Another Day Gone!

Today was another busy day. Part of our school day was spent making sure our house was in order as we had our meeting the Misrad Chinuk (Ministry of Education) from Jerusalem today. The head inspector came out to meet with us and was here for about an hour and 15 min. It was a great meeting and we really enjoyed meeting with him. The boys and I had met with him at the beginning of the school year briefly so I had a sense of what he was like, but we were really happy with the meeting today. We got a lot of really useful information and I think we have found a great source of support for this endeavor. Hurray! Because our learning was a bit disjointed today we did not accomplish as much as I would have liked, but we did get somethings done and that is what counts. I have to remember that compared to things here, the kids in some ways are quite ahead of their counterparts.

In my own work, I accomplished a lot, though my feelings about the kids school day are reflected in my opinion of my own day. I wish I would have gotten more done. I don't always seem to be able to write fast enough to make the time I spend working equitable to my pay rate and it is frustrating. But I have decided that I am putting my all into it for the next month and at the end of the month I can re-evaluate where I am standing in terms of other work opportunities. As my mom pointed out, and I already know, I need this to work, because I don't have a lot of other choices at this point. But I believe that G-d will help me I just have to be patient and do my end of the work. So I am. I did not get to my book today, but tomorrow is another day at since it is midnight here, it will have to wait until then.

With D working on his own projects I am sure that something will come to us soon. Tomorrow D will be heading out to "play." Our friends from PDX are here for a wedding, which we will also be attending. UB is also a big bike rider so the boys are off to play tomorrow. Hurray! D needs a good friend to go out with. It will do him good to have a change of scenery and do something he loves with a good friend.

Speaking of weddings........ so in Israel, wedding attire is as formal or casual as you want. Since the groom is a very good friend of ours I have opted for seriously formal. The reasoning is that we may be in pics and I know what the family attire will resemble. So rather than having to spend $$$ I don't have on a new outfit, my mom sent me my dress from my sister's wedding. It was a bridesmaid dress, but when we bought them (I and the other bridesmaid actually talked my sister into them) she was worried that we wouldn't be able to wear them again, we assured her it was worth the sacrifice, they are great dresses, and we would be able to wear them again. So unless I change my mind, I will be wearing my fabulous dress again in just a few weeks! The best part of course is that the dress is 11 years old and since then I have had 3 kids and the dress still fits fantastic! Do I rock or what?! I tried it on and the kids were in shock and awe that eema could look so great, but M was a bit disappointed that it wasn't pink (it is dark navy blue) and she was sure it would be. But once I got it on she seemed OK with it! Oh my little princess!

Actually speaking of our resident princess, we are going to have to keep an eye on her. At the mall where the post office is there is a new jewelry kiosk. Today she was checking out the rings with some serious intent and it took some convincing to get her walk away. When we gave our littler girl her name we new it meant queen, but we had no idea what a little queen she would be! She is going to grow up being quite the little diva if we are not careful! She loves jewelery!

That is it for us here in beautiful Israel. Hope you all have a blessed and fulfilling day!

A Little Better Today

Today went a bit better. Y did great in school and had his first spelling test. 3 words and he got them all right! S did not do so well. I am looking at it as win some, lose some. He does ask questions about some topics like Torah, and I know he wants to learn, but the motivation is not always there. I had the meeting with M's teachers today and it lasted nearly an hour. She is doing fine and does great in class. She has a very special connection with 2 other girls in the class and the are inseparable. It is good to hear. They want us to make a video of her at home so they can see the difference between what she is like at home and at school. It is quite different. At school she is quiet and whispers, but once she gets home she is very loud and outgoing. This will help her teachers see what her true personality is so they can strike a balance in encouraging her to talk more. Right now she whispers, but then that is coming a long way for her.

Tomorrow we have our visit with the Ministry of Education from Jerusalem and the "Ispector" that is his title, but I think that it translates funny to English. Anyway, he is a very nice person, we have met with him once already and he will see our house, meet with the boys and be here about a half hour. About 11:00am, so this is good. We tend to move a bit slow in the morning so we should be in full swing then and the house will still be organized or we will have time tidy up before he does get here! This also gives me a chance to ask some questions about how to deal with the situation here, since we have our 2nd meeting with the Ministry of Education here on Thursday.

As for me, well, I am trying to get myself together. I keep forgetting or losing everything! Yesterday I thought I lost my wallet from my jacket pocket, it turns out I never took it out of the house.... I forget to take laundry out or take pills. I feel like I am going crazy! I have so much I would like to accomplish each day and I feel like I am only succeeding at about 1/2. But now that the holidays are over, school is in and we have hopefully fewer distractions I am back at it. My big goals are to balance out my work more and get more hours, continue working on my book, and get the kids out to their friends more often. I also have to deal with some Ntl. Health insurance issues by the end of this month, so time is ticking there too! I also want to get the kids more involved with chores. S has learned how to cook spaghetti and eggs now. So more progress and a part of our un-schooling portion of home education. I don't feel like I am not organized, I really feel I am, but the kids tend to start late with school and run over. I think it is a matter of getting them back to starting on time and sticking within a time frame for subjects. I also need to go back to lists so I can check things off and so I know what I can do while standing in line at the grocery or riding the bus. In other words, writing while standing in line at the store is a good thing, writing on the bus is bad, I get really motion sick. (I blame it on kids and age! I used to be invincible at that stuff!). But calling on the cell phone in a 2 hour line is not good, it racks up minutes and you can't hear. But calling people on the bus is good, it is an automatic time limiter and I can hear, usually. So little things like that. We also go out to the park almost every day with our neighbors which is great, but I need set time boundaries, except I can't help it because it is great for the kids and I love talking SG. We have a great time together. So all of this is causing me stress which I am also learning how to handle it all.

In frivolity I am anxiously awaiting January 27th as that is opening of the movie One For The Money based on the book by Janet Evanovich. I love the series, and although I have been worried about the movie, now that I have seen the trailer, I am getting excited. I have even secured a girls night out for the event! I just hope that it opens here in Israel on Jan. 27th as well. In the meantime I am also awaiting book 18 from the same series. As I always say, I know these books are not rocket science, but I love them. I deal with enough brain cracking in real life. This is my happy land and ranks right up there with The Big Bang Theory. Possible the best sitcom ever! If I want intellect I only have to turn on the news or spend a couple of hours teaching my kids and looking up solar systems, the animal of the month, or something else I never really thought about how to explain to a 5 and nearly 8 year old.

Because it is 11:17pm I have nothing intelligent to say, I could talk about my trip to the store with D, but I will spare you. It is a big thing for us as D never comes with me, but considering the fact that I bought box cereal and two bags of snacks because they were "on sale", maybe it is better he doesn't come with me. I guess all in all that brings the world up to date on the non-eventful life of the J5. Hope you all had a great day too!

Just One of Those Days

I started out with a blog entry yesterday, but it got eaten by cyber land so I am starting over which might be just as well. Today is one of those days where I am trying to get motivated and just not having any luck. This wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have 2 boys to home school, major deadlines for two different projects and a phone call to make........What I really want to do is go back to bed, watch a movie and enjoy watching someone else's life for a while........ Since I can't do that I am taking it all out here on you unsuspecting people who happen to come across this blog.

