New Blogger on the Block: @Abba_Sababa

I am so excited to welcome my husband, Michael, to the blogosphere.

Check out the Abba Sababa, won't you?

I'm so proud of him!
And hey...he even joined Twitter. Now that's some serious technological progress!

We're a two-blog family!

Don't Stop Believing...

My 8 year old son has adamantly refused to ride a 2-wheeler.
Even with training wheels, he's just not interested.

I've tried to trace it back to a particular incident, a fall, a fear. He remembers something that I don't, something that he tells me was really bad. I know we never took him to the hospital! But in some way, it left a mark on him because he has absolutely refused. Last summer, it wasn't even up for discussion.

But I really really really wanted him to learn to ride a bike. Call me selfish. I want him to have the freedom and independence of a bike as he gets older. I want to have this skill that I think is really important. And fun!

I've offered toys.
I've offered money.
I've offered....well, almost anything. (Except this.)

What I think did it? (I'm still not totally sure!) A young friend recently announced that he wanted to teach Sam, age 4, to ride without training wheels. Notwithstanding Sam's lack of interest in this project, I think a little older-brother-before-younger-brother rivalry came into play.

All of the honor of this teaching goes to my darling husband. Seriously, his patience and calm was amazing.  (He promised David that he wouldn't yell. But he never even appeared to get frustrated with him!)

Teaching David to ride a bike was a remarkably cerebral experience. Michael spent way more time talking than anything. He kept telling David, "trust the bike, trust yourself." It was really amazing to see David actually commit to the learning process.

And then, magically, it clicked.
It took only about 30 minutes total until we got this:
(can you see the smile on his face?)

They make a great team.

I've never tried to rush a milestone for my kids. "They won't start kindergarten in diapers," I would say. "They won't crawl to preschool." But this one I nudged. (and nudged and nudged)

And yet, he still waited until he was ready.

I knew it would happen. I just had to believe it.

You Capture: Smooch

A new photo meme (for me) but celebrating its one-year anniversary. The theme: KISSES.
Oh, and do you like my new (used) camera? Isn't it cute? Almost as cute as the guy I'm kissing....such a good sport, isn't he? I made him get up from the couch while watching American Idol to come and be kissed in front of the bathroom mirror. He's a keeper.

Go see other kissing folks at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

Daddy's Girl...

My little girl loves her dad.

Can you tell they're related?

See what warms other people's hearts this Monday.

40 is fun!

My wonderful husband turned 40 yesterday, and to celebrate, we (his mom and I) threw him a party! Originally, we planned to order pizza, but then someone told me about Rizzo's Oven (the link doesn't really do their business justice!), a guy who comes to your house with a wood-burning oven and sets the whole thing up in the backyard. Then he makes wood-fired pizzas, from scratch, right there. Great idea, huh? That's what we thought too. So we brought him in and let me tell you, it was quite a hit!

The weather was absolutely perfect, we were able to be outside all evening. The pizzas were divine!

We had Michael's favorite, carrot cake, of course.

The kids jumped in leaf piles and just had a good time. Eventually, they ended up in our house watching a movie (supervised by lovely babysitting teenagers) while the adults were hanging outside and next door (We are in a duplex with my mother-in-law. I guess that warrants its own post, doesn't it?).

 

 (I didn't get any good pictures of the birthday boy that didn't have other people's kids in them...except this one, which has this nice glow from the candles. It went by much too quickly to set up the camera for anything special, oh well.)

Probably the happiest campers were my little ones, who just love all the attention of a good party.

Like this:

 

(Can you see her smile behind the "boppy"? Love the scrunch face.)

This is definitely my favorite shot of the day. Other people have best shots too!

P.S. Anyone else using Blogger in Draft? They have made some awesome changes that make it so much easier to put photos into posts. I am really really really pleased. This is what happens when you take a mini-blogging break. Things get better when you come back!!!

Celebrating a Birthday

A big happy birthday to my darling husband.
He doesn't read my blog so I can say whatever I want to.

He is wonderful, this man.

He is crazy about me and our kids.

He is the most beloved teacher I know, the kids flock to him. He remembers their names and their stories.

He is a collector of lost souls. He keeps track of them, he takes care of them, he brings them into our family.

He is a connector, he brings people together. The ultimate matchmaker.

He is my beloved.

Happy birthday, honey, and many many more! I love you!

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Five  Three Places I've been this Week....(from my delicious)

Yes we Carve (this is too funny no matter your political affiliation!)

Tie Dyed Shirts for Kids

Vegetarian Meat Loaf (seriously, this is so good it's going to get its own post.)

This week's Haveil Havalim...go see what's up in the Jewish blogosphere!

um....
you know it's bad when I haven't been anywhere this week!

I think it's because all I'm doing is reading political blogs and the news.

Wow. Where have you been?

Who needs a car wash? We've got Legos!

We need some new kitchen chairs.

I know, I know...not the most exciting intro to a blog post.

But let me continue...I thought, wouldn't it be nice to get these chairs that we need in some kind of secondary market? A rummage sale, perhaps, or a resale shop? This would help me to feel far less consumerish...

So, I suggest it to my husband, who, to my surprise, readily agrees to drive with me to a few rummage sales this weekend.

We did not find any chairs.

At the first stop, however, we found the most awesome collection of Legos, which we snapped up immediately. (Also another winter sled, great for the "me toos")

Then we came home and I insisted on some Lego-washing. Great activity for a nice warm summer day....




Would you insist on washing used Legos? My husband didn't want me to post this because he thought it would make us look ridiculously over-clean. It didn't seem so weird to me.

So, at the end of the day, we're still using folding chairs in the kitchen but we have some awesome new Legos to play with. I think we came out ahead!

More best shots here.

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Go see: Snoopy has posted the latest edition of Haveil Havalim: Haveil Havalim #177 - Tisha B'Av Edition.

My Husband is Wonderful

Sunday evening he joined me to see Sex and the City.

(Which, by the way, rocked.)

Here is proof:



If you haven't seen it yet...GO!

I must admit, I ♥ Charlotte. Yes, I know, she's perky and maybe "too perfect" -- but I loved her optimism, her love of her life, her sweet care of her friend...I loved her mama-bear reaction to Big...I cried tears of rage with her.

And, of course, I ♥ my husband for going with me...he was definitely a minority at the movie but he enjoyed it just as much as I did. (He watched the show with me too, so it wasn't such a stretch...and then again, I went to Iron Man with him and enjoyed that! I guess we're just a movie-match-made-in-heaven...)

Go see what other people did and took pictures of this week.