Snow Day Fun Day

So today school was canceled on account of the blizzard! My roommate Amy, and I went to central park to hike in the snow! It was really fun. We met some random people building a really cool snow fort, and we took a picture with them. So the picture below is of Amy, me, Shannon and Michael (complete strangers). There is also a picture of the snowman we made on a park bench! Enjoy! I know I did!

Chanukah in Baltimore

Just Because

First Night
Shalom takes the picture

Such Loving Sisters

Hadassah and Itchy jamming

Infested!

Some of you may have already heard that we have had hamsters join our household.

Have you heard of Zhu Zhu pets yet? My kids first saw them at my sister Janice's house, where her daughter had gotten one for a b-day present in August. Apparently they first heard about them on a trip to the zoo where there was a whole display about them.

So, when it was Shifra's and Sara Nechama's chance to pick out b-day presents, they too chose Zhu Zhu pets. For that occasion, we purchased Jilly and Sophie, plus some equipment to go along with them. Oh, yes, and two baby hamsters too, to go along with one of the pieces of equipment, which, cleverly for those Zhu Zhu marketers, was a double stroller. So that added Snickle Fritz and Baby Cakes to the collection.

For those of you who have not yet seen these creatures, they run around a flat surface on wheels. If they bump into something, it will press their nose, and they will "say" something, and they will also turn around and continue moving in another direction. They keep moving for about a minute or two as long as they don't get stuck or flip over. They are kind of cute, and if I had to have pets in my household, I'm definitely glad it's these hamsters as opposed to something live. (As a matter of fact, Tzvi's teacher offered to send home a fish for every boy, but gave parents the option to opt out first, which we did. Tzvi, and 2 other of his classmates, tend their fish in the classroom instead of having brought them home.)

Now that Chanuka is here, another occasion for gifts, the boys have decided to get in on the Zhu Zhu fad too. So now we've got Rocky and (no, not Bullwinkle) Bamboo.

Featured below are Jilly, in pink, and Rocky, new, still in box.

Yanky's First Glasses

This blog should have been written a few months ago, but I just didn't get around to it (although Chaife can tell you that this weekend we did get our round Tuit). But I figured better late than never.

Anyway, so around the time just before school was starting, I took Yanky for his annual eye exam. B"H, his prescription is about the same as last year, and we got ready to pick out new glasses.

But, it turned out, we had gotten our last pair, Yanky's first, less than a year ago -- about a week less -- but as insurance goes, if it hasn't been a year, you are not yet eligible for a new pair. So, we left without new glasses and figured we'll make our way to the glasses place in a couple weeks.

Of course, what with getting used to the school routine and all, not to mention R"H and Y"K, we hadn't quite gotten around to going back for glasses when, one Wed. afternoon, Yanky came home from school with his glasses in his pocket. In two pieces. Split right across the bridge.

Our eye dr./glasses place does not have late hours on Wednesdays, and Yanky only got home around 5pm. So I tried going to the place where we had gotten his original glasses, where Wed. is their late day, but alas, they had moved and I could not find them in their purported new location. So, Thurs., Yanky went to school with his glasses done up together very fashionably with a blue paperclip across the middle. Then, we went to the eye dr./glasses place and ordered a new pair, which, B"H, they were able to get in before Sukkos started even though we hadn't given them much time.

Happy Chanuka to all!

Here are some pictures as to what we have been up too...

1) Our Menorah

2) Sruly making his favorite food (margarine and sugar)

3) My USB man hanging from the computer

4) Sruly enjoying yummy latkes I made for Chanuka (they were very good!)

Mazal Tov to the I-bergs of Pratt and California!

Mazal tov Mommy Daddy and of course big sister and (for the very first time...) brother!!!!  Hope Mommy and Baby are feeling good and uber excited to see pics (so .. post?)! I got a phone call from Tattie (Aka Uncle Avremi) and shockingly I wasn't the last one to find out ~ Had already "heard" the good news. TGFF -- Thank God for Facebook!

