Wow, I haven’t posted in a while.  I am going to try to catch up now on everything since Friday:

Friday I got the kids off to school and then I did some finishing up on my cooking for Shabbat and Keren and I ran to the supermarket to pick up some last minute things that we needed.   Eric called me around 11:30 to say that he made up a lot of time in the air and that he had landed already!  So I called Robin and asked her to pick Ben up from school and I ran to get Talia from school at 11:45 and we went straight to the airport.  Of course I couldn’t find her anywhere and it turned out that she was let out of school a few minutes early and she went straight to Cabessa, the store that sells the candy!  So after the entire school emptied out I ran over there and, sure enough, she was on line.  So I grabbed her and we ran to the airport and picked Eric up.

Friday night was just the 4 of us.  We had a bit of hysterics here by the time we got to the table b/c the kids both wanted to sit next to Eric.  Don’t ask!  I finally got up out of my seat and sat at the other end of the table so everyone would be happy.  I think Eric was ready to hop onto the next flight out of here and back to America to get away from teh crazy screaming and crying family (I was only screaming, not crying).  Anyway,  we got the kids into bed nice and early and we went to sleep pretty early too. 

Oh, forgot to mention the huge shiner that Ben had on his left eye when he came home from school.  he apparently fell into a wooden house, or something like that, and his eye was swelling more and more as the day went by.  In the end he wound up with a red/purple eye lid.

Friday night Ben had a dry diaper!!  What happened was on Thursday night I realized that we had run out of diapers for him!  So I told him that we had no more and that I would wake him to pee in the middle of the night.  Well, it was a little too late to be springing that idea on him and he kind of flipped out that he was not going go have a diaper on and he was getting  all stressed about the possibility of waking up in a wet bed in the morning.  Luckily I was able to pull out a Swimmie diaper from Keren’s room that was only 1 size too small on him and he slept in that.  So Friday night he was prepared that he was going to give it a go.  I had bought him Pull Ups on Friday with a special design that disappears when wet.  He wore them on Friday night and I took him to the bathroom in the middle of the night when I nursed Keren and lo and behold, he woke up dry on Shabbat!!  Yay Ben!!  He had a repeat performance again on Sunday but unfortunately this morning he was wet and when I went to wake him in the middle of the night last night, he was already wet and was unable to go when I took him.

Onto Shabbat:  For Shabbat we had Robin and her kids since Freddie is in the States and we had my friend Jere.  I love having Jere b/c besides the good company, she always bakes something delicious for me!  The kids, although they ranged in age from 4 to 16, all played really nicely together and when the older ones left, the younger ones stayed and they didn’t go home until after Shabbat!!  Savta had bought Talia a game called Taki, which is very much like Uno, and it was a big hit with the kids. They played with that most of the afternoon and then they played in the back for a while and then at 4, after constantly asking if it was 4 pm yet, I told them that they could take the little racing car that Lois bought them for Chanukah and ride it down the hills of Chashmonaim.  They had a BLAST!!  Talia and Sammy went on together and it was the sweetest thing to watch.  They really had a great time zooming down the middle of the street.  They did get yelled at by one “old lady” who told them they were giving her a headache, but other than that they had fun (hey, it was after 4 and rest time was over!!!)

Sat. night we stayed in and we watched a movie on slingbox  HBO on demand.  It was an old movie called Home for the Holidays with Jodie Foster and Robert Downey Jr.  It was cute.  Looked like one of those low budget films. 

Sunday the kids went to school and I spent the morning looking for a snowsuit for Keren that I KNOW I have somewhere.  Of course it is still pretty warm here and not snowsuit weather, but it is killing me that I know I have it somewhere and I can’t find it and it is going to get cold soon (I assume) and I will need it.  So, in doing so, I wound up unpacking another box!  I thought there was china in the box but there was some clothing and some tissues and toilet paper (a HUGE commodity here!!) and some other things like a new raincoat for Talia that was handed down to her by our cousins, etc.  So it was a great find!!  Then I also organized Talia’s room and put away the clothing that is too small on her that was sitting on the desk in her room.  I also did some laundry.  I really accomplished a lot in the way of home organization!

