I was rather tired this morning, so I decided to have some leftover honey cake for breakfast instead of making something else. Anna noticed, and came running over: "Want to try it! Want to try it!"
She was excited beyond belief that we actually got to her Kindermusik class this morning. She had a great time and happily went down for her nap when we got home. We'll see how the rest of the day goes.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
I really should know better
This morning I took the girls to the bank. Instead of using the convenient, silent & trustworthy bank machine, I went into the bank. Why? For various reasons, I needed to obtain a money order in Canadian funds. Apparently asking for that was akin to speaking Greek. "I don't think we can do that. We don't have Canadian money orders."
Me: "What? Really? I just need to get a money order in Canadian funds. Can you tell me where I can get one?"
Bank lady: "No, I don't know." *goes to ask another employee* "We can possibly order something in but it will be expensive and it will take at least 4 days."
Me: "No, never mind. You really don't know where I can get a Canadian money order?"
I didn't realize that BANKS weren't equipped to deal with currency requests!!! And yes, I realize that I am not in a border state. But still... to not even know? Surely some people from Kansas travel out of the country and want foreign funds before they depart. Surely some people do business in foreign countries and occasionally need to use something other than Pay Pal. Or perhaps I am truly naive.
At home, as far as I understand it, I can either go to the bank or I can go to the handy-dandy currency exchange place in the mall where I once obtained a gig's worth of pesos to pay a friend as a joke. I do not recall seeing such a place in the mall here, so to the bank I went.
Now I do understand that the post offices here sell money orders, but it also implies that said money orders can be cashed at the post office of the receiving country. That will not work for my needs. I am loath to go to the post office myself with this request since it seems that ignorance abounds. I might send poor, unsuspecting Ben later on. Yes, I think that would be best. I'm currently not capable of politeness in the face of stupidity.
(Yes, I am a stranger in a strange land. Yes, I should be polite. But you know what? It's not the lack of ability to carry out my request that annoyed me. It was the disinterest, and lack of assistance to find a solution that currently have me riled up. Fine, you can't give me a money order in Canadian funds. How about suggesting somewhere that can?!!??!?)
Me: "What? Really? I just need to get a money order in Canadian funds. Can you tell me where I can get one?"
Bank lady: "No, I don't know." *goes to ask another employee* "We can possibly order something in but it will be expensive and it will take at least 4 days."
Me: "No, never mind. You really don't know where I can get a Canadian money order?"
I didn't realize that BANKS weren't equipped to deal with currency requests!!! And yes, I realize that I am not in a border state. But still... to not even know? Surely some people from Kansas travel out of the country and want foreign funds before they depart. Surely some people do business in foreign countries and occasionally need to use something other than Pay Pal. Or perhaps I am truly naive.
At home, as far as I understand it, I can either go to the bank or I can go to the handy-dandy currency exchange place in the mall where I once obtained a gig's worth of pesos to pay a friend as a joke. I do not recall seeing such a place in the mall here, so to the bank I went.
Now I do understand that the post offices here sell money orders, but it also implies that said money orders can be cashed at the post office of the receiving country. That will not work for my needs. I am loath to go to the post office myself with this request since it seems that ignorance abounds. I might send poor, unsuspecting Ben later on. Yes, I think that would be best. I'm currently not capable of politeness in the face of stupidity.
(Yes, I am a stranger in a strange land. Yes, I should be polite. But you know what? It's not the lack of ability to carry out my request that annoyed me. It was the disinterest, and lack of assistance to find a solution that currently have me riled up. Fine, you can't give me a money order in Canadian funds. How about suggesting somewhere that can?!!??!?)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
More Anna
"Boofiful!" (beautiful)
"One two three four five seven eight nine TEN! Eleven twelve thirteen nineteen!"
She also randomly yells out, "Wonder Pets, Wonder Pets, ON THE WAY!" So much for being done with cheesy tv characters. Anna is also in love with Dora and Diego. Surprisingly, she doesn't much care for Curious George.
Anna also doesn't care much for sleeping. She did get a new tooth - #9. We also suspect that more teeth are coming. Anyone know if there's a quick way to force them through?!?!? Last night Anna slept from about 6:30-9:30, then midnight-4 a.m. She napped from 11-1 (it would have been earlier but I forced her to stay up) and she was desperately ready for bed tonight by 6:35 despite our best attempts to keep her up a bit later.
At least she's happy. According to Anna, life is boofiful.
"One two three four five seven eight nine TEN! Eleven twelve thirteen nineteen!"
She also randomly yells out, "Wonder Pets, Wonder Pets, ON THE WAY!" So much for being done with cheesy tv characters. Anna is also in love with Dora and Diego. Surprisingly, she doesn't much care for Curious George.
Anna also doesn't care much for sleeping. She did get a new tooth - #9. We also suspect that more teeth are coming. Anyone know if there's a quick way to force them through?!?!? Last night Anna slept from about 6:30-9:30, then midnight-4 a.m. She napped from 11-1 (it would have been earlier but I forced her to stay up) and she was desperately ready for bed tonight by 6:35 despite our best attempts to keep her up a bit later.
At least she's happy. According to Anna, life is boofiful.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Five-year-olds are funny
On Friday I took the girls to Costco to pick up a few things. Since it was around lunchtime, let's just say that we all did very well with samples:
*marble cheesecake
*sunflower seed cookie
*grape juice
*breaded mozzarella stick
*spinach & cheese ravioli (both girls gobbled this down!!)
*peanut butter & chocolate protein bar (only Rachel had this)
*probably a few more things that I can't remember
We got to the checkout lane, and our cashier was a nice-looking young man in his mid-20s with very long hair. As I was paying, I heard a small voice pipe up:
"Excuse me, Mom, but how can it be a boy if it has long hair?"
Yup, that was my daughter. And yes, she apologized to the cashier who laughed and said he'd heard much worse!
**********************************
At dinner on Friday, Rachel was being rude and I called her out on it. Immediately, another little voice started calling out, "Rude! Rude! Rachel rude!!!" At least that's all she was saying...
**********************************
Rachel walked two doors down all by herself on Friday afternoon to see if her friend wanted to come over to play. She was told that her friend would come in about 15-20 minutes since they were about to eat lunch. Rachel waited eagerly on our stairs by the front door, and she was very excited when her friend finally got here.
It's possible that I'm just inexperienced at this playdate thing, but wow, was the other girl bossy!! She kept saying that she was the guest so they got to do whatever she wanted to do. "The guest gets to choose," she would say. I'm sure this is the rule at her house, but really, I think there has to be some give and take in all situations. Yes, the guest gets to go first, or choose the first activity or whatever, but really? Everything? Am I just naive here? I just can't imagine how that would be fun for both parties if one person chose everything.
I'd still say that overall it was a good afternoon. Rachel told me later that she was really upset because her friend wanted to play "Sleepover". I asked her what was wrong with that. "She said she was going to read me a book, but then she didn't read what it said, she just made up a story!!!!" Rachel sobbed. I guess it hasn't occurred to her that not all of her peers can read yet. Once I realized what was upsetting her, it was very difficult not to laugh.
