SURPRISE!

Blogger FINALLY let me upload pics. Here's the invite in case you missed it...

But, now that it went off successfully,
I can blog about the secret surprise party we had for Mom, hee hee (turnout of 50 people or so, who all managed to keep the secret!)

Marie is finally turning the BIG 60
Do we need another reason to celebrate?
Join us in making this her best birthday surprise ever!

Our party theme is the 1950's
That's when Marie came of age
Join family and friends to celebrate
This party will be all the rage!

GAG GIFTS ARE ENCOURAGED
(BUT NOT ESSENTIAL)

It's a surprise party
so please don't spoil the fun!

Slow down some so I can catch up

Once again, I am typing one-handed while cradling an inconsolable child in my arms. This time, Yaeli, my beautiful, wonderful barely 11-month-old TODDLER (yes you read that right, she is more upright than not)
She is now trying out her 4th pair of soft-soled shoes and I think we finally found a winner. The first pair was clothe - pink and white polka dots - about the size of an 18 month old foot, but it was what I had at the time. She manuevered out of those shoes and socks before we even hit the door of the school across the street.
Then I tried some hand me around leather shoes that a friend gave me. No dice. Too big, she was out of them in a flash. So I bought some infant ballet slippers that I knew were the size of her feet. She couldn't get her tootsies in, [they were exactly the size of her foot, but the opening was too small to get them on] so I gave up on them.
Finally, success!
I got a pair of leather shoes at the closest Babies R Us I could find. They would be SO adorable with the wedding dress tulle thingie she already outgrew, as they are white with little pink rosebuds on them. She wore them today with her blue top and 18-month old (Yoni hand me down) rolled up cuffed navy pants cause I am a little sick of pink! And she lasted the whole day in them. I even called to check on her and they said she fell asleep in them outside.
What?!?! The lady [Quin, whom I love most of all since she is there when
i come to pick her up] told me she was having so much fun that she wore herself out and had to be carried inside whereas she fell asleep the second she was lifted up onto the shoulder of said lady. [Aside...I LOVE Yaeli's daycare ladies, and they LOVE her. Recently, I gave the summer workers who watched her a special gift, just from Yael - I hope they liked it]
Tonight she is ruthless...she must be teething or growing again as she has sucked down 2 full bottles, won't stop crying or nursing, and has acidic diapers that leave her nether regions RAW and hurting. She has already had a dose of herbal teething tablets and baby aspirin. And she is still only fitfully sleeing...

We survived

The high holidays came and went and we survived. We even had a few moments of intense spirituality thrown in while chasing after the "under 5 crowd" in the play room next to the shul (keep reading).

We spent all of the time as a family and even managed to be part of the Meyerland community for a minute or two...

Yoni didn't get sick at all until the holidays were all over and, drum roll please my baby Yaeli learned to walk - unaided - at the playroom at shul on Yom Kippur in front of all the other mothers who were chasing their little ones to get them to sit down and eat something. I was so proud, but sad too, as she is REALLY no longer a baby. And of course to punctuate that point the newborns were there and she is a giant next to them, but petite in her own class.

Also to punctuate the point, I was feeling blue as my body adjusts to this new phase (maybe it was actually fasting again for YK that did it) and generally yucky as I forgot how hot it is walking to shul in Houston after 10 AM. I REALLY wanted a shower after that and the ripe smell of all the other unwashed bodies was a little overwhelming if not distracting in shul.

So there - I felt more spirituality running after the children and watching them interact with each other than I did in shul for the few minutes I actually made it in there. I took Yaeli in shul there to fall asleep for a few minutes since there was so much activity that it was impossible for her to relax and get a nap which she desperately needed. Yoni was having none of it - he was WAY too busy having fun. When we went home for break is when he finally succumbed.

We may have…

Toothage.

Yaeli my darling sweet baby is maybe, finally getting that first terrible tooth that makes her especially clingy and cranky and adorably squeezable.

She has spent the entirety of the RH holiday and even a might before that with her lips and gums firmly clamped around her passy. It has been a series of pacifiers as they indubitably get changed around and fall on the ground, etc.

So she stands alone unaided for a few seconds at a time and is even coordinated enough to clap her hands at the same time. So taking the customary step or two is now usual fare rather than an accident. Why she can’t figure out how to move her feet as well as she moves her hands to clap is a little beyond me. Maybe she just has to figure out how to balance that small frame of hers.

She better not wait 7 more months to walk on my birthday like her brother. In a few weeks time is Bubbe’s birthday and that would be just fine for me. Then she would have a special sentiment on each of her grandmother’s birthdays (She was born on Safta Yosefa’s b-day)

Wowie zowie...

So this is another post about the weather, but OMG! We were in the middle of the dirty side of Tropical Storm/Depression Erin and after all the wet weather here already this summer it was a doozy! Working in downtown Houston with a view of the rainstorm from the 57th floor has its advantages, especially when there is a lightning storm going on and the buidling next door has a grounded communication tower that acts as a lightning rod. I was watching the storm out of one of the engineer's windows and we saw no less than 3 direct strikes in a matter of less than 10 minutes. It was AMAZING to say the least. I was in such a mood that I was flabbergasted rather than scared (or too stupid to realize that that could have hit our building if it were not for the fact that the tower was higer than our 71 floors up.) The soundtrack in the background was the firetrucks on the ground and the faint of heart swooning nearby. Luckily this all played out around lunchtime and the less hearty could descend into the tunnels and the bowels of the buildings to escape the show.

This was the scene on Highway 288 just before Holly Hall. Where I go by almost daily from downtown to get the kids from school. Good thing I went to get Eran on 59 first, but that was under water earlier in the day, too.

We (Houston and South Texas in general) just have no place for the water to go since we are so over-saturated at this point. Some places have had more than 36" of rain in the past 2 months. It's been a great summer for Eran, except for that fainitng spell, but not so much heat - except for those few days of over 105 in the shade heat advisory days...

Oh so cute…

Pic from Disney, but still applicable

Yaeli is progressing by leaps and bounds, or at least one step at a time.

We wave bye-bye to ourself (and even on cue, like she know what it means), babble a little and even....(drum roll please)

started standing independently for a few seconds last Thursday (which the day-care lady neglected to inform me till) I was all excited about it this AM.

This weekend she even accidentally took a step or two.

