fall

outing to Strathmore

A few months ago a friend performed at Strathmore. I took Rachel to the concert.

5th day after surgery/ 4e jour apres mon passage a l'hopital

4 days ago I was laying down on a hospital bed in a lot of pain and under severe narcotic drugs. The surgeon had just removed my gallbladder and was satisfied with the result of the surgery.
Today with all the love, good wishes, great food and prayers from my friends and family, I feel much better. Thank you.
I am able to get up without help, to walk, and can eat solid food. Life is getting better by the hour.


Mardi j'etais allongee sur un lit d'hopital souffrant le martyr apres l'operation. Aujourd'hui je peux me lever, marcher, me tenir droite et mieux respirer. Je peux commencer a manger normalement et tout ca grace a vos bons voeux, a vos bons plats, a vos e-mail et coups de fil et a votre amour. Merci a la famille et aux amis qui m'entourent.

no blogging for a few days/ qq jours de repos

I will resume blogging in a few days after my return from the hospital.
I could have slept till 7am this morning but I was awake at 5am, sent a few messages, recorded my voice mail at work.
It is now 630am and all is quiet.

je suis eveillee depuis 5h du matin. Tout est calme a la maison. J'ai envoye qq messages, mis les boulettes que j'ai cuites hier soir au frigo. De retour sur le blog ds qq jours.

heart/ coeur

Reading Sylvia's blog about "stealing my heart" brought back some memories.
When I was pregnant with Natalie, I was afraid that I would not have enough love for our second daughter, child so desired. My former neighbor who had already 2 children told me the following: when your second child is born, you heart opens up and doubles. And it is exactly what happened.

She is the one as well who confirmed that breastfeeding was painful in the first three weeks. I don't recall that ever been mentioned during the class, or maybe I chose not to hear it.

Quand j'etais enceinte de Natalie, je me demandais comment j'allais pouvoir aimer cette enfant si attendue vu que l'amour que j'avais pour Rachel emplissait une grande partie de mon Coeur. Ma voisine m'a dit ne t'en fais pas, quand Natalie sera dans tes bras, ton Coeur s'ouvrira et doublera de volume. Ca a l'air bête mais c'est exactement ce qui s'est passé.

countdown till your birthdays/ les files decomptent les jours

Rachel,

In less than 15 days, you will be 8 years old.
You marked it on the calendar and talks about it every day. Not about the presents you could get, but the friends you are going to invite, the cake you'll eat and the activities you will play with them (in that order).

On the other hand, your sister keeps talking about the present she will get from Rachel and us for Hannukah, her birthday, Saint Nicholas (on Dec. 6) and Christmas. She has been talking about an American doll. You asked "if the present is expensive, do we need to give money to Santa?" (tough question).

Les filles n'arretent pas de parler de leur anniversaire. Rachel a deja fait 2 projets d'invitations et ecrit plusieurs listes d'activites. Natalie n'a qu'une idee en tete: le cadeau qu'on va lui offrir. Elle reve d'une poupee "American girl" qu'ils vendent a un prix fou.
Rachel aussi en parle et cette poupee est speciale pour les enfants (un peu comme la poupee qui marche que je voulais tant quand j'etais petite). Jusqu'ici nous avions toujours dit non a Rachel en lui promettant de l'acheter pour ses 8 ans. Ses 8 ans elle les aura dans qq jours.

Patience where are you?/ patience ou es-tu?

For the last month, it seems that I haven't had much patience at all. First there was that terrible pain, then nausea, then a reduced but constant pain, followed by a strict diet and the end of calendar year stress to close the books at work. I guess it is no wonder that I've lost my patience. It is even a miracle that I've still some. I haven't had a piece of CHOCOLATE for a month! I can't believe it. In a week, things should go back to normal and honestly I can't wait.

J'ai tellement peu de patience depuis ma crise de la visicule et mon regime sans graisse. Ca va faire un mois que je n'ai pas touché un pt bout de chocolat.... un cauchemar pour une belge.

