The End of Sukkot

On Wednesday morning Joel came over to help us harvest our olive tree. We have 2 olive trees and we decided this is the year we are going to actually do something with the olives. Joel has done it in the past and had generously offered his expertise. Everyone joined in for the olive picking:

Once we had picked all the olives we were able to reach-or footballs as Nadav refers to them- we headed out to Beit Shemesh. Josh and Pops were going to a seudah for Hoshana Rabah at Benji Merzel's. Since it was a men's only seudah Bubs and I decided to take the kids to a restaurant nearby. While the Men feasted

we had a nice lunch although we had to chase Nadav around the restaurant a bit. We also went to a few stores in the shopping center where Jordy decided he NEEDED a datebook for school. He didn't have enough money and I thought it would be a waste. Jordy then proceeded to get very upset. Eventually he calmed down and we headed to pick up the men and go home. We finished Simchat Torah preparations and before we knew it it was chag again. We went to the shul across the street for hakafot. We hit a rough patch when they handed out candy bags for the kids and there weren't enough. I got one bag for the 3 kids. Can you guess how happy they were? Bubs saved the day with some candy she had brought from the States. Eventually shul was over and we had dinner and everyone went to bed.
Simchat Torah morning we spent a lot of time going to and from shul. The kids did go as they were excited about the candy and there was a kiddush. Shul was very long and we eventually made it home and to a late lunch. I can't remember the remainder of the day-maybe we napped, maybe we went on a walk, maybe the kids had friends over. Either way after Simchat Torah we ended Chag and Bubs and Pops kept celebrating. Nocky and Ruanne and my Mom came by for a visit and to entertain Bubs and Pops who were keeping another day of Yom tov. I also did some cooking as we have more meals coming.

Chol Hamoid Sukkot Day 5

On Tuesday of Chol Hamoid Josh took Danya and Jordy to a water park while Nadav, my Mom and I stayed home to get things ready for chag. My Mom was really helpful with laundry and dishes and playing with Nadav while I mostly spent my time cooking. Eventually my Mom packed up and moved to the Balsam's. On the way home from the water park Josh and the kids stopped at the airport to pick up Bubs and Pops. As always they brought socks for the kids:

Nadav was happy to receive mandarin oranges:

Bubs and Pops joined us for their very first dinner in a sukkah in Israel. After dinner Nocky and Ruanne came by for a visit. Jordy was beginning to get upset as he knew Bubs and Pops brought him presents but he didn't get any(aside from the socks). Luckily Bubs saved the day with a Wii and DS game. Meltdown averted. I then ran out with Lori to go deliver coffee to the soldiers.

Chol Hamoid Sukkot Day 4

On Monday we had a slow start but eventually decided to head to go vegetable picking with Leket at their family fun day. (See an article about the day here). We had a great time picking tomatoes. Danya, Jordy, Josh and I picked the tomatoes and then handed them to Nadav who was in charge of putting the "matoes" in the basket.

We had a great day and returned home for the kids to have dinner. My Mom babysat and Josh and I went with the Gerson's to Toody's annual sukkot BBQ where we ate too much as usual.

Chol Hamoid Sukkot Day 3

On Sunday the Balsam's joined us and my Mom on a trip to the Science and Water Fair which took place near a beach north of Netanya.  I had low expectations however I was pleasantly surprised.  There were different presentatons and dempnstrations about water, science and the like.  The kids really enjoyed seeing deep sea critters,

trying out wind surfing,

crafts,

juggling area

-just a great day across the board.  We left at sunset

and then headed to Netanya with my Mom for dinner.We had a great dinner in Netanya and overall everyone behaved.  All in all a great day!

Chol Hamoid Sukkot Day 1 and 2

On Friday of sukkot my Mother and I ran a few errands while the kids hung out at home with Josh.  We did a lot of cooking and cleaning and getting ready for Friday night.  We were 18 people in the sukkah Friday night and we had a lovely time until the last 5 minutes when Danya bumped her head on the coffee table and was bleeding.  She was very upset and in a lot of pain.  Eventually she calmed down and we went to bed. 
Shabbat morning the Brodsky's came over for kiddush and then we had lunch.  On Saturday night my Mom and I headed out to Modiin for dinner.