***************************
And in another literary vein, I had a few books from a Scholastic order that I had stashed away. One was an "Ivy & Bean" book. I gave it to Rachel to read this afternoon while the rest of us enjoyed a leisurely Shabbat afternoon nap. When I asked her how she liked it, she said that there was a really bad part. Surprised (I had pre-read it to make sure it would be ok for her and that she wouldn't be scared!), I asked what part was bad. At first, I thought she was upset that Bean's older sister was mean to her. No, that wasn't it. After a little detective work, it turned out that Rachel was upset because Bean's older sister told her that the bones they had found in the backyard weren't dinosaur bones, they were dog bones.
I assume that no-one reading this sees the problem with that. Of course dogs bury bones in the backyard, everyone knows that. Well, everyone except for Rachel who assumed that they meant real DOG BONES from an actual DOG. She was extremely upset about this, and I had to explain to her that it was bones for a dog to chew on that were buried back there. This satisfied her until bedtime, when she expressed her disappointment that she never did get to find out what the bones were. I told her again that they were bones for dogs, and she asked where they were from. I explained that they probably came from meat and left it at that.
We think that Rachel still thinks there is a difference between "Chicken the bird" and "Chicken the meat". Anna, on the other hand, sees me serving chicken for dinner and yells things like, "Chicken! Cluck cluck!"
*marble cheesecake
*sunflower seed cookie
*grape juice
*breaded mozzarella stick
*spinach & cheese ravioli (both girls gobbled this down!!)
*peanut butter & chocolate protein bar (only Rachel had this)
*probably a few more things that I can't remember
We got to the checkout lane, and our cashier was a nice-looking young man in his mid-20s with very long hair. As I was paying, I heard a small voice pipe up:
"Excuse me, Mom, but how can it be a boy if it has long hair?"
Yup, that was my daughter. And yes, she apologized to the cashier who laughed and said he'd heard much worse!
**********************************
At dinner on Friday, Rachel was being rude and I called her out on it. Immediately, another little voice started calling out, "Rude! Rude! Rachel rude!!!" At least that's all she was saying...
**********************************
Rachel walked two doors down all by herself on Friday afternoon to see if her friend wanted to come over to play. She was told that her friend would come in about 15-20 minutes since they were about to eat lunch. Rachel waited eagerly on our stairs by the front door, and she was very excited when her friend finally got here.
It's possible that I'm just inexperienced at this playdate thing, but wow, was the other girl bossy!! She kept saying that she was the guest so they got to do whatever she wanted to do. "The guest gets to choose," she would say. I'm sure this is the rule at her house, but really, I think there has to be some give and take in all situations. Yes, the guest gets to go first, or choose the first activity or whatever, but really? Everything? Am I just naive here? I just can't imagine how that would be fun for both parties if one person chose everything.
I'd still say that overall it was a good afternoon. Rachel told me later that she was really upset because her friend wanted to play "Sleepover". I asked her what was wrong with that. "She said she was going to read me a book, but then she didn't read what it said, she just made up a story!!!!" Rachel sobbed. I guess it hasn't occurred to her that not all of her peers can read yet. Once I realized what was upsetting her, it was very difficult not to laugh.
***************************
And in another literary vein, I had a few books from a Scholastic order that I had stashed away. One was an "Ivy & Bean" book. I gave it to Rachel to read this afternoon while the rest of us enjoyed a leisurely Shabbat afternoon nap. When I asked her how she liked it, she said that there was a really bad part. Surprised (I had pre-read it to make sure it would be ok for her and that she wouldn't be scared!), I asked what part was bad. At first, I thought she was upset that Bean's older sister was mean to her. No, that wasn't it. After a little detective work, it turned out that Rachel was upset because Bean's older sister told her that the bones they had found in the backyard weren't dinosaur bones, they were dog bones.
I assume that no-one reading this sees the problem with that. Of course dogs bury bones in the backyard, everyone knows that. Well, everyone except for Rachel who assumed that they meant real DOG BONES from an actual DOG. She was extremely upset about this, and I had to explain to her that it was bones for a dog to chew on that were buried back there. This satisfied her until bedtime, when she expressed her disappointment that she never did get to find out what the bones were. I told her again that they were bones for dogs, and she asked where they were from. I explained that they probably came from meat and left it at that.
We think that Rachel still thinks there is a difference between "Chicken the bird" and "Chicken the meat". Anna, on the other hand, sees me serving chicken for dinner and yells things like, "Chicken! Cluck cluck!"
Thursday, September 24, 2009
A house full of music
Our house has always been full of music. Violin, viola, piano, cello, singing, Kindermusik, CDs of all kinds... not to mention the various in-utero experiences that both kids had. I can't remember if I've posted this before or not, so I'm going to go ahead at the risk of possibly repeating myself. *gasp* The horror, the horror! (Quick, what book am I quoting?)
When I was about halfway with Rachel, we were playing Fagans' Messiah at Centennial Hall. The second last piece before the intermission is #20, "He Shall Feed His Flock", which has to be the slowest, most repetitive aria on the face of the planet. (Ok, it's likely not that bad, but when you've been playing almost non-stop and are really, really ready for a break, it definitely feels like it lasts forever! And just when it could come to a close, Handel decides to do the whole thing over again with the soprano, in a different key!)
About halfway through the piece, I started to feel very unwell. It took me a minute to figure out the odd sensation - Rachel had started to do somersaults in utero while I was playing! I suspect that I was also sitting up too straight and not paying attention to my pregnant body telling me that I needed to relax a bit! Still, every time I was involved in some kind of choral concert, there was extra movement from the baby.
About 6 weeks later, I had the questionable privilege of playing with Orchestra London for their Celtic concert. This included pipes and drums. At one point, the only thing happening on stage was a very loud, rhythmic drum solo. Shortly after it started, I began wondering (not without some irritation) who on earth felt it necessary to be tapping their foot so emphatically in time with the music on stage. Then it dawned on me - it was the baby inside of me, kicking IN TIME to the music.
I'm generally skeptical of things like the "Mozart effect", although of course if you have music in your environment it seems logical to conclude that music study will come easier, among other things.
That said, Rachel has been in Kindermusik since she was 1 week old. No, not because I thought that she would really benefit from it at such a young age, but because I needed to get out and do something! By next May (2010), she will have completed the entire program, which culminates in the Young Child curriculum. She will have learned to play the glockenspiel, dulcimer and recorder. She will know how to read at least 6 notes on the treble clef, as well as knowing about different rhythms and "technical" names such as quarter note and fermata.
Rachel started piano on August 17th of this year. In 5.5 short weeks, she has learned to play various left hand patterns, Hot Cross Buns with both hands, one of the Twinkle variations from the Suzuki book, and the "regular" Twinkle in the right hand. She can clap and recite all kinds of rhythms with the infamous "Blue Jello" system. She has an innate understanding of what she is doing and why she is doing it. We listen to all kinds of music almost every day, and she runs around singing the words to the Suzuki pieces that were provided by her teacher. I am 99% sure that she has perfect pitch, and she has an uncanny ability to concentrate during practice sessions. Little Miss Compliant emerges many times, insisting that "Miss Jean told us to do it 5 times" so trying to take a short-cut if we're running out of time simply won't do.
While I was teaching this afternoon, Ben took the girls to the music store to pick up the theory/technique book that Rachel's teacher had asked us to buy. Rachel "read" it all the way home, and asked me just now to read it. I peeked over at her, and caught her quietly clapping the rhythms at the end of the book (accurately!). She loves the piano, and has yet to complain about practising. (I said "has yet". Don't worry, I'm under no illusion that that time won't come!)
