I bet you all think you are pretty smart and think you know where carrots come from. So did we until S informed us that we were wrong! We were recently having a dinner discussion and D asked S, "where do carrots come from?" S: "From the rabbit!" We of course assumed that he got this from one of his stories where a rabbit sells carrots, or who knows! No we explained, they come from the ground. Then Av who was having dinner with us said, " He means in Winnie the Pooh!" " Oh of course!" We said! Because in Winnie the Pooh who grows the carrots, Rabbit! So while all of you people out there really thought carrots came from the ground, rest assured that you are wrong! According to S, they come from Rabbit and he won't be convinced otherwise!
In other news, the million dollar question has been answered. But we still don't have a million dollars. However, we do have a 6 mo. lease on a 3.5 bedroom 1.5 bath apt.! Hurray! It even has a nice big porch, known as a mirpeset in Israel. Although they are trying to sell and the lease will go in 6mo. increments, we feel this will give us time to find something more permanent in the neighborhood which is totally full right now. In fact the entire Jerusalem area is full and the only stuff available is the stuff that nobody wants! So for at least the next 6mo. we know we have good neighbors, a good landlord and a good place to be. And the great thing is, it is about 4 doors down from where we are now, so no moving van needed! And we get to keep enjoying all the things that we liked about living here over the summer!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Just a little up date!
Just wanted to let you all know that our Princess Puff Puff is walking! Hurray! She has been working on it for about 2 weeks now, but over Shabbat this week she really got it down. She is still not %100 like Y, but she is doing pretty good! They are getting so big! Yesterday in an act of desperation I took out the blow up pool and let the kids go for it. They had a blast. Although I learned my lesson, must have swimmy diapers on at all times! I thought I would let them go free, no, big mess! Very bad idea! I had been putting off taking out the pool as I did not think it would fit on our "front porch" (I use this term very loosely. ) And I was right, it didn't, but it fit just enough and the neighbors downstairs did not mind a little water coming down. In fact it seems we even can use some of the space downstairs for it, but having it upstairs lets me do more and still keep an eye on them. We are in the middle of a horrid heat wave that is making us all think about praying for snow! So I think we will be keeping the pool filled this week until it settles down.
The Great Organic Race
I have been sitting on this thought for a while and now I am up at 1:00am waiting for a reply to an e-mail so I thought I would dive in!
What is it with people who only eat organic food? Now, I don't look down on this and in fact, I the junk food junkie queen, am trying to get my family to eat better these days. On Shabbat just about everything I make is from scratch, right down to our challah! (pause for applause, thank you yes, I know it is amazing considering there was a time I thought making a cake from scratch meant making it from a better crocker box instead of buying it at the store!) So anyway, now I am trying to do this more during the week. This week I am going to attempt to make our bread from scratch instead of store bought. We will see how it goes. But what I have discovered is that my attempts at healthy eating are quite feeble in fact. It seems that white sugar and plain white flour are just not good enough. We must eat whole wheat flour, whole wheat pasta :p, only fresh organic veggies will do, not just your average run of the mill fresh veggies, organic light brown sugar, etc. In fact it seems to go so far that if I buy fresh squeezed Orange Juice from a grocery store this is only second rate to doing it at home myself. Now that is true, but lets face it with three little kids cruising the joint, I am not sure I am up for it on a daily basis. I feel like everyone has to prove that they are more organic than the next person. It is like the great "arms race" of the '80's where each country had to prove that they were more armed than the next guy. I understand people with allergies to additives, or gluten, or soy, and so on, some people really do have to be really careful, but don't look at me like a Neanderthal just because I am still buying my orange juice in a container instead of doing it myself!
The other things that gets me is the cost. Here is something that has no pesticides, no additives, no preservatives, but costs 3 times more than the "junk!" Can someone please explain this to me! To buy 1 kilo (2.2lbs) of organic flour costs 16 shekel about $3.80 U.S. To buy 1 kilo of white regular old flour costs 3 shekel or about .70 cents. Does it really make that big of a difference, am I really going to feel better, look better, because I spent $4.00 on flour instead of .70 cents. Perhaps someone in the organic world can explain this to me. And save the pesticide speech, yes, I know they can be nasty but that is what soap and water are for!
What is it with people who only eat organic food? Now, I don't look down on this and in fact, I the junk food junkie queen, am trying to get my family to eat better these days. On Shabbat just about everything I make is from scratch, right down to our challah! (pause for applause, thank you yes, I know it is amazing considering there was a time I thought making a cake from scratch meant making it from a better crocker box instead of buying it at the store!) So anyway, now I am trying to do this more during the week. This week I am going to attempt to make our bread from scratch instead of store bought. We will see how it goes. But what I have discovered is that my attempts at healthy eating are quite feeble in fact. It seems that white sugar and plain white flour are just not good enough. We must eat whole wheat flour, whole wheat pasta :p, only fresh organic veggies will do, not just your average run of the mill fresh veggies, organic light brown sugar, etc. In fact it seems to go so far that if I buy fresh squeezed Orange Juice from a grocery store this is only second rate to doing it at home myself. Now that is true, but lets face it with three little kids cruising the joint, I am not sure I am up for it on a daily basis. I feel like everyone has to prove that they are more organic than the next person. It is like the great "arms race" of the '80's where each country had to prove that they were more armed than the next guy. I understand people with allergies to additives, or gluten, or soy, and so on, some people really do have to be really careful, but don't look at me like a Neanderthal just because I am still buying my orange juice in a container instead of doing it myself!
The other things that gets me is the cost. Here is something that has no pesticides, no additives, no preservatives, but costs 3 times more than the "junk!" Can someone please explain this to me! To buy 1 kilo (2.2lbs) of organic flour costs 16 shekel about $3.80 U.S. To buy 1 kilo of white regular old flour costs 3 shekel or about .70 cents. Does it really make that big of a difference, am I really going to feel better, look better, because I spent $4.00 on flour instead of .70 cents. Perhaps someone in the organic world can explain this to me. And save the pesticide speech, yes, I know they can be nasty but that is what soap and water are for!
Monday, August 20, 2007
What is Kollel?
We frequently get asked about what we are doing here and what D does and when does the program end etc. Since Kollel is a pretty foreign idea to the average person we have always just said, well there is no set time and D could go in many directions and left it at that. Well today, thanks to Wikipedia, I have a real answer. I am cutting and pasting in the Wikipedia definition in, but there is definitely more information there than I am giving. So without further ado here is the Wikipedia definition of Kollel: A kollel (Hebrew: כולל; "a gathering/collection [of scholars]") is an institute for advanced studies of the Talmud and of rabbinic literature for Jewish adults, essentially a yeshiva which pays married men a regular monthly stipend or annual salary (and/or provides housing and meals) to study Judaism's classic texts in depth. The plural in Hebrew is kollelim. I feel that this is a pretty accurate description and will give everyone a better sense of what D is doing here.
As for what I am doing here, well, I think from the blog that is pretty obvious, I am keeping a trim figure by running after 3 very busy rugrats all day! And by the way our Princess Puff Puff is in the process of learning how to walk and is taking a few more steps every day! This means I will now be running in 3 directions on our zoo outings soon instead of 2!
As for what I am doing here, well, I think from the blog that is pretty obvious, I am keeping a trim figure by running after 3 very busy rugrats all day! And by the way our Princess Puff Puff is in the process of learning how to walk and is taking a few more steps every day! This means I will now be running in 3 directions on our zoo outings soon instead of 2!
Friday, August 17, 2007
We're still here!