Happy Sukkot!

Wednesday morning we slept later than we have become accustom to however still not late.  Oh well.  Savta called to say her flight arrived at around 7:15 and all the kids were so excited and they wanted to accompany me in the car to pick her up.   I was surprised to hear Nadav call Savta "Atta" as we hadn't really practiced it with him.  We got home and the kids were excited for her to unpack and give them presents!  After a little time with Savta she headed out to see the Balsam's house and we hung out and finished cooking and continued getting ready.  When Savta returend she helped the kids decorate the sukkah.  Here is a picture of the sukkah and the decorating committee. 

Eventually all was ready to go and chag began.  Everyone get dressed and afters shul we headed to the Balsam's for dinner.  We had a very delicious dinner and it was only a little bit boiling in the sukkah.  After dinner the kids were excited to head out to go sukkah hopping aka. trick or treating.  Nadav even joined in the festivities happily eating a few taffy's.  We headed out and made a few stops at a few sukkah's ourselves.  We found Jordy along the way and Danya returned home a bit later.  Josh attempted sleeping in the sukkah however he had some difficulty as it was hot, noisy and there were mosquitoes buzzing in his ear.  

The kids slept a little later than usual as we had been out late last night.  We hung out at home and everyone had apples and peanut butter with Savta for breakfast.  The rest of the morning was spent playing cards, guess who etc.  Nadav and I went to the end of shul.  We came home and finished getting ready for lunch.  We had the 2 Zemel families for lunch.  Once we got the seating arrangement all worked out we had a nice lunch.  After lunch I attempted a nap but Nadav was roaming the halls and kept coming in my room.  I locked the door but then he just pounded on the door.  Yakir and Max came over and then I heard Yakir and Nadav playing.  Eventually I got up and chag was almost over.  We got the kids dinner and made havdallah.  As soon as yom tov was over I began the next round of cooking.  Danya invited Tamar for a sleepover which prompted Jordy to invite Moshe for a sleepover.  While Danya and Tamar were watching a movie Danya came to report that her tooth-the first of her molars- fell out.  As I write this the boys are sleeping but I don't think the girls are.  Oh well. 

Not So Child Proof

Nadav woke up bright and early again this morning. Danya and Jordy woke up pretty early too. They were excited about making a chain for the sukkah. Someone here came up with the genius idea of selling paper already cut into strips so all you need is a stapler. Before 7am we had a chain longer than our attic. At 7 we went downstairs for breakfast. Nadav was upstairs with Josh when I heard Josh yelling. Apparently child-proof caps don't apply to our child. Nadav opened a bottle of liquid baby tylenol and spilled it all over our bed and my pillow. Lovely. We got out of the house eventually and got the kids to to school. I headed to the gym and then came home to begin the cooking marathon. Throughout the day I made 6 challot, corned beef, sauce for the corned beef, onion kugel, 4 loaves of gefilta fish, salad dressing and another salad dressing. I did 4 loads of laundry(did you know that a pillow takes about 2 hours to dry?). Jordy came home from school with a certificate for being mitzayin hachodesh(the top student of the month) from his class! Jordy had a friend over in the afternoon while Danya went to her art class. Nadav was really tired but wouldn't sleep so he was a disaster all afternoon. I got the kids dinner and Josh got Nadav to bed. Jordy stayed up late watching Tom and Jerry. Danya went to Meira's for movie night-Back to the Future. On the way home she told me that she also got a certificate for participating in a contest to make a mini-sukkah. Our refrigerator is going to be covered! OK, I am off to bed as I can't see straight!

Bite Free

Nadav woke up early-at 5:30. He has a little cold so he was a little cranky- so was I. Several hours later I brought him to gan. The head gananet told me that she is moving the biter to a different group so she won't be spending much time with Nadav. Then I went to my zumba class and headed to run errands in shilat and modiin. By the time I got back it was time to go pick up Nadav. Luckily he was bite free. We spent the afternoon at home. Luckily Nadav napped and I got a little break. Jordy was home all afternoon and had a friend over. Danya spent the afternoon at a friends house. She returned at dinner time. Everyone ate dinner and I ran to pick up meat from a neighbor who made a trip to a special butcher in Jerusalem. Danya and Jordy also spent a lot of the evening making chains to decorate the sukkah. Thanks to Lisa who gave us a pack of the paper strips!