Ben and I are still glad that we waited until this year to get Rachel started. In the past 6 months, we've seen huge changes in her. She is much more enthusiastic about participating in various activities. I suspect that part of it is due to homeschooling. Since she's not having to put out a huge effort to play social every day at school, she's more able to focus and participate happily in the activities that she enjoys. Or maybe I'm smoking the bad crack again... or should I say it's time for a new bong? ;)
Now for Anna. A little while ago, I posted about her saying "bwoo jewo". Yesterday, out of the blue (haha), she looked up at me and said in perfect time, "Half note! Half note!" She randomly says things like "Pepperoni pizza!" (for a left hand exercise) and "Lightly row!" throughout the day, and when Rachel is actually playing the piano, Anna provides a running commentary. "Rachel playing! Tinkle little star! Pepperoni pizza! Ready, go! Anna's turn! Anna's turn play piano!"
I'm glad that the girls are four years apart, because it scares me to see just how much Anna is picking up from her sister! Even if we choose to start Anna before age 5 (and I suspect we'll have to, just because she won't take no for an answer. Deanna, I'm starting to feel really guilty that I wouldn't take Lydia sooner. You can come flog me anytime!), she will have had an insane advantage just from listening in on Rachel's practice sessions. Then again, maybe we'll be able to convince Anna to play the violin or cello instead. We'll see. I actually have no objection to both girls playing piano though.
Ok, I'm all done bragging for tonight. ;)
When I was about halfway with Rachel, we were playing Fagans' Messiah at Centennial Hall. The second last piece before the intermission is #20, "He Shall Feed His Flock", which has to be the slowest, most repetitive aria on the face of the planet. (Ok, it's likely not that bad, but when you've been playing almost non-stop and are really, really ready for a break, it definitely feels like it lasts forever! And just when it could come to a close, Handel decides to do the whole thing over again with the soprano, in a different key!)
About halfway through the piece, I started to feel very unwell. It took me a minute to figure out the odd sensation - Rachel had started to do somersaults in utero while I was playing! I suspect that I was also sitting up too straight and not paying attention to my pregnant body telling me that I needed to relax a bit! Still, every time I was involved in some kind of choral concert, there was extra movement from the baby.
About 6 weeks later, I had the questionable privilege of playing with Orchestra London for their Celtic concert. This included pipes and drums. At one point, the only thing happening on stage was a very loud, rhythmic drum solo. Shortly after it started, I began wondering (not without some irritation) who on earth felt it necessary to be tapping their foot so emphatically in time with the music on stage. Then it dawned on me - it was the baby inside of me, kicking IN TIME to the music.
I'm generally skeptical of things like the "Mozart effect", although of course if you have music in your environment it seems logical to conclude that music study will come easier, among other things.
That said, Rachel has been in Kindermusik since she was 1 week old. No, not because I thought that she would really benefit from it at such a young age, but because I needed to get out and do something! By next May (2010), she will have completed the entire program, which culminates in the Young Child curriculum. She will have learned to play the glockenspiel, dulcimer and recorder. She will know how to read at least 6 notes on the treble clef, as well as knowing about different rhythms and "technical" names such as quarter note and fermata.
Rachel started piano on August 17th of this year. In 5.5 short weeks, she has learned to play various left hand patterns, Hot Cross Buns with both hands, one of the Twinkle variations from the Suzuki book, and the "regular" Twinkle in the right hand. She can clap and recite all kinds of rhythms with the infamous "Blue Jello" system. She has an innate understanding of what she is doing and why she is doing it. We listen to all kinds of music almost every day, and she runs around singing the words to the Suzuki pieces that were provided by her teacher. I am 99% sure that she has perfect pitch, and she has an uncanny ability to concentrate during practice sessions. Little Miss Compliant emerges many times, insisting that "Miss Jean told us to do it 5 times" so trying to take a short-cut if we're running out of time simply won't do.
While I was teaching this afternoon, Ben took the girls to the music store to pick up the theory/technique book that Rachel's teacher had asked us to buy. Rachel "read" it all the way home, and asked me just now to read it. I peeked over at her, and caught her quietly clapping the rhythms at the end of the book (accurately!). She loves the piano, and has yet to complain about practising. (I said "has yet". Don't worry, I'm under no illusion that that time won't come!)
Ben and I are still glad that we waited until this year to get Rachel started. In the past 6 months, we've seen huge changes in her. She is much more enthusiastic about participating in various activities. I suspect that part of it is due to homeschooling. Since she's not having to put out a huge effort to play social every day at school, she's more able to focus and participate happily in the activities that she enjoys. Or maybe I'm smoking the bad crack again... or should I say it's time for a new bong? ;)
Now for Anna. A little while ago, I posted about her saying "bwoo jewo". Yesterday, out of the blue (haha), she looked up at me and said in perfect time, "Half note! Half note!" She randomly says things like "Pepperoni pizza!" (for a left hand exercise) and "Lightly row!" throughout the day, and when Rachel is actually playing the piano, Anna provides a running commentary. "Rachel playing! Tinkle little star! Pepperoni pizza! Ready, go! Anna's turn! Anna's turn play piano!"
I'm glad that the girls are four years apart, because it scares me to see just how much Anna is picking up from her sister! Even if we choose to start Anna before age 5 (and I suspect we'll have to, just because she won't take no for an answer. Deanna, I'm starting to feel really guilty that I wouldn't take Lydia sooner. You can come flog me anytime!), she will have had an insane advantage just from listening in on Rachel's practice sessions. Then again, maybe we'll be able to convince Anna to play the violin or cello instead. We'll see. I actually have no objection to both girls playing piano though.
Ok, I'm all done bragging for tonight. ;)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Back to the holidays
The coke brisket was awesome! Much to our chagrin, Rachel loved it (less for us). Surprisingly, Anna did not like it. She also kept calling it "burger".
I thought I had more to say but apparently not.
I thought I had more to say but apparently not.
News links
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2009/09/23/11070591.html
It's Hanson Crescent, not Hanson Court, but close enough.
http://www.londontopic.ca/article.php?artid=16098
And I love how this one has a typo and lists the event as a "grow-up" bust. No kidding.
http://www.frommybottomstep.com/2009/09/22/hanson-cr-gro-op-bust/
Because our former house is now infamous so I have to link all I can. Haha.
http://www.altlondon.org/
This one you have to scroll way down now since it lists all kinds of local news.
It's Hanson Crescent, not Hanson Court, but close enough.
http://www.londontopic.ca/article.php?artid=16098
And I love how this one has a typo and lists the event as a "grow-up" bust. No kidding.
http://www.frommybottomstep.com/2009/09/22/hanson-cr-gro-op-bust/
Because our former house is now infamous so I have to link all I can. Haha.
http://www.altlondon.org/
This one you have to scroll way down now since it lists all kinds of local news.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Wow. Just wow.
Remember all my tales of woe from when we moved into our "Forever Home" in London in 2007? Well, apparently it is now a "No Longer Home".