It’s official, we are now a toddler.
LOOK OUT WORLD, HERE WE COME!!!
Yay Yaeli!

in case you were wondering

Mother Nature has decided to play games with us this summer. First it was the summer of endless rain, now it is the super heat we are usually accustomed to. See here the REAL heat advisory that the NWS felt compelled to issue for several Texas counties. They should title these things, "use your common sense, stupid!"

heat advisory now in effect until 7 pm cdt Wednesday
The heat advisory is now in effect until 7 pm cdt Wednesday.
Greater than normal relative humidities will lead to a stretch of afternoons with heat indices of 105 to 109 degrees for the next several days. Heat indices will reach around 100 degrees by noon, and peak between 2 and 5 pm. Heat index values near 100 degrees may persist as late as 7 pm. Overnight low temperatures will only drop to between 75 and 80 degrees. [Ed: That’s reasonable enough]

If possible, seek shelter from the afternoon heat in air conditioned areas [Ed: Duh!]. Direct exposure to sunlight can increase the heat index by another 15 degrees. If you plan to be outside, avoid prolonged exposure or strenuous physical activity. [Ed: Duh!] Your body can lose up to a gallon of water an hour through perspiration. Drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration. [Ed: Duh!] Alcoholic and caffeinated beverages can increase the rate of water loss in your body, increasing the risk of heat exhaustion or stroke. Wear lightweight, light- colored, loose-fitting clothing. [Ed: Duh!] Wear a hat to shield yourself from the sun. Always use a sunscreen to reduce possible sunburn. [Ed: Duh!] If children will be outdoors playing or practicing sports make sure they stay hydrated and keep a sharp eye for signs of heat exhaustion. [Ed: Duh!]
Pets can also succumb to the effects of excessive heat. Insure [Ed: Uh, spelling, much?!] pets have adequate drinking water and a shady place to rest. [Ed: Duh!] Do not keep pets [Ed: or kids, see this recent sad story] in cars with windows rolled up, even partially. Temperatures inside a car with the windows up can reach over 150 degrees quickly, resulting in heat stroke and death.

A heat advisory is issued when a heat index of 108 degrees or higher is expected in the advisory area. The heat index is a measure of how hot it feels when the effects of humidity are combined with the temperature. A heat index of 105 degrees is considered the level where many people begin to experience extreme discomfort or physical stress [Ed: Duh!].

The Greatest Show in Houston

So we went to the circus and we saw this version which was actually quite a nice change, since there was only one ring and your attention was not too divided to enjoy all the acts. We walked in the door and this was the first thing we did even before we got to the pre-show festivities.


Guess we're big on getting the souvenir photo op everywhere we go, along with that twirly, spinning light-up toy. We got one of those with a piroutte-ing elephant on top.

Here are some pics of the Namer family "clowning around" at the Circus





I could have lived my whole life quite happily without the stupid acts with the cat and dog tricks that I found to be silly and boring, and a waste of time (or at least filler time). I'm sorry, but I'll just never be able to be excited about a dressed-up poodle, carrying its own hoops to jump through, in its mouth.

We really loved the second act though which was the live elephants and tigers and cossacks horse tricks and flying acrobats and an amazing display by the Shenzhen Acrobatic Troupe and "video game" and the last act was the most amazing of all. Read more about the Yunnan Flyers and these other acts here. The Motorcycle Mania thing was really awesome as the closer. I even caught myself with my mouth open catching flies. The best part was an exhausted Yoni sitting on my lap and me whispering to him in awe "Wow, how'd they do that?" As we were leaving, Yoni was perched on Abba's shoulders and he says so precociously - "Wow, That was amazing, How did they DO that?" in the most awe-filled innocent voice. It was a priceless moment, with no prompting, that I just had to share.

As I said, Yoni was exhausted. So much excitement for such a little one and he missed his afternoon nap to top it all off.
So here we a have another priceless gem...He was so tired he fell asleep in the car with his snack pretzel in his mouth.
Abba removed it only when we saw it at home and only after we had a good laugh and snapped a few pics of the event for posterity.

So that was a run-down of our trip to the circus. Yael was clositered at Bubbe's house and meanwhile learned how to get around on the walker. Guess we're in for a quick learner with her as she's not even 9 months and does all kinds of (in my non-biased mother's opinion) amazing, circus worthy, cute baby tricks!

cuteness!

So this has nothing to do with my cuties from home, but it amused me so you in blog land get to hear about it.
I work on the 58th floor and have to take several elevators to get to my floor. In the evenings as everyone is trying to go all at the same time, the elevators can tend to get “cozy” and all the gentlemen will generally defer to the ladies to let them get on first. Well this woman was holding her golf umbrella (since Noah is making a comeback – literllay we have had rain for 37 of the last 48 days – since June there have only been 4 days without rain of some kind, not to say that there haven’t been periods of lets say “not rain” rather than sunshine)

Anyway, she reminded me of my mother’s cousin Roselle – cropped non-colored hair, sporty glasses, strappy sandals, leather briefcase and stylish but youngish outfit.
The second elevator came and all the ladies entered in as per the custom. Then we arrived at the tunnel level and she was now in the back part of the elevator with the gentlemen standing in front near the doors. Well the men started to part ways to let the women pass. There were a few younger gentlemen there and this particular lady just started to beat them with her umbrella in a jovial way. She was kidding that the gentlemanly ways need to go out the window in elevators in a tunnel and to just move on outta the way. It may have been on of those “you-had to be there kinda moments, but it made me smile all the way to the car – which is actually quite a hike in the tunnel. Usually I take the street if possible (not raining) just cause it’s a bit shorter, but I still get stopped by crosswalks at street corners and have to inhale the food smells, and the occasional homeless person, and police whistles while directing traffic, and fumes from buses and cars the whole way. Also have to push my way through the throngs of people waiting for the buses to come. But I like the idea of walking outside.
So there!


Here is a cute picture of my little doctor from our Purim in July day at Camp! I told him he was a surgeon in his Spiderman do-rag and sent him with his doctor case with his stethoscope and bloodpressure cuff. The coat must be from their dress-up clothes at camp! Isn't he adorable?

camp bami

Supposedly the kids are supposed to go swimming everyday, but it rained for 2 weeks solid here so that didn't quite happen. Despite that, Jonathan has definately made some improvements in the Waterfront area. In Florida I was able to convince him that he could use floaties and finally let up on the death grip on momma...Now he has real lifeguards who have taught him to blow bubbles - which I couldn't do all on my own...Baby steps. At least I know he's learning water safety!

Here are a couple of Summer Camp pictures of my camper.

Here are some busy bees making an art project for posterity...