Just wanted to post a quick note to let the world kow that we are still here. I am not sure where our days are going but they are going in a hurry. There are so many times I have gone to blog and I am too tired. Today is one of those days, but since it has been a few weeks I decided it is time.
Last week we finally made it to the zoo again and on a Tues. unfortunately our homeschool friends were not there and by the time we left the zoo I was ready to leave my kids there. S was all over the place, Y wanted to walk because he can now and suffice to say I was frequently running in two directions to collect kids. Malki was the only one that I willing allowed to come home. Getting home was an adventure all together. Since everyone was on vacation last week, the busses going home were packed! One after the other filling up until the last two busses arrived and neither went to our neighborhood. So here I am standing in the dark with 3 kids and a handful of people who are waiting for rides or pre-arranged taxis in Timbuktu. Fortunately we were able to catch a taxi home, it cost us 45 shekel which is around $10 U.S. then we were so tired that we bought a pizza for dinner. So much for our cheap day out!
Sunday evening we left the kids home with Av and went to a bat mitzvah for NB the daughter of our good friend SB. It was at a park and we saw all of our friends from the bookstore and a few others. The park was way cool and we went on a tour via tram and made two stops, one at a1500 year old wine press and the other at an olive press, I am not sure how old. It was a really nice evening. It also gave a chance to say good-bye to B&I who are headed back to the States after 3 years here. We will miss them at Sukkot as they usually come to us.
Monday morning first thing we had a brit milah for some friends of ours that we know from Portland. It was very nice and afterward we all came home and crashed.
Tues. D and I got a mini-date while we left the kids at home with a friend so we could run out and vote within our political party. D and I are registered with Likud and we wanted to make sure our vote was cast. Unfotunately Netanyahu won. We were tired, did not want to go out late at night, and we knew our candidate did not stand to win, but in Israel every vote counts and out we went. Even though our candidate lost, I am glad we went and did our duty. It was also interesting to be out at that time of night. I am sure this city never sleeps! We were out at 11:00p and people were still coming into vote and there was major traffic. It was crazy. No wonder we can't go to bed at a reasonable hour. It is too busy here!
Thurs. after 2.5 days in the house I took the kids to the post office to get a package from their wonderful Aunt S and then we took the bus to the mall where they have had little rides up for the summer. I put all three kids on little cars that were connected and run on a track. So of course to S it was a train. A good time was had by all until it was time to head to the grocery store. After surviving the grocery store we headed home, until the stoller broke and here I was with 3 little kids and $80 worth of groceries. Does the fun never end?! So we much to S's excitement we got to take another taxi home. Fortunately it was much cheaper than the zoo.
So here it is Friday and this past week feels like a month and yesterday feels like 3 days. We are having Av and friend for Shabbat the first time we have had company all summer and I hope it goes well. Actually with Av here, hopefully we will get some rest!
Last week we finally made it to the zoo again and on a Tues. unfortunately our homeschool friends were not there and by the time we left the zoo I was ready to leave my kids there. S was all over the place, Y wanted to walk because he can now and suffice to say I was frequently running in two directions to collect kids. Malki was the only one that I willing allowed to come home. Getting home was an adventure all together. Since everyone was on vacation last week, the busses going home were packed! One after the other filling up until the last two busses arrived and neither went to our neighborhood. So here I am standing in the dark with 3 kids and a handful of people who are waiting for rides or pre-arranged taxis in Timbuktu. Fortunately we were able to catch a taxi home, it cost us 45 shekel which is around $10 U.S. then we were so tired that we bought a pizza for dinner. So much for our cheap day out!
Sunday evening we left the kids home with Av and went to a bat mitzvah for NB the daughter of our good friend SB. It was at a park and we saw all of our friends from the bookstore and a few others. The park was way cool and we went on a tour via tram and made two stops, one at a1500 year old wine press and the other at an olive press, I am not sure how old. It was a really nice evening. It also gave a chance to say good-bye to B&I who are headed back to the States after 3 years here. We will miss them at Sukkot as they usually come to us.
Monday morning first thing we had a brit milah for some friends of ours that we know from Portland. It was very nice and afterward we all came home and crashed.
Tues. D and I got a mini-date while we left the kids at home with a friend so we could run out and vote within our political party. D and I are registered with Likud and we wanted to make sure our vote was cast. Unfotunately Netanyahu won. We were tired, did not want to go out late at night, and we knew our candidate did not stand to win, but in Israel every vote counts and out we went. Even though our candidate lost, I am glad we went and did our duty. It was also interesting to be out at that time of night. I am sure this city never sleeps! We were out at 11:00p and people were still coming into vote and there was major traffic. It was crazy. No wonder we can't go to bed at a reasonable hour. It is too busy here!
Thurs. after 2.5 days in the house I took the kids to the post office to get a package from their wonderful Aunt S and then we took the bus to the mall where they have had little rides up for the summer. I put all three kids on little cars that were connected and run on a track. So of course to S it was a train. A good time was had by all until it was time to head to the grocery store. After surviving the grocery store we headed home, until the stoller broke and here I was with 3 little kids and $80 worth of groceries. Does the fun never end?! So we much to S's excitement we got to take another taxi home. Fortunately it was much cheaper than the zoo.
So here it is Friday and this past week feels like a month and yesterday feels like 3 days. We are having Av and friend for Shabbat the first time we have had company all summer and I hope it goes well. Actually with Av here, hopefully we will get some rest!
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Houston we have arrived!
Well, we have arrived at a new level of parenting anyway. I am excited to announce that Y is a walking fool now, hurray! And M took her first real steps on Thurs. at then park when we were taking a break from helping our friend Am and hubby move. What is really great is that they can now climb up the stairs! This means that I have less trips up and down the stairs when getting everything into the house, especially after a trip to the grocery store.
Otherwise, not much is new on the scene here. We are enjoying D being on vacation and have been to a couple of different parks and one outing and that is it. Despite the mobility of *Prince Puckler and Princess Puff Puff, it is still rough to get everyone out the door. S is our busy boy, but does help supervise the troops and is sure to let us know when something is amiss, usually with a loud "Nooooooo!" which alerts us to that A) someone is into something they should not be OR B) Someone has encroached on the sacred Thomas the Tank Engine Trains! But he does love his siblings and on occasion they even play nicely together.
*Prince Puckler-Ice Cream store in Eugene known as Prince Puckler's with the best chocolate raspberry ice cream I have ever had. It was a little family owned place and the ice cream was so creamy.....Yum!
Otherwise, not much is new on the scene here. We are enjoying D being on vacation and have been to a couple of different parks and one outing and that is it. Despite the mobility of *Prince Puckler and Princess Puff Puff, it is still rough to get everyone out the door. S is our busy boy, but does help supervise the troops and is sure to let us know when something is amiss, usually with a loud "Nooooooo!" which alerts us to that A) someone is into something they should not be OR B) Someone has encroached on the sacred Thomas the Tank Engine Trains! But he does love his siblings and on occasion they even play nicely together.
