Weekend with Family and Special Friends

Our weekend was very busy, but very good. We spent time with great friends and family and enjoyed our time with them so much!

Friday night, we were able to spend Shabbat with Bubie and Pop Pop now that they are home. So much better than doing it over the phone! And, after dinner, we got to play with the Wii and Nathan played bowling with Bubie and PopPop. The kids cried when they left.

Saturday morning started with swimming lessons and then a trip to Pennsylvania to visit our dear friends Miss Anne, Mr. Mark, John, Luke and Grace. They have handled life's challenges with such grace and strength. I truly admire them and the family they have created - such a loving and warm home which makes you feel instantly comfortable and at ease. I wish they lived closer because both the kids and I really enjoy our time with them!

The weather was nice and the kids were able to play outside. They had fun on the swings, playing t-ball and rolling around in the grass with Mr. Mark. It was fun to play with all new toys and in the jump house in the basement! Our day ended with a special dinner with the family and we can't wait to see them again! Here is a picture of all the kids together - and all looking at the camera!

This is a picture that Anne sent to me. Unfortunately, I don't have more pictures as camera was stolen. We are all ok, thankfully. I miss my camera so much. I feel like someone robbed me of memories of my children. But, I am already saving for a new one.

Sunday we celebrated PopPop's birthday with him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! So, in his honor, here are a few pictures of PopPop with the kids:

From a trip to Atlanta with Nathan in early 2005:

From a visit to Arizona in 2006:From Sela's pick up trip in Guatemala - Jun 2006:From Hawaii 2007:

From Spring of 2008:

We love you PopPop!! Happy birthday!

Underwear check...

First let me say, that we have a routine in the morning. I wake first, shower and put on my makeup. Then, I wake the kids, put out their clothes and get their toothbrushes and washcloths ready. After using the bathroom, the kids get themselves dressed while I get dressed and then we all go down for breakfast together. I thought that had been working out really well until last week...

When I arrived to pick up the kids from school last Friday, Sela's teacher told me that she noticed Sela wasn't wearing underwear when she bent over to get something and her little tushie was in plain sight. When asked why she wasn't wearing underwear, Sela told the teacher that I wouldn't let her wear underwear! Luckily the teacher knows me well enough to know that it isn't true, but it was funny none the less.

That evening, as the kids were getting ready for bed, I noticed Nathan had on a pair of underwear that I didn't think belonged to him. There is no underwear like that in his drawers and it certainly wasn't what I had pulled out for him to wear that morning. Whose underwear was my child wearing??? Why was he wearing different underwear. Nathan assured me that they were his underwear and that he found them this morning and put them on while dressing for school. He told me that Bubie had bought them for him a long time ago - they did look old and the leg holes were all stretched out. What a day - one child without underwear and another child with a pair of underwear and I didn't know whose they were...

So, now I check the kids underwear every day before we leave the house - good thing I did - Sela was without underwear again today! And, this time she was wearing a dress!!

Underwear checks will continue in our house...

Busy weekend

Friday night we had a special guest at our Shabbat dinner. My friend Andre who has been living in Germany for a few years now joined us. We have been friends for 25 years! After dinner, he helped us install mommy's new toy - the Wii Fit. We had such fun on that over the weekend.

Saturday morning, Nathan and Sela went to their first swimming lessons of the season and did a great job! They have class at the same time with different teachers. Each is working on different skills, but they both seem to be having a great time. Hopefully they will be swimming like fish by the time summer comes along!

Later that morning was Sela's last dance class and they allowed all the parents in to observe. Sela loves to dance and has enjoyed these classes. Here are a few pictures:

The rest of the weekend was filled with soccer on TV, bowling and tennis on the Wii, trips to the library and the store, lunch with Aunt Teri and countless loads of laundry. But as always, being with the kids makes it all so much fun!! Hope everyone had a great weekend.

A cup of hot chocolate...

I find it absolutely fascinating how Nathan's and to some extent Sela's little minds work!

Last summer Nathan got a fish - he decided to name it Broccoli. Last night, Nathan decided to name his stuffed moose (a treasured gift from Juhani which he brought back from Finland). The name Nathan chose was Chicken Chicken.

Sela named her little pink stuffed cat Meow. Ok, that is not too bad, but she recently named one of her dollbabies Fluffy.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when they found out Teri was pregnant and decided to name the baby Fuddie!

Nathan has also been asking a lot of questions lately...What do spectacle bears eat? How do hot air balloons work? What do unicorns do? How do you make cereal bars? Are Onyx and Mishu Jewish? What amazes me more so than the questions themselves, is how they just appear out of the blue in the midst of a converstation about something else. It is fascinating and a bit frustrating to watch the questions come out one after another and have absolutely no relations to anything we have talked about. For example, the other day, Nathan asked me how babies get into mommy's tummys. As I am explaining to him as simply as possible, the next question comes out...how do you make hot chocolate? So, the next time Nathan decides to ask me about reproduction, I will just make him a cup of hot chocolate!

Another wonderful weekend

As the kids get older, they are involved in more activities, and are invited to more parties and our schedule is getting more hectic.

Every Friday night, we light candles for Shabbat, and say our prayers for the candles, wine and challah over the phone with Bubie and PopPop. Here is Nathan getting ready. We can't wait until Bubie and PopPop get home and we can have Shabbat with them in person!



On Saturday, we had ballet lessons, followed by a birthday party, ran a few errands, watched the Terps basketball game (so sad they lost, but was surprised they were even invited to the Big Dance!) and fit in a tea party before getting together with friends that evening.

Sela loves this pose -


And, here is her pose which says: I have had a long day, I am tired and not too happy with Mom

She did have a great day though, including a tea party in her little house:

On Sunday, we went to the circus with Aunt Sherry. Unfortunately, the battery in my camera died on the way to the circus. We had a wonderful time. Nathan was very excited to watch the motor cycles drive around inside the round cage, Sela loved all the pretty costumes and was fascinated to watch the elephants poop right in the middle of their routine. They didn't miss a step!

Before my camera died, I was able to get one picture of Sela and Aunt Sherry waiting for the metro train on our way to the circus:

I was able to talk Nathan into getting one of those pictures at the circus sitting on top of the toy tigers. He as more interested in touching their teeth to see if they were sharp. Sela couldn't be bothered to have her picture done, she was much too busy with Aunt Sherry!

It was a wonderful weekend and I truly love spending this time with the kids. I treasure each and every minute because they are growing up too fast!

Many blessings...

Sometimes we take for granted all we have. Seeing those that don't is a constant reminder that we do have a lot to be greatful for as we are very blessed. I am not only blessed to have two beautiful children, two loyal and loving dogs and a wonderful family who has given me their unending support and love, but also the means with which to help others.


We sponsor three students in Guatemala to go to school and help out with some of their basic needs. To see the smiles on their faces and know how much we are truly helping gives us such a good feeling inside. The kids and I look forward to opening their letters and seeing their pictures.


Here is a picture that Miriam sent to us:


And a picture of this beautiful girl I had the privaledge of meeting two years ago in Guatemala with contents from a package we had sent to her (for more pictures, you can go to the blog entries from NOV 2007)

Warm weekend at the park

We took advantage of the warm weather this weekend and spent a lot of time at the park...
Hard to believe that it was one week ago today that I was taking pictures of Nathan in the snow, and now he has his jacket off in the park...almost 70 degrees!