Here is Dancing Yoni at the Pajama Day Parade. We're still working on snapping our fingers, but isn't he cute for trying

Walt and the girls

Minnie, Yaeli and momma with Pappa Walt

corporate readjustment and other general chaos

So I think I am finally over the intial shock of the announcement that the powers that be (read: the money hungry executives in corporate America) have decided to sell off my division of our company. Now there are several things that are strange about this decision (irreverent of its effect on me personally and my immediate coworkers)
We are the Gulf Coast Division of my company. Our company now has several offices, including a large one in Tulsa which covers a different region. We are in the corporate office in Houston which houses the executives and another region besides the Gulf Coast.
Our executives and HR just recently moved their offices to the 58th floor of our building (from the 8th) and the other region to the 55th (also from the 8th) The Gulf Coast is on the 57th and the Accounting and IT Depts are on the 56th floor. This has been within the last month. The announcement about the sale of our division came about 2 weeks ago. Now why would they spend and invest all kinds of time and money on moving to sandwich the Gulf Coast if they knew they were going to put it on the market??
We may be bought out all together and not have any jobs going forward, or we may all have jobs with the new company or some may go on with other positions in our current company or some may not be offered jobs with either company.

I just know that I can't afford to be without a job or medical insurance.

This announcement was made a few days before my birthday. My birthday itself SUCKED!
There were high points: I went to lunch "off-campus" at a favorite restaurant with my co-workers, but there was really no "celebration" as the pall of the the announcement made us all a little off kilter. Last year I got balloons and confettia and a card and and and. This time, I didn't even get a cake on my actual birthday, even from my family (mom and dad were in Israel, to be fair) and that's pretty yucky! Kids love birthdays and I want to do all of them up special, but mine was lacking - definately not one for the record books. Eran did bring me some beautiful roses which he had to walk home with from the store, but it garnered us a dinner invitation for Shabbat where the hostess went out of her way to get me a parve triple chocolate birthday cake and surprise me with it! That was so NICE that it saved my birthday from being a total wash.

And of course, I have been thouroughly lambasted by my internist for having the insides of a 57 year old, considering the amount of high blood pressure and cholesterol in my body for such a long time. I think she hates me since she rushes around as if she is SO busy and its a huge incovenience to see me - and I hate going to the doctor as it is. I hate the fact that I am now on so much damn medication, I hate the fact that I now have a "condition" or two that just adds stress to my life!
And she took me off the meds that make it easier to take, claiming they induce weight gain and that is contra to the other health issues I should be facing. So I joined the gym and have even been once during lunch.

Then of course there is the fact that we were overextended from the renovations of half of the Houston Levine homestead. They went to Israel and we went to work (or at least Eran did) Eran went a little crazy and just kept going with all the changes...Luckily, I talked him out of painting over the wooden kitchen cabinets. It would have been a disaster!

So there you have it - Thank goodness my beautiful children are growing every day.
Yaeli is crawling quite nicely now and babbling "da-da" and waving - mostly to herself. She can squeal with delight and always lights up when she sees me, even when I came in the middle of the day to pick up Yoni. She is desperately trying to walk, pulling up on everything and getting frustrated when her legs give out.
Yoni is still struggling lately with laboured breathing but because of his runny nose and being off his asthma medicine. There have been a lot of issues with his camp class being out of control and not such a great environment for all of the kids. And to illustrate that point there was one morning (before nap time and right before Yoni got really sick from his lymph gland - which is still pretty swollen and sometimes tender to the touch) when the counselor called and told us that Yoni had hit a kid, bit someone else and choked a kid with his hands so hard that the other child was shaking. That is simply NOT the child I know and love. They always present it in such a way that you never know what exactly happened and which children were involved, but it was a definate reflection on the chaos that abounded in that classroom. There have since then been several staff changes, which is also difficult on this age group, but a lesser of the evils at this point, unfortunately, but hopefully the dynamics of the staff are now such that the overcrowding in the room won't be such an issue.

Back to Reality

Once we survived the madness that was Disney and Universal and the trip to and from Orlando, we returned tired and lighter in the wallet and on our feet.

Jonathan was of course over-extendeded and had to get sick the following week. He started out with an enlarged gland on his face right below his earlobe that looked like he swallowed a golf ball. We went to the doctor and I mistakenly thought I should take both kids in on my own. Yael had her overdue 6 mo well baby chcekup including vaccinations -she is only a little over 15 lbs, but started to crawl and pull up on things already. Yoni also had some blood drawn for a CBC on the spot, so I had 2 screaming unhappy children to contend with as I paid my money and slinked out the door.

Countdown to Disney World, etc...

T- minus not enough hours to sleep.
We hope to be packed and in the car tomorrow AM at the crack of morning thirty.

I still need to be sure to get the potty chair from my mother's along with the video camera. Right now I have the new DVD player and the car charger for my phone, but I can't seem to lay my hands on the damn camera. I think I even know where the new battery is.

Need sleep...

This is where we are staying. Click here. Thanks Aunt Carol.

But first we must make it to Mobile for the evening with the kiddos. I really love that Heavenly Hash - wonder if I'll be able to find some...
Hope Aunt Goldie and Uncle Himey are up for a visit.

The family wedding and recent other nightmares

Needless to say, that stress fest is behind us.
It made me so sick at the wedding (probably the hearty amount of salt-ingested while eating out in New Orleans had a little something to do with it too) that I had a horrible migraine that completely debilitated me for the wedding reception.
About the only good thing is that I did get a chance to leave some nice comments for the bride and groom on their pages that they left on the table to make up their memory book from later.
But the wedding food was 1. too rich or 2. not something I could put in my mouth in my kosher style eating habits. They had oyster rockerfeller and shrimp alfredo sauce over pasta and sushi and roasted vegetables and rack of lamb and mashed potatoes with butter and cheese and bacon bits...
We were also all stressed out by the lack of common courtesy from the hosts who seemed unable to let old grudges and hurtful sentiments lie. [Was that worded enigmatically enough to not count as lashon harah?]
My mother was uncomfortable, my father was not happy that my mother was uncomfortable {physically}, my brother was uncomfortable, my sister in law was uncomfortable, my husband was uncomfortable (we left our precious sleeping children in the care of a total stranger in a strange city with a pool in the backyard of the house - luckily Eran had the foresight to buy a toy train set and keep it hidden so that when Jonathan woke up he was instantly distracted by the new favorite toy)
All of these already uncomfortable adults then had to deal with me being totally incapacitated at a family affair where all I really wanted to do was hang out and spend time with everyone.

