Foul Revenge

AM eats a LOT. He never stops eating, really. He sometimes takes food to bed with him at night, and in an average morning he eats three breakfasts. While his big brother tends to be a pickier eater, AM has rarely met a food that he doesn't like or won't at least try.

Since yesterday was the last day before the Nine Days, the period of mourning leading up to Tisha B'Av when we don't eat meat, we decided to have a fleishig lunch as one last hoorah. We went to Carlos and Gabby's, our favorite neighborhood Mexikosher restaurant, where the boys love to eat chicken fingers and french fries. AM ate his fair share, and we packed up Y's leftovers to take with us to the zoo, where we planned to spend our afternoon.

As we walked through the zoo, the boys munched on their chicken fingers. Maybe it was the scent of dead chicken on AM's face and fingers that precipitated the unfortunate event that happened as we were walking to the exit on our way home.

D and I were attending to Y, who had managed a slow-motion-totally-predictable collision with a slightly older boy that resulted in the older boy walking away unharmed while Y did two somersaults and landed on his tush (he was fine, just upset). As we were comforting him, AM decided to say hi to the chicken that was wandering around outside the petting zoo.

He did everything right...or so I thought. He got close, but not too close, and he didn't try to touch the chicken. He just stood next to the chicken, waved, and said, "hi chicken." Apparently the chicken decided to seek revenge for his brothers lost in the process of making AM's lunch, because he suddenly flapped his wings, jumped up on AM, and attacked him! He jumped down, took a second to regain strength, and did it again! D ran over and yelled at the bird, who decided to fly away rather than attack D as well.

Poor AM was stunned. He just stood there in shock. I quickly examined him and discovered two small scratches on his lower back. We consulted our on-call pediatrician, who didn't seem concerned and talked me down from rushing AM to the emergency room, and we left.

Now, when talking about the incident, AM says, "Chicken ate back. Chicken ate AM." When he's in therapy at age 46 over a strange fear of farm birds, he can refer to this blog post for the origin of it all.


p.s. Y's reaction to the attack: "Now AM learned his lesson. Never talk to a chicken while he's busy."

A Day of Numbers

7.26.11

2 kids
6 years
6 needles
61 lbs (and 1 oz)
73.3 inches
1 poop in the potty

1 ima.

Snack time

Today's snack had a theme. Introducing Mr. Dipsy and Mrs. Sunny Doodle. If they had a child, it would be named "Cheese." Hee hee.

Sameach b' Pringles

We all know that I did not grow up keeping kosher, and although there are very few foods that I truly miss eating, I'd say the two at the top of my list are Skittles and Sunchips.

Well! Wasn't I happily surprised when I used a coupon to buy 6 cans of Pringles and discovered multigrain Pringles with cheddar. They taste just like sunchips...only kosher! Hooray!


Now if only I could find kosher Skittles...

I'm a Gleek!

Somehow I joined the Glee bandwagon a bit late in the game, but once I discovered the show (near the end of the first season), I was hooked. It's like the show was designed with my interests in mind: teen dramas and musicals! What's not to love?!

When I discovered that the Glee Live tour was coming to my area, I decided that I just had to go. Unfortunately, my Glee compatriots at work had a previous engagement, and D was busy running in a charity run, so I went by myself. It was SO worth it.

I arrived before the doors opened (after taking car, train, and bus to finally arrive at the Izod center) and enjoyed observing the many different costumes I saw in the crowd. The crowd was largely filled with teenage girls, their parent or guardian, and gay men. I was part of the larger-than-expected minority of frum 30-somethings that I saw wandering around.

The opening act was the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, a group of dancer-acrobats who entertained for a while. They were good, but it was clear that nobody in the crowd was there to see them perform! As soon as they finished, some movie producers came on stage and announced that the concert was going to be filmed for the Glee 3-D movie coming to a theater near you this summer. They had the crowd do a few exercises that they filmed for the movie, and there were cameras and sound guys EVERYWHERE. Pretty cool.

The Glee show itself was nothing short of AWESOME!!! The cast, including Sue Sylvester, was all performing in character, and they performed nonstop for about 90 minutes, then finished with 4 encores. A real highlight was when Gwyneth Paltrow made a surprise appearance and performed Cee Lo with the cast. I was up, out of my seat, busting a move and screaming my head off. This, I have realized, is a great reason to go to a silly concert by yourself. Even if the lovely gentlemen next to me thought I was a lunatic, I will never see them again! The dancing and singing were fabulous. The energy was great. The whole night was just perfect (except for getting stuck in construction traffic on the West Side Highway and getting home after 1am).

