Cute Quote: מי האיש החפץ חיים

(Intro: When I cook beets, I started peeling and cutting them first. The juice from the beets is very healthy- its full of antioxidants- so we started saving the juice and drinking it)

Yisrael: You should drink some beet juice, Bruria.
Bruria: But I don't like it.
Yisrael: But you should drink it because its very healthy. If you drink it, then even when its time for you to be מת, you will still live לעולם ועד.
(a few minutes later, Yisrael hands me the cup of beet juice)
Yisrael: Here, Mommy, put this away. I don't want it.
Mommy: Yisrael, why didn't you finish the beet juice? Its very healthy! (I was egging him on!)
Yisrael: I don't like it, but I drank some [anyway] so that I will live לעולם ועד. I don't want anymore now.

(IY"H he, and the rest of us, should all be zoche to אריכת ימים, whether or not we drink beet juice!)

Fishy Fright

(I know you're probably all thinking that I've totally lost it- she's blogging about her goldfish?!?!)

Tonight I had to scoop all of the fish out of their bowl (container, really) so that I could clean it out. As I did, the "Mommy" fish, as the kids dubbed her, jumped out of the cup I had her in, and plopped onto the floor. She was flapping around all over the place...and of course I was too freaked out to pick her up. B"H Bentzi was there to save the day...otherwise I would have had a few very dissappointed children tomorrow...

Junior Gymnastics

We changed the clocks about a month ago (right before Yom Kippur) so its been getting dark really early- Shkiya is before 5 PM! So since we can't spend as much time outdoors, we are trying to come up with more indoor activities. Today's activity was......gymnastics! We had a lot of fun doing somersaults (or גלגולי ראש as the kids say in Hebrew!)
I even did a headstand for the kids, which they LOVED - even Naftali thought it was crazy to see his Mommy upside down! (I used to be the headstand champion growing up- and while I can't do it for nearly as long as I used to, I think its pretty amazing that I can do it all, after having 4 babies!) I tried showing the kids how to do it against the wall....obviously they couldn't do it, but we'll have to keep practicing!

We all had a blast, and when we were done, we were WORN OUT! (Good thing it was bedtime!)

The newest members (???) of the Yunger Dynasty

On Rosh Hashana, Bentzi's yeshiva had a big bin full of water with around 25 goldfish swimming around, for Tashlich (yes, I know that's pretty pathetic, but with no rivers or springs around, that's what people here do!)

After Sukkos, I was in Yeshiva to take care of a few things and I saw that they still had a few goldfish left (the rest were dead, floating around in the bin!) I asked the secretary if I could take them home for my kids- and he said, PLEASE!

So we now have 4 goldfish living on our kitchen counter! We'll see how long they survive! (My theory is that if these 4 are still around, after they were obviously not cared for so well in the Yeshiva, then they must be the strongest of the bunch- the survival of the fittest - while Bentzi says that the reason that so many of the fish died is because of the aveiros from Tashlich...)

In any case, we are enjoying them! The kids love to watch them swim around, and when we feed them, they love to watch them gobble it up!

Troublemaker in Training

I was feeding the kids supper one night, and Naftali finished and wanted to come out of his highchair. So I put him down and continued to feed the other kids. A minute later, I turned around to check on him (he was being too quiet!) and I found him pulling out an entire bag of tissues!

Its funny how kids just KNOW how to make trouble, without even needing to be taught!

Cute Quote: What do Tatty's do in Yeshiva?

NOTE: this is a big milestone for Azriel Shraga...he is b"h talking enough that he's made it to the "Cute Quotes" section of our blog!!!!

Today I had to go to the Yeshiva to take care of a few things, and I took Azriel Shraga with:

Azriel Shraga: Mommy, I want Tatty shiva
Mommy: No, sweatheart, Tatty is not in Yeshiva now.
Azriel Shraga: [stamps foot] I want Tatty shiva!
Mommy: We are in Tatty's Yeshiva! What do you want? (I already knew what he was getting at....)
Azriel Shraga: Want dance shiva, get candy!

(I guess after the Simchas Bais HaShoeva and Simchas Torah, he thinks that all they do in Yeshiva is dance and give out candy!)

You can't fool me, Mama!

I was eating chocolate pudding this morning, and as soon as Naftali saw me, he opened his mouth wide and started begging for some. So I mixed some into the baby cereal that I was (unsuccessfully) trying to feed him. But when I put the spoon next to his mouth, he clamped it shut- and started reaching for my pudding! Of course when I offered him a spoonful of pure pudding, he had no problem taking it! Its amazing how fast they learn to like junk (he's not even a year yet!!)

Progress Report: Naftali knows how to stand!

We've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to update all of you on Naftali's progress (he doesn't have any "cute quotes" yet...) In any case, he started standing himself up a few weeks ago, and since then, he is always on the lookout for things to hold onto to pull himself up- the crib, the stroller, chairs, toys...you name it!


(Yes, I know he's WAY behind his cousin Chana but that's because she is KA"H very advanced...)

Our trip to the .....

Today we took the kids on a suprise trip ....and we sure had a lot of fun! We kept the destination(s) a secret from them until we got there- we wanted to build up some suspense and anticipation! Yisrael was really into it, he kept trying to figure out where we were going....and boy was he thrilled when he saw that our first stop was....

The beach! The kids had a blast playing in the sand, and "swimming" in the water!

After that, we drove up to Ramat Gan and went to the Safari- it was really fun- lots of animals came up close to the car, and the kids really enjoyed seeing them! We fethem some pretzels so that they'd come close to us- and they really liked them- the antelope kept licking our car window, looking for more!

In the main zoo section, we saw an elephant nursing its baby, and we also got real close to the giraffes- we started feeding them plants, but of course the zoo staff caught us red-handed!

Finally, we ate supper in the beautiful park next to the zoo- the second largest park in Israel. The kids had fun rolling around in the grass, and I had fun taking pictures!

It was a really nice trip, but we were all exhausted and happy to come home after such a busy day!

Cute Quote: Lollypop Love

Today I gave out lollypops to the kids, and a few minutes later, I heard Yisrael and Bruria arguing:

Yisrael: Me!
Bruria: No, me!
Yisrael: No, ME!
Mommy: Kinderlach, what are you fighting about?
Yisrael: I want to give you a lick of my lollypop
Bruria: No, Mommy, I love you (stamps foot) and I want you to have a lick from MY lollypop!

(I really appreciated the gesture, but I didn't take them up on the offer!)