Had another lousy night sleep last night.  I just started a good book by Nelson Demille and I couldn’t put it down.  I wound up reading until 12 but then didn’t have such a great sleep afterwards.  Oh well. 

This morning it was quite cold out but not raining so Ben rode his bike to school and Talia wound up walking with a friend.  When we came home Keren and I hung out for pretty much the whole morning at home.  I decided that I wanted to make baked ziti for dinner so we ran out later in the morning to get what I needed.  The makolet didn’t have everything I needed so we went to Kiriat Sefer and got the rest.  I bought Keren a ball that she asked for and then we went to the park that’s there to play a little.  The wind was whipping around and I finally got too cold to stay there any longer.  I carried a very sad Keren back to the car.  She was happy to stay and play but it was cold and it was late.

This afternoon the kids had their English chugim and Talia also had gymnastics.  I basically spent the afternoon shuttling the kids around and baking with Ben.  We made 2 more desserts for the kiddush on Shabbat.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned yet that it’s Eric’s turn this week to bring the kiddush so I am baking for it.  We also made challot for Shabbat. 

I have to mention the funniest thing that Jere told me recently.  She was walking with Ben one Shabbat and she said something about being fat.  He told her that “you aren’t fat, just your hips and your arms are fat!”  She got a kick out of it (luckily) and I just think it’s the funniest thing ever!!

Talia went to sleep tonight with a shower cap on her head.  Usually that means that they have lice and I’ve put conditioner on their heads with a shower cap.  Luckily, not this time.  Talia decided that she wanted  to put a bunch of ponytails in her hair and she didn’t want it to get ruined before school tomorrow.  So she spent about an hour doing her hair tonight and then put a shower cap on her head in the hopes that she’ll wake up with her hair looking perfect.  Good luck to all tomorrow morning when she wakes up and has to redo her hair again.  I am praying she is satisfied with it when she wakes up but I do not have a good feeling about this one!

Keren has a bit of a cold and she keeps sneezing and then asking me for a “noo shoo” or “new shoe”.  She means tissue, of course.  It is the cutest thing.  So I have her a burp cloth and she wipes her own nose with it after she sneezes or just when she has a bit of a runny nose.  I can eat that child up!

Wednesday my grandparents came in the afternoon and Eric’s grandmother came too.  It was very nice.  I had to run out a bunch of times, first to take Keren to the doctor for a prescription and then to take Talia and Ben to Tipat Chalav for their regular checkups.  It was really funny.  The doctor there, in addition to checking Ben’s height and weight, also made him draw a person and shapes and answer questions about situations and colors, etc.  Unfortunately, when it comes to drawing, Ben isn’t the best.  When asked to draw a person he made his usual stick figure.  He makes a head and then arms coming out of where the ears would go and feet coming out of where the chin would be.  The doctor took one look at the picture and said, in typical Israeli fashion, That’s a person?  That’s not a person!  Where is the rest of it?  I explained to her that that was as good as it gets.  She made him draw another one, this time including a body and hair and hands and feet.  He did a pretty good job.  I wish I had saved it and scanned it in so I could include it in the blog.  Oh well.

While I was running around my grandmother was sitting in the kitchen with Eric’s grandmother and they were discussing all sorts of things.  So they had some nice bonding time.  We all went out to the mall afterwards to eat.  Eric and Saba went to pick up Moshe and they came back and we all ate.  It was crazy in the mall b/c they were having a chocolate and coffee festival but it was nice anyway.

Yesterday (Thurs.) morning Eric had a checkup at the doctor b/c he needed to get a permission slip for the gym that he can work out there.  He didn’t realize it but they told him he had to bring one in. While he was there I took Keren in for a blood test to figure out what the story is with her iron.  Anyway, Eric got terrible news, or I should say that I got terrible news!!  He has high blood pressure!!  What do you do to decrease the high blood pressure?  You go low sodium!!  Now I have to cook with less salt.  We love salt!!  I am so sad.  He told me that it’s really not all about me but I am seriously mourning the loss of salt in my cooking.  So we’ll see how the food tastes this Shabbat but I can promise that my vegetable soup is going to be B L A N D!!  Eric, meanwhile, is busy running around looking at all the food in the house and letting me know what is high in sodium and what’s not.

