DOG

Last evening we went for a walk around the neighborhood to look at the lights. We took Heidi with us.
Rachel: Heidi, stop moving from right to left
Natalie (in a very upset tone): Rachel, she is a dog. She does not understand what you are telling her!


When we come in in the evening, it is Natalie's job (at her request) to first open the kitchen's door to let Heidi out and then to feed her.

Rachel's birthday with friends

We had 6 girls at home yesterday afternoon.

They retreated in Rachel's bedroom and giggled a lot.  No mom was allowed there. After 30 minutes of playing "school", it was time for the strawberry cake (I baked it and even put strawberry icing, it is a first!). They then played with the manicure set to swirl the colors on the fake nails and off they went to play again. One hour later, I opened the manicure shop and did 60 nails, they were in heaven. Thy then came to the living room and made necklaces and bracelets.
We then put home made pizza in the oven and it was almost time to go home.
Pictures to follow


Vendredi Rachel a fêté son anniversaire à l'école avec des petits gâteaux pour sa classe et ses profs et  le vendredi soir nous avons mis les 7 bougies sur un gâteau, juste entre nous.
Samedi j'etais au lit a 21h30.
Dimanche après-midi 4 copines sont venues à la maison de 15h a 18h.  Tout s'est bien passe. Le gâteau à la fraise que j'avais cuit et décore de "icing" rose a été bien apprécié. 
Elles se sont bien amusées ensemble. Elles ont joué a l'école, ont confectionné des colliers et des bracelets, décoré des faux ongles qu'elles ont repris à la maison et j'ai organise une séance de manucure. C'était bien sympa
--photos suivront

Ce ne fut guère un week-end reposant. Samedi était la dernière session de cours à l'Alliance française le matin et nous y sommes restées jusque midi et je les ai réinscrites pour une autre session de janvier à mars.
Pendant ce temps Yossi était à la maison avec le technicien qui a nettoyé tous les conduits de ventilation.

A l'agenda pour les we prochains:
samedi 8: ballet,
dimanche 9: Channukah chez Susan et Tony;
samedi 15: ateliers Noel a l'Alliance française l'après-midi,
dimanche 16: fête d'anniversaire pour Natalie.
Sans compter les demandes de playdates.
Lundi 17: petits gâteaux et fête à l'école de Natalie

birthday girl is turning 7 today

Today is Rachel birthday, she is turning 7!!!!

The first thing she said to Natalie this morning when they were still both in beds was: "do you know that TODAY is my birthday"?

When she was a baby, I was annoyed when people used to tell me to enjoy the moment,  that she would grow up so fast... In fact they were right. When I see a woman with an infant nowadays, it touches me and I do have to remind myself that I too was a mother with an infant one day.

I like to tell Rachel stories about her when she was a baby and those stories stay with them, like the day Yossi came back from an interview and held his 2-week old baby who did not have a diaper.. You can just imagine what happened. Rachel still talks about it.

Rachel, you have reached so many goals this past year.
You are not the shy child you used to be. You love to play with your friends at school and daycare. You became the master teacher there and all the kids younger and your age gravitate around you, playing "school". 

You have extended so many invitations to your friends that I can not find enough week-ends to accommodate all these requests, but I will, don't worry.
You asked me to spend more time together and we'll do that too - maybe before all these playdates take place. 

The only playdates you used to have was with our friends' kids and neighbors. When you had your first playdate with a classmate (Caroline) a few months ago, I was amazed how well the two of you got along and how quiet it was in the house. When you asked to have another playdate and asked to have 3 friends (Delfina, Dunja and Katie) over, I was fine with it.

You refused to do ballet this year "it is for younger kids" and asked to do soccer instead. You did soccer after school and loved it.  Now you will try basketball. You just started cooking classes with your former K teacher and yesterday was your first day, you had a lot of fun (on the menu was bananas covered with chocolate).

You are sweet and still very nice with your sister Natalie and love to explain her many things; you play nicely together. 

You share the same bedroom and do not like to fall asleep when sometimes she is downstairs with papa.

You discovered that you have a dog and love to pet her and feed her, to Heidi's greatest pleasure.

You love to write and make your own stories. We have many of your homemade books and I treasure them. 

You get upset once in a while and when you decide to throw away a piece of artwork you just did, I am not that happy, but ... it is your choice. 
A few times when I said no to something you wanted, you told me to leave you alone, to go away, that you did not like me. We had to put a stop to that and those bad moments are now behind us.
(I should maybe not mention that but it will make you smile when you read about it n a few years).

