It's hard to put into words the amazing transformations and daily miracles that I see in my beautiful children. I know it's not fair to gush repeatedly about them. Boring for the reader or listener, I know. But it's how I feel.
Today was visiting day at JCC Day Camp for Julia & Libi. I got to see Libi at instructional swim and Art, and Julia at Art and Hockey. Julia is at an age of real development. She is in a group of 24 six year old girls (many of whom will be in Perelman with her next year!). It's no longer pure and innocent reactions and relationships to everything. These girls are already influenced by the world in their attitudes, their speech, their perspectives. But it's so different from Libi's age. At Julia's age they TRY, they're trying to hold the hockey stick correctly, they're trying to tell an interesting story (instead of just stream of consciousness). It seems that this specific group of girls is so nice; really friendly.
Libi's group is about 20 4-5 year olds, mostly boys, and it's crazy! Libi has found a couple of girl friends in the mix, but I didn't meet them today. Libi still clings to me when I visit her at camp/school. I'm not yet able to see her in the way she acts when I'm not around. I hear that she's fun and goofy, and sometimes loud! I'd love to see that Libi. Unfortunately I get the Libi who vies for my attention with whining and defiance. Poor little middle child.... But I did see her swim with her face in the water, and jump into the pool!
Marigold spent both of the art classes drawing with crayons on paper on the floor. She was happy as a clam and ignored the total chaos that filled the rest of the room! Please note, she's 19 months old! And she spent 40 minutes coloring by herself!! Marigold loves shoes and putting on clothes! She goes crazy when laundry is all over the floor, trying on underwear and bathing suits and shorts. She can put on some of her own shoes (usually her crocs). She wants to do whatever her sisters are doing, so if they put on bathing suits for camp, she wants to wear one too. Usually I let her do it--why not?
I think it's important to concentrate on the children because if I look around at my falling-apart house, or the clutter and chaos in my own world I'll get depressed. The children deserve me and everything I have!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
New Orleans in the Summertime
More specifically--New Orleans SMELLS in the summertime!
Josh and I had a wonderful time on our vacation to New Orleans regardless of the vulgar odors that were totally pervasive. We treated ourselves to a trip for our TENTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!! Can you believe that it's been 10 years?? OK, it's cliche, but so true that the time has flown by. But I digress...
All of our parents agreed to take care of our girls while we were away. Thank you!! We dropped them off in NY and flew from LaGuardia to New Orleans. Well, we intended to fly at 11am. We arrived at 9am, just to be safe, and the plane finally took off at (get ready) 9:30pm. So, our first day of vacation was spent at lovely, atmospheric LGA at Gate D10. The flight was smooth and we took a shuttle to our hotel. On the way there I spotted a cute little art gallery in the French Quarter and tucked it away in my memory (to be revisited later). We stayed at Le Pavilion. This hotel is very charming with lots of old world details like intricate moldings. It's located about 5 blocks from the French Quarter so we got lots of exercise everyday walking to and from the hotel, as well as within the Quarter.
It was hot in New Orleans. Probably very close to 100 degrees and 100% humidity everyday. But women in the South don't sweat you know...they glow...so I had no problem with the weather. Josh, on the other hand, did not enjoy the heat. We tried to ignore it and enjoyed our vacation anyway!
On Friday we took a city tour in a small minivan. Our tour guide, Ozzie, was excellent. He took us through the French Quarter, around all the areas that were affected by Hurricane Katrina, and then the Garden District. We learned a lot and really got to see how the city is still coping with recovery from the flooding and devastation from almost 2 years ago. We had dinner at Snug Harbor, a Restaurant and Jazz Bar on Frenchmen Street where Ellis Marsalis (Winton's father) played piano. On Saturday we took a Plantation Tour (starting at 8am!) at Oak Alley and Laura Plantations. The history was also really interesting, and these plantations are preserved really well. We were looking to get more details of treatment of slaves at the plantation in the 1800's, but those details were omitted in the stories we heard. It's too bad they don't include that type of information, because it seemed that everyone on our tour was hoping to hear more about the slaves. We're not getting the whole picture of life at that time if we don't learn about the slaves.
We had lunch at the Embers in the French Quarter, then rested at the hotel before our Ghost Tour later that night. Unfortunately, no ghosts showed themselves, but we heard some interesting stories. We had a late dinner at Pere Antoine, which was excellent!
