Nachas from Bruria

I apologize to those of you who have already heard this, but one nachas recipient wisely suggested that I post this on my blog.  And while one reason I blog is to inform my readers about all the goings-on in our family, another very important reason I do it is to document and keep track of all the anecdotes that we will look back on in years to come and say "Oohh...so cute/sweet/special/creative/fill-in-the blank".  I already do enjoy reading old posts from a few years ago, and looking back at when my kids were "Yunger" :)

Last night I called Bruria's teacher, Morah Miri Rosengarten (here they call teachers by their first name...wierd, I know) to touch base and see how Bruria's doing this year (Parent/Teacher conferences are tomorrow but I can't go).  B"H I got such a fabulous nachas report!  Her Morah kept going on and on how Bruria is a "יהלום" and "תלמיד חכם של הכיתה" - it was so nice to hear how she always knows all the answers and yet isn't a "סנובית" (snob) and gets along well with all her classmates!

May we always get such glowing reports from all our children's teachers, and may Bruria continue to go מחיל אל חיל and bring nachas to us all!

My Big Helpers

As opposed to my "little helpers", B"H my bigger boys are really starting to help more.  The past few weeks, they've spent Thursday evening helping me prepare the Shabbos food- sifting flour, peeling potatoes, mixing up kugels, seasoning the fish, and pouring the cake ingredients into the mixing bowl.  They really enjoyed themselves, and while the kitchen was a bit messier than usual after we finished, I did manage to get a lot more done than I would have on my own!

Wacky Photo Session

My kids got hold of the camera again- they always have a blast taking the most ridiculous pictures whenever they find the camera and Mommy doesn't take it away fast enough....I deleted the 20+ pictures they took of the pages from a comic book we took out from the library, but I figured you may enjoy some of their other wacky shots!

My little "Helpers"

Its been a while since I sat down to blog and I see I still have some old pictures I haven't posted....my twins have B"H moved on to bigger and better (?) but figured you'd still enjoy seeing these pics!

Yehuda Leib and Hillel love to "help" their Mommy with different tasks around the house....

Playing with the Challah dough as Mommy's trying to braid it

 Sprinkling the sesame seeds all over the place!

Cornstarch is SO much fun to play with!

 Doing laundry?!

Ew, GROSS!

Blanket Games

I just found this post that I had written in the beginning of August, but must have forgotten to publish!  Enjoy!

My kids LOVE to play games with their pillows and blankets- piling them all onto one bed, making a super cozy spot to lay down, or building tents using the bunkbed as a base, or cuddling up in the crib with all the bedding they can get their hands on!  (Most of this shtick usually happens on Shabbos afternoon during my nap, which is why I don't have any pictures of it).

Well apparently, Hillel has learned the tricks of the "Blanket Game" quite well.  One morning, I came to take him out of the crib, and found him in his bed, sitting inside a basket, all cuddled up with a few blankets- something I'd totally expect from one of his older siblings.  I was shocked, and figured Bruria must have set him up, but she was fast asleep, as were the rest of the kids.  He must have pulled the blankets and baskets off of the changing table which is next to his bed, and had fun with them- seems he's a fast learner!  (Unless its in his genes?  We'll have to devote some other blog post to the nature vs. nurture debate!)

Cute Quote: Too much food!

One Shabbos a couple of weeks ago, Yisrael didn't finish off all of his cholent (KA"H he is a great eater and this usually doesn't happen.)

Mommy:  Yisrael, please finish your cholent so I can give you dessert!
Yisrael: But my stomach is going to burst if I eat any more!*
Mommy: Then why did you take so much?
Yisrael: Because my new glasses make things look smaller than they really are, so it didn't look like so much when I took it!

Since then we've made sure to warn him that he shouldn't take too much just because of his glasses' distortion!

* Theoretical question- did you ever wonder how kids whose stomachs are so full that they are about to burst, somehow manage off to polish off their dessert without any difficulty whatsoever?

Bubble Fun

The boys started Cheder on Rosh Chodesh Elul, but as with every Rosh Chodesh, they had a shorter day.  So for our afternoon activity, we had blast playing with bubbles!  Over the summer we had gone to a "bubble show" here in Beitar, where the performer showed some really cool tricks, and gave outa  superb recipe for homemade bubble mix- something I have tried to make many times in the past but never worked quite right.  Well his recipe was amazing, and the kids had lots of fun doing all sorts of activities with bubbles!

Here's the recipe (I figured this is a good place to "write" it down, so I'll have it for next time!)

• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbsp high-quality dish soap (he suggested "Fairy" brand sold here in E"Y)
• 1 Tbsp sugar

Obviously this can be multiplied by any amount (I think we doubled it).  

Enjoy!

Yungers in Action: Having a Ball(oon)

First of all, we have yet to mention our trampoline on this blog yet.  We decided to get a big trampoline for the backyard- it wasn't cheap but it was well worth the investment- the kids really enjoy it and spend so much time out there, we almost feel like we added a room onto the apartment!

One afternoon, I gave the kids each a punching bag (balloon) which they filled with some rice before blowing up.  They then had a blast jumping in the trampoline with their balloons....until one by one, they all popped  :(

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BBQ in Gan Sacher

Actual Date:  8/24/14

As the grand finale to our Bain Hazmanim, we went for a family BBQ to Gan Sacher in Yerushalayim.  The park was packed with all sorts of people- tons of frum families, as well as some interesting characters- a group of Karate students practicing their moves, and some jugglers showing off their skills.  We had a lovely time relaxing on the grass, roasting marshmallows while the BBQ got ready, and then enjoying delicious food.  Yehuda Leib and Hillel loved the vast grassy area- they kept running around and around, giggling and enjoying their freedom.

Afterwards we went to the playground, where they have amazing manual "gym" equipment.  The kids had a really fun time trying out all the various different types of equipment, feeling how each one required them to push or pull their muscles in a different way to get it to work.  The kids could have stayed there for hours, but their poor parents were too exhausted, so we all headed home happy and tired!

Teamwork

If the twins could talk (they are starting to talk, B"H, but they're not up to real conversation yet) I can just imagine what Yehuda Leib would have been saying...

"Okay, Hillel, I'm going to climb up the chair and open the door handle.  You grab the door and keep it open, and then I'll climb down and we'll make the great escape together.  But move fast, we don't want Mommy to catch us, or all the fun will be over!"

We all scream for...

Ice cream!

One morning during vacation, we went for a special treat- there's a milchigs place in town which serves delicious "זיסלק" ice cream- which is better than any pre-packaged ice cream around! The kids all enjoyed immensely!

Put on your dancing shoes...

This kids knows how to move!

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Brother's Keeper

(No, this post isn't about the IDF operation launched after the tragic kidnapping of Eyal, Gilad, and Naftali.  I hope its not callous to use this title, but it seemed so befitting...)

B"H Yehuda Leib is starting to talk, and one of his first words is....."Hila" (translation: Hillel).   He is always looking for Hillel and calling his name - he probably did this before he started talking too but its so much more noticeable when it has verbal accompaniment. It is so cute to see how much he looks out for his brother - something so unique and special about being a twin!  Uusually babies at this age are so egocentric...but I guess when you were born with a "partner" your "ego" includes him too!
Some examples:

• Once I gave Yehuda Leib a piece of Chalva- before he even took a bite, right away he ran to find Hillel, calling "Hila" - and pulled him to the kitchen so he can get a piece too (as opposed to some of his siblings, who go run to their siblings so that they can tease them...ahem!)


• I put some supper onto Yehuda Leib's high chair tray (he wasn't yet seated inside) - as soon as he saw, he brought me Hillel's tray which had been laying on the floor...then he ran to the couch where Hillel (who refused to take a nap all afternoon!) had finally plotzed, and starting pulling on him "Hila, Hila, Come!"


• One morning as I was washing dishes, I hear Yehuda Leib calling Hillel's name.  He was going from room to room, looking for his brother.  Then I noticed the front door was slightly open...and Hillel was trying to make a grand escape!  Good thing his brother noticed his absence before anything bad happened to him!

May Hashem help that they should always have such a close bond, and that they should continue to always look out for each other and want only the best for each other!

Coming out of my cocoon

I have been very much affected by the events that have been happening here in ארצינו הקדושה.  Starting with the kidnapping of Gilad, Eyal, and Naftali HY"D, and then escalating into a war which we felt and heard with our own ears, my thoughts have been pre-occupied and I didn't really have a heart to blog.  With countless mothers R"L burying their boys, how could I blog about the narishkeit that goes on in my household?

Cute Quote: I don't want to go to sleep!

One afternoon, Nissim took a late nap, so he wasn't at all interested in going to sleep at his regular bedtime. Also not when it was his older siblings' bedtime (which is always later than its supposed to be!)  He was too busy 'reading' a pile of books on the couch, fiddling with my cell phone, and looking for snacks to eat.  When my bedtime was approaching, I finally decided it was time to get him in bed.

