monday.
Tuesday I don't think much happened. Just the usual taking kids to and from camp, friends houses. Cooking dinner, washing dishes.
Today my aerobics class was canceled so Josh and I ran an errand in Modiin. The afternoon was typical. I went to another zumba class tonight to make up for the missed class in the morning.

Saba and Savta Visit

I didn't realize how long it had been since I blogged until just now. Sorry!
On Tuesday-that is LAST Tuesday- it was a fast day. The kids were only in school until 11. I went to the grocery store in the am. My parents arrived in Israel in the morning. Jordy went straight to my parents/the Balsam's house on his way home from school. Danya went to her art class and when she was done, after I picked Nadav up from gan, we headed over there as well. The plan was to see them, kill some time until the fast ended and stay out of the 110 degree heat.


We stayed there until Nadav started getting antsy and headed home at around 4:30. The kids hung out until their dinner. Then we got them into bed and awaited the end of the fast. Josh and I ate at 8:20ish and felt much better. My Dad and I went on a walk after the fast.
Wednesday morning I headed to the gym to get my tour of the gym. The trainer showed me how to use all the equipment and set me up on a schedule. After I returned home we had an exterminator come to. We had to leave the house for a few hours after he sprayed so we headed to my parents/Balsams. Since Wednesday was the last day of school for Danya and Jordy(Nadav goes until the end of July) Danya got out early and she went home with Meira when school was out. Josh and I went with Danya, Meira and my parents to the mall for lunch. We returned and picked up Nadav and then Jordy met us at my parents/Balsam's house. Jordy was out later as his class had a field trip on the last day. Both kids got report cards and both did wonderfully. We hung out at the Balsam's for a while until we all headed to the pool. After swimming everyone came to our house and we had pizza for dinner in our backyard. Danya went to a friends for a birthday party/sleepover.
Thursday was day 1 of vacation and as Danya told you we did nothing. The plan was that since Josh doesn't work on Fridays we would go somewhere with the kids on Friday and on Thursday we would get all the Shabbat stuff done. In the morning I took Danya and Jordy with me to the butcher and holy bagel. The kids just hung out at home the rest of the day. They also cleaned their rooms while I did all the cooking and baking and some of the laundry in preparation for Shabbat.
On Friday morning Nadav went to gan and I finished off the laundry and the cooking. At 10am we went to the pool and enjoyed the fact that it was almost empty as it had just opened. Danya and Jordy liked that they got a lot of attention as they were with 2 parents and neither of us had to be watching Nadav. We headed home to change and picked Nadav up from gan. Then we all went to falafel for lunch along with my parents.
We had a nice leisurely lunch. Then my parents headed home while we headed to a mini-golf place. It was a cute place and the kids were happy to play golf and jump on the trampoline.
We found a park nearby that we played at for a little bit