Rachel takes gymnastic/ Rachel prend des cours de gym

Rachel had been asking to take gymnastics but as she was taking soccer and basketball already, we decided to postpone it. Till the day we could not bear her headstands and cartwheels in the house, it was time. Today I discovered an old picture Yossi took last year.
She started this Spring and is still very enthusiastic. Constantine, her Russian trainer, is not only "funny" according to Rachel, but strict as well, great qualities for a trainer.


Rachel prend des cours de gymnastique et elle adore. J'ai retrouve une vieille photo prise par Yossi.

visit to Natalie's class/ visite a l'ecole de Natalie

I spent one hour at Natalie's school today. I played words bingo with Natalie's reading bodies. It was a lot of fun spending that time with Sara, Parker, and Davi. I look forward to doing that again.
Afterwards I met with her teacher for a 1-on-1 conference. Natalie is doing very well and has become a leader who loves to share what she knows with her classmates. I was thrilled to hear that, knowing that at Montessori she had been the youngest one in her class.
After the meeting, I joined them for lunch in the cafeteria. Quite a noisy place but that was fun too.

Ce matin j'ai passe une heure dans la classe de Natalie. J'ai joue au bingo de mots avec 3 copains de lecture qui sont avec elle dans le groupe de lecture avancee (niveau fin 1ere annee scolaire). Apres ca, j'ai eu un entretien avec son institutrice Ms Zador. Tout va bien, tout va tres tres bien.

evening with dear friends/ soire avec les mamans "lait"

We have known each other for close to 8 years and their friendship is very dear to me.

Last night at the second Sunday gathering, we all had a great time and the children had so much fun.
I haven't been to many second Sunday meetings unfortunately but I feel that this will change!
Rachel is already thinking about a future SS meeting at our house. Our house is not big but we should manage.







Dan was a super entertainer during the kids dinner, thank you Dan.



Qui aurait pu imaginer que le groupe que nous etions au centre "BB" il y a presque 8 ans aurait continuer a se cotoyer et que nos enfants auraient grandi et joue ensemble.
Nos soupers entre mamans une fois par mois sont supers et les reunions le 2e dimanche du mois avec enfants et maris sont geniales. Hier soir nous etions chez Laurie et Scott.

time with aunt and uncle / oncle et tante en Belgique

Fabienne, my sister and Chris, her husband.

We spent a few days with them and it was wonderful. They have a huge property where the girls could explore the orchard, check the pounds, look for frogs... and most importantly spend quality time with their aunt Faby and uncle Chris.

Nous avons passe qq jours chez Faby et c'etait magique pour les filles de decouvrir les tritons dans l'etang, d'admirer les libelules ou simplement faire des calins a tantine et tonton.

love notes from Natalie/ lettres d'amour

Rachel lost her first tooth on October 1st/ perte de la 1ere dent pour Rachel

SELF PORTRAIT

Rachel you were so happy to have your 1st tooth wiggling. You touched it and twisted it so much that the next day it was out.
The fairy tooth did not forget you of course.

Tu etais si contente d'avoir enfin ta premiere dent qui bouge. Le lendemain elle atterissait dans ta main. Tu l'as mis sous ton oreiller et la fee des dents est passee.

do you like yogurt? so does Heidi

Heidi is a 11-year old German Sheppard we rescued 9 years ago. Heidi was not supposed to be our first daughter but as it took us 18 months to conceive, we decided to start with her to welcome our future children. She has been a wonderful friend, especially when I was sick in the beginning of my pregnancy, when I could not sleep and would wake up during the night. She put her head on my belly and looked at me with her sweet face. She joined me to the girls bedroom when one was not feeling well and even guarded their room when I was feeding Natalie.
Now it is Rachel's and Natalie's job to feed you.
Every day is a blessing to have her in our life.