Last night Talia came home from her chug and told me that I had to drive her back to get her water and her sweatshirt.  She said that one of the older girls took them from her and hid them.  I was fuming.  Ben had a friend here and I had to leave them with Eric (who was working at the time) and throw Keren in the car and go back there with her.  We saw the girl (an American, not an Israeli for a change) and she was holding her sweatshirt and her water.  I told her to get into the car.  She asked me why.  She said she had Talia’s stuff and was looking for her.  Yeah right!!  I explained nicely to her that it wasn’t nice what she did and how sure I was that she wasn’t going to do that again to her.  I also nicely explained that I didn’t appreciate having to leave the house at that time with Keren and with Ben at home.  I think she got the point.  Oh, and when I write that I explained it nicely, I might have raised my voice just a little bit.  Anyway, she called us when we got home to apologize to Talia!

Today, Friday, not much happened.  We are busy getting ready for Shabbat.  Oh, I kashered liver for the first time.  It was exciting.  I didn’t want to taste them so I don’t know if it’s any good but I am looking forward to liver tonight.  I had no clue what I was doing.  I hope I did it right. 

The kids are outside playing and I see that Keren has tracked mud into the house.  I just finished cleaning up for Shabbat, of course.  Which reminds me, yesterday the cleaning man cleaned and then later in the day Keren spilled yogurt, Ben spilled apple juice and then Keren spilled the spicy sauce that come with the pizza on the floor, on herself and on the kitchen chair.  I have been cleaning my floors since then!!

Shabbat Shalom!

Jere just left and it’s already after 9pm so I am going to try to make this one a fast one.    I can’t even remember what happened yesterday so I’m just going to skip it.

We are still waiting (on shpilkes) for the results of the michraz so we know if we’ve won the land or not.  We check our mail 2x a day, we used to check it once a month.

Today Eric and Keren went to the dermatologist.  Eric had his wart burned off (finally!!) and Keren has something on her arm that wound up to be a type of wart also and quite contagious, he said.  So now I am fully expecting Talia and Ben, who do take turns bathing with her once a week, to catch them.  Luckily, they don’t bother her at all and they will just go away on their own.  The look like little puss-filled blisters on the inside of her arm (or, as my brother would have referred to it, her “elbow pit”.

The kids had their English chug today.  Ben finished learning all the letters in the alphabet and will now start to read.  He is already reading words like pop and mom, etc.  I am excited.  Talia, meanwhile, is reading everything that she sees.  If there is a word hanging around, she tries to read it.  She still isn’t great but tonight she sounded out the word emergency.  I was proud.

After their chugim Talia continued on to gymnastics.  She told me she is almost at the point where she can do a full split.  She tries so hard!! Ben’s friend’s grandmother called me and told me that her grandson was asking for a play date today with Ben.  It is his friend Or who he likes to play with.  So I brought him to his grandmother’s house and they played from 3:30 to 5:30.  It was a great play date.  The grandmother said the boys played outside, played cards inside, etc.  Ben came home and said she gave them hot water with mint and sugar and some cookies!  Such an Israeli play date.  He was quite happy.  Big difference from the play date he went to yesterday where they sat in front of the computer watching TV the ENTIRE time he was there!  He is not going back to that kid’s house again!

Tomorrow Eric has ulpan and Keren and I will do our shopping and then go to the playground.  Today was chilly for the first time in a really long time.  I am hoping tomorrow will be playground weather.  We haven’t been there in a while and I miss it and I know Keren does to.

