Milestone and thrilling events...

This is a tender moment for us all here in Israel...


We've had a few firsts:


Elan willingly and of his own accord ordered salad for breakfast.

We joined a CSA!!! Now a huge box of organic and locally grown veggies comes our way every Wednesday night! Even the kids marveled at the dirt (we are easily pleased!), and Elan said, "Guys! Come eat these cucumbers!!! They were picked today!"

Mira walked Amalya to school by herself when Elan took a personal day. She got to take the kids' cell phone with her and kept track of it the whole day!!! Yes, we gave in. This was after one evening when I was with the girls and their chumash tutor, and Elan was supposed to meet Loren after coming home from a friend's house. They got mixed up in where they were supposed to meet, and everyone was a little confused and overwhelmed. Fortunately, Elan kept his wits about him and was able to get home safely, even stopping for two slices of pizza and a sprite (for just 19 shekels!!). Those are some well-developed survival skills!


Loren finally started his program!!! Tuesday was his first day of school! He bought a new backpack! He took the bus!!! He forgot to take a lunch!!! Just like a real student!!!

I used up my first bus pass!!!

Amalya told me about her dance class, and used Hebrew to describe it!!!!

All the kids are entering into a new level of accountability with our new family "JOB AGREEMENT!!"

I got two coffee places to agree to let me use my own coffee cup instead of a paper one! What an eco-thrill!

We are getting ready to welcome our first visitors in November...my mom and sister! We will be going around Jerusalem (my sis hasn't been here in over 15 years!) eating, shopping and having fun!!! You too can take advantage of our "Hachnassat Orchim" special we are running right now. We'll get all the visitor kinks out with these two, and your visit will be a breeze! Come see us soon!

We had our first stomach virus!!! (No photo, aren't you disappointed?) Elan was the winning vomiter. He's feeling better, so we're just hoping to avoid a puking domino-effect where one by one we all get it.

And on that note,

Shabbat Shalom!

More sukkot fun!

Loren and our friend Scott took our collective kids to Ne'ot Kedumim. This is a Biblical Landscape Preserve with amazing activities! There are gardens grown according to their description in the Bible, as well as other agricultural and biblical experiences...sans Sodom of course. They were shown around by another Ramah Wisconsin friend. Simcha was a great educator when I was a camper there, and he is still going strong here in Israel and at camp!
He developed the educational setting in this biblical garden. During Sukkot, there are models of all of the strange and possible sukkot mentioned in the mishnah.
Everyone was allowed to pick an Etrog...they were as big as Amalya's head! The preserve holds the Guinness World Record for the biggest Etrog: about 15 lbs! Elan also discovered the delicious taste of carob right off the tree! That boy is on his way to healthy eating whether he wants it or not! It is his destiny!!!
The kids spent the day here and only got to do about 10% of the activities. Next time we rent a car...gotta go back!


Because herding goats and sheep is fun!

The tiyul with friends!

During Chol ha moed Sukkot, most everyone has off, and travels around making tea over a kerosene burner everywhere they go! We, and another family, were so lucky to be invited on a tiyul with camp friends, Menash and his great family! I was a camper when the dynamic Israeli duo Menash and Berko were on the mishlachat. Loren got to work with them!
These guys could build anything, do anything and burn anything...they were the camp's Israeli MacGyvers!

This is Menash and his cutie-patootie, Merav! We drove into the Judean desert to this beautiful valley near a spring. Here, at Nachal Prat, we joined many other families in hiking, swimming in the pools, and wading through the stream.

Ariella and Menash brought all kinds of treats for us to enjoy--borekas, cookies, cracker, fruit and cakes. Menash made tea from fresh mint leaves and we sat under a beautiful canopy of trees!
The kids especially loved jumping in a pool filled with spring water. There were fish in there too, but Elan and Mira were unsuccessful in catching any with my bandana and a stick. Don't worry, I'm not setting them free in the wild anytime soon. How much more exposure to Israel do they need before their survival mode kicks in?

Loren took the kids on a short hike into the hills. There was another pool of water to jump in, as well as lots of beautiful flowers. Loren was in charge of the camera. I had some serious work to do. Those trees weren't going to be stared at by themselves. I stayed by the stuff and felt relaxed! This was old-school day off from camp (the mother ship, not Darom) action.

