Pain in the Tooth

Before I begin with today I need to tell you a few more things about yesterday. Yesterday Danya went on a tiyul and prior to said tiyul she asked me if I would come with as a chaperon. I had said I could and I called the teacher who told me that they were all set and didn't need any more chaperons. Danya was disappointed that I couldn't come on the trip. I told her that I will let the teacher know that next trip I want in. Anyhow, yesterday while Danya was on her trip I got a message from Jordy's teacher saying that they needed parents to come with for his trip which was scheduled for today. Being the nice parent I am I volunteered Josh. OK, it was really Josh that was nice as I kind of thought about going but when I mentioned it to him he said he would go. So I told his teacher yesterday that Josh would join them. Fast forward to last night at around midnight or 1am-Josh had a serious tooth ache. I think in all the time I have known Josh I have seen him take medicine a grand total of 6 times-maybe. When he came looking for the tylenol for this severe pain I knew it was bad. He was contemplating going to terem for pain killer he was in such pain. Eventually he fell asleep. This morning I assumed I would go on the field trip with Jordy's class as Josh would need to go to an emergency dentist appointment. I got up with the kids and got everyone out the door. Danya was VERY angry that I would be chaperoning Jordy's class and she let it be known. I explained to Jordy that he should tell his teacher that I would be coming because Josh had a filling that may have fallen out and he needed to go to the dentist-to which Jordy asked if the tooth fairy brought Josh money. I explained that the tooth fairy doesn't visit grown ups AND that I doubted that the tooth fairy paid for fillings-only teeth. After getting everyone to school I came home to find Josh completely fine. I attempted to make him an appointment at the dentist but our regular dentist is not working over Chanukah(I tried to explain that it isn't chanukah yet but got nowhere with that one). Josh decided that since he was feeling fine and he had no appointment that he would go on the tiyul. So I dropped him off for the tiyul and headed to the grocery store(no worries-he has an appointment for tomorrow at another dentist). Then I came home and baked mint brownies and cleaned up a little. Next I was off to mosaics. I didn't take a picture but it is done. We had to re-glue the frame as the silicone we used last week didn't hold properly(which included a little trip to the art supply store for the glue). Hopefully it will be up this week-hopefully. I picked Nadav up and then we picked up Josh as he returned from the tiyul to the old city.

Jordy went straight to the Gerson's and soccer where he got his soccer uniform.

Danya returned from school and then went to softball. Nadav whined and cried all afternoon-so just a regular day. Everyone ate dinner and eventually went to sleep. Then I headed out to the Mandel's (with the mint brownies) for a simchat bat for their new daughter.

Ready Or Not

Today Nadav woke up a little more grumpy than usual and spent a good half hour crabbing and crying after I got him from his crib. The kid seriously wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. After getting everyone out and going to Zumba, Josh and I headed to kiryat sefer to buy Chanukah candles and other assorted goodies. After lunch I picked up Mr. Grumpy and again we attempted to get him to nap and again we were unsuccessful. Danya returned from school saying that she really enjoyed her field trip to the deaf museum-actually she signed about it. I think this may have been the first time she liked a field trip. Success. She also spent a good part of the afternoon playing with Mr. Grumpy so I could read wash the dishes. Here is Nadav counting to 13 apparently playing hide and seek.

Jordy went to Moshe's after school and then straight to his erev kitah. He had fun making a Chanukiah and eating sufganiot. Yum. Everyone ate some sort of dinner and eventually headed to bed.

Belated Thanksgiving

Friday morning was spent cooking and cleaning. I picked Nadav up at noon and we returned home. Nadav was a mess but as usual, he wouldn't nap. Danya and Meira came home after school but an hour later they headed back to the Balsam's house. Jordy hung out at home. I dropped off some food at the Blocks for Shabbat. Eventually we were all ready for Shabbat. Friday night Nadav was going nutty and Danya and Jordy were trying to play a game and he kept messing it up so I took him on a walk to the Silton's and he and Yolie played while Sharon and I chatted. Danya showed up soon after to tell me that Jordy got hurt so I needed to return home. Nadav and I followed her home and when we got there Jordy was fine and Danya was sulking that she got dressed and ran to get me and then Jordy was fine. Josh and Robert returned from shul minutes later. Soon after we sat down to eat our belated Thanksgiving dinner. We had split pea soup, turkey roast, stuffing, cranberry crunch, sweet potato bake and garlic green beans. We had brownies and marzipan rugelach for dessert(sorry-no pie). Josh and I both fell asleep on the couch however I woke up long enough to get Jordy and Danya into bed.
Shabbat morning Nadav and I went to shul for a short while. After lunch a strange thing happened. Josh put Nadav in his crib and after crying for a minute he went to sleep. Danya went to the Balsam's and then Bnei Akiva and Moshe came here to play with Jordy. After Shabbat and getting things in order Danya and I took a walk around the yishuv.
This morning was the usual routine-out the door, gym, home. I then went to run a few errands in shilat and then came home. After eating lunch I walked to Nadav's gan to pick him up. On the way home we picked up Jordy and all went home together. Josh's attempt at getting Nadav to nap again failed. Jordy studied for a Torah test while Danya went to a friends house. Jordy had a friend over and then the 2 of them went to chug torani. Danya and her friend went to an erev kitah where they made chanukah menorahs. Jordy returned and he and Nadav ate hot dogs for dinner per Jordy's request. Everyone went to sleep without incident and I spent the evening catching up on Glee and reading(aka. ignoring the dishes).