Sunday was a slow day. We took a ferry from the docks to Algiers, a small island across the bay. We just wanted to explore, but there was nothing there at all. It was only residential, so we took the ferry back to the city. The heat had us plumb tuckered out by this time, so we went to the rooftop pool at our hotel and swam/napped/read the afternoon away. Later that evening we saw "Sicko" the new movie by Michael Moore. It's an excellent documentary and we highly recommend it! That was a nice way to close out our trip...we left at 10am the next morning.
Going back to the story of the art gallery that I spotted on our arrival to the city: It was called Cafe Baby. We explored a little and found the gallery again on Friday afternoon! The artist, Marc Bercier, was inside and we spoke for a long time. We loved his work, especially "Still Life With Flowers". There were many variations on this still life in different colors, but one version caught my eye and I had to have it! It is reminiscent of another painting we have by an Israeli artist named Avi Ben-Simhon. The colors and subject matter are similar. Something about both these paintings really appeal to me. Josh and I talked about it and we ended up returning to the gallery on Saturday and buying the painting. We are so happy and can't wait to get it framed.
Josh and I had a wonderful time on our vacation to New Orleans regardless of the vulgar odors that were totally pervasive. We treated ourselves to a trip for our TENTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!! Can you believe that it's been 10 years?? OK, it's cliche, but so true that the time has flown by. But I digress...
All of our parents agreed to take care of our girls while we were away. Thank you!! We dropped them off in NY and flew from LaGuardia to New Orleans. Well, we intended to fly at 11am. We arrived at 9am, just to be safe, and the plane finally took off at (get ready) 9:30pm. So, our first day of vacation was spent at lovely, atmospheric LGA at Gate D10. The flight was smooth and we took a shuttle to our hotel. On the way there I spotted a cute little art gallery in the French Quarter and tucked it away in my memory (to be revisited later). We stayed at Le Pavilion. This hotel is very charming with lots of old world details like intricate moldings. It's located about 5 blocks from the French Quarter so we got lots of exercise everyday walking to and from the hotel, as well as within the Quarter.
It was hot in New Orleans. Probably very close to 100 degrees and 100% humidity everyday. But women in the South don't sweat you know...they glow...so I had no problem with the weather. Josh, on the other hand, did not enjoy the heat. We tried to ignore it and enjoyed our vacation anyway!
On Friday we took a city tour in a small minivan. Our tour guide, Ozzie, was excellent. He took us through the French Quarter, around all the areas that were affected by Hurricane Katrina, and then the Garden District. We learned a lot and really got to see how the city is still coping with recovery from the flooding and devastation from almost 2 years ago. We had dinner at Snug Harbor, a Restaurant and Jazz Bar on Frenchmen Street where Ellis Marsalis (Winton's father) played piano. On Saturday we took a Plantation Tour (starting at 8am!) at Oak Alley and Laura Plantations. The history was also really interesting, and these plantations are preserved really well. We were looking to get more details of treatment of slaves at the plantation in the 1800's, but those details were omitted in the stories we heard. It's too bad they don't include that type of information, because it seemed that everyone on our tour was hoping to hear more about the slaves. We're not getting the whole picture of life at that time if we don't learn about the slaves.
We had lunch at the Embers in the French Quarter, then rested at the hotel before our Ghost Tour later that night. Unfortunately, no ghosts showed themselves, but we heard some interesting stories. We had a late dinner at Pere Antoine, which was excellent!
Sunday was a slow day. We took a ferry from the docks to Algiers, a small island across the bay. We just wanted to explore, but there was nothing there at all. It was only residential, so we took the ferry back to the city. The heat had us plumb tuckered out by this time, so we went to the rooftop pool at our hotel and swam/napped/read the afternoon away. Later that evening we saw "Sicko" the new movie by Michael Moore. It's an excellent documentary and we highly recommend it! That was a nice way to close out our trip...we left at 10am the next morning.
Going back to the story of the art gallery that I spotted on our arrival to the city: It was called Cafe Baby. We explored a little and found the gallery again on Friday afternoon! The artist, Marc Bercier, was inside and we spoke for a long time. We loved his work, especially "Still Life With Flowers". There were many variations on this still life in different colors, but one version caught my eye and I had to have it! It is reminiscent of another painting we have by an Israeli artist named Avi Ben-Simhon. The colors and subject matter are similar. Something about both these paintings really appeal to me. Josh and I talked about it and we ended up returning to the gallery on Saturday and buying the painting. We are so happy and can't wait to get it framed.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
You don't hear me talk like this much
I was composing a blog post in my head today. It was kind of twisted and sad. You get in these moods sometimes, right? But then I just watched the Kathy Griffin show on Bravo, "my life on the d-list" and it's the one where her father dies. I am sitting here crying and I realize how completely self-indulgent my earlier idea for a post was.