(this conversation took place in Hebrew, as Nissim's speech therapist suggested that we stick to one language to help his speech develop, which B"H it has)

Mommy: ... נסים, עכשיו צריכים ללכת
Nissim: !באוטו
Mommy: ...לא, מתוק, האוטו לא פה עכשיו.  צריכים ללכת
Nissim (with his eyes all lit up, not missing a beat): !אוטובוס

(Editor's note: buses are SO much more fun than cars, especially if you own a car so a bus ride is a rare treat!)

I had a good laugh (along with Yael Chava Berlinger, who was visiting with us for a few days) and finally convinced Nissim that we were not going anywhere else except for his bed.  He B"H complied, albeit begrudgingly.

Feeling Green

When I was in high school, my friends and I were all into chatchkes with Anne Geddes' photography- for the unfamiliar, she photographed babies and young children in all sorts of cute poses, and sometimes she'd take a photo where the whole picture was black and white, except for the flower the baby was holding or the hat on their head.

I've always thought it would be cute to take a picture like that of one of my own kids (who are WAY cuter than the kids in her photos, IMHO), and I think my camera actually has that capability, but have I never had the time to read the manual and play around with it.  So Hillel decided to give me a chance for a pretty good shot, involving no special camera tricks.

It probably would have been cuter if he would have JUST gotten his lips green, and not his belly...oh well, one day we'll have to give him a lesson about cute photography techniques

Lag B'Omer in the Park

Our Lag B'Omer was nowhere as exciting as last year, but we did manage to have a nice family outing anyways.  It was a bit of a busy day since Nissim had (very minor) surgery to have tubes put in his ears that morning (I didn't realize when they scheduled it that it fell out on Lag B'Omer, and by the time I did, I didn't want to reschedule it and have to wait another few months!).  B"H it went smoothly (you can see from the pictures below that he looks quite fine!) and after we got home and he rested a bit, I took all the kids out to one of the parks in Giva B that we don't go to that often.  I picked up some bread and deli, and we had a nice afternoon and supper in the park.  (And for a change, I actually remembered to take my camera, and the batteries were actually charged, so I have pictures to share!)

(I didn't get many pictures of the big kids, who were eagerly climbing up to the huge slides, while I was busy watching Nissim and the babies, who were B"H busy running in all directions!)

Cute Quote: Too Yummy?!

Recently, my kids' favorite chicken dish is "mushroom chicken".  I'll have to post the recipe on the The Kosher Cookster one of these days because it really is a big hit.

Anyways, getting back to the point of this post, one Friday night Azriel came into the kitchen to help me serve.  When he saw the chicken, he started to complain!

Azriel: I don't want that chicken!
Mommy: Why not?  You love it!
Azriel: I know, its so yummy that I eat too much and then I get a stomachache!
Mommy: So then don't eat so much!
Azriel: But its too yummy, I have to!  If I start to eat it, I'm not going to be able to stop!

Yoish, looks like we're going to have to work on self control around here :)

Creak, Creak!

This blog has become a diary of sorts, and I enjoy looking back at all the fond memories.  I often sit down and read old posts, and love to re-live the old memories, whether touching, funny, or downright crazy.  Little comments or incidents that I would have otherwise forgotten completely, are recorded here, so that I can look back in years to come.  So I'm going to share this funny story with you, more for my own benefit- so I won't forget it!

One day, Bentzi noticed that when he walked, he often heard a strange creaking sound.  First he thought it was from his shoe, (no floorboards here in E"Y so we didn't think it was that) but when he was wearing his Crocs, it still happened.  Strange indeed.  So then Bentzi thought maybe its coming from his knee.  But after listening closely for a day or two, he determined that it was coming from his ankle.

Of course, in typical Jewish mother (wife?) fashion, I began to worry.  Which type of doctor should he see? What terrible illness or condition could Bentzi have?  I began to read all sorts of scary articles online, about athritis and other terrible diseases and conditions, and began to worry about my poor husband, already beginning to age while still in the prime of his life.  The fears and questions began to plague me: what will he be like when he's older, if he's already having problems now?  How will we treat this?  Oy, Hashem, please make it go away!

