That is NOT cotton candy, young lady!

Esther was in the exersaucer one day, nibbling on something that looked an awful lot like cotton candy....except that it was the stuffing from the torn seat!  No worries, I quickly took it away from her, and pulled out the rest of the stuffing so she couldn't eat it- but she was not very happy with me!

Picking figs from our very own tree!

We have a beautiful fig tree in the corner of our yard- the kids love climbing in it, and now especially- as there are hundreds of beautiful fresh figs waiting to be picked!  I quickly snapped a few pictures of everyone in the tree - enjoy!  

Fun in the park

The weather today was gorgeous, so I decided to ignore everything that had to get done at home, and just enjoy some quality time w/ the kids in the park.  We all had a blast- and I managed to get some nice pictures too!
(Yisrael didn't join us, he was busy in Cheder)

Video: Cutie Babies say Hello

I heard some cute babbling coming from the next room, and BH I was able to catch it on film.  Esther stopped as soon as she saw her Mommy but Yaakov Tzvi cooperated nicely :)
Aren't they precious?

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Knocked Out!

Hillel does this almost every night by supper...and a few times YL has imitated him (which is QUITE hysterical, but we weren't able to catch it on video).  But this time, it was for real....we all had a good laugh (not to mention that bedtime was much easier that night)!

Happy Sukkos!

Since we had no major plans for today (or any other day of Chol Hamoed!) we decided to do an easy activity that would accomplish two purposes- keep the kids busy, and provide a snack so they don't keep complaining that they are hungry!

BH cookie baking accomplished both criteria- and the kids were all very excited with how their creations came out!

Wishing you all a beautiful, simcha-dik Chag!

Purim 5775

Purim was very busy around here- the kids were busy all day, delivering Mishloach Manos to their friends, so I barely had a chance to snap pictures of them before running out to our Seuda. But B"H we did manage to get a picture of each of them (although not the most picture-perfect shots).

Yisrael was a scuba diver- and got tons of compliments on his costume wherever he went. It was a refreshing change from the typical police/solider/cowboy type costumes that most boys dress up as- and I won't be surprised if we see more of them next year!

Bruria was a nurse- with a REAL nurse "scrub" that we borrowed from a friend of mine who's a nurse in Hadassah. She had pockets full of bandaids, syringes, and even a real stethoscope!

Azriel was an old man- he was really quite cute. The babies and Nissim had fun walking around with his cane making "oy" noises- so adorable!

Naftali was a Kohein Gadol. He was especially excited about the costume because we just learned about the בגדי כהונה in the Parsha, and it was nice to actually experience it (although he made sure to point out all the inaccuracies!)

Nissim was a cute little king- he did not want any costume that did not involve Shabbos clothes so B"H this one was agreeable to him.

Our twins were chocolate and vanilla pudding (באדי brand) - since they were babies, I've been getting comments from people, "You have one chocolate flavor, and one vanilla" so I decided to make a costume out of that this year- and they were absolutely adorable!- and their costume was absolutely adorable. They weren't in the mood for a whole picture session so I couldn't get a good shot of them together, but you get the basic idea...

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!