So backing up, yep, you heard me right. I am home schooling the boys! I will not go into what spurred this, it would take to long and it isn't pretty, but suffice to say it was the only option I felt that was viable. The wonderful schools we had last year were not so wonderful by the end of year. M is merrily in the same school, with the same class and the same best friends. She is thrilled to get out of the house and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that almost everyone we know has boys....... she likes to get away from all the testosterone for a few hours a day. And really what girl could blame her?! We just hope she keeps that attitude until she gets married to a nice Jewish boy one day.... :) As for the boys, they like being home schooled and it was their choice. That is how great school was.... on some days I let them do home work in pajamas, but most days we expect them to get dressed. We have a variety of work books from various sources, do hands on science projects and we try to get out do things away from home too. We will be joining the home school group as well. I have seen a flourishing in some areas that we did not before and that is fantastic, other areas we would like to get a tutor in for some areas, like Hebrew, for obvious reasons. Like raising kids in general it is terrifying, rewarding, challenging, aggravating and stunning when their little lights come on and they get it! What has surprised me is the amount of support I get from people who think it is great! Except the Ministry of Education here in Beitar who is having a fit. They have all kinds of stereo typical reasons why this is a very bad idea and we have our second meeting with them this week. However, while we do have to have permission to home school, it comes from Jerusalem from the head Ministry and I have no doubt that we will get permission, at least I think, at least I am pretty sure and if I don't think about it too much I almost don't have panic attacks on it. I have a really good friend who home schooled all her kids and she is my grounding force and has assured me I am fine. Let's hope so. We have the second meeting for that on Wed. here. One of the big things will be getting organized enough to get the kids out and about so they are socialized with kids their own age still.

As I said, M is doing great, I suspect she really needs more stimulation educationally, and I want to do that at home, but she seems to teach herself when she is in the mood, so I have to be content with that until I can get a real schedule for her setup between other deadlines. The good thing about having her in school is that I can see what Y should know and it makes me realize that he is way ahead of that in some areas. But then M is way ahead of her class in some areas too. All the kids are learning to read English, S is coming along in the Hebrew and Y has some Hebrew too which I need to encourage with him more. M has a sense of Hebrew but they have not been focusing on that in her class, but they will this year.

As for me I seem to wear a lot of hats these days, writer, head of household, cleaning lady, bureaucracy manager, therapist to friends, mommy, teacher and so on. It is rewarding but challenging and doesn't always leave so much time for me. I keep telling people I want to get paid to do what I am doing which is running herd on 4 people, but no one seems to be able to sponsor that, so I am in the process of trying to create something that works with me. I love to write, but I think I need something that will let me use my creative outlet more, because I can't seem to create enough hours at my main job due to lack of time and creativity. I love the job, but writing about hardware is getting to be challenging. I am hoping that working with E promoting her art work will really take off and pay off, but in the meantime, how to pay the bills...... the question that is on everyone's mind. Too bad know one will hire me for my vast knowledge on dinosaurs (OK it is not that vast, but the kids are teaching me) or maybe my extensive knowledge on penguins. OK again not really that much, but it is our new favorite animal and my kids love the movie March of the Penguins. It was an Imax release that came out a few years ago and is narrated by Morgan Freeman, who I love. My kids now know the difference between PBS, National Geographic and BBC, because these are most of the movies we watch in our house. However, when it comes to Star Wars they get a little confused. Something they only know about from their cousins. S will be getting little Star Wars men for his b-day and we will see what comes of it.

D has his own projects going so maybe we will gain something there as well. I would elaborate, but I am not sure I could past the words electronic something, radio blah, blah and something about wires......... I am so knowledgeable about what he does.... In the meantime it gives him something fun to play with so yeah!


In wrap up, because I do need to educate my kids today, we are looking forward to a full and exciting month, including a wedding, friends from Oregon coming in for said wedding and a visit from my in-laws. They were supposed be here now, but unfortunately due to lack of seating on the plane they will be arriving later. Apparently the airlines have not adopted the Israeli bus system form of seating which is, when there are no seats left to sit in you simply sit on the floor. Too bad. We really miss them. But we will see them soon, G-d Willing!

Ok that is it from sunny Israel! Thank you G-d, I don't live on the East Coast! Hope all is well by you.

The Ever Delightful Continuation of The J Family Escpades

The honest truth is, The J family has not had that many escapades this summer. We had friends in from the U.S. who hunkered in mostly up north that we managed to see only ONCE! But it was a great time. I have been out to the Med. only once, grrrr........ and the kids have been not at all. If I don't get them out this month, they may never forgive me. Actually, now that the boys are officially on vacation we are planning to go out there for a couple of nights. However, we did manage an impromptu overnighter in Jerusalem last week and the kids were thrilled.

So the question is, "What have we been up to?" Bureaucracy and doctors! I mean really, what else would we do? Actually the truth is M had day camp this year with the other 8 girls in her class as part of her school program. It was great and she had a great time. But I am glad I can switch the alarm clock from 5:30AM to about 6:30AM or perhaps it is more like, I can hit the snooze for an hour. The kids have all had dentist appointments and S has had more than his share because his teeth are coming soft and unfortunately a lot of his adult teeth are coming in with cavities. Not good. We are now going to try and head that off at the pass by getting the rest of his teeth sealed as they come in and see if that helps. Y and M have both had cavities, but I hope they won't go into the adult teeth. We are trying to stay on top of brushing, but as most parents know, this can be a challenge. From bedtime running too late, to last minute over nighters, to kids trying to simply get out of it, brushing teeth is a zoo and not to mention the glorious mess! Who thought toothpaste could cover so much ground! In other medical news, we will be testing S for glasses this week, M had either an eye infection or allergies, we tried the antibiotics and gave up after a week. Her eyes are no longer red and that is what counts. Y had a rock thrown at his head, we are assuming this was an errant rock and not malicious but he had to have his forehead glued, (the modern day version of stitches) the day before class photos. Oh Joy! We also lost his dentist appointment because they did not want to give him gas with a fresh head wound. We will now be filling his cavities in September; and in the end it got infected. He is doing much better now, but it is going to leave quite the scar and it still looks pretty ugly........

I won't get into the bureaucracy of life here, but lets just say that switching bank branches from Ra'anana to the local branch in Jerusalem was not as easy as it was supposed to be and lets not talk about the wars we had with the phone company and another few things......

In the wide world of wildlife we had a bird build a nest on our window ledge and hatched 2 baby birds there. The kids have been loving watching the events unfold, however, while in Jerusalem overnight we lost one baby and the mama. We don't know what happen, but we still have one baby and we have been keeping a close eye on him to make sure he gets food and water. The kids now think we have a pet. They have been desperate for one for years. We are getting closer to getting something small like a hamster that is easy to care for. Yes, I know, they stink! I had many as a kid and a couple as an adult. They make great kid pets.

As far as life in general, I have become part of a group of women who have been working hard this summer to encourage and build self esteem in others. We discovered that many women seem to develop a great sense of guilt and inadequacy as they become wives and mothers. We want to change that and encourage people to see the good in themselves. It goes along with an entire mental makeover using positive energy. I have a friend who has been having quite a difficult year and she is now using a variety of things including positive imaging to help change the way she sees herself and those around her. It has been great watching her blossom and have her realize the good things about herself. She has had a lot of challenges in her life, including some pretty harsh things as a kid. I am happy to watch her come into her own. I like the concept of giving others hope and encouragement. So many people feel like they are in it alone. Nothing lifts someone up by giving them a smile or a compliment that is genuine and it helps boost the personal self esteem too so a win/win thing all around. It helps keep me grounded instead of throwing a pity party on the days that don't go so well, like when I am informed at just how lacking my Hebrew is....... :)

In the world of projects I am still writing about hardware, but I am also moving into the art world. I am in the process of promoting art for a wonderful woman who used to be our neighbor when we first moved to Israel. She does microcalligraphy, sells her work worldwide and it is amazing. I have a lovely print of Noah's Ark on my desk that actually belongs to my kids. Since hanging things up here is a nightmare without a drill it has made a home on my desk with a variety of other things.......... if you are looking for a gift or holiday greeting cards for the up and coming new year, you can check out her site at Nishmati.com (No I can't get it to link....) grrrr.......We are working on a new site, but this is it for now. I love working with her and her husband and it has been a great experience. I am also going to be helping a friend a get website up and running for her free lance business as a legal assistant and I may be helping another friend promote her recently released e-book on homeschooling. Lots of opportunity to write! Oh boy!

