A fun summer afternoon in גן אלמליח

Since we had to move over summer break, we were so busy packing that we didn't have much time for trips. One afternoon, after having spent too many days at home, we decided to get out for a few hours with the kids, to have a fun, refreshing time.  We went to גן אלמליח, a lovely park which is pretty close to Malcha Mall, which is pretty easy for us to get to.  It has huge slides which the kids really enjoy, and its really breezy there, so even on a hot summer day it was quite pleasant.  We brought along tons of snacks, bubbles, and a kite, and had a lovely afternoon.  We were so busy having fun (meaning, I was so busy trying to fly the kite!) that we barely had time to take pictures- but I did manage to get one picture of Bentzi and the kids.

Isn't Azriel Shraga's pose so "HIM"!?

Yungers in Action: My little cleaner-upper

Nissim has become really cute about cleaning up - he clears the cups and silverware off the table and puts them in the sink (I often find fleishig spoons in the milchig sink - oops!) and he loves to push all the toys into a  pile using a broom or sponga stick (he actually has pretty good control!) - it is adorable!  I actually managed to capture it on camera (after a few failed attempts where he stopped as soon as he saw me, I got smart and hid in the stairwell, where he didn't notice me right away).  Enjoy!

Troublemaker in Training

The other morning I caught Hillel pulling out wipes from the package- he's not as fast as his older brother, but no worry, with a bit more practice I'm sure he'll do a spectacular job!

And since I don't want anyone telling me its not fair to post about one twin and not the other, here's a silly picture of Yehuda Leib that I took the same morning.  Isn't he YUM?

Our Big (but still little) Boy

Yisrael is very excited about his new set of משניות he got as a gift at his סיום חמישה חומשי תורה a few nights ago (I will post more about that soon, IY"H!) and on Erev Shabbos, he and Bentzi sat down to learn together.  I got a kick out of this picture- sitting like a big boy, learning משניות, yet still wearing his bib from lunch!

May he always have an appetite for learning!

True "Yiddishe" Nachas

I was talking to a friend of mine the other night, who's son is in Azriel Shraga's class.  "I heard Azriel's part in the מסיבת חומש is adorable," she said.  "Really?" I responded, "He hasn't said a word about it!"  "Well Elazar keeps talking about Azriel's תפקיד- he says its so cute!"

Of course the next day, when I asked Azriel Shraga about it, he shrugged it off in a shy voice "I want it to be a הפתעה for you, don't talk about it".

Well I was definitely treated to a beautiful surprise this morning at Azriel Shraga's מסיבת חומש.   I didn't dream he'd have a major role- just a minute before his performance, when another boy was called up to "welcome" the guests, I whispered to a friend of mine sitting next to me- "Wow- such self confidence- I don't think any of my boys could do that!"  So imagine how I felt, when he marched up to the center of the stage, and sang a beautiful solo in a sweet, pleasant voice, in front of around 200 people.  It was really cute and I was bursting with nachas!

Azriel Shraga is being an ענו about his performance and really doesn't want me bragging about it and showing off (whose child is he? Doesn't take after me, that's for sure!) so don't tell him that I shared this video with you!

Enjoy! (sorry the video is so shaky...had I known his part was going to be so long, maybe I would have propped up the camera better!)

Zaidy, is the Yiddish any consolation to you?

Ready for gan ALREADY?!

Hillel was playing on the floor one morning, and grabbed the strap of Nissim's backpack, which was laying nearby.  He must have rolled over after it looped around his arm, because a few minutes later, I found him like this:

Three amazing years....

We celebrated Nissim's 3rd birthday this past Erev Shabbos- this year it fell out exactly the way it was the year he was born, with his birthday on Thursday night.  It was a very emotional weekend for me, especially since the timing was the same - I relived the whole chain of events, from the time he was born, to his surgery (which was on Shabbos). Numerous times over Shabbos, I said to Bentzi and the kids- do you know what was happening at exactly this time three years ago? B"H it was so nice to be able to look at this adorable boy, full of energy and good spirit, and to realize how far we've come since that fateful Thursday night three years ago.

I put together a little slideshow, with pictures and videos that most of you have seen already right here on this blog- but when you see them all at once, and you witness how Nissim has B"H grown and developed so much during these three amazing years- it really makes an impact.  Its so easy to forget how sick Nissim was when he was born, how swollen his face used to be, how hard he had to work to be able to walk and run and be the joyful, energetic boy that he is today.

I cried my eyes out as I prepared this slideshow- tears of thanks to the רבונו של עולם that B"H we've made it to this point, and tears of תפילה that we should continue to see Nissim grow and progress, and that Hashem should continue to watch over him and give him- and us- the strength and סיעתא דשמיא that He's given us until now!