There's something about Glee that just makes me truly happy and inspired. It may be a cheesy tv show, but it's feel-good and happy and fun. I can't wait til next year's concert!

The Happiest Mug Shot I've Ever Seen

Thank you CNN.com

A Proud Ima

Yesterday was a day full of nachas for this proud Ima.

First, I attended YS's graduation from his 3 year-old class. Unlike all past performances or events I have attended at his school, this time he actually participated fully, sang loudly and proudly, did all of the hand motions, and actually seemed to enjoy himself! I could tell that he was proud of himself, and of course I was beaming with pride. It was a big year academically for YS! He now knows all of his letters and how to write them, both in English and Hebrew. He knows much more parsha and probably knows more about some of the chagim than I do! When he colors, he stays within the lines! He has developed (or maybe just unearthed) a deep love and appreciation for learning, and it's wonderful to observe. He is truly saddened by the end of the school year, even though he will spend his summer playing and learning at his yeshiva's summer camp.

AM also amazed me yesterday! He said his longest sentence yet: "I want more water in my cup please." Atta boy! I was worried about him being able to communicate his needs now that he's starting camp in a week, but after last night, I'm a little less concerned.

What a good day to be their Ima!

So far so good!

The nay-sayers can say nay, but my new life as a couponer is AWESOME! Yes, it takes time. Yes, it takes preparation. But, in just two shopping trips (one to A&P, one to Harmon Beauty Supplies), I have already saved $88.68!

You may say nay. I say, "$88.68 IS A LOT OF MONEY!"

The whole experience was truly invigorating. First of all, we all know I love a good project (remember when I was going to teach myself ballet from the Encyclopedia?). This project is full of math and spreadsheets and binders and organization...basically all of the things I love the best. Second, when I got to A&P yesterday, a woman actually came up to me and asked, "Are you a coupon lady?" I was schepping nachas. Third, as I stood at the register, I got to feel fear and trepidation. What would happen? Would the dollars come off like I had anticipated? Would I accidentally overspend? Fourth, without snorting coke or shooting up heroin, I got to experience a great, natural high when the final total showed up on the screen. SUCCESS!

I did not buy stupid stuff we don't need or want. I bought cereal and salad dressing and ice cream. We all know how much I love ice cream! My children are not sleeping on top of piles of cat food (we have no cat). My clothing is not being put into storage to make space for contact lens solution (we don't wear glasses).

I have yet to leave the store with $900 worth of groceries that cost me $0.01, but I did save $88.68, and that's not too shabby!

A final plus: as I was looking over my receipt last night and cutting new coupons, YS was asking me questions, and I was able to give him a good lesson about saving money and being cost-conscious. It was a teachable moment!

I love my new hobby. :)

My Work Family

It's hard being away from my family all day while I'm at the office, so my partner-in-crime got me a little work family to keep on my desk.

For some reason the orange "Rachel" shmooshie-chicken-ball is balding. The AM shmooshie-chicken-ball isn't a chicken ball at all. It's actually a light-up ring (I tried to take a photo of it lighting up, but it didn't turn out).

These family members don't talk back. They don't run around trying to hit me - or each other. They don't wake me up at ungodly hours of the morning.

They also don't bring me delicious salmon avocado salads for dinner. They don't give me cute little slobbery kisses. They don't get excited when they see me each day.

I guess every family has its ups and downs.

My New Hobby

On my last night in Miami, I stumbled upon an "Extreme Couponing" marathon on TLC.

If you know me, you know that I love tv shows like this one. If you know D, you know that he would rather be stabbed in the eye than watch reality tv.

So we struck a deal. He promised to watch a few episodes if I promised to become an extreme couponer and save our family thousands of dollars in grocery savings each year.

Who am I to pass up a deal like that?!

So there I was, Sunday morning, at the Miami airport before 6am, hurrying to the newsstand to pick up a paper and start couponing. Between Sunday and Monday nights, I spent approximately 8 hours clipping and logging 300+ coupons. I've reached out to friends and family to send me their unwanted coupons. I've enrolled in online savings programs. I've had several coupon anxiety dreams. Bet you didn't know you could have an anxiety dream about coupons!

I think D has created a monster.

I see this new hobby going in two possible directions:

1. I get bored of it in two weeks or less, fail to use any/many of the coupons in a timely manner, and find them expired in my drawer in six months.

2. I grab onto this new "hobby" with two hands and become obsessed. I refuse to quit - just like I refused to stop being a vegetarian - because after all: a promise is a promise, and I can be as stubborn as the best of them. I save our family money, but probably not thousands, and at the same time devote copious amounts of time and energy couponing.

What's your vote?

A Week in Paradise

Before I begin, let's get a few things straight. I love my job. I love my kids. I love my shul.