OUCH!

This morning after bringing Nadav to gan I stopped at school to drop off Danya's cupcakes for her school birthday party.
Her Hebrew birthday was last week but with all the days off and holidays they didn't get around to it until today. I headed to the gym and then home. Josh and I were going to go run an errand in kiryat sefer but were told there was a traffic accident and backup and we shouldn't attempt it. So we decided to go in the other direction to another store. When we got to the entrance and saw the backup we decided we would never make it back home and we turned around and came home. I then got a phone call from Nadav's gan. They said that the girl who bit him on Thursday bit him again. She said it hardly left a mark but she wanted to let us know. I thanked her for letting me know. Then a few hours I went to pick him up and I was shocked to find this:

I think that this one happened after the call as there was also a small bite on his hand. The biters mom was picking up her little angle when I was there and she kept apologizing and she felt really bad. But that doesn't make the giant teeth imprint go away. Poor kid. Apparently we need to have another chat with the ganenet. The rest of the afternoon was spent home. Danya and Jordy returned from school and both went to chug torani. I got their dinner ready and then headed to Modiin to meet my friend Michelle and Lori for dinner and some shopping. We ate and chatted until we started getting exhausted. We strolled around the mall for a bit and then headed home.

On to the Next Holiday

Friday morning we hung out at home in the morning. I tackled the laundry and a little kitchen cleaning. I was happy to have a week off of cooking and just made some noodles for the kids to eat during the fast day. In the late morning/early afternoon Danya and Jordy went to the Gerson's to play with Tamar and Yakir. We finished getting ready and ate our seudah at 3:30. Danya asked if we would let her fast. We told her that we would allow her to fast until the morning. Eventually Yom Kippur was upon us and I lit candles. Josh headed to shul. Danya and Jordy were arguing and Nadav was crying for Josh so I got Nadav dressed and we went to shul for a short while. When we came back Danya and Jordy were playing cards nicely. I put Nadav to bed and soon after Josh came home. Danya, Jordy, Josh and I played a game of Settlers and then we all headed to bed.
Shul started at 7:30 so Josh headed out then. The rest of us hung out at home for a while. Nadav was getting antsy so I took him to shul but he wanted to see Josh however Josh was doing his Gabi work so he couldn't go to him. So we headed home. Sharon came over for a while with a few of her kids and then Lisa arrived with most of her kids. This helped break up the morning and kept everyone entertained. Josh came back from shul at almost 1. I ended up napping later until he headed back to shul at 3:30. Jordy went to shul too and Danya went to a friends. I took Nadav in shul for Neila. While in shul he was only interested in hanging over the mechitza to see Josh and Jordy and then yell "Dordy! Daddy!" so I had to take him outside. Danya arrived and she went inside until the end. Nadav and I hung out outside until the end. We all went home, heard havdallah and ate dinner. Ahh. After dinner we all played Wii bowling again. Then Jordy went to bed and Danya and I decorated 29 cupcakes for her school birthday party which is tomorrow(her hebrew birthday was a week ago). After that she went to bed and I helped Josh with assembling the sukkah. We have the pergola this year with the bamboo mats on top. We still need one more wall. This year we are using a wall from our old sukkah so we spent some time moving and arranging. Of course I took a picture before that.

Gmar Chatima Tovah!