For a while I was trying to live by "The Secret". Revealed by Oprah. The thoughts/emotions/actions you express determine what you get back in life. If you concentrate on what you DON'T want, then all your energies are compressed into your negative thoughts. Instead, try concentrating on what you DO want. Try it. It's amazing. My life was changing somewhat and I was feeling good, but you know what...I got back into my old habits. So whether it's a dynamic that I create myself out of habit, or whether it's my brain chemicals acting in their own natural way I don't know. This time of year always seems to be difficult for me. And that makes sense because our regular life structure changes--the end of school, camp hasn't started yet. Funny how the structure of MY life is ruled by my children's schedules.
But what's important is love, and our quest for true happiness and peace. How much we foster or hinder the quests of our loved ones, and ourselves. How much we live in the present, and all the peace we can actually experience if we are not always fretting about the past or future.
Shalom.
Namaste.
For a while I was trying to live by "The Secret". Revealed by Oprah. The thoughts/emotions/actions you express determine what you get back in life. If you concentrate on what you DON'T want, then all your energies are compressed into your negative thoughts. Instead, try concentrating on what you DO want. Try it. It's amazing. My life was changing somewhat and I was feeling good, but you know what...I got back into my old habits. So whether it's a dynamic that I create myself out of habit, or whether it's my brain chemicals acting in their own natural way I don't know. This time of year always seems to be difficult for me. And that makes sense because our regular life structure changes--the end of school, camp hasn't started yet. Funny how the structure of MY life is ruled by my children's schedules.
But what's important is love, and our quest for true happiness and peace. How much we foster or hinder the quests of our loved ones, and ourselves. How much we live in the present, and all the peace we can actually experience if we are not always fretting about the past or future.
Shalom.
Namaste.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Welcome to the World
Our friends Chris & Rachel Heep just had their second baby boy on Tuesday! His name is Daniel Montgomery Heep, 8lbs 8oz, 21 inches. He's a new baby brother to Benjamin, age 3.
We can't wait to meet him!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Congratulations to Julia!
We are now the extremely proud parents of a Kindergarten Graduate! Julia participated in a lovely ceremony at Adath Israel Preschool this past Tuesday where they handed out diplomas and sang songs they learned throughout the year. Julia's performance was very animated, which only strengthens my desire to put her in a theater class this upcoming fall season. Please check out the photo album of her graduation.
There are 3 additional photo albums that I have also added: Julia's Gymnastics from June, Marigold's playgroup (these are particularly beautiful), and Strawberry Picking at Linvilla Orchards.
I know we need more photos of Libi--I'll work on that this summer. But now there is a nice family photo of the 5 of us (as requested!)--It's in the graduation album. Tell me if you like it.
P.S. I'd love to know who's reading this blog. Please sign up for automatic updates, or make a comment every once in a while so that I know our blog is being read!
There are 3 additional photo albums that I have also added: Julia's Gymnastics from June, Marigold's playgroup (these are particularly beautiful), and Strawberry Picking at Linvilla Orchards.
I know we need more photos of Libi--I'll work on that this summer. But now there is a nice family photo of the 5 of us (as requested!)--It's in the graduation album. Tell me if you like it.
P.S. I'd love to know who's reading this blog. Please sign up for automatic updates, or make a comment every once in a while so that I know our blog is being read!
Monday, May 28, 2007
The Week of Shavuot
Busy-ness seems to be a theme for us. This week was chock full of activity! We visited the Liberty Bell, the zoo, the Jersey Shore, the pool, shul...We finished installing an exterior drain to our house...Libi's drama class finished and we got to watch the last class (and participate!). I've added 5 new albums--you must check them out.
Marigold is talking so much! She does a lot of pretend play with her dolls, and with other objects too. She pretends that her stuffed fish are swimming; she picks up handbags, puts them on her shoulders and says 'bye'. She calls Libi and Julia, "Bibi" and "Yaya". She loves coloring with markers and colored pencils--no crayons for this 3rd child! She is very independent and will try to do everything herself before she asks for help. She says "Ow" to get out of her highchair, or down from the bed. She says "Puh" when she means Up. She says "bapi" for Pacifier...it's so much fun!
Libi is really picking up some pre-reading skills! She has a number of words that she can recognize, including "And" and "Mama". She is able to figure out the beginning letters of many words based on their sounds. She is now getting excited about all this learning!
Julia is reading Harry Potter. For some reason she refused for a while, but then I read the first chapter to her and we were both enthralled! Now she loves the story and I'm sure we'll be going through the whole Harry Potter series.
