Yesterday morning I took Lois to Shuk HaCarmel in Tel Aviv.  We had no clue where we were going but the gps got us there somehow!!  We walked around for a long time in the hot sun.  We bought a few things but of course Lois was down to her last 50 NIS and I forgot to take money and had only a 50 on me as well!!  On top of that we knew we would have to pay around 30 for parking b/c we parked in a lot after circling forever.   Anyway, it was nice and it was somewhere I had never been.  Lois enjoyed looking at all the produce.  She is so funny.

In the afternoon I took the kids to English and then we went to the beach for dinner.  We packed up sandwiches and ate on the beach.  Talia didn’t want to come b/c she was invited to her friend’s house so she stayed here.  I had wanted to find the Rishon beach that I love but for some reason I couldn’t get us there and instead we went to a different beach in Palmachim called Gam Yam.  I don’t care for the beach b/c it’s mostly shells but Lois was so excited to see so many shells in one area.  It worked out well.  I found about 69 pieces of sea glass, more than I have in my entire collection over the years.  That was exciting.  I brought a ton of it home, nice big pieces.

Today I played tennis in the morning and then drove Lois to the airport.  Keren fell asleep on the way home and then wouldn’t take a nap. ARGH!!  It’s basically what she did yesterday on the way home from Tel Aviv but I really wanted her to nap more than 20 minutes today!

The kids came home and did the usual.  I took Ben and Keren to the park in the late afternoon before dinner while Talia was at English and gymnastics.  I would have gone back to the beach today again but they had their chugim to go to.

This evening I went to a dressmaker to see about making a dress for Ayelet’s wedding.  She came very highly recommended.  Unfortunately, even though I loved her, she wanted to charge me an arm and a leg to make the dress and I refuse to spend that amount of money.  SO, I still have time (which is what we keep telling ourselves also about finding a place for next year, HA!) so I will keep looking.  I have one more lead and if that doesn’t pan out then I’ll have to figure out how to get myself uninvited from this wedding…

In kind of a crappy mood now b/c my evening didn’t go as planned with the dressmaker and it’s late so I’ll be going to sleep now.

Shabbat flew by.  One minute we were lighting candles and the next we were making havdallah.  Basically, we went to shul, came home and played some ball, ate lunch and then the adults and Keren took naps while Talia and Ben played outside with friends.  When we woke up we didn’t know where Ben was.  It turned out that he went to Eitan’s house b/c Talia went to her friend’s house.  The problem was that we didn’t know!!  Eric and I decided that is where he must have gone so Eric walked there before maariv, found him and told him to come home.  Eric told me that he told Ben that he has to tell us where he is going and he said that Eric always tells him not to wake him up when he is sleeping so he didn’t want to wake Eric up!  Too funny!!

Last night Eric and I went out to eat in Yerushalayim while Lois babysat for the kids.  We went out for sushi and then we were still hungry so we went to another restaurant and ate some more!

Today I took Eric to the airport while the kids were in school and Keren was at the park with Lois.  He is gone for 10 days this time, a long one!  I have to figure out what I am going to do for Shabbat this time around.  I can’t go to my grandparents b/c my grandmother has her meals with my grandfather in the hospital and it’s too far to take the kids.  I will probably wind up staying home and eating meals out.

We took the kids to the candy store so they could each pick out some candy.  I thought that they had enough candy here b/c of purim but Lois wanted to treat them.  We went to the park after that in Modiin, one of the ones that we haven’t been to in a while.  It was a beautiful day today and we enjoyed being outside.

When we came home Talia went straight to another birthday party and the 5th grade girls came to play with Keren and Ben.  They are getting used to them now so it’s great for me.  I was able to make dinner and go get my stitches taken out and all sorts of fun things that moms get to do while their kids are being entertained by someone else.

The kids are asleep now and Lois took the car to the mall. We were afraid she would get lost so I called Jere to see if she wanted to tag along and she said yes.  So the two of them are at the mall together now and I am going to head to sleep soon.  I am not sure if I should stay awake until she comes home though…

Yesterday, Thursday, Lois went to meet her friend in Yerushalayim.  Robin drove her in and Eric picked her up later on in the day.  She said that it was great seeing her friend and she had a really nice day.  Meanwhile, the kids had school and we had errands to do. 