Shira gave a 40 minute Nutrition lecture today...

First 5 minutes might be a bit tough to hear till i moved closer...was a bit low quality recording as was a live cellphone streaming

http://justin.tv/mendy613/b/274316857

The Making of a Kitchen

Long time...

...no post and figured it was about time the Big Apple contigent has their say.

It's almost Itchie's birthday, which means that the anniversary of ... wait for it.... ISENBERG SWEATSHIRTS!!! is coming up.

In celebration of the expansion of our clan in the last few years, I think it's only appropriate to start another family project.  As the Project Manager of the IF, I would like to open the  floor to you, the elustrious members, for your input and ideas on how to best celebrate the 62nd year since the IF establishment (State-side) began. (If you're not sure how I calculated the years, look at the back of your sweatshirts. Moshe I know you have one.)

So folks, what's it going to be? I open the floor to ideas. On November 2nd*, I'll call a vote, and "acharei rabim l'hatos" in true Democratic fashion.

Let the discussion begin.

~PM

*extra points if you know what that day is!!

Caught in the act! Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar??

I passed!!

I am officially an OTR/L!! I passed the boards. A job would be nice right about now.... Maybe I should make a contest like Tovey.....

Happy Birtday

Today is Sara's English Birthday! Happy Birthday Sara!
Love your favorite aunt!

more pics

Couponing!

Hi All,

In an effort to save money on groceries, I was inspired by a workshop that I went to on couponing. Unfortunately, I am not that coupon saavy, nor do I have time to shlep from store to store to buy random products to get money back. Nevertheless, I am trying to keep my eyes open for deals. A coworker shared this blog with me and I thought I would share it with everyone.

http://www.couponingfor4.net/

There are lots of nice freebies, and for those in the Chicago area, she posts the deals to look out for at Jewel. I want to hear what are your ways of saving money on groceries and the like? Anyone have experience with swag bucks or ebates? Please share!

Thanks,
Rucky

Our Sukkos Pics

Here is some of the fun we had over Sukkos.

Included are: Saba's and Savta's keverim, Our Sukka, Our trip to the tayalet, Our trip to kever Rochel/Maras HaMachepela, decorations in Geula, Adina"s and Sruly's favorite ice cream place, my yummy desert (with Sruly smiling in the background.

Dear Family Members,

First of all Piska Tova to one and all. We are looking forward to the ingathering of assorted Isenbergs for Sukkos, and hope that all of those who won't be here in Chicago have a wonderful yomtov. I've been enjoying the assorted posts - keep them coming! Sorry I haven't posted any pictures of our yomtov preparations - we need to assign a resident photographer and uploader.

so Hatzlacha Rabah to everyone on the new school year to everyone from Shifra in playgroup, Michael in nursery, Adina, Shalom and Sara in kindergarten, Ari in 1st grade, Tzvi in 2nd grade, Yanky in 4th grade, Davy in 10th, Itchy - 11th, Mutty in Bais Medrash, Chaife - senior year, Shmuly in Pharmacy School, and Yehudis in grad school. We are a very well educated family, B"H. Happy Birthday to our Septembers - Michal and Shifra, and Happy Birthdays to all our Octobers - Chaim, Esti, Tovey, Chaife, Sara, and Hadassah.

Don't forget to keep in touch. Love, Mommy

First Day of School

This is a bit belated, as the first day of school was Sept 2nd, but this is Sara Nechama's first year of going to school in uniform, so it merits a picture and everything, albeit a few weeks later.

The yellow thing dangling from her neck is a ducky whistle. She got that as a prize for doing an aleph-bais booklet over the summer.

Sara Nechama is in Kindergarten this year (the equivalent of what our boys' school called Pre-1A). She will BE"H be learning kriah and also English reading skills. As per orientation, she will be getting homework from both her morning teacher (kriah) and her afternoon teacher (ABC worksheets) regularly. But that only starts after Yom Tov.