Later in the morning we stopped by the car place to make sure the car was ready to be picked up before stopping at the change store to exchange money so we could pay for the car.   Then we stopped at a local place to get some brunch before going back to the car place.  After brunch we went to the car place and I dropped Eric off so I could take Keren home and feed her and then get Ben from school.  On my way to school Eric called from the car and said that the check engine light just went on as he was pulling out of the place and that he was going back to give them back the car and that I had to go back and pick him up after getting the kids!!  AHHHHH.  What a pain!!!! 

Talia had her English Chug and we biked there.  Sunday evening we hung out in the house playing with toys and talking to family on Sight Speed.  It was nice.  After the kids were in bed we decided to watch another movie since we enjoyed the one Sat. night so much.  It was kind of boring and I wound up falling asleep pretty early!

Today after I got the kids off to school and went to school myself (Keren stayed with Eric today, ahh!!) I came home and hung out and had lunch with Eric and then when the kids came home from school we all went to a playground in Modiin that Eric discovered with Keren this morning while the rest of us were in school.  As we were getting into the car to leave the car place called Eric on his cell phone to say that the car was all fixed up and ready to be picked  up.  So we swung by there first to pick the car up and then made our way to the park.  Yay.  We have a car.  We officially own a car in Israel.  I feel like our klita is complete, finally!!  So the kids hopped into the new car with Eric and I stayed in Saba’s car with Keren and we went to a really nice park.  The kids had a great time there.

We came home at 4 and Ben went to Karate and we came home and did homework with Talia.  It was kind of a combined effort b/c we had to keep our cool as she read b/c she can be so frustrating sometimes when she reads that I wind up either wanting to throw her out the window or throw myself out the window. 

Ben came home around 5 and we all ate dinner together.  The kids requested tuna patties and fettuchini alfredo.

Now I am all caught up on the last 5 days.  Phew!!

So it turns out that Keren has a double ear infection.  One in each ear!!  Poor Keren.  When she woke up again this morning in a grouchy mood I decided it was time to take her to the doctor, especially since tomorrow they don’t have hours and then is Shabbat, of course.   So I took her in the morning and the doctor said her ears look horrible.  So then we ran to the drug store to pick her drops and antibiotics up.  By the time I got to ulpan it was half way over but thank goodness I listened to my instincts and took her to the doctor. 

This afternoon Ben and I hung out and cooked most of the afternoon away.  Talia had Rinat come over to help her with her Hebrew and they played a nice card game that Savta bought for her called Taki.  It is very similar to Uno but it has a few extra cards in it that Uno doesn’t have.  It’s really a nice game.  So they played in Hebrew and Talia was speaking and understanding pretty nicely.

This evening while getting Ben ready for Ben I noticed that he was out of diapers.  So I told him that we were going to start taking him to the bathroom in the middle of the night to pee and that he wasn’t going to wear diapers anymore.  Well, that didn’t go so well.  He kind of flipped out that he was going to pee and he would have to sleep in a wet bed!  So I dug up a swimmy diaper from somewhere and it’s only 1 size too small and I am sure it won’t hold much pee if he does pee (and he always does) but it made him feel better.  I am going to take him to the bathroom at night and see if we can’t get this training thing over and done with.  I have a feeling I’ll be going diaper shopping tomorrow, though. 

When I picked Ben up from school today his morah told me that he got a boo boo on his chin.  He was running and fell.  She said that she knew he was hurt b/c he cried and it was the only time that she heard him cry when getting hurt.  I was happy that she realized that.  It is totally true.  Eric and I always say that when he cries you know something is really wrong b/c unless he is tired, he doesn’t just cry like that when he gets hurt.  He really has to be hurt.