You are very special to us and we love you very much
Happy birthday ma grande cherie

Papa, Maman, Natalie
and Heidi.

morning ritual

In the morning the girls love to sit in front of the vents where the hot air comes through. With papa in charge, they do dress themselves because there they get a treat afterwards.

Le matin les filles aiment s'assoir devant les bouches ou l'air chaud sort. C'est la qu'en semaine elles mangenet leur tartine.

playdate

A few months ago Rachel had a few friends over (Katie who was in the K class and with whom she plays soccer); Dunja who was and is still in her class; and Delfina her best friend who unfortunatelly will go back to Argentina in March 2013). It felt like we had 5 daughters at home, that was a sweet feeling.

evening stories/ histoires

Many years ago the thought crossed my mind about writing stories for young children but I never did it; it was way before I had my own children.

Every night Yossi reads a chapter book to Rachel (the mouse detective Geronimo). Afterwards I go to her for her goodbye kis (ses), sit down on her bed and do tell her stories I invent. She loves them, I tell one and she tells me one as well (in French). To my surprise she remembers them, I do not.
My stories talk about anything, could be about an ugly shoe, a flower, a friendship between a cat and a hippopotamus, ... .

Le soir je raconte des histoires à Rachel. Elle connait les fables de la Fontaine mais j'ai commence à créer mes propres histoires dont elle raffole, on y parle de l'amitié d'un d'hippopotame avec un chat ou bien d'une chaussure qu'une petite fille ne veut pas, d'une fleur, ...  Elle les adore et a ma grande surprise ne les oublie pas. Je lui raconte une histoire et elle m'en raconte une autre (en francais bien sur). Parfois Natalie se joint à nous si elle est encore éveillée.

wonderful long week-end

Thursday morning we let the girls stay in their pjs till 3pm. The evening was wonderful at Evelyne and the girls played with Leora and Jonathan.

Saturday Rachel and Natalie had a playdate with Zoe, Mia and Sophie. It was very sweet to see them getting along so well.

On Sunday afternoon, we went to Leslie and the girls played with Anjali (former classmate of Natalie) while we chatted and drank tea.

This whole week-end was so relaxing. I had a facial and haircut, finished a great book, and had some time left for cleaning and laundry on Sunday.

post-Halloween pictures

can I be the mom?

It is Saturday morning and Natalie joined us in bed.
N: can I be the mom?
I: ok
I: was it fun to play with Leora yesterday?
N: I am not the kid, I am the mom
I: was it fun to be with Evelyne, Monique and Brigitte?
N: oh yes, very much so
I: what did you talk about?
N: important things
I: like what?
N: tigers, unicorns, ...


Natalie nous a rejoint au lit samedi matin.
N: maman, je peux etre la maman et toi le bebe?
Maman: ok. C'etait chouette de jouer avec Leora hier?
N: maman, je suis la maman, pas le bebe
M: ok. C'etait chouette d'etre avec Evelyne, Monique et Brigitte?
N: oh oui
M: de quoi avez-vous parle?
N: de choses tresimportantes
M: comme quoi?
N: de tigres, de licornes,...

Rachel likes to play teacher

As I am typing this, I can hear Rachel and Natalie in the living room playing "school".
Rachel is the teacher. 

One evening when I picked her up at the after school daycare, she was surrounded by friends and she was the teacher, explaining them what to do and how to do it.
When she was at Montesorri 2 years ago (she was then 5 years old), her teacher Mrs. Tricia had told me that Rachel showed much compassion towards her classmates, that teaching was very natural to her. Will she become a teacher? Who knows....
I used to do the same when I was younger, except that I did not have a small sister to tell what to do.


Rachel adore jouer a l'ecole, elle est bien sur le professeur. Natalie est l'eleve.
Au daycare je la retrouve souvent entouree de ses amis et c'est elle qui leur explique ceci ou cela. Lorsqu'elle a des amis a la maison, elle aime jouer a "l'ecole". Ca me rappelle les jeux d'ecole auxquels je jouais moi aussi, a part que je n'avais pas de petite soeur a qui donner des ordres.

Ce matin, Rachel s'etait entourree de ses tintins et de Natalie (voir photo).

How did I meet Yossi. I am thankful...

Thanksgiving became one of my favourite holidays.

Tomorrow we will not cook but will rather visit our friends Evelyne and  Moe, and their children Leora and Jonathan who are close in age with Rachel and Natalie.

I have known Evelyne for almost 20 years. Her husband Moe is the one who introduced me to my husband in 2000.

