http://tinyurl.com/2o6o7s
I'm so proud of her!
A few weeks ago, when I was emailing lots of Jewish newspapers about Purim soaps, the Jewish Woman website at Chabad came up as their "newspaper". The editor was excited to get a Purim soap sample and asked about us writing a piece for the site. Then she suggested that it would be very interesting if *Batsheva* wrote it from her perspective. Amazing! She didn't even know that we have a budding journalist at home!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Kids Say the Durndest Things
Ilana (20 months old) was in bed w. me yesterday. She put her hand on my face and lovingly asked, "I pick you' nose, mama?". I cracked up as I told her, "thanks, but no thanks".
Tonight, PB and I were reading "Grover Sleeps Over" and I told her about how that book had inspired Batsheva to throw a big fit when she was about 3 y/o. In the book, Grover has "spaghetti and meatballs and salad and milk" for dinner. So she, of course, wanted me to put milk on top of her salad. (With succeeding kids, we read that line as "salad with salad dressing and milk in a glass" :)
Tonight, PB and I were reading "Grover Sleeps Over" and I told her about how that book had inspired Batsheva to throw a big fit when she was about 3 y/o. In the book, Grover has "spaghetti and meatballs and salad and milk" for dinner. So she, of course, wanted me to put milk on top of her salad. (With succeeding kids, we read that line as "salad with salad dressing and milk in a glass" :)
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Back from FL
The first thing one notices after a week in Florida: how grossly dirty all the cars are here in Boston!
Anyway, the weather was nice and I thoroughly enjoyed taking long walks at night. --Batsheva introduced me to playing Dungeons & Dragons (I'm such a nerd, I don't know how I missed that in High School [actually, I do: back then, at least in "my crowd", only the guys played D&D]).
--Chana, my father and I spent over an hour doing a 100 piece puzzle on Shabbat (ages 5 and up. Isn't that embarrassing?!])
--PB loved playing shuffle board and Ilana grooved out in her new bright orange carriage (navy was $20 more, so bright orange it is!)
Getting home was difficult. We left my parents' house at 9:30 a.m. for an 11:20 flight, did pre-boarding, then sat on the plane for a looong time while a "small switch" tried to get fixed ("well, folks, we're just expecting this to take about 15 minutes"). So we "15 minutes'ed" our way until they pulled back to the gate and told us to deplane but hang around, as they were sure it would be fixed soon.
Much later, they canceled the flight and offered us the next one out: at 9 PM! NOOOOOO! I explained that the whole reason I had earned my kids' wrath by choosing an 11 a.m. flight in the first place and having them miss a whole day of vacation was b/c I was still traumatized by taking a 7 pm flight a few years ago. The flight had been very delayed, and we got in after midnight. I had three sleeping kids I had to get off the plane myself and take into the freezing Boston weather. Very unpleasant. And did I mention the huge tantrum PB threw as we were about to board? Like lying on the floor, kicking and screaming. Baaaad time for me.
So they offered the flight after that (i.e. the 11:20 the next day) and my poor father was so stressed from having us visit that, when I called him to say what was going on, he said, "tell them you need a hotel room"! I was laughing so hard (he called back about five minutes later and said he'd come pick us up).
We're back. It was lovely to be away. It's lovely to be home.
Anyway, the weather was nice and I thoroughly enjoyed taking long walks at night. --Batsheva introduced me to playing Dungeons & Dragons (I'm such a nerd, I don't know how I missed that in High School [actually, I do: back then, at least in "my crowd", only the guys played D&D]).
--Chana, my father and I spent over an hour doing a 100 piece puzzle on Shabbat (ages 5 and up. Isn't that embarrassing?!])
--PB loved playing shuffle board and Ilana grooved out in her new bright orange carriage (navy was $20 more, so bright orange it is!)
Getting home was difficult. We left my parents' house at 9:30 a.m. for an 11:20 flight, did pre-boarding, then sat on the plane for a looong time while a "small switch" tried to get fixed ("well, folks, we're just expecting this to take about 15 minutes"). So we "15 minutes'ed" our way until they pulled back to the gate and told us to deplane but hang around, as they were sure it would be fixed soon.
