Bubs and Pops, Purim, Vacation, Marathon and Strep

I am now almost 2 weeks behind on blogging and find myself with so much to report. I am going to try and keep it to the highlights in one LONG post. Keep reading!

Last week on Tuesday the 15th my in-laws came to town. We happily welcomed Bubs, Pops and their giant suitcases. That evening Nocky and Ruanne joined us for dinner.
Wednesday morning I took Bubs shopping in Modiin and we made sure to get an iced aroma which I got her addicted to on her last visit-sorry! We had a BBQ for dinner and ate outside, enjoying the nice weather. After dinner I attended a zumba party-which was basically a 2 hour long zumba class at my usual place. It was a lot of fun but perhaps not such a good time to exercise so much in the evening before a fast day.
Thursday was tanit esther. Danya and Jordy got out of school early. Nadav had a regular day.
Friday was a big purim day. The kids went to school in costume-actually Jordy didn't want to so just Danya and Nadav. Bubs and Danya made her costume-a robot-out of foil pans, old computer parts and other odds and ends. They had planned and discussed it for a while and it came out really cute.

Nadav had a football player costume complete with helmet that he wouldn't wear.

If you asked him what he was his response was "football game costume". The Yishuv had a purim parade again. Josh and Danya had helped with our shuls part so they marched with the shul.

Otherwise the schools, shuls and different groups on the yishuv had their own floats/groups marching. It was entertaining. After school was over we all went with Bubs and Pops for falafel/pizza. We came home and got ready for a Shabbat feast that Bubs prepared. We had a wonderful dinner followed by dessert with the Brodsky's.
Shabbat morning we hung out at home and had more to eat for lunch. As Pops would say, Bubs outdid herself. We took turns napping in the afternoon. After Shabbat we all headed across the street for Megillah. Before it even started Nadav was too squirmy and I was already being shushed so Nadav and I went home. After everyone returned I went to a later megillah reading and came home to prepare our mishloach manot. They looked like this:

The card read "We apologize for the un-original shalach manot. We thought and thought but our ideas ran dry. Chag Purim Samaech. Josh & Arica, Danya, Jordy and Nadav". The package contained a mini bottle of dry wine and dried fruit.

Sunday morning Nadav woke up really early. Josh went to an early megillah reading and I went to the next one. Everyone got in costume including Josh:

He thought it would be fun to roller blade around the yishuv in this outfit delivering shalach manot and freaking people out. He did a good job. Nobody knew who he was and people got a kick out of it. The kids also got in costume and we delivered and received many shalach manot.

Here is Jordy wearing his Superman costume along with Nadav's football helemt while playing football in the backyard.