*Prince Puckler-Ice Cream store in Eugene known as Prince Puckler's with the best chocolate raspberry ice cream I have ever had. It was a little family owned place and the ice cream was so creamy.....Yum!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
The Greene Gene
This something that runs in our family, but only on my mother's side hence it is called the Greene Gene in honor of my mother's family. This gene gives the carrier to make a desert disappear in about 5 minutes flat when no one is looking. This is also the same gene that requires the carrier to make careful decisions when dining out. For instance if a restaurant has really good dessert, then the carrier must decide how much protein must be eaten, i.e. sandwich, soup, or other so called healthful food, with out filing up too much so that there is room for dessert. My mother, my Aunt E and myself seem to be the most affected by it. My Aunt S and sister are not afflicted by this. So lately it has been getting me into trouble. Earlier this week it was marshmallows. Now anyone who really knows me, knows I love marshmallows. I try not to love them so much, they are full of sugar and who knows what else, but they are so tasty, plus, until we moved here and I saw them being sold as a snack, I thought I was the only person in the universe who hate them raw and not just roasted, now I am in good company! I don't often get them for two reasons 1) we could not get kosher ones where we used to live and 2) the sugar. Now in Jerusalem we can get them with a good hechsher so D got me a bag, to share of course. Well if a small bag of marshmallows is purchased on Friday anyone who knows me, knows they are not going to make it past Mon. or Tues. and that is with sheer willpower! So needless to say when D went to go get them on Tues. after the fast they might have all been gone! Oopps! Now tonight it was pudding. D sat and said, " Gee I think this is the first pudding I have had all year!" Hmmm, I said, can't imagine where the rest are going? The kids maybe....(yeah right!) I have promised to try and reform my ways so that D gets to have more treats, but I keep telling him I have 3 kids I need the sugar to keep me going. Although the truth is this is why I try not to have it in the house. If I buy it I will eat it.....I thank G-d regularly for the fact that although I am afflicted with the Greene Gene I do not weigh a million pounds like my friends tried to curse me with in high school. More later from the Queen Junkie! (Junk Food, that is!)
D's Vacation!
D officially went on vacation starting Tuesday, a fast day marking the destruction of the first and second temple in Jerusalem. On the Hebrew calendar this is the 9th of Av. Three weeks prior to this on the 17th of Tammuz there is a minor fast which marks the breach of the walls of Jerusalem until the Romans succeed in destroying the Second Temple on the 9th of Av. For three weeks we "mourn" the loss of our Temple with the final 9 days considered as in mourning of a relative. For 9 days we don't play music, weddings and other similar occasions are forbidden, we dont' buy new clothes and we are in a state of mourning until after a 25 hour fast on the 9th of Av. The 9th of Av also marks many other tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people through out history. Including the expulsion of Jews from Spain marking the beginning of the Spanish inquisition, the start of WWI which led to WWII and most recently the Jews of Gush Katif were expelled the day after Tisha B'Av (the 9th of Av) two years ago. It is a "heavy" time and we use it to reflect on our behavior and how we have done and what we can do to improve ourselves. When the fast ends we are humbled, but filled with hope that things can improve and we are not with the ability to change things for the better.
Now that this time is over we are enjoying being able to do the things we have put on hold. So, on Tuesday evening after the fast we celebrated by making homemade caramel corn and watching Gigi! For those of you who don't know, like D did not, Gigi is a 1958 musical staring Leslie Caron that takes place in Paris. It is one of my favorite musicals and my mom just sent it to me so I really wanted to see it and I was patiently waiting until after the Tisha B'av to watch it. So I suggested it to D and he was like OK (think resigned male sigh.) I sweetened the deal with the caramel corn and we got settled and started the movie. We get through the opening credits, etc. and Maurice Chevallier starts singing and D gets the horrified tone and says, " this is a musical?! I didn't know it was a musical, this is going to take a lot more popcorn!" But we watched it and he survived it. Wed. was mostly a hang out day and get caught up on things day. I took the kids to the park for a couple of hours and that was it.
Today we took the kids to get shoes. All three. Between the expense and hassle we have been putting it off, but it turned out quite well. Hurray for outlet stores and back to school sales. Y has little blue and orange sandals which are a bit big but he can walk in them and there is room to grow. Finding proper shoes at this stage is impossible it seems everything is too big or too small. We had the same problem with M. While Y has hard bottomed sandals M has soft ones as she is not really walking yet. Also we could find them in her size, but not Y so he got the bigger shoes, good thing he has bigger feet. I also noticed that while there are about a dozen choices for girl shoes there are about 2-3 for the boys. Talk about slim pickings. However, I can see why when I shop with the kids. The reactions go something like this: S: I can hop, run skip and jump, these are great shoes! Y: What are these things? Maybe I should try eating them. I mean I can walk in them, but I would rather go barefoot. M: Oooohhhhh, they are so pretty! Look at these pretty new things on my feet. M was asleep as I tried out about 5 different pairs of shoes on her so she was really surprised when we finally put them on her after her nap. After 4 stores and 3 pairs of shoes we headed to the grocery and then home.
It has been really hot so no zoo trip. I am hoping it cools off next week. We are thinking of going to Shilo, another Yeshuv, where they are having a festival all afternoon with buses running there from Jerusalem for the event. It sounds like fun and would be a nice change of activity. Tuesday I going to attempt to meet up with friends yet again at the zoo. Maybe this time it will work.
An as usual we will be attempting to find a new place to live. We have made several calls but nothing yet. I just keep thinking everything in its time and place. Will keep you posted as we know what is going on.
Now that this time is over we are enjoying being able to do the things we have put on hold. So, on Tuesday evening after the fast we celebrated by making homemade caramel corn and watching Gigi! For those of you who don't know, like D did not, Gigi is a 1958 musical staring Leslie Caron that takes place in Paris. It is one of my favorite musicals and my mom just sent it to me so I really wanted to see it and I was patiently waiting until after the Tisha B'av to watch it. So I suggested it to D and he was like OK (think resigned male sigh.) I sweetened the deal with the caramel corn and we got settled and started the movie. We get through the opening credits, etc. and Maurice Chevallier starts singing and D gets the horrified tone and says, " this is a musical?! I didn't know it was a musical, this is going to take a lot more popcorn!" But we watched it and he survived it. Wed. was mostly a hang out day and get caught up on things day. I took the kids to the park for a couple of hours and that was it.
Today we took the kids to get shoes. All three. Between the expense and hassle we have been putting it off, but it turned out quite well. Hurray for outlet stores and back to school sales. Y has little blue and orange sandals which are a bit big but he can walk in them and there is room to grow. Finding proper shoes at this stage is impossible it seems everything is too big or too small. We had the same problem with M. While Y has hard bottomed sandals M has soft ones as she is not really walking yet. Also we could find them in her size, but not Y so he got the bigger shoes, good thing he has bigger feet. I also noticed that while there are about a dozen choices for girl shoes there are about 2-3 for the boys. Talk about slim pickings. However, I can see why when I shop with the kids. The reactions go something like this: S: I can hop, run skip and jump, these are great shoes! Y: What are these things? Maybe I should try eating them. I mean I can walk in them, but I would rather go barefoot. M: Oooohhhhh, they are so pretty! Look at these pretty new things on my feet. M was asleep as I tried out about 5 different pairs of shoes on her so she was really surprised when we finally put them on her after her nap. After 4 stores and 3 pairs of shoes we headed to the grocery and then home.
It has been really hot so no zoo trip. I am hoping it cools off next week. We are thinking of going to Shilo, another Yeshuv, where they are having a festival all afternoon with buses running there from Jerusalem for the event. It sounds like fun and would be a nice change of activity. Tuesday I going to attempt to meet up with friends yet again at the zoo. Maybe this time it will work.
An as usual we will be attempting to find a new place to live. We have made several calls but nothing yet. I just keep thinking everything in its time and place. Will keep you posted as we know what is going on.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Up, Up and Away!
