The kisa went back to school today!!!!.....

We have spent the last few days in Ogunquit, Maine. The kids are having such a great time & arguing has been at an all time low. Millie & Yoav are sharing a bed which is hilarious, Yoav cant fall asleep as she keeps chatting to him & he cant resist answering her because she is so funny. The resort has an outdoor pool & a hot tub, which the big kids love. The beach is so beautiful, and on Monday we spent the best part of the day there, building sandcastles, flying a kite, looking for shells and surfing on the boogie board.

On Tuesday, Elinoa & I went in search of manicures but both shops were closed so I consoled her with a trip to one of those fabulous soap emporiums and then we stumbled upon the Daisy Trading Company on our way back. OMG, that is MY kind of shop, I had to control myself!!
At lunch time, Yoav & I embarked on a half day fishing trip aboard the Ugly Anne at Perkins Cove. We caught a 'Mother in law' fish & a shark! So, no fishies for supper but we had 4 hours of solid fun. Yoav was incredibly patient and a really good sport.



Today I dragged the kids to see Cape Neddick ("Nubble") Lighthouse in York, insisting that "we cant go to Maine without seeing a lighthouse - its like going to London without seeing Big Ben!" They actually had a great time there & I was very disappointed at the lack of good photo opportunities (its the kind of place you need to visit at sunrise or sunset).

In the afternoon, we took them to York's Wild Kingdom & Zoo. We managed to avoid taking them to the zoo & just went to the amusement Park. It is a totally old school amusement park with really old fashioned rides that we used to love - good, clean, innocent fun. Their last ride was the bumper cars, which even Millie loved! Elinoa drove one car & Yoav the other and they were amazingly good at steering. I was day dreaming about the days when they will be able to drive & I can send them out on errands....

Tomorrow we are dividing forces. I am taking Elinoa to the outlet village of Kittery, which remind me a lot of Bicester villiage in England. I am hoping to find her some shoes which fit her. Her feet are so wide & big that she has a lot of trouble finding shoes and is down to trainers & crocs at the moment (her flip flops split today climbing rocks at the lighthouse!). Yoav & Millie will just hang out by the pool with daddy. Friday is back to New Jersey and on with normal life again..whatever that is!

The kids had such a great time today with shaving foam in the back garden....
(why is that underlined and in blue?....)
Moving house on Monday & busy with camp & work
more soon...

Yoav caught me pulling at my hair today, a horrible habit I have had for years and cant seem to shake, and he said "I hate it when you do that". I asked him why and he said "It makes your hair go all squibbly".
I told him he will make a fantastic husband one day because he notices EVERYTHING. He was terribly embarrassed at the thought of being a husband!...

It's truly unbelievable how much wild life we see passing through the back garden - in the past year we have seen wild rabbits, deer, groundhogs, all kinds of birds, skunks, squirrels, fireflies and bats!
The squirrels are totals pests - we are growing peas, corn & cucumbers from seed. We put them in window boxes up on the deck so that the birds and squirrels wouldnt get to them, but I wasnt really thinking straight about how birds can fly and squirrels can jump!! They just hop up to the deck and sit in the boxes. Anyway, we have miraculously managed to grow 2 pea pods and the corn is well on its way. The cucumbers have flowered which is a good sign, but i'm not sure whats going on under the soil...

I am having a great time at camp teaching swimming. I have learned a great new skill in the pool- under water vacuuming! I wish i could get a photo of it, its hysterical! Today was Olympic day which was a lot of fun. The campers marched round the camp in their country's group, holding their flags while the Olympic music blasted out from the gym. They had a very dramatic opening ceremony with the American national anthem and the Hatikvah and at the end of the day, everyone came home with a medal, so they were all 'happy campers'!

We took the kids to Sesame Place in Pennsylvania on Sunday. What an amazing place! Elinoa and Yoav were pleasantly suprised by the amount of rides for big kids and the absolute highlight for Millie must have been meeting 'The Count'. I loved the parade and got far too excited about meeting all the characters up close - maybe I am making up for all those years as a kid where people dressed up in big furry costumes frightened the life out of me!!!

The kids and I started camp Ma-Tov on Monday!
Elinoa & Yoav are having a great time so far. I am really enjoying being at the pool, the team are really nice & the kids are cute, fingers crossed.
Elinoa has a sleep over at camp tomorrow night which she is really looking forward to.
I will take some photos next week and post them here...