Today we had Talia’s party.  She turned 8 on December 10th but we managed to push off the party untili January 10th!!  She was getting antsy so i had to just bite the bullet and make it for her.  It went well.  ALL of the girls in her class came!!  There were a total of 26 girls, plus Ben, plus Bubby and her boyfriend Moshe (who, by the way, Keren likes better than Bubby)  and Aunt Beth and Uncle Peter.  The kids were all really cute and the best part was that after the movie was over we had about 15 minutes to kill so I put on some music and we all danced.  The kids were adorable.  I made sure to ask Talia if I was embarrassing her and she said no.  So I kept dancing.  We danced to the chicken song.  It was so cute!!

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This morning Eric went into Jerusalem to put in the bid for the migrash that we would like to buy.  It turns out that we don’t have to wait 3 weeks to find out the result like we thought, we’ll find out in 3 days!!!  So we won’t sleep for the time being.  Keren and I were at the park, meanwhile, and we had a great time.  The weather was pretty warm today so you can see Keren in the pics wearing short sleeves.

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Shabbat was really nice, as usual.  Friday night we went to sleep really early.  I think I got 13 hours of sleep, or close to it.  Shabbat day we went out to friends and then Ben wound up staying there and then bringing his friend back here.  Then they spent the rest of Shabbat riding the swing car all over Chash.  Talia, in the meantime, was at her friend’s house and then came back here and hung out with us.  Sat. night Eric took Talia, once again, to the learning thing at the shul.  It wasn’t as big of an event as the last time but they enjoyed it nevertheless.

Tonight we drove Beth, Peter, Bubby and Moshe back to Yerushalayim and then we went out to eat by ourselves.  Jere came and put the kids to sleep!!!  That was a big deal b/c no one has ever put them to sleep other than their grandparents.  Keren did cry but Jere said it wasn’t for long and I believe her b/c I am sure that she would have taken her out of her crib in a second had she cried for more than 5 minutes.  This is good news b/c we have a wedding coming up and now I don’t have to worry, I’ve already booked Jere.  What we’ll do without her once we move is beyond me!

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.

Today we started out thinking we were going furniture shopping for some new dining room chairs.  In the end we got a call as we were leaving the yishuv from a friend who is looking to move to this new area that we are interested in.  She and the other couples were all getting together to discuss the land, etc.  So we wound up going there instead and making some decisions!

This afternoon the kids had their English chug and Talia had gymnastics.  I was really lazy today and let Ben and Eitan play on the Xbox while I didn’t do much.  Around 4, when it was time for Talia to go to English, I told Ben and Keren that I would take them to the park.  It was nice outside and I figured that the evening would stretch out and be boring if we didn’t get moving.  So we went and it was really great.  They actually took the nasty sand out of one of the sections of the park and replaced it with rubber.  Ben wound up riding his bike there, something he hasn’t done in a while and there was an older boy there riding his bike and they wound up following each other around for a while and really enjoying themselves together.  I was just glad that Ben didn’t get hurt trying to follow this boy and do some of the things he was doing, like going up on curbs and things like that.  Keren, in the meantime, was happy to be pushed on the swing and go up and down the slides.

Just a side note, Keren now loves The Wiggles.  She asks me to put it on all the time for her.  It is adorable.  She also stopped calling Ben “Talia” and now calls him something that sounds like “Boy”.  Something like that. 

Oh, and Talia got back her science test that she was very worried about taking and she got a 90 on it.  She wasn’t happy and said that most of the kids got 100 but when I looked at it the vocabulary was very difficult and I don’t know that I would have gotten much higher than a 90 myself!

Eric came home on Friday with tons of clothes for me!!  He did very well on after-the-holiday sales.  He got me a bunch of tops from Old Navy.  It is very exciting!!  I love everything he got for me.

Shabbat we had these 2 yeshivah boys.  They were very sweet and kept mostly to themselves.  The basically came in 2 hours before Shabbat, asked if they could help and when I said no they went into their room, closed the door and didn’t come out until Shabbat.  Friday night we told them to go to the kikar and check out the scene.  We thought they would enjoy it.  On Shabbat day we found out that they got into a fight with some guys and got beat up!  They came home, sans kippot, bloody and all.  We found out today that it was probably their fault in the end.  I found out from Robin who found out from Zahavah, her 16 year old, that they got beaten up by 10th grader “arsim” b/c they totally started with them!  I have to now call the person who placed them with us and let her know what went on.  Oy.

