The kids have been off now for 3 days, counting today.  They were off the day before the Chag and now they are off the day after as well for Isru Chag.  The nice thing, though, is that they are very busy! 

Tuesday was spent mostly cooking and watching movies.  Eric and I did the cooking while the kids watched the movies.  Too bad it couldn’t have been the other way around.  At one point I actually sent Ben to Eitan (by himself) to play for an hour b/c he had had enough home time and needed to see other people, I felt.  We also spent much of the day trying to locate Ben’s Crocs!  It was the strangest thing.  He came home from English on Monday and had them on his feet.  After English he ran inside while I was chatting outside with Robin and when he came back outside he was barefoot.  About 40 minutes later we went to the mall and he couldn’t find his Crocs.  We were in a bit of a rush b/c Eric had a meeting at the bank right outside the mall for our mortgage so he put on a pair of boots (!!) and ran out the door.  I turned the house upside down and could not find those shoes.  The problem is that he has his Crocs and he has his sandals that he only likes to wear on Shabbat and that’s pretty much all he has to wear.  When we go to America next month I’ll buy him sneakers but I see that he doesn’t even want to wear sneakers most of the time when he does have sneakers that fit him.  Anyway, about 20 minutes before I lit candles I found them!  The were on the window sill behind the leather couch that we have in the living room.  He likes to climb behind the couch and stand on the sill.  It finally occurred to me to look there and, sure enough, there they were.  AHHHHHH!!!

Ben has to go to school tomorrow prepared to tell a story about the Parsha.  We worked on making him a Har Sinai as well as the Luchot.  Talia and Ben scavenged for cardboard boxes and I cut out the mountain for them and they painted it.  Talia made the Luchot and I cut them out and then I was the one that wound up painting that one.  Ben doesn’t have much patience to sit down for long periods of time and work on something.  I hope he’ll manage next year in first grade!  I’ve been going over the story with him about matan torah in the hopes that it will sink in and he’ll be able to tell his gan tomorrow.  He won’t practice with me.  At first I thought it would be a good idea to tell it to him in Hebrew so that he could retell it in Hebrew.  The problem was that I was making so many mistakes that he wound up correcting me and we were laughing so much.  So I told it to him in English and he’ll translate it when the time comes.  That is, if he does it at all.  I am a bit skeptical.  But at least his teachers will see that he did work on the props and he did prepare.   I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

Shavuot, the one day, was nice.  It flies by here like it’s nothing.  We ate at home at night after Eric came home from shul.  Talia made a big stink that she wanted to stay up to learn.  Eric told her that if she wakes up and wants to go to shul with him to learn that she should wake him up (he had no plans to learn) and he would take her.  She woke him up and told him her throat was hurting her.  She asked him to make her a hot water bottle.  While he was making her the hot water bottle she went to the toilet and started spitting and gagging.  Then she told Eric she was too sick to go and she should just go back to sleep.  Eric said she put on quite the show for him!!  She is a good little actress that one.  So, they both happily went back to sleep

The next day we had our friends Shlomit and Shmuel and their kids.  It was very nice.  The kids all played really nicely together and when they left to take a nap, the 3 kids stayed to play.  They played until 5:30 and then came in for dinner and some calm playing with us before bed.  I started a 1000 piece puzzle with Talia that Eric’s mom had given us for Chanukah.   We did the border and a little more before it was time for bed and before she gave up. It’s going to be a while until that puzzle is finished!

This morning Eric got up early to pick up Foster and to go to Yerushalayim to take care of more stuff for the future house.  He then did the grocery shopping.  Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we played and then went to the park to get out of Foster’s way so he could clean.  Eric met us there and Talia went off to a friend’s house while Eric, Ben, Keren and I went out for falafel, which I had been craving.

Right now Eric is at a carnival with Ben here on the Yishuv.  I assume that Talia is still at her friend’s house… either that or they decided to go to the carnival as well.   Keren is napping now.  It took me 20 minutes to find her doll so that she would finally go to sleep.   I have 2 of them but she prefers one over the other and now I see she won’t accept the other one at all.  I’ll have to buy another one this summer so that I have a backup doll.  I don’t have a backup doll for Ben and it’s a problem!  I have to tell my friend Stephanie that from now on when she buys my babies dolls she should just buy 2 of the same one!!  Later on today there is a show for the kids being put on at the moadon noar.  I’m going to send Ben and Talia and hopefully get some cooking done if Keren lets me. 

