This morning I took Talia to school and then took Ben and Keren to pick Eric up at the airport.  Ben needed to see Eric and it doesn’t matter if he is a drop late to school.  He was so happy to see Eric (as were we all) and after we picked him up Eric walked him to school and he was happy.

We hung out this morning with Keren not really doing much.  Eric has had a huge catastrophe at work with his computers all crashing and he’s been working nonstop on that for the last 3 or 4 days.  So when he came home, Eric went straight to work on his computers.

This afternoon my grandmother came and took care of the kids while we went out with friends in Yerushalayim.  First we went out to eat and then we took a Segway tour of Yerushalayim!!  It was for my friend’s birthday.  It was us and the birthday boy and his wife and another couple.  We had a BLAST on the Segways!!  It was something I thought we would never get to do but we did!  The tour was also very cool.  We learnt a lot.

We got home around 6pm and my grandmother left and I fed the kids and showered them and got them ready for bed.  Eric tucked them in tonight while I ran out to Kiriat Sefer with Jere and got my glasses fixed and went to the dressmaker, who I am hugely impressed with.  I also managed to pick up a cute skirt for Talia in Kiriat Sefer that I hope will fit her b/c I won’t get my money back for it, I’ll only get a store credit.  It was too cute to leave there, I was afraid it would be gone by tomorrow.

That’s all for now!

This morning I took the kids to school and then Keren and I did some shopping.  We were out of the basics after last week and needed to replenish.  Keren loves shopping with me and we had fun.  The woman at the cash register didn’t ask me for my ID when I paid b/c she said she recognized Keren from the other times.  It was cute.  At the end she gave me a thing to fill out for some kind of drawing.  I had no clue what it was for but I filled out the info and put it into a box.  We’ll see…

Keren and I hung out mostly at home today playing outside and coloring and stuff like that.  I polished her nails a hot pink color.  It was the first time and she was ecstatic about it.  She wanted me to polish her entire finger, though, and I had to explain to her that we don’t do that and then go so far as to hide the polish b/c she was so sad!

The kids came home this afternoon and we kind of had a lazy day.  Ben watched some TV while I did some homework with Talia and then I took them all outside to play ball.   Talia enjoyed playing hit the penny with me but we used 10 agarot instead of a penny!  She loved the game (basically throwing a ball at a penny and trying to hit it).

At 4 the girls came over to play with the kids.  The one that I think does the best job wasn’t here and I was disappointed.  I didn’t feel like they really played with them so well.  I had also hoped that they would take Ben and Keren to the park while I had this late night at Talia’s school to go to but they said they had to be at an activity today and they couldn’t watch them. 

So at 4 I went into a full panic about what I was going to do with Keren and Ben while I was in school with Talia. After a couple of calls I found my friend’s son was willing to play with them and watch them in the park.  I thought that was the best idea for someone that they didn’t know b/c they love playing at the park.  I wasn’t concerned about Ben, it was more that I was worried that Keren would be upset.  In the end it worked out beautifully!!  After the park he took them to a bball game that was being played and when they came to meet me he was carrying Keren in his arms and pushing the stroller with the other hand!

Talia’s late night at school was adorable.  We were seated at a table with 4 other girls and we had to read a story about an egg who wanted to be something other than an egg and then we had to make eggs and give them costumes and dress them up as other things.  It was cute and the girls had a good time with it.  Then we ate and went home.

The unfortunate part of the evening was that at 7:30 when we got home everyone was hungry and I had nothing to feed them all!!  I popped hot dogs into the microwave and fed them and had them in bed by 8.  Long day!

Friday afternoon when the kids came home from school I gave them lunch and took them to the beach.  It was great!  We were there for a couple of hours and the kids had a great time.  Keren kept pointing at the water and saying “cold”.  Talia and Ben spent most of the time collecting shells and sea glass.

We got home about an hour before Shabbat and the kids and I showered and got ready for Shabbat. 

I was really nervous that the house would seem very empty without Eric being here but as soon as I lit candles my friend and her kids walked in and we were off and running.  We ate dinner at 6 and the kids laughed that my friend Shlomit made kiddush and I made motzei.  We each sat at the ends of the table and at one point I told her that I felt like we were a lesbian couple.  Anyway, the kids played pretty wildly (my kids’ fault, not hers) and by the time they left it was 8:30 and I was glad to see them go so I could put the kids to sleep and clean the mess up.

Ben has this problem where he keeps thinking that Eric is coming home the next day!! On Thursday he was shocked to hear that Eric wasn’t going to be home for Shabbat even though I told him he wouldn’t.  Then last night he was again shocked to hear that he wasn’t going to be home on Sunday.  I repeated, again, that he would be home on Wednesday, at which time he cried.  So now we are counting down not only the days until my parents come but to the day when Eric comes home too. 