After changing and redistributing the kids in the various cars (friends must ride with friends...it's the law), we drove to the settlement were Berko, his very kind wife, and EIGHT kids live! They made a great meal for us in their sukkah, and everyone fought over holding their youngest baby, Ranana. I'm not ashamed to admit that my competitive instincts won out, and I took down Mira for another chance to hold her. Hey, that baby was cute!
We caught up with everyone about the current state of lives. The kids tried this syrup called Petel, in their water. It represents itself as healthy the way Trix is a healthy part of a nutritious breakfast. Fortunately, it was not a big hit. I'm willing to buy the kids a lot of junk food to insure a happy, if not healthy, year, but this would have caused me to question my values as a human being, mother and nutrition devotee. We don't question this family's ethics or standards, and we consider them to be wonderful and productive members of society.
My kids just wish they learned about junk food they actually liked. Better luck next time!

The icing on the cake was getting to have another meal with Menash and Ariella on Simchat Torah, the very next night! We went to shul at Shirah Chadasha, where there was a ton of singing and dancing! Then, we walked to their apartment, and enjoyed a fantastic dinner with an impressive display of desserts. Let's start with the fact that they brought out three of them: Crembo's, ice cream cones (six flavors), and maple cake...and of course, more tea! This was junk food the kids could get behind! While the kids played, we sat at their table and laughed and sang until midnight. How is a Jewish person supposed to get enough sleep on yom tov and shabbat?! Shul starts at 8am, sometimes 8:30!

It was worth feeling exhausted!

Our (us and Madonna!) brush with history!

The longest lines sometimes lead you to the most wonderful experiences!! Among the many fun things to do during Sukkot (I promise to finish writing about Sukkot before Hanukkah), the President of Israel has an open sukkah. Anyone who wants to wait in line, can meet the current president! Shimon! It's been so long! Why do we always wait till the holidays to get together? Because there's a lot of security involved, that's why!!


Disneyworld could learn something from these lines. First of all, they were shaded the entire time. And if you happened to move off to the side where it was too sunny, there was a hired Bubbe to move you back into the shade. Overheard: "Move back!! No need to stand in the sun! There's shade! You two(to an older gentleman and his wife), you shouldn't be standing so long...come with me! Your knees hurt from standing? Come with me. I'll get you a chair and some babka. Are you drinking enough water? Let me get you a cup! The bathrooms are around the corner." Okay, no babka, but everything else was true! And the portapotties were the cleanest and nicest ones I've ever been in! I didn't even throw up a little when I went in! They were that nice!"


There were water stations every 15 feet or so, with cups available. There were security guards every 15 inches or so, with machine guns available. This is a picture of the wall, taken at the request of one security guard to prove that sometimes, a camera is just a camera (Freudian security!! Rock on!!). There was one tense security moment, when I realized that only Loren had his passport (the first round of security was asking for them). Fortunately, we (by which I mean Loren) answered the questions b'ivrit about why we were there, and we were allowed to continue our expedition into the President's house ever so slowly inching forward to the music of the military band playing in the garden!
There was also a collection of the most interesting group of Israelis and visitors I've ever seen! Religious Jews and secular, dressed fancy and dressed regular (guess which guest called a friend to see if a particular family needed to dress up to meet the President? It's Israel! People wear jeans to a wedding!). We were also right next to some Bretzlover chassidim in full dress who were bringing a petition to the President to bring the bones of Rebbe Nachman from Uman in the Ukraine to Israel. I guess that would put this trip out of business!

This is the face of a girl made to wait for a long, long time!!!

Once we were inside, there was a lot of beautiful art to distract us on the walls and on the ceiling! A group of teenager musicians from all faiths were performing for us.

That is a family that had to wait even longer than us!

We were getting so close! We could actually see people forcing the media to put down their equipment so that they could take a picture for them! I, of course volunteered Loren to make those same arrangements for us, but he was not comfortable walking in that out door. Oh, my rule-following hubby, I love you! But love and respect for another's job won't get us a family picture with Peres! Even though the women directly behind us looked like she was there on a mission to get her personal agenda across to Shimon (clues: she was speaking to herself in an aggressive way, seeming to rehearse her plans for world domination. I could have worked on the security detail. I would have had the bubbenator approach her, "Motek, you look worn out, come sit in the back of this air conditioned van while we escort you to the nearest health-care facility!"). I don't know who took Madge's pic, but ours turned out great! Thanks to anonymous lady behind us! Hope your plans work out!




Her Madgesty and Peres!!!

After we got our 6 seconds with Shimon, Amalya asked, "So was it worth waiting two and a half hours in that line to meet Shimon Peres for 6 seconds?"

You bet!

The biggest Bircat Cohanim Evah!!