Anyway, the rest of Shabbat was really funny.  We came home from shul and had lunch and then Eric and the guys went to mincha.  While they were gone another kid came to the door looking for them. I told him he could wait here until they came back.  He  came right in, grabbed Keren, kissed her and tossed her into the air!  He had more contact with the kids in 2 minutes than the other guys had the whole time they were here.  Anyway, he stayed for dessert and then took a walk with the guys.  Later they came back to nap and he came back with them.  Eric was asleep on the couch and Keren was napping and the kids were out and I was on the couch reading.  This guy comes back and asks if he can sit outside (it was a beautiful day) and read?!  I said, of course.  Long story short, he stayed until the end of Shabbat while the guys slept on.  It was funny.  He was strange but nice and after havdallah he asked if he could come some time for Shabbat and bring a friend.

Today we went to check out a potential place to live.  It’s called Even Shmuel and it is south of here, about 45 minutes south on Road 6.  It was nice.  Something we are seriously considering.  We went with 3 other families from Modiin and with our neighbor across the street from us here.  We could build a very nice size house there and if the right people move in, it could be very nice.  So we’ll see.

In the afternoon we did a lot of homework and played outside until it got dark.

So lately we’ve been trying to decide what to do with ourselves.  On the one hand, we are happy enough in Chahsmonaim and I could see us living here for the rest of our lives.  On the other hand, everyone is telling us to move!!  People who have been here since before it became so American are telling us that their kids all want to leave b/c it’s so American!!  It’s only going to get more American, etc.  Really, I am very confused.  I was so happy a couple of days ago when we (or maybe I) had decided to just stop looking and stay put.  I bumped into my neighbor and she told me to go!  She said the Negev is a great place to live.  So, we are currently looking into the Negev and plan to visit a place called Even Shmuel next week after Eric gets home.  I didn’t sleep at all last night just thinking about all of this.  I don’t know where we would live next year while we are building this supposed house there either.  Tonight I am going to put it out of my mind altogether and get a good night sleep.  I’ll worry after we visit this place.

Today my grandparents came to “help”.  I have  the word “help” in quotation marks b/c I didn’t really get any prep. for Shabbat done b/c I was too busy with my grandmother.   I BBQ’d her chicken and seemed to be very busy with the kids, etc.  It was hectic from the time they came to the time they left and, frankly, I would have gotten more done if they hadn’t come at all.  The kids enjoyed immensely, however.  We took them to the mall to this gymboree place called Cutie which they have been dying to go to for ages.  They had a really great time there.  Even Keren had a great time jumping around in the balls.  It was a really nice evening.

Not much else has happened since I’ve blogged last.  Eric’s grandmother is here with her boyfriend and we are going to try to get to see them next week when Eric is back.  We’ve never met her boyfriend so it should be cute.

Talia got a report card from school and a letter that her teacher wants her to get her eyes checked.  I have to figure out how to go about doing that through Macabi Insurance.  Her report card was mostly good.  She talks, it seems, in math.   I think she talks b/c she is bored.  She also doesn’t join in during earth science.  I know she’s been having a hard time following that topic and that’s the reason, she told me, that she doesn’t raise her hand.  Everything else had great marks next to it.  Yay Talia!

Keren has been walking around now for the last week saying “Opa shuk-a-duk”.  My dad lays down on his back and puts her on his legs and bops her up and down while saying the words “shuk-a-duk” over and over.  For some reason Keren has been talking about it all week.  It is very cute.

Ben is excited b/c he is going to see a show tomorrow in school about owls.  I forget how you say owl again in Hebrew but he’s told me many times.  He told me that you can bring in a cake if you want to so we made a cake together and put icing on it and colored sprinkles.  I am sure he will be the only one bringing in a cake.  We’ll see.  I didn’t get a notice about it. 