In guilty pleasures I read the latest Janet Evanovich book and yes, it is pure brain candy. Yep, the plot is predictable and no it doesn't require any intelligent thought. I LOVE it! I spend enough time wading through meetings, writing for business, translating Hebrew for all sorts of things and dealing with kids issues, doctors and so on. In other words, my brain gets plenty of workout. So I give it a break every now and again with authors like Janet Evanovich and Nora Roberts. Everyone has a weakness and this is mine. Well not including the Starbucks my mom sends and the American candy. Fortunately for my protein and blood sugar levels both are in limited supply.

That about covers it on this side of the globe. Hope you are all doing well and enjoying your summer!

Cheers from the J 5!

Better Organization Day 3

OK so yesterday I posted as day 3, guess with my new schedule I am getting ahead of myself. It has been re-posted as day 2. Today was Independence Day and Israel is 63 years old. In a little country like Israel with lots of opinions, this is a conflicting day. Obviously there are many Arabs who do not celebrate this day, I am not sure about those who follow the New Testament and attend church. I don't know anyone here who does that. But even amongst the Israeli Jews there is conflict. Sounds crazy? Not really. After WWII and the Jews started arriving there was a campaign of sorts to prevent the religious Jews from entering Israel or once they arrived to essentially make it impossible for them to remain religious. The goal to secularize everyone or at least bring them down to a reform level. This is really a very minor nutshell, it is much more complex than this, but I am summarizing. On the other hand, without the establishment of Israel there would not be an opportunity for Jews world wide to move here. Today we also benefit from the fact that we can move to Judea and Samaria (The West Bank) and we have control over the Western Wall and Hevron. Hevron is where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives are buried. It is also said that this is where Adam and Chava (Eve) are buried. It is really an amazing place. Even just architecturally. Suffice to say that about 3/4 of the Jewish population observes this day by participating in Israel's national sport, barbecuing, while about 1/4 carry on as normal. That would include my boys who go to private school. I really wanted to pull them out, but D's argument was that, school is in session and they will miss out if we are gone. So responsibility to education won and in away, learning about our past through Torah and the fact that our kids have the freedom to learn in Jewish schools in Israel is not a bad way to acknowledge our 63rd birthday either. M on the other hand is enrolled in public school and had the day off........

Which leads me into a re-cap of today's attempt to stay on track. I have to say looking back, I did pretty good. We got a late start because S did not have school bus due to the holiday. So I thought, yeah! Sleep in time! Yes, but it put us back more than we should have been... both boys got to school late. Not good. But on the other hand, I made good time in getting everyone dropped off and was home by 9:30am. M did OK entertaining herself once I got a few projects going. Fortunately we have stock piled arts and crafts supplies. Pens, crayons, water colors, we even have a chalk kit from crayola that lets us make our own chalk. It is the cat's meow for her! So I did manage to get some work in. I actually got a couple of hours in, so not bad. My goal per day is 3-4, so 2 is about half way there. For those of you who work full time, I know this sounds wimpy. I used to work those hours too. Working from home is a different deal and I not only have to juggle work responsibility but also home responsibility too and it is very distracting to try and do one and not the other. Anyhow, so for me not bad. I also managed to get caught up on almost ALL the laundry! Considering the back log we have had from the build up from Passover, multiple Shabbos guests, so I am always washing extra sheets, the lice ordeal and the washer being on fritz, not to mention life in general, we have been looking a little crazy in that department. However, we can now see our floor again and it is great! I also managed to get caught up on a good amount of dishes. Another area that tends to lag due to the fact that I AM the dishwasher. No fancy electric machine for us! And I got the kids to clean up their mess, and they were almost in bed on time and it is only 9:45p. plus I also got an article read for work. All in all, I am pretty pleased. Tomorrow may be a little crazy. I have to call the bank first thing in the AM and I need to run and get rolls for the kids since I forgot to get flour and the stores were closed today. But I am thinking positive that all will work out in the end!

Better Organization Day 2

Since I am off schedule and it is past my bedtime I am going to TRY and keep this short. But suffice to say, after what started out as a lost cause yesterday I managed to accomplish a few important things AND get a day off too! Yesterday afternoon I had to run into Jerusalem to get to our bank before Memorial Day and Independence Day began, because then banks would be closed or on short hours and I really needed to pick up our new checks. No, they don't mail them out here. What started out as a chore ended up being very fortuitous because I got to go to the Western Wall which I have not been to in maybe a couple of years, because every time we need to go into town it is a mad dash to get everything done! Anyhow, great weather and the underground tunnels were open! Hurray. Usually it is a guided tour and they are booked way in advance. However, they were open up to the synagogue for afternoon services and it was really inspiring. Plus there more archeology sites that have been started since I was there last and that is always fun too! To be there during the set up of Memorial Day was also really inspiring. Because to think that 43 years ago I would not have been able to go to the Western Wall is really sobering. In 1967 Jerusalem was reunited and once again we were allowed to go and pray at the wall. I actually have a lot more thoughts on that, but I will save it for tomorrow.

Anyway, after I got my dose of spirituality and moral pride I headed over to the mall like a good American! Couldn't be helped since I have really been wanting to go. It has the Gap! Plus Columbia and North Face. It was like a tractor beam pulling me in, how could I resist! It was great to window shop through there. Plus, NO KIDS! What a Mother's Day!

And not only did I manage to get our banking done, take care of another banking issue and hit the highlights of the city, I also managed to get a serious amount of exercise in because I walked every where instead of busing it; AND on the way home, I even got work done! I love having wi-fi on the go for my laptop. It so cool!

So all in all, not bad for what started out as not a good day!

Today was another productive day which included grocery shopping, taking Y to school, socializing with a friend, work, cleaning out the laundry room, and helping D fix the washer.... how many times can a laundry room flood in one day?! Which is why ours is now sparkling clean and the garbage is gone! I also spent quality time with the kids learning about beavers and watching a great show on whether or not Robin Hood could really have existed. It was put on by Discovery Channel and we watched the whole thing on You Tube. It was great! Gotta love the internet! While I did not get everything done on my list, I am feeling pretty accomplished all the same! May our coming weeks continue to be successful and I hope everyone else has a good week too!

So Much For Better Organization!

Recently I have been making an attempt to get my life more organized. Some who read this will just roll their eyes. There are times in my life that I have been organized, but this is not one of them. So in an effort to re-establish this as one my organized phases in life I set up a new schedule. It seemed really practical, the expectations not too high and very straight forward. I even went to bed pretty close to on time. And that was the end of that......

This morning on the other hand, the only kid who got up on time is the one who leaves the house last, of course. Y is our morning person and is always the first one up and the last to leave.....perfect. And even better, we take him. So no need to worry about him missing his school bus. The other two don't come even close to being morning people and getting them ready takes a lot of nudging, sometimes, hollering, sometimes bribery and every now and then they do it on their own. Not today. I managed to get S out the door with a minimal of hassle this morning. I only had to bribe him with a homemade chocolate chip cookie and he did pretty well. I balanced that out with a peanut butter sandwich. We could do worse in the morning. M on the other hand was lost to sleep and all my shaking, nudging, poking and so on was lost on her. Until Y woke her up 5 minutes before her bus was supposed to come! Joy! At that late time I would have been happy to let her sleep and get on with my day and let her entertain herself for the day. I suspicion she has been either bothered by allergies or fighting something. Nope instead at 7:30am she gets out of bed. Great. Unfortunately the bathtub water from the boys has gone cold and we can't just drain it like normal people. We have to let it drain slowly or it backs up. Another 15-20 minutes down the drain. I guess pun intended. Then I have to make sure I get all the snarls out of her hair make sure I get all the shampoo in because her brother put dirt in her hair the day before. Plus I want to make sure we get the tea tree oil nice rubbed in to keep the lice out! Then we have to do breakfast and drag feet and so on. She was only about 2 hours late to school. No problem right?! Then it is time to get the grown ups ready, get interrupted, do something else, get D back out the door, have him come back because he forgot something..........And here it is at 11:52 am and my day is gone! In an hour I have to go get Y and that will be it. I did not even make the grocery store today! The only thing I did manage was to vacuum my bedroom floor. Hurray!

