Late Breaking News

I did send an e-mail, however, for those of you who read one but not the other, or for those e-mail accounts I lost last year when my mail was hacked I am doing a repeat.

Yes, there is a war going on here. Yes, we are fine. No, we are not affected. Think 9/11/2001. If you weren't living in New York and did not know anyone living there, other than shock value you were not personally affected. I mean yes, we as a people were saddened and hurt and shocked and so on, but our daily routine was not interupted except maybe that first day. Same thing here. And our routine has not been disrupted at all. In fact because our computer is on the fritz and I am rarely on it, I keep forgetting there is a war going on down there. Today I actually took the time to read the news for myself instead of asking my husband. Anyone who wants to follow the Israeli side of the story can look up Jpost.com which is the Jerusalem Post or IsraelNationalNews.com otherwise known as Arutz Sheva. Both excellent web sites with up to the minute information. You will probably know more than me.

My week on the other hand has gone something like this..............We will start with last Thurs. first real rain storm, great stuck walking home in the rain with 3 kids.........Friday......company for Shabbat, actually that was great we had help, but still busy. Saturday, oldest kid down with fever and flu all day long........Sunday, spouse and oldest child sick, other two just runny noses.....Monday, Oldest has major cough, husband still sick, youngest has fever and flu....Tuesday at 3:00am........All three kids awake and crying because they are sick, oldest and youngest have major cough and middle child has fever and flu. Husband well enough to go into Kollel. Great, now I am stuck with 3 sick kids and a million barfy blankets to wash..........

So in all honesty, you want to worry about something, forget the war, just say a little pray for my sanity and maybe a laundry fairy to wash all the barfy blankets. Did I mention that our middle child puked all over our good down comforter this morning? Nothing says I love you like your child barfing all over your bed!

Wishing you all a happy and healthy season.

Signed,

The Crazy Lady

And what have you been eating today?

I bet it is a lot less interesting than what Y ate today. D was home sick today, in fact we are all fighting colds, but that is not the point. I was in checking on D when Y came into the bedroom covered in black hands and a big smear on his face. The obvious question comes out of my mouth which is,"Y, what have you been into?" The obvious answer, "Nothing" Yeah sure right.............So we try again, question repeated. Answer this time, " Cookies." Me, "We don't have cookies... Were you in the oven?" "No" comes the reply of my two year old. By this time I am pretty convinced that this is where he has been. When I make bread I burn a small ball of it. This is to replicate the part that women used to give to the Jewish Priests in the days of the temple. I usually leave it in there for a couple of weeks and then take them out. The kids are convinced that if they bite them enough the will eventually taste like a treat. One more time I ask, " Have you been in the oven?" Again the reply is "No." "OK so what cookies are you eating?" I ask. The response, "Abba Cookies!" Oh great we think, what are Abba cookies? So I finally go out front to find out just what he has been into. It would seem that Abba cookies are Charcoal Birquettes...........Fortunately there does not seem to be a mess. But these things can often be misleading.

Oh and late breaking news......Y has just informed us that Giraffes eat lions and bees. Apparantely Y is not the only with an interesting appetite.

What I have learned from my kids......

As D and I have gone down the merry path of parenthood I have learned a few things that never entered my mind. Here is a brief list:

1) Don't tell your kids it can't be done. They will find away or make you do it.
Particularly when it comes to things like putting tights OVER the pants of a two year old girl..........Yes, this can be done. It is not pretty, but it can be done.

2) Don't under estimate their imagination. S owns a plane, a car and was a fire fighter with his younger brother when he was a grown up. Just like his abba. He has also informed us that not only was there a battle between David and Goliath, but did you know that Varn the Giant was also involved in that famous battle. We have yet find any firm evidence corroborating that story, but S is pretty sure of himself.

3) We have looked up countless animals just to see what they eat. Have you ever thought about what a Rhinoceros, an Ostrich or a Wombat eat? And apparantly according to Y, Lions eat chicken. In fact just about every animal out there eats chicken.........

4) I realized that I DO know how to draw train tracks with side walk chalk on our mirpeset(Balcony).

5) Ketchup on bread is considered an edible and tasty form of sandwich if you are 5 and under.

6) If Eema leaves the house and you are stuck with Abba, there is nothing left to do but sleep so that you will be wide awake and whiny and hungry just about the time that Eema walks through the door.

7) 5:45 AM is an acceptable time for breakfast for morning people.............

I know there are more, but these are our current lessons learned. And we thought we were smart, but having kids changes the grading curve!

It's 10:00AM, Do you know where your kid is?

Mine was apparently at home. In the morning D takes S by bike to school. He drops him off at the top of hill and he walks the rest of the way. This is maybe a 5 minute walk, even for an almost 5 year old. This morning was no different. Everything went smooth, dressed, breakfast and all on time. He is getting a cold so there was a momentary protest of not going to school, but after a promise of a new movie after a successful day at school all was well. Or so I thought.........D and S left at 8:45 AM and here I am merrily chatting away with my sister on the phone. She is by a nature a night owl which makes mid-morning a great time to chat for both of us. So it is 10:00 AM and I can hear the phone line sizzling we have been at so long; when the front door opens. I am thinking it is one of the twins playing with the door when all of a sudden, who should appear but my darling oldest who is supposed well entrenched in the riggers of school by this time. Mind you this is the kid who hates walking home every day after school with me. But he managed to walk all that way home by himself, being sick instead of sticking out and waiting for me and a chance at taking the bus, although slim to none. So he is now in bed and quarantined for the rest of the day with no hope of parole until tomorrow when he will go to school unless I seem something more serious than a cough. Yes, he does have a little cold, but we have it on good authority that he can still go to school like that and survive. We have also been told that he is behind because of his attendance for missing school for things like this. So we are being more strict in this department. D has been for it all along, but I have been slow in getting on board with it. So, hopefully our little delinquent has learned his lesson and so have we. From now on he gets front door service to school, but I am going to have him start meeting me half way now instead of getting him right from school. If he can walk home sick, then he can make it when he is healthy and then I don't have to cart 50+ extra lbs. up the hill in a stroller.
So do you know where your kid is? We all think we do don't we...............