My 3 year stint as leader of the Preschool PTA is just about over...We have found a new leader and I'll be working with her over the summer! It's an exciting time for me as I expect to have some time to myself (I hope). But I am sure I'll get involved in the PTO for Julia's new school in the Fall, and I've already agreed to be on the Membership Committee for our Synagogue.
Josh is extremely busy too! His company keeps growing and using him in different ways...I can't say much more at this time, but we'll keep you all posted.
I am also excited because a number of my friends are expecting babies soon! I can't wait to hear about Joanna and Kevin's first baby! Chris and Rachel are expecting their second...another friend is expecting her second as well (but I'm not sure if the news is public yet)...I hope to be visiting the Boston area this summer sometime to see all the new little ones.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
This busy weekend
This weekend we travelled to NY to visit family. My, was it busy! My parents were in Virginia the whole time at David's Graduation Ceremony from Business School at UVA. Congratulations Dave!!!
Keri and Lavi invited us to Shabbat dinner, so we started our trip on Friday evening after we picked up Julia at 3pm. TRAFFIC. We only arrived at their house at about 7:30 which was SO LATE for our girls to eat dinner. But we enjoyed a wonderful meal of grilled chicken, corn, mushrooms, and salad. Libi was so overtired that she could only eat Challah and peanut butter. We loved seeing Keri and Lavi, and we were lucky that Ari was still awake when we arrived. He is delicious!
Then, on Saturday we began our day at 10am when we all trekked to the Galleria to get Julia a new Webkinz. She had been working all of the previous week to earn extra cash to pay for this doll. All Galleria stores were sold out. So we went to the Westchester Mall. Also sold out. After our late night, Libi was a mess and we had to rent a stroller that could fit both her and Marigold. Can you imagine the fun?? Anyway, on our way back home, we racked our brains and decided to try the tiny little card shop in Scarsdale across from Balducci's. Success!! He had a good selection, including the Pink Pegasus that Julia wanted. She was overjoyed and decided to name it "Strawberry Wings".
Hey Lavi--how do you say this in Hebrew?? Post a comment please.
So we've already had a full day dragging everyone to 2 malls, and then a little shop, and then we had to get lunch...It was only noon. Oh, did I mention that Marigold was up all night, every half hour, coughing and complaining? So Josh and I are totally exhausted.
At around 1:30 Candi and Ronin come to visit us. We haven't seen Ronin in person since he was about 4 months old I think. He is an active little boy! Candi was running after him nonstop. He is very good-natured and sweet, and got along well with Marigold. It was very nice to see them both. I would love for them to see us in our own home one day! Especially since my parents' home is NOT baby-proofed whatsoever, and Candi was freaking out (especially being a first-time mom).
Anyway, we all napped afterwards and then went to Solange's birthday party at 6pm! Everyone was there. Oma & Opa, of course. Jillian & Brian, Shoshi & Evie, Jacques & Mary, and Jeanne too. And also Jerry & Patty Kellert. The Osborne is a very nice place to have a function like this as the food is pretty good, and the staff is very understanding (considering they don't deal with children very often).
So we got to bed with another late night for the kids, but they handled it pretty well. Too bad everyone still wakes up at 7am. (make that 5:30 for Marigold). Today we had brunch at the Nautilus with Josh's family, then we packed up my parents house, cleaned up as much as we could, and came back home. It's definitely nice to be back. Everyone's asleep now and Josh and I are calling it quits as well. Getting ready for a jam-packed week!
Happy Birthday Gomer!
Keri and Lavi invited us to Shabbat dinner, so we started our trip on Friday evening after we picked up Julia at 3pm. TRAFFIC. We only arrived at their house at about 7:30 which was SO LATE for our girls to eat dinner. But we enjoyed a wonderful meal of grilled chicken, corn, mushrooms, and salad. Libi was so overtired that she could only eat Challah and peanut butter. We loved seeing Keri and Lavi, and we were lucky that Ari was still awake when we arrived. He is delicious!
Then, on Saturday we began our day at 10am when we all trekked to the Galleria to get Julia a new Webkinz. She had been working all of the previous week to earn extra cash to pay for this doll. All Galleria stores were sold out. So we went to the Westchester Mall. Also sold out. After our late night, Libi was a mess and we had to rent a stroller that could fit both her and Marigold. Can you imagine the fun?? Anyway, on our way back home, we racked our brains and decided to try the tiny little card shop in Scarsdale across from Balducci's. Success!! He had a good selection, including the Pink Pegasus that Julia wanted. She was overjoyed and decided to name it "Strawberry Wings".