Well maybe this afternoon I can manage to do a few things and start fresh tomorrow! Anything is possible right?!

We're Still From Oregon

Lately I have been feeling a little homesick. In the end of March it was looking like I was going to be heading for a week visit. A very last minute thing because of a family emergency, which Thank G-d was quickly resolved. Whew! It left me feeling a bit of longing for Starbucks, my family and the rain. Well OK maybe not the rain, lets be serious..... but at least the Oregon green. This week I have gotten several reminders that no matter how long we live here, we are still from Oregon. The first one was an on going e-mail, that goes around every year, "Jeff Foxworthy's "You know You Are From Oregon When........." OK so maybe he didn't write it, and maybe he has never been there, who knows! But I still laugh at it and I can still relate to it. Particularly the jokes about recycling, I was so relieved when the plastic bottle recycling bins went in here and when I finally figured out the bottle refund system. The truth is, we rarely have enough refundable items to get more than a dollar, but it goes towards a quart of milk or whatever and that is good enough for me. I hated just tossing these things in the garbage. It is not natural for an Oregonian to toss recyclables in the bin when we know there is a refund!

The next dose of Oregon came from re-installing the hard drive on one of the older computers in our house. We keep the discs in the freezer. Yes, the freezer, that way it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. However, my husband couldn't find them and when I went to look for them where were they? Behind the Starbucks Coffe in our freezer of course! Because we all know that Starbucks and Computers go hand in hand!

And finally, today I got a good old fashioned dose of Portland at a Bris Milah. A Bris Milah is the ritual circumcision of Jewish Baby Boys. Our friends from Portland were having such a ceremony today and so there were a whole crowd of Ex-Portlanders! Hurray! It was really nice to catch up with everyone and talk about things only other Oregonians can understand. We are all thinking about a Portland Reunion this summer. We will see!

You take the girl out of Oregon, but not Oregon out of the girl!

Have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day!

Where Does The Time Go?!!!!

It woulds seem that I am quite behind in my blog so there is no point in trying to catch up, but winter to spring seems to be quite busy for us and that explains the long lapse in writing. So in a nutshell...... the end of January we had my mom and Aunt E here for two and a half weeks which kept us all busy in a good way. We had a trip to Bloomfield Science Museum, the zoo and a girls trip down south to the Dead Sea and Masada and a day trip to Jerusalem. Not to mention day to day routine. I have to say all the trips were great, but the trip down south was fantastic as well as an adventure. First, we took the bus, which is not unusual for us, but in this case I did not know exactly where to get off, but the bus driver was a huge help and we managed to find our hotel with no problem. Plus you have to love Israel, the bus had Wi-Fi, how cool is that?! That night it rained, in fact it poured buckets... so much so that we had continued power outages and the restaurant actually used my flash light to make our salads! Hats off to my husband who insists I always be prepared! The next day we had great weather and headed to Masada, this was one of the last hold outs for the Jews before the Romans invaded and is an amazing site. I really loved this, I have been twice before, but this is the first time where I was not sick and pregnant! Plus the site is a work in progress and they have discovered more since I was there last, about 5 years ago! It was really great!

Moving on, 6 weeks later my in-laws came! Hurray! Another trip to the zoo, we now have armadillo at our zoo and we saw the otters out. This is also a relatively new exhibit and the otters were tucked away when we went before. I also managed to sneak in a trip with my MIL into Jerusalem and out to lunch. A great visit and as when my mom and aunt are here, a HUGE help with the kids!

The week after my in-laws left we had spring vacation. In America this is slack time. In Israel, it is get ready for Passover time! Lots and lots of cleaning, shopping and running errands. Since by Jewish law we are not allowed to keep any type of leavened bread in our homes this includes a mass cleaning to be sure all the coats are cleaned out, stray crumbs are swept out of rooms, and most people do a pretty thorough spring cleaning. We are somewhere in between going crazy and trying to keep it simple. Since most of the country shuts down for the week, this means getting anything you need to do, done ahead of time. Plus preparing for the Passover Seder itself and trying to figure out what to eat for a week that doesn't include bread, pasta, corn, beans and rice. The last three are what we consider Kitnyiot and are not bread, but are considered off the menu for the week of Passover because they could be confused with regular flour and cause a problem. Sephardim (Jews from southern Europe and the Middle East and Africa eat these items). However, our families originate out of Eastern Europe so we are Ashkenazi and don't eat those things. A challenging dietary week for us. We did manage to enjoy ourselves once Passover began though. We were able to visit with friends and take the kids on a hike. Although the end of Passover did bring one challenge. M had gotten lice and some how we missed it! A major infestation and we had to re-clean all the sheets, blankets, etc and vacuum the kids room AGAIN! We felt as though we were getting ready for Passover again. Unfortunately lice is a huge problem in Israel and it is not uncommon. Except in our house! This was a first and hopefully a last! We have been told the tea tree oil in the shampoo will repel the lice from her hair so now all the shampoo bottles are treated with tea tree oil. So hopefully this is put behind us for good!

We have spent the last week trying to get the kids back into the routine of school and it seems to be a bit challenging. Plus apparently spring fever comes with the inability to listen, follow instructions or do anything they are told! However, we did have a break through today. My husband played military commander and gave the boys orders over his ham radio. They responded well to this, M did OK though not the best. They boys, especially S loved it though and now their room is clean. Again!

Though perhaps spring fever has hit us all. I have had a huge dose of writers block this week for work and it is not good. Things I can usually whip up are getting stuck in the back. Hence pulling out my blog. Maybe catching up here will get me jump started there. I sometimes feel I am in the wrong job and instead should be writing a book about my insane life in Israel with my crazy kids and nutty husband! The title would be: My Life As A Cartoon Strip, because sometimes I feel they have been peaking in our windows to get ideas.

As we look forward in our ever crazy life we are preparing for Shavuot when we received the 10 commandments on Mt. Sinai. In between we have Lag B'Omer and the twins b-day. Somehow they have made it to 5 and once again we are all here to tell the tale! In two months M is out of school for the summer and then I will have to decide what to do with her until the boys get out! She is now beyond entertaining herself, or perhaps her idea of entertainment is to drive me crazy! Not so good for either of us.

So this blog is a bit longer than intended and bit more detailed update than intended, but perhaps it will do me good. I would love to comment on life in general now, but I am afraid it will bore everyone to bits. So perhaps tomorrow I will manage again.

TTFN!

Selective Mutisim Revisited

Although I just posted on this subject I am going back to it again. Recently I have found myself trying to explain what it is and how it affects the child. It is something that is so hard to grasp if you can't see it. Kids are mistaken for shy, or they will grow out of it, they just need x,y or z. Unfortunately it is not that easy. We are really fortunate that M got diagnosed at such a young age. Many kids are in grade school before parents realize there is a serious problem. So I am attaching a you tube video that is 8 minutes long. In doing this I not only want to educate the people who read this the most, our close friends and family, but I hope that other parents going through the same thing will appreciate being to connect with others in a similar situation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AvrhsNvoH8&feature=autoplay&list=PL4833FA607954F64C&index=47&playnext=3

I just had a meeting with M's teacher and it amazed me still how much I still don't fully grasp what she is going through. Because I don't see her like that. With us she is a normal, very active child. Even in public, until we run into someone from school. She gets the no running lecture before going into the store, she plays on the play ground, and she will talk to us in public. Until she sees someone from school or the spot light is on her, then panic hits. Yesterday I took M shoe shopping. She didn't just tell me what she wanted, I had to pick up shoes and aks her yes or no. We got a head bob for yes and a shake for no. Do you want pink? I asked,"yes" she bobbed her head. She communicated, but she did not talk. However, on the bus she was a regular chatter box. The differences in where she will and won't talk are so defined to her, but sometimes so subtle to us, that I miss it. It just becomes a part of routine, something we don't see.