Ok, now that that's out of the way...

I just spent a week (7 full days and nights!) on a kid-free trip* to Miami Beach, and it was GREAT! My days consisted of sleeping until whenever I want**, eating enormous portions of delicious food, swimming in the pool and ocean, reading novels, and taking long walks with D.

I started my days with the breakfast of champions:


Moved onto a little dip in the sea...



Read a few hundred pages:


Jumped into the pool to cool off:


Took a walk to sight-see:


And ate...and ate...and ate...

While the weather in NY was a total washout, the weather in Miami was PERFECT! The lovely people at the Chabad were so hospitable and friendly, and we enjoyed sharing Shabbos meals with them. The rest of the week, we ate like kings (and queens!) at the many amazing kosher restaurants on 41st street. Overall, it was just a wonderful - and truly well-deserved on D's part - vacation.

It was really sad to see the week end, but we get to have a vacation booster shot in a view weeks, when we'll return to Florida for a great friend's wedding.

*Lest you worry about my children, they were enjoying themselves in NY with Bubbe, Bubbe, and Zayde, who no doubt spoiled them rotten and showered them with love.

**Sadly, it took until the last day of vacation for my body to adjust to the lack of alarm clock, and I still woke up waaayyy earlier than desired.

Guilt-Free Snacking!

Ben & Jerry's is starting a new ad campaign featuring Greyston Bakery! Check out this awesome billboard that will be hung all over the country this summer! There's also a really cool video that you can see here.

There's No Place Like Home

Vinyl Blues

Pesach this year was absolutely lovely. I managed to keep my pre-Pesach mental anguish at bay, D was incredibly helpful by taking the kids off my hands on cleaning and cooking days, the boys were on their best behavior, we shared some meals with wonderful families in our community, and we had our own Seder for the first time! My Pesach stash of cooking gear grows little-by-little each year, and when we decided to have a Seder, I decided it was time to add some plates, bowls, and a tablecloth to my collection. What a great excuse to spend time browsing the shelves of Bed, Bath, and Beyond! You might be surprised (I was) at how difficult picking out a tablecloth is. I'd say it's safe to say I spent at least 20 minutes picking up one option, putting it down, picking it back up again, etc. etc. etc. I ultimately decided on a vinyl tablecloth with a pretty pattern on it, since I figured being able to easily wipe off matza crumbs and wine droplets would be really helpful during the holiday, sine I didn't want to have to take it on and off repeatedly to clean it.

The table looked great!

Until...

On the first day of Pesach, I forgot that the tablecloth was vinyl and set a hot serving dish on it. Imagine my surprise when I tried to clean up from lunch and discovered that the dish had become one with the tablecloth! Since it was yom tov, I couldn't rip the dish off, so we just left it there and ate around it for the rest of the holiday, including Seder!

Basically I'm Famous Now

I'll be honest (I usually am). I'm not exactly sure who Justin Bieber is, what he sings, why teenage girls think his crazy hair is something to be excited about, or whether or not he has a Disney tv show, but I DO know that he's uber-famous. So, when given the opportunity to try on his shoe, of course I jumped at it.

Was this the first time I had worn a famous person's shoe? Yes. Was this the first time I wore an ugly purple high top with strange velcro closures and a tweenage boy's signature? Yes. Was this the first time I felt like I needed to Purell my foot in the middle of a workday? No, definitely not.

Will it be the last? Time will tell...

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

YS has really become quite the artist over the past few weeks. He spends most of his free time coloring, cutting, writing, and drawing. Here are three pictures he made yesterday. You can see he sometimes adds his own drawings (sun, clouds, etc.) to the coloring book pages. He even manages to stay in the lines most of the time!


His new-found hobby is good for everyone involved. He develops his artistic skills and has an outlet for his creativity, I get fancy pictures to hang on my wall at work, and AM gets uninterrupted time with our gigantic stash of trains!

More excuses

Once again, thank you google images.

Last night was a looooong night in the W household. YS was awake and crying off and on from 10pm - 4am, mostly complaining that his ear was bothering him. He didn't have a fever or any other symptoms of an infection, and when I asked him what it felt like, this is what he told me:

"It feels like either a tree or a tomato is growing in my ear."

It was around 3am. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or pull out my computer to blog about it.

Today was a 2-cans-of-coke kinda day, but at least I have this little gem from last night to keep me laughing.

Found in a Monsey grocery store

The blogpost that fell in my lap

As soon as I pulled into the Skyview Shopping Center parking lot after work today, I knew I'd be blogging once the boys went to bed. This was the car parked in front of me...

...and this was the car parked one row over

The sign reads: "Please don't honk. Causes seizures. Thank you!"