Back to school tomorrow for a short Friday.  At least it’s something!  Eric leaves on Sunday for a lonnnng time but it’s his last trip for the year!

I really have to go back to posting every night b/c I can’t remember from one day to the next what’s happened and it’s hard to blog.

As far as I recall, yesterday morning I took the kids to school and then Keren and I met a friend of mine for breakfast in Modiin. 

The kids came home in the afternoon and had English.  Ben went straight from English to his friend Chaim’s house so I took the opportunity to take the girls to my friend Ilana who has a dress gemach in her house.  I got them the most adorably dresses for Ayelet’s wedding this summer!!  The best part about the whole thing is that they are stunning and they are FREE.  I just have to make sure to return them in the same condition that I got them in.  I hope the cleaners can get out whatever stains they may get…  I also found out that she will probably get in some tuxedos so Ben will not have to rent one!!  Yipee.

Talia decided to stay at the house where I got their dresses b/c she is friends with the daughter there and Keren and I were on our way home and stopped off at my friend’s house b/c they were sitting outside and I thought it would be nice to stop and chat.  I wasn’t looking forward to going home alone with Keren b/c she’s bored without the kids here.  So we stopped and she played with their little girl and I shmoozed for a while.  We eventually had to go home so I could make dinner and also b/c the sharav blew away and all of a sudden was replaced by cold air!

Last night I went to play tennis with my new foursome.  It was great.  We had a nice time and the weather was cool and perfect for playing tennis.  I played really well, too.

Today I took the kids to school and then Keren and I came home and did some housework and then went into Yerushalayim to meet my friend Miriam who I have not seen in years.  We met at the only place I know how to get by car by myself, the Mamilla Mall.  We had breakfast together at Cafe Rimon.  For those of you keeping track, that’s two breakfasts in a row!! 

Keren fell asleep in the car on the way there, which was surprising.  I thought it would work out well and that she would nap again when we got home at 12.  After 30 minutes of quiet she called me to take her out of her bed so that was the end of that.  No nap for Keren this afternoon.

Ben came home and ate and did his English homework (he is amazing at it) and then I took him to English and picked Talia up from school.  She was shocked to see me b/c I never pick her up.  I took Talia and Keren to the nearby bookstore and we bought books for gifts and also for ourselves (in Hebrew). 

We came home and Talia ate and then did some homework and then I took her to English and Ben to a birthday party.

Keren and I came home alone and she was quite the disaster.  I gave her her paci and dolly and she fell asleep on the couch while I made dinner.  She was so tired, nebuch.

The news of the day is that we are oficially accepted into Even Shmuel!!  We got a letter today letting us know that they want us!  Yipee!!  I checked the mail with Ben tonight on the way to pick Talia up from gymnastics and fortunately I bumped into Channah and she confirmed what I thought the letter meant, we are in!

Tomorrow morning Eric’s flight comes in and he will either take a taxi home or wait for me to take the kids to school and then pick him up.  I am toying with the idea of taking Ben with me, if Eric decides to wait for us, and to take him to school late.  He missed Eric so much this trip that I think he would appreciate it.  We’ll see.

Today we had playgroup at our house!  Three other mommies and their children came to play.  Keren was really excited.  I took out a bunch of toys and put them all in the living room and all the kids played really nicely.  In fact, they all stayed until 10:30, rather than 10.  So we had our first successful mommie playtime at our house.

Talia got all of her spelling words right today at English as well as the bonus word!   I think it’s the first time that she’s gotten everything right.  She was so proud of herself. 

Nothing else out of the ordinary happened today.  Ben went to his friend Gili’s house after English and stayed there until 5.  Talia wanted to go to her friend’s house as well but she was rude to me and I punished her.  In the end it didn’t even matter b/c her friend never called.  She was pretty antsy tonight and after we picked Ben up from Gili’s house she asked if she could take a walk.  She and Ben wound up hanging out down the block on a bench.  They came home for dinner and went right back out until 7!  They had a piece of paper and a pen and they said they were writing down the names of flowers.  I was just happy they were getting along.

Oh, Keren counts.  Here is how she counts:  1, 2, 3, 6.  No mention of the numbers 4 and 5.   She is so funny!!

Talia was supposed to have had a sleep over at her friend Rachel’s house on Friday night.  She went there for dinner and all was well.  At 11:30 at night I heard what sounded like a skateboard on cobblestone but then I heard “Eric and Tammy!”  Talia’s friend’s mom was outside with Talia and Rachel yelling our name and knocking on our door.  Apparently Rachel told Talia about a movie she had just watched where the pictures came to life and it scared the crap out of  Talia so much that she wanted to come home!  I felt so bad but so did Yochevet (Rachel’s mom).  I think Talia was embarrassed too. 

Shabbat morning we went to 2 Bar Mitzvahs.  We had a kiddush first at a friend’s house (the party is tonight) and then we had a luncheon at the shul.  Ben was supposed to go to Robin’house for lunch and Talia was supposed to go to Rachel’s house.  In the end, they both went to Robin’s house because Talia wouldn’t even go back to Rachel’s house!!

Last night we stayed in and watched 2 new movies that Eric brought back for us.  Well, they were old movies but to us they were new. 

This morning Eric got the kids off to school and Eric, Keren and I went to meet with a potential architect.

This afternoon the kids made me cards for my birthday and then they baked a napoleon cake with Eric.   Meanwhile, I entertained Keren outside and then brought her inside for some play dough time (her new favorite thing to do next to coloring)

This evening we went to a beautiful Bar Mitzvah locally at a place called Neot Kedumim.  It was basically in a cave that was lit up with candles and lights.  It was very, very nice.  We were seated at a great table with our friends and we had a great time. 

Now that we are finally home and wedding and Bar Mitzvah free (until the next invitation lands at our door) I can relax and not have to worry about babysitting for a while, phew!

Just really quickly to bring the blog up to date, yesterday was a pretty typical Tuesday with English chugim, etc.  At night we went to shevah brachot for Avigail in Ramat Beit Shemesh.  It was another really, really late night!

Today I was so zonked that after spending the morning with Keren cleaning up the house, doing laundry and a quick stint at the park, I gave Keren something to eat, threw her into bed for a nap and then took a nap myself!

This afternoon we went to visit Saba in the hospital.  I managed to get all of the kids in to see him.  I don’t think the staff at the hospital would notice if I brought an elephant into the room to visit him, to tell the truth!!  He looked old and sad.  It was hard to see him.  Keren tickled his toes for a while and they both laughed.  Talia and Ben didn’t really know what to do.  Ben, after seeing the bag containing Saba’s urine in it said to me, Mom, your bag was much bigger than Saba’s bag when you were in the hospital!  So that was funny. 

Savta took the kids home and I sat there for a little while longer with Eric and with my cousin Avi.  We all left at 4 and my aunt came to sit with him. 

We got home late and I got the kids into showers and into bed.

Yesterday was another cold, rainy day so Keren and I quickly did our food shopping after dropping the kids off at school and then we ran home and stayed in the whole morning. When it was time for a nap I put her into her crib and she started to cry.  I thought it was probably because she is so used to going out and she wasn’t tired at all (even though she woke up at 6:30 again!).  I the end I snuggled with her and gave her a speech about not crying when I put her in and she didn’t cry and went right to sleep.  I think she listened to me

When the kids came home from school I gave them lunch and then took Ben over to Robin’s house.  Talia, Keren and I continued on to see my grandparents in Petach Tikavah.  My grandmother had something removed from her finger and wasn’t able to drive so we went to them instead.  Ben didn’t want to go b/c he had a  bday party so he stayed with Eitan all afternoon and when we came home we picked him up and he was showered and in pajamas and ready for bed!  I love Robin!!

Anyway, we had a nice time there and I was able to help Talia with her book report while my grandmother played with Keren.  So that was a big help b/c that book report is due on Monday and Eric did the last one with her and I had to do this one with her and I was dreading it.  It’s a problem that Keren is always around and looking for attention.  It doesn’t give me any time to do homework with Talia. I think that next year when Ben starts getting homework I am definitely going to need to bring someone in to help during homework time to either do it with them or take care of Keren or the kids not doing the homework.  We really had a nice time there and went out to dinner with my grandparents and Aunt Suzie.  My grandmother suggested that we could start coming to her some weeks. I told her that it’s very nice but the whole point of this Wednesday visit started b/c she offered to come and help me so I could go shopping or cook, etc.  Now it’s turned into just a weekly visit with my grandparents which, while nice, doesn’t help me at all if I can’t get anything done!!  I told her that I would love to come another day but on Wednesdays I am already starting my Shabbat preparations.  So we’ll see what happens in the future.  Certainly on a Shabbat where we don’t have company, like this one, I can go there on a Wednesday afternoon.

This morning I schlepped out at 7 to get Foster from the bus and when I got there and turned my cellphone on I got his message that he had missed the bus!  So I went home to the kids, who were getting dressed and finished up and took them to school.  In the end he got a ride here b/c there was no way I was going back there for him 30 minutes later.

I went to Yerushalayim today with Robin and another friend from the yishuv.  We all needed gifts for past and upcoming Bar Mitzvahs.  Keren was pretty well behaved and we also stopped to get a bite to eat.  It was a really nice morning and we lucked out with the weather.  It somehow was nice and sunny in Yerushalayim even though it was rainy and gross here.  When we got home I transferred a very sleepy Keren into her bed and crossed my fingers that she would stay asleep!  She wound up sleeping for 2 hours.  Guess we tired her out in Yerushalayim.

Ben went straight to a friend’s house after swim and then from there went to some kind of Tu B’Shvat arts and crafts thing that they had in the shul.  Here is the project that he made:

Meanwhile, Talia came home and then went out to her survival chug and came back with the muddiest shoes I’ve ever seen.  It tooka while to clean them and it is going to take days until they dry out.  She said the were racing in the mud.  I, of course, was just thrilled!  Take a look:

When she came home she invited a friend to play and they played nicely until 6.  At 6 I took her friend home and picked up Ben. 

We got news today that we won the michraz and we now own a piece of land (pending approval from the vaad hakabalah, of course).  Very exciting news.  All 4 families all won their land!!  Incredible!!

I took a cute picture of Keren the other day wearing her dress up Barbie shoes:

I want to start off by writing that Ben and his friend Or are in the kitchen eating pizza babbling away in Hebrew and I just had to stop them and ask Ben what they were talking about b/c  I didn’t catch all of it.  Too funny.

SO yesterday afternoon when the kids came home from school we took them to Even Shmuel to check out the lot of land that was supposed to be ours by this afternoon.  We went with another couple and had a nice time looking at other people’s houses and we met a nice couple from Ramat Beit Shemesh who said they were moving b/c it was to chareidi there and they were hoping that some Americans would move in to Even Shmuel.  They weren’t American, just as a side note, but I guess they want the prices to come up!  Anyway, when we finished there we went to the mall there for dinner.  BIG MISTAKE!  We knew the people in the area weren’t as upscale as, let’s say, the people in Modiin.  We weren’t expecting, however, to see the kind of people that we saw there.  I wasn’t thrilled and neither was my friend that we were with.  The two of us sat there miserably mourning the potential loss of our beautiful and beloved Azrielli Mall in Modiin.  I mean, if Ben wants to be friends with other kids who have earrings in their ears, I guess that’s fine… OY!!

The entire evening I was doubting our pick of communities or rather of the area itself.  I calmed down a lot today when another couple went down and looked at the schools and talked to some people.  I think it’s going to be fine and I think that with time the area will get better.  I know it’s been getting better the past few years already.  I also think that maybe the mall is considered down town (wishful thinking?)

Today we went shopping (again) for dining room chairs and (again) came home empty handed.  Argh!  When we were on the way we found out that the deal with the people who were selling us the land kind of fell through and we would have to go another route.  So now we are all looking into buying from someone second hand or we are looking into entering the michraz, which is basically like bidding for it.  So it’s all become more complicated but could, in the long run, wind up being better for us b/c we might get a bigger piece of land in a more desirable area on the yishuv.

Here is a cute video that I took of Keren today:

The kids have been coming and going all day long.  It took me about 1 hour to convince Keren to go to sleep.  She staying in her crib from 1-2 calling me.  At 2 she went to sleep for about 2 hours.  Meanwhile, Talia came hom at 2:45, ate lunch, did homework and went to survival.  Then Ben came home and had a snack and went to try out a new chug that I don’t think I’ll be signing him up for.  He came home at the same time that his friend came to play with him (5:30!) and they played.  Talia came home while Ben was at this chug that he tried and then went to her friend to practice for some play that they are putting on for Ben’s class on Sunday.  It’s been nuts here tonight.

At 5:30 Eric took Keren to go pick up Bubby and her boyfriend who are in the area and wanted to stop by for a while. They came and they stayed until 9, at which time Eric drove them back to Yerushalayim. Bubby’s beau is adorable and they are very sweet together. They are coming back with Beth and Peter on Sunday when we’ll make Talia a belated birthday party for her friends.

We have been really, really busy the last week.  We’ve had a great time going to Chanukah parties by family and friends, hitting the mall for fun activities, going to Beirot Yitzchack where we rode on camels and donkeys and milked a goat and learned all about making olive oil, going to the biblical zoo and finally hiking with friends through caves.  We’ve come home late almost every night and slept in almost every day!  The kids are nice and exhausted and so are we!

Some of the pictures are up online on Facebook and some are still to come because Eric needed the phone and I can’t upload while he’s on.  So check out the pictures below to see our hike today and I’ll post more tomorrow. 

Today Talia came home from school and announced that the optional teva that her teacher said she could make is now mandatory and we had to make one.  I would have made it when it was optional but she told me at the last minute and I was angry.  So I sent her to the area where everyone dumps their old cardboard boxes to pick up some boxes and she came home and we made the stupid thing.  It was frustrating as could be and at one point I screamed at everyone and stormed out.  Eric wound up finishing it, sans roof, and it came out pretty nice!    She has 2 floors, 2 windows, a ramp and a little perch for Noach to sit out on.  Once she adds the little animals and people that we happen to have from a toy teva it’s going to be really cute.

 

The rest of the short day was spent cleaning up the house and getting ready for Shabbat.

Shabbat was hot!!  I can’t even begin to write about how hot it is here, it’s nuts!  I feel like it is the middle of July.  It isn’t bothering Eric at all but he says he’s still defrosting from his trip to NY.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened on Shabbat.  It was nice and went by fast.  Talia had a friend come over around 3 and even though she is an American friend who speaks English at home, Talia insists on speaking to her in Hebrew.  It is so weird!! 

Last night my cousin Avivit called and asked if we wanted to go out.  So we got a babysitter and met them in Ra’anana and ate at a sushi place.  It was great!  I had a tempura roll where they basically deep fry the roll.  It was AMAZING!   We were all very casual but Avivit was all dressed up!  It was so funny!!

Today I was zonked b/c we got home so late.  Eric took the kids to school and then came home and woke me up b/c he had to go sign up for ulpan class.  Yes, that’s right, Eric is taking ulpan!!

After doing some errands we came home  and put Keren to sleep and I slept too.  Eric picked up Ben and took care of the kids while I napped!  This, of course, means that I will not be sleeping tonight!!!!

This evening while I was with the kids Eric went to pick up a closet for Talia.  My grandmother has an apartment in Yerushalayim that she rents out that used to belong to my great grandmother.  Now it belongs to my grandmother and my great aunt.  Their tenant called to say that they don’t need the closet that is there and they would like to take it out and what should they do with it.  My grandmother told me about it and Eric went to pick it up tonight.  It is going in Talia’s room, since she could use another closet.  It has to be fixed  up a little b/c it’s so old, which will give Eric a nice little project for tomorrow after he finds out what level of ulpan he placed into.

Oh, this is a good story:  I went to pick Eric up with Ben and Keren on Friday from the airport.  I didn’t want to wait around for a long time so I told him to call us when he was getting his luggage and we would leave.  It all went according to plan and we got there and he was waiting outside for us.  While he was loading the bags into the car Ben questioned why he had so few bags.  Eric realized that he was missing a bag!!  So he went back in and we circled!!  He eventually got it.  It really didn’t take that long.  They found it and put it into the lost and found.  He said it must have fallen off his wagon and he missed it.  The scary thing is that he had meat in that bag and luckily he got it back with no problems.  The fact that he dropped it and they put it into lost and found so quickly was really amazing!!  So that’s the story.  The short trip took us over an hour… again!!!