Then the ride back to Houston was a nightmare. I nearly fell asleep at the wheel several different times. So much so that I stopped off in Baton Rouge for a cat nap and then again somewhere else at a truck stop. Also we had frog choker storms along the way too not to mention bathroom and food and cranky Yael stops right off the interstate that lost us a lot of time too. It was a really long ride!

Also, as if the migraine and the terrible drive home weren't enough, I started coughing and getting sick on Friday afternoon - I'll blame it on the New Orleans germ pool for lack of a more acceptable excuse!
I spent the whole weekend ferrying people to and from birthday parties and Chuck E Cheese and running errands while hacking my lungs up about once every 10 minutes or so. And then I had to spend Monday morning catching up on rest and putting my life back together to get ready for the next trip with 2 small children - that is of course after dropping off the kiddos at pre-camp where we had to search to find Jonathan's new classroom and remembering that Yael is in a different classroom too - my routine is just shaken that much. Then took Eran to the post office and his office and by then he was running too late to even pick up a bagel for lunch, so he'll be super hungry later!

And I wanted to do the mounds of laundry that have piled up, thinking that Monday was a good day because everyone would be at work. NOT SO. All 6 washers were full and there was still a line. How frustrating when I planned on that to be effective use of my sick time on the couch. I washed dishes and picked up the living room instead! Gotta go now and get that laundry in before it gets too late...

Whew- glad that's over!

We survived the New Orleans family wedding only slightly worse for wear.

Our next family "vacation" is on the horizon. I think I'm going to have to take special vitamins to make it through.

Yoni and Yael made a few special appearances at the family events such as the evening deseert reception and the Sunday morning brunch before everyone left town.

Luckily Sam and Carlye were guests at the hotel for the duration of the weekend otherwise I would not have survived the wedding. I came down with a severe (high blood pressure induced-I'm sure) migraine that was only worsened by the reverberating of the bass of the cover band in my chest. I had to retire upstairs 3 different times because I came down too early so that my husband would have a chance to enjoy the festivities.

family tree

In light of Carlye & Sam's request for a quick rundown on the family of who might be at next week's wedding, and since I couldn't reach you again to find out exactly what you wanted, I put together a little flowchart of the family tree. This is only one side of the immediate family - for those who might be attending the wedding in New Orleans [And of course I left out the skeletons in the closet and interesting tidbits like the wives and children we don't talk about-we'll save that for an in person discussion]. Hope this helps - excpet for the few blanks I drew, I did this off the top of my head with a headache. Study and learn!
And if you wanted to know where Ellen and Perry and Marla fit in, they are all on Mom's father's side of the family...I can do that next week if you want, but Ellen knows more details...

stop the world - I want to catch my breath

These last few weeks have been BUSY.
After I got my wake-up call from the doctor that I need to take better care of myself if I want to be around to see my kids grow up, we've had all kinds of things going on.
We have the Ladies Luncheon Salad Pool which originated with me complaining that we were eating out way too much at work and wouldn't it be fun if a bunch of us pitched in and brought a few items from home - around a $5 per person contribution. The idea was that we could have a healthy alternative and that it would last for a few days and it wouldn't go bad and we wouldn't waste it - what a jewish mother I am.
It has taken off. One lady made humus to go with her cold tuna and chicken salad and that was a big hit. The salads have grown into themed luncheons. This week it was Mexican in honor of Cinco de Mayo.
We had nachos (with all the differnt fixins - pico de gallo and guacamole and sour cream and cheese and beans and and and....)
Next week we are having smoked salmon (lox) and spinach with asparagus.
It has become a real treat and we even had one of the VPs join us for lunch before our weekly staff meeting. He's been the only male brave enough to join us. Fun, fun, fun!

There were some industry "events" lately that I mostly skipped out on - crawfish boils and evening socials and the like (partly because I don't eat those things and why would I want to be around them and smell like that all day and partly because I truly cherish the few hours I do get to spend daily with my kiddos and my family)...but at one of these functions, some co-workers ran into one of the former ladies I worked with and she informed them that my nemisis is still jobless. I'm sure its because her reputation preceeds her. I really don't wish her any ill will, but its funny how things tend to work out if you just wait it out long enough. Guess you could call it all part of the divine plan.

I think I finally may have gotten a handle on using this program to do my reports.

And it seems Yoni may have turned a corner as far as his health is concerned. He did recently have one incident - we'll call it a spell -where he threw up, but then he was better and we got back on schedule with his meds and it seems to be controlling things better.

And of course the daycare ladies and my mother have started feeding my Yaeli Gerber foods.

I would have waited at least until she was 6 months to even start her off, but I have to rationalize it to myself that they have done this much more than I have...They are professionals and this is what they do and they haven't killed one yet. She has tried applesauce (mixed with her yucky rice cereal), squash, sweet potatoes and peaches. Good thing babies are resilient. I have only just mastered the art of the bottle and she has only tried eating cereal with me when she had another spoon to play with.

Maybe the medication has finally hit the correct levels because it doesn't make my head spin anymore (that I notice) and I am much calmer about lots of the mains stressors in my life. We'll see tomorrow when I go for some tests.


Yoni and Yaeli and I watched the impending rainstorm for about 45 minutes outside on the porch at the top of the stairs. I sat down on the concrete and fed Yaeli and watched the lightning show with Yoni. I explained that it is not at all scary as long as we are safe and dry. And isn't it a beautiful light show that Hashem made for free for us to enjoy? It was truly one of those moments where you hope it is meaningful, but it was beautiful anyway.

Recent Yoni-isms:
He wants to get married and he wants to be a doctor- I am a happy momma :)
"Mickey House" is still tops - He loves to watch the Easter special disk.
He has grown taller and filled out in his face a little...pictures don't do the transformation justice
Stop stop stop and chicken nuggets aer some of his favorite phrases
Understands Hebrew - still won't answer back
I noticed on some of his art projects - both stand alone and in comparison to other kids' work - he likes to have the whole surface area covered and won't even consider moving on to something else till he is satisfied with it - a little compulsive???
This morning out of the blue on the way down the stairs he told me it was a beautiful day - and it was!

ummm...trendy news?

My mother and I have started a trend.
I let her enjoy time with her grandchildren, but we take a leisurely walk around the neighborhood.
Once we stopped at the neighbors and once we took Yoni with us. So is 2 times enough to call it a trend. I hope the trend will continue cause its good for both of us.
It also only works because in Houston it stays light till almost 8 PM.
Otherwise we wouldn't be having so much fun. We did this once before with Jonathan so I could show her that it is possible to do this for her with Mr J only because you can easily distract him if she gets tired.
And it gets us both out of the house and off the couch. I can't speak for her, but I like it cause I feel good about having walked - if only around the block and only for a little while. That first step is the hardest one sometimes.
And we're eating healthier at work too. A bunch of us ladies have been bringing in a variety of salad fixings. This week's theme was Cinco de Mayo. This is now the 3rd week we've done it. It isn't going exactly as we envisioned it -I thought we would eat on it throughout the week, most people are doing it on Mondays and then not so much on Tuesdays and the rest of the week.
"Not so much" is my newest catch phrase lately.
The end.