Family and the Holidays

The past month we have spent celebrating the Jewish New Year, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah. It starts with the celebration of the mark of a new year and a time of self evaluation and asking forgiveness from those around for any harm or bad feelings we may have caused. Yom Kippur is the day of Judgement when G-d decides the fate of all the people of the world and who will be inscribed in the book of life and who will die, and also how each person's life will be shaped. How many blessings and curses will each person receive, illness or health, money or poverty and so on. Then we have Sukkot which in Christian Terminology is known as the week of Booths. We put up a little house outside on our deck and sleep in it for a week and basically live there. All meals are eaten outside and we try to spend as much time as possible out there. The week is ended with Simchat Torah where we finish reading the end of the Torah and begin again. It is about a month of self reflection, eating big meals, with a fast day for Yom Kippur and trying to think about how we want to better ourselves and celebrating our Jewish heritage. It is always an amazing time and a lot of fun.

This year was particularly great because we spent Rosh Hashana in Jerusalem and had a really nice time seeing a lot of friends that we don't see often now that we are in Beitar. But also because and this is the best part of all, my mom and aunt came for two full weeks and were here for Sukkot and the week after. I have not seen my mom and aunt in nearly two years and it is 3&1/2 for the rest of the crew save my in-laws who trek out twice a year.

It was so much fun having them here. Not just for my own selfish reasons which is that I miss them like crazy, but even more so because the kids are now old enough to really see them and remember them. The twins were just 9mo. old when they came last and now they are nearly 2&1/2. S was only 3 and now is nearly 5 and got to see them in a different light too. Seeing the way they interacted with the kids reminded me of when I was a kid and that was fun too. My aunt always had goodies for us as kids and spent hours reading and playing with us. It was so much fun to see the kids do the same and of course now my mom gets to join in too and I got a very nice break. I even got help with kitchen and laundry duty and a few other things as well. Hallelujah! We also got to do some really cool things as well.

The first week we spent up North touring around. The highlights were Nimrod's fortress, the Temple of Pan, a really neat wildlife preserve and a visit to Tsfat. To sum up Nimrod was a descendant of Noah and built the Tower of Babel. The fortress sits up on a hill and from there both the borders of Lebanon and Syria can be viewed. It is really a breathtaking sight. The temple of Pan is a Roman sight where they worshiped their idols during the time of Roman occupation. It is a huge area and we only saw a tiny spot because as usual we ran out of time..........The wildlife preserve was also near our Northern borders in the Chula Valley and amongst the many critters are birds who come to migrate maybe two weeks out the year there and we got to see them come in. Nice day. And Tsfat is considered one of the most religious spots in Israel and is also quite historic with some synagouges dating back to about the 14th century. This city also housed t he headquarters for the Palmach group in the 40's which was an underground group that helped defend Israel. This is just a tiny idea about what the city is, but it is one of our favorite places and it was fun to be able to share. The following week we spent in Jerusalem. Trips included the zoo, the Old City and trip to Brooklyn Bakery in Geula, a religious neighborhood in Jerusalem with some of the best goodies in the country.

Suffice to say we ate really well for two weeks straight and we are all just a tad bit spoiled. But we are adjusting to life as mere mortals again! :) There is so much to say about this visit, a blog can't do it justice, but of the things that stand out here are some highlights and quotes. The trips were amazing, but for me having my mom and aunt there to share my birthday was about tops. My mom and D went nuts on the dessert and we had cheesecake and cream puffs and my mom made my birthday lunch. It was really cool.

For the kids it was probably the trip to the zoo. It took the four of us adults to keep up with the three of them! The kids loved showing the grands around and getting help from them at the petting zoo and we adults learned some neat things too. For instance, did you know that when a male tortoise is so inspired he can make noise? I am not kidding we actually witnessed this and we were laughing. They had quite an audience as this is something not witnessed every day. We also saw a very twitterpated male kangaroo chasing his mate.

But my favorite quote of all time came from S. This is a line only family will truly understand, "Can I stop smiling yet?" This came in the first week when we were up North at Nimrod's fortress as S posed for yet another photo opp! I think my sister and I used to ask the same question as kids, if not we were thinking it! My mom and aunt are notorious for the copius amounts of photos they take. Especially now in the age of digital where you can discard and re-take on the spot. But I am so glad that they do as it ensures that the rest of us get them too! But it really made me laugh! However, my mom now understands why " I can't just take one photo of all three kids "looking normal!" Two weeks of straight trying and I don't think she was succesful once!

The two weeks were amazing and went by all too fast. Now on Sunday my in-laws will be here for 8 days for their regularly scheduled fall trip. It is nice for the kids to have everyone here all at once and we are looking forward to it as well. It makes us feel not so far from home if we get to see everyone all at once.

That's it for now, will try to update again after all the family leaves.

My Funny For the Week

My mother in law sent this and I must admit that D and I got a good laugh out of it! So to all my friends who are over 30 enjoy the laugh and to those of you under 30 appreciate what you've got!

THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears
With their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When
they were growing up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school
every morning

... Uphill... barefoot.

BOTH ways

Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up,
There was no way in hell I was going to lay

A bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it

And how easy they've got it!

But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of
Thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of
today.

You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my
Childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it but you kids today you
Don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we
wanted to know something, We had to go to the damn library and
Look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write
; Somebody a letter, with a pen!

...Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put
it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to
Steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and
shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and
the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!


We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you
Were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy
signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either!
When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be
your school,
; Your mom, your boss, your Bookie, your drug dealer, a
collections agent, you
Just d idn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your
chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video
Games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600!
With games
Like 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids'. Your guy was a little
square! You
Actually had to use your Imagination!! And there were no
multiple levels or
Screens, it was just one screen
Forever!