Much later, they canceled the flight and offered us the next one out: at 9 PM! NOOOOOO! I explained that the whole reason I had earned my kids' wrath by choosing an 11 a.m. flight in the first place and having them miss a whole day of vacation was b/c I was still traumatized by taking a 7 pm flight a few years ago. The flight had been very delayed, and we got in after midnight. I had three sleeping kids I had to get off the plane myself and take into the freezing Boston weather. Very unpleasant. And did I mention the huge tantrum PB threw as we were about to board? Like lying on the floor, kicking and screaming. Baaaad time for me.
So they offered the flight after that (i.e. the 11:20 the next day) and my poor father was so stressed from having us visit that, when I called him to say what was going on, he said, "tell them you need a hotel room"! I was laughing so hard (he called back about five minutes later and said he'd come pick us up).
We're back. It was lovely to be away. It's lovely to be home.
Yay, Uberima, Yay!
It's another boy for Uberima and Uberaba! That makes three. I heartily approve of many children of the same gender :)
You should have much nachas from him....
You should have much nachas from him....
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Ilana's first joke!
Today, Ilana looked into her bowl of cereal, smiled up at me and said, "O's 'timming'!" (swimming).
Comic genius!
Comic genius!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Go, Uberimma, go!
B'sha'ah tova. Can't wait to hear good news....
I'm obsessively checking email and your blog to hear what's going on!
I'm obsessively checking email and your blog to hear what's going on!
We're off!
I know, we're really always "off" around here, but, seriously! We....are...outta...here! I'm taking the girls to FL to visit my parents tomorrow. G-d bless them, I don't know why them invite us time and again because, frankly, with 7 of us in their (lovely and very large but still) 2-bedroom condo, it sure ain't much of a vacation for them.
Now, if only my darling, sweet, fabulous daughters will get along reasonably well and speak politely to each other, me and their grandparents. We....can....do.....this.....
I hope so, at least. I already told them (truthfully) that it was extremely unlikely that we were going back next year, that this sort of trip will require at least two years for me to recharge my batteries for. Since I said that two years ago after a rawther difficult trip to StoryLand ("Hey, look at those kids fist-fighting over there!" "Ah, that's just those Boston girls we saw fighting by the LAST ride"), they know I mean it.
It....will....be....great.......
to.....sleep......without.....socks.......on!
Now, if only my darling, sweet, fabulous daughters will get along reasonably well and speak politely to each other, me and their grandparents. We....can....do.....this.....
I hope so, at least. I already told them (truthfully) that it was extremely unlikely that we were going back next year, that this sort of trip will require at least two years for me to recharge my batteries for. Since I said that two years ago after a rawther difficult trip to StoryLand ("Hey, look at those kids fist-fighting over there!" "Ah, that's just those Boston girls we saw fighting by the LAST ride"), they know I mean it.
It....will....be....great.......
to.....sleep......without.....socks.......on!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Homeschoolin' PB
We had a really fun homeschooling day recently! We've been working on Hebrew reading in a new kriya book (she's at the very beginning stages. Like identifying the letters and reading them with patach or kamatz under them).
Science: On her own, she found some big magnets and then started investigating what they stuck to. So together, we made a list with pictures and words of what the magnets stuck to.
She came with Chana and me to karate in the morning and played with Ilana, then went back to the kids' class in the afternoon.
And we made this super giant "Penina Batya". She was wearing a striped dress that day, so it was fun to find some old fabric and use that!
We're using a new Kindergarten curriculum book that I bought for Batsheva but never opened for either her or Chana, and it said to have your child glue gems to letter outlines on paper. This reminded me of why I never used it for the other kids (dumbing down), but I figured she might like it (and the giant PB was from that book too, and I *never* would have done that without outside encouragement of some type). So I outlined "PB" on paper, and even found flat jewels. Gave her a bottle of glue and told her to "go for it" while I cooked dinner. She got bored quickly and left her project half done on the floor. Where Ilana fell into it and got groovy glue dreadlocks in her hair. Oh, well, not everything works out perfectly in homeschooling!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
SCD Birthday Cake Photo
Thought I had lost that photo forever. Boy, was I bummed out. I don't think I have ever been as proud culinarily as after making that cake!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
The Joys of Freecycling
On Sunday I posted on Craig's List two items for free: a DVD player that, though only a year old, skips sometimes, and a vacuum cleaner that doesn't much like to do rugs, but works okay on hardwood. I listed their faults as above.