I was putting Millie to bed today and Elinoa decided to come in for story time (Bear and Mrs Duck)
At some point, she disappeared from the room and I thought nothing of it. I then went to read to Yoav and say the 'shema' with him. After 8 pages of his book and the full recital of the 'shema' and 'hamalach', I then went to see to Elinoa...except she wasn't in her room!
After looking in my bed, the playroom, the lounge, the basement and the garden, I started to worry. After checking all these places again, I was starting to get really worried. Trying to stay calm, I thought to myself "What would they do in 'Blue's Clues' or 'Little Einsteins' or even 'Mickey Mouse Clubhouse'? They would go through all the options systematically and produce an answer by a process of elimination.
And thus Elinoa was found, sitting on the toilet in our en suite, where she had been stuck without toilet paper possibly for about half an hour. Her explanation? she knew I had put Millie to sleep and didn't want to shout for help in case she woke her up!

I got my logo this week, Elinoa was up until midnight helping me design it every step of the way! Thanks Els. Here's a picture of her, its about time she made it to the blog!

Bless him, he's got such an adorable toothless smile at the moment with his 2 top teeth missing. I have to be very careful not to let him see me taking his photo or he gives me the most ridiculous faces.
He came home with the most fantastic piece of writing that he'd done in school. It goes something like this:

"Once at the begining of the year not everyone was so nice to me. When I wanted to play with them. I tryd to make friends. At Ocotber it was a bit better. But at the begining of the year I only had 3 friends. But at April it was just writ. and its even better. When I playd with them they wer making funny jokes with me. All of the partys that they had. When I got home I sent them funny letters on my sisters email. And she never knew. the end."

There were 2 things in this piece that I particularly loved - firstly, he was so aware of the months, and where he was in terms of happiness and friends level at which month ("But at April it was just writ" - isnt that gorgeous?!!). Secondly, his honesty at the end, this fabulous confession that he has been using Elinoa's email account to send daft letters to his friends.

How could anyone not want to be his friend? he's the best fun!...

Please read this important letter from the ADL and sign the petition by clicking on the link below.

"The recent escalation in the efforts to boycott Israel by British organizations like the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the University and College Teachers Union (UCU) is a serious threat to Israel, Jews and open societies. We must do everything we can to stop this dangerous boycott and prevent it from spreading elsewhere.

ADL is fighting back and we need your help.

Sign your name to ADL's letter to the British NUJ and UCU.

This week, we began a series of ad campaigns around the world. Take the next step in support of Israel. Make a donation to sustain this critical campaign. "

The kids had a really long break over shavuot, it merged into shabbat and memorial weekend, and they only went back to scool yesterday! The weather has been really lovely and the kids have enjoyed all the sunshine & water play. These are 2 of my fave pics from the long weekend (sorry, no Elinoa photo, she was making a pretty grumpy face)
The photo of Yoav was taken in the front garden - as you can see, he was having the time of his life jumping backwards and forwards through the sprinkler.
This photo of Millie was taken at Point Pleasant Beach, NJ. A fabulous time was had by all and Millie is still talking about the "beanch".

So, its been a long time since I posted a proper update. I am out on the deck watching Millie frolicking on the grass with no clothes on, covered in marker pen & drinking paddling pool water...
The kids are doing great. Elinoa is becoming quite the karate pro; she has a yellow stripe on her belt already and hopes to be a full yellow belt by next month (seriously, dont mess with her!) She is doing brilliantly at school in both languages too.
Yoav's hand writing is so good now that I cant tell if its Elinoa or Yoav who has written something. He is a total whiz at spelling too and has started writing in script in ivrit.
Millie's speech just blows us away - she is desperate to keep up with her brother and sister and she sounds just like them "why not mummy?" "but I dont want to" "thats not fair" "dont make me feel sad" "i'm not your friend anymore" etc etc
I am keeping pretty busy at the moment with both my lifeguarding training and my photography business.
Here are some fab pics I took of Millie's playgroup last week, we all had such a good time.

More soon I promise!