Eric held up the web cam today so I could see the snow falling in White Plains this morning.  So nice!!  I miss the snow.  Of course the weather here was absolutely beautiful here today…

Busy day coming up tomorrow between getting ready for Shabbat and getting Eric from the airport.  I hope to post before Shabbat.

Going to make this short b/c I am zonked.

Had to leave ulpan a little early today to let my cleaning man go and take him to the bus.  It was good, though, becase poor Keren really wasn’t feeling well and as ulpan went on she seemed to be getting warmer and warmer.  I left and put her to sleep and gave her some tylenol and when she woke up she was much happier and much cooler!

Today my grandmother came to help out and she brought her yummy noodle kugel.  Can’t wait to lunch and dinner tomorrow!  She watched the kids while I went shopping for Shabbat.  Shortly after I came back it was time to take Ben to karate class, which was switched to Wednesday this week.  He was so excited that he kept asking me if it was time to go.

After we picked him up from Karate (he had an amazing time) we went out for dinner with my grandmother to a yummy place in Modiin which we discovered with my parents when they were here.  It was really nice.

When we came back I put the kids to bed and then I cleaned my chickens and made the challah.  It got a little late and I really didn’t have the patience to stay up with the challah so Lois said I can put them in the fridge all braided and bake them tomorrow.  I am so nervous but I am attempting it.  I hope they come out good.

I can’t write anymore.  I just want to watch some recorded tv and go to sleep.

The good news first:  Keren slept from 11 to 7 last night!!

The bad news second:  She was so tired and such a disaster today that I had to leave ulpan today 45 minutes early!  Oh well.

Today Ben had his cooking chug so I had a nice long afternoon until Talia came home at 2:45.  When she came home I gave her a snack and we did some homework and then I took her to her English chug.  After English she gets picked up by a friend and she goes to their house and then they go to art together.  So I don’t see her again until 5:30 on Tuesdays after I drop her off at 3:00.

This afternoon after Ben came home from his art chug (luckily he got a ride with someone since the people that were supposed to take him home forgot to take him home!) I took him to a show here on the yishuv.  He had a great time and really enjoyed it.  I asked him if he liked it and he said yes.  I asked him if he thought it was funny and he said yes.  Then I asked him if he understood it and said no!!  So funny.

Today I got a notice from Talia’s school that made the war seem very close.  They talked about the programs that they are doing in school, such as accepting the new students that came to school here b/c their schools are closed due to the war, the fact that they are saying  Tehillim for the soldiers who are at war and then they said that they are going to be practicing taking the kids into the bomb shelters.  Ahhhh!!!  So that was pretty scary.  My cousin said that when she comes home and talks about it that I shouldn’t make too much of it and I shouldn’t freak out.  I am glad that they sent the note home so that I could prepare myself for just that situation!  Now I can be calm when she comes home and asks me about it.  Yikes.  I also want to ask Ben’s school where their safe rooms are since I don’t know that they have them.  I am sure they do and I just haven’t noticed.  Chances are good that his school is a big safe room since it’s not all that big.

Anyway, made more cookies while the kids were in school today and Keren was sleeping.  Going to bring them to someone tomorrow who is then going to bring them to someone else who will take them to the soldiers.

So today we basically had the usual day.  We all went to school.  Keren wasn’t so great in ulpan.  She was exhausted but wouldn’t sleep more than 20 minutes in her stroller.  It was hard for me.  The good news is that I learned that my teacher who was supposed to only teach us on Mondays and Tuesdays and then have off the other two days will be staying with us and teaching us all 4 days.  I am really excited b/c I really didn’t love the other teacher.  Yay.

