Mechira Madness

Well, for those of you who have been wondering why I've been a little out-of-touch lately, I have a VERY good excuse. I have been busy organizing a huge "Yard" sale (I call it a Mechira) to raise money for Bentzi's yeshiva. I did it once in the summer, and it was a big success, so I decided that now would be a good time to do another one. Basically, we got donations of clothes, shoes, books, housewares, etc., and I had to go through everything and throw out whatever was not sellable, and sort and price whatever was. It was a VERY big job, but B"H we had the sale for two days this week and we raised over $3,500! I am doing another sale next week, where everything will be 50% off, so hopefully we'll bring in some more!

(now that things are starting to wind down with the sale, I've got to catch up with everything else that's fallen to the wayside...PLEASE don't look at the state of my house right now!)

UPDATE 12/10/09: B"H our last sale went well, and our total is now over $4,500!

Haircut Mishaps

Today I gave Yisrael a haircut, and after going across his head once, the machine decided to stop working! Yikes! He was VERY shaggy already (I've been so busy with other things that his haircut kept getting pushed off until it was really in a desperate state...) and anyways, once I started I couldn't just stop, but what to do now? One neighbor of mine goes to the barber, so they don't have a machine, and another one told me that hers is broken. So I grabbed Naftali, and ran to ask another neighbor (of course they DO have one but the parents were sleeping....)

Anyway, I ran back home, and figured that we'd first eat supper, and then hopefully I'd find a way to finish up his hair.

Well, as soon as I came back, I had a feeling something wasn't right- it was just TOO QUIET! (Mind you, I was gone for all of 2 minutes?) Well, I ran upstairs, and found Yisrael and Bruria giving Azriel Shraga a haircut! B"H it wasn't nearly as bad as the last haircut Bruria did- they only managed to cut off a few curls...and his hair is messy enough that you don't really notice that anything is missing! (but if you're not supposed to cut a boy's hair until he's 3, does the fact that you can't notice make it OK?! I'm not really too worried!)

I gave the kids supper, and meanwhile my other neighbor came home, and lent me her machine. So now, B"H, Yisrael has a nice haircut (except that he won't let me trim his peyos, because he wants them to be long, like his Chassidishe teacher!)

Well, if you won't peel it for me....

Naftali has started helping himself to food from the refridgerator- he sneaks inside whenever I or one of the other kids opens it, and I find him biting into all sorts of foods- peppers, tomatoes, even cloves of garlic!

Today he got his hands on a clementina, and since no one peeled it for him, I guess he decided he would just have to bite right in, and eat it peel and all! He was VERY upset when I took it away from him- it almost seemed as if he was ENJOYING the peel!

Happy Birthday, Yisrael!

Today was the 29th of Cheshvan-- Yisrael's 5th birthday! He has been waiting for his birthday since Rosh Chodesh (!) so I told him that after 4 Shabbosim, Monday would be his birthday. So he has been counting the weeks, eaterly looking forward...and finally the big day arrived! He wore Shabbos clothes to school and passed out goodies to his friends. For breakfast, I let him drink a bag of Shoko (chocolate milk)- he was begging for it last week, so I told him he could have it on his birthday. Then, in the afternoon we had his friend Yisrael Meir Ratner over, and we decorated cupcakes! They were YUMMY! IY"H we should be zoche to see much Nachas from him as he continues to grow and mature!

(Bruria and Azriel Shraga were too busy eating their cupcakes to pose properly....

this is the best shot I could get!)

Grocery Shopping with Mommy

This morning I did my weekly fruit and vegetable shopping. As usual, I took Azriel Shraga and Naftali with me (they are home with me in the mornings). But last week, one of the workers got upset at me for bringing my stroller into the store (I've got a BIG double stroller, and the store is quite small...) So this time I decided to avoid a confrontation, and I put the kids into the shopping cart and left my "truck-sized" stroller in the "parking lot".

Only problem is that they don't make shopping carts with two seats, and this one didn't have a strap either. So I put Azriel Shraga in the seat and sat Naftali down in the cart. Well of course, Naftali immediately stood up, and the two of them were so excited to be in such great view (and reach!) of all the food!

"Mommy, buy (clemen)tina!" Azriel Shraga said. And then he saw they pomegranates- "I want (ri)mon!"

I was busy picking out zuchinnis, and I when I turned around, I saw Naftali chomping into a HUGE apple. He was SO thrilled with himself! I tried taking it away from him so I could pay for it, and he was horrified!

But then, as soon as I put the bananas in the cart, he threw down his apple and started trying to eat the bananas (peel and all!) He was quite upset when he saw that they don't taste as yummy with the peel still on!

(It gets even better...)

Next, I went to the grocery section. Doritos were on sale 5 for 10 Shekel, so put them in the cart. Naftali immediately grabbed a bag and started chewing it, and as soon as Azriel Shraga saw them, he started complaining, "Mommy, I'm hungry to the bottom!" (This is a household phrase in our home, coined by Yisrael, to mean that he's SO hungry that he's on empty! However, Azriel Shraga uses it even when he's not hungry 'to the bottom'- he'll say it when he's got a craving for something!)

So of course, as soon as we left the store, we had to stop for a munch- apples, bananas, clementinas, and of course, Doritos!

Edible Edifices

Today we had a really fun afternoon...we made houses out of wafers! The foundation was a tea bisquit, and we used chocolate spread to stick on wafer "bricks". Then we made the roof from more tea bisquits, "cemented" together with more chocolate spread. The kids had a really nice time making them (Azriel Shraga needed my help) - and they had even MORE fun eating them! (of course he needed NO help with that!)

Here's an up-close view:

In case you're wondering what motivated me to do this....Yisrael has been giving us a hard time going to cheder- he doesn't like to leave us when we drop him off. So today Bentzi took him, and saw that there were doing construction by his school- so he told Yisrael that he should watch them, because in the afternoon he'll get to build something with wafers! I was like..huh? How will we do that? But B"H I figured it out, and it was a big hit!
I just hope he won't start asking to do this everyday...its not nearly as healthy (or economic!) as building with legos or clics!

Konked out on the couch

Naftali has this new thing where he likes to stand up in the stroller- even if he is strapped in! Today we were out ALL MORNING, and the entire time he was standing or sitting up- he wouldn't even lie down to take a bottle! (Azriel Shraga was with us too, but when he got tired, he just laid down in the stroller and took a nap!)

Finally, when we got home, Naftali collapsed on the couch- but lest you think that he laid himslef down on the couch- he was standing up (suprise!) against the arm of the couch...but he was so tired that he just konked out!