I had taken sailing classes at the marina in Alexandria that spring and the few times I tried to rent a boat, the wind was too strong for me to be on my own on the Potomac.

When I mentioned it to Moe, he mentioned that one of his friends was a good sailer. I went sailing with Yossi once, twice, we went to the movies. The first movie we saw together was East West, I still remember it. That was my first introduction to Russian life.
Our first serious dinner was in an Italian restaurant in Georgetown where a voilinist serenaded us while we sat outside on the balcony. 

Yossi charmed me with his funny stories, his gentle manners and devoted attention, his good humor, the way he treated his friends and more importantly mine, and of course by playing the piano for me.

We started dreaming about having a family, living in a charming house with a backyard, sitting in front of the fire place sipping wine, listening to opera, and also about adopting a dog. We got married in 2003.

We do have two healthy sweet girls of almost 5 and 7 years old, a house with a fire place, and a lovely 10-year old German Sheppard Heidi who has been with us for the last 8 years.

I also have a very nice mother in law who thinks the world of me and considers me as her own daughter. What else rally could I ask for....

I am thankful for having all that in my live. I am thankful for the love I get from my husband and from my children,  from my parents and sibblings, from my mother in law and family, and from my friends.

imitation

We both have accents Yossi and I and already Natalie likes to imitate us.
I do not think she is aware of our accents but she likes to imitate the intonation of our voices, she is good at it.

Natalie aime nous imiter et surtout l'intonation de nos voix a moi et a Yossi. Elle le fait bien en plus.

how was your day?

Mom: "Rachel, how was school today? What was fun ?
Rachel: "hum, nothing, just kind of"
Mom: What something not fun?
Rachel: No, hum  kind of"
Natalie: Everything was kind of then?

Ride to the park

It is Sunday. I went to my yoga class, did some shopping for my next yoga class and after lunch, I took the girls and Heidi to the park. They took they scooter and did a great job. We met some friends there and it was nice to see them all playing together. I am sure they will sleep well tonight. Too bad I did not take my camera.

Nous sommes allees au parc dimanche apres-midi avec les filles et Heidi. Il faisait un beau soleil et il faisait frisquet. Elles ont pris leurs trotinettes et ont pedale dur!

enfance/ childhood memories

All week long I think about stuff I want to write about.
I would like to to write about childhood memories.

When I was 6 my brother told me about who was behind St. Nicholas.  We were biking from our house to our grandparents house who lived 2 miles away. I remember how sad and mad I was at him. 
In Belgium it is St. Nicholas  who brings presents to the children, not at Christmas but on the 6th of December. For a whole week beforehand, we place each night our shoes in front of the chimney and we can expect to find the next morning some candies and clementines. 
I remember the present I got at my last Christmas, it was among other things a beautiful doll bed with light blue drapes around it.  My brother had shown me where mom and dad were hiding the presents. That day my sister and brother hit somewhere in the house and ran a bell making me and my 2 cousins who were visiting believe that Santa has just came by and left the house.

Other memories with my siblings:

My brother Boule (Eric) and sister Faby (Fabienne) taught me how to use Rollerblades (the wheels were in metal). We practised in the evening in the attic on the 4th floor, just above our playroom.

My brother Eric taught me how to whistle and I remember that I kept practising every time I would go to the bathroom.

I used to sleep with all my dolls and teddy bears. Mom would put some back in the closet and I would go and let them out. I did not want them to get cold and I had barely enough place for myself. Rachel does the same.

I remember the summer vacation at my grandmother's former farm where I and my 2 cousins would spent some time together.

I remember the day I gave a bath to my sister's cat and how surprised I was to find out that the had shrunk so much with his fur being all wet. I sneaked him in my coat and we both stayed in bed.. till my sister found out about us.

In the evening, we used to sit on the window still and guess the color of the passing cars.

In the summer we would all read and after the lights would be turned out, we would use flash lights to finish our chapter.

I hope my girls will remember the good times they are sharing together. These moments are so precious.

dentist

I have never seen kids so happy to go to the dentist than mine.  They were running on the parking lot
Rachel: who will go first?
Natalie: I will
Rachel: ok then I''ll watch you.

Dr. Orlando has 3 daughters (6, 5, and 2 1/2). I like the way he explains what he is going to do, let them touch his gloves. The girls really like him.
Of course I should say that while he cleans their teeth they watch a dvd and when all is done they do get a new toothbrush of their choice. But what they really like is the sticker they can choose and the 2 treats they can get from the treasury chest.
All is well. Nothing to worry about the fact that Rachel hasn't lost ababy  tooth yet and that she grinds her teeth at night.  Her bite will change as well. He was happy to see that 3 of her molars came out already.
chosen CD: Madagascar III, I have to get it now.