This is sometimes how I feel watching the kids. That one day I will turn around and they will be all grown up! S is just so mature sometimes. Friday we went grocery shopping, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure that Friday is the worst day possible to to shop in Israel. You have a bunch of people all on a time schedule to get home and get their stuff done before Shabbat comes in. The stores are packed and everyone is in a hurry. But unfortunately, due circumstances there we were stuck shopping on Friday. So after enduring this chaos as a family, when we got home, S helped bring up all the groceries, asked me where to put everything and then handed me bags of groceries while I put stuff away. Such a big helper! It was really sweet.
Y is really cruising these days and we will be buying him shoes this week. He even climbed up the ladder at the park all by himself today, with a lot of supervision. He went down a pretty decent size slide for his size and loved it! He has no fear! Gee wonder where that comes from?! Y and M loved climbing on the slide today too. Y figured out how to get all the way up and then slide into M at the bottom, she thought this was hilarious. Go figure! He is such an engineer wants to know how everything works. When we were at the park on Shabbat he was really examining the teeter totter. I put him and M on it and that was OK to him, but he really wanted to know how it worked. He is already figuring out spatial sizing as well. He and M were playing with two empty small trash cans and he could see that one would fit in the other so he took it from M so he could put the one in the other. So cute!
M finally took her first two steps today! Hurray! I knew she was getting ready. M is our observer, she definitely knows what is going on but prefers to quietly sneak off and do her own thing a lot. Except at bath time. This morning Y got a bath out of serious necessity and she complained about how unfair it was that he got to get in the tub and she did not. Who needs a kiddie pool when we have a bath tub! (And by the way, when your 3 year old tells you that your kid is poopy, listen to him. It will save you from having to go around cleaning up a trail of slime left by said poopy child.) But M also likes to play with the boys and I can see that she is a lot tougher than her female counter parts. But she is also very much a girl.
Having three kids is such a work out on patience, energy, budget and so on, but the amount of creativity, laughter, entertainment and joy is really worth it. To see them all collaborating now and developing their own jokes between the three of them is really fun. I can't imagine what it will be like in another 6mo or a year when the twins can really talk. Watch out world my kids are on the run! Literally! And by the way, we have a helicopter! Really! Every time we forget to turn it on S points to the ceiling and asks us to turn on the helicopter! The ceiling fan has become a huge source of entertainment for the boys!
Y is really cruising these days and we will be buying him shoes this week. He even climbed up the ladder at the park all by himself today, with a lot of supervision. He went down a pretty decent size slide for his size and loved it! He has no fear! Gee wonder where that comes from?! Y and M loved climbing on the slide today too. Y figured out how to get all the way up and then slide into M at the bottom, she thought this was hilarious. Go figure! He is such an engineer wants to know how everything works. When we were at the park on Shabbat he was really examining the teeter totter. I put him and M on it and that was OK to him, but he really wanted to know how it worked. He is already figuring out spatial sizing as well. He and M were playing with two empty small trash cans and he could see that one would fit in the other so he took it from M so he could put the one in the other. So cute!
M finally took her first two steps today! Hurray! I knew she was getting ready. M is our observer, she definitely knows what is going on but prefers to quietly sneak off and do her own thing a lot. Except at bath time. This morning Y got a bath out of serious necessity and she complained about how unfair it was that he got to get in the tub and she did not. Who needs a kiddie pool when we have a bath tub! (And by the way, when your 3 year old tells you that your kid is poopy, listen to him. It will save you from having to go around cleaning up a trail of slime left by said poopy child.) But M also likes to play with the boys and I can see that she is a lot tougher than her female counter parts. But she is also very much a girl.
Having three kids is such a work out on patience, energy, budget and so on, but the amount of creativity, laughter, entertainment and joy is really worth it. To see them all collaborating now and developing their own jokes between the three of them is really fun. I can't imagine what it will be like in another 6mo or a year when the twins can really talk. Watch out world my kids are on the run! Literally! And by the way, we have a helicopter! Really! Every time we forget to turn it on S points to the ceiling and asks us to turn on the helicopter! The ceiling fan has become a huge source of entertainment for the boys!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Yummy Crayons!
S keeps his crayons on a desk in his room, but the lid is off. Y and M came into our room and both had crayon all over their faces and Y was holding two more. Naturally I assumed that the crayons had been left on the floor. But no, there they were in their container a respectable distance from the edge. Y had climbed onto a box next to the desk and up on to the desk and retrieved the crayons. What gave him away? His doggy was up on the desk in a spot that only could have been reached if he had climbed up. S by the way was gone for all of this. Our friend Av took him for an outing to run some errands. Either we are too slow or the kids are too smart for their own good!
Monday, July 16, 2007
Warning Politics Ahead!
I normally don't spend a lot of time on politics here. It is boring, can cause family feuds and freak people out. All at the same time even! But I am making an exception because posted on Foxnews.com is a nice big travel advisory from the U.S. government on traveling to Israel. This is pretty much the same advisory that is always in affect so why it made the news I don't know; other than the U.S., the U.N. and crew are meeting in Portugal to solve our problems with the Palestinians...Yeah right, if you believe that....... So, the bottom line is they are saying 1) Don't go to Gaza. Ummm, Duhhhhh! 2) Stay out of the West Bank, this is because of infighting between the factions of Hamas and Fatah and Hezbollah. So basically they are asking people not to go to places like Ramahallah, Qalqilya, etc. Another Duh! Things out in Karnei Shomron as quiet as ever. And they are saying not go anywhere touristy, out to eat or other places that Americans might congregate such as large events. Specifically in Jerusalem. Oh give me a break. What are we supposed to do starve while our children drive us insane because basically they are telling people not to leave their houses or hotel rooms. I don't think so! Has the person who wrote this ever been to Jerusalem? Is there some where here in Jerusalem that Americans don't go. What is the point of people coming here if they are going to sit, umm, where? In a cave maybe, because they can't go to a hotel as there are Americans congregating there too. Oh and they also recommend not going to the American Embassy or the American Consulate. Oh there is some encouragement and commentary about all those security measures they take when we go . I knew their resources were being misspent! Talk about a lesson in inefficiency and lack of organization! Suffice to say we plan on going out plenty, hopefully to the zoo tomorrow and if we get lucky and get a sitter we may meet a friend at a restaurant for some adult conversation that does not include the statement: (please choose one: S, Y, M...stop that, no-no sweetie,etc.) I am most excited. In short, please ignore the man behind the curtain, he has no clue what he is talking about. If you want to know what is really happening here, drop us a line and ask.
Daytime Outings and Midnight Madness
Lately S has been going berserk and driving us all generally insane. 6+ weeks with no structured activity is begining to wear on us all. So last week I finally got it together and took the kids to the zoo to get their annual pass. Thank you to my wonderful aunt who gave us this gift for Y and M's first birthday. It has taken me forever to get it all together and get there. Because first there was the project of converting dollars to shekels, then the zoo wanted us to bring photos, so we of course are going to beat the system save some shekels and do our own and print them out at the photo place for a shekel a piece. Yeah right, first we all had to be home at the same time, when the kids were up and we remembered, then print them and so on. We finally get them printed and they are too big. So I decide to go on line just one more time to see if we really have to do this and how big the photos need to be, etc. and low and behold they do it there! Wow! Wish they had come to that decision a little sooner! Now here is the other duh! I forgot I was sitting on extra passport photos of us all. I am sooooo sllloooooowwwww. After a huge balygan in the morning we finally made it to the zoo on Thurs. afternoon. Almost exactly an hour before closing. And they even took everyone's picture automatically. Actually just mine and S because D wasn't there, see the photos did pay off in the end and the little monkeys don't need cards as they are under three. But even in that hour we did get to see some neat animals and most importantly S got to see the elephants. The great thing is now we can go back all the time!
In the midnight madness category we are trying to get Y to sleep through the night or at least more than he was. If we put him to bed later it helps as he doesn't wake up as much. I am trying to get him to sleep through the midnight-one AM nursing, but that means I am up listening to him. So that means a lot of times I am up on the computer, hence the midnight madness. It doesn't help that everyone except D is off schedule since we have moved here. Although right now Y is up making these cute little noises and talking to dog. He has since made friends with dog after being with out turtle for a few days. This is good since Mr. Turtle is currently MIA yet again. I brought him dog which he left in the living room and he was like oh good here is Dog, but now I am still missing Mr. Turtle. It was cute, poor little guy. I have no idea where Mr. Turtle gets off to, for a stuffed Turtle he sure moves fast and is good at hiding! I think one day I will have a journal just for the adventures of Mr. Turtle.
One thing about being up late though is I just finished Dean Koontz's book Fear Nothing. It was really good, but way spooky! Good thing D is home every night! I have never read his stuff and really had no interested but D picked up and I started reading it and got into. Turns out this is the beginning of a series, so I want to look for the next one. The nice thing is it came out originally in paperback in 1998, which means I can have someone look for it used in the States for me or D might even have it on line in his e-book collection.
Its 1:20am here maybe we can get some sleep now!
In the midnight madness category we are trying to get Y to sleep through the night or at least more than he was. If we put him to bed later it helps as he doesn't wake up as much. I am trying to get him to sleep through the midnight-one AM nursing, but that means I am up listening to him. So that means a lot of times I am up on the computer, hence the midnight madness. It doesn't help that everyone except D is off schedule since we have moved here. Although right now Y is up making these cute little noises and talking to dog. He has since made friends with dog after being with out turtle for a few days. This is good since Mr. Turtle is currently MIA yet again. I brought him dog which he left in the living room and he was like oh good here is Dog, but now I am still missing Mr. Turtle. It was cute, poor little guy. I have no idea where Mr. Turtle gets off to, for a stuffed Turtle he sure moves fast and is good at hiding! I think one day I will have a journal just for the adventures of Mr. Turtle.
One thing about being up late though is I just finished Dean Koontz's book Fear Nothing. It was really good, but way spooky! Good thing D is home every night! I have never read his stuff and really had no interested but D picked up and I started reading it and got into. Turns out this is the beginning of a series, so I want to look for the next one. The nice thing is it came out originally in paperback in 1998, which means I can have someone look for it used in the States for me or D might even have it on line in his e-book collection.
Its 1:20am here maybe we can get some sleep now!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Kidisms
S: M, stop that!
Me: What's she doing honey?
S: She's laughing at me!
This is all taking place at the breakfast table as I am in the other room talking to D. All the kids in their respective seats! We couldn't help but laugh. I think someone got up on the wrong side of the bed today.
Me: What's she doing honey?
S: She's laughing at me!
This is all taking place at the breakfast table as I am in the other room talking to D. All the kids in their respective seats! We couldn't help but laugh. I think someone got up on the wrong side of the bed today.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Just for Fun!
Av was over tonight for dinner and we were hanging out and doing random quizzes on the site listed below. Thought you guys might find this entertaining too! Brought back some fun memories. So who is your 80's hunk?
***Your 80s Hunk Is***
Michael J. Fox
Who's Your 80s Hunk?
http://www.blogthings.com/whosyour80shunkquiz/
***Your 80s Hunk Is***
Michael J. Fox
Who's Your 80s Hunk?
http://www.blogthings.com/whosyour80shunkquiz/
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Mr. Turtle and the Laundry Soap
There are lots of things I would like to blog about, but have not taken the time. But this was too much to pass up. Once or twice a week I manage to get out while D is home on lunch to go visit a friend. Her husband is in the Kollel with D and they learn together. So D watches the kids and I get adult conversation. We usually learn a bit and chat a bit and it is a great hour. So today was one of these days and off I went. Besides what can go wrong in an hour right?!
So I get home and it is quiet, real quiet, as in too quiet. "So all the kids are napping?" I ask. "Uh, yeah," comes the reply from my computer engrossed husband. M had gone down for a nap before I left, so I ask about Y and when he went down. It finally comes that Y is in the house somewhere, but his exact location is unknown. So we set off to track down our 2 boys who are MIA in the house. With out much effort we discover them in our room. By the washing machine. We buy powdered laundry soap in 9kilo bags, this about 19.5 lbs. It is almost full. It has been on the floor because there was no room on top the washing machine to put it there. I am hiding the toilet paper up there and a few other things the kids also like to play in. I finally decided to hide it out of site so know one would get into it. Yeah, right! So back to the present, we walk in and not only is there powdered soap on the floor, it is over flowing in the little drawer where you put the soap in the washing machine, all three slots and S is not pouring on top of Y, who thinks this is hilarious. It took everything in D's power not to break down laughing. He had to turn away a couple of times while trying to get after S for the whole thing. I do have to admit, it was pretty funny. And of all things, who should Y have in his hand, but Mr. Turtle! When I asked S where Mr. Turtle came from he said the garbage! Apparently he had been dropped into an empty garbage can in our room that had a lid on it. Never would have thought to look there. Now D swears he had just checked on the kids and they had been playing in Y and M's room which is connected to ours. But I am a bit sketchy on that defense. Especially since lucky him, lunch was over and it was time for him to go. So guess who is left cleaning up? Yep, that's right , me! D's only saving grace is that he did bring me a vacuum and that is not much! I told him that he was the one who should have been punished instead of S. I mean how hard is it to watch 3 little kids for an hour?! And not even 3, only 2 as one was asleep! D swears it could have happened to me. Hmph!
So I get home and it is quiet, real quiet, as in too quiet. "So all the kids are napping?" I ask. "Uh, yeah," comes the reply from my computer engrossed husband. M had gone down for a nap before I left, so I ask about Y and when he went down. It finally comes that Y is in the house somewhere, but his exact location is unknown. So we set off to track down our 2 boys who are MIA in the house. With out much effort we discover them in our room. By the washing machine. We buy powdered laundry soap in 9kilo bags, this about 19.5 lbs. It is almost full. It has been on the floor because there was no room on top the washing machine to put it there. I am hiding the toilet paper up there and a few other things the kids also like to play in. I finally decided to hide it out of site so know one would get into it. Yeah, right! So back to the present, we walk in and not only is there powdered soap on the floor, it is over flowing in the little drawer where you put the soap in the washing machine, all three slots and S is not pouring on top of Y, who thinks this is hilarious. It took everything in D's power not to break down laughing. He had to turn away a couple of times while trying to get after S for the whole thing. I do have to admit, it was pretty funny. And of all things, who should Y have in his hand, but Mr. Turtle! When I asked S where Mr. Turtle came from he said the garbage! Apparently he had been dropped into an empty garbage can in our room that had a lid on it. Never would have thought to look there. Now D swears he had just checked on the kids and they had been playing in Y and M's room which is connected to ours. But I am a bit sketchy on that defense. Especially since lucky him, lunch was over and it was time for him to go. So guess who is left cleaning up? Yep, that's right , me! D's only saving grace is that he did bring me a vacuum and that is not much! I told him that he was the one who should have been punished instead of S. I mean how hard is it to watch 3 little kids for an hour?! And not even 3, only 2 as one was asleep! D swears it could have happened to me. Hmph!
Saturday, June 30, 2007
The Case of Missing Mr. Turtle and YouTube
As I explained in my last post Y has a lovey called Mr. Turtle. Mr. Turtle is in fact a turtle. I had said he was a dog toy, by this I meant that he was bought in a pet store and was made to be a chew toy for a dog. This morning Mr. Turtle went missing. This has been a difficult day for us because although Y is not out and out protesting we can see that he is a bit perplexed by this. I tried faking him out with a dog that he got at the same time. He is also a chew toy and is the same material and same colors. Y keeps looking at it like, it is the right material and the right colors, but something is not quite right. I have looked high and low to no avail, hopefully we will find him soon, otherwise we are going to have to figure out where Mr. Turtle came from and see if we can find another one and hope he doesn't notice.
My other thought for the evening is YouTube once again! It has nothing to do with Mr. Turtle, but happened on Fri. afternoon and I did not have time to post it before Shabbat. We all know that when watching something public like YouTube that you never know what you are really getting. Well on Friday this was definitely true. Instead of previewing the Clifford show like I should have for S we just clicked and watched. It was a man narrating a Clifford story book and it looked like a legitimate Scholastic Books Clifford story. Well the story starts out about how Clifford has the hiccups and how the Howards' and Clifford's friends are trying to help him get rid of them. Well finally one of his friends, Mac, tells him to drink water laying upside down and low and behold that does it! So it shows Clifford's veterinarian telling Mac what a good doggy he is for getting rid of Clifford's hiccups. Then the next we see is the veterinarian cutting Clifford open with a saw and all of his innards falling out! Yikes! Not kid material. I quickly turned it off and closed the page. Fortunately I don't think S really caught what was going on because he was not sure why I turned it off. But from now on I will be even more careful before I let S watch something off of YouTube! Although for the record the legitimate selection of Thomas the Tank Engine is great.
My other thought for the evening is YouTube once again! It has nothing to do with Mr. Turtle, but happened on Fri. afternoon and I did not have time to post it before Shabbat. We all know that when watching something public like YouTube that you never know what you are really getting. Well on Friday this was definitely true. Instead of previewing the Clifford show like I should have for S we just clicked and watched. It was a man narrating a Clifford story book and it looked like a legitimate Scholastic Books Clifford story. Well the story starts out about how Clifford has the hiccups and how the Howards' and Clifford's friends are trying to help him get rid of them. Well finally one of his friends, Mac, tells him to drink water laying upside down and low and behold that does it! So it shows Clifford's veterinarian telling Mac what a good doggy he is for getting rid of Clifford's hiccups. Then the next we see is the veterinarian cutting Clifford open with a saw and all of his innards falling out! Yikes! Not kid material. I quickly turned it off and closed the page. Fortunately I don't think S really caught what was going on because he was not sure why I turned it off. But from now on I will be even more careful before I let S watch something off of YouTube! Although for the record the legitimate selection of Thomas the Tank Engine is great.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Second Post for the day!
I am going out on a limb and typing two posts today. This by no means is a measure of how much time I have as the other one took forever to post. We are trying to get the kids to bed now. S won't sleep since he had a big nap today and M is mad that I won't nurse her, plus she hates to go to bed. Y is the only doing what he is supposed to be doing, which is sleeping.
The kids were just so cute today that I couldn't resist doing a quick up date. We have a big double stroller with baskets underneath. A while back we figured out that in a pinch S can sit underneath when he is too tired to walk. This has come in very hand since we no longer have a front pack to carry one of the twins in. So today while S was waiting for me to get the twins ready to go out and run errands he fell asleep sitting in the bottom basket, it was too cute. I got him up and in bed for a nap. An hour later he woke up, but then climbed back into one of the seats of stroller and took another nap. I leaned it back so it would recline. Guess it is his equivalent to falling asleep in the car.
The other cute thing today was Y is starting to walk more and of course we are so excited! I held his hand today twice and he was able to make it down the hall. Of course I know this means more work soon, but it is so much fun to watch! Mr. Turtle also got a bath today. For those of you not acquainted, Mr. Turtle is Y's best friend. He is actually a plush dog toy and was given to us as a gift, one for each of the kids. We lost number one and fortunately M doesn't care, but Y loves Mr. Turtle and to be separated from him while he got a bath was a very big deal. However, not only was Mr. Turtle about three shades too dark, Y put him in the toilet which had not been flushed! Yuck! So along with all the kids Mr. Turtle also got a bath. We noticed that he is going to have be mended too. I am considering finding out where he originated from and perhaps purchasing a back up in case this one doesn't make it.
M is just her cute little usual self and it is fun watching her since she is just such a girl! She has such a great smile and loves to just sit and watch and clap and play with her big bird. Our tub is two tiered here and so after we had emptied the water and she was waiting for her turn to get out she discovered that she could go up and down. Very exciting for her.
Today I also made another internet discovery. Not only is You Tube good for waisting time, it has quality material for wasting time! Not only can we watch Thomas clips and old cartoons and T.V. Shows, but I found clips from my favorite musicals today! I watched pieces of Singin' in the Rain and Father Goose and Fiddler on the Roof. It was great! OK Father Goose is not a musical, but still! S was less than impressed and wanted to know why we were not watching Thomas, but he did like the Singin' in the Rain piece, "Make 'em laugh" with Donald O'Connor. The kid does have some taste.
The kids were just so cute today that I couldn't resist doing a quick up date. We have a big double stroller with baskets underneath. A while back we figured out that in a pinch S can sit underneath when he is too tired to walk. This has come in very hand since we no longer have a front pack to carry one of the twins in. So today while S was waiting for me to get the twins ready to go out and run errands he fell asleep sitting in the bottom basket, it was too cute. I got him up and in bed for a nap. An hour later he woke up, but then climbed back into one of the seats of stroller and took another nap. I leaned it back so it would recline. Guess it is his equivalent to falling asleep in the car.
The other cute thing today was Y is starting to walk more and of course we are so excited! I held his hand today twice and he was able to make it down the hall. Of course I know this means more work soon, but it is so much fun to watch! Mr. Turtle also got a bath today. For those of you not acquainted, Mr. Turtle is Y's best friend. He is actually a plush dog toy and was given to us as a gift, one for each of the kids. We lost number one and fortunately M doesn't care, but Y loves Mr. Turtle and to be separated from him while he got a bath was a very big deal. However, not only was Mr. Turtle about three shades too dark, Y put him in the toilet which had not been flushed! Yuck! So along with all the kids Mr. Turtle also got a bath. We noticed that he is going to have be mended too. I am considering finding out where he originated from and perhaps purchasing a back up in case this one doesn't make it.
M is just her cute little usual self and it is fun watching her since she is just such a girl! She has such a great smile and loves to just sit and watch and clap and play with her big bird. Our tub is two tiered here and so after we had emptied the water and she was waiting for her turn to get out she discovered that she could go up and down. Very exciting for her.
Today I also made another internet discovery. Not only is You Tube good for waisting time, it has quality material for wasting time! Not only can we watch Thomas clips and old cartoons and T.V. Shows, but I found clips from my favorite musicals today! I watched pieces of Singin' in the Rain and Father Goose and Fiddler on the Roof. It was great! OK Father Goose is not a musical, but still! S was less than impressed and wanted to know why we were not watching Thomas, but he did like the Singin' in the Rain piece, "Make 'em laugh" with Donald O'Connor. The kid does have some taste.
Food for thought
Normally I don't give Rosie O'Donnell the time of day in my life, but I was reading Fox news today and curiosity got the better of me. The article was about a photo on her blog of her daughter dressed up as a warfare guerrilla. I of course chalked it up to her being a typical neurotic celebrity seeking attention, but claiming not too. I have very little respect for RO since her stunt in Portland a few years back of trying to get the local radio station to change its name as it was also called Rosie. Can we say, too much time on the hands?! But I went to her blog and started reading a lot of the comments. It was really interesting and people viewed it from all different angles. Some viewed it as I first did, disturbing and horrible. Others saw it for what she claimed it to be, her daughter playing army with her brothers. Some people also saw it as a staged art political comment about how our real kids are dying in the war in Iraq. I decided that some of those other opinions were pretty valid. I found it shocking as we see it in the news here in Israel all too often. Little boys dressed up in guerrilla warfare because that is how they are brought up, that they should want to be a martyr and die in the war against the Jews. But I thought some of her loyal fans made good points. One, that her daughter is playing dress up with her older brothers and people need to get over it. Two, that it is a private blog and the media is just making too much of it. And finally that there are real men, women and children dying over there everyday and not one of them has drawn this much media attention. To me that is really sad. Why does the news make such a big deal over Paris Hilton and how Rosie O'Donells kids are dressed, but not over all the people dying in an actual war.
The other thing that impressed me about RO is that she has a non-profit that is for kids in the U.S. That in itself is not such a big deal, but it is the fact that she points out that 1 in 5 kids in America live in poverty. It has always bothered me to see such huge campaigns for all the starving kids in (insert country here) but have very little information on the large number of kids that are living in deplorable conditions in America, the land of the free and "rich." It is not that kids all over the world do not need help and indeed it is horrible that kids in China and India are working in sweatshops from a very small age, but I also feel it is important to take care of the those in your own house first. Imagine as parents that in our quest to teach children the importance of feeding the homeless our own children went hungry. We would never allow that. And I feel that aid to other countries is very similar we must be sure that things in all areas are right in our house before we can take care of others. This could be said of any country.
The other thing that impressed me about RO is that she has a non-profit that is for kids in the U.S. That in itself is not such a big deal, but it is the fact that she points out that 1 in 5 kids in America live in poverty. It has always bothered me to see such huge campaigns for all the starving kids in (insert country here) but have very little information on the large number of kids that are living in deplorable conditions in America, the land of the free and "rich." It is not that kids all over the world do not need help and indeed it is horrible that kids in China and India are working in sweatshops from a very small age, but I also feel it is important to take care of the those in your own house first. Imagine as parents that in our quest to teach children the importance of feeding the homeless our own children went hungry. We would never allow that. And I feel that aid to other countries is very similar we must be sure that things in all areas are right in our house before we can take care of others. This could be said of any country.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
History and people
Usually my news consist of four sources. Katu news in Oregon so I know whats up in my home town, Yahoo news as I log in to check my e-mail, Israel National news so I know what is happening here, although it mostly political news and my husband, sometimes reliable in passing it on sometimes not, but always informative when it comes. Lately I have started reading Fox News on a regular basis. David has been reading for years so I would glance at it every now and then but recently I have decided it gives the best news for whats happening globally. We support Fox new as we feel it is one of the more pro-Israel news sites out there. I am a bit slow, but I recently figured out that they categorize all the news. Not just local, global, etc. But for example "Crimes" is broken down into most recent crimes, sex crimes, murder and so on. I started reading it then found it to be most depressing as there too many listed that involved families. However, last night as we were unwinding from Amalia's wedding, I discovered that they list all the recent archeology discoveries too. It is so cool! Some of them I knew about already, but some I had not. I could have spent all night on there reading about all different discoveries. I love archeology. For a while I think I wanted to be an archaeologist, probably during the Indian Jones phase. I mean really, who didn't!? I have seen these adds to volunteer on digs, always think it would be fascinating. My husband thinks I am nuts. Why would I want to sit in miserable conditions, sifting through dirt when I probably won't find anything anyway. But I think it would cool. My aunt did one years ago and I think that is awesome! I found that organization that we came to Israel with had an event where people got to do just that. I want to contact them and find out if they are going to organize another one.
The other thing I found was a website called Find a grave.com I found it on Wikipedia when I was looking up information on Katherine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. If you have not been to Wikipedia you should check it out. You can truly look up anything and since it is created by the public for the public if you find incorrect information on there you can edit it. Anyway, so while I was on there I found the Find a grave web site. It started out to be for famous people, but the person who started it opened up to all people as a genealogy tool. It was late and I did not have time to look at it as a genealogy tool, another hobby I have which is currently on hold. However, I looked up actresses out of curiosity and it was cool. They listed factoids about them and if it was available cause of death and where they are buried. It had people from all over the world. I really want to use it as a genealogy tool as I started my dad's family years ago and really did well on my grandmother's side, but everyone else is been a bit harder. I would also like to do my husband's family. Our past is so much about where we came from that I think it is great that more people are making tools available. As our older relatives pass on we lose part of our history unless we can get it down on paper.
Both hobbies are about people's lives and how they lived. One is more personal as they are my ancestors and the other is about people's lives I am not directly related to but helped shape the world I live in now.
The other thing I found was a website called Find a grave.com I found it on Wikipedia when I was looking up information on Katherine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. If you have not been to Wikipedia you should check it out. You can truly look up anything and since it is created by the public for the public if you find incorrect information on there you can edit it. Anyway, so while I was on there I found the Find a grave web site. It started out to be for famous people, but the person who started it opened up to all people as a genealogy tool. It was late and I did not have time to look at it as a genealogy tool, another hobby I have which is currently on hold. However, I looked up actresses out of curiosity and it was cool. They listed factoids about them and if it was available cause of death and where they are buried. It had people from all over the world. I really want to use it as a genealogy tool as I started my dad's family years ago and really did well on my grandmother's side, but everyone else is been a bit harder. I would also like to do my husband's family. Our past is so much about where we came from that I think it is great that more people are making tools available. As our older relatives pass on we lose part of our history unless we can get it down on paper.
Both hobbies are about people's lives and how they lived. One is more personal as they are my ancestors and the other is about people's lives I am not directly related to but helped shape the world I live in now.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
What we have been up to
After a week of being sick I finally managed to get the kids out for some activities in the afternoon. We have been to Malka Mall, which has air conditioning, free play areas and a petting zoo. We did not go in, we just looked at the rabbits and birds. We also made it to a couple of parks. A great trick that I have learned from my mom is to take the kids on a bus to a new park. It is cheap and the kids think we have had a huge adventure. Thursday was a big day we finally, please G-d, got the kids registered as American Citizens and applied for their passports. It was a huge mess and suffice to say that if the U.S. government would quit giving money to terrorists and re-organize their staffing situation there it would be a lot more efficient! However, we went with another couple and while we were able to get everything done, the husband of the other couple had to come back the next day. The fate of many of the people there. So I should not be complaining too loudly.
The other exciting thing about Thurs. is that I got to leave the house with no kids for 4 whole hours by myself! I went in search of a wedding outfit for a wedding we are going to tonight. No such luck. Actually I went to what is called a gamach where you can rent fancy outfits for just such an occasion and then return it. You pay a deposit and then get it back when the dress comes back. I only went there as the bride and crew were going to be there. Great dresses, however, nothing suitable for nursing. But the great thing is I got to socialize with out my kids! Then I went up to the Shuk and bought all our veggies for the week. I know, I know, I get free time and what do I do? Go grocery shopping. But hey, it was still exciting!