Tomorrow I am going to get Foster at 7am.  I told the kids I would have breakfast on the table for them and they shouldn’t fight in the morning, just get up and eat and I would be back by the time they were finished with breakfast.  It worked really well last week. I hope it works well again tomorrow!!!

It’s been raining on and off today but now it is pouring and the ceiling is probably going to start leaking soon.  I am going to roll up the carpet so it doesn’t get wet in the living room.  Ah, the joys of renting a house!

We had a very busy Shabbat.  It flew!!  Friday night we went out to new friends.  I say new friends b/c we’ve known them for a while but were never invited there for a meal.  It was a really nice meal.  We stayed until close to 10.  When we got home we put the kids to sleep and went straight to sleep ourselves.  At 1 in the morning there were kids talking and singing and yelling.  I thought it was coming from outside at first but then I realized it was coming from next door!  Our neighbors!!  I thought for sure they would wake up the kids but fortunately everyone slept through it, everyone but me and Eric.  Uch!!  I later found out that the parents were away and I don’t know what kind of part was going on over there at 1 AM but it was ROCKING.  So we had a horrible night sleep.

Shabbat day I stayed home with Keren and got ready for the company.  I put Keren in for an early nap since I was fairly certain that she wouldn’t nap when the company was here.  It was a very nice afternoon.  The only problem was that all the kids wound up playing in the dirt outside at one point and there was mud all over the house.  It was so bad that I had to sweep and then mop when Shabbat was over.   We also had a TON of leftovers.  I begged the girls who slept here for Shabbat to take them back to school with them but they barely took anything. 

Today I skipped my book club.  I love going but I couldn’t get out of bed.  It turned out that no one in our family could get out of bed.  At 9-ish, when I finally called out to Eric that I was awake and he should bring in Keren to snuggle with me, he told me that she was still in bed but had just woken up!  Talia and Ben also, it turns out, slept until around 8.  Eric said that the alarm clock went off but the sound was all the way down on it (thanks, probably, to Keren) and he slept until 7:40.  So we all got a bit of a late start today.  

Talia had early dismissal today b/c of the fast so we took Keren to the park behind the shul which is also right next to Talia’s  school and hung out there until she was finished.  Then we all went home together and I did some homework with Talia while Eric and Keren napped.  After that I picked up Ben from school.   He had a normal day. 

Talia had a friend come over to play for a little bit.  Friends of ours came over for an hour to chat for a while.  Close to 3 I put a movie on for the kids that Eric just finished downloading last night.  I figured they could watch it from 3-5 and then when the fast was over we would all eat together.  My cousin’s husband Avi came over to daven here and break his fast here.  He was working in Yerushalayim and it was on his way home.  I was really happy b/c I had all that left over food from Shabbat and he really helped us put a dent in it.  Now I won’t have to throw it all out at the end of the week.  I should be able to finish most of it. 

Tonight Eric is flying out.  I hope that he doesn’t get stuck in NY over Shabbat.  I have a very bad feeling that he’s going to get stuck in some kind of snow storm.  I already told Robin and she already invited me for Shabbat in case he gets stuck.  Eric is getting a ride to the airport in a few minutes.  A friend is going tonight on a flight earlier than him so he’s going to hang out in the lounge for a while and save the money on the cab.  Ben was crying in bed tonight b/c he’s sad that Eric is leaving.  I better make this a fun week for him with lots of play dates so he’s not sad.  Poor kid.  He’s always upset and then the week always flies right by and he’s always surprised when I tell him that Eric will be home the next day.

Today Keren was walking around saying “opa, shuk a duk.”  My dad, when he was here, would give her a ride on his legs and say “shuk a di duk”.  She was running around saying it over and over again today.  It was really too cute.  I guess she misses her opa!  I am glad that she remembers him.

Ayelet and Jordan got engaged last night!  We are so excited!!  Just found out that her wedding is going to be June 17th.  That means we will be missing a lot of school at the end of the year so that we can make it to the wedding!  Oh boy.  At least she isn’t getting married in March or something and then we’d have to go back and forth.  Anyway, Mazel Tov to Ayelet and Jordan!!!!!