In the afternoon I took Ben and Keren to the playground here while Talia went to her survival chug.  We stayed there for about 2 hours.  The park kept filling up with more and more friends for Ben (and for me too) so we wound up staying there pretty late.  Eric had picked his mother up and brought her home and she baked challot with Talia and then Talia went to her friend’s house for their bayit cham (it’s kind of like a round robin play date kind of thing with a set number of girls in each group).  Ben had his turn to bake with bubby before dinner.

In the evening, after the kids went to sleep Lois and I went out to a cafe in Modiin and had hot chocolate (her) and soup (me).

Today we had the big Adloyadah.  That is what they call a big purim parade.  It was rained out last Friday so they just pushed it to this Friday!!  The kids were all dressed up in different costumes based on what their class decided.  Ben was one of the avot and Talia was a cat.  We had to make her an animal from Noah’s Ark and that was the best we could come up with.  The parade started in front of our house (!!) and continued to Talia’s school.  It was adorable!  It was very large.  They had all the shuls and they had floats and even a horse.  It was adorable.  I took video but I probably won’t post it b/c it’s too big of  a file.  We’ll see.  I felt bad for all the kids b/c of course it was 80 degrees out today and the kids were all in costume and they were all hot and sweaty.  They made them stop for water breaks every so often. 

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So now everyone is out.  Lois brought something for someone whose mother lives in Modiin.  So the kids all went with Eric and Lois to Modiin to drop it off and then they are going to go to the candy store b/c Lois promised them candy (because we don’t already have enough from the shalach manot).

Shabbat Shalom!!

I don’t know where I’ve left off.  I probably haven’t written in days but I don’t remember what’s been happening so I am going to skip over it completely.  Monday evening we pick Lois up at the airport.  The kids brought her in and right away opened up her suitcase and started taking out their presents.  Lois got Keren a doll that she LOVES.  She is so sweet with the doll.  It’s adorbale.

Yesterday I played tennis in the morning and Eric and Lois took Keren to the park.  In the afternoon the kids had English and then Eitan came over to play.  Eric and I left at 5 to go for our interview at Even Shmuel.  We were supposed to have our interview at 6 but we had to wait 2 hours for our turn!  They finally took us at 8!!  By 8 we were hungry, cold and tired.  They spoke to us for 5 minutes, after which time one of the guys said that Eric is going to be going straight from there to the dentist and he won’t question us anymore!! In case you didn’t get that (b/c I didn’t get it at first) he thought that Eric and I were breaking our teeth to speak Hebrew and he didn’t want to bother us.  I guess that must mean that they didn’t see or hear anything in the previous 3 minutes of the interview that bothered them about us and that we are good to go.   We will oficially know in about a week or so.

Today we hung out in the morning not doing much.  It was kind of cloudy and breezy and not such a nice day to be outside.  Lois and I made an english muffin recipe that I’ve been wanting to try out.  They came out tasting great!!  I can’t wait to make them for my grandmother after Pesach.  I hope she likes them and doesn’t ask anyone to bring her english muffins anymore.  Here is a picture of them:

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In the afternoon Talia came home and said she was going to her friend’s house and staying there until her party started at 5:00.  She took her homework and left as quickly as she came in.  Ben came home and I gave him lunch and then we all went (minus Talia) to show Lois Even Shmuel and take pictures by our lot of land (or what we estimate to be our lot).  First we went to a stripmall nearby where we saw last night that they had dumped a huge mound of snow on .  We let Ben and Keren play in the snow a little with the other kids there.  We totally forgot that you need to be wearing gloves when playing with snow so he complained that his hands were cold.  He also complained that the snow in Israel is colder than the snow in America?!?!?!

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Anyway, we found the spot that we think is will one day have our house on it and took some pictures and watched some men laying wires under the street, you know, some fun and exciting stuff. 

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We drove around a little bit by the old area and then we stopped to play a little bit in an exercise park there so the kids had a little more time to stretch their feet.  We took the kids out to dinner in a cafe nearby and came home in time for putting on pjs, a little TV and bed.

Talia sauntered in at 7:15 and watched a little TV too.  She told me that they didn’t serve any dinner at the party and that she was hungry!  Argh!!

Anyway, I think that brings me up to date.

So I’ll cut right to the chase.  Our Shabbat was all about the water.  Friday night it rained all night.  I slept well despite the pounding rain and hail on the roof (it seems to hail here every time there is a heavy rain, I am not sure why) and the thunder but Eric had a hard time sleeping.  Ben ran upstairs at 7am to wake Eric up to let him know that there was a flood downstairs.  First thoughts were that of course it was because of the rain and the leak in the living room ceiling which has been getting progressively worse with all this rain in the last 3 days.  Ben said it was coming from the kitchen, though.  Eric ran downstairs and saw that it was pouring out from underneath the meat sink.  The next hour and a half was spent sponga-ing the water out of the front and back doors.  It was nuts.  Unfortunately, our big rug was fully saturated with water and all the red bled onto the cream and it is now a pink and red rug. 

We decided that the best way to attack the problem of the rug would be to roll it up and hang it outside.  The only place that we could think of is the outside upstairs mirpeset.  I couldn’t lift the darn thing b/c it was so heavy.  We left it on the stairs for a while and let the water pour out of it.  The water coming out of it was pink!!  It looked like we killed someone and wrapped their body in it and were dragging it up the stairs.   We finally managed to lug the thing up the stairs with no injuries, although Eric did almost fall down the stairs once, and we hung it outside and I plan on calling a carpet cleaner to see what we can do about it.  I am hoping to salvage it somehow.

The rest of Shabbat went by pretty quickly.  Eric took a nap with Ben in our bed in the afternoon and Talia went out to play.  I read on the couch.  Suddenly Shabbat was over and I got the kids dressed in their costumes and sent them with Eric to shul. I kept Keren home with me and put her to sleep soon after they left.  I went to a later women’s only megillah reading at 8:15.

Today was another wet day.  A ton of rain and hail, thunder and lightening again.  I took Talia to the women’s megillah reading after Eric came home from his reading.  We spent the day delivering shalach manot and hanging around.  In the late afternoon we went to my cousin Avi’s wife’s parents’ house for Seudah in Petach Tikvah.  When we left here it was sunny and when we got close to their apt. it was hailing so hard that we couldn’t see 2 feet in front of us.  It was insane driving in that. 

Anyway, we had a nice time but it was very crowded there and there wasn’t enough room for everyone at the table.  People were kind of standing around and rotating.  I felt bad b/c we would have had room here comfortably for everyone.  My grandfather was there and he was walking nicely with his walker.  His only problem now is it is very hard for him to get up out of his chair.

We got home around 8:30 and threw the kids into bed and started cleaning up the mess that is our house.  Eric organized all the candy and cookies, etc.  That’s become his job over the years and he’s good at it.  It took us over an hour to do it all.  I am hoping that tomorrow the kids sleep late and then go down and turn on the tv and let us sleep late!!  Tomorrow is Shushan Purim and the kids are off again…

Haven’t had a chance to write or, rather, been too tired at the end of the day to write.

Wednesday was the usual and in the afternoon I took Talia and Keren to visit savta and saba.  Ben wasn’t up for it.  He was tired and said he wasn’t feeling so well.  So he stayed home and basically watched TV the entire afternoon while I took the girls out.  Saba seemed well and he enjoyed having us there, as usual.  He gets a big kick out of Keren. Everything she does he laughs at.  So I am happy that I can bring them there.

Yesterday, Thursday, was a fast day and it was just a crazy day.  Talia had half a day of school but Ben had a regular day.  I spent the day baking hamentaschen, cooking for Shabbat and making the last of those chocolates that I was putting in the baskets.  We also spent the day putting the baskets together.  Talia was my ribbon curler.  She loves to curl the ribbon.  The fast flew by and I didn’t even feel hungry by the end!  Maybe I should always start my fasts on a burger? 

Today, Friday, the kids were supposed to have the big parade here where they all march through the streets in their costumes.  It was cancelled due to the weather.  For the last 2 weeks it’s been like summer here and now, in the last 2 days, it’s gotten really yucky out.  We had thunder storms here last night and it was torrential.  I, of course, came down this morning to puddles in my living room.  So, they cancelled the parade but they rescheduled it again for next Friday which will be really nice b/c Lois is coming on Monday and she’ll get to see the parade.  Meanwhile, it is supposed to rain for the next 3 days.  SO I guess Purim will be a washout this year. 

Funny Keren story:  Keren has taken to calling Ben by his name instead of calling him Talia.  The only problem is that she calls him Pen instead of  Ben.  It is just the cutest thing!!  Not so much of a story, I guess, just something that she does.

Below are pictures of the kids in their costumes.  Ben is a pirate and if you aren’t sure what Talia is, she is Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.  The wig she is wearing is the closest one that I could find to what Dorothy’s hair looked like in the movie.  She also looks a bit like Raggedy Ann, I’ve decided.  Talia went to school today in costume and Ben went to school on Wednesday in his costume.  If you notice that Talia has a red spot below her eye in the picture it’s because she does.  She got hit in the face by a soccer ball in school yesterday and it’s all red just below her eye.

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When I mentioned to my friend on the phone last night that Purim lasts a week in this country she told me that I told her the same thing last year.  I guess I just forgot about it.   Today, yet again, Talia learned absolutely nothing in school and came home to tell me she had some kind of activity with animals, or something like that.  Ben came home with an adorable mask and had a great day in school.

This morning we spent our time buying baskets for our mishloach manot and running to the supermarket and then to the police station where we had to get our criminal record (now I know how to say that in Hebrew) to give to the welcoming committee when we meet them on March 2nd to see if we are accepted to the new yishuv.   Yet another thing that we had to do before being allowed to move in there.  It’s getting quite annoying, I have to say.  So the morning was spent doing errands.   Getting a copy of your criminal record is really funny.  We had to go to the post office and buy stamps.  I thought we were doing that b/c they were going to mail us a copy.  It turns out that you have to buy the stamps b/c you have to pay at the police station for your criminal record.  However, the police are not allowed to take your money, so you buy the stamps and then give them the stamps and then they take the stamps back to the post office and get money for them!!  HA!  I was hysterical when Eric explained that one to me.

We came home to find out that an attempt was made to deliver Ben’s passport.  We weren’t home so we have to call them now and get them to come back with it another time.  Who would have thought they would have come within the first 1.5 hrs they said they would come with it.  Shoot.  At least we still have plenty of time before we need it this summer.

This afternoon I brought  Ben’s friend Gili home with us.  We continued making our chocolates for Purim and doing all kinds of Purim things.  The kids each  made their own shalach manot to bring to school with them for tomorrow.  We made some Hamentaschen for their shalach manots, etc.

Just a funny note about Keren.  This might be one of those you-had-to-be-there stories but I am going to write about it anyway.  Just before going up to bed tonight the kids were showing me their tongues.  First Ben said his tongue was hurting him so I looked at it and it looked fine.  Then I remembered that Talia’s tongue was hurting her last night and so I asked her to stick it out.  I looked at her tongue and it looked all better.  Then Keren saw all this going on and she pulled out her paci and stuck out to tongue and showed it to me,  it was the cutest thing ever!  She has been copying them a lot lately and it’s adorable.

Oh, another thing to add, we got the results of Keren’s blood test back and it seems that now her iron is fine.  After 3 months of giving her that special iron it’s okay now.  So we are all set.  We are going to recheck it once before the summer to make sure that it stays okay but it’s a huge relief for us!

Shabbat was the usual.  It was a nice day so we sat outside for a while after lunch and then they kids played with the neighbors while Keren slept and Eric and I rested.  At 4 we all went to the park and stayed until dinnertime.  Sat. night Eric and Talia went to shul to the learning hour.  Talia loves it. 

Yesterday, Sunday, we got the kids their costumes for Purim.  I called Robin in the afternoon and asked her if she had a pirate costume b/c Ben decided that’s what he wanted to be for Purim. She said she had one and it would fit him!!  It’s an adorable costume!  While I was there she gave me a Dorothy costume for Talia and a clown costume for Keren.  We ran to the toy store to see if we could get Ben a sword and Talia some ruby shoes and a wig.  We got Ben his sword and we picked up a hook so he can be captain hook, but we didn’t come home with the shoes or the wig.  So we’ll have to keep up the search for those things. 

In the evening I had a minor thing removed from my neck/shoulder area.  It was a quick procedure but after the anesthetic wore off last night I was pretty uncomfortable and couldn’t fall asleep.  I took a Percocet and that helped it all!!  I happily went to sleep and slept pretty well all night.

Talia and Ben played with the 5th grade girl who comes on Sunday’s to play with them.  They had a great time.  Eric said that while I was gone they were kind of sitting around not really knowing what to do.  I find that is often the case with them.  He said he threw them out and told them to play in the park and by the time I got home from the surgery, they were running around with the ball and having a blast. It was the first time that Talia was home while they came and she had a really nice time playing with her also.  I mentioned to Eric that it might not be working out b/c 4:30 on a Sunday afternoon is a pretty lousy time for them to come but when the kids overheard me they said, No!!!  So, they will continue to come.  Meanwhile, three girls are supposed to come but only 1 has been coming after the first time when they all came.

This morning Eric took the kids to school and then took Keren for a blood test.  Now we will find out if the iron that she had been taking for the past 3 months worked or not.  I am nervous to get the results b/c if it didn’t go into her system then we have to find out why.  I got out of bed at 9:10.  Eric said he tried waking me up but I wouldn’t wake up (thank you Mr. Percocet!) so he didn’t try again. 

Keren and I ran out the door to playgroup 40 minutes late and we played for a while with some of the other children and mommies.  It was a small group today.

My neck was kind of hurting me when I moved around so I came home and put Keren to sleep after feeding her and then tried to take it easy and not move around too much.    I think I am going to have to cancel my tennis game that I had planned for tomorrow.  There is no way that I will be able to play.

This afternoon we made a bunch of chocolates out of the chocolate molds for Purim that Eric and I bought yesterday.  The kids and I had a lot of fun mixing food coloring into the chocolates to make all different colors.  It will be one of the things that we put into the shalach manot.  Eric also went shopping and bought a lot of goodies to put into them.  We just have to buy containers now…

The kids had English today and Eric did carpool for me b/c my neck was really hurting me this afternoon. 

The rest of the day kind of flew by.  The kids put on their costumes, again, and made a show for me.  They love their costumes!  Even Keren insists on getting into hers.  I am going to have to hide them so they don’t get sick of them by the time it’s time to wear them!

It’s 15 minutes until Shabbat so I’ll make it quick.

Nothing doing today.  Of course it wasn’t a beach day today so we didn’t go.  It was nice, but not as hot as the other 4 days this week.  This morning we walked to the bakery and then to Robin’s house to see her new rug to go with her new couches.   We came home and Keren and Eric rested on the couch while I finished up some cooking.

The rest of the day we spent at home with the kids.  They played really nicely and Eric basically spent the rest of the day BBQing and baking cookies!!  He is so funny.  He made really yummy choc chip cookies.

That’s all folks.  Another week gone!

This morning I picked up Foster with Keren.  Ben decided to stay home and Talia stayed with him.  The kids were ready early so I took advantage of it and walked to school with them.  We usually walk to school but on Thursdays we have to drive b/c there usually isn’t enough time to get through in the morning and then get Talia to school on time if we walk.  Ben would not let me leave. He didn’t want to stay there.  He’s been giving me more and more of a hard time.  I’ve asked him why but he won’t tell me.  He just doesn’t want to go.  It makes me so sad!!   I am just not thrilled with his teachers this year and I am glad we are moving b/c if we stayed and I decided not to send him on to first grade next year, then he would have the same lousy teacher.

This morning was another beautiful day so Keren, Eric and I went to the park by the bagel store.  We got bagels and ate outside in the park.  We stayed for a long time b/c Foster was cleaning and only came home at 12.

This evening after everyone came home from swim and survival chugim, we went to the Purim carnival that the Yeshiva was having.  It turned out to be a DISASTER!  Keren and Talia had a good time but Ben was impossible.  We brought Eitan with us and after a few games the boys decided they were thirsty.  I bought them each a Coke and they were happy.  Then they asked for cotton candy and that’s when the fit started.  Robin had shown up by that time, thank goodness, b/c Ben would not stop crying that he wanted cotton candy.  I refused and I finally had to take him home.  He cried the whole way home.  He was acting nuts.  So he pretty much ruined the whole thing for me and for Keren.  I let Talia say and she came home happy a little while later.  I think in the end it was that he was starving and he couldn’t handle it.  It’s not the first time that we’ve seen him act crazy when he’s hungry.

In the end the kids were all home by 6:15.   They ate, I cooked a little with Ben and he snapped right out of his bad mood and then I showered them and put them to sleep.

Tomorrow it’s off to the beach!