Visite semi-annuelle chez le dentsite.
Tout va bien. Je ne dois pas m'inquieter que Rachel n'ait pas encore perdu ses dents de lait, quand ca va arriver - ce qui ne devrait plus trainer- ca ira tres vite. Il ne pense pas qu'il devra intervenir.  Rachel a deja 3 molaires qui viennent de sortir.

new morning schedule as of tomrrow Nov. 15

Yossi's 1st IBM assignment is in VA on the metro line. It will take him 1h1/2 to get there but he does not have to drive, lucky him.
He will drop off Rachel at 7am and I'll drop Natalie at 7.3am. Wake-up call tomorrow at the Finn's residence: 6am!! Wish us luck.


Demain le reveil va sonner a 6h du matin a la maison. Rachel sera au daycare a 7h et Natalie a l'ecole a 7h30. Les fille sont contentes d'aller a l'ecole plus tot, surtout Rachel qui recoit un pt dejeuner: pain perdu, pancakes, cereals -- miam!

thinking about grandpa/ pensees pour papy

Natalie: I would like to be dad
Mom: WHY???
Natalie: Because I could speak to grandpa
Mom: But you CAN speak to him now, he'll hear you.
.....

a great Sunday afternoon with good friends

This past Sunday we all went on an adventure to Roosevelt Island.
Thank to Marya we have memorable pictures of the outing.

I still have to find a way to save them in order to post them

Dimanche nous sommes allees promener et avons retrouve quelques amis et leurs enfants. Il faisait tellement bon (20 degres), Ce fut une belle apres-midi. Je mettrai qq photos plus tard, du moins j'essayerai.

Sunday morning

I love Sunday mornings. We have plenty of time to cuddle, to chat, to play.
This morning Rachel is playing a card game she has invented and Natalie is preparing hot cereals with me. 

Dimanche matin
les dimanche matins sont tjs assez calmes a la maison. Yossit dort un peu plus et je m'occupe des filles.

1/2 day for myself

It is Saturday morning and the girls are at Alliance francaise.  I cleaned the house (Maria hurt her back and could not come this week), did 3 loads of laundry, sorted the winter clothes and I am now listening to Semele -music by Handel - with Kathleen Battle, Marlyn Horne and my favourite baritone Samuel Ramey as Cadmus. What a treat.

opera

Last night was the opening of the European film festival at the AFI theater, even co-sponsored by the EU Delegation.  "Quartet" directed by Dustin Hofman was a bitter sweet movie about retired pennyless British musicians .
Beautiful music, love, jalousy and of course the issue of getting old. You laughed, you cried ... perfect  movie to make you think that life has to be lived to the fullest. 

But most importantly it reminded me how much opera moves me and how much I enjoy it.  I digged out this morning my olds CDs and I am now listening to Semele while the girls are at Alliance francaise with Yossi, te much higher than I would when the girls are around. The volume is loud, something I normally do when the girls are around...
I discovered opera 20 years ago. My 86 years old neighbor Colonel Roy Baker introduced me to it slowly and took me to the Kennedy Center season after season.  When he passed away, I treated myself and purchased a subscription and sat in the same row: E - it was like watching a play and being craddled by this wonderful music.
Not going to the opera is something I missed but did not realized it. 

pajamas

Last night I let the firls sleep in their day clothes (very cozy ones). I guess this is the first time it happens.  I have to say that it was nice not to have to battle with them to get them into their pajamas.

Yossi's 1st assignmet for IBM

No he will not be sent to Florida.
He got a job at IRS. It is in Virginia and on the metro line. We are very happy.
At least it was one victory for him yesterday.

Yossi va travailer en Virginie et pourra prendra le metro - ouf.

future president

At home we have different political views, both coming from different countries and political background. My mother used to work for the union and politics was  something my parents discussed freely at home.

At home, we do talk about politics too and the girls know whom Yossi will vote for. In fact Rachel even discussed that with her friends at schools (!) and was very happy to report that some of her friends would vote for the same candidate. We have as well a few drawings with plenty of harts for that candidate done by both of them. We explained to them that I do not vote as I I was born in Belgium and that kept my Belgian citizenship.

A day like today I wouldn't mind voting...
 