Cook The Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I was a little sad to not be celebrating it this year for the first time however we will be having a belated Thanksgiving over Shabbat so stay tuned....
Today Nadav was having his Chanukah party at gan and therefore gan would be over early so that the gannot could prepare for the celebration. Since I had to pick Nadav up at noon and then spend the evening at gan I spent all morning in major cook for shabbat mode. Just before noon Josh dropped me off near gan and he headed to Yerushaliam while I took the stroller to pick up Nadav. My plan was that I would walk him around after gan until he fell asleep. Not sure why I even try anymore-he clearly isn't interested in napping anymore. I am clearly living in denial. We walked around in the heat for 45 minutes until we came home wide awake. Jordy and then Danya returned from school. Jordy had a friend come over for a while. Then Nadav and I headed out to the misibah or as Nadav called it the "sisibah". When we got there they tried to get Nadav to wear a dreidel costume but he was not interested. He also wouldn't sit without the gannenet holding him.

He pretty much sat in her lap and observed the whole thing. I have some videos but his isn't really doing anything in them(except for 1 where they gave all the kids pompoms and Nadav spent the song ripping out the nylon strings of the pompoms). Nadav was excited when they handed out a little package with candy, chips and a wafer.

He didn't want the sufganiah(but Danya and Jordy split it when we got home). We then collected his menorah and headed home. Overall a waste of time. When I returned home Danya and Jordy were watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade on the slingbox. After Josh got Nadav into bed I headed out to pick up Laura, whose son was having surgery in Tel Aviv. The surgery went fine and she needed a ride home. After returning home I got the turkey into the oven-for tomorrow night dinner- and ate my dinner. Now the house smells like Thanksgiving but we have to wait until Shabbat to eat it all.

Pictures

Before I begin with today here are the pictures that wouldn't upload the other day:
My mosaic from Tuesday:

Here is Josh doing helping Jordy with his Noah's ark project:

And here is the final project-not bad for last minute:

This morning Nadav woke up crabby which is always fun. He kept asking for different foods for breakfast and when he got them he would cry and throw them across the floor-which made for a very messy floor. Eventually everyone got up and got their acts together. Josh took them to school while I happily stayed home and enjoyed a nice, quiet morning at home. At noon I picked Jordy up from school and I took him to the dermatologist to check out the wart on his foot and for an ichthyosis check up. We were in and out of the doctors in about 10 minutes. So we stopped upstairs and Jordy got a half falafel(I love that his drink cost more than the falafel) and we stopped at the toy store where Jordy used some of his own money to buy more supergoal cards. We then stopped at the butcher to pick up my meat order. Then we headed back and picked up Nadav and his friend Keren who needed a ride. We dropped Jordy off as he was heading to English. We dropped Keren off and headed home. Danya came home soon after and did her homework. Jordy and Moshe S. came home after English and everyone played nicely all afternoon. Nadav and I stopped at the makolet to buy potatoes so I could make the stew that Danya has been requesting for months. It still isn't cold outside but it is the last week in November. (although I did turn the heat on last night for the first time however my room is always 20 degrees colder than outside in the winter). While I was making dinner Nadav came into the kitchen carrying an old sweater of Danya's and a pillow from the living room couch and he laid down on the little rug by the sink announcing "sleepy" (luckily Josh had mopped the floor this morning after the breakfast throwing fiasco).

Anyone know why sometimes blogger rotates pictures??

We had dinner and then eventually got the boys into bed before heading out to zumba.