OK the link will have to be cut and pasted into You Tube, I just reached the limits of my technology expertise. But I hope you will take the time to plug it in and see for your self the world of Selective Mutisim. Or just search Selective Mutisim and see what comes up there is a variety.

Technology On The Go

Today I am taking a break from talking about the kids, except to say that I have been up since 3:00am because of them.... But on the other hand, look at the blogging I get done and I know what is going on in the news. Now if I could just find my glasses I would be set... so forgive the typos.

First, admittedly, I have become a geek. I think computers are part of the access of evil, but of course I am very attached to mine. It gives me a chance to spout off about whatever I want, keeps me in touch with my family and it gives me a job. None of those things make me a geek. The fact that my husband is probably one of the biggest computer geeks out there does. When we lived in Portland he was part of a start up organization that provides fee wireless access points around the greater Portland Metro area. This is where my geek side comes from. For those of you who watch the Big Bang Theory, you will understand how geeky I am when I say that I understand the computer jokes. Yup, it is that bad! We only use open source technology and for the first time in my life I have found a phone/organizer that I want, the Nokia N900. Though I am not sure I could break from my hand written organizer.

However, one place we have left off our technology sphere is Facebook. Much to the consternation of nearly everyone we know......We are not on it for 2 reasons. A) My husband is a privacy nut. We are virus immune, not resistant, but immune. We we make Fort Knox look like chump change. However, the great part of this is obviously, that we get no viruses, but also NO pop up ads! I had no idea they still existed until my sister was complaining about hers. And the second reason I am not on Facebook is because I simply don't want to take the time. It will suck me in like a vacuum and leave me no time to watch the Big Bang Theory! I already have enough things to distract me. But what honestly drives me crazy is not Facebook in and of itself, everything has a privacy risk, I use Gmail, one of the biggest miners out there. But what people put on there! Today in the news there was an article on Fox news stating that Facebook will allow 3rd party developers access to the users address and phone. Meaning 3rd party apps like Farmville can see the users address and phone number. The idea being is that it makes it easier for those on the go to attach their phone and address quickly to other apps and sites. The warning comes from a company called Sophos which is a security firm. Their advice, don't put these vital pieces of information on your website. Well DUH! Why do people do this?!!!! Why would people put absolutely vital and personal information up on a site for the entire world to peruse. Now mind you, a person's name, address and phone number can be obtained from almost any public phone book, both on and off line, but still........It amazes me what people put on there! There are so many stories of the inappropriate photos, comments, messages that get posted and yet people are SHOCKED when it comes back to bite them in the butt! I know there are privacy blocks you can add to your page so only your friends see things, but it doesn't take long for many to connect the dots and get invited in, including employers, and businesses. Years ago a couple in Australia I believe was served with a home foreclosure notice via Facebook. Yikes! And I believe businesses have no place intruding in someone's social networking like that, but it doesn't stop them and it was deemed legal.

The other issue I have is employers who spy on their employees or future employees with these pages. A couple of days ago Dear Abby ran an article about a teacher asked to give a recommendation about her former student for a job overseas. The teacher was thrilled and had only good things to say. However, the organization came back and said we found her FB page and look at this! And asked the teacher what do you think?! The teacher was appalled by her exploits from when she was younger which, personally I did not do, but half the high school kids I knew did which was, the old fake ID routine for underage bar hopping and the like. Oh please, that has been going on since the implementation of an alcohol age limit......What gets me is that they did not acknowledge that this was all in the past, people do grow up and change, just look at all the hippies turned Republicans. But it also drives me crazy that they are sure this is HER. I do not and have not ever used FB. However, if I search for my name it is up there more than once. And if you Google my name apparently I am also a Russian porn star or some such thing. It makes we wonder if I could ever lose out on a job just because of my name. To be fair the teacher tried to reach the student for comment, but she wouldn't take the call and it would seem both former student and the parents were miffed at the situation. Could be it was all true and maybe the parents just found out and are now upset with her OR it could be they are just royally offended at the inquiry. Why is it so important that the world at large have the latest dirt on our social lives and why is so important to people to POST it?! Think people, think! Did FB rob these users of their brains too?!

The other big privacy robber is Google. However, I LOVE Google and I literally could not have my job with out them. In my company there are about 15-20 employees and we all work from home including the CEO. We stay current on what's happening via Gmail. I am a writer, so I share documents, assignments schedules and the like with 2 other people. But instant chat makes it easy to access customer service for product questions or talk directly to our CEO. It also means I can work anytime, anyplace, anywhere and from any computer. Yeah! I have done all three.

But the other thing I love about Google, is Google translate! A friend introduced it to me a few months a go and boy howdy, it has opened a whole new world! I can now translate the kids notes from school, unless they are hand written, because the first step is being able to read the words..... the handwriting that goes with teaching here indicates they missed their calling as doctors...... I can also plug in websites that are Hebrew and get them put in English and I can type in English what I want to say and it will come back in Hebrew! Which means that I can send notes to the school in Hebrew too! Yeah! Now despite all that M's teacher is accommodating me with all communication in English, but still I have a leg up where I did not before. Now they are making it even better. You can get a phone app that puts it all in real time on your phone. Just say what you need to in English and it comes back in the requested language, clear and concise in a real voice. So if I need to get my point across in some office but can't, I could say it in English and it would spit it out in Hebrew. This way the person I am speaking to can hear it! I am willing to forgo a bit of privacy for that little gadget! Now I just need to get my hands on that Nokia N900 and I will be set....

In technology there are always trade offs, in my case I figure eventually Google will see that I don't spend money on their adds, I have nothing nefarious or even interesting going on and they will get tired of reading about my kids, hardware and patio furniture. They probably read my name and read my stuff so they can fall asleep from boredom at night, but hey at least someone is getting a good nights sleep! Seriously, we give and we gain and that is they way it has been since the invention of th wheel. Someone makes a wheel, someone gets run over by it and now lawyers are invented to work out the law suit....... But why can't people us common sense? As my mother used to say, "If you don't want me to know you are doing it, then you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." Truer words were never spoken and they are words that everyone should live by; because folks your mom will eventually forgive you, but the rest of the world will never forget!

Kids and Confidence

Lately I have been focusing on the kids in my blog. Well what can I say, I am on a role. Plus I noticed it keeps the spammers off of here. Yeah! Not to mention that this is primarily what my blog is about anyway. So there!

Sometimes as parents we worry about how much confidence kids have and if they are really ready to tackle the world. Well fortunately we don't have to worry about our oldest, he thinks he is smarter and stronger than everyone else, including his Abba and when asked what he wants to be when he grows up, "A Melech Yehudi" A Jewish King. Apparently he is not too picky about which country though. But since he likes living in Israel, I think that is what he is aiming for. Perhaps when he was little he listened to his Aunt talk too much about if she ruled the world!

Or perhaps it is our constant talk of politics at the table. We have found S trying to discuss politics at school! Oy Vey! And has said some not so nice things about current politicians in other countries and their connection to Israel. (For those of you old enough to get this, all I can think is Alex P. Keaton, of course so was his Abba.) Mental note, no more discussing politics at the dinner table. Seriously, since S has learned to spell and has ears like a bat, we have had to watch everything we say and forget spelling it. I am considering teaching D Japanese. It is the only language we can come up with that the kids won't have a connection to. They speak better Hebrew than me, they will no doubt pick up Yiddish from friends, it is a strong language here and they are also learning some in school, ( plus there are kids who learn Yiddish first here then Hebrew) which also leaves German out, because Yiddish is a mix of German and Hebrew. So we are moving on to Japanese.

I love having smart kids, I just wish I wasn't being this outsmarted at age 7 and down! On the other hand I have discovered that the kids are teaching me plenty and perhaps that is why we have kids, so we are humbled and realize no matter how old we are there is still plenty left to learn. Besides I always wanted to get back into Japanese, I guess now is good.....