This afternoon I ran to the supermarket with Keren and then ran back to pick Ben up from school.  When we came home we made the most delicious cookies to be delivered to the soldiers on Wednesday.  I got a new recipe from Eric’s mom that I kind of half followed and half didn’t (including substituting whole wheat flour for regular flour completely by accident) but they somehow came out AMAZING.  I am going to attempt to make them again for Shabbat.  I hope I know what I did.  Tomorrow I am going to bake a batch of another kind of cookie, I think, to also be delivered to them.  My mom told me that there used to be a song during maybe the first Lebanon War, I think she said, that was in Hebrew and it said, “please don’t send me cookies”  The point being that the soldier wanted some practical things and not just cookies.  I hope they enjoj our cookies anyway!

This evening we went to Avivit and had dinner there.  It was nice to be there and not to have to be the one to make the dinner.  Usually she comes to us and I make the dinner.  I was totally prepared and I had the kids’ pajamas and toothbrushes but Ben woke up when we got home and Talia never fell asleep in the car.  The result was having to do bedtime at 8pm instead of the usual 7pm (except we already brushed teeth) and then there was an argument over the volume of Ben’s tape recorder and I was trying to nurse Keren and get her into bed b/c she was so miserable after barely napping today and having a horrible cough and cold, etc.  In the end they all went to sleep!!!  Ben said the funniest thing but I can’t remember exactly what he said.  He meant to say that I sped up his tape and the singers sounded like chipmunks but he called them something else that sounds like the word chipmunk and I can’t remember what it was but it was hysterical.  I am hoping it comes to me.

News on the Hebrew front:  Talia said זה בא לי today, which is an expression in Hebrew that she picked up in school.  I was so excited that she picked it up and used it in the right way today!!  Yay Talia.

So Friday morning we had Talia’s Kamatz/Patach party.  W got to her school at 8:30 with a very unhappy Keren.  Keren woke up with fever and all snotty.  Anyway, the hallway of her school was set up with little tables and at every table was a game to play that had to do with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.  It was very cute but very crowded and squishy!  Because of all the bodies in the hallway, they wanted all the parents who brought strollers with younger siblings to move out of the way and my friend Heidi suggested babysitting and they put all the kids in one room with some older kids who were running the games and they watched our kids for us.  It was really great!

So we played games for about an hour and Talia got prizes and then we were all called into a room where they sang their songs and a few speeches were made.  It was very cute.

Next we were called into Talia’s classroom where we ate breakfast.  It was also very crowded there but at least the boys were in the boys’ classroom and the girls were in their classroom.  In the end we wound up staying until 10:30!!  It was one long party!  All the moms (and one dad) were looking at their watches b/c it was Friday and we had to get out of there and cook for Shabbat.

Friday afternoon was spent getting the house ready for Shabbat and for the three seminary girls who came.  I had to go to Robin’s house to borrow a comforter cover and I wound up taking Eitan home with me so that he could play with Ben.  I was happy to have him since Ben is ALWAYS there and I feel bad that he never comes here.  The 3 kids played nicely together while I cooked and cleaned up so that was great.  While all this was going on Keren was sleeping.  She slept for 4 hours!  When she woke up she was in a really grouchy mood and would only let me hold her.  Then only part of the day she spent in a good mood was during her bath.

The girls came in the afternoon, around 3-ish and they were adorable.   Three girls from England with the cutest accents. 

Friday night we ate and the kids fell asleep, Talia on the couch and Ben at te table laying on two chairs.  The girls were a quiet bunch but very sweet and very helpful and the kids adored them.  Unfortunately because we’ve had seminary girls in the past and they’ve never gone to shul Friday night, Eric left to shul without them. So Talia walked them to shul and I asked her to tell Eric that they were there before she came home but there were some protests going on outside the yishuv but close by and the army was firing tear gas and it apparently spread to that side of the yishuv and Talia came home and said she couldn’t breath and she was all upset.  So of course Eric came home without them and I was worried that they wouldn’t know the way back so Talia went to find them and then Eric left and then Talia came home with them but then we lost Eric…  In the end we all managed to find each other.

