Happy Birthday Little Man!

My little man Noah is celebrating a birthday today. You have never seen anyone so excited about getting a year older. Yesterday we were on the hour countdown. 12 more hours until I'm eight, 11 more hours, 10 more hours....

He is so cute. He woke me up at 6 a.m. so I could wish him happy birthday. The house was decorated and birthday posters were made. There were balloons on his chair in the kitchen, as well as all around the house. A "birthday boy" pin was waiting for him in his room and he is proudly wearing them on his pj's.

Dahlia wouldn't let him come downstairs until everyone was there and then she announced in a most regal voice "Presenting Noah the birthday boy!" and then he bounced down the stairs and allowed everyone to give him birthday hugs and kisses.

My parents are taking him out for lunch, all by himself. He doesn't have to share the limelight with his brother and sister. He is having a swimming party with his friends this afternoon and then his "cousins" are coming back after the party to hang out and have more birthday cake.

As I watch him, I marvel at the little man he has become. His feet remind me of a puppy...they look just a bit too big. He'll grow into them. He is funny, kindhearted, caring, loving, and so smart. Each day he makes me laugh. He's got an amazing sense of humour. He is my baby, my love bug.

Love bug, you are my true delight and I love you very much. I wish only good health and happiness for you and that all that you wish for come true for you.

Happy 8th Birthday!!

Do I have MAID stamped on my forehead?

Some days I would like to know if I have the word MAID stamped on my forehead. I like to think I am a really tidy person and mess and chaos drives me insane. That being said...my kids are SLOBS. They refuse to pick up after themselves, they leave their dishes on the counter or sink or table and they don't put anything away....well not without a lot of screaming and yelling.

Yes, I admit it...I yell at my children. Are you ready to click away? NO! Yup, I am one of those mothers who doesn't want to be my kid's best friend. Okay, maybe I do, but later when they are older...now it's my job to make sure they no right from wrong and know how to behave in the outside world. In Yiddish you would say to be a mensch.

Okay, back to the mess. My kids think I am so mean...I make them miss part of their shows to tidy up their messes. I know the horrors! Nothing irritates me more than someone taking things out and not putting them away where they belong. The kids also grumble that they have to do chores...I make a schedule that's posted on the fridge, included on the list is emptying the dishwasher, setting the table, clearing the table, and feeding or watering Frasier. They also have to keep their rooms tidy. My kids tell me I am the meanest mother in the world. My standard answer is "Good, I'm trying to win the award!" It bugs them to know end! :-)

Well, my tirade is over, thank you for listening. I feel better now. Oh, the kitchen is nice and clean as I scrubbed it down (even the fridge) while I was ranting and raving at my children!

How do you get your family keep things tidy in your house. I don't want our house to look like a museum but neither do I want to have to clean for 2 hours before anyone steps foot in my house.

Dear Friends

People come and go in your lifetime, but if you are very lucky you meet some special ones along the way.

This is a picture of my friend Lori. It was taken last Spring (2007) as we celebrated Passover. Today, I had lunch with Lori. We were celebrating her birthday. (She had her birthday earlier in the week). Lori and her family have become our family away from home. We met 10 years ago and became instant friends.

She's one of those friends that you can go weeks without speaking and then pick up as if you spoke the day before. Life just gets in the way. We think about each other and often email. She gets up quite early and I go to bed quite late. So she often sends me messages before I get up and I send her ones long after she has gone to bed.

We celebrate holidays together and special occassions. We have shared sad news and difficult times, as well.

I feel so lucky to have met her. Even though she doesn't think so, she is a really special person.

It was marvelous to sit, have lunch and spend time together talking and laughing. I swear I could feel my blood pressure drop, just hanging out with her.

Lori, I wish you only good health, happiness and lots of love from your friends and family!

Hi ho, hi ho it's off to the gym I go....

Maybe if I make it into a happy song....I will feel more enthusiastic about going. I go to the gym at least 3 times a week. I have been working with a trainer for several months, and I am not seeing the results that I hope for. On top of that I am suffering from an injury, planter fasciitis. Some days it hurts to walk, let alone complete a strenuous exercise program. But ask my trainer, I never give in to the pain.

In order to help with the weight loss, I'm trying to incorporate my cardio... I went for a walk last night with some friends. I thought I was going to die! We walked very briskly from North London to downtown and back. During our walk we got a little lost, encountered bats (I was terrified!) and walked faster and longer than I thought I could...but I can and I did it...and I was really proud of myself.