Sunday evening we had a purim seudah of Shabbat leftovers as they were plentiful. During dinner Nadav was asking to go to sleep and I noticed that he felt warm. He fell right asleep after I took his temperature and saw he had fever. After dinner Danya and Jordy went with Bubs and Pops to stay with them at the hotel they got for the week in Tel Aviv. Nadav woke up after dinner wide awake. Josh and I were up with Nadav until close to 2am. Monday morning I took Nadav to the doctor who verified that Nadav had strep(he kept saying his garon hurt-I didn't even know he knew what a garon was). The exciting part of the doctors visit was(and I know my biggest fan Talia is going to be excited to hear this one) is that the doctor told us we can give Nadav melatonin for his sleeping "issues". We got him started on his antibiotic and spent the day chasing him around the house. Bubs and Pops were gone all day with Danya and Jordy. They went to a park called Utopia followed by lunch in Netanya and then Ikea for shopping and dinner. About a half hour before we wanted Nadav to go to bed we gave him the melatonin(which you can not buy over the counter here and the doctor can not prescribe it to patients under 65 so we were lucky that Bubs had a full bottle with her). A half hour later he was exhausted and fell asleep in minutes. Ahh. As we went to sleep on Monday evening I noticed my throat was hurting. Wonderful.
I woke up really early with 2 thought- 1 was that my throat was killing and wondering how soon I could go to the doctor. The 2nd was that it was so long since Nadav went to sleep and I couldn't believe that he was still sleeping- I heart melatonin. I was getting everyone up and out for school and Jordy told me his throat and tummy hurt. Uh oh. I made him a doctors appointment right away and then left him home where he happily played the Wii. Josh dropped me at the doctors where I explained that Nadav had strep, my throat kills and I am scheduled to go away for 2 nights without my kids-tonight. The doctor took one glance and gave me a prescription for strep(she also did a throat culture which came back positive 2 days later). I picked Jordy up and we headed to his doctor where they said he was fine. I picked up my medicine and dropped him off at school. I came home and decided strep throat wasn't keeping me away from a vacation and packed. Later that evening Josh and I headed to Tel Aviv courtesy of Bubs and Pops. We really never go to Tel Aviv so we were tourists. We went out to a later dinner and walked around a bit. Then we located our hotel by the beach.
Wednesday morning we had hotel breakfast and then spent most of the day walking around Tel Aviv. We went to Ben Gurion's house which was converted into a museum and then walked to the Jaffa area and to the flea market. Josh had to work for a few hours so I read and napped. We then walked along the beach towards Azreli center where we were headed to Papagaio for dinner. We got the Brazilian table where you get 7 different meats carved at your table and then unlimited refills. We ate a lot! We walked back to the hotel and Josh worked some more. After work we decided to make the most of vacation and find a bar or club in the port area. We walked around for a while but were surprised that nothing was open so we gave up and headed back.
Thursday morning we had another hotel breakfast, although not as much as the day before as we were still full from dinner. We went to the Independence Hall which was where Israel was declared a State and was originally Dizengoff's home. We then went to the Hagana museum which was originally the home of the hagana leader Eliahu Golomb. After that we left the hotel and returned to Azreli for lunch before heading home. Josh went to play ice hockey in Jerusalem later Thursday night. Nadav woke up at close to midnight and wouldn't go back to sleep without me. He and I were up on and off until 1:30am.

On Friday morning I woke up at 5:50am and got ready to go to the Jerusalem Marathon where I was running my first 10K race. I had done a few 5K's in Chicago but never 10 and never in Israel. I got a ride with Steve Gale who was running with his son Eli and Aviva Aharon.

We got to the race and it was cold and muddy. Around 45 degrees. Once the race began at 8:30am nobody noticed the cold anymore. The run was unbelievable. I was nervous as I didn't prepare at all for the hills and was battling tendinitis in my foot and strep. Thankfully the adrenalin kicked in and I felt nothing. I will say that 2 minutes into a 10K is not a good time for your cheap MP3 to stop working. Luckily I got it back about 4 kilometers in. It was really an amazing experience to run through the streets of Jerusalem with people cheering you on. The hills were painful but I managed. Each time you would approach an uphill you'd see this sea of yellow shirts going up which was beautiful but so daunting. The route was pretty clearly marked however I didn't see signs showing how far along we were and was surprised to see we were at 9 kilometers when I thought we had a lot more to go. I pushed hard that last kilometer and finished in 1 hour 10 minutes and 29 seconds (I didn't have a watch and assumed it was much longer until I saw the official time on the marathon website) which I am quite happy with. After the race I joined everyone in getting my medal, water, banana, popsicle and yogurt. I located my bag at the check in, located my friends and we headed home. I walked in the door minutes before the kids got home from school. After I took a long hot shower I hung out at home while Bubs, Pops, Josh and the kids went to Modiin for falafel. I spent most of the afternoon in a daze and sitting around while everyone else got ready for Shabbat. We had a nice quiet dinner Friday night-thanks again Bubs!
Early Shabbat morning Danya came into our room crying that her throat hurt her. I gave her some tylenol and got her back to bed. Shortly after Nadav came in and went back to sleep next to me. We all got up and Bubs went to shul to hear Jordy do anim zmeriot. Apparently it was a 3 Saltzman generation davening as Pops did Shachrit and Josh did Mussaf. Also, rumor has it that Jordy couldn't understand why Pops didn't daven in Hebrew. Guessing Pops needs to work on his Israeli accent. Danya stayed at home with Advil and Tylenol. After shul Josh and I took Jordy and Nadav on a walk to Gan Habanim. As we were heading out we stopped by the chickens. As we approached Nadav cracked us all up saying "Hi chickens. It's me, Nadav". So funny. We came home to a miserable Danya. I gave her more tylenol which she threw up. Eventually I gave her more advil and she felt better and slept more. Jordy took a nap during lunch but we think he was just tired. I napped for a while in the afternoon. After I got up Lori had come over with Yakir to say hello. Before we knew it Shabbat was over. I went right to the Clalit website to make Danya a doctors appointment. Nadav went right to sleep as he was exhausted. A little later Akiva called to ask Josh a question so I took the opportunity to ask him if I could give Danya Advil more often. When I told him that she has a sore throat and that we all had strep he came right over to take a look, write a prescription and get her on the antibiotic for what he said was strep. While he was at our house Sharon called to say a cousin of hers passed away and that the funeral in in an hour. I offered to babysit for them and they took me up on the offer (which is where I sat and typed most of this post). When I returned home at about 12:30am Nadav was back awake and Danya was too. I got Nadav back to sleep and by the time I did Danya was sleeping. I hope you enjoyed reading-good night!