Shabbat we went to the other shul, the more Israeli shul.  It was really nice.  I think we are going to be going there from now on.  I also found out the groups there are supposed to be amazing.  So I am going to force the kids to go to groups there.  Wish me luck!

We came home and we played some bananagrams.  It was great.  Did I mention I love having seminary girls over?  Then we ate lunch and the girls played with the kids a little.  Then they went to rest and I read to the kids and then they went to the park.  As I was on my way upstairs to take a short nap Keren woke up from her really short nap.  Argh! 

Last night Avivit called to see if we wanted to go out to Petach Tikvah.  I was in the mood to go out and wasn’t feeling particularly tired so we called a babysitter and we went and we even left Keren here!!  Of course the second I walked downstairs after putting Keren to sleep she woke up and started crying.   I told the babysitter to leave her alone and she would probably stop.  Luckily she did.  Of course at one point during the evening my phone rang and I went running to it afraid that it was the sitter but in the end it was  a friend from ulpan.  We spent the evening sitting with Avi and Avivit and talking and it was really nice.

Today was a productive day around the house.  I really meant to try to get to the advanced ulpan class this morning but I was too tired after going to sleep so late and I just couldn’t get out of bed.  That, combined with the knowledge that Eric is leaving tonight and this would be the last time I could sleep in for the rest of the week (not that I can sleep in when he is here but whatever), really kept me in bed this morning.  I got up late and did some cleaning up from Shabbat and just random organizing.  We’ve switched Keren out of her old car seat and into the Britax.  So we had to put that stuff away and the wheels from the Snap N’ Go away and take out the other strollers and make room for everything.  I did about 4 loads of laundry today!  In fact, I still haven’t quite finished with everything.  Between all the bedding and everything, it’s been a long day of laundry.  While doing one of the loads Keren kind of escaped out of the laundry basket that I plopped her in and I found her on her way down the steps.  By that I mean she was trying to go down the stone steps head first.  Her feet were dangling in the air and she was on the second step from the top.  I thought I would have a heart attack right then and there.  Next time I do laundry you can be sure that I will have her in that laundry room with me and the door will be closed!!!  That was too close a call. 

We had hoped that today would be the day that we would finally get our car.  Of course when Eric went there this afternoon it wasn’t ready.  The still hadn’t fixed something on the bottom outside of the car that is purely cosmetic but nevertheless needs to be fixed.  So we are going to wait another week until Eric comes home and then pick it up next Sunday and drop my grandfather’s car off by their apartment.  It’s been a long wait for this car.

After the kids came home today we had lunch – pizza on pita – and hung out for a bit until Talia had her English chug.  Talia, Ben and I rode our bikes to her chug and then Ben and I rode home and hung out some more.  After I rode to get Talia the kids watched a movie and played with their shrinky dinks and then we had dinner and showered and went to sleep.

Eric is on his way to the airport now.  He’ll be gone for 4 days.

So I better get to sleep now since I will be flying solo this week!

I am zonked and so I think I am going to keep this short (sorry Bubby, I know you like my long posts)

Busy day today between the kids and the cooking for Shabbat. 

Ben came home straight from school and we did some baking together for a while until he got bored and turned to Eric to play with him.

Talia had swim today and came home at 4, at which time Rinat came to play with her and speak some Hebrew to her.   Unfortunately, Talia wasn’t so cooperative and didn’t want to speak Hebrew at all.  So we all spoke Hebrew and Talia spoke in English.  I think she’s embarrassed to speak in front of us. I don’t know why.

As Talia was on her way in, Ben’s friend Chen popped over to say hi since Ben and I stopped by her house on our way home from school.  They picked Ben up and he went to her house to play for a while.

As all this was going on I was cooking in my teeny weeny oven, one thing at a time, of course. 