And you could never win. The game just kept getting
Harder and harder and
Faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!


You had to use a Little book called a TV Guide to find out what
was
On! You were s crewed when it Came to channel surfing! You had
to get off
Your ass and walk over to the TV to change the Channel and
there was no
Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons
On Saturday Morning. Do you Hear what I'm saying!?! We had to
wait ALL WEEK
For cartoons, you spoiled
Little bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat
Something up we had to use the stove ... Imagine that!

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids
Today have got it too easy.
You 're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted
Five minutes back in 1980!

Re gards,
The over 30 Crowd

(Send this to someone you'd like to make smile,
Whether they are under 30 or not.)

Fox News Article

On October 5th Fox News on-line printed the following story about Modesty Patrols in Israel.

JERUSALEM — In Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, where the rule of law sometimes takes a back seat to the rule of God, zealots are on a campaign to stamp out behavior they consider unchaste.

They hurl stones at women for such "sins" as wearing a red blouse and attack stores selling devices that can access the Internet.

In recent weeks, self-styled "modesty patrols" have been accused of breaking into the apartment of a Jerusalem woman and beating her for allegedly consorting with men. They have torched a store that sells MP4 players, fearing devout Jews would use them to download pornography.

"These breaches of purity and modesty endanger our community," said 38-year-old Elchanan Blau, defending the bearded, black-robed zealots. "If it takes fire to get them to stop, then so be it."

Many ultra-Orthodox Jews are dismayed by the violence, but the enforcers often enjoy quiet approval from rabbis eager to protect their own reputations as guardians of the faith, community members say. And while some welcome anything that keeps secular culture out of their cloistered world, others feel terrorized, knowing that the mere perception of impropriety could ruin their lives.

"There are eyes and ears all over the place, very similar to what you hear about in countries like Iran," says Israeli-American novelist Naomi Ragen, an observant Jew who has chronicled the troubles that confront some women living in the ultra-Orthodox world.

The violence has already deepened the antagonism between the 600,000 haredim, or God-fearing, and the secular majority, which resents having religious rules dictated to them.

Religious vigilantes operate in a society that has granted their community influence well beyond its numbers — partly out of a commitment to revive the great centers of Jewish scholarship destroyed in the Holocaust, but also because the Orthodox are perennial king-makers in Israeli coalition politics.

Thus public transport is grounded for the Jewish Sabbath each Saturday, and the rabbis control all Jewish marriage and divorce in Israel.

In recent years, however, the haredim have eased up on their long campaign to impose their rules on secular areas, and nowadays many restaurants and suburban shopping centers are open on the Sabbath.

These days, most vigilante attacks take place in the zealots' own neighborhoods.

Israel police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the modesty police are not an organized phenomenon, just rogue enforcers carrying out isolated attacks. But Israel's Justice Ministry used the term "modesty patrols" in an indictment against a man accused of assaulting the Jerusalem woman.

The unidentified, 31-year-old woman had left the ultra-Orthodox fold after getting divorced, according to the indictment filed by the Jerusalem district attorney's office. The indictment said her assailant tried to get her to leave her apartment in a haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem by gagging, beating and threatening to kill her. He was paid $2,000 for the attack, it said.

A 17-year-old who moved to Israel from New York five years ago said she was hospitalized after being attacked with pepper spray by a crowd of men outraged that she was walking down a Jerusalem street with boys.

"They can burn in hell," said the girl, who would identify herself only as Rivka.

She lives in Beit Shemesh, a town outside Jerusalem where the vigilantism has been particularly violent. Zealots there have thrown rocks and spat at women, and set fire to trash bins to protest impiety. Walls of the neighborhood are plastered with signs exhorting women to dress modestly — spelled out as closed-necked, long-sleeved blouses and long skirts.

I cannot even begin to describe how many things that are wrong in this story. While the basis for this story is true and I have not doubt that the witnesses are true and that these things did happen, they are isolated inciddents. For Naomi Regan to suggest that living in these neighborhoods is like living in Iran is absurd. The incident that sparked this story happened so long ago, I don't even remember it. I have been to these neighborhoods and I live in one of these neighborhoods. These things that are happening are isolated events. First I will say that I do not condone these happenings or the people who carry them out. Nor do I know anyone who does. That these things happen is an embarrasement to all Jewish people. I understand so much that these people want to preserve a precious way of life, but this is not the way to do it. It only causes harm to our selves and to others. Someone once explained it to me like this; "Imagine you are a settled in wild west and you and your wagon train have been repeatedly attacked by Native Americans. Now it is you and a few small number left of your party from the large number you started with. Now imagine that a Native American is coming toward you, do you invite him in or just kill him on site no questions asked?" That is what these people see themselves as, those last few settlers holding their land. They do not want to invite the Native American in lest he destroy what is left of their party. It does not excuse what these people do, but it does make us understand the intention.

Now, why I am annoyed at Fox News. What irritates me as that A) They make this look like an everyday occurence. I can assure it is not. It is not even weekly. Once again, these are isolated incidences. B) They dug up some story from way back when and then made it look recent, even in the story it says things have changed. Why are they digging up the past then? C) Why the !@#$ can't someone print something good about Israel. Every race, color, religion, social group, etc. and so on.........has its outsiders. Why is it such a shock that they should exist in Israel too?! Why can't they talk to people who stand out against this, I know they are there, just as I am against I know there are many more who feel the same way. Why can't they write about the people who go out of their way to make people who are different feel comfortable. Those who do outreach, those who do amazing acts of kindness no matter what the religious affiliation. Why do they have to dig up the few to make the whole look bad? D) Do they ever mention that in some of these neighborhoods there are signs well marked explaining the rules of dress and behavior. There are many streets in Israel one can go if they do not want to dress in a modest fashion. There is no need to visit these well marked neighborhoods. It is matter of simple respect. No matter where a person goes they should always dress respectfully so as not offend the host. Whether it is someone's home or a large event. In this case, these neighborhoods are their homes and when we enter, we are the guest. It is not so much to ask to respect the host. The other thing that bothers me about this story is the mention that it is the religious who have caused the restriction of travel on Shabbat and the insistance of closed stores and restaraunts. That maybe so, but WE ARE A JEWISH NATION. We are not muslim, or catholic or hindu. Shabbat is a Jewish observance, why wouldn't it stand for these things to be closed. It is a National Law! I believe in religious tolerance for all, but I also believe that people should have religious tolerance for those who choose to practice their faith in a strong and traditional manner too.