Almost immediately, "Bob" writes that he'd love the DVD player. Please call or email him with the address. I email him back right away telling him it's on the porch. It stays on the porch all day. At night it starts to rain. Still on the porch (now in a bag). I call Bob. Oh yeah, he didn't bother to go back online after telling me to email him....He starts asking me about the size of the player and if it has a DVD burner on it. Turns out he's not too interested if it doesn't have a DVD burner.
Fine. On to the next person. "Wind" has emailed me about both the vacuum and the DVD, but, by the next morning, still hasn't responded whether he'll take them or not. I email the next person who responded. Later, Windy writes back and says that he's at work until 11, and could I please save them until the next morning. Morning, of course, comes and goes and he's still not here.
Then he writes an email saying "if i will not find them there by that time i will get hurt in my mind so please save them up to that time". I tell him that, while I will not save it especially for him, only he and one other person knows the address where the DVD player is. He lives in the same city as me, and if was so important to him, perhaps he could find some time between Sunday and Tuesday to pop over and pick the thing up. No response.
Late Tuesday morning, the DVD player is gone. I email Wind and tell him. He shows up at 5:30 Tuesday afternoon and asks where the DVD player is. He gets very mopey when I tell him it's gone and that I emailed him this morning to tell him.
Then he looks at the vacuum and asks if I have a bag for it! I've had it. I shut the door as I tell him I don't. And, after the door is closed, I say "and I don't gift wrap either."
Sometimes, I have such nice experiences giving stuff away. It's kind of weird and obnoxious that only once has anyone bothered to email and say "thank you" after picking something up, but, other than that, it's nice to give things away to people I know want them. But this one was really a doozy!
Almost immediately, "Bob" writes that he'd love the DVD player. Please call or email him with the address. I email him back right away telling him it's on the porch. It stays on the porch all day. At night it starts to rain. Still on the porch (now in a bag). I call Bob. Oh yeah, he didn't bother to go back online after telling me to email him....He starts asking me about the size of the player and if it has a DVD burner on it. Turns out he's not too interested if it doesn't have a DVD burner.
Fine. On to the next person. "Wind" has emailed me about both the vacuum and the DVD, but, by the next morning, still hasn't responded whether he'll take them or not. I email the next person who responded. Later, Windy writes back and says that he's at work until 11, and could I please save them until the next morning. Morning, of course, comes and goes and he's still not here.
Then he writes an email saying "if i will not find them there by that time i will get hurt in my mind so please save them up to that time". I tell him that, while I will not save it especially for him, only he and one other person knows the address where the DVD player is. He lives in the same city as me, and if was so important to him, perhaps he could find some time between Sunday and Tuesday to pop over and pick the thing up. No response.
Late Tuesday morning, the DVD player is gone. I email Wind and tell him. He shows up at 5:30 Tuesday afternoon and asks where the DVD player is. He gets very mopey when I tell him it's gone and that I emailed him this morning to tell him.
Then he looks at the vacuum and asks if I have a bag for it! I've had it. I shut the door as I tell him I don't. And, after the door is closed, I say "and I don't gift wrap either."
Sometimes, I have such nice experiences giving stuff away. It's kind of weird and obnoxious that only once has anyone bothered to email and say "thank you" after picking something up, but, other than that, it's nice to give things away to people I know want them. But this one was really a doozy!
I Can't Believe It's Not Oatmeal....
Tastes great. Even *looks* like oatmeal!
http://www.scdrecipe.com/recipes/print/493/
1/4 cup SCD yogurt
1/4 cup unsweetened appleasauce
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbl honey
1/4 tsp baking soda
butter for frying
1. Heat up about 1/2 tablespoon of butter in a small frying pan.
2. Combine all ingredients and add to pan, mixing them up as you would scrambled eggs.
3. Transfer to a bowl and add cinnamon to taste.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Yesterday's food:
lunch: "crunchy eggs": eggs fried in olive oil. Yum! Chana had (oy!) four (I can't stress about it....)