Just got an e-mail from my friend that her daughter’s boyfriend got out of Gaza today and will be home for Shabbat.  That’ s good news.  The bad news is that he was right outside the building that was destroyed by friendly fire a couple of days ago and about to go in.  He heard someone inside yelling “where is my hand?”  Things here aren’t so great.  The mood on the Yisuv and in Israel is pretty somber.  So many of the boys here are in the army and their families are so worried about them.  We were supposed to eat out at  a friend’s house but they cancelled because they just weren’t in the mood.

Anyway, to end on a light note, we are looking forward to Talia’s camatz patach party tomorrow morning in her School.  She sang one of the songs for me and it seems like it’s going to be very cute.  I will try to post pics Sat. night after Shabbat.

Well, the teeth are coming and they are coming fast.  Keren got her first one on Shabbat and now this one came out today.   She now has the beginnings of 2 little teeth on the bottom in the front.  They are adorable and sharp as could be!  I have to hurry and take a lot of pictures because within the next 2 weeks when the teeth come out all the way it will officially be the end of the gummy smile that I love so much.  Sigh.

Today we had our oral exam in ulpan.  It went fine.  I basically just had to have a conversation in Hebrew with the teacher that gave the test. 

Ben said that he was the chazzan at school today.  He was all excited. He was so cute.  He went to Eitan’s house (as usual) today but instead of me taking him there he just went straight from school, which was great.  I am glad that I planned ahead. 

Talia went to Or’s house after school today. That means more Hebrew for her since Or is the little Israeli girl that she plays with.  She had a nice time.  I didn’t pick them up until after 5 pm so Eric and I had the whole afternoon together (with Keren, of course). 

I got a call today asking if we could host 3 girls who are here in seminary for the year this coming Shabbat.  I just had Eric put away all the pillows and blankets that were out since my parents came and he organized them really nicely.  I guess it’s time to pull them all out again.  Also, I got invited out for Shabbat lunch but now we are going to stay in and I am going to have to cook.  It will be nice though.  The kids especially love having the girls around when they come.  Usually the girls get a kick out of Keren as well and they are usually VERY helpful with the kids.  So I m hoping we get a good bunch of girls.

So this afternoon I came home from ulpan famished and so we made a quick shopping list and we ran out to get a bite to eat and do some shopping for Shabbat.  We went to an amazing place in Modiin where they made a killer baguette!!  It took a while until it was ready but it was really worth the wait!  It was also really cheap.  Can’t get stuff like that in America for that price.  When we left Eric said goodbye to the guy.  He said he wants the guy to know him b/c we will be frequenting their establishment many times to come in the future!

Other Keren news:  Keren is now in the next size car seat!  We moved her into the Britax.  No more Snap N’ Go for us.  I put her in the bigger stroller today and she looked so little in it.  She was really cute.   The kids were really cute about it too.  They didn’t even see her in it but they each noticed independantly of each other that the new car seat was in the car and they were each so excited that she was going to be sitting in it.  It is now a pretty tight fit in my grandfather’s car but I am really hopeful that by Friday we’ll have our new, bigger car and we’ll be able to give this car back to my grandfather, finally!!

So this morning was fun.  Ben decided that he would rummage through my medicine drawers and take out some of our Pepto Bismol and eat it!!  They are small, individually wrapped tablets that are pink in color (what else?) and I guess look really appealing because he ate one of them and then swore up and down that he didn’t.  Talia finally squeezed a confession out of him by telling him that I wasn’t mad (I was so mad!!) and that he wouldn’t get into trouble.   Once he finally confessed we scrambled to find out what an overdose of Pepto Bismol will do to you.  So he basically took 3 times what he was supposed to take.  I was downstairs with the kids and Eric was upstairs on the computer looking to see what to do.  He called me and said that he would get majorly constipated and that I needed to give him a bunch of prunes before sending him to school.  So as I was cutting one up and Ben was throwing a tantrum b/c he didn’t want to eat the prunes Eric called down again and said forget it, another side effect is diarrhea!  So then he told me to give him a ton of water to drink so he didn’t dehydrate.  It was hysterical!  In the end he was fine.  I sent him to school with a bottle of Petel and told his teacher that he had to drink the whole thing and then another refill.  They kept an eye on him and he was fine. 