Natalie

Natalie had a good night sleep Sunday night with no cough, in bed by 7.30pm (I know I kept the old time for their sake) and she woke up this morning at 7am. The night before she woke up at 6am and joined us in our bed.  That's much better than coming in at 1.30am. 

Natalie a commence ses antibiotics le samedi apres-midi et a passe une meilleure nuit. Elle s'est reveillee vers 6h du matin dimanche matin et nous a rejoint dans le lit. Dimanche apres-midi elle a fait une petite sieste avec papa quand je suis partie avec Rachel a Strathmore et hier soir elle s'est endormie vers 8h (9h ancienne heure). Le docteur nous a dit que ce n'etait pas contagieux et que si sa toux allait mieux elle pouvait retourner a l'ecole le lundi.

Sunday with maman/ dimanche juste avec maman

Rachel has been talking more in French since she started her classes at Alliance francaise. She has developed her assertiveness as well and has shown more aggressive verbally telling me that I was not nice and that she did not like me anymore. Of course these moments do not last long, she would come back and tell me 1 hour later that I was the best mom and that she adores me. Ok, but hearing these things in my mother tongue did hurt.

This week-end she mentioned that she thought I was spending more time with Natalie, which I never realized. I thought I was managing my time between the 2 girls fine. It is true that Natalie being younger cries more and gets then my full attention.

I told Rachel that I love them both the same and reminded her that she had been my only baby for 2 whole years and had gotten my full attention.  Natalie on the other hand had never had that, this seemed to help.

During the week, I let her come to our bed once while I was reading my book early in the evening and she seemed happy to lie down close to me and hold my hand. Papa took her to bed an hour later.

On Saturday evening when the girls were in bed, after papa's story, I sat in Rachel's bed, she held my hand and we told each other stories.
Yesterday afternoon I took just Rachel to the show at Strathmore and leave Natalie with papa. We walked to Strathmore, sat down together and listen to the story of the dragon, crocodiles and of course princess. We had a nice time.
This week has been more pleasant and I haven't heard anything negative from Rachel.
I am glad she told me how she felt and I was able to make her feel better and loved.

Ces derniers temps Rachel parle plus en francais mais est plutot agressive me disant qu'elle ne m'aimait pas, que j'etais mechante (ce n'est guere facile a entendre). Ce week-end, elle m'a raconte qu'elle aimerait faire des choses rien qu'evec moi (on essayait deja de les separer et Yossi enmenait parfois Rachel au musee le dimanche ou allait faire les courses avec elle).
Samedi soir apres la lecture, je me suis assise dans son lit (Natalie dormait deja). On s'est raconte des histoire, elle a tenu ma main et s'est endormie. Dimanche apres-midi je suis allee voir un show avec elle et j'ai decide de laisser Natalie avec papa (ils ont fait la sieste ensemble). Hier soir je leur ai lu une histoire et apres je suis restee pres de Rachel, j'ai lu mon livre et elle s'est endormie en tenant ma main.

Day off when you want but not when you have to

Last month Rachel asked me if she could skip school for one day. Of course my reply was NO.
A few days later she was sick and when I told her she would have to stay home, she started crying.
Be careful what you wish for!

I could have done with a few extra hours of sleep

Coming back from MNO at 11pm and catching up with Yossi, it was past midnight when I went to bed. At 1.30am Natalie started coughing and her cough became so bad, it woke her up and she came to us. For the next hour, she kept coughing.  I put some vicks on her feet, gave her honey and water, put the humidifier and 2hours later she was comfortable or simply exhausted and felt asleep.
I took her to the doctor this morning and she has PNEUMONIA. She is not in pain and it is not contatious, she will start antibiotics today.

Natalie a tousse pendant la nuit et apres la visite chez le medecin, c'est confirme qu'elle a une pneumonie.

Dad away from home?

Two weeks ago papa signed a new contract with IBM.
Last week he got an offer to work on a contract for 10 months with a possible extension for another 2 years in Florida!, meaning that he stay in a hotel there during the work and travel on Sunday night and come back on Friday night in order to spend time with us during the week-end.  We thought a lot about it and came to the conclusion that we did not want to be separated for so long and that as a family we did not want him to be away all week long from you Rachel and Natalie.

Aussitot son contract signe avec IBM, il a ete appele a travailler en Floride 9contract de 10 mois avec extension possible de 2 ans). C'est une decision difficile a prendre et je ne voudrais en aucun cas m'opposer a l'opportunite que IBM lui offre. Nous en avons bcp parle et avons decide de ne pas accepter. Voyager le dimanche soir et revenir le vendredi soir pendant 3 ans, non.  On est une famille et on a besoin d'etre ensembles et Rachel et Natalie a leur ont egalement besoin de voir leur papa plus que 2 jours par semaine.