Uhhh...WHAT?!?!

Usually I don't like to be the crazy lady pulling out her phone and taking pictures of other people's cars, especially in a parking lot where I almost always see people I know (plus, my reputation is still in recovery mode after Saturday night's watch-Kentucky-lose-while-screaming-in-the-pizza-shop debacle), but today it could not be avoided. I couldn't pass by these cars and not document their existence.

Shall we start with our good friend ARSON? Uh, seriously? ARSON?! How is it possible that this license plate got past the eagle eyes of the fine folks at the New York State DMV? Personally, if I were reviewing license plate applications and came across someone requesting ARSON as his vanity plate, I would probably put the applicant on a 72-hour psych hold while I evaluated the likelihood of him being a threat to himself or others. In the age of homeland security and orange threats and Big Brother using the Patriot Act to read my emails, how is it acceptable for someone to drive around with ARSON plates? The ever-wise Elena suggested that the owner is a fire fighter. Let's hope she's onto something!

Now moving on. I have lived in New York City for seven and half years now, and if there is one thing I can say for sure, it's that drivers in NYC love to honk. A LOT. Even I give a liberal honk when trying to navigate the roads while narrowly-avoiding overzealous cabs and buses, not to mention audacious bikers and ruthless pedestrians. While I truly feel very sorry for the individual whose seizures are brought on by honking, I certainly hope that s/he is not the driver of the car!

Never a dull moment, folks. Never a dull moment.

A Little Mind at Work

This morning on the way to school, YS suddenly exclaimed, "Hey! Ima! Toys that are people are called dolls!" He's figuring out the world around him, and I love every second of it!

This evening during dinner time, YS told me that he wanted to draw a rainbow, so he took a piece of paper and his tub of crayons and ran into the other room. He emerged a couple of minutes later with a perfectly-drawn ROYGBIV rainbow! I couldn't believe that he actually knew how to draw a perfect rainbow without help, so I started looking around the room for something he must have used as a guide. Nothing! I asked him how he learned the order of the colors (which I think I learned in middle school science class), and he belted out a song he had learned at school. A half hour later, he was serenading me with assorted Pesach songs that he's been practicing at school.

I am so grateful to his morahs (teachers) for not only being kind, patient, and caring, but for also being creative, competent, and so talented. How they manage a room full of 3 year-olds is beyond me, and how they do so while also legitimately teaching them copious information truly baffles my mind.

An Ode to the New York Public Library

What's free, easy, and an unlimited resource of entertainment and knowledge? The New York Public Library!!! My love affair with the public library system has gone on and off for the past seven and a half years, since I moved to NYC. Every once in a while I experience a surge of, "oh yeah! I LOVE the library!" I'm in the middle of such a surge right now.

A couple of weeks ago I heard an interview with Rocco DiSpirito on my favorite morning radio show, where he was promoting his newest cookbook. I liked the general idea of it (creating healthier versions of everyone's favorite recipes), but I wasn't sure I wanted to commit to buying a $30 cookbook. Suddenly it dawned on me that I could probably check out the book from the library, so I did! My local library is very small and has limited selection, but I can log online and quickly add a book to my "cart," and within a day or two I receive an email alerting me to the fact that the book is now available for me at the branch down the street from my house. I actually requested two of Rocco's cookbooks, read through them, picked out my favorites, and happily returned the books without spending a dime or taking up precious space in my bookshelf.

In the past month, I have checked no less than seven or eight books out from the library. I borrowed the newest book from my favorite author (Jodi Picoult - love!), some recommendations from my mom and friend, two cookbooks, and some parenting books. I have probably read and returned a couple of hundred dollars worth of books...all for free! What could be better?!

When I was in second grade, I told my parents that I wanted a pet rabbit. They told me that before I could get a rabbit, I needed to go to the library and read up on rabbit diseases and rabbit care, so that I could truly understand what I'd be getting myself into. Looking back, it's obvious that they had no intentions of buying me a rabbit, but some creative parenting put the decision in my hands and made me realize it was more than I bargained for. Perhaps this experience was the beginning of my realization that the library is an amazing resource!

My kids spend a lot of time at the NYPL as well. Not only do they have a little children's section with books and puppets and a reading rug, but they have story time and a free weekly arts & crafts workshop. The boys and their friends hang out there almost every day during the week (especially in the colder months), and I hope it's helping to foster their appreciation of reading. Budget cuts have caused a reduction in library hours and programming over the past few years, but that hasn't changed the fact that the library - when used the right way - can be an invaluable resource.