Strike

This morning was the usual-rush everyone out the door and head to the gym.  After the gym I went to Rami Levy as I do each Tuesday morning.  I was a little worried as there is a farmers strike going on and I figured t hat either a) there would be no produce or b) the store would be crowded with people hoarding all the fruits, veggies, milk, eggs etc.  I was pleasntly surprised to find that neither was true.  Who knows what will be later in the week but that's not my problem.  I headed home and then straight to mosaics.  We are so close to being finished.  We put sides on the whole thing to essentially frame the whole thing and to protect it from the rain(which we will hopefully have soon!).  Again, I tried adding pictures but it isn't working.  I guess we have to wait until next week when we hang it. 
I then took the stroller and headed to pick up Nadav at gan.  Today's plan was that I would take him in the stroller and by the time we get home he would fall asleep.  Fail.  Nadav spent the afternoon playing his favorite game-drive me crazy.  He tossed a bunch of stuff in the toilet, climbed onto the table and stepped on the laptop and then wouldn't eat dinner.  Josh put him into bed a little earlier than usual but he was happy to go. 

Who Built The Ark?

This morning we all slept nice and late again! Jordy woke me at 7:13 looking for breakfast. Nadav woke up 10 minutes before we needed to leave. Everyone got to where they needed to be and I headed to zumba. The rest of the morning was at home until it was time to get Nadav. He was tired and crabby but wouldn't sleep. I took him on a walk for a half hour and no sleep. He pretty much spend the afternoon wanting to be held and causing trouble. Typical. Jordy was home with Moshe and Danya was home doing a lot of homework. The kids had pasta and meatballs for dinner which Danya ate, Jordy only ate the pasta and Nadav threw all on the floor. After dinner Jordy and I worked on his school project to make Noah's ark. We knew about this project for 2 weeks but of course didn't actually discuss it until dinner tonight and of course it is due tomorrow. I came up with the idea to make it out of old cereal boxes. Jordy and I headed to the attic where he watched me assemble the ark. Then Josh helped decorate it. So basically Josh and I did the project and Jordy watched(I was going to post pictures of the project however blogger isn't allowing photos now so I'll try again tomorrow).   Danya helped too as she did some of the decorations. After we finished the project Danya and I went on a walk around the Yishuv while Josh got Jordy into bed.

Don't Forget Your Helmet

This morning we all got out of bed a little late except for Jordy. That is right-Nadav slept until 7:10am! Wow! We rushed out the door and then I dropped everyone at school before going to the gym. I ran 10K on the treadmill and then quickly came home and showered and headed out to book club. It was a shame that more people didn't read the book and attend because the book was really good. We ended up talking and I didn't realize how late it was. Before I knew it I had to pick up Nadav and take him to the doctors office to get his ears rechecked. All is well and he is nice and healed. We were told he(and Jordy) needed the flu vaccine as they both have asthma. Of course they weren't giving them at the time so we need to come back. We came home and not long after Danya and then Jordy returned home. At 4 Jordy, Nadav and I headed to Modiin. First I stopped at the money changer and then we went back to the doctors. We stopped at the pharmacy to buy the flu mist which Jordy was going to get. Then we waited our turn and went in to the nurse. She said that Jordy would need the shot, not the mist as he has asthma. We spent some time working it out but she decided that since he didn't have severe asthma he could have it-phew! Nadav got his shot and we were on our way. On the way back home Jordy noticed a man on a motorcycle zoom past us between lanes. He commented that it was weird that the man was going fast. I told him that it looks fun but it isn't so safe to be on a motorcycle because they aren't in a lane and if G-d forbid they get in an accident there is no seat belt or walls of the car to protect them. Then I said there is nothing really protecting them. I then was going to correct myself and then Jordy said "there is one thing protecting them". I said "you are right, do you know what is protecting them" and he responded "yes, Hashem". To which I responded "(long pause) Yes, I guess there are 2 things protecting them-Hashem and a helmet". We came back to the Yishuv and we stopped so Jordy could buy some more Super Goal cards however he was really sad to learn that they were out of the cards. Heart broken. No worries, they will have more tomorrow. We came home and everyone had dinner. We got the kids to bed and Josh headed out to a surprise birthday party for Seth.

Tillie The Tooth

Friday morning was very exciting for Jordy. The tooth that had been dangling by a thread in his mouth for 2 1/2 weeks had finally fell out!

Since his first 2 teeth had been pulled this was the first one that fell out "naturally"-aka. while eating Cheerios. I did a few things to get ready for Shabbat and then Josh and I went out to breakfast with Sharon and Akiva. We never go out on Friday morning and it was so relaxing. A nice change of pace. Jordy went to a birthday party at a friends after school. I took Nadav on a half hour walk in his stroller so he would nap. Of course as I was walking up to our house a neighbor starting practicing the trumpet-luckily it didn't wake Nadav. We then got ready for Shabbat and loaded up the car. We headed to Chani and Moshe Turks in Modiin. The kids were happy to see each other and were off playing immediately. We ate way to much and stayed up way to late on Friday night. Moshe kept threatening to play Scrabble however he kept falling asleep. Shabbat morning Nadav woke up at 6 and I tried to keep him from waking everyone else but sooner or later all the kids trickled out of bed. At one point I asked Danya and Jordy to keep their eye on Nadav so I could go back into bed. I was in bed no more than 5 minutes and I heard Nadav crying and nobody was going to take care of him. So I got up and sent Danya and Jordy to see what happened. Of course he was fine and then Ilan offered to play with Nadav. I heard Danya turn to Jordy and say "It's nice to have a break". Nadav was getting a little nutty in the house all morning so Chani and I took him on a walk to shul but we ended up meeting Josh and Moshe on their way home. We came home and ate lunch-again too much-and saw some neighbors, visited some parks, took some walks and played some Scrabble and before we knew it Shabbat was over. Thanks Turk family for a fun Shabbat!! We packed up and headed home where Nadav inhaled a ton of food for dinner. Danya studied for a Navi test with Josh while Jordy watched Tom and Jerry until bed time. Jordy was really excited to go to sleep and can't wait for the tooth fairy to arrive.

Budding Artist

This morning Jordy got up early and after getting dressed quickly he headed up to play Wii. Danya was slow in getting dressed. So it was just me and Nadav hanging in the kitchen. I was very proud that he only spit half his amoxicillin on me today. Good progress. Everyone was ready to head out and nobody wanted breakfast. After dropping everyone off I headed to the gym and then home. I spent the morning ignoring the dishes, laundry and cooking so I could finish ready The Girl Who Played With Fire which was an amazing book! I decided that I had to wash all the dishes and fold the laundry before moving on to The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest. I picked Nadav up from gan and then he, Josh and I headed to the back year to take care of the olives. Remember the olives? We picked them at the end of sukkot and since then they have been soaking.

This week the resident olive expert, Joel, told us it was time to move on to the next stage, which was is soaking the olives in salt water.

Then Nadav and I walked to Claudia's to bring her book back. Jordy was at a friends house all afternoon and Danya went to art and then came home. The kids ate Wacky Mac and cucumbers for dinner. They finished all the food and were still hungry so I told them they could have a ball yogurt.

Nadav of course wanted one as Danya and Jordy had them. He had never had yogurt with the candy in it and he was all excited about it. Then he wouldn't let me pour the candy into the yogurt but insisted on eating the candy straight without the spoon and then he ignored the yogurt. Lovely. Then he did what he does with all food when he is done with it-tossed it on the floor.

Lovelier. By the way, did you notice the red crayon on the kitchen table? Look closer:

It is also on the washing machine:

And I didn't document it but it is on the wall too. Nadav is on a roll. The good news is that Nadav didn't spit out any of his amoxicillin at bed time. After Nadav and Jordy went to bed Danya and I took a stroll around the yishuv before heading to bed/into The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest.

Amoxicillin On My Face

Nadav learned a new trick last night, I forgot to write about it mostly because I was trying to block it out of my memory, he realized that rather than drink his amoxicillin he realized he can spit it out in our faces. Yes, both Josh and I were coated in 7.5cc's of amoxicillin. I was hoping it was a 1 time trick however this morning as soon as I headed towards Nadav with the syringe of amoxocillin he started to smile which of course made me realize that his wasn't going to go well. Of course he spit the whole thing at me while laughing-that's not going to help his ear infections. Great. When I picked Nadav up after gan I decided I needed him to nap as he has been ultra crabby lately. So we drove around surrounding neighborhoods until he fell asleep. I then sat in the car with him for an hour while he slept and I read. Danya spent the afternoon at a friends and Jordy went from English, to his friends to a Chanukah activity. He returned at dinner time. We had chicken soup that Bubs left for us in the freezer-thanks Bubs! Josh wasn't feeling well and it helped. We also had hot dogs. Chicken soup and hot dogs-a wonderful combination. After dinner and homework the kids played and went to bed. I also forgot a funny Jordy story from last night. As I was putting him to bed I asked him what kind of sandwich he wanted in his lunch for the next day. He quickly responded that he wanted an ice cream sandwich. After bed time for Jordy it was off to zumba for me.