November 1!

There we go again with blogging for a whole month.

yesterday was Halloween and the girls have been counting the days. We had fun. At the last moment, they ignored their costumes and Rachel changed to a vampire and Natalie to another princess.  Rachel had fake teeth she put on at every house we visited. The fake blood was a success. We visited more houses this year than last year and towards the end Natalie wanted to come home, she was tired.
Pictures to follow

maman, on est repartis pour un mois de blogging.
On a fete Halloween hier et c'etait super sympa. C'etait bien de pouvoir resortir apres ces 2 dernieres journees d'ouragan. Mais on ne peut pas se plaindre, les gens de NY et de NJ ont eu bcp de degats et bcp sont encore sans electricite avec des temperatures exterieures assez basses.
Rachel n'a plus voulu etre une princesse et s'est deguisee en vampire, une robe violette, des fausses dents et des gouttes de sang sur le menton, elle etait fin prete. Natalie n'a pas voulu mettre sa robe de princesse et a mis une jolie longe robe verte. Elles se sont bien amusees. Natalie etait fatiguee apres la longue promenage que l'on a faite et voulait rentrer a la maison. Yossi est reste a la maison pour donner les bonbons aux enfants.

guess who is back?

Little critters were back
We took care of them. I found 2 on Rachel's scalp and no nits or eggs. She came home Monday night (after being 5 days at home with papa since her pneumonia) and complained about itchy scalp. I was ready for the battle - comb, shampoo, cleaning all the bedding stuff and taking away the teddy bears (ok I left her 3 favourite ones).
I had to laugh thinking about my first encounter with these beats and how angry and panicked I was.  I informed both her daycare and school about it right away. I wish other parents would come forward with these things, that's not always the case unfortunately.

Rachel se grattait la tete lundi, 1er jour de retour a l'ecole. J'ai peigne ses cheveux et j'y ai decouvert 2 ptes betes. Shampoing, changer le lit, laver le manteau et les laisser dans le seche-linge assez longtemps, ce fut mon soiree du lundi soir.

new morning schedule/ on se leve plus tot

Everybody was up at 6am on Monday. For the girls this is a big difference in their morning schedule from their 7.30am wake-up.  Yossi dropped Rachel at 7am and I dropped Natalie at 7.30am at school. It went and we were relieved to see that the girls adapted so easily.
Yossi had a good 1st day with IBM. His training in Herndon is going well and we should know tomorrow where he will be working from. It looks like it will be around here - we cross our fingers and hope he isn't sent too far away. He was pleased to meet people his age, a lot of guys with kids at home.

Lundi, 1er jour pour Yossi avec IBM avec un training d'une semaine a Herndon. son 1er jour s'est tres bien passe.
Tout le monde s'est couche tot le dimanche soir et on avait prepare les files a l'idee qu'elles iraient le lendemain matin a l'ecole beaucoup plus tot que d'habitude. Rachel a 7h (au lieu de 8h30) et Natalie 7h30 (au lieu de 8h45). Tout s'est bien passe, Natalie s'est reveillee a 5h30!
Yossi a depose Rachel et j'ai depose Natalie et j'ai repris la releve du soir. C'est agreable de voir les filles le matin et d'aller les chercher de nouveau.

Rachel is at home

Rachel had some fever last night and she stayed home with Yossi today.
Two days ago, she was asking to skip school abd now that she could not go, she was heartbroken. I suggested she write a note to her teacher and taht seemed to cheer her up.

Will have to find a way to download the pdf version, unless i take a picture of it.



maman
Rachel n'etait pas bien hier soir et aujourd'hui elle est restee avec papa a la maison.
Il y a 2 jours elle me demandait de ne pas aller a l'ecole et aujourd'hui matin lorsque on lui a dit qu'elle ne pouvait pas aller a l'ecole parce qu'elle avait de la fievre, elle etait si triste.
Elle a ecrit une note a son professeur et ca l'a aide. J'en prendrai une photo pour te la montrer, c'est tellement mignon.

Finally some pictures from Belgium

We spent this summer 3 wonderful weeks in company of family and friends in Belgium.

Cet ete nous avons passe 3 merveilleuses semaines en Belgique chez mes parents, ma soeur et mon frere et des amis au Luxembourg.

it is October already/ deja octobre

BB7 is over and so is Rachel's open house, and Natalie's school pumpkin patch trip.