Fogel Family

I have been trying to find a proper way to discuss the brutal murders of the Fogel family on this blog. The horror of the murders of innocent parents and children. The surviving children. The deafening silence of the press. The heart break. I couldn't find the words to describe my thoughts and feelings and then today I read this. It was written by my friend Dvora who, the same Shabbat the Fogel family was destroyed, celebrated the Bar Mitzvah of her son Dani. I thought she hit it on the head and wanted to share it with you. Thank you Dvora for being so eloquent.

Bar Mitzvah Weekend

I can't remember too much from last Thursday. I know I cooked for Shabbat. This is why I need to update the blog every day. Otherwise I forget.
On Friday I spent the day cooking and getting ready for Shabbat. On Friday night Seth came over for dinner with Dov, Tamar and Yakir as Lori and Elisha were in Chicago. We had a fun dinner. Then the Brodsky's came over for Settlers.
Shabbat morning we headed to Glenwood for Doni Rotter's Bar Mitzvah. We ate too much for kiddush and then we stayed and ate too much for lunch. It was a really nice simcha and we were happy to be a part of it.
Sunday I believe was a busy day but I can't remember what I did all day. In the evening we went to Doni's Bar mitzvah party which was a really beautiful party.

Visitors From Chicago

Wednesday was a really busy day. After getting everyone out of the house and baking 3 batches of cookies, I headed out in the rain to Dvora's to eat the 3 misshapen cookies she had on her counter help her get the centerpieces ready for Dani's bar mitzvah. I came home and about 15 minutes later Schuyler and Sarah arrived. They had been in Israel for about a week and this was their last day. We planned that we would spend the day together and then take them to the airport. We headed out almost as soon as they got here. We went to Modiin and had a really good lunch followed by ice cream. We gave them a driving tour of the area as we couldn't do much as it was pouring. We stopped at a candy store so they could buy some candy for their kids. We came home and Schuyler needed a nap so Sarah and I went for a walk. We picked Nadav up from gan and hung out at home as the kids trickled in from school. Eventually we ordered dinner which Josh and Schuyler picked up. I went out for an hour to go to Zumba. I came home to find Nadav still awake so he and I drove Schuyler and Sarah to the airport. We returned at almost 11pm(Nadav was asleep-finally). I then loaded the car and picked up Lisa to deliver coffee to the soldiers. It was pretty cold and rainy outside and there were a lot of very grateful soldiers. I got home around 12:30am and collapsed into bed.

DDJAM Became People

It was a rough Nadav night yet again. He woke up in the middle of the night and wouldn't go back to sleep unless he was in my bed. We all woke up in the morning and Josh got everyone out and about. I spent the morning at home cleaning up and organizing. After Josh returned from an unsuccessful trip to the bank I headed to Rami Levy. In the evening I made Banana Pancakes for dinner. During dinner Jordy and I had the following conversation:

Jordy: Do Bubs and Pops have kids?
Me: How are they related to you?
Jordy: Oh, they have Daddy and DDJAM(David, Danny, Josh, Avi and Matthew)
Me: Right, those are their kids.
Jordy: I mean little kids-like me, Nadav and Danya
Me: No, their kids grew up and have their own kids.
Jordy: And then they became people.

