Future Preschool Teacher?

Yael has her own way of doing things.
She likes to "read" books to her baby dolls.

 

It's all in the details, though. Check out the crossed leg and the pointing finger.
She's going to make a great preschool teacher someday.

 

Move Over, Cake Boss - Dragon Cake

My kids (and their parents too!) have all fallen in love with the show Cake Boss. One of the episodes we saw was of a Chinese dragon cake - simply spectacular. I do actually believe that Sam's desire for a "dragon party" stemmed from his desire for a cake like this one.

I'm good. But I'm not that good.

Then again, the internet is my friend. So I discovered this pattern, and it seemed like we could do it.

So here we went...Michael helped with the cutting (he's good at that spatial stuff):

And then I did the assembly and frosting.

And then, voila, an amazing DRAGON cake.
Fire-breathing and everything!
(The fire is fruit roll-ups, by the way...)

Move over, Cake Boss, the Ima is in town.

Dragon & Dinosaur Party

Last year, Sam had a Monster Truck party. It was a big success. Each year, our parties are low-key but well-planned - we try to find a theme that will be fun for the kids and their friends.

So this year, Sam asked for a Dinosaur Party. And then he asked for a Dragon Party. So I decided to combine the two - they seemed pretty similar to me, right?!

So...here's what we did. Everyone was invited by evite (my first time actually using it, how about that for a techno-geek like me?!)

A bunch of little boys descended upon my house (6, to be exact) and they started out by playing with every dragon and dinosaur toy we had in the house.

We went outside to play some games. My awesome husband led them in "roaring" exercises, a dinosaur scavenger hunt around the yard, and my favorite game - Viking Says. Here is a little "viking" scratching his armpits. (Other things they did? Scratch their heads, jump up and down...ya know, all good Viking things.)

We always play some sort of pin-the-tail game. This is pin-the-tail on the dinosaur...it never gets old.

Each of our parties has a story time. Why not? Every kid loves a good story. We collected all the dinosaur and dragon books around the house and Michael read 3 or 4 books to the boys. Their attention didn't waver for a moment!

We ate pizza, and it was my favorite part of the party because I loved listening to the conversation between the 7 little boys (and Yael, who mostly just ate) - a serious conversation about their favorite cartoon characters, and how old exactly each one of them is ("I'm 4 3/4!" "I'm already 5!") - it was a delightful "fly on the wall" moment because I don't think they had any idea that I was listening so hard. The other pretty cool thing? I put a bowl of carrots on the table and I'm quite sure that every kid had at least one, without any prompting!

Each friend took home a really cool party favor that I ordered from Giggle Junction - it was an "I spy" bag with a dinosaur theme. I special-ordered these through their Etsy shop and they were a total hit. (They also took home a personalized placemat with their name and a dragon/dinosaur picture on it. One of the parents told me that they still have last year's party placemat!)

After everyone left, Yael and David helped Sam open his presents, and then...

I took a nap.
(Wouldn't you?)

Come back tomorrow to see the coolest cake I've ever made.

Five is a BIG number

What do you get when you turn five?
In our house, you get to chew gum.
You also seem to be a really grown up little guy.
Tracing Sam's life....

 

Happy 5th birthday Sammy!

Sam loves dragons and dinosaurs, he's just starting to learn to read, and he is a stickler for details. Full of opinions, he alternates between total devotion and total disdain for his sister and brother. But he hates to be alone - he always loves to have someone around! He loves to play his Nintendo DS and he is very interested in anything technological. He likes to make up stories and he really likes to hear stories. He listens so carefully to the stories that I tell, and he corrects me when I change them. He's not perfect - stubborn and often grumpy - but he's adorable and wonderful and sweet. I can see him growing and changing right before my eyes....and now he's 5 years old!

Coming up tomorrow....his dragon and dinosaur party!

Rosh Chodesh Kislev

Cold and dark
the month of Kislev
comes in

Ending Cheshvan
ushering in the month of
festive
lights

Kislev...from kesel
...confidence...
confidence that the light
will come
confidence that the dark
will not take over

Kislev...the month of dreams
Vayetze
Vayeshev
Miketz
most of
the Torah's dreamers
visit during this month.

We dream and hope
we live and love
we celebrate
even in the darkest days
of our calendar.

May this month bring peace and light and hope and dreams and love.
Chodesh tov!

Spring Back, Fall Forward?

Seriously, enough with the daylight savings thing.

Yes, I know that we get an "extra hour of sleep tonight."

And yes, I understand many of the arguments that it's good for energy savings, and all that.

But it just isn't any fun to deal with cranky children who don't understand why the clock says one thing but their body says another.

And um, parents too. I can't tell you how long it takes me to get used to eating meals at different times.

When it gets dark, it gets dark. That's just how it is.

And don't even get me started on how daylight savings works in Israel. Because I understand that even less. (And again, don't get me started on Indiana.)

Someone please tell me why this daylight savings thing is important? I once read an article that explained that DST unfairly impacted people who care for small children far more than those who don't. (here's an article that says it should go away.)

What do you think?

Hold on Tight

A dear friend of mine lost her husband last night. May his memory be for a blessing.

It certainly makes you squeeze your loved ones more tightly.
It certainly makes you count your blessings.
It certainly makes you hold on to each moment, no matter how silly or mundane.

It certainly makes a birthday weekend (like we're about to celebrate in Beit ImaBima) a reason for celebration.

Stay tuned for birthday posts...and a cake post that will surpass any I've ever made before.

Until then....Shabbat Shalom.