Hey Lavi--how do you say this in Hebrew?? Post a comment please.
So we've already had a full day dragging everyone to 2 malls, and then a little shop, and then we had to get lunch...It was only noon. Oh, did I mention that Marigold was up all night, every half hour, coughing and complaining? So Josh and I are totally exhausted.
At around 1:30 Candi and Ronin come to visit us. We haven't seen Ronin in person since he was about 4 months old I think. He is an active little boy! Candi was running after him nonstop. He is very good-natured and sweet, and got along well with Marigold. It was very nice to see them both. I would love for them to see us in our own home one day! Especially since my parents' home is NOT baby-proofed whatsoever, and Candi was freaking out (especially being a first-time mom).
Anyway, we all napped afterwards and then went to Solange's birthday party at 6pm! Everyone was there. Oma & Opa, of course. Jillian & Brian, Shoshi & Evie, Jacques & Mary, and Jeanne too. And also Jerry & Patty Kellert. The Osborne is a very nice place to have a function like this as the food is pretty good, and the staff is very understanding (considering they don't deal with children very often).
So we got to bed with another late night for the kids, but they handled it pretty well. Too bad everyone still wakes up at 7am. (make that 5:30 for Marigold). Today we had brunch at the Nautilus with Josh's family, then we packed up my parents house, cleaned up as much as we could, and came back home. It's definitely nice to be back. Everyone's asleep now and Josh and I are calling it quits as well. Getting ready for a jam-packed week!
Happy Birthday Gomer!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Happy Mother's Day
To all the wonderful women in the world who have been blessed with children: I hope you had a wonderful day today. This day means something different to every mother, and I hope your hopes were fulfilled today.
As for our family, we had a lovely brunch at the Valley Green Inn in Fairmount Park. After the meal we walked to the stream right next to the restaurant and the girls discovered a whole brood of goslings! There were actually two families of geese with babies and it was beautiful to watch. Marigold broke out in giggles a couple of times. Julia and Libi had fun feeding the ducks and geese some scraps of bread. I was able to enjoy the sweetness of this day.
As for our family, we had a lovely brunch at the Valley Green Inn in Fairmount Park. After the meal we walked to the stream right next to the restaurant and the girls discovered a whole brood of goslings! There were actually two families of geese with babies and it was beautiful to watch. Marigold broke out in giggles a couple of times. Julia and Libi had fun feeding the ducks and geese some scraps of bread. I was able to enjoy the sweetness of this day.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Who Let the Dogs Out?
You never knew that "Who Let the Dogs Out" could be so adorable!
Watch all 4 videos in order
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Happy Birthday to Me!!
I just uploaded a new album of recent photos!! Check them out at "The Osborne & Ari's First Birthday Party".
Tomorrow is my birthday and the girls have been so cute scurrying around trying to hide something from me...Julia said this morning,"we were coloring something Mom, but NOT your birthday cards." Libi told me that Marigold made a card too...I can't wait to see them tomorrow!! It will be mostly an ordinary day, but I'll try and treat myself a little. Not sure what the plan is yet.
Tomorrow is my birthday and the girls have been so cute scurrying around trying to hide something from me...Julia said this morning,"we were coloring something Mom, but NOT your birthday cards." Libi told me that Marigold made a card too...I can't wait to see them tomorrow!! It will be mostly an ordinary day, but I'll try and treat myself a little. Not sure what the plan is yet.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Marigold Kitchen
For the first time in a LONG time, Josh and I got a babysitter last night and we went out to dinner. We went to a really nice restaurant set right in the UPenn area. The restaurant was called "Marigold Kitchen" and we just HAD to try it! Dinner was delicious, and we thoroughly enjoyed every morsel, including the bottle of Riesling that we brought with us.
Today Josh, Julia, and Libi went to see the Ringling Bros. Circus at the Wachovia Center. They had a great time! I was supposed to have rested at home while Marigold (the baby, not the restaurant) slept. But she had other plans, and sleeping was not amongst them. We had a small adventure while taking a walk and Marigold finally fell asleep on the way home.
Sorry it's taking so long to post other videos...
Today Josh, Julia, and Libi went to see the Ringling Bros. Circus at the Wachovia Center. They had a great time! I was supposed to have rested at home while Marigold (the baby, not the restaurant) slept. But she had other plans, and sleeping was not amongst them. We had a small adventure while taking a walk and Marigold finally fell asleep on the way home.
Sorry it's taking so long to post other videos...
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
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