For tomorrow, she is going to be bringing in a (stuffed) sefer torah for some practice hakafos at school.

Yay! It's finally HERE!!

This past week has been a busy one in Neve Yakkov. Between all of the running around for Rosh Hashanna and many many many phone calls to the shipment people (AKA shipment pirates - we know their whole office by first name,Sharona, Ronan, Albert, Loli, Danny, Solly). IT CAME! It finally arrived!! All 20 boxes came, with everything intact, hurrah! Now with our box gemach, we have been unpacking and putting things away.

So, the shipment was suppose to come August 19th. So we called August 5th to find out what the deal was. Yet, they told us to call next week. So the following week, we called, they told us that they had no idea what we were talking about (!). Instead they gave us the number to Eldan Cargo. They told us it is still floating in the sea. And it was coming in August 23rd to Haifa, and be unloaded for a week and then be sent by truck to Ashdod. Sruly told them that there is no point to send it to Ashdod, yet, they didn't really care, and wanted to do it anyway. So August 23rd came and went, and we called Albert the customs man, which was provided by Tattie, and he told us to call tomorrow.

Then, they sent us Loli who sent us to Donny who would answers all of questions, but of course wasn't in the office until Sunday. Sunday came, and Donny sent us to Albert again. Albert sent us to Avi Grinfeld from a different company. They Avi told us we need to pay lots and lots of money, he told us to wire it to his account. But, he was lacking the total amount. But, Tattie told us that most of the stuff paid for but taxes (they wanted to charge us again). Then we had to go back to Albert and Eldan Cargo and convince them that we paid. So, apparently (in case you need to know) there are two types of shipments. A "pre-paid" and a "DDU". The pre-paid shipment mean you didn't pay for shipment charges (how'd ya like that one?) Than we had to tell Tattie to tell Fred to tell Eldan to tell Albert to tell Avi that it was a DDU. Because of this conversation Albert and Fred are not on speaking terms anymore (that delayed us another day). In the end, they agreed not to send it to Ashdod. So, finally on August 29th Avi gave us a bill. But, he still had the shipping charges. So, back up the ladder again, with a call to Albert to Eldan to Fred. Adina started her one of five trips to the bank. First Tattie transfered dollars to our Israeli account, but you cant's access it for three days. Which was then a Friday, and the bank isn't open in Friday. (note, Israeli banks are only open in the 8-1 and 4-6 in the afternoon twice a week) Then Adina went back on Sunday. But, the bank doesn't change dollars to shekel on Sundays. Therefore, Adina returned on Monday to change the money. Once it was transfered to Avi, he called us back for the first time (every other time we called him, he was usually in the car). Apparently, he issued us a new bill, but failed to send it to us (oops!) therefore we were 400 shekel short. (Apparently "amalah" doesn;t mean labor, but rather commission- but whatever). So another trip to the bank was in order (they also remembered Adina by face) and another 400 shekel was transfered. The next day we get a phone call from Solly who works with Albert (getting all of this?) who took care of custom clearance. And then an Arab came the next day a plopped the boxes down in our parking lot. Sruly had to borrow a dolly to shlep all of the boxes inside. And if finally arrived Tuesday, September 14th!! And thats that!

Included is also a picture of pre-Rosh Hashanna, with our silver honey dish from Shoshana and Bebe.

Hodi Movies

I listened to your post to go to youtube and watch Hodi movies while I procrastinate from studying for the boards.


This is the movie that I found....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmHZ4xLJ3x8&feature=player_profilepage

What does the elephant say?