No, it didn't burn down, but it may as well have. I got an email tonight from our former neighbour who is also a friend of ours from before we were ever neighbours. Apparently the people who bought our house were taken into custody today for running a grow-op in our house. Yes, you read that correctly. Our beautiful house that we brought Anna home to as a baby has been seized by the police. According to my neighbour, the entire house was being used for the grow-up, not just the basement! There were cops everywhere this afternoon, and they used my friend's house to let the drug-sniffing dog clear his nose. Um, wow.
What a colossal waste. From the minimal research I did online tonight, chances are good that the house is pretty uninhabitable unless someone were to buy it and gut and rebuild it from the inside. Supposedly houses with more hardwood have more problems since the humidity levels in grow-op houses are so high. I can't believe that I now have a reason to know this. Ben and I are both sick over this. Regardless of the time we spent in that house, it was our home. We designed it, and we lived in it. And no, we did not smoke pot in it!
I guess that now we know why they kept trying to get us to leave our curtains in the house when we sold it...
No, it didn't burn down, but it may as well have. I got an email tonight from our former neighbour who is also a friend of ours from before we were ever neighbours. Apparently the people who bought our house were taken into custody today for running a grow-op in our house. Yes, you read that correctly. Our beautiful house that we brought Anna home to as a baby has been seized by the police. According to my neighbour, the entire house was being used for the grow-up, not just the basement! There were cops everywhere this afternoon, and they used my friend's house to let the drug-sniffing dog clear his nose. Um, wow.
What a colossal waste. From the minimal research I did online tonight, chances are good that the house is pretty uninhabitable unless someone were to buy it and gut and rebuild it from the inside. Supposedly houses with more hardwood have more problems since the humidity levels in grow-op houses are so high. I can't believe that I now have a reason to know this. Ben and I are both sick over this. Regardless of the time we spent in that house, it was our home. We designed it, and we lived in it. And no, we did not smoke pot in it!
I guess that now we know why they kept trying to get us to leave our curtains in the house when we sold it...
Friday, September 18, 2009
Now I'm homesick...
http://home.cogeco.ca/~husky66/Milk/
I wish I knew how to make a clickable link, but every time I try it just doesn't work in Blogger. Anyway, I am currently chatting online with an American friend of mine, and she had no clue what a milk bag was. I googled it for kicks, and found this website which is totally cracking me up.
O Canada...
I wish I knew how to make a clickable link, but every time I try it just doesn't work in Blogger. Anyway, I am currently chatting online with an American friend of mine, and she had no clue what a milk bag was. I googled it for kicks, and found this website which is totally cracking me up.
O Canada...
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Not your grandma's brisket!
Since Rosh Hashanah starts tomorrow night, our kitchen has been a whirlwind of activity today. This afternoon I baked honey cakes, and Rachel helped me make challah tonight - 2 round loaves, and 1 regular one. She'll proudly tell you that she put the raisins on top to decorate!
As we all know, it isn't a holiday at our house unless I've cooked enough food to feed at least twice as many people as we'll be having for dinner. This year it's just the four of us and the menu is as follows:
Challah
Apples & honey
"Shake'n'bake" Honey Chicken (from Rachel's Kosher by Design: Kids in the Kitchen cookbook - this series is awesome!)
Carrots
Roast potatoes
possibly devilled eggs just because I feel like making them
Honey cake
Chocolate chip cookies (I admit it, I bought these today. I love having a local grocery store with a kosher bakery!)
Apple spice muffins
So obviously that isn't enough food, even though I'm hoping to feed us for Saturday and Sunday as well. That said, I bought a small brisket today. I know that Ben loved his grandma's brisket, and I won't pretend that I can do it justice. Instead, I looked around online and found a recommendation for this recipe:
http://www.gourmania.com/recipesmlym/mlnym_cokebrisket.htm
Yes, folks, tonight I seasoned a brisket in the roasting pan and then poured half a can of Coke Zero all over it! I'm equally horrified and amused that I just did that to a $20 piece of meat.
I'll be sure to report back on how it turns out. In the meantime, to those of you who celebrate, l'shana tova!
As we all know, it isn't a holiday at our house unless I've cooked enough food to feed at least twice as many people as we'll be having for dinner. This year it's just the four of us and the menu is as follows:
Challah
Apples & honey
"Shake'n'bake" Honey Chicken (from Rachel's Kosher by Design: Kids in the Kitchen cookbook - this series is awesome!)
Carrots
Roast potatoes
possibly devilled eggs just because I feel like making them
Honey cake
Chocolate chip cookies (I admit it, I bought these today. I love having a local grocery store with a kosher bakery!)
Apple spice muffins
So obviously that isn't enough food, even though I'm hoping to feed us for Saturday and Sunday as well. That said, I bought a small brisket today. I know that Ben loved his grandma's brisket, and I won't pretend that I can do it justice. Instead, I looked around online and found a recommendation for this recipe:
http://www.gourmania.com/recipesmlym/mlnym_cokebrisket.htm
Yes, folks, tonight I seasoned a brisket in the roasting pan and then poured half a can of Coke Zero all over it! I'm equally horrified and amused that I just did that to a $20 piece of meat.
I'll be sure to report back on how it turns out. In the meantime, to those of you who celebrate, l'shana tova!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
She has a point...
Rachel's piano teacher suggested that we get some flashcards to work on learning pre-reading skills. Although I suspect that the cards we purchased will be learned within a week or two at most, I have no problem going at the teacher's pace. I think that she is often surprised at the extent of Rachel's knowledge. Anyhow, today I showed her a card with a quarter rest and asked her what it was.
"A Shh!" she proclaimed proudly, clearly having paid attention to the system in Kindermusik. "Yes, but what other name does it have?" I asked. "Rest?" she said. "Yes," I answered, "But what kind of rest is it?"
She thought for a moment and then the lightbulb went on:
"A silent one!"
She has a point there. The correct answer, by the way, was quarter rest.
"A Shh!" she proclaimed proudly, clearly having paid attention to the system in Kindermusik. "Yes, but what other name does it have?" I asked. "Rest?" she said. "Yes," I answered, "But what kind of rest is it?"
She thought for a moment and then the lightbulb went on:
"A silent one!"
She has a point there. The correct answer, by the way, was quarter rest.
Rachel homeschools herself
We were at the bookstore this morning. In addition to picking up another book that is referenced in the Caldecotts book that Rachel so dearly loves, I thought we'd get a tree guide since we've been learning about trees. I went with the Audubon Pocket Guide - Familiar Trees of North America (Eastern). It's got pictures of real trees and their leaves, and has just enough information to satisfy Rachel without being too wordy.
She's been reading it for about 20 minutes, and keeps coming over to tell me about the different kinds of trees that we might find in Canada. (It tells you where various trees are found; and yes, I know that Kansas is probably not included in Eastern but it was the only pocket guide they had, and I figure she might as well learn about "Canadian" trees!)
I am highly amused that Rachel came over to me to tell me how much she liked the cockspur hawthorn. And I was just informed that the slippery elm has stripy textured leaves - she could tell from the picture.
So far I am doing very little work. But no, I am NOT unschooling!
She's been reading it for about 20 minutes, and keeps coming over to tell me about the different kinds of trees that we might find in Canada. (It tells you where various trees are found; and yes, I know that Kansas is probably not included in Eastern but it was the only pocket guide they had, and I figure she might as well learn about "Canadian" trees!)
I am highly amused that Rachel came over to me to tell me how much she liked the cockspur hawthorn. And I was just informed that the slippery elm has stripy textured leaves - she could tell from the picture.
So far I am doing very little work. But no, I am NOT unschooling!
Funny Anna
Anna is speaking in little sentences all the time now. It cracks me up to hear her say, "Thank you, mommy!" and "All done bagel!"
That said, she has some very cute misunderstandings regarding vocabulary. We have some word books that were given to Rachel as a baby (Thanks, Kate! We still love them!). One of these books has a cup in it. Anna calls it a "waterpease!" (water please) She is convinced that this is what a cup is called.
Also, when Anna wants more of something, she says "morepease!" - again, this is all one word.
While I was typing this, Anna just walked up to me with Rachel's Cinderella backpack and said, "Mommy have a bag! 'Rella!"
I think one of Ben's favourites is when I serve chicken for dinner and Anna yells out gleefully, "Chicken! Cluck cluck cluck!" Although our 5-year-old is still firmly convinced that "chicken-the-bird" is not the same as "chicken-the-dinner", Anna apparently has no such issue.
When Rachel is practising piano, Anna usually shows up and demands a turn: "Anna's turn piano! Hot dog! Tinkle Little Star!" The really funny thing is that she can almost play some of the rhythms that Rachel is doing.
That said, she has some very cute misunderstandings regarding vocabulary. We have some word books that were given to Rachel as a baby (Thanks, Kate! We still love them!). One of these books has a cup in it. Anna calls it a "waterpease!" (water please) She is convinced that this is what a cup is called.
Also, when Anna wants more of something, she says "morepease!" - again, this is all one word.
While I was typing this, Anna just walked up to me with Rachel's Cinderella backpack and said, "Mommy have a bag! 'Rella!"
I think one of Ben's favourites is when I serve chicken for dinner and Anna yells out gleefully, "Chicken! Cluck cluck cluck!" Although our 5-year-old is still firmly convinced that "chicken-the-bird" is not the same as "chicken-the-dinner", Anna apparently has no such issue.
When Rachel is practising piano, Anna usually shows up and demands a turn: "Anna's turn piano! Hot dog! Tinkle Little Star!" The really funny thing is that she can almost play some of the rhythms that Rachel is doing.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Funny answers
This morning Rachel and I read, "A Tree is Nice". I picked up a book from Scholastic back in the spring called "Caldecotts across the curriculum". Basically, it takes good children's literature and suggests lots of lesson plans and activities based on the books.
My plan for today was to read the book, have Rachel name 5 kinds of trees, draw a tree, and then bake leaf/twig cookies as per the book's instructions. (Don't worry, they're real cookies - just shaped like tree parts!)
We read the book after breakfast and went straight to tree-naming. Here were Rachel's 5 trees:
1. Evergreen (we narrowed this down to fir)
2. Aspen
3. Spruce
4. Maple
5. Pine
I then got a lesson from Rachel about how to tell a spruce tree from a fir tree based on the sharpness of their needles. Yes, Grandma Karen, you've finally found someone who likes all things botanical!
When I brought up the idea of drawing a tree, Rachel predictably burst into tears. "But I don't know HOW to draw a tree!" she wailed. I pointed out that trees have leaves and trunks and branches. When I asked her what kind of tree she wanted to draw, she suggested an apple tree. But she wanted to draw the apple tree with flowers, not apples. This brought fresh tears because she didn't know how to draw the flowers either.
In desperation, I googled "apple tree with flowers picture" and got this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/victor1805/3592496962/
It's a very nice pic with a bee visiting the apple tree. From that, Rachel got the idea to draw a butterfly visiting her apple tree. Too bad she burst into tears again because she thought she couldn't draw a butterfly.
In the end, I took out some paper and sketched her all the elements - leaf, flower, trunk, branches, and butterfly. My point was that if Mom could do it, Rachel could certainly do it. While I don't generally believe in talking down your abilities, it is fairly undisputed in our family that some of us have less artistic ability than others!
The plan is to run errands, and then do the tree drawing and cookies while Anna naps. We'll see how that goes.
My plan for today was to read the book, have Rachel name 5 kinds of trees, draw a tree, and then bake leaf/twig cookies as per the book's instructions. (Don't worry, they're real cookies - just shaped like tree parts!)
We read the book after breakfast and went straight to tree-naming. Here were Rachel's 5 trees:
1. Evergreen (we narrowed this down to fir)
2. Aspen
3. Spruce
4. Maple
5. Pine
I then got a lesson from Rachel about how to tell a spruce tree from a fir tree based on the sharpness of their needles. Yes, Grandma Karen, you've finally found someone who likes all things botanical!
When I brought up the idea of drawing a tree, Rachel predictably burst into tears. "But I don't know HOW to draw a tree!" she wailed. I pointed out that trees have leaves and trunks and branches. When I asked her what kind of tree she wanted to draw, she suggested an apple tree. But she wanted to draw the apple tree with flowers, not apples. This brought fresh tears because she didn't know how to draw the flowers either.
In desperation, I googled "apple tree with flowers picture" and got this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/victor1805/3592496962/
It's a very nice pic with a bee visiting the apple tree. From that, Rachel got the idea to draw a butterfly visiting her apple tree. Too bad she burst into tears again because she thought she couldn't draw a butterfly.
In the end, I took out some paper and sketched her all the elements - leaf, flower, trunk, branches, and butterfly. My point was that if Mom could do it, Rachel could certainly do it. While I don't generally believe in talking down your abilities, it is fairly undisputed in our family that some of us have less artistic ability than others!
The plan is to run errands, and then do the tree drawing and cookies while Anna naps. We'll see how that goes.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Ah, television
Anna is sitting on the couch in a dazed kind of stupour watching the Backyardigans. Since she got up at 6:15, I'm quite happy to let her hang out for a little bit. She is still way overtired from her little party last night that lasted until a little after midnight.
Rachel, on the other hand, is still firmly asleep in her bed. Works for me.
Rachel, on the other hand, is still firmly asleep in her bed. Works for me.
Party time
So at 10 p.m. tonight, Anna woke up. She stood up in her crib and yelled, "All done!" until Ben came to get her out. Meanwhile, Rachel had yet to fall asleep. I suggested that she go to the bathroom. As she washed her hands, she sang, "It's 10 o'clock and I am very tired! I should be asleep!"
We all went downstairs for cookies and strawberries. Ben and I followed this up with specialty cheese & crackers that were part of an anniversary gift basket from Ben's grandma. Then Rachel told us how she was very tired and should be in bed. So up she went. It is now 11:30 p.m. and she is still muttering to herself in there.
Anna hung out downstairs for quite a while. At one point, she was sitting on the couch with Ben when she turned around and said, "High five. Mommy, high five!" So I came over, and sure enough, she gave me a high five and grinned.
I finished cleaning up the kitchen and sat down to watch some mindless tv. Anna came over to join me, and I cuddled her and patted her. She almost fell asleep that way, but I figured I'd try to at least get her on board with the idea of going up to her crib, so I invited her to come up to go to sleep with her monkey pillow. "Monkey pillow!" she whispered, and she grinned at me, half-asleep already.