Selective Mutisim

Essentially Selective Mutisim is the inability to speak in certain situations. It is generally thought to be genetic and tends to show itself when a child first enters a social situation such as pre-school. Children that are not diagnosed have the chance of "outgrowing" this but the underlying cause will never go away, the communication disorder will simply present itself in some other format. These are obviously general ideas and guidelines, but this is Selective Mutisim in a nutshell. I know all this about Selective Mutisim because a few months ago my daughter was diagnosed with it. When she started school last year she became incredibly shy and would not speak at school. Like most parents with children like this, we assumed that as she adjusted to school, she would outgrow it. We were already having her tested for learning differences, but this had yet to pop up on the radar and we did not get her tested in time to get her into a more specialized school. Or so we thought. This fall we got a call asking if we wanted to put M in a specialized school still. First I said, "no" then I thought I better talk to her teacher. I got the same thing as last year. She is very smart and she understands Hebrew and she knows how to do everything, but she won't talk. A few weeks later she was diagnosed with Selective Mutisim. It would be another few weeks before she was put into a new school and yet another few weeks before I understood what this meant. At the beginning of December right before Channukah vacation, her teacher encouraged me to do the research so I could understand what she is going through. I now realize just how damaging this disorder can be without treatment.

With Selective Mutisim, normally out going children become incredibly fearful interacting in certain situations. For each child it is different. There were cases of children who only interact at home, but not anywhere else. Some who will not even interact in front of grandparents. Many of the children interviewed were age 7 and up and were only just getting diagnosed, they used wipe boards and erasable pens to communicate in class and to the people interviewing them. One girl would not interact with the interviewers at all. One girl explained that when she tries to speak in class her throat closes up and it is literally painful for her to speak. These girls are generally considered to be the most outgoing at home. Although with one girl, her parents and family completely left her undiagnosed and she went from being a top student to nearly flunking out. Her family labeled her stupid and lazy and she nearly went agoraphobic. She says she is now in college and doing better.

As for us, I knew M got shy starting pre-school, but she is generally outgoing with everyone who comes into the house, so I had no idea. She is shy when she goes out and is too shy to speak to her teachers and friends, to the point where she hides behind me. Except for one friend she had in her previous school. Although she never spoke to her. It seems that although this disorder is genetic most parents are shocked to discover their children have it. M is now getting therapy at school and she says she is singing with her class. I don't know if she really is. But perhaps one of the biggest eye openers for me was when her teacher called to ask if she could have a certain treat and when I spoke to M, she did not answer me back. I had to hear from her teacher that she was nodding her head and acknowledging me. I realized it is because she is too afraid to speak in front of her teacher. Her head teacher says it is hard to work with her because she does not communicate, but that she is a good girl and she is smart and doing fine. I am happy that her teachers are treating her as an intelligent girl and not dumbing her down because of this one condition. In a few weeks I will meet with the teachers and see how she is doing and what we can do at home to help her. In the meantime, we treat her like a normal child and deal with her as we would the other two, or as much as we can when we have 3 kids with every different needs. Suffice to say parenting here is never a routine job and we are always on our toes!

Fruit Bats Of The Kid Variety

I have often noticed that my kids behavior tends to mimic those of animals as much as they do kids. This is not to say that my kids have bad behavior, in fact when we are away from home we get nothing but compliments. We must be doing something right. But we can't help but notice that sometimes they sound like squirrels when the are laughing or chattering with each other. And sometimes they seem to act more like monkeys at the zoo when the get wound up. But when it comes to fruit, my kids are like fruit bats.

My sister's crew consists of a family of 4. 2 grown ups, a 2 yr. old and 5 yr. old. When she goes to the store they buy fruits and veggies by the number of items they need mostly. 5 carrots or 4 bananas, etc. When we go to the store we measure fruit in kilos, (2.2 1bs. to 1 kilo). And even if we buy 2 kilos of apples, a kilo of Clementinas and so on, there is never enough fruits and veggies in our house. This extends to carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes as well.

The advantage to this is that we have discovered that people LOVE to bring our kids fruit because the kids actually get excited about it. Not to say the kids won't eat nosh when offered, but fruit is equally as good. This happened again last night when we had friends drop in. We got a call from our friends saying that they were at the store next door. "What do your kids eat fruit wise?" (They already know our kids can't 3/4 of the junk out there.) My answer, "let me tell you what they don't eat,it will be faster." I was taken aback by the amount of fruit that walk through our door last night and when I asked what the occasion was, the answer was " I love buying fruit for you kids, because they love it!" This is something we have heard over and over again from different people. We have a few friends that are between kids now, meaning, their kids are grown and no grand kids in sight. They get a kick out of playing with our very imaginative kids and when they come they love bringing them fruit because the kids consider it a treat. I seem to take for granted the fact that from about birth my kids have always loved fruit, because I hear from so many people the problems they have with their kids not eating it. For the most part we do OK with veggies too except for S. His idea of veggies are carrots, corn and french fries. But to give him credit he keeps trying to like them. Last week he asked for salad which was a shock! He did not eat the lettuce, but he did eat some of the other stuff and that's pretty good. I am impressed by his maturity.

Anyway, I guess my point is that I am often chagrined at the number of people who appreciate my kids healthy eating habits. Which I guess makes me wonder, what is the rest of the world eating?! Yikes.

And as a side note, I always thought I would have pets over kids, now I see I have a compromise. My kids have the inclination to be monkeys, squirrels,bears, and there was a temporary thing with pretending one was a dog that the others would "take for a walk and feed"...So now I realize I have a whole zoo plus kids and they all come in one complete package! Kids are truly an amazing creation of G-d, what would we do with out them!

6 Years and Counting!

This week marks our 6th anniversary in Israel. I don't use a particular day in general because our journey began on the night of Dec. 25 when we left Portland, Oregon. It was beginning of a 4 day trip with 2 full days in New York in between. Leaving was hard, we left the night of my mom's 60th birthday and when we made the reservations I forgot to figure in travel and pre-check in time, so we missed most of her party. That has always been a big regret and was a huge mistake on our part. D, S (who was one yr. at the time), and I left with 2 suitcases and a carry on each and that was all we brought to Israel. No lift would be coming after us as that plan got canceled at the last minute. We arrived in Israel on Dec. 28, 2004, our official aliyah date, around 6:00am I think; and we spent our first New Year's Eve with friends already living here.

Rosh Hashana is supposed to be our time of reflection, what we are doing right, what we need to improve upon. However, while I do use Rosh Hashana for my personal transgressions, December is my time of reflection about my life. It marks the separation from my family which difficult for all of us and it also marks each passing year that I become more ingrained into Israeli society.

Having been here 6 years I look around and wonder have I "successfully" integrated into Israeli society or I am an outsider looking in? Are my kids Israeli or are they hanging onto the culture of their American parents? Each day I have a different answer and it is a question I have been thinking about this month a lot. It is a thought that truly weighs on me every year and each year I think about it more and more.

When I think about 6 years ago, we lived in an immigrant apartment that was 2 rooms (bigger than what we left behind) but truly spartan. We had sleeping bags, but no blankets or sheets, not even plates or pots I think...I spoke NO Hebrew save about 10 words, I could recognize letters, but not really read them. We had one child who was a year old. We had NO clue how to get health care, pay bills, travel around the country, get a job, heck we barely knew how to connect with the outside world or even go shopping.