Heidi, nous t'avons accueilli dans notre famille ca fait maintemant 9 ans.
Tu es toujours la, derriere moi. Tu etais la lorsque je ne pouvais dormer et que j'etais malade pendant mes grossesses. Tu me faisais sourrir en posant ta tete sur mon gros ventre. Tu proteges les filles et aboit encore plus depui qu'elles sont la, tu montes la garde. Lorsqu'une d'elles est malade, tu me rejoins dans leur chambre et te couches a mes pieds.
Tu prends de l'age mais aodre toujours tes promenandes et courrir après la balle, nous en faisons un peu moins car le soir tu as mal aux pattes.

godfathers and godmother

Max, Vincent and Jenny.
The girls love them . Vincent and Jenny are my sister's kids. Vincent married Max, a great guy, 7 years ago. They are all so wonderful.

Visit to meme

welcome to Israel

Family reunion this summer in Belgium --Rachel did not want to be in the picture

my mom and my step dad the gardener
my sister and her husband and their kids and son in law
my brother Eric

biking in Begium

Thank God for uncle Chris to help Natalie to learn how to bike without the small wheels. We had great weather in Belgium this past summer.
Rachel was not even interested in learning. Natalie was so eager that she tired us all.

Apple picking/ une journee a la ferme

The weather was superb and we had a lot of fun. The girls harvested 45 lbs of apples!! We are still eating them.
Nous avons recolte plus de 20 kgs de pommes.

fighting the smurf

November month here we go!

This year again, we are embracing the challenge of posting every day. With my surgery in the planning to remove the gallstone/gallbladder, I'll try to post as much as I can but it might not be every day.
I love the month of November with the leaves changing color, Thanksgiving, and all the pumpkin deserts you can make but with blogging every day, I love this month even more.

Halloween again

This year, Rachel was a vampire again and refused to wear her princess costume. Natalie decided she wanted to be a fairy/angel. Pictures to come.

Cette annee Rachel a opte pour le vampire et Natalie a ete un ange.

birthdays/ anticipation des anniversaires

At the end of the year, they both will celebrate their birthdays (8 and 6 respectively). They have been making lists of invitees and preparing goodie bags. The  lists keep changing.

Dans 2 mois pour Rachel et 2,5 mois pour Natalie elles feteront leurs anniversaires. Depuis deja qq mois, ells me preparent des listes d'invites et preparent deja les sacs a offrir lors du depart des invites (goodie bags). Je les laisse faire. Les listes changent souvent neanmoins.

birthdays

Rachel: maman, yesterday it was Mrs. Lichtenstein's birthday (Rachel's teacher) and we celebrated it. She brought donuts.
M: how is is Mrs. L?
R: hum I think she is 17
puzzled look on my face...
R: oh no she is 71
another puzzled look on my face...
R: I think she is 50. Yes she is 50 years old.

R: maman, how old are you?
She knows I am 48
R: can I tell you something funny?
     4 + 4 = 8; forty eight!


Rachel: aujourd'hui c'etait l'anniveraire de Mrs. L (professeur) et elle a apporte des donuts pour toute la classe.
Elle a quel age, Mrs. L?
R: Je crois qu'elle a 17 ans (elle constate que je suis surprise), euh non, elle a 71 (de nouveau surprise). Non je crois qu'elle a 50 ans, oui elle a 50 ans.

R: maman, tu as quel age? (elle sait tres bien que j'ai 48 ans)
     je peux te dire qq chose de rigolo?
4 + 4 = 8   >>>>>48
c'est a mettre avec celle de 57 (N a 5 ans et moi j'ai 7 ans et papa a 57 ans)


4 + 4

5 & 7

Rachel: "maman, this year I am seven years old, Natalie is five and papa is 57!
At home Yossi does challenge the girls with their math skills and they enjoy using their abascus.

R: maman, j'ai 7 ans, N a 5 ans et papa a 57 ans!
Yossi leur fait faire des calculs avec l'abascus et elles adorent.

I forgot by Natalie

5-year old Natalie:  "maman, I have to tell you something"
Mom: "oui ma cherie"
Natalie: "oh, I forgot..."