The Moo-sic of My Life as a Mom

Reason #3,489,392 why being a mom makes me laugh:

The other night, I was in the kitchen cooking, when suddenly something started to moo. My kids were asleep, D was still at work, and the last time I lived with a cow was in the early 1990s. I shook it off and went about my business. A few minutes later, I heard another moo. I looked around a bit and realized it was coming from a farm toy my in-laws gave AM a few months ago. The fact of the matter was that I was nowhere near the toy, but something about my movements in the kitchen activated its moo-ing function.

Before becoming a mom, I owned very few multi-colored-bilingual-musical items. Now I'm hard-pressed to walk though a room in my house without experiencing a sensory overload of color and music! Instead of rocking out to my favorite girl band while I cook, I listen to the random moo, baa, or gobble that may get thrown my way. And you know what? I love it!

The hills are alive with the sound of moo-sic.

Pure Joy

Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to go to Newark, NJ and watch my UK Wildcats beat UNC to win the Elite Eight and advance to the Final Four for the first time since I was a junior in high school, eagerly flooding the streets of Lexington with my friends. Last night I found myself surrounded by my brother, some other childhood friends, and thousands of other UK fans as we celebrated together, crying and screaming and overflowing with joy and pride and happiness. Here is a short clip of the final seconds of the game, followed by the crowd's reaction. As you might imagine, I'm pretty hoarse today!



Now it goes without saying that my boys are talented athletes who deserve nothing more than a NCAA Championship trophy, but I am proud to tell you that they owe a bit of their success to me! I have discovered that I own lucky shoes. I wore them during the SEC championship game by accident, but since then I have worn them (and carefully avoided taking them off) during each tournament game. Last Friday, the game started after my Shabbos bedtime, but that wasn't going to stop me! So yes, I slept in my shoes. Whatever. It worked, didn't it?! I think after we win the championship I will have them bronzed and framed...or maybe I should just keep them in a safe place until next season.

Here's a photo of my shoe in Newark yesterday, happily celebrating the Cats' victory!

The best part of the game...next to the moment of victory, of course...was hearing the UK band play "My Old Kentucky Home" before the trophy ceremony. I tried to sing along, but my hoarse voice made the old lady weep more than she already was (don't get the reference? read the lyrics).



Needless to say, I am anxiously anticipating Saturday night's game against UConn.

Oooooh.....C-A-T-S CATS! CATS! CATS!

A toe-rrific excuse

In the history of children, I'm sure there have been thousands of creative "I don't want to go to bed" stalling tactics.

"I need water."
"I need another story."
"I'm too hot."
"I'm too cold."

Etc. Etc. Etc.

Tonight, about 45 minutes after putting YS to bed, I was sitting on my bed happily watching a "Friends" rerun, when I thought I heard some stirring outside my door. At first I thought it might be YS getting a book from his bookshelf to look at in bed, but then I realized the sound I heard was unfamiliar. I opened my bedroom door and found him lying on the floor in his doorway. He seemed to be examining his feet in the light of the hallway.

Me: "YS, what are you doing?"
YS: (On the verge of tears) "I was just noticing that the nails on my feet are really long and a little bit dirty."

As I picked him up and carried him back to bed, I suggested to him that we cut his nails tomorrow afternoon. No dice. Tomorrow morning? Absolutely not. We were skating on the edge of a major tantrum, so I gave in. I found the nail clippers and cut his toenails...in the dark. He looked at me, happy and relieved, said thank you, and nestled into bed.

I'm thinking about nominating him for the most creative bedtime stalling tactic of all time.

Eyes Turned Toward the East

Scary things happening in Israel right now.

I'm thinking about "HaTikvah," whose lyrics are as relevant now as ever.

As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart,

With eyes turned toward the East, looking toward Zion,

Then our hope - the two-thousand-year-old hope - will not be lost:

To be a free people in our land,

The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

(Thank you http://www.stateofisrael.com/anthem/)