--frozen grapes
dinner: lentil soup w. onions, carrots and celery
--sauteed mushrooms of three kinds
--green salad
http://www.scdrecipe.com/recipes/print/493/
1/4 cup SCD yogurt
1/4 cup unsweetened appleasauce
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbl honey
1/4 tsp baking soda
butter for frying
1. Heat up about 1/2 tablespoon of butter in a small frying pan.
2. Combine all ingredients and add to pan, mixing them up as you would scrambled eggs.
3. Transfer to a bowl and add cinnamon to taste.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Yesterday's food:
lunch: "crunchy eggs": eggs fried in olive oil. Yum! Chana had (oy!) four (I can't stress about it....)
--frozen grapes
dinner: lentil soup w. onions, carrots and celery
--sauteed mushrooms of three kinds
--green salad
Monday, December 24, 2007
Monday's dinner
Sam's away on business this week, so we got to eat nice and early (no traffic for BH coming home from school!).
Onion soup: mess o' onions, some cabernet sauvignon, butter, water, s&p
--"yummy, yummy peas": frozen peas microwaved and doused w. olive oil, chopped dried onion bits, s&p
--green salad w. dressing
--fresh strawberries
Lunch: cheese plate w. cheddar cheese, black olives and sliced fennel.
--apple muffins made w. coconut flour (I didn't love them. Think I'll stick to the usual banana muffin recipe)
Breakfast: the traditional strawberry-banana smoothie and an apple w. peanut butter for Chana, bowl of cold cereal for the rest of us.
Onion soup: mess o' onions, some cabernet sauvignon, butter, water, s&p
--"yummy, yummy peas": frozen peas microwaved and doused w. olive oil, chopped dried onion bits, s&p
--green salad w. dressing
--fresh strawberries
Lunch: cheese plate w. cheddar cheese, black olives and sliced fennel.
--apple muffins made w. coconut flour (I didn't love them. Think I'll stick to the usual banana muffin recipe)
Breakfast: the traditional strawberry-banana smoothie and an apple w. peanut butter for Chana, bowl of cold cereal for the rest of us.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Shabbat Meals
Fun dinner! It was Leah's 15th B-day, and our friend Michel came to spend Shabbat with us. Richard stayed in Malden for Shabbat and joined us for dinner as well.
Menu:
Matza (no more challah b/c of the SC diet. Not that Chana is allowed to eat matza, but it's less psychologically painful that challah).
onion mushroom soup
fried baby artichokes (cut in half and sauteed in a cast-iron pan in olive oil w. salt and pepper)
gefilte fish (not scd) on salad greens
refried red beans w. salsa (not scd), yogurt (homemade scd), tomatoes, and hot sauce
long red sweet peppers stuffed w. farmer cheese, cheddar and monterey jack cheeses
baked butternut squash w. olive oil, salt and pepper
coconut flour carrot cake w. frosting
baked apples (no raisins in honor of Richard and Leah who don't like them)
---------------------------------
Lunch: lentil soup w. carrots, onions, celery in the crock pot
--salad
--cheeses
--for Chana: peanut butter mixed w. honey
Breakfast: for Chana: apple w. peanut butter
Kiddush at shul: fruit and some Diet Coke
Menu:
Matza (no more challah b/c of the SC diet. Not that Chana is allowed to eat matza, but it's less psychologically painful that challah).
onion mushroom soup
fried baby artichokes (cut in half and sauteed in a cast-iron pan in olive oil w. salt and pepper)
gefilte fish (not scd) on salad greens
refried red beans w. salsa (not scd), yogurt (homemade scd), tomatoes, and hot sauce
long red sweet peppers stuffed w. farmer cheese, cheddar and monterey jack cheeses
baked butternut squash w. olive oil, salt and pepper
coconut flour carrot cake w. frosting
baked apples (no raisins in honor of Richard and Leah who don't like them)
---------------------------------
Lunch: lentil soup w. carrots, onions, celery in the crock pot
--salad
--cheeses
--for Chana: peanut butter mixed w. honey
Breakfast: for Chana: apple w. peanut butter
Kiddush at shul: fruit and some Diet Coke
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Cousin Eli's Video
We were in NY this weekend, and here's what the crazy cousins (Eli, Batsheva and Chana) did with Batsheva's new iMac and its video-taking feature:
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Diet Log
We're going away for Shabbat to NY. We'll stay with my wonderful cousin and her family in Lawrence. We LOVE staying with them. On Sunday, if the predicted storm isn't too bad, we'll head to NJ for Sam's company's office party.
