6 months

No I’m not pregnant. Just been absent. For 6 months.

For some reason I just stopped blogging. No great secret, no shocking reason. I just stopped. I also seem to have stopped using Twitter. Again, no idea why, no real reason. I just stopped.

So, whats happened over the last 6 months?

Paul has a new job. Its a pretty cool position in an awesome company that he gets to do from home.

We got a dog! Her name is Nessi which means miracle in Hebrew. She is the cutest floof ever, even when she bites and nibbles to get your attention. I will write another post all about her soon.

The morning after Nessi came to live with us.

The kids have finished school and are well into summer vacation. In September, Aaron will be in 5th Grade and Faith will be in 3rd Grade. Where has the time gone?

Our third Pesach in Israel. It was a good evening with my family and our friends.

We all finally got our Israeli passports. This means we can travel easily throughout Europe. So give me your suggestions. Where should we visit?

I dyed my hair. Purple and blue! I love it.

Other than that, the last 6 months have been pretty quiet. Just the way I like it.

Hopefully I will be back in the writing mood now and will post more often. Or not. No promises.

 

Catch up

I’ve been a really lazy blogger the past few weeks. No excuses, I just didn’t feel like blogging.

So, whats been happening…

The kids started school. 

Faith is now in ‘big school’. Her grade R class is combined with the 1st grade class in that they share a common space to do activities and each grade has their own teaching room. She has to wear a uniform shirt (a t-shirt with the school badge on, they can wear any bottoms) and she has her own stationary and a locker. Very grown up.

kids

Aaron is adapting really well to 2nd grade. They are now in a much more structured environment, a proper classroom with set seating and they have a schedule of classes (remind me to tell you about my recurring nightmare!) that they need to bring specific books to every day. In the beginning we had a few mishaps/communication issues with bringing the correct books on the correct days, but we seem to have sorted that out. They get homework everyday, most of which Aaron finishes while he is at aftercare but last night he sat with Paul to do his reading homework. I am so proud if this child, he was reading so beautifully in Hebrew.

The seasons are starting to change.

The days are getting noticeably shorter. Its not so bright in the mornings when I go to work or as stiflingly hot, although it is still definitely summer weather. The sun is going down earlier and the sunsets are beautiful. This weekend was the first weekend in months where we were able to leave the windows open and turn off the Aircon, its still hot but nowhere near as boiling as the height of summer has been. 

I’m looking forward to the cooler weather. Not so much the rain and wind though. Are we ever happy with the weather?

Holy days (chag)

This time of year in the Jewish calendar is pretty busy. We started last week with the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. We decided that since it was a two day chag we would rent a car so we wouldnt have to take taxis since all public transport stops over those days.

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Paul did pretty well driving for the first time in 9 months and on the ‘wrong’ side of the road. I’m terrified of driving in Israel. I know I’m going to have to do it at some stage but I/m very glad that Paul is able to do it!

We spent 1st night Rosh Hashanah at my brother in Tel Aviv. It was such an awesome evening. My sister in law, Yana, and her niece made the most gorgeous place cards and the table was so pretty. Matt made a delicious roast and I made dessert. It was so special spending our first Rosh Hashanah in Israel with family.

This week is Yom Kippur and next week is Sukkot. Lots of meals and family time coming up.

Health

Aaron woke up last Saturday sick and vomiting. It was so bad Paul took him to the ER and he had to have 2 saline drips for dehydration. Thank carp he was ok after that. I think it was heat stroke from the day before.

Faith started feeling off on Sunday night (1st night Rosh Hashanah) and woke up on Monday morning full of a cold. It took her a few days to get better but she seems to be doing ok now.

I picked up Faiths cold and have now developed Man Flu. I am at work though and pushing on. Can you see the sympathy seeking Man Flu symptoms? Send hugs. And chocolate. And chicken soup!

Paul seems to be healthy, lets hope he stays that way!

Overall

We have been in Israel now for just over 9 months. I cannot believe how quickly time is flying. I’ll say it again, this was the best decision we could have made. We are so happy and content. Onward and upwards!

Catching up

So I have been a very bad little blogger lately and for that I am terribly sorry.

I have kept up to date on all the blogs in my reader though even if I havent commented recently.

So, a little catch up…

Aaron is loving school!  He adores his teacher and the kids in his class and aftercare too.

He does swimming twice a week which he loves (I know right!?), Kindermusic every Monday and on a Thursday he does PlayBall after school on the school grounds.

He is growing like a weed and I need to do a big winter shop for him soon because nothing is fitting him anymore.

Faith is getting cuter and cuter every day.

She still only has two teeth and she only says ‘Ello and oof (woof) and only when prompted repeatedly.  Yet she makes herself completely understood and understands everything you say to her.

She has a temper of note and screeches like a pterodactyl if she doesnt get what she wants.

She eats everything and anything, especially of its on her brother plate.

She is standing up all by herself and is walking beautifully if you hold one hand.  Last night we taught her to walk holding onto her Disney princess car/bike thingy.  She was very proud of herself.