It was rather chilly this Monday October 8 but nothing would have stopped Natalie and me and many of her classmates to go to Homestead farm for our train ride to the pumlin patch. This year we got 5 pumkins and went apples picking as well. Natalie picked 13 pounds of pink lady apples.

Il faisait plutot frisquet ce lundi matin pour notre aventure a la ferme. Apres le parcours en charette derriere le tracteur, nous avons choisi nos potirons dans le champ. Heureusement que j'avais pris un grand sac car Natalie n'a pas voulu s'arreter apres avoir selectionne les 2 premiers. Apres le lunch, nous avons rencontre sa grande copine Peyton et nous sommes allees a la ceuillette de pommes. Nous sommes revenus avec 5 potirons et 6 kgs de pommes.

La journee avait commence tot car a 9h nous etions a l'ecole de Rachel ou il y avait journee portes ouvertes. C'etait sympa de voir Rachel dans son element avec ses copins et copines. Quand Natalie et moi somes parties, Yossi est restee un peu plus longtemps.

New teacher for Rachel

Rachel is so proud to be in first grade. She loves her teacher Mrs. Lichtenstein, which h I pronounce the German way, pronoucing the "t".
Rachel: no, mom it is "Lichenstein" or just call her Mrs. L.

When she came back home that day, she complained that the day had been way too short.

Questions

Rachel:
Dad, where do we come from?  
you should have seen the look on Yossi's face, she was referring to the big picture
Mom, did God make us all?
Why didn't God give us 4 arms?     sometimes I wish he had  

Natalie:
Did God create the television too?

1st day in 1st grade

Rachel was thrilled to learn last Friday that her best friend Delfina is in the same class this year. With her are as well from last year's class Kathleen, Dunya, Sam and Daniel. She is so happy to be in 1st grade. When she came back from school on Monday, she told me that the day had gone way too fast. She likes her new teacher Mrs. Lichtenstein whom I haven't met yet, Yossi did. "Rachel, Why do you like Mrs. Lichtenstein" "Becaue she is nice" good answer! Natalie was thrilled to see her teacher Mrs. Candi and of course Ms. Kelly in the office (she used to be in Natalie's class 2 years ago - they have a special bound these 2). Natalie found her friends and a lot of hugs were exchanged with Peyton who was already there when we dropped her off. Evie, Lavina, Yuvika are still there this year. Her friends Hawei and Anjeli are entering public school.

hornests attack

combination of jet lack and desire to to work in the backyard?

Since our return on Tuesday we have been waking up early.

Yesterday morning was perfect to work outside. Satisfied with my work in the backyard, I decided to tackle in the front of the house the few high weeds my husband had left untouched not knowing if they were flowers or not.  Not paying much attention to my surroundings which I know so well, I cut the high stem and started pulling the small ones around, not knowing that behind that in the bush was a hornets hive. The rest you can imagine.  I am so glad I did not let the girls be close to me. 
Arms and legs were bitten but I am fine with medication.
I'll post a picture of my hero who volunteered to take care of the next.

Je me suis fait attaque par des frelots en travaillant devant la maison. Tot le matin comme je ne dormais plus je me suis mise au travail et contente de mon travail derriere la maison j'ai voulu enlever quelques mauvaises herbes devant la maison.  Juste en dessous des volotes de la chambre, je me suis mise a couper et a arracher les herbes que Yossi avait laissees ne sachant pas si c'etait des fleurs. 5 min apres avoir commence je me suis fait attaque, ne sachant pas trop ce que c'etait. J'ai senti une douleur aigue a la jambe et j'ai vu des insectes noirs voler autour de moi. J'ai fait de grands mouvements circulaires avec les bras pour les empecher de me piquer au visage et me suis refugiee a la maison. Les filles qui jouaient dehors avec moi etaient heureusement plus loin. Resultat: 11 piqures pour moi et Natalie malheuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuueusement une piqure. La pauvre ele a hurle lorsqu'elle s'est fait piquer. On aurait dit qu'on nous attaquait avec des aiguilles.

bonjour la Belgique

We had a great flight to Belgium. The girls watched tv non-stop (for once it was fine with me), had a kids meal and slept for 1-2 hours. The girls are enjoying their stay and spent time with grandma, aunts and cousins, what a great time for them.
The weather is sunny and the temps. are perfect
Pictures to follow

Rachel's drawing

Rachel likes to draw, make paper clothes for her dolls, create things that she sells us (this is new), write how she feels. Here is a glimpse of what she wrote/drew: family portraits mainly.