Thanks for your patience-I finished my book so now I can blog.
Saturday night/Sunday we changed the clocks so while in theory we got an extra hour of sleep nobody told the kids. It was nice to get them out and to school if only for a few hours. Since it was a fast day Danya and Jordy were out at 11:45. They did attend chug torani(a torah themed after school activity) so that gave them a little something to do. Since we changed the clocks the fast was over a little after 6.
On Monday everyone headed out for a full day(can you call school until 1:30 a full day?) of school. I ran a few errands in Kiryat Sefer in the AM after going to the gym. Nadav was a little wheezy so I took him to the doctor after gan. Sure enough he needed some medicine. We came home and spent the rest of the day at home.
Tuesday morning everyone headed out. Then I came home from the gym and went to the store. I really needed milk but there was a shortage and they were rationing it out. Yup, you read that right. Each customer was entitled to 3 bags of milk total. Nadav drinks a bag of 3% a day and between my daily cup of milk, Josh and the kids cereal plus Jordy's love of milk we can go through a bag of 1%(there is no skim milk in Israel). I bought my 3 bags and other groceries and headed home. [You'll be happy to know that I saw this article today so hopefully we wont go thirsty]. Tuesday afternoon Jordy tried out a soccer class while Danya was at art. Nadav and I went for a ride back to the grocery store as I paid for green beans which I forgot to pick up from the service desk. Nadav fell asleep on the way home which was nice. In the evening I went to a shiur in memory of a friends mother. It lasted a bit longer than I had expected but it was very nice.
Wednesday morning everyone went to school/gan. After they gym I came home and I can't remember what I did. I think I ran an errand of some sort but I can't remember what. In the afternoon Danya went to chug torani and Jordy went to the Balsam's and then to try out baseball. The plan was that after baseball Jordy would come home with a friend however baseball went really long(from 4 until 5:45) and they didn't get to our house until alomst 6. Since they hadn't had a chance to play his friend stayed for dinner.
Thursday after the gym I went to run a few errands in Kiryat sefer and around the yishuv. Danya went to Meira's after school and Jordy had Moshe B. here and headed out chug torani. I took Nadav on a LONG walk in hopes of getting him to fall asleep to no avail. We came home and watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and made dinner. After dinner Nadav went to sleep. Jordy suggested we have family Wii night. So we all headed upstairs to play Wii bowling for a few games. Then I went to go discuss The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo with a few neighbors who all happened to have read it at the same time.
Here are a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment:
This is Danya and Nadav playing Nadav's new favorite game-bowling:


Here is the pergola which Josh spent a lot of time staining which came out really nice:


And here is Nadav's leg after a girl in his gan bit it. Ouch! Maybe this will teach him not to bite me anymore-but probably not. I know it looks bad but he doesn't seem to be bothered by it:


Last but not least I would like to wish everyone a meaningful fast. If I have done anything over the past year offended or hurt or treated you wrong I would like to apologize. I ask you forgiveness and grant everyone forgiveness for the same. Have a Shabbat Shalom and Gmar Chatima Tovah!

Pause Game

We will return to our regularly scheduled blogging once I have finished reading this(although chances are when I finish it I will need to read this and then this....it may be a while). SO GOOD!

Your patience is appreciated!