Faith also does swimming lessons once a week and I get in the water with her.  She LOVES the water and complains bitterly when we take her out the pool or bath tub.

Both my beautiful children are growing and learning and keep us on our toes.

On Sunday is my anniversary.  SIX years!  And I am still madly in love with my hubband.  Even though he sometimes drives me absolutely crazy!

We went to the Drakensberg Sun last weekend for a mini pre-anniversary break, just the two of us.  It was amazing and relaxing and we both missed the kids so we left a little earlier on Sunday morning that we had planned so we could get back to them 🙂

 

Ok, I promise not to take so long to blog again.  Pinky swear!

A catch up of the last few weeks…

Whoever said that maternity leave was all about mama and baby bonding and cuddling and feeding and about mama drinking tea and resting lied!

They told a big fat smelly lie!  Liar liar pants on fire!!!!

*pulls great big raspberry*

Ok, small tantrum over.

The last week or so has been hectic, my brother Matthew has been here since Cliffs funeral and was sharing a car with our grandfather.  I say was because he was in an accident the Sunday before last.  Some drunk guy skipped a robot and turned into my brother, on the drivers side.  He was so drunk he couldn’t open his eyes!

Despite some whiplash and some back ache, Matt is ok.  The (uninsured) car, not so much…

So Monday was spent taking Matt to the police station to file a report and get a case number which, it turns out, we didnt need to do because the drunk guy was arrested and that case number should be sufficient.  We then killed some time having a late breakfast before taking Matt to my family doctor to be checked out.

Towards the end of the week before the accident, our doggy, Bandit, started to get ill, like really really ill, like not moving, losing weight, vomiting ill.  So we had taken him to the vet for testing.  Turns out he has Auto Immune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA).  We started him on cortisone and had to take him back to the vet nearly every day to see if his blood levels were rising.  According to FourSquare I have been to the vet 8 times in the last week and a half and that doesnt include the 2 times I was there that I couldnt check in or the 2 or 3 times that Paul took Bandit to the vet.  Thank heavens and all the deities for pet insurance!  As of our last check up today, his blood levels are at 45% and rising and we only need to go back again in 10 days time.

Then on Friday Aaron got sick, so it was back to the doctor and a diagnosis of tonsillitis, again.  This poor kid.  If this carries on I may have to insist on removing them tonsils.  He seems to get it an awful lot.

In between all of this I finally got to meet Megan, who at the time of publishing this post has just had her beautiful baby girl! Squeeeee!

I also managed to fetch my drivers license, this is a huge thing for me as I have been driving without a valid license for quite some time.

I took Matt and Faith to go visit my grandmother.  She is one amazing lady.  She is 94 years old and despite being slightly deaf and losing her sight, still lives on her own with just her nurse and her new little doggy for company.  She takes walks in her garden, which is magnificent and keeps a hand in on what gets planted, where and when.

I’ve been to a few therapy sessions which I have to say are doing wonders.  I heart my therapist!

I have also been in to work a few times, maybe 5 hours in total, as there were a few things they needed me to sort out for them.  Hopefully I wont be going back into work until maternity leave is over.

As for the kids, Aaron has settled back into his school routine nicely and has made some new friends.  He is so curious about everything and constantly questions everything around him.  He needs to work on his patience levels but Im told thats a 3 year old thing and he will learn to have a bit more patience soon.

Faith is too adorable and has started rolling from her tummy to her back and she smiles at everything.  I cant believe she is 9 weeks old already, its going way too fast.

*pic by the magnificent Jenty! From our 8 day shoot.

Paul and I celebrated 5 years of marriage on Saturday.  5 years! We left the kids at my mom and spent a few hours with just each other for company.  It was great!

This week has been and will continue to be equally busy.  Hopefully next week will be a bit calmer 🙂

7 months down the line… where am I?

Yesterday Beagle_Momma aka Tayna posted this about her New Years resolutions and how she was doing to date.  It has inspired me to do the same 🙂

I didnt really do a New Years post as such but in this post I made myself a few promises…

  • Be more adventurous – Im not sure I have done this, I think I need to do more, even if its just trying out new food every now and again.
  • Try new things – again, not so much… although I did try buy more colour for my wardrobe, I think it fizzled out after a month or two.
  • Push my boundaries – *sigh* Not. So. Much. *sigh*
  • I wanted a sister or brother for Aaron – This one is a resounding success! Tomorrow we find out if #theSQL is a boy or a girl 🙂
  • I wished to have more fun with Aaron and be more silly with him – I think this one has been a success… our favourite silly games are “the laughing game”, hide & seek, the hi-five pickle game* and light saber battles
  • No more procrastinating – I think im getting better at this but I have a long way to go.

All in all, I think I need to work a little harder to fulfill some of these ‘resolutions’ before the end of the year!

*the hi-five pickle game – My brother Matt taught Aaron this one: You ask Aaron for a hi-five, then a low-five, then you hold your index fingers together at the tips and ask him to cut the pickle by ‘slicing’ his hand through your finger tips, then you tickle… so, hi-five, low-five, cut the pickle, tickle tickle tickle… cracks him up every time…