So, during Sukkot, there are many, many fun things to do in the Holy Land. We wanted to be a part of all of it. If everyone else is going to the Kotel for the world’s biggest Birkat Cohanim, then that’s a bracha for us too!!!
Thousands and thousands of people joined us for our first time there this year (it'ns not like we invited them all...they just showed up!!). We were packed in like little Jewish sardines of every flavor. Fortunately, it was really sunny and hot, so we all sweated our Jewish selves silly! Nothing like bodily secretions to bring Jews together!
We couldn’t get close enough to see very well, but we still felt blessed to be in a place where so many people are happy to be Jewish! And then, we wanted to be happy to be Jewish in some shade. Which led to our next adventure. The longest, nicest, shadiest line we’ve ever waited in.

Hint: Madonna did it too, even though I'm sure her line was shorter.

Sukkot was abundantly fun!

The kids had all of Sukkot off, so that means fun, fun, fun!! And some craziness; I'm not going to lie. Especially so soon after YK. The next few posts will be about all that fun. And craziness.

With Sukkot comes a lot of great tiyulim (trips) and events around Jerusalem. Fortunately, most of them involve food. Because you might not be eating enough during the chaggim (even now, I know not to complain...no three day yomtov here! I'll also try not to gloat.), and because food in Israel is fun!

Tis the season for a delicious treat involving chocolate, marshmallow fluff and a cookie buried beneath the goo. These are such fragile delights, they are made only during the late fall through the winter. Sunshine and Crembo's are completely incompatible. They require a cool touch as well as an eating preference.
The first order of business is choosing your Crembo at the makolet. Clearly some did not survive through transport. They look genetically challenged, or at least squeezed by some passing child. Or it looks like it tried unsuccessfully to back out of my garage in Atlanta and hit the garbage bin even though it was warned that it would be a tight fit requiring better navigation than the Titanic. Like my car, that I miss (especially with winter rain coming…but I digress). Back to choosing your gooey goodness.
You want an upright Crembo, standing tall as a cylinder with a gently curved top. This enables you to eat it the way you want. While the possibilities are endless, here are the ways we do it:
With abandon: just bite in and finish it off. While one bite is possible, you mom will probably only buy you one. What’s the use of finishing it so quickly? And is that enough kavanah and kavod for the sugar rush coming your way?

Thank you, dear Lord, for this chocolate we are about to receive. Amen.

By layers: eat off the entire chocolate shell without disturbing the cookie foundation or, (extreme Crembo challenge) the marshmallow inside. For this procedure to be considered a success, the original shape must be retained.
Cookie first: this approach is usually taken by those who psychotically eat the bottom of an ice cream cone first, but without the drips. There may not be drips, but trust me, the goo will get you.

Crembo innerds...

Did I mention these are pareve, so can be eaten anytime?
Crembo, I will digest you!

Fun while shopping...or How to make the security guard look at you twice.

Such a long time since I updated...please forgive me!


Even though we've been here for two months, we still learn how to how to do things. Like shop. The kids can drink tea and hot chocolate at school if they have a mug. So, clearly, we need to

get some! I picked up the kids from school and we walked to the closest mall to find them plus some other fun stuff (I brought the granny cart for shopping ease, and let's face it: it's a good look for me). We first went to Toys R us to look for some games in Hebrew and a toy or two so we are not the boring house to play at on shabbat. One mug, two toys and a board game that we still can't find once we got home.




On to Homecenter (say it with a Hebrew accent, it's my favorite thing to say!), this is like TJ Max and Home Depot combined, but not as big. No acceptable mugs, one basket for non-existent toys, and one very tall glass vase shattered in the checkout line (they were very nice about it, and wouldn’t let us pay…maybe it’s because we blamed it on the people behind us.)








On to Mega, a huge grocery store with some kitchen tools and accessories as well. All three stores are right in a row, so hey! No problem to go from one to the next. One mom, a granny cart and three kids with heavy backpacks can totally hack it (why they are so heavy, I have no idea. Lunch bags should be lighter at the end of the day, and hey, it’s the Democratic School! It’s not like they have to take books. They should totally suck it up!).
At Mega, there is a complicated procedure you must complete before you can spend your money. First, you go through security where an armed guard (we’ll meet him later, oh yes, spoiler alert!) goes through your bags (we totaled 5) while you walk through a metal detector. All of this is SOP for Israeli shopping, so far. Then, you release the grocery cart from bondage (will the yitziyat mitzrayim imagery ever get old? I think not) by either inserting a deposit of a 5 shekel coin, or you use a key chain device (for which you pay 10 shekel) which unlocks the cart. You see, Israeli’s won’t return the cart otherwise.
Sorry, I just noticed the camera battery's dead, other wise there would be a picture...how about this 16 Candles key chain instead? You know you want one. It's awesome, but unfortunately, it won't buy you groceries.
Anyway, you’ve got to pay to play! Then, you can push your cart through one more gate and load up! But only with the amount you are willing to shlep home (who’s idea was it to go without a car?!), or you can shop to your heart’s content and have it delivered (read: wait for hours for your groceries to be released from bondage and if you call at 9pm to see if they are ever going to come… you are reassured that you are the next delivery, B’emet!!). We were in shlepping mode. I was going to get a few things that this store has that fulfil our nutritional needs, but that you can’t find at the closer grocery store. No mugs, good noodles (the boing-boing kind that you just drop into miso soup and make miso happy!), and junk food for the kids’ lunches. They will never again be able to digest kosher Doritos with such regular abandon. I’m a sucker for the Holy Land. After paying (you load your own groceries into bags…Publix—I miss you!), we did the redistribute all the bags in and around the granny cart and send our grocery cart back into bondage. We were so close to a multi-meltdown experience, but we narrowly escaped. I think someone breathed on someone else, but who am I to point fingers?
Okay, already this has taken longer than I wanted. And we still have two planned stops left. That means we need a bakery stop pronto. No way do I want to shlep these kids around when their blood sugar level plummets. Next stop, English Cake; which in Hebrew reads, at first glance, like English Kike. A little shocking for a kosher bakery name, but as long as the cookies are good, what Heeb can complain? 3 cookies, two kinds of borekas and the need for more carbs. It’s a good thing there was another bakery across the parking lot. Hello, Borekas Ema! Here there are cakes, cookies AND bread and pita. Sweet and salty snacking dreams come true here.
Did I mention that this took place while Loren was in the states for 2 weeks?! That is a little clue about my brain power.
Borekas Ema= great pita. Okay, now we’ll walk to the other grocery store for the dairy products we need (closer to home, less time to spoil on the way and lighter to shlep). Dairy acquired, but we still need two mugs. /And I promised ice cream, like a fool. We walked to a house wares/gift shop even close to home (so close, and yet so proverbially far). Thank goodness, they have the mugs of our dreams! And there is ice cream happiness next door! And diet coke sustenance for me! Oh nectar of the gods, I appreciate your caffeinated goodness!
We happily made our way home, only 2 hours later than I thought. We got to see some friends hanging out on their balcony on the way home, and we happily relayed all that we had done, and spoke excitedly about getting home and having an easy dinner. We were tired and ready to be home.
I guess that’s what made it so hard when I discovered that I had left the keys in the grocery cart at Mega. We couldn’t get in. We could cry. We could scream. We could breath deeply and become one with the universe. We could also think fast. Thank God, thank God, I had the phone number of the family we had just seen on their balcony across the street. She, so kindly, made me believe that she was just going to take her kids to the playground and would love to have my too…after I put my groceries in her refrigerator and she called me a cab. What a great person!
I took the cab to Mega, thanked the service desk person for my keys and left the store with words of thanks on my mind.
Then, and only then did I think about what would make this funny for me. Because until then, I guarantee that it wasn’t. And then I thought of telling all of you about it! Yes, blogging makes everything funnier. And what is funnier than blogging your mishaps? Blogging with photos. Chuckling over my brilliance as I took the pictures of the mall signage, I, for the first time, started laughing to myself about what happened. I was still happy about 50 ft away when I realized that the machine-gun toting guard shouting, “Geveret! Geveret!” was running after me and trying to get my attention. Taking pictures at the Kotel is expected, at the grocery store? It’s highly suspect. And suspects must be questioned in the presence of firearms. I decided to fight the suspicion with broken Hebrew.
“Ma at osah po? Lamah at tzricah l’zalem et mega?”
What are you doing here? Why did you need to take pictures of mega?
I went for the high tech answer:
“Zeh bishvil ha blog sheli!” It’s for my blog!
Blank, irate stare. Blank, irate stare.
“Al ha internet! Yesh li blog al ha internet!”
On the internet! I have a blog on the internet!
Since I don’t know how to politely ask if he had internet access b’ivrit, I went for the story from the beginning. “Ha ba-al sheli b’artzot ha brit. Yesh li et kol ha yeladim b’atzmi!” My husband is in the States. I have all the kids by myself.
Laying it on thick is a talent. In very broken Hebrew, I went on to explain how we had an afternoon of shopping, at the end of which, I discovered my keys were lost. Not lost…but left at Mega in the cart. He was with me at this point, wanting to know how I drove home without my keys. I think I had his full sympathy when I explained our mode of transportation. He was prepared to accept my non-terrorist status.
I did ask if he wanted me to take his picture…bishvil ha blog! He took the stance of most security in Israel, including border checkpoints and Israeli pilots. No photos allowed.
Sleep well, my friends, the groceries are safe tonight.