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?