Anyway, as Jen and I were discussing menus for this weekend, she said, "well, just tell me what you would make". And I hit a total blank wall! So it seemed to me that it would be good to keep track for a while of what we eat around here.
Breakfast today: banana smoothie
---apple with peanut butter
Lunch (on the road between piano lessons and an appointment): smoked cheddar cheese
--sliced apples
Dinner: Cheese enchilada stuffed with white beans, lettuce and tomato
----broccoli
I forget the snacks, but that's at least a start....
Anyway, as Jen and I were discussing menus for this weekend, she said, "well, just tell me what you would make". And I hit a total blank wall! So it seemed to me that it would be good to keep track for a while of what we eat around here.
Breakfast today: banana smoothie
---apple with peanut butter
Lunch (on the road between piano lessons and an appointment): smoked cheddar cheese
--sliced apples
Dinner: Cheese enchilada stuffed with white beans, lettuce and tomato
----broccoli
I forget the snacks, but that's at least a start....
mikvah
Just got back from a meeting at our shul about the proposed mikvah. The architect showed the drawings and the samples of the paints, granite, etc. Wow. It's going to be soooo nice.
And the dish mikvah will make a welcome change from going to Revere Beach! (Did I ever blog about the...odd....experience of toiveling our new ice cream maker bowl at Revere Beach? It was weird to be doing something so foreign to the previous times I'd spent on that beach as a child/teen, yet at the same time, surrounded by a number of covered Muslim women, I felt like I wasn't unusual in the least!)
And the dish mikvah will make a welcome change from going to Revere Beach! (Did I ever blog about the...odd....experience of toiveling our new ice cream maker bowl at Revere Beach? It was weird to be doing something so foreign to the previous times I'd spent on that beach as a child/teen, yet at the same time, surrounded by a number of covered Muslim women, I felt like I wasn't unusual in the least!)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Latkes
I've come to the conclusion that a person can take just about any grated vegetable, fry it in oil, salt it, and have happy tummies on the other side of the fry pan....
The other day I made latkes out six small grated zucchinis, two large grated onions and two eggs. When friends stopped by unexpectedly, I grated half a butternut squash (!) in the remaining mix and added a few tbls. of coconut flour.
Last night, I grated the only veggies I had around that weren't cucumbers or tomatoes, and we had onion and carrot latkes. I forgot to add the eggs, but did add some coconut flour. They were very delicate, but sweet and yummy.
Happy Chanukah!
The other day I made latkes out six small grated zucchinis, two large grated onions and two eggs. When friends stopped by unexpectedly, I grated half a butternut squash (!) in the remaining mix and added a few tbls. of coconut flour.
Last night, I grated the only veggies I had around that weren't cucumbers or tomatoes, and we had onion and carrot latkes. I forgot to add the eggs, but did add some coconut flour. They were very delicate, but sweet and yummy.
Happy Chanukah!
Thursday, December 06, 2007
new website!
Wow, it's been a long time since I posted....Batsheva's bat mitzvah kept me awfully busy, let's just say.
Our new soap website is finally up! www.4SistersSoaps.com! Whee! Not all of the links are live yet, but we're almost all of the way there!
Our new soap website is finally up! www.4SistersSoaps.com! Whee! Not all of the links are live yet, but we're almost all of the way there!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
"That's it! No more....
riding your unicycle in the house!"
(part of the continuing series of "Things I Never Thought I'd Say to My Kids")
Friday, October 12, 2007
Bye Bye, Barbie!
I'm selling off my youth! Let's see what happens
http://preview.tinyurl.com/36eyg9
http://tinyurl.com/22l66c
http://preview.tinyurl.com/36eyg9
http://tinyurl.com/22l66c
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