Medication, and dry contacts, and a general stressiness at work and a lack of sleep makes me little less than coherent a lot of the time lately. . . oh well.
Love

Mother's Words of Wisdom

You are paying the doctor lots of money to worry for you.
Do what you can, but let her get gray over it.

Rodeo

So Michael Duke's mother is married to the only Jew in Houston who has committed to wearing a cowboy hat all the time - not just during the rodeo. How do I know this?
Well, the Meyerland Minyan gala event was held during rodeo season in Houston and I just happened to sit at the table next to the gentleman wearing a black cowboy hat. So out of nosy curiosity I asked Mr Levy if he was affiliated with the rodeo since I noticed his hat. His answer was yes, he did support the Houston Rodeo (read monetarily, I'm sure-he's a big wig with the Jewish Herald Voice, which I also didn't know) but that he chose to wear a cowboy hat year round. I forgot his exact reason, but it makes a definate statement and I sure won't forget him anytime soon.

Speaking of the Rodeo, Eran and I got to see a show this year at the 75th annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. There were some tickets from a vendor floating around at the office for the "Sugarland" show and I snapped them up. We even got a parking pass. Here's the thing. When I took the tickets I didn't know who we were going to meet and greet, where we were going to be sitting or that parking passes are hard to come by. We parked in the Teal Lot - two steps from Reliant Center, directly across the street (parking pass alone worth between 75-105 bucks) We went in the arena and up the stairs with the masses until we got to the third floor. Then we looked at our seats. They were for section 202. Look at this map. We were in an unmarked section that turned out to be a private booth party complete with food (bar-b-que, of course, roasted peanuts, etc) and an open bar and several flat screen tv screens, etc, etc. We ended up at a private party for a vendor that we work with. It was great fun. Eran was in awe. I was quite enjoying myself as well. We met the president of the Louisiana based company and his Houston salesman Ken Rothstein. He has to be one of the only Jews in Louisiana in the oil bizness. Since I read all the reports daily that come in from the field, I recognized the name of the company and look forward to seeing Ken again when he comes to the office. Then they had an ice cream cart with souveneir cowboy hats as bowls that we got to take home

Been busy

Just a little note to say hi to blogger-land and to admit that we have been busy leading our lives, not leaving much time for blogging.

Here are a few highlights:

• Yael went on her first buggy ride at school this week. And the daycare ladies still fawn all over her, its even a little embarrassing already. For example, they mentioned that she only had winter clothes in her cubby for changes and that I should really bring some lighter stuff for her. One of them even commented "Don't make me go to the store!" Every day I dress her in a onesie and something on her legs and I think that maybe they wait till I hit the parking lot to strip her down to just the onesie and sometimes the socks.
• Jonathan's has been a little pukey lately, and struggled for a long while with a barky cough, but we are overcoming those hurdles by giving him more medicine and a little more to drink and hoping for the best. Meanwhile his doctor gave him a stronger dose of steroids so as to avoid us going back in the hospital. So far so good. Kudos to the pulmonologist!
• He has also MOSTLY mastered the art of using the bathroom - at every opportunity, in every public place we go. Of course he sometimes misses the toilet and pees all over his feet and shirt and shoes and socks - so even if we make it to the potty, we sometimes still need a wardrobe change.
• We had class pictures at school and I remembered to send my kiddos in cute outfits, although my daughter was wearing a cute little hat that made her look like a silly little stupid orange flower.
• Eran and I endured the Magic of Meyerland Minyan 6th year anniversary Gala Dinner. It was actually quite nice, a silent auction, live music, kosher fleshig buffet, free drinks, some honored guests, lots of chit-chat, the usual drill. And I sat at the table next to Michael Duke's mom - what a blast from the past and such a small world. Guess I do know people (and have connections from way back when) and when the time comes I should be able to get our article for Aleh published in the Jewish Herald Voice. Remind me to post the story about the rodeo and how it relates to the dinner.
• We survived 2 Pesach seders (me and the kids while Eran "went to English class") We were invited to share them both with Aunt Carol and her father and the kids' grandparents, with other assorted family and guests. Thank goodness for the 4 cups of wine to get us through this stressful year.
  
• That was also the week I found out my blood pressure was through the roof - so much so that the doctor put me on medication immediately. But since I am my mother's daughter, the doctor ran an EKG in the office and changed the dosage of one of the meds before I even finished paying my co-pay and making my next appointment. Luckily, she reduced it to half a pill a day so I could make them last longer. But it is to bring down my pressure and to stave off my recurrent migraines and I hate the fact that I am ONLY 32 and have to be taking BP medication!
• Eran basically singlehandedly moved our apartment (with some muscle help from his friends - many thanks to Ben and to Ariella for sharing him, Javi, George, David, Brad, etc...) and right before Pesach - this is becoming a trend, the second time we have done that...Boy were my parents sick of me and my kids.

And the biggest news...

• Jonathan had his first haircut, and he looks like a different kid!

It was really much ado about nothing as I finally decided on Easter Sunday that it was enough already. I sat him down on a chair on a towel, grabbed the kitchen shears (the ones that are made to cut through chicken bones, but have never seen anything tougher than twine) and snipped away all his beautiful ringlets :(
He has one small spot that is slightly bald and one side that is longer that the other since he got wiggly towards the end, but I must admit that he doesn't look like I took a soup bowl to his head - I did alright for my first (and hopefully only) attempt at a haircut. Lets see if Eran will let me at him with the shears :)
I promise to post more pictures soon....

Bathtub baby

Yaeli-la-la as I sometimes like to refer to my baby girl, is a woman on a mission. According to Grandpa Grizzly Beard, {who is not always the most observant as far as childhood milestones go}, she has learned locomotion in reverse – the first step in becoming a moving menace [How’s that for alliteration?]

Here’s a picture of her first real bathtub bath with momma freaking out nearby. Big brotha Jonathan just has to be part of the action. Then I decided that she was not secure enough in the 2 feet of water in the tub with her brother lovingly hugging (squeezing) on her and I hopped in there with them to hold her better - fully clothed (ok, I was still wearing some clothes, anyway). This pic makes it look like we're in jail, but really it is just a better way for us to get in and out.