Madeleine McCann missing in Portugal. Have you seen her?
Please contact: +351 289 884 500, + 351 282 405 400, +351 218 641 000

Madeleine McCann desapareceu em Portugal. Tem informações sobre o seu paradeiro?
Por favor contacte: 289 884 500, 282 405 400, 218 641 000, 112

The Gavriel Meir Trust London Cycle Ride

On Sunday 27th May 2007, there will be a sponsored 75km bike ride around the City of London, UK.
The ride is taking place in order to raise funds for the Gavriel Meir Trust, which was established by two of our very dearest friends, Kerry & Doron Rosenfeld when their son Gavriel (this beautiful 5 year old boy you see in the photo) was recently diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy; a degenerative and as yet, incurable muscle wasting disease.

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (or DMD as it is known), is the most common fatal genetic disorder to affect children around the world. Approximately 1 in every 3,500 boys born suffer from DMD. Children with DMD cannot produce dystrophin, a protein necessary for muscle strength and function. As a result, every skeletal muscle in the body deteriorates. Although Duchenne is the most common fatal genetic disorder to affect children, as yet there is no cure.

For the moment, Gavriel is an active, athletic child who adores life and doing everything that an active 5 year old enjoys doing. While the disease has yet to show its devastation, the stark facts about DMD are hard to believe:

* DMD has a 100% fatality rate.
* On average DMD boys die in their late teens or early twenties.
* Most boys with DMD are in a wheelchair between 10-12 years old.
* DMD is associated with respiratory failure, heart failure, and debilitating orthopedic complications.

The funds raised will go towards funding critical research projects aimed at identifying a cure (and effective treatments), for this life shattering condition. The various research projects being funded by the trust are not only for the less common strain (which Gavriel has), but also covers projects that will hopefully lead to a cure for all boys who have this condition.
Kerry & Doron very much need your help, and without a cure there is no hope, so please donate generously at http://www.justgiving.com/doronrosenfeld.

Thank you so so much.

Today we celebrated Purim & Millie's 2nd birthday all at the same time! It was a bit hectic but a great day. We were blessed with the company of the Shaws of Ramat Beit Shemesh and the Wachtels of Manhattan, previously of Ramat Beit Shemesh too. For desert, we made Millie an Elmo party with a bubble machine, pin the nose on Elmo and a Sesame Street Pinata. The kids all totally OD'd on the chocolate fondue, and most of them abandoned the idea of dipping marshmallows or strawberries into the hot chocloate sauce, and just used their fists!

So, Millie is now 2. She is getting taller and cleverer by the day. She has begun to speak sentences so long and sophisticated that I have finally stopped counting if its a 4 word or 5 word sentence. She totally gets the difference between 'me' and 'I' and uses them perfectly. She also knows how to use the word 'please' to get exactly what she wants! Today, after her party, I took her up for a bath. She was having a great time but after a while I said "ok Millie, time to come out". She looked and me and said "No, Mimi not coming out, I playing a bath, pleeease mummy". Who could refuse?
Here are Millie's very clean feet after her bath....

So, i have recieved a few complaints that I dont write enough about myself in this blog. What am I up to?
Apart from the usual cooking, cleaning, shopping and running around, I have signed up for a 5 week' introduction to photography' course in Manhattan. It was very exciting going in for my first session and I really enjoyed it. I hope to continue after the five weeks and take some more advanced courses in portraiture, lighting etc.
Watch this space.
Here is a nice black and white of one of my favorite models...














Yoav had his siddur party last week which was really lovely and he performed beautifully. The ceremony was just right (not too long, only one speech) and Yoav took his part very seriously. Mazal tov Yoav!!

I'm sorry, I've thought long and hard about this and have decided that I just have to share this with you. I never thought I would see a child more in love with their nostrils than Yoav, but Millie has taken nosepicking to a whole new level. She gets such immense pleasure from poking around in her nose and will very often stick two in at at the same time. In addition, she likes picking other people's noses and loves to have people pick hers. She also very much enjoys poking things in her ears too. At least I dont have to battle with her to wipe her nose or clean her ears! 

James' swearing in ceremony to the NY Bar - Albany, NY, January 24th 2007

Here is James promising to be a good, fair and upright lawyer at his swearing in ceremony.



















James with the kids after his ceremony

On January 1st, we took the kids to the New Jersey Children's Museum. What a great place. It was pretty empty because most people were still home nursing huge hangovers, which was great.
The kids had an amazing time there, there was so much for them to do.

Here are Elinoa & Yoav sitting in the Optician's chair trying to read the letters on the wall...


Elinoa and Yoav tried their hand at broadcasting and giving weather reports...
All the kids got dressed up for the fire engine..