We Survived

Wednesday morning I hit the kitchen bright and early at 6:30ish thanks to Nadav. By 11 I had most the cooking under control. Josh headed out to Jerusalem to visit the kotel before the holiday. After 3 attempts I gave up on getting Nadav to nap. The kids were pretty entertained with the TV, computer etc. Josh got back from Jerusalem and we got the house in order and everything done. I had made a large brisket in addition to a lot of grilled chicken and I called Lisa to see if she wanted some brisket as I know she would never make one(no, I am not telling you this to share how nice I am-this will come into play later). She was excited and said she'd come by after she lit candles. Danya and Jordy got dressed and for some reason were excited about going to shul. Josh and Robert along with Danya and Jordy headed out to shul-not the one across the street- and I stayed home getting ready for dinner while Nadav had already gone to sleep. We were going to be 19(yikes) for dinner so I was trying to get the table set, salads made etc. I was about to head upstairs to get dressed when guess what happened??? Yup, the power went out! I had a mini panic attack as I knew that in about 45 minutes I would have 19 hungry and hot people and no air and cold food. Plus I was home alone and couldn't leave as Nadav was asleep and I had candles burning. And then I remembered that Lisa was coming over. Phew! I went upstairs and dumped the entire contents of my closet on my bed in order to see what I would be wearing when Lisa arrived. I gave her some brisket and sent her to stop at the security guard to send someone over to turn the power on and then continued to get ready by candlelight. Luckily it all worked out and the power was on before the guests arrived and the food was hot. There was a ton of food and wine and people. We had a great time and all went to bed late.
Thursday morning we were all up bright and early. While Josh and Robert went to Shachrit I tried to get the kids to get dressed and I set the table and prepared for our small intimate lunch of 22. Josh came home and we had kiddush. Then we were all going to head to shul for shofar and mussaf. Nadav decided to climb into the bathtub as we were about to leave and there was a small puddle of water leftover so he got soaked. I rushed to change him and we just made it in time to hear shofar. We spent the rest of davening going in and out of shul. We got home between 12 and 1. As our first guests walked in the door guess what happened? That's right, power went out. Ugh. We got ourselves a Shabbat goy and eventually the house cooled off and the food warmed up. We had a really nice lunch and everyone sat around talking until after 4. Then we all went to do tashlich. By the time we came back it was almost time for dinner. Josh and Robert went to shul and then, although nobody was hungry, we ate again. It was after 10 when we all finally went to sleep.
Friday morning it was easier to get the kids up and dressed. When Josh came home for kiddush, since we were all dressed and ready, we went to the shul's kiddush. We then went to hear shofar and to daven. Nadav seemed tired so Danya and I put him in his stroller and walked him around for a while but he never fell asleep. Eventually shul ended and we headed to the Brodsky's for lunch. We had a good time and ate too much. After lunch Jordy, Josh and I were discussing the possible chuggim(after school activities) he could take. During this discussion Nadav climbed on my lap and then bit me on the arm(he seems to only like biting me). I made a comment that Nadav is a vampire. Jordy kind of laughed and I asked him if he knew what a vampire was and he said "yeah, that guy in baseball..." Josh and I tried not to laugh too hard when we explained that he was talking about an umpire. Soon after it was time to light Shabbat candles. We had decided after lunch that since we all had a lot of leftovers that the Brodsky's would come to us for a casual dinner of leftovers. Even though nobody was hungry we sat down to eat yet again.
Shabbat morning the kids and I stayed in our pajamas and we just hung out at home. After shul Josh took Nadav to the park while I napped. Nadav also napped after his walk. Josh and Robert went to shul at 1:30 for mincha and then we ate lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon lazying around the house. At 5:45 we put Nadav in his stroller and sent Danya and Jordy to take him on a walk while Josh and I went to a seudat shlishit. I couldn't eat a thing but we had a nice time chatting with friends. Josh stayed for maariv and I went home to find a very quiet house. Danya and Jordy had brought Nadav home, given him dinner, a bottle and a pacifier. After checking that his diaper wasn't dirty they put him in his crib and he went to sleep! WOW! I was pleasantly surprised! After havdallah Danya and Jordy took showers and headed to bed(I let them stay up a little late to play computer however we were changing the clocks and getting an extra hour of sleep so it was OK). I cleaned the kitchen and headed to bed.

Shana Tovah!

Thursday morning I got the kids to school and headed to the gym where I was feeling strong so I did another 10K run. After that I came home and went to the butcher and I think a few other errands but I can't remember. I spent most the day cooking for Rosh Hashanah and doing nothing for Shabbat. In the evening Josh and I went to sheva brachot for a member of our shul and then went to the Brodsky's to celebrate the fact that Claudia finally found fresh limes in this country.
Friday morning I made challah for Rosh Hashanah and did Shabbat cooking. When the kids made it home from school we headed out to the pool as today was the last day it was open this season. It was surprisingly not crowded. This was the day that Danya and Jordy had been looking forward to since the first pool day. See on the first day at the pool we bought them ice cream at the concession stand and told them that we would not be buying them ice cream each time but that on the last day we would also get ice cream. At the beginning they(mostly Jordy) were not happy with this but then it became the joke and each visit Jordy would jokingly ask if he could have ice cream knowing that the answer would be no. So on Friday after swimming for a while we headed over to the concession stand and the kids each(including Nadav) got ice cream. Nadav was exhausted and kept getting mad that the ice cream was cold and melting on his hand however whenever I would go to hold it for him he would have a tantrum. Nadav fell asleep on the way home and slept until 6. In the meantime we all got ready for Shabbat. We were having sleepover guests. A family on the yishuv was having a Bar Mitzvah and the Uncle of the bar mitzvah boy is an old friend of Josh's from camp. He and his wife and their 3 kids arrived about a half hour before Shabbat and the kids hit it off immediately. They headed out and we had a quiet dinner. We were asleep before they returned.
Shabbat morning all the kids played together. Danya went with them to the big shul for the Bar Mitzvah where we were going to meet them for the kiddush. After Josh was done we headed to the kiddush and then returned for lunch. Nadav, Josh and I all napped. The Brodsky's and the Block's came over for Settlers. Before we knew it Shabbat was over. Our guests returned and then packed up and left. Over Shabbat(or maybe it was on Thursday) Danya made up a song about walking a computer to work(aboo)and she and Nadav would walk around the dining room table carrying toy computers and sing. Well she, Nadav and Jordy were doing it after Shabbat:



