Talya Is Playing Fall Soccer!

Ayelet's 18 Month Stats and L'Shanah Tovah

Ayelet turned 18 months this week and it seemed so suddenly that she went from being a baby to being a little girl. Here are her stats from her 18 month check:
Height: 31.75 in (50th percentile)
Weight: 21.1 lb (26th percentile)

She now regularly sleeps through the night from 7 pm to 7 am ish. She communicates well and has lots of words and phrases, she can very clearly express what she wants and needs. She follows instructions that we give her (most of the time) and she uses a spoon and fork (messy though). She walks and runs everywhere and loves to play at the park, swinging and sliding are her favorites. She loves to do everything herself and gets really frustrated when she isn't successful. Her favorite thing in the world though is to hang out with her big sisters, after all, they are the best!

L'shanah tovah, may we all be inscribed for a healthy, happy new year.

Taking a Moment to Thank G-d

This morning I was in a meeting at Talya's school. One of the staff members at the meeting mentioned how everyday, as she begins her work day, she sees the Ner Tamid and she is grounded in her Jewish identity.

At the time, I thought to myself, wow, what a beautiful thing. To have a constant visual reminder of why we are here and why the work that we do is so important. I know that everyday, throughout my day, I am grounded in my Jewish identity and grateful to G-d. From the moment I wake up to the moment I lay my head down at night, I am in constant conversation with G-d and cognizant of the role that my Jewish identity plays in my life. And I'd like to think that my girls get that too as Ron and I have built our lives around our Judaism. But, how often do we stop and get the reminder. Ironically enough, today, we did!

This evening, we were eating dinner, when Talya noted that it was sunny out and it was still raining. I told her to get up and go find the rainbow. She did and she found it and when she did, we all stopped, got up, went outside, made the blessing upon seeing a rainbow and snapped a few shots of its beauty.

Yancey House Construction

Everyone always asks us why we don't move back to Boston. Both of our families are there, not just our parents, but our extended families. It is true we miss them all terribly and it would be nice to have our families be a more significant part of the children's lives. It is also true that we have an amazing community.

Since we bought our house and moved in (December 2001) Ron has been working on the house. At first it was little things, but from the time Talya was born in 2003 the work got progressively more significant. At this point in time, every room in the house but one has been completely remodelled. The projects have included insulating all the rooms, rewiring, putting in new windows and light fixtures, completely gutting the bathroom and the kitchen, increasing the size of the kitchen and reconfiguring it, putting in a pantry and carving out a workspace area, bringing in gas, putting in copper pipes, framing out a new dining room and the list goes on and on.

Ron has been amazing and has done incredible work, but in the last 6 months, our family has really felt the strain. Living for extended periods of time in a house under construction is tough on a family, his down time has been negligible as all his spare time is spent working on the house and it has been hard on me too, as I don't get much of a break.

Over the years, many have asked Ron if he has needed help with the work. He has always turned everyone down. But as things have gotten more difficult and thanks to the inspiration of a dear friend, we finally put out the call. And as soon as the call went out, our community came. Friends came to work on the house, sanding, taping, painting, etc. They brought food with them and supplies. They helped with the kids so that I could work too. And, in two weeks time, our bedroom and living room were completed, the work space area is minutes from completion and the stalled dining room project progressed tremendously. I can almost say, the end is in sight (note the use of the word almost, there is still lots to be done, but the task list is much more manageable).

Here are some shots of our work parties, in the next couple of weeks, as we meet the timeline for work, I will post more photos of the finished products. In the mean time, THANK YOU to all those who have helped us make our house a home. May our home be a place where all our dear friends and our community (and our extended family too) will find hospitality.

First Day of School - Michaela's Turn

7th Grade!! How did that happen? Michaela was excited, mature and completely ready for her next adventure this morning. Of course, it is her Bat Mitzvah year, she will spend this year not only studying History, French, Language Arts and Math, she will also be learning how to lead prayer in synagogue, chant from the Torah and analyze a Torah portion. AND, on the B'Nai Mitzvah circuit she will be learning how to be a young lady - guess she already has good start.

Talya's First Day Of School!

Talya was SO excited for her first day of school. First Grade at last! Here she is before she left.

And here, upon arrival at school. Thank you Julie and Mitch for taking her to school today and for taking such good care of her!