Birthday Parties

This part of the post was originally started on Jan 14th at 7PM

So we're working on planning Yoni's 3rd birthday party. We've been to several lately including: a dance party, a clown, sports theme, fire museum, inflatables

I've talked him out of Elmo (for now anyway) since it seems babyish.
I was thinking Spiderman or Hot Wheels type racing cars.We also have the Thomas the Train or Bob the builder options too, Any ideas?

With Spiderman I was thinking tossing a ball of yarn around between the kids to make a web, or pin the spider on the web. With hot wheels, they could paint their own cars to take home. I really need independent things they can do together in a group.

So now it's official. We are doing this theme:
Things That Go!


We have an interactive book with that title that is all pictures that move and Yoni LOVES it. Since we have had so many health problems, we opted for an arts and crafts party where they can be stationary for at least some of the time...see the cute invite here.

I am missing many email addresses for friends we want to invite to come. Please send (or post) any friends and family that you might think of -
Brian, Norma, Ellen, Marla, Micah, etc...

We are family

I just had to post this picture...


Not only is MY Aunt Carol holding Ms. Priss, (Yael's great Aunt or Aunt once removed - I never have figured all that stuff out)
the Princess is dressed in a chick outfit that HER Aunt Carlye and Uncle Sam got for her.

Isn't family grand :)

Daktur

Am I psychic or what?

I took half a day off this morning to take Yoni to the doctor and half expected to be admitted to the hospital AGAIN since that's what happened last time we went for a follow up visit at this clinic with this doctor after our hospital stay (in May). We were even in the same room that we were in the last time. I could tell by the amount of time it took her to get in the room that something was not good, and then she took a long time scrunching up her face while reading the X-rays before telling us that she wasn't happy with the films. Then I went and peeked over her shoulder (from across the room) and unfortunately I understand enough about these chest x-rays to see the white areas she was concerned about.

Instead of admitting us on the spot, she just ordered a bunch of tests since Jonathan's lungs are still not clear and now it seems there is some irritation on both sides (we were only concerned about the right side before) Then she admitted that she would consult on this case with one of her colleagues who happens to know Jonathan as he was the one who visited us in the prior visit in the hospital.
Of course the fact that we had a barking cough for the past two weeks and that Yoni turned blue for no apparent reason except being excited should have been the first clue that we still have problems.

So now we are waiting to do a barium swallow study and then possibly a pH test of his stomach by way of a probe down his esophagus to see if maybe he is not aspirating food into his airways when he swallows or if he has more than normal acid reflux. We'll also decide whether to do a CT scan of his lungs to get an even better idea of what is going on - should be outpatient length of time she suggested.

I told you he doesn't have asthma, my mother's instinct still believes that, but it can't hurt to give him some Albuterol to make him stop coughing and breathe easier in any case.

At least the good news is that I am not crazy, he still has lung irritation which makes it hard to breathe and probably accounts for his waking up every night as well as his snoring, and of course the fact that he is not laying in the hospital right now and we will get to go back to do the tests.

Once we finished at the clinic, which was the first time Eran had been there - I've been there 3 times, we grabbed a quick bite and Yoni fell asleep in the car. So I took Eran to work and then took Yoni back to school for nap time. That was nice cause I got to pop in and see Yaeli being fed her noon time bottle and the ladies were so sweet. So I got extra time with her this morning and got to lay her down on the toys and then I got to give her kisses when I saw her in the middle of the day. And when I finally picked her up this evening she quieted down when I picked her up -no offense Grandpa, she just missed her Mommy that's all.

So the Jonathan 3rd birthday party ball is finally rolling - we set a date and an activity to do with a room full of 2 and 3 year old preschoolers - that was another thing I did this afternoon before going in to work where I did the only thing I HAD to do today - put together 2 books and have them overnighted to the drilling rigs - It was actually quite nice, I was greeted at my desk by 2 bouquets of Valentines flowers from an older gentleman co-worker (who graced a few of us with them last year too) and the departmental muckety mucks - too bad it was overshadowed by my shocking news from earlier in the day and the fact that I was too stressed about getting those books made to enjoy them, but they will be there all week and I will enjoy them then.

More on that birthday thing in later posts too....Now on to the pics...

A Golden Oldie from December of my precious Yael





3 Month old Yaeli after the rest of us came back from seeing Sesame Street and Elmo











Here's Big Brother Yoni "reading" to Yaeli about his most favorite "Things That GO" - trains









Isn't she a magnificently sweet way to keep your mind off the not so happy news about that other cutie?
These pics just don't do her (or me) justice...I have some really cute pics to post tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Presenting

The promised posting of some of the pics from Sesame Street Live

You must be at least THIS tall and love Elmo THIS much to be admitted


Happy Hands


Yoni and Abba Eran show us "its a GO to start the show"


Blowing kisses to our many fans


Being the Mommy is definitely something to look up to - at least in the bright eyes of an excited 3 yr old


Yoni somehow got it into his head that this was HIS party from uncle Sam. I'm not quite sure he gets the concept of presents and parties because we can look at the Nemo calendar where I marked last months parties and he'll still "read" the calendar to me.

Stay tuned for more pics of the Namer kids - Yaeli will be the star of the next round. And then you'll get to see the 2 of them together - how sweet. It's in the works.

Bingo

Oh the things we do for our kiddos...

We live across the street from the clubhouse at our apt complex, where they hold Bingo games several times a month. So this afternoon, Yoni saw all the people congregating outside the door waiting for the event to begin and he wanted to check it out. So we went over there and stood just inside the door as they were signing in (rent coupons are sometimes prizes).
Of course they made a huge fuss over him and I said that maybe we would come play sometime. Of course it would help if Yoni knew his numbers better in order to actually play Bingo.Then we went home to take a nap - yeah, right!

Also, later in the evening I was singing the BINGO song to Yael and hit upon this simple variation:

There was a mommy who had a girl
And Yaeli was her name-o
Y-A-E-L-I
Y-A-E-L-I
Y-A-E-L-I
And Yaeli was her name-o

You get the picture, I'm an idiot

Elmo Makes Music

Thanks Uncle Sam and Aunt Carlye for helping Yoni have a very special birthday. We went to see Elmo and his Sesame Street friends (click here) and spared no expense on the chachkies.

He got a spinning Sesame Street lightup wand with Elmo on top - his new favorite toy, which he nearly ran the batteries down on already, an Elmo T-shirt, an Elmo doll and the show CD. Then at intermission he got a $10 mylar Elmo face balloon-see above pic.