A Busy Day

This morning Nadav woke up at what is becoming his normal time-6am. I so miss the 7am wake ups! The worst part is that he wakes up grumpy and crabby-although so do I. He whines and cries for an hour. Really fun. I went to Rami Levy this morning and I think it was an absolute zoo. I usually go on Tuesdays and it is never this crazy. They were having a big sale and I think that has something to do with it. Why is it that when there is a big sale I spend more??? By the time I got home it was time to go to mosaics. Today was a very exciting day in mosaics as today was the day we grouted my finished work! Hooray! Here is the sign with the grout covering it:

And here it is all nice and grouted:

All that is left is finishing the edge and hanging it up!
I then picked up Nadav and a friend from gan. I have noticed recently that Nadav knows where he lives. When we are going home from gan and I turn another way, such as to make a stop somewhere or leave the yishuv, Nadav starts asking and whining for "home". So today when we turned to drop his friend off he started calling for home. I have also noticed that when we are outside the yishuv and we get to the entrance he knows we are going home. What a smart little man. We came home and then Nadav proceeded not to nap. Jordy and Danya were out in the afternoon-Jordy at soccer and Danya at softball. Danny came over in the late afternoon to watch Danya's softball practice and then we all went to dinner at the mall. Uncle Danny's treat! Nothing like going to the food court and everyone getting what they want-amongst us we had pizza, hamburger, hot dog, Chinese and hummus/pita. The kids were excited that Danny brought them presents.

After dinner we headed home and Nadav went right to sleep. Danya and Jordy did their homework and then Danya informed me that she had no clean school shirts left so I did laundry. Now everyone is tucked into bed.

Nothing Exciting

This morning Josh got up with Nadav at around 6:15ish. Eventually the rest of us got up and headed out. I went to my zumba class and then came home. I ran a few errands in kiryat sefer including picking up my dry cleaning that has been there a few days too many. In the afternoon I picked up Nadav and then he cried in his crib for quite some time until we gave up on the nap. Danya spent the afternoon studying for her test while Jordy was at the Balsam's. The kids had leftovers from Shabbat for dinner and then Danya headed out to Bnei Akiva. While there Danya lost another tooth(I may not have reported them but she has lost like 5 or 6 in the last month-the tooth fairy is going broke).

Not Winning Any Awards

This morning Nadav slept nice and late-until 6:10am. Once he and I went downstairs he was a crabby mess. He asked me for a banana and then after I handed him a half he smushed it in his hand and started crying because it was "broken". Eventually everyone else got up and dressed and we headed out. Nadav was not so happy to go to gan. Even though my instinct was to go home and go back to sleep I headed to the gym. The rest of the morning was spent cleaning up and reading this. I went to pick up Nadav from gan and he seemed really tired. They said he wasn't really himself today. When we got home Josh put him into his crib and Nadav fell asleep. I decided that I would make him a doctors appointment as he just hasn't been right since Thursday. Of course the office was closed(from 1-4pm) and according to the website there were no appointments available today. Jordy returned from school followed by Danya. Jordy anxiously awaited a play date with his friend who was coming at 4:15. Danya studied for a test and took a break to go to chug torani. Nadav woke up around 3 which seemed way too early and then continued to cry for the next hour. Finally at 4 I got through to the doctors office and got him an appointment for 5. The doctor took one look in his right ear and announced that he had his first ear infection and it was a bad one. Then she looked in his left ear and proclaimed his second ear infection which was worse than the first. Poor kid. Apparently I am not winning the mother of the year award as he has been out of sorts since Thursday and I sent him to gan today. Oops (Although in my defense I have taken my kids to the doctor many times where there was nothing wrong with them). The good news is that 15 minutes later we were in our car heading home with antibiotic. We came home and made dinner-eggs in the nest again. Jordy wasn't thrilled with this choice and after 1 piece Jordy wanted to make a peanut butter sandwich. He asked me to wash his plate and I told him he could do it himself. I had to talk him through it but he was happy to be doing it and he asked if I would let him wash dishes for money. The kid is obsessed with getting money to waste on his newest favorite thing which are Super Goal cards(I think that is what they are called). Super Goal are similar to baseball cards but for soccer. There is a game that all the kids play where the winner wins the others cards. Not sure how I feel about him playing this game all the time and wasting his money on these cards but then again I remember a time where I wanted to have a ton of Garbage Pail Kids Cards

(who remembers those???). After dinner Nadav headed to bed with his first round of antibiotic in him. Josh and Jordy began watching the Bears game and Danya finished studying. I am heading back to my book.

Early Mornings

Nadav woke up at 4:00am Josh brought him to our room and we tried to get him to calm down and go back to sleep and all he wanted was mango. Josh brought him some mango and then Nadav wanted to go down to the kitchen. Apparently he was hungry. I took him downstairs where he inhaled yogurt, apples, and cucumbers while watching Barney. Once he was done eating and watching he seemed tired(and so was I) so I put him back in his crib at around 6 and after crying for a little bit he eventually fell back to sleep-and so did I. At 7:20 Danya came in to our room to wake us. Thankfully Josh got up and took Danya and Jordy to school and Nadav and I continued to sleep. I got up when Josh got home from shul and Nadav slept until 9:45. I think he had a fever(I never took his temperature but he was hot). He spent most of the day hanging on me and whining. I got most the cooking and laundry done before Josh, Danya and Jordy returned from football and school. Meira came home with Danya and they played all afternoon. We tried to get Nadav to sleep in the afternoon but after crying for 45 minute-Nadav, not me, we gave up. Eventually Shabbat began. Nadav and I went to shul to meet Josh when it was over. We had a nice quiet-ish dinner. Nadav was exhausted by bed time and he was reaching out for his crib when I brought him to his room. After dinner the Brodskys and Blocks came over for an oneg.
Shabbat morning Nadav woke up at 6:05am which compared to 4:00am isn't bad but still, 6:05am on Shabbat morning is not fun. I gave Nadav breakfast and then he needed me to entertain him as Elmo was not available. I tried to convince him that we should play the "lay on the couch with a blanket and pillow" game but after a minute and a half, during which I fell asleep, he wasn't interested. Instead we had to play the "throw crackers on the rug" game. Eventually everyone else woke up and Danya and Jordy decided that they would go to the kids minyan where they get a chocolate bar at the end. Nadav and I went to Rimon where Josh was laining as it was the anniversary of his Bar Mitzvah. We got there just as he was about to start and all in all we heard about 4 pusukim as we spent a lot of time downstairs playing and walking around the vicinity of the shul. The 4 lines we heard were good and everyone said Josh did a great job. Danya and Jordy showed up when they were done and we went to the kiddush club and headed home. We ate lunch and then I headed for a much needed nap. Josh put Nadav down and he napped for 2 1/2 hours, Josh napped for 2 hours, Danya napped for 2 hours(I think this was the first time she napped since she was a year and a half and wasn't sick) and Jordy went to a friends. Before we knew it Shabbat was over. The kids ate noodles for dinner and played in the attic until bed time.

Clean As A Whistle

I should have known last night when I was typing the blog and saying that I go to the gym every morning except Wednesday and Friday that I was jinxing things. Nadav woke up at 5:15ish and wouldn't go back to sleep. He and I cuddled on the attic couch while watching Elmo's World. Nadav loves to hold on to my arms and gets mad if I am holding him and don't have both arms wrapped around him for him to hold. He usually lets me know by grabbing my arm and whining but this morning he looked at me and said "arm". I thought that was funny. After Elmo we went downstairs for breakfast and I made the challah dough. Eventually Danya and Jordy woke up, ate breakfast and we got out the door to school. After dropping everyone off I came right back home with intentions of going back to sleep however I was not successful so I continued with laundry and cooking. When I picked up Nadav he was VERY sleepy and his nose was running. We also drove Pnina home and the whole ride each time Nadav would say something Pnina would laugh and then Nadav would laugh and then Nadav would say "Pnina funny" and then the cycle would begin again. Very cute. When we got home I put him in his crib and let him cry because he needed to sleep. I dropped Jordy off at a friend for a play date and Danya came home from school to continue her bedroom clean out which took all day. We picked up Jordy and then had dinner. Before going to bed Danya finally finished cleaning out her aron, dressers and night stand. We moved the tall dresser out and the new desk in.

And here's a picture of the aron all clean and organized. This picture is mostly for Bubs and Savta who are probably not going to believe it.

Also, I forgot a cute Nadav story from yesterday. Josh often keeps dried fruit in his office to snack on. Nadav often goes to say hi and eats some raisins or dried mango. Well yesterday when Josh was in shul Nadav turned to me and said "peas" and I repeated "please?" and he said "peas" and I said "please?" and then he said "come" and grabbed my hand. Then he dragged me until we arrived at Josh's office and he pointed to the bag with the mango and he said "piece"? I was impressed that he figured out how to communicate to me that he wanted a piece of mango. OK, I have been up since 5:15am and I am tired so I am signing off-good night!