and then we came home and had a few hours to Shabbat. Everyone got ready while I did some lat minute prep/cooking. Robert arrived with his sister Sarah who had just arrived from the States. We made an early Shabbat and everyone but Jordy, Nadav and I went to shul which meant that after they left I still had to bathe Nadav and I needed to shower. It was a little complicated but Jordy helped by watching Nadav while I was in the shower and all was well. Everyone(my parents, the Balsam's and the Rubinson kids) arrived after shul and we all had dinner together. After the Balsam's and my parents left and we got the kids into bed Josh and I went to a Shalom Zocher.
Shabbat morning Sarah and I took Nadav to shul as he loves going in to sit with Josh only this time we got there and we were early so we had to kill some time with him outside. When we went back to let him go to Josh we ran into problem 2- Josh was the chazzan so he couldn't take Nadav. Nadav was not thrilled about that but he survived. We all went to the Balsam's for lunch on Shabbat. Danya and Jordy stayed there to play and we brought Nadav home and we all napped for an hour. Nadav woke up coughing and with a low fever. Meira and Danya came back here and my Mom and Jordy joined us a bit later. We hung out and ate some dinner and Shabbat ended.
Sunday morning was the first day of camp. I was planning on dropping Nadav at gan, dropping Jordy at camp and heading to the gym. However while I was walking Nadav to gan I noticed he was wheezing so I decided to take him to the doctor instead. I came home and made him an appointment(I LOVE that I can make the kids their appointments online)and then he and I took Jordy to camp. Ooh-I almost forgot to metnion my favorite thing about camp. Neither Danya or Jordy need lunches for camp! Yahoo! Anyhow, so after taking Jordy to camp Nadav and I picked Josh up and dropped him off at the bank in Modiin on our way to the doctor. The doctor agreed that Nadav was wheezing and prescribed albuteral via inhaler. We got the albuteral and headed to the bank where Josh was. I had to go in to sign some papers and then we were off towards home. Nadav napped for over 3 hours! Jordy returned home from camp pronouncing it great. I went to pick Danya and Meira up and they said camp was "awesome". Phew! Jordy went to Yehousha's house for a play date in the afternoon while Danya went out with Josh to get our new/used car. I think Danya was more excited about the car than Josh and I. We got a Mitsubishi Grandis which is a minivan. Up until now we have been a little squished in our Ford Focus. Too bad because it was a good car. In case you are wondering, we are still trying to sell it, so if you want to buy it let me know! My parents came by in the afternoon to hang out with the kids. They were picked up by the Klieman's for dinner and my kids ate leftovers and headed to bed. I then went to the gym finally.
Monday morning I brought Nadav to gan and then dropped Jordy off at camp on my way to my Zumba class at the gym. I spent the rest of the morning at home. I also moved the car seats to the new car which sounds easier than it was as I had never used the LATCH system before. Luckily Lisa knew what to do and she came and helped. In the afternoon Jordy invited Moshe B. to play. He then didn't want to join us at the pool so Danya, Nadav and I went without him. Normally I wouldn't write about this but just for Talia I will tell you that while at the pool Nadav bit me so hard I almost dropped him. It was really painful! We returned home and Saba and Savta and the B's minus Nafi joined us for Burgers Bar in the back yard. Danya and Meira headed out early to go to a friends house for a movie night.
This morning I dropped Nadav and Jordy off and headed to the gym. I came back and then went to the grocery store. I came home and soon Jordy returned from camp. I then picked up Nadav and Danya from camp. We came home and Jordy waited anxiously for some friends to come over. His friend finally arrived and they played for an hour until they headed out to a birthday party. Meira came later and played with Danya. I made baked ziti for dinner which Nadav wouldn't eat. I picked Jordy up from the birthday party at 7. He had no dinner but he ate tons of candy, cake and cotton candy. He came home and ate yogurt as he wouldn't touch the ziti either. All the kids went to bed and I am all caught up!

As promised here is a picture of Danya's new glasses and of her oil painting:

Special Blogger

Yes, I know I have fallen behind in my blog writing. You don't need to remind me as Danya is always doing so. However rather then keep complaining about it she has decided to take action. She has decided to write a blog post about her day today. So with minimal editing I give you our guest blogger Danya:

Ok you may be wondering why I’m (Danya) updating the blog. Well let me tell you.
My mom doesn’t have time to update the blog and I have nothing to do.
Now you know why I’m updating the blog let me start (I don’t know why I’m telling myself to start)
This morning I woke up on the floor (because I was at a sleepover) and it was 5:00am!! My friends were asleep I went back to sleep.
I woke up (again) at 7:00am then everybody was awake. I ate breakfast got dressed in the bathroom brushed my teeth and watched TV with the other girls.
A little later my mom called to say she would pick me up from the sleepover in a few minutes, after a few minutes my mom picket me up I said ‘’thank you’’ and left.
In the car my mom told me that were not going to do something fun today because she was thinking that tomorrow we could all do something fun since daddy will have the day off. So today for us it would be like Friday[editors note: in the sense that we would clean and cook and get ready for Shabbat] and tomorrow would be Thursday. Boo!! I answered ‘’ok’’ boo!! I wanted to do a fun thing on the first day of vacation oh well.
When I got home I said hi to Jordy and went to empty out my sleepover bag.
Later my mom asked me if I wanted to run an errand with her. Because I wasn’t doing anything I said ‘’ok’’ Jordy came with us to, we went to ‘’Holy Bagel’’ to pick up some bagels, my mom got Jordy and me ‘’freezies’’ it’s a kind of slurpie. When we got home I went to clean my room (yes after being asked). When I finished cleaning my room Savta came over and played with us. At dinner we were watching some shows and then my Mom needed some more things from the Makolet. My Mom was going to go but I volunteered to go with Savta. Jordy came with us too which was annoying because I wanted to go with Savta just the 2 of us. But Jordy came anyways. When we came home Savta and I sat in my room and chatted. Then I came downstairs with her because she started helping my Mom cut vegetables and then I asked my Mom when she is going to update the blog. In case you were wondering I really like reading the blog so I always ask my Mom when she is going to update more so I could read more. But she didn’t have any time today so I decided to update for her. So there. You heard about what happened today. And next time I think my Mom will do all the writing. Good night!


And there you have it. No promises but I hope to catch up Saturday night. I have a lot of pictures and a lot of stories(I hope I'll remember them all). Have a good night and a good Shabbat!