Why Purim Scared Me

This was our first Purim since YS was diagnosed with his peanut allergy. I grew up thinking that Purim was a fun, carefree, silly holiday with a lot of meaning and ritual. I now know that Purim is a scary holiday with hidden dangers around every corner. Prepping for the holiday this year not only involved ordering costumes, making mishloach manot, and arranging plans for the festive meal, but it also required me to have several role-playing sessions with my 3.5 year-old, during which time I pretended to hand him a treat and required him to practice bringing it to me and asking permission before eating it. I must say, I play a very convincing 3 year-old girl; raising my voice thirteen octaves really helps. In any case, even after practicing and lecturing, I still felt like I had to watch YS like a hawk the whole day. Our Purim this year was wonderful and fun, and it involved attending three different parties and receiving a dozen or so gift baskets from friends in our community. While I feel so fortunate to be the recipient of such lovely generosity, it meant I was sorting through food and standing guard over YS all day. Luckily, there were plenty of nut-free treats for him to enjoy, so he didn't protest when I told him he couldn't sample certain foods. The only close call of the day actually involved AM, who has not yet been diagnosed with an allergy (but his genealogy and eczema make me suspect he may eventually receive the same diagnosis as his big brother). He happily enjoyed a hazelnut cookie, after which I stared at him from about two inches away from his face for five minutes until I was convinced he wasn't going to react. Let me tell you: those were a LONG five minutes. B"H the day was free from medical emergencies and therefore a huge success. YS was remarkably well-behaved the whole day, played nicely with kids from several different families, graciously thanked his hosts and hostesses, and cheerfully wore his dinosaur costume all day. AM made me happy by wearing his scarecrow hat long enough for me to snap some cute photographs, and then he ate his way through the day at each house we visited. For a tiny little guy, he can really put it away.

Now that Purim is over, Pesach season has officially begun (at least in my head). I have already filled a few Pampers boxes with food I found on sale two weeks ago, and soon I will outline my to-do lists for the next four weeks. Pretty soon the "I will not let Pesach make me crazy. I will not let Pesach make me crazy. I will not let Pesach make me crazy." mantras will begin. Whatever it takes!

Finally, I am proud/shocked/amazed to announce that I made a home-cooked, well-balanced, relatively healthy and delicious dinner...on a TUESDAY!!!! The planets must be out of line. Brown rice with cheddar and veggies and baked tilapia. Mmmm...

Remaining Optimistic

It's been a hard week for the world. Horrific catastrophes in Japan with trickle-down effects to the rest of the world (the US stock market had an awful week; rebuilding Haiti will quickly fall off the radar; past tsunami victims are feeling PTSD; etc.). Devastating tragedy in Israel. Missing Americans in Libya. The list goes on. Figuring out the balance between: 1. being conscientious and caring, yet paralyzed by grief vs. 2. remaining numb and ignorant but going about my life as normal has kept my brain busy and my heart heavy. It's hard to get ready for Purim when the world is in so much pain.

YET...

Amidst all of this, I have managed to find some moments of happiness and optimism. These are the moments I hold onto as I watch the news with tears in my eyes.

A couple of days ago, my boys and I discovered the first signs of spring in our backyard. As I've mentioned before, I hate winter. I give thanks to Hashem that spring is on its way. It can't come a moment too soon. The grass and dry leaves still abound, but in the middle little blossoms are finding their way up through the ground.

My co-worker and gardening guru tells me that these little flowers are resilient and will continue to thrive, even if an occasional frost chills them in the night.

May this new growth be a sign that better days are coming. May we all be blessed with a Freilichen Purim, a happy spring, a peaceful world, and a safe tomorrow.

My Favorite Time of Year

GO BIG BLUE!

Baruch Dayan HaEmes

There are no words.

Tonight I think about the Fogel family. Udi, 36, his wife Ruth, 35, and their children Yoav, 11, Elad, 4 and Hadas, 3 months were all stabbed to death last night in their sleep.

They ate Shabbos dinner. They tucked their kids in bed. They went to sleep. They never woke up.

They used to live in Gush Katif. They had to move in the name of peace. What peace?

I cheese!

AM, who is almost twenty months old, has recently started to have a vocabulary explosion. Each day he's saying more and more. While he mostly identifies nouns, he has also begun to say mini sentences using verbs he sometimes creates.

He has a habit of saying "cheese" (though it sounds more like "cheeth") every time I take his picture. Yesterday he pointed to my camera and identified it as "I cheeth." As in, when I see that object, I say cheese.

This afternoon, after saying "bye" to his nanny, he proudly ran up to me and announced, "I bye! I bye!" Yes, AM, you said goodbye.

He then picked up his toothbrush, gave it a swish or two in his mouth, and said, "I teeth!"

My favorite moment was a few weekends ago. After returning from minyan one Sunday morning, D asked the ever-important question, "Who wants to go to Dunkin Donuts?" AM quickly raised his hand and yelled, "I do!" I don't know where he learned to raise his hand, and I don't know when he started saying "I do," but I know he loves food, and he figured out the way to tell us in no uncertain terms!

I love hearing his new words! Before long, I know he'll be speaking like a pro, and if I'm lucky he'll be a little chatterbox like YS. For now, though, these little gems are too delicious not to share!

YS's Messianic Prediction

On a daily basis, I am amused and amazed by the things that come out of YS's three and half year old mouth. Not only is it amazing to see how all of the best and worst features of D and I have come together to form his ever-developing personality, but it is truly incredible to watch the wheels in his head turn as he thinks and makes determinations about the world around him.