Sunday morning the kids headed to school and I went to the gym only to be sent home as a pipe burst over Shabbat so no exercise for me. I returned home to find Alan who was building our pergola. He and Josh spent most the morning outside.
Sorry, I forgot to take a picture during the day. I also made some apple cakes in the morning. In the afternoon I went to Lisa's to help her and Nafi when their lift arrived. I also claimed all my stuff(read: cereal) and came home. Josh and I took Nadav and went to Ace to buy some outside lights for our soon to be sukkah. We came home and had dinner and eventually all went to sleep.
Monday morning I went to my zumba class and then rushed home to get showered and dressed so I could get to Rami Levy. I have mentioned before the chaos that is a 3 day chag in Israel. Well I had to wait for a cart(I found someone I knew coming out of the store and walked her to her car and helped her unload her groceries so I could have a cart). The store was crowded and the shopping part didn't take long it was the waiting in line part that took forever. I made it home eventually. In the afternoon I took Nadav for a walk in his stroller to pick up our gefilta fish order. I was successful in getting him to sleep. I then cooked the fish and some other stuff(I think-I can't really remember).
Today, after the gym, I went to a small store in Modiin to buy the 3 things I didn't find at the other store. I then stopped at the butcher to pick up my meat and chicken order. Both errands went very fast. I then returned to the kitchen where I spent most of the day and night. In the afternoon Nadav and I took Danya to buy new Shabbat shoes. Nadav was a mess but luckily there was only one pair that fit so it didn't take to long. We had dinner and more cooking. Later in the evening Darrell Cohn came by to say hi and visit for a little bit. And back to the kitchen.

I want to take this opportunity to wish you, my 5 dedicated readers, a Shana Tovah! Wishing you a happy, healthy year full of wonderful things! See you in 3 days!!!

More Cooking

Yesterday was a very exciting day. It was the first day that everyone went for a full day. Now mind you a full day of school here is only until 1:30 but still, it was exciting. After the gym I went with Lisa to the mall to run a few errands and do a little shopping. Then I came home and ate lunch. Then I got Nadav from gan. He doesn't nap at gan which we thought was good so that he could come home and nap. However he was not interested in napping. Instead he spent the afternoon screaming and yelling and causing trouble. Danya and Jordy had another good day at school. Danya also went to art class in the afternoon. Jordy had a play date with Yehoshua. I ordered a pizza for dinner as I couldn't bother after dealing with Nadav. Eventually everyone went to bed. I spent the evening trying to figure out what I am cooking for Rosh Hashanah. Any suggestions?
This morning I got everyone out and went to the gym. I came home with intentions of spending all morning cooking however I was tired and had a headache so I took a nap for a little bit. Then I got up and made some potato kugels. Josh picked Nadav up and he insisted Nadav would nap but Nadav went crazy. Danya and Jordy returned home around the time that we took Nadav out of his crib sans nap. Jordy was invited to a friends so I dropped him off and took Nadav to a specialty food store and the paper good store. Nadav cried and yelled the whole time. In the 60 seconds it took for us to walk from the store to the car he fell asleep in the stroller. I put him in his car seat without waking him and then at home into his crib without waking him. He slept for a hour or so while I made carrot muffins. Danya went to play at the Balsam's while Jordy went with a friend to a Torah chug party. He happily returned to tell me that he got cotton candy. We somehow got the kids dinner. I said goodnight to the kids and headed out to the school for the parents meeting for Danya's class. Her teacher is really nice and she has a great class and the meeting went very smoothly and was very productive. I came home, made lunches and finalized my Rosh Hashannah grocery list.