Lots of fascinating new videos uploaded to youtube. Search for shirard1. Here's a teaser...

the contest is over...

and i won. i found me a full-time job. so i've earned myself my undying love and affection and a real prize, which turned out to be a clothing shopping spree. sorry for all you contest losers. maybe you should have tried harder? :)

Hello all Isenbergs,

The parental units are back from our trip to the East Coast. We have made Aliya L'Pittsburgh, got a grand tour of Shmuly and Avital's new house. It is really lovely, and whoever hasn't seen it yet is invited to visit. We also went down to Baltimore and dropped off Davy at Ner Yisroel. His roommates this year are Eli Grinblatt and Tzuriel Amster, two Chicagoans. We also checked up on Mutty, who is busy learning at Rabbi Shlanger's yeshiva. We got home at 3:30 a.m. Now, only Itchy and Chaife are left at home, and Chaife is leaving a week from Sunday. So put in your reservations now for Rosh Hashana and Sukkos. Unlike Romanian, I take reservations up to the last minute. It's hard to believe that the summer is almost over - I always get a little sad at the passing of another year. Baruch Hashem, we have had some nice simchas over the last year. May this coming year IY"H be even better and may we see much nachas from all of you. Good luck to one and all in the coming school year. Keep on posting.

Love,

Mommy

Updates from the holyland

Well, thanks to Yehudis we were invited on to the blog. B"H things have been settling down around here. Sruly went back to yeshiva on Rosh Chodesh. And we are waiting for our shipment, it is supposed to come this week, keyword "supposed to" yet, if the shipping guy would tell us where it is, we may have a clue as to when it's coming. But, we have kept ourselves busy, Friday we started to paint our kitchen. Boy, we didn't know how much work (and mess) goes into painting walls, I had to buy another can of paint today (don't ask how long it took us to find brown paint, who knew!) Here are some pictures of our new "pad". Also here are some pictures of our challa baking excursion. And you can check out our great fun with mashed potatoes...

Also we just downloaded skype, now we just need a corporate sponsor for our camera (hint hint). Our screen name is Isenberg613. We also have a handy-dandy American phone line, which is a Chicago area code (cool) call if your bored at 2 am your time.... 773-647-2920, we look forward to hearing from everyone :)

~ Sruly and Adina

Happy Birthday Hadassah!

Although today is Hadassah's birthday, Dovi and I decided to hold our celebration yesterday, both to accommodate various relatives who were taking vacations and because Friday is not an ideal day for a birthday party. Thank you to all of those that attended. Dovi and I truly appreciate you taking time out to help us celebrate. To those of you who were not there, whether out of town, ill, or otherwise pre-occupied, here are a few shots of Hadassah's birthday bash.

Enjoying her first piece of cake ever!

The Spread

The castle cake

The Pre-Party

The Dress
Hooray for cake!

It's ALIVE

So Thanks to Tattie and Mr. Dissen, James has been revived and is expected to make a full recovery. It kinda stinks that I already purchased a new computer. My new sony should be coming tomorrow - btw, I need name suggestions. So it is not %100 yet, but I think that Itchy will become the new owner of James. I don't know if I can give him up - he really was beloved to me! We'll see what happens. Anyway, I just thought I should share the good news - in fact I'm using James right now to write this post!
-Chaife

ramblings of an insomniac

This is what I wrote at 3 am two nights ago. . . wasn't sure if i should post, but figured why not. may even start getting u guys back to posting more regularly....

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Yo, mi famila. wassup? long time no post on this thing, and well, I can't sleep so I figured it'd be nice to give the folks in Israel something to read during their waking hours.

I am tired, mentally and physically exhausted and smell oddly of rubbing alcohol (thanks Esti!) but my apt is almost ready to be cleansed of the bugs that shall not be named. Most likely the dreaded B-bug that 1 out of 17 NY'ers are dealing with these days. (I thank my friend Elana for that statistic) Kinda makes me want to move to Montana, Nebraska or really any state ending with "A". (Steer clear of Arizona though  - i hear they're not too far behind with bug issues of their own. ask Esti for more info - i haven't been reading much of the news lately)

According to my doc after a number of treatments for moquito bites, hypocondria, scabies (i kid you not), or worse?! with modern technology and a biopsy of a bite they did discovered that the "wonderful" bites/rash/allergic breakout/hives i now posess may be caused by a mosquito, spider or some other lovely insect that has taken up residence with me. So i guess hypocondria is out. what a relief!