Truthfully our new family anthem should be G-d Bless Av! She is the sister of the bride to be and is the daughter/niece of friends of ours from Seattle and Portland. Av lives in the area and comes over at least once a week, usually more, to help out and just hang out. So it was Av and her brother who rescued me on Thurs. so I could go out. The kids are great for her and she said her and her brother were able to hang out. She made them dinner, cleaned up afterwards, and got everyone ready for bed. Now in truth we have hosted Av for many a Friday dinner since we have been in the country, but what she does for us far out weighs a few Shabbat weekends. We really enjoy having Av around and she likes being here so it is great for everyone.
In kid news, Y and M both have 8 teeth each. I think Y is getting more but we will see. Also, Y has taken his first steps! We have all witnessed it now, although of course I was the last one to catch him in the act. So I expect he will be up and running soon. He can also climb up the foot stool now and play in the kitchen sink or grab things off the counter. I will have to start making sure the foot stool gets put back when we are done with it. Y also points when he wants something. On Friday night he was playing the drop game with S. He would drop his turtle from the crib and have S get it. When S would not get it, he would point and cry. It was really cute. S is getting big and seems to be on another growth spurt. He is also getting smarter by the minute! He is great at identifying tractors, helicopters and other vehicles. He also loves, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy and Fog Horn Leg Horn. We have discovered this thanks to You Tube and a search for various cartoons. M has become Princess Puff Puff, D came up with it, but it really suits as she has this straight hair that always stands up. It is really cute. Also, I have given up with initials. M is making her own progress, and is interested in the foot stool but is not really ready to climb it. When we were at the park she did explore and liked going down the slide, but she is much more cautious than the boys. She takes after her mommy.
I am in the process of trying to get the twins to give up nursing, but we are going very slowly. I need to get juice concentrate so I can encourage them to drink more. They get tired of water, but in this heat the kids all need to drink more. Although I am probably cursing myself, dare I say it, M is sleeping through the night! It seems that if we put her to bed late enough she does sleep through the night! Hurray! Now if Y would even cut back, I could be half way sane again!
As for us, the grown-ups, we are fine and just moving along. We are still debating where to move and what to do. We have a little less than two months and we still have more questions than answers. I really don't want to have to move again if we can help it so we are now looking into school options, Gans, location in relation to what we will be doing in 2, 5, 10 years, etc. Because David's line of work is not a conventional job and it is more about achieving more knowledge and where that will take him in the next few years, it is a little more tricky to envision. So we are going from the angle of where we want the kids in school, what kind of neighborhood we want to be in and how close the area is in relation to the rest of Jerusalem. We know that our lives will probably be centered here in Jerusalem for a while so we have to decide do want to live in a suburb and commute in or live directly in the city and which allows for more options for the kids, etc. We both agree that we would rather raise our kids outside the city if possible. I am also concerned that since we have moved here the kids noses have not stopped running, which makes me think allergies to the environment, there is little chance of having a yard here, and no option for a house, and I still say it is dirty and smells funny! Not all areas are like that but enough. It is a big city, it has noise and pollution and it is not always pleasant. On the upside, the school options are huge and we have a lot more help with the kids thanks to all of our friends who live near by. We also have more neighborhood options and we will always be closer to where ever D is working. I do also like the closeness of a lot more activities, more parks, the malls, zoo, etc. So we are weighing the pros and cons and hopefully we will have some place by the time our apt. contract is up here. Or like our friend pointed out we will be living our tents and camping until we do! (Not really!)
The other exciting thing about Thurs. is that I got to leave the house with no kids for 4 whole hours by myself! I went in search of a wedding outfit for a wedding we are going to tonight. No such luck. Actually I went to what is called a gamach where you can rent fancy outfits for just such an occasion and then return it. You pay a deposit and then get it back when the dress comes back. I only went there as the bride and crew were going to be there. Great dresses, however, nothing suitable for nursing. But the great thing is I got to socialize with out my kids! Then I went up to the Shuk and bought all our veggies for the week. I know, I know, I get free time and what do I do? Go grocery shopping. But hey, it was still exciting!
Truthfully our new family anthem should be G-d Bless Av! She is the sister of the bride to be and is the daughter/niece of friends of ours from Seattle and Portland. Av lives in the area and comes over at least once a week, usually more, to help out and just hang out. So it was Av and her brother who rescued me on Thurs. so I could go out. The kids are great for her and she said her and her brother were able to hang out. She made them dinner, cleaned up afterwards, and got everyone ready for bed. Now in truth we have hosted Av for many a Friday dinner since we have been in the country, but what she does for us far out weighs a few Shabbat weekends. We really enjoy having Av around and she likes being here so it is great for everyone.
In kid news, Y and M both have 8 teeth each. I think Y is getting more but we will see. Also, Y has taken his first steps! We have all witnessed it now, although of course I was the last one to catch him in the act. So I expect he will be up and running soon. He can also climb up the foot stool now and play in the kitchen sink or grab things off the counter. I will have to start making sure the foot stool gets put back when we are done with it. Y also points when he wants something. On Friday night he was playing the drop game with S. He would drop his turtle from the crib and have S get it. When S would not get it, he would point and cry. It was really cute. S is getting big and seems to be on another growth spurt. He is also getting smarter by the minute! He is great at identifying tractors, helicopters and other vehicles. He also loves, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy and Fog Horn Leg Horn. We have discovered this thanks to You Tube and a search for various cartoons. M has become Princess Puff Puff, D came up with it, but it really suits as she has this straight hair that always stands up. It is really cute. Also, I have given up with initials. M is making her own progress, and is interested in the foot stool but is not really ready to climb it. When we were at the park she did explore and liked going down the slide, but she is much more cautious than the boys. She takes after her mommy.
I am in the process of trying to get the twins to give up nursing, but we are going very slowly. I need to get juice concentrate so I can encourage them to drink more. They get tired of water, but in this heat the kids all need to drink more. Although I am probably cursing myself, dare I say it, M is sleeping through the night! It seems that if we put her to bed late enough she does sleep through the night! Hurray! Now if Y would even cut back, I could be half way sane again!
As for us, the grown-ups, we are fine and just moving along. We are still debating where to move and what to do. We have a little less than two months and we still have more questions than answers. I really don't want to have to move again if we can help it so we are now looking into school options, Gans, location in relation to what we will be doing in 2, 5, 10 years, etc. Because David's line of work is not a conventional job and it is more about achieving more knowledge and where that will take him in the next few years, it is a little more tricky to envision. So we are going from the angle of where we want the kids in school, what kind of neighborhood we want to be in and how close the area is in relation to the rest of Jerusalem. We know that our lives will probably be centered here in Jerusalem for a while so we have to decide do want to live in a suburb and commute in or live directly in the city and which allows for more options for the kids, etc. We both agree that we would rather raise our kids outside the city if possible. I am also concerned that since we have moved here the kids noses have not stopped running, which makes me think allergies to the environment, there is little chance of having a yard here, and no option for a house, and I still say it is dirty and smells funny! Not all areas are like that but enough. It is a big city, it has noise and pollution and it is not always pleasant. On the upside, the school options are huge and we have a lot more help with the kids thanks to all of our friends who live near by. We also have more neighborhood options and we will always be closer to where ever D is working. I do also like the closeness of a lot more activities, more parks, the malls, zoo, etc. So we are weighing the pros and cons and hopefully we will have some place by the time our apt. contract is up here. Or like our friend pointed out we will be living our tents and camping until we do! (Not really!)
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