After dinner Nadav was bouncing off the walls and being really cute. He was "reading" I Spy which means he was pointing out each picture in the book:

Book Worms

This morning everyone was in a decent mood and got up and dressed without much arguing which was nice. I dropped everyone off and then headed to zumba. I then went to buy a gift at a friends house who has a jewelry business. I had never been there before and don't know why not. Her jewelry is reasonably priced and beautiful. I then went to Modiin to pick up chicken for dinner. Jordy came home from school with Moshe and another friend. Danya arrived shortly after. I fed all the kids and they did their homework followed by a game of soccer outside. I then went to pick Nadav up from gan. As I was walking in they were about to put face paint on him again. I walked in yelling "LO"! They thought I was nuts but I explained that when they put red face paint on my child we then go home and get it on our clothes, couch, chairs etc. etc. We came home and I made dinner. Everyone ate a ton and then Nadav did his usual bouncing off the walls. When I was done cleaning up dinner I was so proud to see this:

My little book worms! After dinner I went back to the ENT who reported that all looked ok and that I should come back in a month.

The Fourth Target

This morning I had to go to the makolet before the kids left for school as I had forgotten that Danya needed a small container of chocolate spread for a class lunch. This morning our book club met. We had a special "meet the author" morning with Nocky aka. Nik Klieman. He told us all about his experiences and his knowledge in writing his book, The Fourth Target (if you haven't read it go and buy yourself a copy). It was really fascinating and everyone was sitting at the table mesmerized listening to him talk. After book club Laura and I went back to the hat store in Petach Tikva. I came home and soon after Jordy returned from school with a friend and then another friend came over. Danya also came home to report that she got an award at school for "Mitztayanit HaChodesh" which means she did the best in her class this month. We are so proud of her for working so hard. She really deserved this award.

I picked Nadav up at Gan and was thrilled to see that they had put face paint on my 2 year old. What a great idea-bright red and yellow paint for him to rub on my shirt, Danya's shirt, the couch and anything he came in contact with.

Jordy's friends left and he headed to chug torani. Eventually everyone was home and ate dinner. Nadav had been tired all afternoon and at 6:45 he was asking to go to sleep. I took him to his bed and tried to get him to sleep for over an hour-unsuccessfully. In the meantime Jordy was supposed to go in the shower and didn't want to. Josh took Danya to the shul to work on the purim parade. Eventually Jordy got to bed, followed by Danya. At 10:15- 3 and a half hours after I began trying to get him to sleep-Nadav finally fell asleep. I think it is time to get him to a doctor about his lack of sleep.

We Have a Vacancy

Friday morning I finished up the cooking and the laundry. Notably I accidentally remade a salad dressing that I had already made for the quinoa salad on Thursday night. I am a genius. The kids came home and Danya went to Pizza Mia to get a slice for her and Jordy. She also bought the most expensive french fries which made Nadav happy. The kids were actually on decent behavior most of the afternoon. Danya went to a friends house to work on a project and Jordy cleaned his room and packed to go sleep over at his friends house. Danya had a friend sleep over for Shabbat. Robert was with us for Shabbat as well. On Friday night the Brodsky's came over after dinner for Settlers.
Shabbat morning I spent chasing Nadav around. He and I eventually went to meet Josh at Rimon where he went for a Chazzan minyan. He still wasn't out at 11:30 so I headed home but he came a few minutes later(he left early-we heard it ended at 12:15...yikes). The Blocks(minus Danny and Jordan) and the Brodsky's came over for pot luck lunch. We all had a wonderful time and all the kids played together nicely- that is a 14 year old, two 10 year old's and a 2 year old. Not bad. After lunch Nadav and I walked over to the Silton's so Nadav could play with Yali. He spent the entire time taking her Minnie Mouse away from her and smacking her in the head with his sippy cup. Poor Yali. At least Sharon and I had a nice time. We came home just as Shabbat was ending. Jordy had returned earlier but left his stuff at his friends so after havdallah he and I walked over there to pick it up. We came home and everyone had dinner and got ready for bed. I got Nadav to bed and then sat with Jordy while he read his book. The kids went to sleep and then Josh took Robert to Jerusalem with all his stuff as he got his own place. I think he is going to miss all the crying and yelling that takes place here.