I thought I wouldn't be able to do anything today....but I was a little dynamo. I cleaned the whole main floor and went out to do errands and accomplished quite a bit today. The foot is very sore...but I just ignored it.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes....for now I'm off to do the dreadmill....oops, I mean the treadmill! :-)

A Lazy Saturday...

It's a lazy Saturday. There is so much to do around the house, but I just can't muster up the energy to do any of it. So here I am on my computer instead.

Dahlia is out with Daddy and I am home with the boys. Noah's playing on his computer and Zach is practicing his guitar and the dog is snoozing by my side. It really can't get better than that.

It's really wonderful. The things that need to get done will still be here later, so I'll get to them then!

How are you spending your Saturday? Whatever you do, I hope it's relaxing!

Daddy's Home!

Yeah, Daddy is home from San Francisco! It was really a quick trip. He left very early yesterday morning and got back after 9 tonight.

Everyone was still up to greet him and he was bombarded with hugs and kisses from everyone even the dog.

I don't sleep when he's away....it didn't help that the dog had 2 barking fits during the night. Nothing like scaring the bejeebers out of you, as waking up at 3 am by Frasier barking his head off. Then he doesn't settle down, every few minutes (usually as you just drift back to sleep) he starts to growl. Hey I should be the one growling...you keep waking me up!

I digress.... I am happy Carmi's home. It's not just not having him here. Kudos to all you single parents out there. I just don't know how you do it. Then, I always feel like I am holding my breath until he safely returns.

I am going to go a pamper the world traveller and make him a cup of tea.

Have a g00d night!

It All Started with Some Cut up Vegetables...

It all started when Dahlia wanted to help me make dinner. "Can I cut the vegetables? I love cutting vegetables!" said she. Well alright...go right ahead. So Dahlia cut up the veggies (cucumber, green pepper and red pepper). Then she arranged them on the plate. Daddy took a picture, as you can see the lovely dish, above!
Noah got into the act..."I want to cut something, too!" Alright, go for it....so Noah cut the strawberries.
The kids ate before us, because we were eating different meals (they had leftovers and we had some homemade soup) and ours wasn't ready yet. While they were eating they hatched a plan to turn the kitchen into a restaurant. Zach was the manager, Dahlia the waitress and Noah the chef They so reminded me of me. I use to do the very same thing with my parents.
The manager went back to the living room to play on the Wii, while the little workers got busy. They created menus, using the items I was serving for dinner. They eventually fired the manager because he wasn't willing to do any work...he didn't think it was fair. Life is tough!
We ordered. Carmi and I were giggling like little kids. The menu was hysterical. $5 for a bowl of soup, $2 for vegetable appetizer, water or juice $.50 and ice for $.05. We especially liked the charge for the ice. But we were assured that there were free refills.
Trouble was a-brewing between the chef and the waitress. He was not doing what she wanted and she started to have a meltdown while she was serving us. The chef...enjoyed the meltdown and was cracking jokes and smiling at us. It was like dinner and a show. She was snarling at him and he was smirking and replying, "yes miss bossy-pants." They were really sweet and were having a lot of fun. Eventually we were all laughing. Noah started with "can we do this more often? We're open every weekend."
Noah asked if I could do this for him on his birthday. Hey, I do this for him everyday!!
Our bill came to $18.01 (don't ask me where the 1 cent came from) They don't take credit cards! But were very excited when they each got a $2 tip. Even the fired manager got $1.
The evening ended with me doing the dishes and getting some yummy kisses!
This will be one of those memories that I'll stash away. I'll pull it out when they are driving me around the bend. I will remember that we are so lucky to have such kind, creative, funny and loving kids!

What did you do for fun this weekend?

Does anyone remember the commercial for Calgon? The mother would be stressed to the max and would yell "Calgon take me away!" I never understood the commercial until I became a mother! :-)

Happy Anniversary, my Sweet!

I can hardly believe that it is 16 years since we got married. It has passed in a blink. We've accomplished so much in that time frame. We have 3 beautiful children, a dog, a house, fulfilling careers and of course each other.

We had such a wonderful day yesterday. We woke up late, did errands with the kids, went out for dinner just the two of us...it was perfect.

Through good and bad (hey, life isn't perfect!) there is no one I rather share this adventure we call life with.

Happy 16th anniversary my sweet. I look forward to the many more years to come!

Your turn: How many years are you celebrating?