It was a cute show, but we were exhausted after the first half and since I am fighting the ghastly chest congestion and cough (which I haven't dealt with until now since I had my adenoids taken out), it seemed that the 2nd half after intermission was a little too much, but of course they saved the Sesame Street classics like "Sing" for the 2nd half and as a finale. It just seemed a little anti-climactic since it was nap time for most of the kiddos and the meltdown factor could be seen everywhere.

Kudos to the Yonster though - he actually made it to the potty at intermission (disgusting public men's' room I can only imagine, Eran got this one - the women's line was around the corner) and actually did his business rather than needing a new pull-up mid show. We're so proud!

He was so excited he called Sam at least 10 times this afternoon instead of napping. He was also about seven different shades of grey and blue in his face and lips today as lately he has been coughing also. Next week he goes back to the respiratory doctor (pulmonologist) who is monitoring him after the surgery and his asthma. We'll see what she has to allow and how badly we've done and whether we have to alter his care at this point. My guess is we'll probably end up on oxygen or something of that nature since he is barking like a seal when he coughs and then coughing something up that he doesn't actually spit out (or vomit - thank goodness)

However, another tidbit of work-related news, I got a phone call on my cell phone on the weekend at 8:30 AM (which is relatively late for a field man) from the oil-field in Louisiana. I forgot that I have my cell number on my card and in the office directory and didn't answer the first call...Anyway, I got the relief field supervisor set up with the necessary username and password and mapped to the right forms in the database in about fifteen minutes, right as we were getting ready to walk out the door. If he had called twenty minutes later, I would have been dropping Yaeli off at the grandparents. Ah the wonders of technology, and extra responsibilities since "Ms Thing" is gone. Good thing he caught me or he would have been calling someone else (my boss) to get it done. Yippee for me and for feeling extra special important enough to merit a phone call on the weekend, good thing it wasn't 4:30 in the morning, although I probably would have been up.

Reap what you sow

So after doing my job and the one who left’s job and fixing the one who is about to leave’s mistakes, I am officially “under the weather” - cough, cough, sniffle, sniffle. I had a serious sinus attack earlier this week after throwing my back out somehow over the weekend.

Yoni has a barking cough where he sounds like a baby seal, but he hasn't thrown up from it so far and he doesn't seem to be particularly lethargic or running a fever. Now Yael is a little congested as well and therefore never completely finishes a feeding - she kept me up nursing for hours last night!!!

Also, I am completely convinced that the whole attitude of the former employee should be construed as “Tom Sawyer Syndrome”.
After finally receiving all the materials she had been getting all along, it turns out that the whole thing is just finding the correct information and plugging in the right info in the right spot – pure data entry.
And she compiled books for distribution around to the different higher-ups and drilling folks out on the rigs. Well in that case it is purely a case of Administrative duties – any monkey can print out documents and make a bunch of copies and punch holes and print dividers. The real work in compiling all the information contained in those books and set-up materials is done by a more highly paid engineer.
So now, fielding the phone calls and emails from the field and our partners, and directly dealing with the software folks is the main challenge of that part of “her” former job.

The other girl is doing the job I was doing before I left, well she can’t seem to get any part of it perfectly down.
I am constantly checking her and finding all kinds of mistakes – leaving things out, putting things in the wrong place, etc. I really think I can do a great job in this as far as you have to keep track of lots of different details and that is the biggest challenge. The most difficult part is more time consuming – it is the printing and filing things away.

So really, all along being responsible for the daily report seems to be the challenging part of this position and it is one I was handling quite well all along (except for the filing papers part – the electronic filing was no biggie as it kept me straight as to what I was doing and where I was.

Just when you thought it was safe...

Some of the initial shell shock has passed (finally) and we are all moving on.

Today, the lady they hired to do my job while I was out submitted her resignation.
I'm thinking she has to be aware that she was not doing a great job, and was causing problems for others. Plus she just never really ever got it to work smoothly.

Apparently, she found some other job that is doing more along the lines of what she was doing before and much more in her comfort zone as well as getting the chance to go to the deep water rigs (which I could never or would never do because of the time constraints and my small children)

My boss had asked me to step into a meeting to make sure I am trained on our ever changing software database. A few minutes later he busted in with her letter in hand which he flashed and then quipped "You're not planning on going anywhere are you? cause you're the drilling reports girl now."

And earlier in the day my favorite one of the management eschelon, the one I finally went to with all this mess originally, casually asked how I was hanging in there and then cautioned, "you gotta be careful what you wish for"

Again, I have to wonder about the mysterious turn of events and the way things pan out. When I was working at Kenes in Tel Aviv, right before I moved to Jerusalem and left the position, they were working on building a new database software. I really enojyed that troubleshooting and input and that I was able to help make it a better system. I even considered that as a possible career route, but didn't know how to get into that area. And now, I am basically doing the same sort of end-user bug fixing and trouble shooting.

And I have also picked up the AFEs that I have been complaining about not receiving all along in order to get the big picture about the projects. When I came in this morning, there were a few on my chair waiting for me. Luckily, I already have some experience with the tools used in tracking these things otherwise I would totally be lost. And the few AFEs I have seen DO have all the information I would have needed to be totally independent of this crazy woman all along.

So now is my chance to shine - I just hope I can step up to the challenge of learning all these new aspects of my "new" job and hold it all together with my family life.

The next few months should be an interesting roller-coaster ride. We have the all-important 3rd birthday where Yoni will get his first haircut and since we have been to all these other parties lately, I want to throw a bash for my kid and reap all the fun (and presents) to be had. But that takes planning and finding the time to make it all happen. Plus, my brother is hitting a milestone birthday in March so I need to do something special for him too. And of course Eran's birthday and Valentines Day (its still fun to give presents even if we don't really celebrate the holiday - I already got mine, a beautiful heart shaped white gold and diamond pendant necklace from Eran)

And the biggest of excitement of all ... we are finally moving to a larger apartment with a second bathroom and a wet bar which basically affords us another two sinks and vanity mirrors. Again, in my life I never manage to do anything half-assed. Whenerver there are major changes, the changes are usually to all aspects.

Stay tuned for more on the continuing saga of "As Brenda's World Turns"

No turning back

I got this woman fired!!!
She invaded my privacy and terrorized me and many others for the last time.
I can't believe I did it - and with such coolness and calmness and no emotional outbreaks - at least not yet.
The HR department got involved this morning and I had to write up my case in an email to the HR director. Then right after lunch they called me downstairs to keep me out of way and off the same floor to avoid more of a scene - and I chatted with another new mother in the HR department about our babies and the possibilities that could be happening upstairs. I was a chatterbox as I tend to be when I am nervous.