Whatever the cause, i expect by this time tomorrow anything living in my apt will no longer be living (that is, aside from me of course) God bless exterminators. May they live long and kill (bugs) often.

I think the past few weeks many of the Isenbergs and co. have had a bit of a rough time. Hope T-Dawgs feelin better, and Shira's more calm - and parents are less worried about their NY daughter who cant' seem to shut off the waterworks when it comes to talking about multiple legged creat- well, lets not go there for all our sakes. and baruch dayan haemes -my condolences to Chaifenstein on the loss of her beloved computer James.  (Go with a SONY this time!!)

Anyhoo, just wanted to post and get this blog moving again. Thanks to Lisa for keeping the momentum!! Post pics? I'm curious to see what Chaifenator and T made in art class. Post pics? And how was the Isenbergs of WRP*'s trip to the holy land?! (post pics :-D  ??)

Oh almost forgot. I want to add a few of our readers on to be authors too... you know who you are. (just in case you don't: Y&C chicago,  S&A israel) so send/resend me your emails and I'll add you to the list happily.


Lila tov to all and to all a good night.
~PM

*West Rogers Park

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Today's update: baruch Hashem yom yom that the heat remediation went fine according to the experts and my apt is ok to live in.  (hopefully it'll cool off soon... so i can live comfortably) thanks to all who helped me out and suffered through "crazy hudis" my apt is almost back in one piece and tomorrow it's back to work.

And Itchie's on FACEBOOK!?!? wow.  

Our South Haven Getaway

As most or all of you already know, we took a week+ vacation to South Haven. Here's a run down of what we did.

We left the house close to 8pm on Thurs. night (2 Thurs. ago). We drove through the night, arriving Fri. morning before 7am (Eastern). The ride was mostly uneventful, with just a few stops. At one rest stop, Yosef spoke to a woman who seemed to be Jewish and was hitchhiking from NY to Denver. I think this was near the east end of Ohio that he saw her. We briefly entertained the idea of helping her out since she was Jewish, but decided we really couldn't risk the safety of our kids by taking a complete stranger in the car with us. The only other incident was getting pulled over in Indiana for driving 80 in a 70mph zone. B"H we (read: me, Lisa) only got a warning. The kids slept somewhat fitfully in the car and did not want to go back to bed upon our arrival in SH. Yosef and I, of course, did go back to bed as soon as we could.

Friday's activities: Sand dune rides (with Chaife!) and the pool. Also, Zaidie had a sandbox put up in front of the house, and the kids had fun with that.

Shabbos: We got to spend time with Sruly and Adina before their departure to the Holy Land, and Itchie and Davy came over and ate at the house for Shabbos lunch.

Sunday: Dutch Village (with Savta, Chaife and the Ben Porat kids) and a ride on Zaidie's boat (it was Ari B-P's first ride in the boat!), although we didn't actually make it to the lake.

Monday: Curious Kids Museum and the beach below it, in St. Joseph. Tip: If you ever venture to go by yourself with 5 kids to a beach, find a better way to carry the baby and supplies than a stroller and a cooler! Strollers do not go well over the sand. The beach did not go over well with the kids. It was too hard to actually bring everything to near the water, but the sand was too hot to play in and walk on.

Did I mention that other than Sunday, Yosef did not join me on our outings? So, after our beach experience on Monday, I started leaving Hadassah at the house with Yosef so I only had to contend with 4 kids.

Tuesday: The Ottawa County Fair. It was near Holland, a little farther away. It was a great hit with the kids! We saw exotic animals, rode lots of rides, and looked at the 4-H animals too. We did one booth game and each kid got to choose a small prize.