This morning on the way to school, we were listening to Uncle Moishy sing about Yerushalayim and the day we will all return there. With a great sense of urgency in his voice, YS asked me the following question:

"But Ima! When is Moshiach going to come?!"

I replied that I wasn't sure, but we must pray every day that he will come soon. His reply...

"Ok, but it may take a while, so we have to be patient. It may take a few weeks."

How do you reply to that?! My response: "I hope you're right."

Save the Children

As a Social Worker, I am a mandated reporter of child abuse and neglect. Therefore, you can only imagine the concern I felt when reading this brie label. Are the little farm girls being trafficked from nearby Canadian territories and forced to make brie with love? Is the cheese company in violation of child labor laws? Should I call ACS immediately and report them?

For now, instead I decided to wrap it in some pastry dough, brush it with jam and brown sugar, bake it to a nice melty consistency, and eat it with graham crackers.

Worth the Splurge

I like to think that I'm fairly responsible with money. I try to buy clothes for the kids from the clearance rack, I stock up on expensive grocery items when they're on sale, and I resist buying the entire stock of Baby & Child Restoration Hardware, even though I ooh and aah over the merchandise all the time.

There are, however, a few things that are definitely worth splurging on.

When YS was around 10 or 11 months old, it was time for him to get his first haircut. We took him to the local barbershop and got him a $10 cut. He screamed the whole time, I left covered in bits of hair, and we were both a bit traumatized. The barbers, while perfectly nice when D is in their chair, were not exactly prepared for smaller, more sensitive clientele....neither were the other customers, for that matter. The next time we tried to take him there, he started screaming before we even walked in the door.

Then we discovered Someplace Special! Suzanne, the owner, is like a baby whisperer when it comes to cutting kids' hair. She gets on the floor and follows them around on her knees while they play with trains - what could be better?! She also has an entire collection of tv shows and movies, so YS (and now AM, who has had 2 haircuts of his own) can watch "Blues Clues" while getting a trim. She is patient and kind and possesses the ability to be stealth and full of distractions when the kids get suspicious of her scissors. The last time we were there, she somehow talked YS - who is scared of loud noises and most anything unfamiliar - to let her use the buzzer on his whole head!

While I'm sure the kiddie boutiques in Manhattan are even more expensive, Someplace Special is not cheap. Shelling out $28 for a boy's haircut is painful, I'll admit it, but it is TOTALLY worth it. I'll splurge on my kids' happiness (and my sanity) any day.

Shabbos Shekalim

Since we're having honored guests for Shabbos (Bubbe and Zayde), I decided to step it up a bit when it came to my meal planning. Here's what we've got:

Friday Dinner:

Challah*
40-Garlic Chicken
Steamed Green Beans
Butternut Squash Kugel
Napoleon Cake*

Shabbos Lunch:
Challah*
40-Garlic Chicken
Brown Rice
Cauliflower
Spiced Chickpeas
Rice Krispie Treats

Right now my house is drowning in the smell of garlic. I made three batches of the chicken recipe, so I actually cooked with 120 cloves of garlic! It was burning my nose and eyes when I took it out of the oven. Hopefully it tastes good!

*In the interest of full disclosure, these items were purchased at the local bakery. The rest is homemade. And all of this in the week my local kosher grocery decided to close down!

Did I mention I love food?

I scream, you scream!

I love food. A lot. I think it's safe to say that I spend a good part of my day thinking about food - excitedly mentally preparing for my next meal or snack. As far as food relationships go, though, I'd say I have a fairly healthy one. I try to eat a relatively well-balanced diet, and I'm not obsessed with counting calories or "food rules" or weird cleansing elixirs that come in little glass bottles (eww). I have a lot of favorite foods; here's my top ten list:


1. ICE CREAM!!! It's never too cold or too hot or too early in the day for a huge dish of ice cream. Breyer's makes the best chocolate, Baskin Robbins in my local kosher go-to spot, and Ben & Jerry's is Greyston's biggest costumer. Peanut butter and chocolate, jamocha almond fudge, mint chocolate chip, soft serve vanilla with caramel topping....mmmm....bring it on!

2. FRENCH FRIES. Golden, crispy, fried potato goodness. The local pizza place (more about that in a minute)has the best fries. They look likes the ones to the right. I eat too many, and I love every second of it. I used to think that ketchup ruined fries by covering up the delicious taste, but I have recently decided that it actually enhances the flavor.

3. PIZZA. I once stated that you could melt cheese on a shoe and it would taste delicious. Well, melting cheese on dough shmeared with tomato sauce and baked to bubbly goodness is even better. I remember with sadness those years of lactose intolerance when I missed out on pizza. B"H that passed!