I continued researching online, hoping that I'd find some comforting article, to allay my fears.  I came accross an interesting forum, where people were discussing how their feat squeak.  One after the next, all with the same problem, but no one seemed to find any treatment or solution.  I was about to give up on reading the thread, when at post #13 I had not one piece of helpful info.  But I kept reading on, and at post #16, I read the following:

I quickly called Bentzi over, and asked him to take off his belt and go for a walk.  Guess what?  No creaking!  Then I told him to put it back on...yes, you got it- the creaking came right back!  I had a major laughing fit, releasing my worries about Bentzi's "condition" and marveling at the ridiculous reason behind it! 

For days afterward, we both felt a tremendous sense of relief and הכרת הטוב that it turned out to be nothing.  That Shabbos, Bentzi shared the story with the kids, and even demonstrated by changing belts- and made sure to drive home the message of appreciating our health and being gratful to the רבש"ע  for our bodies.

May we all be healthy and be able to use our bodies to serve Hashem, for many many years to come!

Azriel Shraga's מסיבת סידור

Actual Date: 3/4/2013

After posting the pictures from Naftali's מסיבת סידור, I realized that I never posted the ones from Azriel Shraga's מסיבת סידור last year!  I actually had a started post sitting in my drafts folder, but for some reason it never posted!  Well, as the saying goes, better late than never!

B"H my Azriel Shraga is growing up!  Today was his מסיבת סידור at the Kosel.  Since its already close to Pesach, and most Mommies are busy preparing for Pesach, the cheder sent home a very considerate note, saying that the mothers weren't expected to attend.  A friend of mine (who is going to America for Pesach) did go, and she took some pictures of Azriel Shraga for me- she's got a really expsensive professional camera, and the pictures came out really beautiful!

Azriel Shraga came home very happy, and was excited to tell me about his special day- how he had fun (AKA made trouble) on the bus ride to the Kosel, how his Rebbe gave out Pekelach, how he davened to Hashem, and how he smiled nicely so Elazar's Mommy could take a picture of him!  At home, we celebrated this special milestone as well, by singing, dancing, and (of course!) giving out candies!

May we continue to shep much נחת from Azriel Shraga as he continues to grow and reach important milestones! 

Naftali's מסיבת סידור

Actual Date: 3/5/2014

Its funny that even though Naftali is my third son KA"H to have a מסיבת סידור, I've never attended one.  With Yisrael and Azriel Shraga, they got their siddurim in the beginning of ניסן, when all the Mommies were super busy getting ready for Pesach, and the Cheder even sent home letters saying that the mothers should feel no pressure to come.  But this year, since we had an extra אדר, Naftali's מסיבת סידור fell out right in the beginning of אדר שני- no excuse not to come, so I did!

Naftali's excitement for his upcoming מסיבת סידור was mounting by the days.  For the few weeks leading up to it, he continually asked me, "Mommy, are you going to come?" which B"H I was able to answer, "Yes". And the morning of, he was so excited he could barely contain himself!  I sent him off to Cheder, dressed in Shabbos clothes, and told him that IY"H we would see each other soon, at the...

Kosel!  Its really nice how the Cheder makes a really big deal out of it, bringing the boys to the Kosel to use their Siddur for the first time.  And it was so cute to watch the excitement on the boys' faces as they opened up their Siddurim and davened.  The night before, the Rebbe had each boy prepare a note at home, with a short בקשה that they want to daven for at the Kosel.  So after davening, each boy had a chance to walk up to the Kosel, and touch it, and daven their personal tefillah. Afterwards, they joined together in song and dance, dancing in one huge circle right in front of the Kosel.

It was interesting to watch the reactions of all the other people at the Kosel, witnessing this very precious moment.  Some frum men joined them in the singning and dancing, while tourists recorded it with their iPhones.  I think all the bystanders were touched by the scene of such young, innocent boys, with happiness radiating on their faces, as they reach such an important milestone.

May the simcha continue to radiate on Naftali's face, and IY"H he should always feel so excited and priveleged to be able to daven!

Purim 5774

Its been so hectic around here, sorry for not sharing Purim pics sooner!  I figured I'd better get to it quickly, before Adar slips through our fingers...enjoy!

We had a wonderful Purim, full of אורה, שמחה, ששון ויקר!  It was a really beautiful day, in all aspects, and everyone enjoyed themselves!

Since the day got off to an early start (with Mommy davening and hearing מגילה by a Vasikin minyan) we had plenty of time for fun, learning, and davening too!  The boys went to learn with Tatty at "Yeshivas Mordechai Hatzadik", and when they came back we went around to deliver Mishloach Manos.

Once we came back, we still had some time until our Seuda, so I offered the kids a special "מבצע" - I explained to them the power of Tefilla on Purim, and offered them 10 אגרות for every perek of תהילים that they say.  They got straight down to business, and made lots of money!