Now I look at our family and we are 5 not 3, our oldest is seven and we have twins that are 4 & 1/2. We had them at home with a doctor in attendance (our choice and much to the horror of our entire neighborhood, this is UNHEARD of in Israel, or mostly). We have a very spacious 4 bedroom apartment. We can pay our bills, we now live in a different community where we have been for almost 3 years. I am still behind the curve in Hebrew, but I can read and I can communicate. Not to say I wont switch to English 9 times out of 10 if the option is available. So maybe I am not bi-lingual in a fluent sense, but each year I make progress. Our kids are in school and doing pretty well. They have some issues, but I suspect they may have had them in America too. But I believe that they are more Israeli than American and I am glad. We have friends, we go places and do things when we can afford it and in a lot of ways we can see where we have become Israeli and left our American mentality behind. I now work from home and D keeps busy with free lance writing and learning Torah and dispensing copious amounts of bike and computer advice as well as a few other things. We still rely on a lot of things from America, such as shoes.... I love Bass (thank you mom for sending me two brand new pairs of Bass Weejuns!!!! I LOVE THEM and You TOO!) and my husband and the boys have wide feet. We have a hard time shopping for them here. Plus candy and snacks, and a few other things that are cheaper to get there than here. But over all I think we have come a long way.

Most people label "success" as whether or not we are financially secure. In that regard, I suppose we are considered failures. We live on a very tight budget and we rent, we don't own our apartment. But I have come to disagree with that assessment. Given our background and my husband's injuries from being a fire fighter we would probably be in pretty much the same circumstances. I can't imagine being able to work full time away from home any more than I can now, child care would be too expensive. The cost of Jewish education would be around $3,000 a month, not $300. Not to mention the socialized medical care here is much cheaper here and we get amazing medical care. The list goes on. We have figured costs on paper and it just is not practical for us to move to America. We know people who have moved back because they were in the medical field or sciences and for them I see it. They DO make more in America. And I guess with my current job I could make more, but not enough to make it worth our while to move back.

Had it just been us, I don't know if I would stay during those times when the going gets tough. But when it is just two people it is easy to try new things, to move to new places. However, with kids, as everyone knows, it is not that easy. Mostly for all the reasons above, but also simply because no matter how much the kids may sound or act American, they are Israeli and it would be an adjustment for them to move to America. Not only the mix of cultures and religions, but the fact that there would be no traveling about the country and still be able to go out to eat or to walk into a store and just buy something. My kids know a thing or two about other cultures and people. We read National Geographic and we talk about our non-Jewish friends and so on, but to live it would be another deal altogether.

I suppose the other thing that makes it easier on us, is that we did not leave high paying jobs behind. My husband was in the middle of going back to school and I was working part-time and trying to juggle a new baby. So the financial draw for us to come back is not big.

For us it is the family and friends. Or at least for me. My husband's parents come twice a year and he has never been close to his sister. So this arrangement works well for him. For me however, it is a challenge and a half. I come from a very close knit family and it is hard to know that I missing out on my nephews and my friends children growing up too. We have missed, births, weddings, serious illnesses and other times of happiness and challenges. I miss those things. Plus I miss watching Duck Football! We have no T.V. here, which I don't mind, except for about 3 months out of the year during football season. Although who am I kidding, I could never stay up to watch the games, I would be asleep in the first quarter....

It is a general consensus that it takes about 10 years to fully integrate into Israeli society. I don't know where we will be in another 4 years. But from the perspective of someone who has been here for 0-2 years, we are wise old owls. Compared to those who have been here 10 years or more, we are still on the green side and it will take more time to get settled; so no rush and no worries. And as for Israelis, a lot of them thought we should have known what was flying and how to speak the language the minute we got off the plane. I can't really blame them. I remember running into non-English speakers in America and it was really hard to be non-judgmental about their lack of English. G-d has a way of making us pay for judging other people's short comings....

So I guess over all, I feel like we are holding our own here and that in the coming year, experiences can only give us more wisdom not less. Even the pit falls here are an opportunity to learn..... I will be curious to see where we are in another year, but for now I will just take it as it comes. One day at a time.

The Party of the Year!

Well at least here. S turned 7 on the Dec. 9 and has been seriously campaigning for a birthday party. I of course tried to put this off. Being as we celebrate Hebrew and English dates, I started procrastinating on Nov. 21 Or the 14th of Kislev and finally on Dec. 9 I had not choice but to follow through. So on Thursday morning, Dec. 9, I agreed to see if we could pull off a birthday party that afternoon; because I had said we would do something during Channukah and that was the last day! Yikes!

After trying to juggle work and other mommy duties in the morning I took M (who was on vacation) to pick up Y and went to buy party favors for 8 kids, 5 of whom I had no idea if they could even come. Party favors were balloons, markers and little baggies to put it all in. Total cost, $5.50. Then it was home to guest proof and clean the house and make the phone calls. All 5 guests were able to come. Wow! Now we had 4 Hebrew only speaking kids coming, one new American with questionable Hebrew and my 3 with fair Hebrew skills but that can clam up with new faces. We had only met 2 of the kids. The others I knew their parents, but wanted to get them introduced to my kids. I thought this was for sure going to be disaster in the making... And I spent most of the afternoon wondering "What WAS I thinking when I agreed to this?! I must be crazy!" And of course that is true. But at about 5;15p we had our first guests arrive with their mom and shortly there after everyone one else.

The pens and balloons turned out to be great ice breakers and the gift from S's really good friend. He got S a remote control car. To see 5 boys stand around from all different backgrounds, discussing this car and what to do and how it worked was priceless. They looked like a bunch of teenagers around a real car. They all got to "drive" the car and made sure everyone had a turn. To see 5 boys just click like that when 1 kid knew NO ONE and two brothers only knew their mom and each other was just amazing! We also played a round of musical chairs which was fun because it was a new game for all the boys. My kids played it for the first time last year and the twins were really not into it then, so it was also more or less new to them as well.

For refreshments we had a homemade volcano cake which was a huge hit, complete with pink lava, and popcorn and juice. We rounded out the setting with a plastic Thomas Table cloth thanks to Grandma A. The total cost of the party was probably $10 total. The result, the best party ever! According to 8 kids in Israel. There is a statement we all know that says "fill in blank, is priceless, for everything else there is Visa." Pffftttt....... forget Visa. Its not visa that makes everything else possible, it is mommy ingenuity and Abba know how! And we do it all with out charging interest!

Suffice to say I am still beside myself with how well it went over. Of course now I will be required to do this again in 6 mo. for the twins. They have really only had one proper party when they turned 3 because of different circumstances. Fortunately it kind of has gotten by them. Years one and two are really blurry for them thankfully (because they are for us!) and the year they turned 4 Shmuely had not had a party either. This year they will remember however, soooo I guess in 6 months I will be putting my thinking cap on again. Hopefully a bit earlier.

In retrospect, I find that the things we either do on the cheap or on the fly seem to go over really well. Its a gift and a curse I think. A gift because we have pulled off the impossible more than once doing it this way; and a curse because just imagine what we could do and do it stress free if we planned ahead! Kind of like the kid who does OK in school but would be straight A's if only they would "Apply" themselves. I guess some of us are just lacking that "skill" set.

In the same line of thinking, for S's b-day D and I made him a stuffed dinosaur. We took an old flannel blue pillow case and I "drew" a dinosaur on it and D cut it out and sewed and stuffed it. It is probably the homeliest dinosaur ever, but really cute and he is S's new best buddy. His name is Elazar and he has his own bed and his own toys. The kids love stuffed animals, but this is the first one to get a real name and the royal treatment. Except maybe M's bunny foo. But Bunny Foo is a story for another day. Anyhow, Elazar is a kick and it is just totally cute to see S love this little guy soo much! Once again Eema and Abba ingenuity beat Visa any day of the week!