Redecorating

Wednesday mornings are the only mornings where I don't go to the gym in the morning (OK, I don't go Friday either but I have to get up and get ready for Shabbat on Friday). Josh usually takes the kids to school/gan and I sometimes sleep through the morning routine or go right back to bed after they leave. I was so tired yesterday and was so looking forward to my Wednesday morning. Oh well. Josh got up with Nadav but Nadav kept coming to find me and demand "Ima, come" indicating he wanted me to go downstairs with him. I gave in eventually and went downstairs. After Josh returned from shul we went to Kiryat sefer to drop off at the dry cleaner and buy a few things at the hardware store. Then I headed to Modiin and stopped at Holy Bagel where I saw Danya's softball coach. The coach told me that Danya is one of the best players in her age group. That was nice to hear. Then I went to the butcher and returned home. After lunch I picked Nadav up and as I have been doing the past few weeks and drove around with him until he fell asleep. And as has been happening the past week once I went to transfer him to his crib, he woke up. Oh well. Danya, Jordy and Moshe S. came home and another friend of the boys showed up later and Danya attended chug torani. Just before dinner(shnitzel, couscous and purple cabbage salad) Josh saw an email that our neighbors were giving away a kids desk with hutch. He, Danya and Nadav ran over to look at it and 15 minutes later in walked Josh, Danya, Nadav and the desk. Everyone ate dinner and then the bedroom cleaning began. Danya needed to clear out a lot of garbage-she is a pack rat- and move her clothes so we can move her 2nd dresser out and the desk in. This is a big undertaking and Danya asked Jordy to help her in exchange for 10 shekel. Jordy, who always spends money the minute he gets it and always wants money to buy something, was more than happy to help. I have never seen him clean so much and so eagerly. I thought this whole set up was funny as when we were kids I would often convince Lanie that if she helped me clean my room I would then help her. 99% of the time she would help me and then I wouldn't help her(funny how she would still help the next time). Danya and Jordy were successful and the dressers are cleaned out(I know that Savta and Bubs will be happy to hear this as they often spend time with Danya trying to get her to clean her junk). We realized that now that the garbage is out we can fit both dressers worth of clothes into the closet. So now we are contemplating selling her bedroom set and making room for a trundle bed. Do you know anyone who wants to buy a used bedroom set??? I listened to Jordy read for a little bit and then tucked him in and headed out to Zumba.

Closing The Gap

I can't remember anything eventful from last Sunday.
On Monday morning something very eventful happened. Nadav made a poopie on the potty! Without going into detail I will just say it was a fluke however he was really excited about it. We applauded him saying "Hooray! Poopie on the potty!". To which Nadav responded "Hooray, poopie, Potty, Elmo". That is right-Nadav has a potty training book staring Elmo and there is a button you press that has Elmo's voice saying "hooray" so somehow Nadav put those together. It was pretty funny! After my Zumba class I went to Yerushaliam with Laura and Chavi to run an errand and then out to lunch. I took Nadav for a ride in the car in the afternoon in attempt to get him to nap(I started doing this and most days it works and then I transfer him to his crib where he naps several hours). Danya went to a Bnei Akiva event in the afternoon/evening.
Tuesday morning Nadav was not so interested in going in the car to gan. Josh had mentioned to him that he could take him on his bike at one point. I eventually got Nadav out the door but he insisted on wearing his bike helmet to gan and into gan. Danya and Jordy thought that was hysterical. After the gym I went to Rami Levi as we were completely out of fruits and vegetables with the exception of a 4 month old orange and a half an onion. After that I returned to my mosaics. The person I do mosaics with was away for the summer and then we had the chaggim followed by my trip to Chicago so this was the first time I worked on it since before the summer. All in all I have very little left to do. One more session of cutting/gluing and then we grout!

After mosaics I picked Nadav up and then took him for a ride in the car to get him to nap.
On Thursday Nadav had his birthday party at Gan. I made cupcakes(which I forgot to photograph) and sent him to gan with the cupcakes, a ball for all the kids "attending" the party and a book for the gan to commemorate the occasion. I also left my camera for them to take pictures. Here are the best of the pictures:

Otherwise Thursday and Friday were spent getting ready for Shabbat. When Nadav came home from school he had a crembo in hand and he made quite a mess with it.

We had Vered and David Klein and family for dinner on Friday night along with Robert who would be with us for his 10 day vacation from the army.
Shabbat morning we ate leftovers from dinner. Danya was out in the afternoon at Bnei Akiva and Jordy went to a friend from his class for the once a month organized get together that the teacher organized. Josh took Nadav on a walk and I took a nap.
Sunday morning I finished reading our book club book at 9:24am which was good(finishing, not the book-I did not enjoy the book) as we were meeting at 9:30. I went to book club and planned to go to the gym but never made it there. At night I went to a parents meeting at Nadav's gan which lasted 2 hours! Luckily this time we were not required to sing however each parent had to talk about how gan is going for their kid in front of all the other parents. It took quite a while.
On Monday I went to Zumba followed a few errands in kiryat sefer and then a meeting with Danya's teacher and the other class parents. That meeting was an hour and a half long. Why can't any school meetings be a half hour??? I picked Nadav up and headed home. Danya had a friend over in the afternoon and she and her friend headed to Bnei Akiva as it is Chodesh Irgun. This is a daily activity and she often would come home covered in paint.