Unfortunately, about 5 minutes after being put in her crib, she was screaming again. So now it's Ben's turn to catch up on some tv and hope that eventually Little Miss Insomniac will transfer to the crib and sleep!
We all went downstairs for cookies and strawberries. Ben and I followed this up with specialty cheese & crackers that were part of an anniversary gift basket from Ben's grandma. Then Rachel told us how she was very tired and should be in bed. So up she went. It is now 11:30 p.m. and she is still muttering to herself in there.
Anna hung out downstairs for quite a while. At one point, she was sitting on the couch with Ben when she turned around and said, "High five. Mommy, high five!" So I came over, and sure enough, she gave me a high five and grinned.
I finished cleaning up the kitchen and sat down to watch some mindless tv. Anna came over to join me, and I cuddled her and patted her. She almost fell asleep that way, but I figured I'd try to at least get her on board with the idea of going up to her crib, so I invited her to come up to go to sleep with her monkey pillow. "Monkey pillow!" she whispered, and she grinned at me, half-asleep already.
Unfortunately, about 5 minutes after being put in her crib, she was screaming again. So now it's Ben's turn to catch up on some tv and hope that eventually Little Miss Insomniac will transfer to the crib and sleep!
Monday, September 07, 2009
Rachel and Anna are ready to go!
This was taken just before we left for Beth Shalom on Friday night. Are they excited, or what?!
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Thoughts on a Sunday night
Our shul has recently started a new type of service: Shabbat l’Mishpacha (Family Shabbat) We attended the first dinner & service on Friday night. While it was awesome to see so many young families and kids there, it was thought-provoking in several ways. The evening began with candlelighting, Kiddush, and keeping the challah knife out of the hands of various youngsters. This was done in the corner of the social hall where chairs were set up for the service that would take place later.
Dinner followed promptly, and was a buffet-style family-friendly set-up. There were name tags for everyone, so it was easy to introduce people and not forget names. Although we enjoyed the dinner, we were less than enthusiastic when the rabbi encouraged the children to lead the Birkat Ha-mazon (Grace after meals) prayers if they knew them. Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. We thought it was a great idea until the children started literally screaming the prayers and no move was made to stop this from happening. The children who knew the prayers were probably 5-10 years old.
The senior rabbi (who has 4 young children himself) called the children over and invited them to sit at the front on the floor. He encouraged this by saying that the closer you sat, the more ice cream you would get after the service. That’s definitely one way to get a couple dozen pre-schoolers’ attention!
We sang a few songs and then they invited the children to follow the (new) assistant rabbi out into the hall for a story. Parents were strongly encouraged to remain for a 7-minute Ma’ariv (evening) service. I went out into the hall, because our 1.5 year old decided that she wanted to go along with the big kids. It was rather chaotic. It’s a long hallway, and getting kids (and parents!) to sit still and listen was no easy task.
The rabbi read “Sammy Spider’s First Rosh Hashanah” to the children. Since it was obvious that they had very little attention span remaining, he tried to cut out a lot of the text, much to someone’s chagrin: “But those aren’t the real words!” was heard from a nameless five-year-old in the crowd.
After the story, we rejoined the adults in the social hall for ice cream. My husband told me later that he wasn’t sure what to think of the Ma’ariv service. He initially told me that at one point, he and one other man were the only adults participating. My response was that perhaps a lot of the parents of young kids haven’t been to shul regularly in a long time and are only starting to come back now because of their children. I could understand if they were unfamiliar with some of the Hebrew, especially since I am still in the learning process myself. Then he told me that this was an English response and no-one was participating.
Still determined to be positive, we ended the evening thinking that perhaps these events would help bring people back to shul on a more regular basis.
This leads me to another item of frustration: the new “Young Family” services that are being held on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In previous years, our shul has always run concurrent services in the main sanctuary and in the social hall. The sanctuary service is more traditional, while the service in the social hall incorporates instrumental music and a less formal feel overall. Part of the reason that they run multiple services is to have enough space for those who attend at this time of year, but I also thought that part of the reason was to give a choice between “styles” of worship, ie. traditional or modern.
In addition to these services, there is babysitting for children ages 0-5, and age-appropriate programming/services for children ages 5-10. These services last the same length of time as the “adult” services. I have opinions about separating families, but at the same time, when services can last up to 4 or 5 hours on these days, I understand that it’s impractical to keep your young children in the service the whole time.
Last year the shul tried a new family service that was somewhat in the middle of the regular services. We attended it, but were in the sanctuary both before and after this service. Actually, I should be honest. I spent about 75% of last year’s High Holy Day services nursing Anna in the comfort of the women’s washroom – yes, by choice! There are comfy chairs in there and I got to nod off along with her when necessary.
This year, in addition to the sanctuary and social hall services, there are Young Family services in the Chapel on both days of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur as well. The problem that I see with this is that the sanctuary and social hall services begin at 8:30 and 9 a.m. respectively (and 9:30 for both on Yom Kippur). The Young Family services are from 9-10 a.m., after which children can go to the babysitting or age-appropriate programming of their choice.
So this means that the parents will be walking into the main services anywhere from 1-2 hours late. While it is much more acceptable to walk into a Jewish service late than it would be in church, to me this is not a good proposition. All joking about getting a good seat aside, I think that it sends a negative message to the children: “Oh, it’s ok if we don’t go to shul until about 10:15 or so. They won’t be reading Torah until then anyway.” And actually, they are anticipating the Torah reading starting soon after 10 a.m. How do I know? I know this because Ben has an aliyah (honour) in the Torah service on the second day of Rosh Hashanah and he has been told to come up to the bimah (altar) by 10:05 a.m. I find it frustrating having to choose between being in the main service and taking my children to support the young families’ initiatives that are being started.
At the same time, I can understand the desire to have the children participate in a way that is meaningful to them. And I agree that it’s also desirable to have the parents participate with their children, but since when is a worship service all about bringing it down to the children’s level? Why not have the parents bring their children to whichever service they wish to attend, and take them in and out as needed? (For the record, this is what we do on a regular basis.) I would be surprised if the children weren’t engaged by a lot of the music in the social hall service, and really, it’s ok for them to learn that it’s not all “fun”.
Would I do away with the family service entirely? No. Our former (Reform) shul back home has what I think is an ideal solution to this dilemma. While babysitting is provided for the youngest children during the service, all others remain in the sanctuary. Later in the afternoon (after a good lunch!), families can return for a special Family Service. Of course I can understand that many people would not be willing to come back to shul after spending half a day there already, but this would at least alleviate the issue of forcing people to choose between their religious obligations and providing an age-appropriate experience for their children.
We’ve been revisiting the subject of Orthodox Judaism in our house lately. One thing that I really respect is that Orthodox Judaism is by its very nature inherently family-friendly. Women are not obligated to recite the same prayers that men are, at least not at specific times. Why not? Because Judaism recognizes that families are important. I do spend a lot of time at shul either walking our 1.5 year-old around or quietly reminding our 5-year-old how to behave. Sometimes I don’t attend if the 1.5 year-old needs a nap and it makes more sense for me to stay home with her. Am I grateful that I am not obligated to time-specific prayer? Most definitely.
Some people feel that Orthodox Judaism is anti-feminist and that it’s ridiculous to deny women the “right” of participating fully in services. I think it’s equally ridiculous to insist on “equality”. Women wearing tallitot (prayer shawls) and kippot (male head coverings)? Ok, but why? I don’t see men wearing bras (and believe me, some of them should at least consider it!) At our former (Conservative) shul back home, it struck me as to just how overdone this concept could be. At every service, someone would make an announcement about how it was an egalitarian shul and how proud they were of this fact. Not only was it tedious constantly hearing this, but it made it appear that the congregants were very much in defensive mode about how the congregation was run.
When Ben and I look to the (not-so-distant!) future of Rachel becoming Bat Mitzvah, we find ourselves thinking about where we’d like to be in our own Jewish lives at that point. We’re becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of remaining Conservative Jews, yet Orthodoxy seems to present more dilemmas that are not easily solved. In part, I suspect that our path will depend on where we move to next summer. And yes, it will also depend on our willingness to give up a lot of what we do.
Stay tuned… the more sleep I get, the more thoughts I have!
Dinner followed promptly, and was a buffet-style family-friendly set-up. There were name tags for everyone, so it was easy to introduce people and not forget names. Although we enjoyed the dinner, we were less than enthusiastic when the rabbi encouraged the children to lead the Birkat Ha-mazon (Grace after meals) prayers if they knew them. Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. We thought it was a great idea until the children started literally screaming the prayers and no move was made to stop this from happening. The children who knew the prayers were probably 5-10 years old.
The senior rabbi (who has 4 young children himself) called the children over and invited them to sit at the front on the floor. He encouraged this by saying that the closer you sat, the more ice cream you would get after the service. That’s definitely one way to get a couple dozen pre-schoolers’ attention!
We sang a few songs and then they invited the children to follow the (new) assistant rabbi out into the hall for a story. Parents were strongly encouraged to remain for a 7-minute Ma’ariv (evening) service. I went out into the hall, because our 1.5 year old decided that she wanted to go along with the big kids. It was rather chaotic. It’s a long hallway, and getting kids (and parents!) to sit still and listen was no easy task.
The rabbi read “Sammy Spider’s First Rosh Hashanah” to the children. Since it was obvious that they had very little attention span remaining, he tried to cut out a lot of the text, much to someone’s chagrin: “But those aren’t the real words!” was heard from a nameless five-year-old in the crowd.
After the story, we rejoined the adults in the social hall for ice cream. My husband told me later that he wasn’t sure what to think of the Ma’ariv service. He initially told me that at one point, he and one other man were the only adults participating. My response was that perhaps a lot of the parents of young kids haven’t been to shul regularly in a long time and are only starting to come back now because of their children. I could understand if they were unfamiliar with some of the Hebrew, especially since I am still in the learning process myself. Then he told me that this was an English response and no-one was participating.
Still determined to be positive, we ended the evening thinking that perhaps these events would help bring people back to shul on a more regular basis.
This leads me to another item of frustration: the new “Young Family” services that are being held on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In previous years, our shul has always run concurrent services in the main sanctuary and in the social hall. The sanctuary service is more traditional, while the service in the social hall incorporates instrumental music and a less formal feel overall. Part of the reason that they run multiple services is to have enough space for those who attend at this time of year, but I also thought that part of the reason was to give a choice between “styles” of worship, ie. traditional or modern.
In addition to these services, there is babysitting for children ages 0-5, and age-appropriate programming/services for children ages 5-10. These services last the same length of time as the “adult” services. I have opinions about separating families, but at the same time, when services can last up to 4 or 5 hours on these days, I understand that it’s impractical to keep your young children in the service the whole time.
Last year the shul tried a new family service that was somewhat in the middle of the regular services. We attended it, but were in the sanctuary both before and after this service. Actually, I should be honest. I spent about 75% of last year’s High Holy Day services nursing Anna in the comfort of the women’s washroom – yes, by choice! There are comfy chairs in there and I got to nod off along with her when necessary.
This year, in addition to the sanctuary and social hall services, there are Young Family services in the Chapel on both days of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur as well. The problem that I see with this is that the sanctuary and social hall services begin at 8:30 and 9 a.m. respectively (and 9:30 for both on Yom Kippur). The Young Family services are from 9-10 a.m., after which children can go to the babysitting or age-appropriate programming of their choice.
So this means that the parents will be walking into the main services anywhere from 1-2 hours late. While it is much more acceptable to walk into a Jewish service late than it would be in church, to me this is not a good proposition. All joking about getting a good seat aside, I think that it sends a negative message to the children: “Oh, it’s ok if we don’t go to shul until about 10:15 or so. They won’t be reading Torah until then anyway.” And actually, they are anticipating the Torah reading starting soon after 10 a.m. How do I know? I know this because Ben has an aliyah (honour) in the Torah service on the second day of Rosh Hashanah and he has been told to come up to the bimah (altar) by 10:05 a.m. I find it frustrating having to choose between being in the main service and taking my children to support the young families’ initiatives that are being started.
At the same time, I can understand the desire to have the children participate in a way that is meaningful to them. And I agree that it’s also desirable to have the parents participate with their children, but since when is a worship service all about bringing it down to the children’s level? Why not have the parents bring their children to whichever service they wish to attend, and take them in and out as needed? (For the record, this is what we do on a regular basis.) I would be surprised if the children weren’t engaged by a lot of the music in the social hall service, and really, it’s ok for them to learn that it’s not all “fun”.
Would I do away with the family service entirely? No. Our former (Reform) shul back home has what I think is an ideal solution to this dilemma. While babysitting is provided for the youngest children during the service, all others remain in the sanctuary. Later in the afternoon (after a good lunch!), families can return for a special Family Service. Of course I can understand that many people would not be willing to come back to shul after spending half a day there already, but this would at least alleviate the issue of forcing people to choose between their religious obligations and providing an age-appropriate experience for their children.
We’ve been revisiting the subject of Orthodox Judaism in our house lately. One thing that I really respect is that Orthodox Judaism is by its very nature inherently family-friendly. Women are not obligated to recite the same prayers that men are, at least not at specific times. Why not? Because Judaism recognizes that families are important. I do spend a lot of time at shul either walking our 1.5 year-old around or quietly reminding our 5-year-old how to behave. Sometimes I don’t attend if the 1.5 year-old needs a nap and it makes more sense for me to stay home with her. Am I grateful that I am not obligated to time-specific prayer? Most definitely.
Some people feel that Orthodox Judaism is anti-feminist and that it’s ridiculous to deny women the “right” of participating fully in services. I think it’s equally ridiculous to insist on “equality”. Women wearing tallitot (prayer shawls) and kippot (male head coverings)? Ok, but why? I don’t see men wearing bras (and believe me, some of them should at least consider it!) At our former (Conservative) shul back home, it struck me as to just how overdone this concept could be. At every service, someone would make an announcement about how it was an egalitarian shul and how proud they were of this fact. Not only was it tedious constantly hearing this, but it made it appear that the congregants were very much in defensive mode about how the congregation was run.
When Ben and I look to the (not-so-distant!) future of Rachel becoming Bat Mitzvah, we find ourselves thinking about where we’d like to be in our own Jewish lives at that point. We’re becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of remaining Conservative Jews, yet Orthodoxy seems to present more dilemmas that are not easily solved. In part, I suspect that our path will depend on where we move to next summer. And yes, it will also depend on our willingness to give up a lot of what we do.