What we have discovered is, it is not the amount of money, it is the thought and follow through combined with a little creativity. Not only does it break the stereo type trap, but it also gets compliments. In Israel and maybe the U.S., the answer for treats and party favors are sacks of junk food. Whether it is bought as pre-done party gift packs or sandwich bags with 3 different kinds of candy. The two major problems with this are A) My kids are allergic to additives and preservatives. Seriously. Grocery shopping is just a joy.... and B) Its expensive and once its eaten, its gone. All that remains are hyper active bored kids. What kind of stupid combination is that?! I love non-food because it is useful. The pens and balloons were great ice breakers and we got to see everyone's talent. For M's Channukah party this year I did popcorn in sandwich bags with little hair bands to close the bag. It puts a spin on something that might seem boring and its practical. Part of the reason for this choice of treat is the fact that mine can't have processed food and another girl has Celia-cs. It eliminated my usual choice of pretzels. Plus M just switched schools and we now have 9 girls, not 33. So total cost, about $2.00 tops. But I have done larger projects for 33 girls too on about $5.00.(With that one I MADE little books from old wrapping paper, computer paper and ribbon, then took a little candy and crayon and combined it with a hair band. It took 6 hours, but M was the bell of the ball that day!) Thanks to the universal love of cheap "stuff" most party favors can be put together for just a few dollars and have the parents come out rock stars at the same time. And for us that's the name of the game! But the nicest thing is, our kids really appreciate too. And perhaps that's the best part of all.

New Background

OK just a quickie. Since there was dissension in the ranks about my background, and you know who you are, I changed it again. Obviously. And if you look to the left side of the layout you will see why this is the perfect background for us. You can just barely see the word Jerusalem on the map. So enjoy the new background and TTFN!

My Friends, My Friends Are Good For Me.....!

This is the beginning of an old Girl Scout Camp song that probably my sister is the only who would recognize, unless anyone went to Camp Arrowhead. It so incredibly true and I realized it is the one thing I left off of my Thanksgiving list. I really cannot imagine how I would get along in life with out them. For those of us who have good families, we are truly lucky, but nonetheless, even good family becomes annoying family some days and that is why we have friends! True friends will tell you how great you are and how stupid you are and they still love you just because. No obligations, they just do. Most of my friends live across the pond, but it is nice to pick up the phone or the e-mail and still be able to talk, complain and or just explode and they know what I mean. One of my biggest regrets about being here is that I know my kids are missing out by not being able to hang with theirs.

Friends are what get through grade school embarrassment, high school trauma and nearly failed classes, ex-boyfriends and they even save us from psychopathic roommates. I am and will forever be the Sofa Queen thanks to the last one. The great thing about friends is that you can accumulate them and never have enough. I have some really dear friends that have helped me survive my formative years in Israel and I love that I have friends who I am close enough too that their kids consider us family. So to all my friends, both new and really old, THANK YOU! I would never have survived with out you.

In Honor Of Thanksgiving

Today in America it is Thanksgiving Day. The first couple of years we kept the tradition up with friends but it got to be too complicated here with kids and so on. In fact we actually gave up doing much for Thanksgiving when I got pregnant with S while we were in America still. Not because of religious reasons particularly, but logistical reasons. Thanksgiving is always on Thursday, followed by Shabbat. That means cooking two major meals in a row. Being 9 mo. pregnant does not inspire one to want to either A) cook two large meals or B) go anywhere that might require too much effort. Incidentally we met my in-laws and crew for drinks at a near by restaurant and then went home to watch movies on the DVD. Now that's Thanksgiving! My parents came for brunch the next AM.

So now here it is 7 years later and in honor of Thanksgiving I am counting my blessings and listening/ watching Operation Petticoat while I blog and then start work. And for those of you who GASP! don't know....Operation Petticoat is a 1959 movie with the suave Cary Grant and the handsome Tony Curtis. My kids have a vague idea of what Thanksgiving is, which in their case includes cards and goodies from America and the notion that is an American holiday. But they certainly are "grateful for the goodies.

As for the grown ups, I don't speak for my husband, but I have fond memories of Thanksgiving. We used to go skiing a lot. No crowds and lines, my mom had peace and quiet, she doesn't share the kitchen well.. and my sister, dad and I had an amazing dinner when we got home. I have a lot of other good memories too, but those are some of my favorites. Now I am a grown up and I understand even more that there is plenty to be grateful for. So here is my list of things to be grateful for on Thanksgiving.

First, that we have all that we need. While our budget is tight, we do have all the basic necessities and as hokey as it sounds, we are grateful that we have lights, running water, food to eat and work to do. We read about the tsunamis, earthquakes and the dire situations here and all over the world and know that we are blessed by just having the basics in life. I include my job with this as the unemployment rate world wide is a scary thing right now. But not only do I work, but it is the most ideal situation ever.

Second, I am grateful for my kids. They are a challenge, a blessing, my joy and my undoing as I told my aunt recently. Today M started her new school FINALLY! And although she was very nervous about a change and she did not really want to go, she was such a trooper. She jumped right in, participated in class and her teacher said she did great. Whew, what a relief. It is nice to know that even though they balk at home and can be stubborn and difficult and so on, when they are away from home they know how to behave. Grocery store moments not included........... My boys too get compliments frequently from school and friends' parents and so on. Nice to know we are doing something right.

Third, I have amazing in-laws. Most people dread visits from their in-laws and most women I know hold their breath in particular with their MILs'. I happen to adore my mother in law! She is just so thoughtful and caring and I really just enjoy talking to her. She calls nearly every night to talk to the kids and about once a week or so we catch up to find out what's what on the other side of the pond. My husband actually gives me a bad time (he's joking of course) about how much time I spend talking or on-line chatting with his mom.

Fourth, of course I am grateful for my own husband. We have very different ideas frequently and we have very heated debates, but I am grateful to have him in my life. With out him I would not have 3 wonderful children and I would not be where I am or what I am doing today.

Finally, I am grateful for my own family. I think my mom single handedly keeps her local post office in business with the amount of stuff she sends. Plus she is my mom and she has always been wonderful, so what more can I say? My sister and I are very lucky to have grown up in our family with our parents. We have a lot of good memories as a family,and despite my being over here away from the crew, we do keep up. In addition to fabulous parents and a lovely sister who has always been a challenge and a.... challenge, I have two wonderful Aunties and an Uncle. Between the three of them I have gotten to do some really cool things. Including living in Hawaii for 6 months. I also have an extensive knowledge of the California wine industry as well..also very handy and Yum!

So there you go, in a very long detailed blog, this is what Thanksgiving is to me. We may not be eating turkey or watching football, but I do have Cary Grant and I will be rooting for the Ducks tomorrow and I am truly thankful for all that G-d has given me and my family. So to all of you where ever you are, have a Happy Thanksgiving no matter where you are or what you are doing. And bundle up, because if you are not here, it is probably cold out there!

Just a Quickie!

I mostly blog inside my head and I have lots to say, but little time. Or maybe I don't make the time... it is all point of view. But I will get to that some other time, here is a quick glimpse into the workings of my kids. All three of the kids have inherited my love of stuffed animals and they are bound and determined to have a stuffed animal of every creature that ever lived and two if it can be arranged, because Noah and the flood is one of their all time favorite stories. Fortunately even though I have been required to thin my own herd, I have lots of material for this goal. Over the years we have acquired elephants, including 2 that are heffalumps, if you don't know what they are, you are not a Pooh Bear fan like our family. Anyhow so this morning S commented that we had 4 elephants and we needed one more, after momentary stupidity on my part I of course realized this was due to 5 people in our own family. So I commented that I had a blue one somewhere in America (very common statement in our house, because I still have stuff stored there) and S looks at me and goes, " A real one?!" Of course he realizes there are no blue elephants and after a short discussion including, "Does our zoo have blue elephants?" he realized this was not possible, but I think hope springs eternal! Because a few minutes later there was a little voice next me saying, "What about a light blue one?"

Part of that springs I believe for the desperate need to have a pet or a new baby in the house. Yes, you read correctly. Pets, babies, what's the difference?......... I have to say at this point in my life I actually agree with them. Which is why we currently have neither! In way of short explanation we live in Israel, one of the highest birth rates in the world, we live a religious neighborhood, almost everyone has at least 5 kids and a new baby.... The pet desire comes from their love of animals. We have discussed horses, dinosaurs and a myriad of other animals as pets. Fortunately dinosaurs are extinct and after a visit to the horse stables this summer the kids realized a horse was never going to fit on our mirpeset (deck) no matter how hard we tried. Whew!