4. EDAMAME: I have recently started incorporating edamame into many of my dishes. Yummy! Healthy!

5. GUMMY CANDY: I love gummy candy. Probably the only reason I don't eat it all day long is that it's so hard to find kosher gummies, outside of strictly kosher markets. When I was pregnant with YS, D went to the store and filled up a huge bag with gummies, and I happily carried it around wherever I went. What a good husband.

6. PAD THAI FROM GAN ASIA: Once of the reasons I sometimes really miss living in Manhattan!

7. INSTANT MASHED POTATOES: You're probably saying "gross!" Why would she specifically love instant mashed potatoes? Aren't real ones better? No. They're not. Instant mashed potatoes are creamy and delicious and easy and quick.

8. POMEGRANATE CHOBANI GREEK YOGURT: See my blog from the other day regarding this amazing food.

9. BRISKET EGG ROLLS FROM ABIGAIL'S: Smoky, crispy, meaty deliciousness. These eggrolls are reason enough to eat at Abigail's, but in reality everything on the menu is unbelievable. I once ordered a mojito and they offered to bring it to me in a flower vase. Really? Thanks, but I don't need that much mojito. Would I like a flower vase filled with brisket egg rolls? Yes please!

10. REESE'S PEANUT BUTTER CUPS: Peanut butter + chocolate = heaven. Duh.So there you have it. Some of my favorite foods. There are more, and they do include broccoli and cauliflower and grapefruits, so don't think that my entire diet is filled with gummies and instant mashed potatoes. I'm sure I'll write more about my favorite foods soon. After all, someone has to give a proper shout-out to those yummy pierogies I eat several times a week!

Purim Planning 2011

Thanks to Adar Bet, I have been able to procrastinate in my Purim planning this year. In fact, I had kind of skipped over it in my head, skipping happily over costumes and graggers and mishloach manot and moving straight to Pesach stressing. However, once I got recruited to help plan the shul's annual Purim fundraiser, I realized it was time to stop dragging my heels and start preparing!

Even though I'm sure I could put my creative thinking cap on and make a costume from scratch, I honestly just don't have the time, energy, or desire right now. Maybe another year. Maybe. So instead, I will be relying on costumes made by someone else, preferably ones that will be able to withstand multiple uses. I'm already anticipating that YS will need to wear his at school, at shul Saturday night, to shul Sunday morning, and to the seuda Sunday afternoon. That requires a lot of endurance, and a made-by-me costume just isn't going to do.

I've gotten lucky the past few Purims. Thanks to recycled costumes from cousins, I haven't actually had to buy a costume until this year. I tried hitting the stores post-Halloween to get some good deals, but as soon as the clock struck midnight and the calendar changed to November, the costumes were off of the shelves and put away until next year. So, I am actually sucking it up and spending money on store-bought costumes, because sometimes I'm allowed to be lazy and do it the easy way.

Did I say easy way? In my head, this is how my planned conversation with YS was going to go:

Me: Do you want to be a dinosaur for Purim?
YS: Yes! I do! I will happily wear my costume to all events and won't complain a bit.

In reality, the conversations (yes, there were several) went like this:

Me: What do you want to be for Purim?
YS: A moon! And you will be night. And AM will be the stars. And Abba will be the sun.

Will a moon costume be easy to buy online? No? VETO! Try again.

Me: Since "Dinosaur Train" is your new favorite show, do you want to be a dinosaur for Purim?
YS: No. I want to be a window.

VETO! A window? Seriously? While I was happy that he wasn't begging to be a super hero like most boys in his class, I was a bit perplexed at his choice of costumes. Try again.




I sat at the computer for a LONG time and looked through my options on the Toys R Us website. I decided on a cute scarecrow for AM. I figured he'll look adorable even if he refuses to wear the hat.





For YS, I narrowed it down to a few good options and revisited the subject with him.

Me: Do you want to be a dinosaur or a blue crayon for Purim? Blue is your favorite color!
YS: A blue crayon!
Me: Ok, great! You'll be a blue crayon and AM will be a scarecrow.
YS: I want to be a scarecrow! I'll be a blue crayon next year.

So we sat together at the computer and looked for a 4T scarecrow costume, but alas, there was nothing in a reasonable price range. Finally, I pulled up the list of 4T boys costumes and let him scroll through. In the end, this is what we ordered:

Thank you Toysrus.com for making my life easier. Now I just have to pray that they fit and he doesn't change his mind in the next three weeks. Hahahaha. Yeah right. Let's just say I won't be cutting off any tags until Purim night!