Supposedly [I was downstairs at the time] they confronted her and she admitted to doing it. They confiscated her access cards, reclaimed her computer and she packed up her personal things and left right there and then - in the middle of the day.

Of course the rumor mills were flying!!! And she called one of her friends claiming that I was gunning for her job since the beginning and that I had her framed or something along those lines in order to save face. But mostly the story was correct. A personal file was sent to her computer and I was somehow involved.

My boss was shocked on Friday when I finally got around to telling him, and also that I had been sitting on this for 2 weeks already. I told him I had to think long and hard before I did anything about it, and that's true. This whole situation consumed me for the past few days. And then once I got the ball rolling, it was so fast it left me thrown for a loop. And she has been being so nice to everyone lately, I guess she was expecting it.

True, this woman terrorized me personally for at least the past year and most people would agree she was difficult to work with. But she was also a work-a-holic. She came in early and left late and worked weekends. She was not married, had no children and when her last cat attacked her, she had it put down. Apart from being a psycho, she has lots of physical ailments as well. She is asthmatic and recently spent time in the hospital for pneumonia and had a cyst removed from her lung. She also has knee problems and is severly overweight and generally not a healthy person, so I am sorry to have taken away her medical bemefits more than anything. She can go to the temp agencies to find work and collect some sort of unemployment, so I am less worried about her actual financial position.

But as my support system has been telling me, she made her own bed and now she has to lie in it. She is the one who crossed the line and for some reason thought she was untouchable and that she wouldn't get caught - and isn't it funny how G-d works in mysterious ways. Why oh why didn't she just read the damn thing on my computer since she was already there, if it was so important to her, and no one would have been the wiser? But she not only compressed the file (which I don't even know how to do) and left it there out on the drive, she also sent it to her computer. And there was nothing she could do with the information anyway as it was a SELF appraisal and confidential at that. Then she didn't really completely delete it off my computer, which also blows my mind, and that basically sealed her coffin.

We'll see what the next few days reveal. I am petrified! Eran even had me ask for an escort to my car this afternoon. The HR director took me personally in her car and it gave us a chance to debrief a little bit as well.

And there you have it - as the world turns, and there is the first real "pigua" (terrorist bombing) in Eilat - also previously untouchable in all the Middle East mess, my own little world keeps on turning and unfolding new and dramatic turns.

Meanwhile, Yael is super excited about finding her hands with her mouth and actually grasping things but not on purpose yet. She is gurgling and cooing and generally making all kinds of happy sounds which counteracts any sort of negativity in the whole wide world. And Jonathan has gained a little weight towards his third birthday and grown a little taller and become a little more headstrong. But he constantly reminds me of the wonders of the world in seeing them through his eyes and that "it's a beautiful day", right mommy? So we sing first thing in the morning in the car on the way to daycare: "Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I've got a wonderful feeling, everything's going my way"

Have a beautiful day everyone. And some of the pictures are being processed, I promise!

The Deed is Done!

I am officially a corporate whistle blower.
I set the ball rolling with all the incriminating evidence and even GAVE her enough rope to hang herself. [See this previously posted text to an email]
Now its a wait and see kinda thing as far as what happens next, but the higher-ups were definitely not happy about the whole situation.
I will keep you posted as the drama unfolds on the soap opera that is my life.

Black Socks

This is a quick tribute to Mrs King who taught us many funny songs throughout the years.
I have taught it to Yoni (right after she passed away) and he occasionally requests it [by name]on the way to school or before bed. It reminds me fondly of my younger years and I thought I would share it with you here:

Black socks
They never grow dirty
The longer you wear them
The blacker they get
Whenever I think about washing them
Something inside me says...
Don't wash them yet

Yoni pauses dramatically before the last line and wags that finger back and forth like a stern school marm but with his charming smile to balance it out.

Thanks for the memories Mrs. King and for other favorites like Cukaburra and Father Abraham and his seven dancing sons .

Oh and here is your daily picture my loyal blog readers

Dress for Success

This is one of my new year’s resolutions. I posted about it here originally.
As I get a clean slate at the beginning of the year, I also get to return to work after a couple of months off for maternity leave. I decided to turn over a new leaf and dress up for work on a daily basis.
I got the opportunity to do alot of wardrobe (clothing) shopping while I was off, I just need a little income to finish accessorizing with new shoes (my father calls me Imelda, but I haven’t bought any lately) and contemporary jewelry.
Once you’ve done something for three weeks it supposedly becomes a habit and that is certainly my intention here. To dress up and wear makeup to work daily – at least for now – as this should counteract any lingering “pregnancy brain” phenomenon and instances of sleeplessness to be encountered with an infant and an almost three year old at home.
Its all about the appearances we put forth to the world and I intend to look professional.

Yum

Some things you just have to be a kid to understand.

Yoni loves Challah (any bread is referred to as challah)
and chicken nuggets (any form of chicken can be chicken nuggets)
and pasta (any and all shapes and sizes, but he can be picky about sauces - sometimes macaroni and cheese is a winner, and sometimes a tomato based sauce works ok, and sometimes butter, and lately no sauce at all).

Today we had all three for lunch - pasta by special kid request. We also had rice and beans flavored with steak bits, which was AMAZINGLY yummy - thanks Eran!

But Yoni just had a spaghetti sandwich for dinner.
I never heard of such a thing, but when your tiny undernourished kid (it's a Jewish mother thing) is finally eating with a vengence, he can get away with these things.

Here's how it goes -
a large slice of challah (the best in town, fresh from Wish Bakery - and it is so yummy it tastes like cake)
folded in half
and stuffed with plain Jane spaghetti - with no sauce this time (my purist boy)

Would you like some carbs to go with your carbs? Of course this means he could have either the beans dish or a yogurt as a side dish - both of which he turned down.

He did however have banana Laffy Taffy candy and some other sugary treats (but not chocolate - where did this kid come from) earlier in the day and some not-too-sweet cinnamon rugalach at the neighbors' to go with his "special coffee"- which was Nestle Quick Shoko which he also didn't drink, but he turned his nose up at my French Vanilla flavored milk drink too. Go Figure.

Meanwhile, Yael was adorably sweet as usual and despite her cradle crap and eczema, she is a beauty. She is smiling and cooing and generally making sweet faces and noises to all whom she graces with her precence.