Smarter than the average bear

So, in the car on the way to camp this morning, millie asked me where her friend Nate would be going next year. I explained that because he is a year older, he will be going to a different school, Yeshivat Noam. Millie said "right, when I'm bigger I'll go to Yeshivat Noam too". I explained that when she is bigger like Nate, we will be moving back to Israel.
I didn't really expect Millie to understand this at all, so I was amazed when she said "right, we are moving to Israel and then we are getting a dog. But not a baby, right? Only a dog, we can only have one thing at a time"
"Right Millie, that's right!"
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Millie at the dentist...
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More delights from my camera phone...

Friday's picture...
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Thursday's outing

Thursday morning we picked up our buddies again and headed for Ceramics by Design. I have been eyeing this place up for over a year now and what an Aladdin's cave it is!! I had to hold myself back + remember that this trip was for the kids...
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Keeping the kids busy until camp starts..

The kids finished school on Tuesday June 17th (isn't that really early!!?)
On Wednesday, I took them out with their friends for a breakfast picnic (took this photo with my phone) and some kite flying....
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Millie the Brave

Millie came home from school yesterday full of beans and singing songs about Israel's birthday. I told her we were going down to the basement together to do some laundry + she happily agreed.
As Millie started off down the flight of 12 steps, her foot caught a broom hanging on the wall + she fell. She tumbled down the first few steps + then as she gained momentum she actually took off from the steps + flew through the air, landing on her back on the bottom of the steps.
Why is it that when it is so important for us to move, we are frozen to the spot? And why does it all seem to happen in slow motion, but yet so fast that you can barely remember details?
Millie was so brave you just couldn't imagine. I did all the wrong things for this kind of situation (having refreshed my first aid + CPR every year since she was born!) and moved her to the couch without a second thought as to whether there may be some injury that I was making worse. After no more than 2 minutes of tears, all Millie wanted to do was watch 'The Mr Men'!
We took a trip to the doctor and thank GD everything is fine apart from some bruises + grazes.
On the way home, we drove via Baskin Robins where she got to pick her 2 favourite flavours at the drive thru ice cream store.
So, what is the funny part of this story? What bothered Millie the most in this whole ordeal?
In the car on the way home, Millie said
"Mummy, you need to say sorry to me"
"Why Millie?" I said, "what did mummy do?"
"You screamed at me when I fell down the stairs"
"No darling" I said "mummy screamed, but not at you! Mummy got a big fright"
Millie thought about it and then she said
"Right some times grown ups get a fright?"
"That's right" I said
"Thank you mummy for looking after me + saying I'm brave. I love you mummy"
At which point, I melted into the floor!.....
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Millie's birthday seems to be stretching across most of March & into April. We started with her hebrew birthday on Shushan Purim (march 22nd), followed by her english birthday on March 26th. Her party at gan will be this Wednesday (April 2nd) and then finally, her party out of school is on April 6th. Do you think we are making enough of a fuss of her?!
On her English birthday, she opened her cards & presents and in the afternoon we had a chocolate cake. The weather was so lovely, so we ate it outside and Millie stripped off!

Her birthday party in gan was very cute, the usual Israeli songs, games, flowers and dancing, Millie LOVED it! We brought in a tray of cupcakes topped with cream, with little party favour rings planted on each cake. There was something for everyone - football, basketball, butterflies, barbie. Millie of course chose SPIDERMAN! Go figure...



AND!!...
As if that wasnt enough..
We then threw a party for Millie ourselves, at a great place called 'The Little Gym' where we did ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING for 1 and a half hours! A great time was had by all!....

On Monday March 10th, Elinoa received her blue belt in karate. She worked so hard for it and put in many hours of revision, learning all the phrases and vocabulary in English and Japanese. She received an excellent grade, even though she hadnt even taken the 'sparring' part of the exam. We are SOOO proud of her! She has now started sparring too, must get some photos of her in her gear, she looks very tough!

So, the Raanans are on their way back to New Jersey. It has been a truly wonderful shabbat and one we will never forget. We are all so glad that we braved the mammoth journey.



Our hosts for the duration of our stay were just wonderful. I don't think I have ever been made so welcome by total strangers before. We took over their whole basement for 3 days and they were incredibly nice + accomodating.



On Friday night, we ate dinner together with Natan + Orit's close family and friends. There were lots of great divrei Torah, speeches + singing, and of course good food! It was so special to be surrounded by family and we just lapped up the general atmosphere of mutual repect + much love! The kids had a wonderful time with their newly discovered second cousins - Yoav and Yishai seem to have come from the same mould...



Yuval's reading in shul on shabbat morning was really beautiful. He was such a pro- so cool, calm + collected it was amazing. After shul, we enjoyed some more quality time with the family, with a lovely group chverutta prepared by Dod Naftali and then lunch, with more speeches and Divrei Torah. Yuval is a true mensch with such great respect + love for his sabas + savtas, and all his family.

The final round of celebrations was on motzei shabbat when family + friends got together at a local restaurant for a Melave Malka. The highlight of the evening was Yuval's performance - not only did he give a totally flawless + composed speech in perfect English but he played the saxaphone so beautifully he blew his audience away.



The Kandlers of Toronto will finally be returning back to Israel this summer after 8 years of slichut. We are so excited to be returning to Israel ourselves next year and joining in many more wonderful Kandler get togethers.

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So, here I am blogging from my Blackberry, in Canada!
We left New Jersey at 7pm on Wednesday; by 7:32pm we had stopped for a toilet break. I think that's a record.
We drove for about 4 hours and stopped for the night at a hotel in Syracuse, NY. It must be the British in me that marvels over the fact that you can drive for over 4 hours and still only have crossed 1 state!
Thursday morning we set off for Niagra falls, which was only about 2 hours away. From NJ to the Canadian border, we just watch the temperature drop from the 30's to somewhere around 9!!!
When we got to the falls, we nipped out for about 5 minutes to marvel at the ice + water and snap some photos. When I master mobile blogging a bit better, I'll add some of the photos we took. (added now..)
So here we are in Toronto, getting ready to celebrate Yuval's barmitzvah this shabbat. Poor Elinoa is sick with a 102 temperature, such bad timing, and it is snowing outside....keep you posted!!

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