Monday night however Danya arrived home a little earlier than expected as she wasn't feeling good. Sure enough she had a fever so she went straight to bed.
Tuesday Danya stayed home from school and after 1 dose of Motrin started feeling better. There was a lot of TV and reading.
Wednesday was Josh's birthday. When I picked Nadav up from gan his hair was in a purple ponytail holder. We know that Nadav's hair was getting long however we were having a hard time deciding what to do with it. A purple ponytail holder was just the push we needed to take action(and you wonder why lice is rampant in the schools here). So Nadav and I headed to Modiin to get his haircut. He wasn't so happy so the lady gave him a lollipop which he spent the whole haircut holding out to me saying "open it". Hair was all over the place so I tortured him and made him wait until the end of the haircut before he could eat it. Once he did he announced that he had fun.

After we returned home I picked Jordy up from a play date and got the platter of cookies I ordered from Dvora(she even gave us a shout out on her blog) for Josh's birthday. He loves the whoopie pies and I really wanted her to make a giant one as a cake but being the perfectionist that she is she couldn't get it the exact way she wanted so we settled for a beautiful platter along with a special Happy Birthday cookie. We did the birthday celebration before dinner as Danya was heading out to yet another Bnei Akiva activity. As soon as we turned off the lights to sing happy birthday Nadav was crying but all was made better by a cookie-yum!

Thursday was typical with the cooking and the pre-shabbat prep.
Friday was also the usual. Cooking, cleaning etc. On Friday night Danya went to shul with Bnei Akiva for Shabbat irgun. We had the Nathan family over for dinner on Friday night. The kids all played nicely. Nadav was especially excited to have his friend Pnina or Nina as he called her. The two of them ran around the house together playing the whole night.
Shabbat morning Danya went to shul which was followed by kiddush, lunch, activity etc. She was gone until 15 minutes before Shabbat ended. Jordy actually went to shul(there was a Bar Mitzvah so there was going to be candy) and Nadav and I made a short appearance. We had lunch and then I took Nadav on a walk while escorting Jordy to his friends house. Nadav fell asleep in his stroller which was my ulterior motive. I got home and Josh and I both go to nap. Jordy returned after fighting with his friend. Danya arrived just before Havdallah. After Shabbat I took Danya to the chodesh irgun show. All the kids marched in and then the older kids welcomed the 4th graders into Bnei Akiva. Then the 4th grade put on a dance. First the boys and then the girls(I have video but it is going to take 45 minutes to upload so you'll have to wait to see it). Then there was a daglanut by the high school kids. Then they had a giant mifkad where everyone lined up by shevet. EVERYBODY. I was one of 3 people who was at the Nachalah space. After all the festivities we headed home.
Sunday morning was rough. School started late for the kids who participated in the Bnei Akvia event (4th grade and up). Jordy was not happy Sunday morning when he realized that Danya didn't have to get up and go to school. He was even more upset when Nadav threw his craisins into Jordy's cereal. Eventually I got the boys out of the house. After the gym I went to Lisa and Nafi's new house to give my opinion about some decorating/design issues. Sunday night I made a new dinner for the kids and they all liked it! It was eggs in a nest or a piece of bread with a hole cut out and a sunny side up egg in the hole. My Mom, aka. Savta, used to make it when we were kids and I don't remember liking it but figured it was worth a shot. Sunday evening I joined Talia-who if you don't know is the co-president of my blog's fan club- to a book lending club in Modiin. I can't believe I have lived here over 4 years and I am just finding out about this now! Thanks Talia for taking me!
Monday morning I went straight from my Zumba class to the shul where Danya's class was putting on a performance for Rosh Chodesh Kislev.
Today-can you believe I am up to today??- I got the kids out to school and then headed to the gym. I was practically falling asleep there as Nadav had woken up in the middle of the night last night but I made it through. I then headed to Rami Levy with Claudia who was car-less. After unloading the groceries I went to finish my mosaic. That is right! I just have to grout but all mosaic work is done!

I then picked Nadav up from gan and tried really hard to get him to take a nap but with no success. I spent the remainder of the day dealing with his tired and crabbiness. When everyone was home we had homemade pizza for dinner. Another meal that everyone likes(notice I didn't discuss the hamburgers I made last night that Josh will be eating for a while as nobody else liked them). After dinner Danya was working on coloring and reading while Jordy played a computer as Josh and Nadav watched.

Everyone eventually went to sleep and I spent all evening catching up on the blog.