Another Busy Day

OK, I am officially taking suggestions on how to get Nadav to sleep. He went to sleep after 10pm and he woke up for a little bit at 1:45ish and then came to my room at 6:30ish. Everyone got up and about. I spent the morning helping my friend Dvora(yes, of Dvora's Cookie fame) with some stuff for her son's Bar Mitzvah and to answer your question-no, I did not help her bake! I went from there to the butcher in Modiin. By the time I came home and ate lunch it was almost time to pick up Nadav. I did a little cooking before I picked up Nadav. We came home and the rest of the afternoon flew by. Everyone was home and fighting during dinner but eventually everyone calmed down and after dinner I sat and read with Jordy for a while. Danya watched part of Toy Story 3 and Nadav did his usual craziness. Eventually the kids went to bed and I got more cooking done.

No Rest For The Weary

Why is the 5am hour a normal one for us? Eventually we got out of bed and everyone got up and about. Josh took everyone to school and soon after I went to Lisa's new house to help her with some color choices. I returned home and stopped by my neighbors who is a seamstress to pick up some clothes she was altering. Then I went to Kiryat Sefer to run a few errands. Danya needed a string for her glasses. You know, the kind to attach to your glasses so you can take them on and off and they will rest on your chest. She has been bugging me about getting it for her since Sharon told her she needed one on Sunday. I have been to 4 stores since Sunday and couldn't find one. When she woke up this morning at 6:50am she wanted to know if I could run out to buy it before school. So while I was out I finally found it at the 3rd store I looked for it. I also hit the dry cleaners, a book store for a Bar Mitzvah gift and a few others. I returned home to get some laundry in and clean a little. Danya came home followed shortly by Jordy and Moshe S. After feeding everyone and washing some dishes I went to get Nadav. He spent the whole ride home telling a story about soccer ball, goal and elephant crackers. Everyone played nicely the rest of the afternoon. We had dinner and hung out. I tried to get Nadav to bed after listening to Jordy read. He wouldn't go to sleep so I left for my Zumba class before he fell asleep. When I returned home at 10pm Danya and Nadav were still awake. Danya went to bed when I got home. Nadav took a little longer but by 10:23pm all the kids were asleep. Any chance Nadav will sleep past 5am after going to bed so late? I am taking bets.

Mozart

What a long day! It started at around 5:30ish I think with Nadav. Eventually everyone woke up and was out of the house. I came home from driving the kids to school and it took me a while to get my act together. I went to Modiin to get gas, pick up a few prescriptions from the ENT and stop back at Rami Levy to buy a little more of the sale items. Nothing major-should have taken an hour. There was a line at the gas station, the first pharmacy had a long line and then didn't have everything I needed, there was a car accident on the way to the second pharmacy, there were a billion people at Rami Levy-which is unusual for a Tuesday. All in all it took over 2 hours. I came home to begin make my lunch and get started on dinner when the electrician showed up. A friend who is a contractor sent his guy over to see if he could help. So for those keeping score this is the 3rd electrician we've had. He tightened a few things and said all looks good. We are skeptical. I spent the rest of the afternoon cooking and cleaning. I picked Nadav up from gan and his gannet told me that she asked him what his sister and brothers names were. He responded with "Jordy and Mozart" (he had been learning about music and Mozart at gan). The gannenet thought that was hysterical. We came home and shortly after Jordy and Danya returned. We all ate dinner eventually. Danya and Jordy had to do homework and then the night fell apart. Jordy was really mad that we weren't helping him write an extra credit book report on a book he hadn't finished reading. We kept telling him that we should read but he only wanted to finish the report to receive the prize. The remainder of the evening was spent arguing with Jordy and trying, unsuccessfully, to get Nadav to bed. By the time everyone got to bed it was 9:30pm and we were tired.

Here is a video of Nadav taking care of a "sick" Donald Duck. HE didn't notice me recording.

The funny part is that Mickey Mouse Club House is on the TV in the background.