Then we went for our Seuda by the Solomon's; we all had a really nice time- the kids had fun trying on different hats and costumes, the Mommies had fun shmoozing, and the Tatties...had fun!

May the Simcha of Purim last with us all year, and may Hashem answer all our תפילות for the good!

The case of the missing baby

One night, the twins had insomnia.  After they were in their cribs for a long time, babbling and laughing, but not showing any signs of getting tired, I took them out of their cribs and "let them loose".  Yehuda Leib came to bother me by the computer while I was trying to work (he LOVES to pull the mouse away from me!) and Hillel wandered off to the living room to play with some toys.  A little while later, I saw that YL was starting to get tired, so I put him back in his crib to lay down.  I decided to check on Hillel, to see if maybe he was tired too.

Except that Hillel was nowhere to be found.  I looked in all his favorite places- behind the couch, under the table, next to the washing machine...but he wasn't in any of those places.

"Bentzi!  Where's Hillel!  I can't find him!" I panicked!  We both started looking all over for him, but our search was fruitless- we coudn't find him anywhere!

Finally, I decided to check in the kids' beds....and where do you think I found him?  Cuddled up, fast asleep next to Azriel Shraga.  I'm assuming that AS must have snuck out of bed when I wasn't looking, and snatched up Hillel (he has a special "thing" for Hillel) - either that, or Hillel must have wandered into their room and then Azriel pulled him into bed with him.  In any case, they looked so cute together, all cuddled up and sleeping so peacefully!

Aside from the similar looks of these two, they've got similar personalities also. 

And its adorable how they have a special connection to each other too!

A Freilichen Purim Katan!

On Purim Katan, Nissim came home from Gan dressed as a little chef, and presented me with a container of corn salad that he made!  He was so proud of himself!

Gushing...blood?

No! B"H its just a bottle of "petel" that got knocked off the counter straight onto Yehuda Leib! (someone--ahem--forgot to close it after they were done with it!)  But his facial expression kind of lends to that freaky look (I could probably play around with the colors in Photoshop to make it look more gory!)

Of course, everyone had a fun time licking up Yehuda Leib's "blood" and my little cutie-pie was very dissappointed when I whisked him away to wash him off in the bath!

Silly face!

One afternoon Nissim decided to put his glasses on Hillel, who started making silly faces- he was so cute!  After Hillel pulled them off, I put them on again- and he made the same adorable face again- with sparkling eyes (he's got the same "electric eyes" that Azriel Shraga has!) and a goofy smile on his face.  Time and time again, he kept doing it...but of course I wasn't able to catch it in all its cuteness on film...oh well!

Double Trouble

Hi everyone!

Ever since after our cousin, Saadya, posted on his Mommy's blog about some of the trouble he makes, we've been CHALISHING to share some our great trouble tips...only our Mommy seems to be too busy to ever blog about us (do you think maybe if we'd tone down the trouble-making a bit, she'd blog more?!)  Well, FINALLY one morning, we took a good long nap, hoping we'd give her some time to blog about us...we're so excited to be in the limelight!

Here's some of the mischief we've been up to lately...we recommend our other little cousins to try some of these things out, although it may not be as fun if you're on your own...we love each other's company- it makes trouble making even MORE exciting!

• Make a beeline for the pantry whenever Mommy forgets to close the child-lock.  This is especially fun right after she's gone shopping and put away all the groceries!  And if you work together, you can empty the shelves out at record speed!

• If Mommy DID remember to close the child-lock on the pantry, check around the other fun spots in the kitchen- she's bound to have forgotten something!  One day we had a really fun time emptying out the cabinet with all the foil pans- we made a whole concert, baking them and crinkling them- but Mommy must've not liked our taste in music, since she didn't seem too pleased!

• This one was REALLY fun.  We got our hands on the basket full of baking supplies one morning whlie Mommy was busy cooking, and we emptied it out (of course).  Then we found these really small bottles of paint (Mommy called it food coloring) and we had so much fun painting each other!  What was really funny is that when Mommy tried washing us off, there was just tons of yellow water, filling up the whole bathtub!  Eventually, though, it did go away :(

 

There's tons more that we do, but Mommy hasn't been so good about taking pictures lately, so that's all we can show you for now.  But we'll do our best to keep making more trouble, and maybe if our Mommy is better about pulling out the camera, we'll have more to share with you soon!

Love,

Lelly and Duda