Wednesday: This was our "slow" day. It was kind of overcast and we had gotten a late start. So, we went to Walmart and bought some craft-type activities in case we were going to be stuck indoors. We got sand art, balloons to twist into shapes, and foam art projects. Later, since it didn't rain, we went blueberry picking (at Degrandchamps) and then swimming.

Thursday: We went to Kalamazoo. We went to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum and the Air Zoo. Amazingly, both were free, so I only had to pay for a parking meter near the KVM, and got away with a pretty cheap day!

Friday: I made blueberry cakes with some of the many blueberries that we picked (we mostly being Yanky). The kids spent some time working on their Walmart crafts. I watched the kids at the pool for a little while (the boys' pool was empty, so I watched the 4 older kids there). Then, Zaidie arrived and we went for a boat ride again, this time all the way to the lake. Yay! That was fun. Zaidie and Yosef even jumped into the lake, and Zaidie demonstrated his expertise with a snorkeling mask.

Shabbos: This time there were just us, Savta, Zaidie, Chaife, and Chaife's friend, Yael. Itchie and Davy stopped by, but not for any meals this time. After Shabbos, we packed up and hit the road. Driving through the night again.

Sunday: We arrived in Pittsburgh at the Shmuvitals around 7am. They were gracious hosts, and they wake up early on Sundays. Why were you guys both up by 7:30????? We got to see the Aronins, and take over their room to get a little rest before leaving again. Did we ever figure out if one Hadassah is taller than the other? We left the Shmuvitals around noon (with the possibility of not being invited back ever again due to a certain comment I made about a haircut, or lack thereof), and went to the Pittsburgh pizza shop. From there, we started heading home, with a stop on the way at Seabase, a kiddie place with mazes to climb through, mini golf, and arcades. After that, we started making good time until Sara threw up. B"H, we were near a rest stop, so we took care of that and got gas for the car while we were at it. Unfortunately, I forgot to check Hadassah's diaper at that stop, so she spent the next 30 miles or so crying till we got to the next rest stop and took care of that. Once we got out of that rest stop, we were stuck in stop and go traffic for a lo-o-ong time. Once we got out of that, B"H, the rest of the trip was fine and we got home around 9.

Monday: Back to normal!

Ahuva's 1 year old pics

Check them out....
www.smilesbywire.com
Name: Avital Isenberg
Access Code: LTPP0305108237JCP

Last Day of School

Today was the last day of school for Yanky and Tzvi. Yay! Especially since that means it was my last day of driving them to school for a little while. It was also their last day of drum camp, which was only for about 3.5 weeks.

Tomorrow, the boys get to hang out with me and Hadassah, while Sara and Shifra go to camp. On Monday, they start their "camp" schedule. Yanky will be going to a Rebbi's camp for boys going into 4th and 5th grades. Tzvi will be going to Bubby's house.

Yanky has a trip scheduled for after camp on the day after Tisha B'Av -- he's IY"H going to Hurricane Harbor, which, it seems, is the water park in Great Adventures, about 3 hours away. They leave Balto at about 4pm, and are scheduled to get back at 2am. I'm assuming they are renting it out for male-only time during the evening hours. Since we are planning to leave for South Haven the next day, driving through the night between Thurs/Fri, we are expecting Yanky to sleep well during our trip!

Snapfish

So recently I've been getting a lot of free things from snapfish for no reason. It's not even like I'm a good customer, I barely ever order prints from them. But, still they gave me a free poster and a free notebook. And today they offered me a free 5x7 photo book. The photo book expires in 4 days. I have no use for it - let me know if anyone of you wants it!
Chaife

Look at me! I got shoes!!

Ahuva got her first pair of shoes today!! She was so happy to be able to walk outside and not feel the ground through her booties :)

Happy . . . (II)

While we wish happy b-day and anniversary to the Rubins as applicable, we thought that besides for happy 4th to all, we'd also wish Yehudis (aka PM) happy birthday. So, Yehudis, happy b-day (hope you got our b-day phone message).