No other excitement today.  Talia had English and Art.  Ben had baking.  Eric was fasting.  I got some bad news in ulpan today that tomorrow I have my oral exam (yikes) which counts for 40% of my grade. Not sure why I care about my ulpan grade but I do.  The really bad news is that there is a shortage of work for the ulpan teachers and so they are giving my teacher 2 days off a week and the other 2 days we are going to have another teacher.  We know the other teacher and we don’t like her!!  I found it very hard to learn from her when she taught us.  I am upset b/c there is only 1 month left of ulpan and now I feel like it’s being cut in half b/c half the time we will have a not-so-great teacher.  UCH!!  That pretty much killed my day.

Talia had another play date with Or.  She only speaks Hebrew and it’s really great for Talia.  They are set to play again tomorrow at Or’s house.  I am so happy.  Talia was forced to call her house and ask if Or could come over today and her Hebrew was pretty good on the phone.  She was so embarrassed but we made her do it and she did!  Go Talia!

Oh, this evening while she was cleaning her room up, Talia threw her little pocketbook on top of her closet and it caused a picture frame to fall which caused a bowling pin (a real one) to fall and the bowling pin fell off the top of her closet and onto a set of plastic shelves.  In the end it broke on of the shelves (that belong to my grandmother, yikes) but it also caused her miniature snow globe to fall and break!!  Apparently she loved the snow globe.  It was “the best thing in the world.”  She “loved it more than Keren!”  So Talia was devastated tonight.  I have to go find another mini snow globe now so that she won’t be so sad and surprise her with it…

So yesterday evening was crazy as predicted.  My grandparents came over with my Aunt Suzie and my dad had tons of his family over as well.  They came in at all different times so there was constant cleaning of dishes and putting out more food.  It was nice but it was tiring and my mom wasn’t feeling so well and she helped me a lot and I felt bad for her.  It was nice to see my dad’s cousins that have kids my kids ages and who are around my age.  I hope to have them over more often.  It will also strengthen our Hebrew!!

Last night I hugged my parents goodbye and early this morning they went to the airport.  Eric took them at the ungodly hour of 6:15.  I opted to stay in bed and then get the kids ready for school.  By the time we came downstairs a little after 7, Eric was already home and preparing lunches for the kids!!

While Eric took the kids to school today I stripped my parents’ beds and put the room back together and started some washes.  I didn’t want the kids to come home and see their beds and get sad.  In the end, neither kid mentioned them at all!! I was the one bringing them up because I miss having them here.  Talia, who cried for 2 nights in a row at bed time didn’t say a word!!  Go figure!!

Today Ben had karate for the first time.  He LOVED it.  All I know is I dropped him off and there were about 20 boys running around and going crazy and having a great time.  When he came home he was ecstatic and said he can’t wait until next week!!  So I guess I have to go pay now since this was a trial class.  I am so happy that he enjoyed it.  Now he is busy with chugim on Monday and Tuesday every week.  So it’s nice for him. It is also on a day that Talia has nothing so she is home with me while he is at his chug and it allows us some time together without Ben.

In the evening Avivit came over with Shelly.  I made dinner and we ate together.  It was really nice.  She stayed until just after I tucked the kids into bed. 

I just finished folding some laundry which was really hard to do b/c I cut my finger pretty badly tonight with one of my new knives (again!!) and it is a really deep cut.  I am going to go take a shower and get into bed right after. I am zonked.

Oh, one thing I might have forgotten to mention, Keren FINALLY cut her first tooth on Shabbat!!!  I thought maybe she would sleep better now at night but that hasn’t been the case yet.  Oh well!!

Some pictures of my parents and the kids: