The kids' new clubhouse

Our washing machine broke a few weeks ago (RIGHT before I left to go to Ruthie's wedding- couldn't have been better timing !) and the repairman said it would be a major repair, about as much as/more than the machine is worth. SO we ended up getting a new one instead, which came last week.

The kids are enjoying playing with the box it came in- we cut out a little door, and they love to hang out inside! (Azriel Shraga is not so excited about it- I think he feels a little trapped inside)

What Makes Shabbos Special?

I often tell a bedtime story to the kids about a boy named Shimon who loved Shabbos. Every day, he would wake up and ask his Mommy, "Is today Shabbos", to which she would answer, "No, today is Yom Rishon.." Finally, at the end of the week, Shabbos comes and Shimon is so happy because Shabbos is a special day with so many special things.

Last week, I told this story, and after I finished, Yisrael said to me, "But Mommy, last week, Shabbos wasn't so special". "Why not?" I asked him. His reply (in earnest) "Because we didnt' have watermelon!"

Ouch! There wasn't any watermelon in the fruit store the week before...but still, I felt terrible. I told Yisrael I would call the fruit store in the morning to see if they had a watermelon, and if so, I would ask them to bring it to our house for Shabbos (ah, the beauty of Mishloach!)

So B"H they had watermelon (for the hefty price of 4 shekel a kilo- but it was worth it!) - and we had a special Shabbos this week!

Yungers in Action: Polishing off the Techina

As many of you know, my kids LOVE techina- they can eat it by the spoonful. Well, yesterday we had falafel for lunch. When we were done, Bruria ran off with the techina, to polish it off. She very graciously decided to share it with her baby brother, screaming "Yummy" as he ate each mouthful (I guess she got that from me!)

(P.S. When you watch the video, DON'T go look for the phone that's off the hook- that was while I was shooting the video. When I uploaded it onto my computer to view, and heard that noise, I ran to find which phone it was...until I realized it was from the video!)

Our Scientific Observation

Not long after Pesach, two doves decided to build a nest and lay eggs right outside our bedroom window. We weren't sure if it was an opportunity to do Shiloach HaKan, and we've B"H done it many times already...so we decided to leave it be and observe nature.

It was a MAJOR ATTRACTION in the Yunger house. For weeks, each morning the kids would wake up and run into our room and climb onto my bed so they could see. Every day, Bruria would scream,"The birdie came back!" (I don't think she realized that there was a bird there all the time).

Yisrael became a real expert on the whole incubating process- he knows all about the Mama bird keeping the eggs warm until they hatch, and then feeding them worms until they are big enough to learn how to fly.

We must have missed the actual hatching, because one day the Mama (or really Papa, since it was during the day) flew away for a moment, and we saw two cute little birds (although they were much bigger than we had expected the newborns to be!) After that, the parents started leaving the babies on their own for short intervals, so we got a chance to watch them. The biggest excitement was when the parents brought food for the babies, and they would jump and flap their wings to grab it first!

Yisrael was heartbroken when the "big brother" (translation: bigger bird) flew away. He kept checking out the window to see if it would come back. Every time we saw a bird outside, he'd say "I see the big brother!"

All it all, it was a great learning experience, but it left an AWFUL mess on the windowsill!

Miss Potato Head

The kids were playing with Mr. Potato Head one Motzoai Shabbos (don't ask why they weren't in bed with Shabbos ending close to 9 PM these days, that's a whole story on its own...) when they decided that THEY wanted to be potato people. It was actully Yisrael's idea, but he was too busy trying to figure out how to get the eyes into HIS eyes, so he had no interest in posing for a picture. Here's Bruria with the ears in her ears- she knows she looks silly!

Shavuos pictures

Before Shavuos, Yisrael had a big Torah party in Cheder. They had to come dressed in Shabbos clothes, and I sent candy. The neighbors lent us one of their miniature sifrei Torah, and before he left we had a few minutes for a photo shoot.

Yes, I've been a bad blogger

Life has been VERY busy lately, as I'm sure most of you know. Somehow I thought that after Pesach was over, things would settle down...but once I decided to fly in for Ruthie's wedding, all that changed- I had to work overtime both for work and the house so that I could take a week off.

So now I'm back, and sort of getting over jet lag, and I actually have a few minutes by the computer while the kids are outside playing. So I'll try to collect my thoughts and see if I can post some stuff.

First of all, it was so nice to meet so many of my readers by the wedding; I'm sorry if I've dissappointed you over the past month and a half; I'll try to be better (why does it seem like I keep saying I'll be better, but somehow it doesn't pan out? I hope my teshuva on Yom Kippur is a bit more successful).

I had a lovely trip, it was so nice to be with the family and see everyone. But, I'm very to be back home with Bentzi and the kids- as Daddy (Minkus) likes to quote the Wizard of Oz, "there's no place like home!"