No one complains when things are closed in America because it is Sunday and the traditional day of worship. No one writes scathing articles about the religious control in Iran, Iraq or Egypt. For sure there are things that crop up, but everyone just accepts that they are a muslim regime and that is what goes on there, save a few activits for women and childrens' rights. We are the only country in the middle east to allow any and all religions to worshipped freely here. How dare we be compared to Iran. Jews have fled from Iran thanks to religious persecution. But we continue to open our borders to all who come here and allow them to worship freely and again and again we pay for it with the few nuggets of slander the media can muster.

And in the end what really gets me is the fact that in America we preach tolerance and liberalism as the new religion. We must support any and all people despite race, creed, sex, sexual orientation, and so on and so forth. And I do. I have friends of many religions, friends who are straight, who are gay, who are divorced, who are married, or re-married with step kids. Couples who are inter-race, interfaith, and so on. And these are my friends and I love that each person has a right to live their life as they feel they are called to do with out fear of persecution and that there are laws that will protect them if they should come to harm for their beliefs. But what bothers me is that in all this rush to embrace those who are considered, " outsiders, or underdogs, or persecuted, people are no longer allowed to be devout in their faith anymore. Not just religious Jews, but those of any faith. The same people who embrace and rejoice in those living alternative life styles are harshly negative towards someone who is devout in their religious beliefs. I know a story of someone who grew up in a rough neighborhood, it took some time and work, but she and her daughter made it out. She practiced her religion faithfully and got her niece to start going with her to services. This woman was sure her niece would make it out, until the girls parents ridiculed her for going and teasing her. Instead of turning her life around, this young girl wound up pregnant at 16. I am sure her parents were not laughing then. That is a story that happened in modern day America. It may seem an extreme case, but I don't think those stories are uncommon at all. I have heard too many jokes or seen too many eye rolls when someone talks about the person who turned their life around and became religious. Why are we so ready to take on the bold and daring, the cutting edge, but we are so afraid of G-d and religion. I don't think that everyone should got out now and give up their liberal ways and find G-d and practice relgion in the way that my family does. But what I would like to see is that those who are so ready embrace the "alternate" also embrace those who are traditional and are just trying to do the same thing they are, which is to raise their family in the way that they best see fit. Why must it be so important to search deep for the few that are extreme to make sure that the many look bad. Instead of highlighting the good that comes from the many.

Quack! Quack!

Almost everyone who reads this blog knows that I am a Duck! And that I have a whole family of Ducks! Except for my brother-in-law who is a Beaver. We try not to hold it against him since, it is a family thing too. For those of you who are not following, I am referring to Oregon Football. The Ducks being U of Oregon and the Beavers being Oregon State University.

First of all it is now football season and while for the first time in over 15 years I am not following the scores at all............I am rooting for them.

But I must say that it warms the cockles of my little heart to see my little girl walking around with her favorite lovey. Which is a Duck! And although it is not Donald the true UofO mascot, he was purchased in honor of the Alma Matter. She started carrying him around out of the blue this spring. She really does look like her mommy walking around with curls on her head and a duck in her hand! The boys do like Donald Duck but I think it is for the entertainment value more than the Duck! What can I say, it is a genetic thing. We are all Ducks here!

So in honor of football season which has officially started.... GO DUCKS! QUACK QUACK!

I did it!

I finally sent in my cover letter and resume to a company that hires grant writers. It is a bit more detailed than that, but it sums up things in a nutshell. I got the contact through our friend SB who knows him from the Marina. I have no idea if I am really qualified or if I will even if get an interview or a job. But the point is, I finally sent in a letter and resume. I have not applied for a job in 5 & 1/2 years! I have not held a job in about 2&1/2 and barely count the last one since it was for friends and undefined anyway. So to join the rat race of the millions questing for work and trying to seem intelligent after 2. 5 years of my greatest accomplishment being getting S registered for school and other government issues, is pretty scary. I feel very unqualified for anything above McDonald's and truth be told I think that would worry me too.

But on the other hand, I do have experience, she was very up front about my qualifications and my brain atrophy and he was still interested. I am nervous, excited and curious to see what happens. I will keep everyone posted and let you know what happens.

There is lots to report in other news here in the J5 squad, but I am so tired that I am now typing with only one eye open...................guess it will just have to wait for another opportunity.

So much to say so little time................

So for right now I just want to wish my parents a happy 39th wedding anniversary which was on Sept. 7 and a happy birthday to my dad which was yesterday on Sept. 9. They are currently in Tahoe celebrating. My dad as most people know, is not a couch potato and has quite a spirit of adventure. We thought we had seen it all when he did a swan dive off a house boat in Canada and wound up staying two weeks in Kamaloops courtesy of the local hospital. He arrived home with 12 stitches, a pair of crutches and a lot blood from the kind folks who regularly donate their blood to the Red Cross for just such occasions. He now has a nice scar as a souvenir from their trip. He also has a nice copy of the Darwin Award's courtesy of me as a birthday gift. For anyone who does not know what this book is, it is about stupid people doing stupid things, some surviving and some not, but all got caught in the act be it legal or illegal. Now to be sure that was the topper of all war wounds and I hope it continues to be so, but we are now on to the new adventure. So this year as Dad turns 63 he felt the need to get an ATV. Well all the other kids at school had one......so he got one too. It would seem that while he was out having an adventure that he went over a big hill and proceeded to have said ATV run over him. The man is a medical miracle. Not only did he get up and walk away from this, but my mom was the one who had to cart his very sorry behind in to the ER. And his behind is very sorry. It is now apparently quite bruised to put it delicately. We are grateful that is all he had happen and the staff on hand was of coursed shocked that things were not much worse. So Dad, Happy Birthday, we are very happy to be celebrating your 63rd birthday with you even if we can't be there with you. We hope to see you around next year too!

Love, the J5!

Little Things

Living overseas can be a frustrating deal. Particularly with out good language skills. But every now and then we manage to find nuggets of familiarity. A few months ago we switched to cloth diapers for two reasons. One, the obvious to save money. Two, we were seriously hoping to speed up the potty training process. Y seemed so ready and now.......well we seem to be in a holding pattern. So anyway, last night I went to the store to by diaper cream. We usually use a homeopathic ointment, but we are waiting for the arrival of more from the U.S. And as I am perusing the assorted rows of baby "stuff" what should I find, but good old Johnson and Johnson's baby cream. The same stuff my mother used on us 35 years ago. It is a really minor thing, especially if you don't know the joy of trying to find the right thing to work on your kid, but none the less, it is just one thing that reminds that no matter how different things are here, it is nice to find familiarity. And by the way, for those of you who thought you were changing thousands of diapers every year, you would be wrong. According to Y they would be "dunkins." So we now have cloth dunkins and dunkin cream.

From the mouth of our oldest

S: I am fed up
Me: With what?
S: With this this not having a movie business!

This conversation is a result of the fact that I have had my computer off since Sunday as one of the kids climbed onto my bed and fell asleep then mangaed to pee on one of our computer multi-plugs and short everything out in the middle of the night. This managed to blow out the entire circuit breaker through out the houe and we had reset everything one by one before we could figure out what it was. Good thing I have a husband who is good with electronics. The end result is we had to un-plug the multiplug and D had to fix it and I have not wanted to crawl under the bed to plug everything back in on my computer. (I have been using D's computer). So this means no movies for the kids. Although we did dig out the movie player yesterday, but that also has its own issues. Oh the fun never ends!

At least we are back down to three kids again. I never thought a house could seem quiet with ONLY 3 kids in it!

We are in National Geographic

Ok well not us personally. However, if you can stand the nauseating bias of National Geographic's rendition of life in Bethlehem and the "horrible" suffering that arabs endure at the hand of the Israeli's then you can see where we live. In the December 2007 issue of National Geographic there is a story on Bethlehem. How appropriate right? Now the article itself is sooooooo nauseatingly biased I have not even finished it. But in there on page 77 is a picture of Beital Illit. It is taken from section "A" looking into "B". We live in B2, which brand new. But the picutre looks out at the mall we go to and it is basically right across from S's school and our apt. is somewhere at the end of that road. We were cleaning out some stuff to make room for guests and ran across the issue and looked at the story again and D ran acrossed it. I had no idea when I read this article back in December that we would be moving here and so I forgot all about it. So read the article if you must, but then take note at all the bias they write about how the Palestinians endure injustice and then as an after thought rights how the same person was in prison for being a terrorist. Terrorism is almost an after thought to them. But do check out the picture of Beitar and it will give you a sense of where we live.

New Arrival

I am thrilled to announce the new arrival of my nephew. Despite the fact that he was estimated to be quite large and in fact it was discussed about bringing him into the world early, he was 8lbs. 50z. and 21in. long. Which was smaller than his big brother. He was born Aug. 22 at 1:45pm. Originally scheduled for Aug. 18. Mommy and baby are doing well. We are excited that NA will share the same numeric date as the twins. The twins are May 22 while NA will be Aug. 22. My sister and I share the same date of the 20th although different months, so this is kind of cool that cousins do too!

Just checking in

Really this is a note to let you all know we are still here and have not disappeared. The truth is I have wanted to blog so much, but I am always too tired or not inspired or have at least 1 kid breathing down my neck for attention.

So rather than write something inspiring or about politics, which I did write, but then decided to take it down the next day because it sounded very prejudice. This a mere attempt at a 5min run down about what we have been doing for the last month and a half and I will try to throw in a few things about us and the kids too. Of course this is the 3rd time I have edited this in the last hour after I have posted it. So with out further ado here we go......

Dit left on July 16 and we had a relatively quiet 3 weeks, sprinkled with some Shabbos guests. D went on vacation Aug. 1 and although I was not as productive as I wanted to be, I did get some stuff done. Last week, Aug. 10 was S's first week of vacation and we had one of his friends from Jerusalem stay with us from Tues.-Sun. I would love to expand on this, but it will have to wait. Suffice to say that this was our first experience at having someone's little kid stay with us over night with out parents period, so to jump in for a week was an experience, but actually went pretty well. It was also S's first sleep over with a friend another thing I could expand on but will take too long. This week and next week we are having a15 yr. stay with us. We are friends with his family who live in Portland. Next week we will be hosting S's friend from Jerusalem again and we will have his 13 year old brother as well. Their baby sister is in the hospital and the parents needed some space to take care of her and things related. The kids all get along well so it should be fine and with 2 big boys here it means they can take the kids to the park. The week after next school starts again on Sept. 1 and S will be in kindergarten! So many thoughts in my head, but so little time. Also in the works for future plans are a nephew who should be making an appearance into the world sometime Friday in Portland, Or. and my mom and aunt will arrive here Oct. 14 for a two week visit! Then after that we have our regularly scheduled fall visit from Grammy and Grandpa J. In between that we will be starting high holidays Sept. 30 and then finishing on Oct. 22ish. Soooo if you don't here from us for a while you will know why.

Now here are some fun facts about us and what the kids are doing and things I have learned.

1) The kids will eat anything with ketchup on it. This is ranks up there with peanut butter. The kids eat it as sandwiches, on cucumbers, carrots and will eat plain if given the chance.

2) Y is the worlds pickiest dresser at 2! He will actually refuse to wear a large portion of his shorts and t-shirts because he doesn't like them! He cries and then strips! This makes me cry!

3) Kids are like plants, add water and food and a bit of sunshine and they grow like crazy! S is going to need his third pair of shoes for the summer! M is also moving right along!

4) It really is the little things that count. I can spend somewhere between 1.00-2.00 total for my kids on bubbles, or a cheap kite and they are as excited as if I spent a million.

5) Getting everyone a Popsicle after school on a hot day for a total of $1.15 is considered a real treat and a picnic because we ate them outside in the courtyard of the mall. Again it is the little things.

6) That it is possible to go through 2 liters of cooking oil, approx. 4 &1/2 lbs. of oatmeal and approx. 12lbs. of flour in a week and half if you feed enough people.

7) What I learned about myself is that I love being around music and that if I am in a stressed out mood it can really calm me down. It was kind of a duh...moment.

8) And finally that technology is something so cool yet, we take for granted so much. I was the first one to hear that one of my best girlfriends was 4mo. pregnant, a pleasant shock for her and her husband. She lives in Portland and even though I live in Israel she could reach me by phone, but not her husband because he was in Estacada with no cell phone coverage. Now how do you like that? And despite the fact that I live a world away from everyone, I am update on everyone's comings and goings and thanks to e-mail I am even re-connecting with some of my friends in a way that I have not in years.

OK my five minutes are beyond up so I am signing off with the hopes that there will be more to come!

Peanut, Peanut Butter!

Well after two attempts at making our own peanut butter we have given up and have decide to go back to the store brand. The first problem is that our grinder is not so great and now is just died so instead of getting the oil out of the peanuts we have to add oil, which means sometimes we are stuck adding oils we buy on sale instead of the good ones I prefer. We also have to add sugar which again makes it of less quality than the store bought all natural peanut butter. The store bought stuff has no sugar. The first batch the kids loved, because we add a lot of sugar and extra oil. This batch we tried on S who came home with a full sandwich and when I asked what he did not like about it, he said, " the peanut butter is yucky!" So we win some and we lose some. The other thing is that it does not save us the money we first thought. So until we get a better grinder, its back to the store for the peanut butter.

The kids in general

I have not done an update on the kids in a while and thought this would do nicely.

We are all fine and dandy here. Our little brood are all sprouting as fast as they can and we are in a race to keep them in shoes and clothes. S is darn close to reaching my chest and M is only about a head and bit shorter than him, with Y a little shorter than M. Fortunately we have all of S's stuff for Y and M is doing OK too thanks to a variety of sources. They are really showing their personalities these days and Y is getting
very verbal and really forming sentences. Today Y made his first joke. We were at the park and he comes over and says doggie. And I say where? I did not see or hear one. And he says, "M doggie" and points at her. And M was crawling in the play structure on her hands and knees. It was too cute. M is working on her
ABC's and counting. M is a total princess, but a tom-boy at the same time and by far more revolting than the boys as far as mud, bugs and filth. My friend said her daughter was the same way. More so than her son. Y I think will also be potty trained by the end of the summer. I am hoping this will inspire M too.

S is a giant and is one of the tallest in his class despite being the
youngest. He went on his first field trip on Sunday to a farm and to
ride a horse! Wish we could have seen it. He had a great time seeing
baby goats and baby chickens and dogs too. His Hebrew is making great
process and his teacher is thrilled and always has great things to say
about him.

What we have noticed about all three of them is that they love to sing. Mand Y are trying to do ABC which they get from hearing S sing it on the phone with Grammy J. And S loves to write and sing his own tunes about trains or whatever is going on that day. The twins are also majorly particular about what they will wear and if they don't like it, forget it. So that is a bit challenging. S does that sometimes, but is still pretty laid back about it. Phew!

Off to get S from school.

The First Field Trip

S had his first field trip today. He went to farm about 15min. drive up the road. We were both a bit nervous and he wanted me to come with him when I first told him about it. This morning was also a bit of struggle to get him out the door, but in the end he had a great time. I knew he would, or course since he loves animals. It was really a little hard for me. I forgot his sunscreen and I don't have a hat for him, believe it or not.....although in our book not a big deal, but it made wonder what else I might have forgotten.....and of course I was worried he would not have enought to eat or whatever. But I knew he would be fine, it is just a big step. It sounds silly but it is yet another milestone in his life and ours. It means that he is big enough to be some where with out his parents and be with a group of kids and hang out with his friends and be OK. Of course his teachers were there, but it is still big. He did indeed have a great time and his favorite was the baby goat and his mommy. They also got to ride a horse and they saw lots of baby chick chicks and their Eemas and a rooster and they saw a chicken lay an egg apparantly! It was so sweet to hear him talk about it. But I have realized one thing, we have become Those parents. Everyone has a spot where they are THOSE parents. We have many of those. However, in this case, it is the meal plan. Everyday the kids get sent to school with a lunch consisting of sandwhich and fruit. Today they were allowed to bring snacks. So instead of packing a standard lunch of sandwhich with store bought bread and substance in side and fruit and store bought chips, pretzels or mystery snack with names like Bisli and Bamba, guess what we packed? A peanut butter sandwhich on homemade bread with homemade peanut butter and organic date honey, a homemade cupcake with no frosting, an apple, a plum and popcorn that I sprinkled with a little cinnamon and sugar. And what is great is that he actually likes everything. Although he is not a big popcorn eater. That he gets from his father. On the one hand it saves money something everyone can relate to and on the other hand it is just simply that our kid has behavioral issues when fed too many additives, preservatives and sugar. His teachers love him, he has friends, we want to keep it that way! However, I have decided that in the future, budget permitting, it probably would not hurt to send him with one speacial treat. After all field trips do not happen everyday. And the truth is, moderation in all things, if we let him have things on special occastions or when he gets treats in Gan, then he doesnn't think that he is missing anything.

Cosmic Destiny

I have a confession to make. I love Nora Roberts books. Yes, I know they are romance novels with a very predictable ending. However, I am not the only one as the woman has quite a following and a rather large fan club. She writes under at least one other name and her books actually have some substance to them as well. These are not helpless wimpy woman, they have careers, are well adjusted or not, think for themselves and in general have strong character straits. Same with the guys. OK some of it is the traditional love at first sight romance hoakiness, but then it would not be a romance novel those things were not included. NR has a tradition of writing trilogies, that start in some far gone time, or dimension or both and then brings it into the modern day with how the ancestors are destined to fight the good fight between good and evil. And of course since they are romance novels it is three guys and three girls who inexplicably wind up together by, "fate" and realize it is up to them to save the world or the town, or whatever the case may be. They are entertaining and while predictable have a decent script and some suspense too. A nice quick escape into la-la land and away from motherhood responsibilities.

But it makes me think about what if there is a cosmic destinty? For everyone or just the select few. In these books, the main characters are of course singled out to fufill their destiny while most of the other characters are supporting roles or just fillers. Are we destined to fullfill some cosmic role? Or by having kids will they some day fill some important role that we have no idea about? There is an e-mail that I am sure you have all seen about how people come into our lives for a reason or a season or a lifetime, etc. What if it really is not coincidence, but for a reason. We keep in touch with people we never would have expected to, but lose touch with people we thought we would always have a connection with. It can always be explained by lack of common ground or a falling out, or simply people change. But is it really so simple. What if we stayed in touch with someone who blocked us from becoming who we were meant to be by choosing another path? On the other hand what if the people we stay in touch with by e-mail and only talk to once a year, will have a greater impact on our lives than we realize. Or what if we will impact some one else's life more than we will ever realize. There are examples of this through out history, Vangoh, was never a recognized artist till after his death, Einstiens parents were told he was in idiot I believe, and would never amount to anything. He could not even tie his shoes. I suppose we all wonder what our place is in the world from time to time. Just reading the books puts more a supernatural twist on things.

There are stories about past life experiences and re-incanation. Is this everyone and only some people catch it, or only a few tapped for such a paranormal existance.

Just a random musing. Would love to hear what other people think.

Its About Time!

This is a blog that is longer over due and I have wanted to write for sometime. I only hope that I can get through it with out the kids causing some sort of major catastrophe! Lately we have had a lot of experiences that would cause a person to stop and think about life. Some of these are a direct result of experiences in our lives and some are experiences happening to other people, but really parallel our own lives. Two events really stand out though. One is that we have a friend Dit who wants to move here. Her parents and family are encouraging her not to go through with this. Dit has been asking for a lot of advice and although there are a lot of things I could say, in the end I am still going through the same thing and those e-mails could have been written by my family. And what is hard is that everything in those letters is true. The other event that inspired this blog is that I had a brief conversation with one of my best friends. In 2010 I will have known her 30 years! I don't talk to her often as she is not a phone person and I e-mail her even less as she is not an e-mailer. She is now hanging out with my sister and suprise, suprise, they get along great! Anyone who knows my sister, knows she is the same way.....Although at least my sister does e-mail. Although not as often as some of us. Anyway, I was trying to convey a lot of things all in a 20 minute phone call and I realized that it just wasn't possible and not only that it probably left a confusing negative image. So I am going to do my best to write a blog that will hopefully explain my life here in Israel and why my life took the turn that it did.

Somewhere between my experiences in college and my entry into "adulthood" I decided that I wanted to learn more about Judaism. I had friends who were becoming more active in Judaism and friends who were becoming more active in their own quest for spirituality. This included many different religions and philosophies. But the one thing I did notice, is that no matter which religious doctrine they were following, there was a certain amount of peace within them about trusting things to a higher power and by having that spirituality and those guidelines they making serious personal growth. This was something that I really wanted to explore. Although my quest was not so strong at the begining. When I started dating D he was also on the same quest and together we started taking classes at one of the local synagogues. D is one of the people who, the more he knows the more questions he asks and the more he wants to learn. I prefer a thumbnail sketch of things and doing what is convenient at the time. After we got married we proceeded to get more involved in the Jewish community, me still working on the little things and D ready to change is life style. It finally became a battle (at least in my mind) of North and South. Yep, the good ol' civil war. While I wanted to become more spiritual with out actually changing my life, D was ready to jump in and go kosher, keep shabbos and all those good things that really involve some deep thinking. I did the outraged thing, I did the "NO WAY!" thing, and I did a lot of whining to friends and family. All were big mistakes. Because what I did not do was really think things through. In the end, I decided to give it a try and thus entered into our life of Orthodox Judaism. Why did I do this in the end? After all I could have said no and just let him do his own thing, I could have gotten divorced, after all this was not the person I married and we had agreed to keep things simple, I could have just said "NO" and thrown the ball in his court. But in the end, I decided that getting divorced because my husband was looking for the moral high ground seemed a bit ridiculous. After all he wasn't suggesting we take up recreational drug use or bank robbing (although I might go for the latter now if he suggested it!) And I did want to broaden my education and my invovement in Judaism. So I got it! We have growing spirtually for the last 8 years. Sometimes with ease and sometimes with struggle. Our next major change came with having kids, I was not for having kids growing up and new that if I was still undecided about kids by 30 I would not have them and take measures to make sure it did not happen. I think I also did not expect to be married either though. But somewhere in the scheme of things this also changed and we had S just in time for my 30th birthday. Another change that met with some resistance. Whether or not a person is willing to take on the responsibilityof feeding, clothing and shaping a human being is an intense and difficult decision for some people. Me included, but fortunately my husband saved me from my insecure and selfish ways before it was too late. I am now the happy, proud mother of 3 children, whom I only want to leave at the zoo every other day instead of every day! Y&M were a bit of a suprise, we had planned for one, not two, but we knew we did want another one because we already had one and we knew that we probably did not want an only child. Which left one major change. Moving to Israel. Now anyone who knows me, knows that I love traveling and living in a foreign country is not out of my scope and never was. We talked about moving to Israel and living there for a couple of years from the minute we got married. We also discussed Peace Corps. But we kept waiting for my husband to get on with the ever elusive fire fighting job which never materialized. This inspired our month long visit in 2003. We were both in a position to be gone for a month and knew that we might never have that opportunity again. At this time I became pregnant with S. Now we had a difference of opinion again. I felt we should stay in America for two years to let S bond with the family so they would know him when we moved. D wanted to move ASAP. In the end we compromised on a year. And we moved shortly after S's first b-day.

When we moved here we came on a program called Nefesh'B'Nefesh. Their goal is to help people move to Israel and stay here. They require a 3 year commitment or else, recipients are required to give back the money they receive. This can range for a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. So we pretty much figured we were here for at lease 3 years. But when we came I had no idea what would happen. I was even prepared to come back after 6mo. or a year. But it has now been 3 and a half years and it is our home and our life now. We plan to be here long term, but I think to say we will be forever is too much to say. Things change, people, politics, economies, philosophies, etc. Right now we are here, but things change and we could move back too.

So why the story of my life? Anyone who knows me, knows this story already. But I felt it was important to add the explanations as to why we did the things we did to the naration.

And now the next chapter, "Why are we staying here instead of moving back?" First, because we like it here. We like that there is a country which revolves around our religion not the one that dominates mainstream America. There is nothing wrong with practicing another religion and I don't fault America for taking Dec. 25 off instead of Rosh Hashanah, but we don't celebrate Dec. 25 and we do celebrate Rosh Hashanah, so the natural course is to go somewhere to be with people of the same mind set. We love that our kids are growing up knowing what it means to be Jewish and understand first hand why Israel is so important to the Jewish people and that they are Jews and that it is important to them. Growing up, I think my sister got the idea and she really understands being Jewish, although I don't know her opinion on Israel. I am more of a hands on kind of person, if it is not affecting my immediate little world, I can't relate to it. Now I can relate to Judaism and the importance of its role in my life, that of my kids and that of the world. I love that my kids will have that understanding too. What they choose to do with their knowledge will ultimately be their decision, but at least they will have the whole picture and not just part of it. Not only will see the religious side of life, but they will learn from their family in America what religion means to them. From the variety of guests we have in our house, they will learn what Judaism means to all different kinds of people. I don't want to shelter my kids, I just want them to have the whole picture.

On an intelectual perspective, I love knowing that my kids will bi-lingual with out a doubt! I love knowing that they will already know more about the world then I did because they will have a connection here and to America. Plus I hope to be able to travel with them to Europe some day...

And on an economic sense, it is more pratcical. First, we have had reason to need to see a lot of specialists lately in the medical sense. If we lived in America, there is no way in the world we could afford to see them. Everything is co-pay and specialists are not always covered by insurance and with the rising costs of healthcare, the number of tests a doctor can run is limited with out bankrupting the patient. So for medical alone we are saving hundreds of dollars. Second, the economic picure in America is not so rosy, and we are not sure we want to jump onto a sinking ship. We don't make a lot of money here, but at least we know where we stand and we have a higher probability of increasing our earnings here than we will in America, contrary to popular belief.

I know that our decisions do not sit well with our friends, with our family. We have seen all sides, from total support, to absolute resentment. Some people blame me, fine, others feel D is soley to blame. It is hard for us too. We miss our friends, we miss our families. It is hard to see photos of vacations and get togethers, of babies and babies who are toddlers now, and know that we are missing out on all that. And we are sad that those same people are missing out on our lives too. My in-laws and my mom and aunt are the only ones to meet the twins. To rest of our American circle they are just people in a story, not real like S.

But what is truly frustrating are those people who feel that by supporting us, they will be compromising their opinion of us being over here. I understand that "YOU" are not happy with us, or our decisions. I understand that what we have done does not make sense in "YOUR" book, but it does not mean that when something is stressful or challenging you can't ask "Are you OK?" Don't give me silence when I talk about a family illness or when I talk about how something is stressful. Yes, I understand I made these decisions, but all choices in life bring stress. If we had stayed in America there would be stress there too, just different. I am a stressed out person by nature, I just choose to talk about it more now, because I was told along time ago that I did not open up enough. Now that I do open up, I met with silence and confusion, because to voice sympathy might be considering condoning this kind of reckless behavior. And please don't blame my husband for these choices. We ALL have choices in life and no one beat me into these choices and no one put a gun to my head and said live your life like this or else! I made these decisions so if you are going to hate someone, make it me. Not my husband. He is not a bad person and he did not do anything wrong, except try to create a lifestyle that would encompass all the values that we find important and that in general most people in the world find important.

I am extremely grateful to all those people who support us, who put up with the whining, the happy, the sad, who work hard to be a part of our lives even though we live a zillion miles away. And to be a part of the kids lives. Along time ago I had a friend who got married at an age I thought too young, to a person I did not feel was marriage material. So I told her what I thought, but then told her, that I still loved her and would support her no matter what. They are still together and I still support her, no matter what! And it has been both happy and difficult. So please, please to those of you who think we are running around with loose screws, ( you'd be right), you don't have to agree with us, just support us and love us no matter what!

Maybe this blog will help "YOU" understand why we are here and what we are doing. Or maybe it won't, but at least "YOU" will have something else to think about and maybe the next time you think of us, it will be in a different light.