And while we're on a happy message, we are also happy that Yosef got a new cell phone. Now I can actually hear him when he talks to me via his cell.

HAPPY....

birthday to dr. dan and happy anniversary to us too! and happy 4th of july to the rest of you....

Hi Gang,

Greetings from beautiful suburban South Haven. The weather is yucky and we are all chained to our computers, watching dvd's of The Office and working on our emails. I am joining Tovey in saying goodbye to AOL. From now on, please send my emails to shirley.isenberg@gmail.com. I hope everyone is sufficiently recovered from the wedding by now and ready to begin all your summer activities. Stay safe and healthy. Love,

Mommy

This just in....

I GOT AN "A" on my Jews of Iran paper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd like to thank the academy (Bernard Revel Grad School i mean...) and professor for the wonderful opportunity and grade.  And a special thanks to all my editors and proofreaders who made this all possible. And of course a special shoutout and "toddah rabbah" to my Ivrit tutor - for helping me get through this class. Yes, Ta, it's now safe to put away the pink book. hehe

Totally made my day. Just wanted to share and say THANKS!!!

~y

P.O.L.Y.P. AND POLYP WAS ITS NAME OH.....

First a little clarification: A polyp is an abnormal growth of tissue projecting from a mucous membrane.

Ok, so I had one on my vocal chords, which means it needed to be removed. Now that it has been removed, through the wonderful miracles of science given to us by the RSO, and everything went well BH. I was charged with the seemingly difficult task of not talking for a week...(you think it's easy....you try not talking for a week)

Anyhoo, now that BH i am able to talk, and no longer on vocal rest, I was put on vocal restrictions until the 23rd. Well this should be fun, the way it works is starting with day 1, which was thursday I g0t 10 minutes to talk. And then the talk time doubles until Wednesday. (unfortunately roll-over minutes do not apply, I was very specific when I asked the surgeon that).

Oh and ironically enough, vocal rest still carries plenty of restrictions including but not limited to: no whispering, no talking loudly, no singing, no humming, no whistling, no caffeine, no spicy food, and no listening to music after 6pm.....ok i made the last one up but the rest are real.

So that's the dealio, I am writing because I have used my 40 minutes for the day....devora, lil' mo, and I had a great time with ya'll today!

Mazal Tov to the Ganze Mishpucha.....

so Outlook says....

It was Dovi's b-day - and Avitals too. . . I think I'm off by a few days - but figured I got the reminder, so I'd give a shoutout to the b-day folk - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

~y

How Many . . .

. . . professionals does it take to fix a not functioning air conditioner?

A: Apparently 3. Or, if you look at it another way, just one, if you know who to call the first time.

Last week (2 Shabbosos ago), our AC stopped working. This was a bad week for it to happen, 'cuz we had 90 degree weather just about every day. On Sun., Yosef checked outside and saw that the AC fan was not going at all. So he called our HVAC ppl. They made us an appt for Wed. B"H, Yosef was able to borrow a window unit, so we had a little bit of cool air circulating (in the dining room, anyway).

The boys chose to sleep in the basement since it was cooler there. (Funny thing -- they are still sleeping down there even though the AC is working. And after we spent all that money on a bunk bed, too!) The rest of us (excluding Shmuly who also had sleeping quarters in the basement), just slept in the sweltering humidity of the upper level.

Finally, Wed. came, and so did the HVAC guy. Unfortunately he couldn't fix the problem. For $99 he told us we need an electric guy -- the AC unit wasn't getting any power. So we called in the electrician. He said he couldn't come till Fri. Friday brought the electrician. For $100 he told us that he can't fix it -- it's a problem that the local electric company (BGE) would have to take care of. So, Yosef called in the BGE guy. B"H, he came the same day, fixed the problem, and didn't charge us anything for it!

hot off the presses...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5eGLSxAQWQ

Boxes and tape

It's official!  Shmuly and I are homeowners of 2305 Shady Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. I'm sure you're all looking for pictures but I haven't found the camera yet (it's in some random box someplace) so you'll just need to wait in suspense!!