The kids woke me at 8 this morning (I thought we agreed on 8:30 but they remembered and I played with them for a while and then got them ready and out the door to shul.  Talia assumed that we weren’t going to go b/c Eric wasn’t home but I said we should go so we aren’t in the house all morning.  I met them in shul a little while later.

Here is a picture of the thing we built together this morning.  The picture didn’t come out great but it’s a really cool airplane. It took us 40 minutes to build!

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The kids went straight to the Zemel’s house from shul while I took Keren home to pick up some clothes for them to change into.  The weather was cool and foggy when they left the house (actually, it seemed like a cloud settled over Chash) but when I got to shul it was scorching.

After lunch, which was very nice, I took a very tired Keren home to take a nap while Talia and Ben stayed to play.  I was able to relax and read until 4:45!!  Talia, Ben and Eitan actually came back here at 4 but they played nicely outside together with the neighbor and it wasn’t until 4:45 that Talia came in and asked when we were going to the park.  I had originally told them to come home at 4:30 so I could take them to the park, figuring that Keren would be awake by then.  So, I woke Keren up and took the kids plus Eitan and Rena, the next door neighbor, to the park.

When it was time to go home I couldn’t find Rena or Eitan and I panicked.  We must have looked for them for 20 minutes before it started getting dark and I decided to just go home.  When I got home I asked my neighbor if they were at her house and she said yes!!  She told me that Rena told her that I knew they were going home!!  She sent her over to apologize to me b/c I was so upset. 

Anyway, Shabbat ended without any surprises.  It was a very nice day!

This morning I took Keren to the park in Modiin and almost melted there.  It was seriously hot today.  Unbearable even in the shade.  Uh!

The kids came home and each brought a play date after coming home from their chugim.  Ben doesn’t play so well with the friend that he brought home and I even wondered why he wanted him to come.  When Talia came home with her friend things went a little easier until the boys and girls started fighting but for the most part it was better.  Talia and her friend spent hours making a boat out of random construction materials they found on their way here, ie, cardboard boxes, sticks, etc.  They worked really hard on it and did a nice job.  They are bringing it into school tomorrow.

I fed all of the kids pizza and delicious home-made garlic bread.  The had ice cream for dessert.  Ben’s friend left at 6 and Talia’s at 7:20!

Tomorrow if the weather stays the same we are heading to the beach after school.  I would have gone today but I didn’t want Keren to fall asleep in the car on the way home and then ruin her nap thereby ruining my rest time   In the end she had a great nap but the park was too hot.  Her cheeks kept getting all red and she kept drinking her water.  I wanted to pour it on her head at one point but also wanted  her to have enough to drink.

Funny Ben comment of the week:  Mommy, I feel bad for Keren b/c her cheeks and her belly are so fat!

Off to put the A/C on and bed.

I had the worst night sleep last night.   At 12:30 Talia woke me  up to tell me that her feet were hurting her and asked me to give her medicine.  Well, that was it for me.  I was up until 3:00!!  Then, 15 minutes before I had to get up, Talia woke me up again, this time to tell me that Ben wasn’t letting her watch The Brady Bunch.  The night before I told them that if they wanted to continue watching TV in the morning that they had to 1. turn it off when I came downstairs 2. keep the volume low and 3. don’t fight over the TV.  Obviously they didn’t hear me!!  So I was pretty tired today.

I took the kids to school and then Keren and I went shopping.  We usually zip around the supermarket in a rush to get out but today I let Keren run around the aisles as I threw things into the wagon and she had a blast!

When we came home I decided to clean out the car.  It was a wreck and I couldn’t wait until Pesach to clean it.  Keren hung out in the car playing while I cleaned.

This afternoon when the kids came home we went to visit my grandparents.  We hung out a bit with my grandmother at her apartment and then went to visit my grandfather.  He was walking nicely with a walker.  He seemed okay.  He doesn’t want to walk and my grandmother has to yell at him until he finally gets up out of the chair but when he gets up he walks pretty well.  The kids and I played ball and Ben brought his helicopter to show my grandparents.  Then, unfortunately for me, the kids found little snails and played with them for a while (yuck!!)

I am totally sick from the food that we ate tonight at the restaurant we went to with my grandmother.  I ate wayyy to much.  Uch.  We came home  pretty late after sitting in some traffic. 

Here are some pretty cute pictures of Keren in the bath last night with her new bath crayons:

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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…