sex of the baby

Last night around the dinner table Natalie: I will have a baby girl when I am older Rachel: you can not choose the sex of your baby. You might want a boy and might get a girl.... Mom: in fact you can tell sometimes. When the belly is big the doctor can place a camera on your belly and tell you the sex. Blank look Rachel: how is that possible? I show her how the camera works and give her a few samples Rachel: but mom, HOW can you tell if it is a boy or a girl? Mom: The boy has a penis (no mention of the extra genital part) big smile on her face

Meme Frieda's visit

Yossi's mom has had so far a great visit and will enjoy her last 2 weeks in Yossi's company since he is job hunting. She has aged and moves very slowly and does not go for her daily walk anymore. She is a great help to me and I rejoiced coming home to her with the children and having the hoouse clear of toys in the middle of the living room, no mesh in the girls' bedroom, no dog's hair on the parquet, no dishes in the sink, and even sometimes having dinner ready for you. Last night's dinner was perfect, everybody was around the table drinking wine and having a nice slow cooked dinner with grandma. This trip might be her last visit to us but who knows. It is a 12-hour plane ride from Tel Aviv to Newark with a midnight departure and a 4-hour train from NJ to MD. She is admirable.

fancy words

In the car last week Rachel: Natalie if you do that these will be ruined, destroyed. Mom do you like my fancy words? Mom: oui ma cherie R: Do you want to know how I know them Mom: bien sur R: I typed them on my brain and yes, I wrote it down

talking in the car/ conversation dans la voiture

Natalie: maman, tomorrow I would like to bring 3 things for snacks (they do get a snack at 10am and at 3pm but they take an extra healthy snack that they eat at 5pm). Maman: you usually bring 1 or 2 things, 3 is a lot Natalie: No, 3 is not a big number, it is a small one. Big number is 1 million, 1 thousand...... Rachel: maman, I would like to be 20 years old Maman: why ma cherie? Rachel: because I want to have children Maman: at 20 you will still be at school and will have some more time to have children afterwards between Natalie and Rachel: R: Natalie, I will read this book to your children (Cinderalla with CD). I will keep this book for ever. Natalie: yes we will keep this book and will not give it to another child Laurie, yes I had to write it down at the next stop, I did not want to forget that. Too bad I could not tape it. conversation dans la voiture maman, demain je voudrais prendre 3 choses pour le snack (l'ecole leur donne deja un snack a 10h et a 3h mais les enfants apportent un snack pour manger a 5h en attendant l'arrivee des parents) Mais Natalie, tu prends normalement 1 ou 2 choses pour le snack, mais pas 3 c'est beaucoup Non, 3 est un petit chiffre pas un grand. Un grand chiffre c'est 1 million, c'est 1 mille .... Rachel: maman, je voudrais avoir 20 ans Pourquoi ma cherie? Parce que a 20 ans j'aurai des enfants A 20 ans tu seras encore a l'ecole Rachel se tourne alors vers Natalie: Je lirai ce livre a tes enfants (je viens de leur acheter un livre de Cendrillon avec le CD a une brocante pour 50 cents). Natalie: Oui on va le garder pour toujours, on ne va pas le donner a un autre enfant (c'est normalement ce que je vais avec les livres et jouets qu'elle ne regardent plus)

1st salad from the garden

jolies salades et epinards du jardin etaient au rendez-vous pour le lunch ce week-end. Mon jardin n'a jamais ete aussi beau. Merci papy vincent My garden has never been so beautiful. Thank you Papy Vinent. He planted in my little space twice or 3 time as much as I used to.

Meme Frieda's visit

Yossi's mom is with us for 5 weeks. She is having such a wonderful time with the girls and us.

Lettre pour maman/ letter to Mommy

A month ago, Rachel wrote me and Yossi a letter. Rachel nous a ecrit une lettre Chere maman Je vais bien. Mon animal prefere est le pingouin et mon chiffre prefere est le no 10. Love Rachel Love it!

girls posing in front of azaleas

Spring 2012
Rachel ne veut pas souvent etre photographiee. Rachel does not like to be photographed unless she takes them herself, Natalie does not mind. rachel n'aime pas qd je prend des photos d'elle, elle prefere les prendre elle-meme, voici le resultat.

Pictures taken by Rachel of Natalie and me

ok ma tete est coupee, on en refait une

I am learning how to put a slideshow of our pictures but I haven't figured it out how to paste the code into the blog even though I got good guidance from Therese. I'll get there.

Visit of grandparents - pictures

Voici qq photos de la visite de mamy et papy Vincent