Stay tuned… the more sleep I get, the more thoughts I have!
Again?
As the early evening sunlight streamed into Rachel's room and I went in there to put a few things away, I noticed that the shelves of Rachel's headboard looked a bit dusty. Since I'm having a lot of trouble breathing again (yeah, we're so not staying in Kansas beyond next spring.), we've been trying harder to keep up with dusting, vacuuming, etc.
I leaned in for a closer look at which point I noticed that the inner sides of Rachel's shelves looked rather mottled, almost like the wood was chipping off in places.
I have a prize for any blog reader who can guess why this was so.
I leaned in for a closer look at which point I noticed that the inner sides of Rachel's shelves looked rather mottled, almost like the wood was chipping off in places.
I have a prize for any blog reader who can guess why this was so.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Bittersweet...
Yesterday afternoon, I walked Rachel and her friend (J) two doors down to see if the little girl there (O) wanted to come over to play with them. O had another friend over, but her mom invited us all in. After about 15 minutes, I had to leave because I had left Ben home with a sleeping baby G and a sleeping Anna, and he had to leave for a meeting. I asked Rachel if she wanted to stay or go, and she was very emphatic that she wanted to stay and play with O, thank you very much. I decided to trust that J's mother wouldn't lynch me when she came back for her kids, and headed home to let Ben get to work.
When I came back to pick the kids up, O's mother mentioned that if Rachel wanted to come over the next afternoon, they would be home. (O also has a napping little sister, thus limiting playdate options in the afternoon!)
I had told Rachel that we could walk over there after Anna's nap, but about 10 minutes ago, O knocked on our door to see if Rachel could come over to play. Rachel was ecstatic. She informed me that I did not need to walk her over because she would be with O and they would be careful. I walked them outside anyway, until I could see that O's mother was out waiting for them.
So to everyone who has been pushing me to send Rachel on "solo playdates" for, oh, more than 2 years now, all I have to say is that there is a time for everything. And now it's Rachel's turn to fly! (And no, I am NOT crying. No, I am not. I am happy that my "baby" is confident enough to go play down the street without me. There are no tears on my keyboard.)
That is all.
When I came back to pick the kids up, O's mother mentioned that if Rachel wanted to come over the next afternoon, they would be home. (O also has a napping little sister, thus limiting playdate options in the afternoon!)
I had told Rachel that we could walk over there after Anna's nap, but about 10 minutes ago, O knocked on our door to see if Rachel could come over to play. Rachel was ecstatic. She informed me that I did not need to walk her over because she would be with O and they would be careful. I walked them outside anyway, until I could see that O's mother was out waiting for them.
So to everyone who has been pushing me to send Rachel on "solo playdates" for, oh, more than 2 years now, all I have to say is that there is a time for everything. And now it's Rachel's turn to fly! (And no, I am NOT crying. No, I am not. I am happy that my "baby" is confident enough to go play down the street without me. There are no tears on my keyboard.)
That is all.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Funny things
Anna and Ben went for a walk on Saturday. While out, Ben suggested that they look for a dog. Anna suggested looking for a monkey instead. "Monkey! Monkey!" Ben kindly informed her that he highly doubted that they would find any monkeys on their walk. He explained that they were not at the zoo, there would probably not be any monkeys, etc, etc.
Imagine his dismay when they turned a corner and Anna spotted a big stone gorilla on someone's driveway! "MONKEY!!!! HI MONKEY!!!" she said with a big grin.
I suspect that Ben has lost some credibility over this.
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Anna loves to go swimming. Whenever we pass the Blue Valley Recreation Centre, she loudly exclaims, "Swimming!" However, since we now only go twice a week for swim classes, she has taken to saying, "Swimming. Not today." in a rather dejected tone of voice.
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I will admit to being happy that the girls will watch tv together sometimes, thus leaving me a few minutes of peace and quiet. Anna loves the Wonder Pets. We recently figured out that she thinks the guinea pig is actually a monkey. (Hey, she thinks the Yak in her Alphabet Train is also a monkey. Who am I to dissuade her?) Anyhow, we were out at Target this morning and in a weak moment I agreed to go look at toys. "Wonder Pets!" said Anna gleefully, upon spotting a toy fly boat with 3 Wonder Pets inside.
Well after we left the toy section, Anna was very happily (and randomly) saying "Wonder Pets!" Even at the checkout she felt the need to mention it. Of course, she also had to comment on all of the fruit we were buying. She doesn't miss a thing.
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Rachel is loving her piano lessons. She has learned to play Hot Cross Buns and is quite particular about how she plays it. I played it two ways for her and asked which way she liked better. "The perfect way," she told me. Oy. She meant the legato (smooth) version. In true childlike fashion, she is also quite the egomaniac: "That was great! I did it perfect! I'm so good at this!" The thing is, she's generally right on with her self-assessments but I can't really say so all of the time!
Also related to piano, Rachel's teacher uses the "Blue Jello" system for teaching rhythm. Rachel and I have been going back and forth with different rhythms, to the point where Anna will try to join in: "Bwoo jewo, bwoo jewo!" Apparently there is something to this whole concept of immersion at a young age after all... (Please note that I've never questioned that. I did and still do question what I have seen from too many Suzuki teachers back home - not you, H!!!!!!)
Imagine his dismay when they turned a corner and Anna spotted a big stone gorilla on someone's driveway! "MONKEY!!!! HI MONKEY!!!" she said with a big grin.
I suspect that Ben has lost some credibility over this.
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Anna loves to go swimming. Whenever we pass the Blue Valley Recreation Centre, she loudly exclaims, "Swimming!" However, since we now only go twice a week for swim classes, she has taken to saying, "Swimming. Not today." in a rather dejected tone of voice.
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I will admit to being happy that the girls will watch tv together sometimes, thus leaving me a few minutes of peace and quiet. Anna loves the Wonder Pets. We recently figured out that she thinks the guinea pig is actually a monkey. (Hey, she thinks the Yak in her Alphabet Train is also a monkey. Who am I to dissuade her?) Anyhow, we were out at Target this morning and in a weak moment I agreed to go look at toys. "Wonder Pets!" said Anna gleefully, upon spotting a toy fly boat with 3 Wonder Pets inside.
Well after we left the toy section, Anna was very happily (and randomly) saying "Wonder Pets!" Even at the checkout she felt the need to mention it. Of course, she also had to comment on all of the fruit we were buying. She doesn't miss a thing.
*******************************************************************************
Rachel is loving her piano lessons. She has learned to play Hot Cross Buns and is quite particular about how she plays it. I played it two ways for her and asked which way she liked better. "The perfect way," she told me. Oy. She meant the legato (smooth) version. In true childlike fashion, she is also quite the egomaniac: "That was great! I did it perfect! I'm so good at this!" The thing is, she's generally right on with her self-assessments but I can't really say so all of the time!
Also related to piano, Rachel's teacher uses the "Blue Jello" system for teaching rhythm. Rachel and I have been going back and forth with different rhythms, to the point where Anna will try to join in: "Bwoo jewo, bwoo jewo!" Apparently there is something to this whole concept of immersion at a young age after all... (Please note that I've never questioned that. I did and still do question what I have seen from too many Suzuki teachers back home - not you, H!!!!!!)
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