Today, I had off from my fieldwork/internship (YAY!) because of the holiday, which was really nice, even though I needed to go in yesterday to make up the day that I'll be missing for the wedding.  I was able to be at our house today when the movers came so that I could direct them and make sure nothing was damaged.  Also, I spent fro about 11-4 unpacking and organizing boxes.  So far the kitchen is basically all unpacked.  This is going to take a loooong time... 

So for now, I'm still at my parents' house and Shmuly is back in Baltimore, staying at Lisa and Yosef's.  

We'll keep you updated and try to send out pictures as soon as I can find the camera....

You Can Say That Again

I agree. Yesterday was a busy Sunday.

Our Sundays start off with getting the boys off to school. I get them ready and Yosef drives them. Once they leave, I usually go back to bed while Sara and Shifra play and Hadassah naps. This Sunday, though, we got a visitor. Actually, two visitors. Shmuly came over to pick something up from our house, and he brought Ahuva with. So we got our last chance to see Ahuva in Baltimore for a while. (We figure we'll probably see her in Baltimore next by Yanky's bar mitzva.)

After that, we headed off to a mall. Unlike the Aronins, though, we just went to one that we were used to, so we knew how to get there without any extra turns. Luckily, Shifra did not make any issues about that fact that she would be walking rather than pushed in a stroller. Hadassah got the stroller privileges this time. (I had brought a baby carrier just in case, but I was just as happy not to use it.) B"H, our shopping trip was successful -- we found shoes for Sara and Shifra to wear to the chasuna (their color is bone), and also a cute hair clip for each of them.

When we left the mall, it was rather dreary out, so I didn't feel like making any other stops although I maybe should have. (We passed by a Walmart, and I wanted to get a b-day present for Sara's friend whose b-day party Sara will IY"H be attending on Memorial Day, and I could have used some baby food jars too.) So we just went home. It was lunch time anyway.

While Yosef and the girls were eating lunch, I ran out to Hats to Hose and bought the girls socks for the chasuna. For some reason, I didn't get for Hadassah, though. Don't know where my mind was when I made that decision. And I can't even blame it on the kids -- I left them all home with Yosef for this trip. So, except for hair gel for Sara, she and Shifra are all set for the chasuna. Yay!!!

Meanwhile, we had brought out our casio/keyboard thingie. It's a Yamaha YPT-320 if that means anything to anyone out there. We won it at the Ner Israel Kollel auction this year. My first time winning one of the real prizes there! (I had won some instant raffle prizes last year and again this year. Fun!) Anyway, the kids were having a good time with that. But we had library books due, so at 4, we left for the library, despite the fact that the library closes at 5 on Sundays. But we made it there and managed to pick out another 30 or 40 books before they threw us out. Our last stop was Walmart since there was one near the library, so we did get a b-day present for Sara's classmate. We did not get baby food though. I wonder if they don't carry the Beech-Nut jars there 'cuz it's not near the Jewish community or what, but if you're ever in Baltimore and looking for them, don't try the Towson Walmart.

When we got home, all the kids had fun looking at library books. And, Chaife, we got another Farmer Brown/Duck book, sort of -- it's a counting book. We were thinking of you.

Finally, everything wound down for the day. Well, I thought they had, but then Hadassah came down with a fever. But B"H, with the help of a late night feeding and a dose of Tylenol, she slept decently. We went to the dr. today, and he diagnosed it as viral. The fever might be gone by now -- she seemed much better this evening. Either that, or her last dose of Tylenol worked really well.

Things I made when I should have been cooking for Shavuos

but we had enough food anyway...