Thanks for having us!

Now that I've stopped laughing I just have to share this Hi and Lois comic which my parents sent me.


I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank my parents again for hosting our dinner parties, birthday parties, princess party, meetings, school groups, LEAP sales, and all our other get –togethers....

Oh, and mom, what are you doing next Thursday?

Happy Birthday Baby Meshi

It's hard to believe that you are already six!
The birthday celebrations have begun...more about that later.

Happy Chanukah

Some people are waiting for a final, apocalyptic war. But the final war is not fought on battlefields, nor at sea, nor in the skies above. Neither is it a war between leaders or nations. The final war is fought in the heart of each human being, with the armies of his or her deeds in this world. The final war is the battle of Chanukah and the miracle of light.

From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

I found this beautiful Chanukah card by Michele of AnotherCreation on Etsy.com. You can see more of her stunning work in her etsy shop, http://www.etsy.com/shop/AnotherCreation where she has some lovely Chanukah gifts as well as gifts for other occasions.

How time flies!

Yesterday was Monday. I knew it was Monday because that's the day that Meshi goes to her Drama lesson. After I noticed what day it was I realized that it had already been a week since last Monday, when we had gone to the market to buy some oranges and lemons...I hadn't even noticed the time flying by. Then I looked at my blog and noticed that it's been a while since I last wrote (how am I going to remember what's been going on if I never write anything?). So, here's a quick summary of the past two weeks....

Work, work, work...I know, boring, that's all I ever seem to talk about lately. Well, I am happy to report that I finished one of my two huge projects, and I am on my way to finishing the other (it may take a little while longer) I am hoping to be back in the land of the living pretty soon. And I have a list of things I want/need to do as soon as I am finished....colour my hair, pluck...and of course clean and tidy my house (I don't want to keep living in the place where elephants go to die).

It hasn't all been work, I've had some fun too.

We "won" a special dinner made by Rabbi Gustavo at an auction a couple of weeks ago, so we went over to enjoy our special Argentinean meal, made by Karina and Gustavo. The food was delicious, the company was wonderful, and we took the children with us to play with their girls. It was a fantastic evening. We also spent time with other friends, so it's been quite a sociable couple of weeks. We also got a new "addition" to the family - no, not a dog! Brett, is a volunteer from Texas, on the Otzma programme, and will be in Israel for a year. He's our "adopted son" (that makes me seem so old). He's leaving Ashkelon next week to stay in Tzfat for a few weeks and then he's going to Haifa for a few months, but he knows that he's got family to come back to visit in Ashkelon.

Besides their usual stuff the girls have been busy practicing for their school show, which is this evening. Everyone who's visited us has seen their dances; some have even had the 'dress rehearsal'. Both of them are very excited and nervous – Shiraz already has butterflies. Will write all about it tomorrow (maybe).

The War of Independence

The "terrible twos" have officially hit our household. Hard. This is a stage which both girls seemed to skip, so it's all very new to me, and very exasperating. Ben has to do everything for himself, and don't you dare help him – that is if you value your eardrums – and even if you do help him, it is really to no avail, he will just un-do it and do it again, himself. On the bright side, he'll have caught up to his sisters in no time. Now all he needs to learn is to sleep in until at least six o'clock!

Long time...

A year, that's how long it's been since I last wrote anything here. Wow, how's that for being consistent....And yet, I am back. Why? Well, I just found sparkpeople.com, and although I'm sure I'm not going to follow it to a tee I really love the whole concept of a huge, FREE, online community with all the tools for a healthy lifestyle.

I just downloaded my free calendar for November, and this is what it says for tomorrow (or is that today?)...

Start a journal. Use it to record positive experiences and things you are thankful for. Read your own words during times when you feel down to remember how fortunate you truly are.

This has to be a sign for me to stop procrastinating and start writing my journal again, right?

Oh, before I go (lots of work still to do), let me quickly sum up the past year or so, since I last wrote....I don't want to forget what I've been up to.

Shiraz is now 7 – we celebrated that with a big Survivor party. She's in the second grade already!

Meshi is 5 – she'll be 6 one month from today. Oh, and she is the first grade.

Ben is 2 – he is just the cutest. Oh, and he doesn't say zeeba anymore.

I'm sure I'll be writing more about them – isn’t that what this whole blog thing's about?

We had a 'small war' here (yes, seriously), although nobody really seems to know about it – from our point of view, that is. Our city was bombed with thousands of missiles....but I really don't want to get into all of that right now.

My little business is thriving, and I really thank the universe for all the work that is coming my way!

I worked with the LEAP group (Ladies Ethiopian Art Project) most of the year, but the project has come to an end, and now we must all move on to something new. To sum up – it was an interesting experience.

Effie's father, May his name be for a blessing, was diagnosed with cancer last January, and passed away September 1st. That was the difficult part of this year.

There's probably a lot more, but that's it in a nutshell.

There's more to come....