The Life and Times of the Seattle Yanceys

Talya's Classwork

2009-10-26T20:52:00.001-07:00

As soon as Talya got home from school this afternoon, she ran into my office holding this classwork assignment. She was so proud of it and so excited to share it. She told me that her teacher thought she did a great job. Unfortunately, I was still working at the time she came in, so I didn't pay too much attention, until later... I read the assignment, looked at her drawing and I couldn't stop laughing. I love how Talya sees the world and how she always makes me smile, I had to share. In case you are not able to see it, the assignment reads: Design a wrapper and make up a name for a delicious new candy bar. : )

My Girl Has To Have Her Coffee

2009-10-20T20:38:00.001-07:00

Celebrating Ayelet and Sukkot

2009-10-08T23:12:00.000-07:00

Sukkot is always such a special time for our family. Our Sukkah is always so beautiful (thanks Ron!) and we love welcoming guests to our home. On first night Sukkot, we took the time to celebrate Ayelet with our dear friends. Ayelet knew that we were honoring her, she had a really great time. So did the rest of us.
Ayelet listening to blessings made just for her.

The roof of the Sukkah.

The Sukkah, waiting for guests to arrive.

Talya and her BFF at the Torah Celebration at SJCS.

Talya Is Playing Fall Soccer!

2009-09-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

Ayelet's 18 Month Stats and L'Shanah Tovah

2009-09-18T17:22:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-16T22:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-08T21:43:00.000-07:00

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!

My 10 Days

2009-08-26T22:27:00.000-07:00

After Ron and I reunited in Boston, I left the east coast to return to Seattle and Ron took over with the kids. Their adventures began as they spent a lot of time visiting Ron's extended family in the Boston area. In the mean time, I returned to Seattle alone.

At first, when we booked the tickets and made the decision that Ron and the girls would stay in Boston for 10 days after I left, I was horrified. I couldn't imagine how I could stand being away from the girls for that long. In particular, I was worried about how Ayelet would do without me for that long, or perhaps how I would do without her for that long.

Well, it turns out, the girls did fine without me. They had an amazing time with Ron and with his family. They played with their cousins and friends. And, in particular, Ayelet had a chance to really connect with her Daddy. He was her security blanket during those 10 days.

As for me, I did fine as well, in fact, I did really well and really value the time that I had to myself. I have been parenting small children for 12 years and as much as I love almost every minute of it, I had forgotten what it is like to do what I want, when I want, without regard for how it will affect anyone else. For 10 days, that is exactly what I did. I took the time to have lunch with girl friends and really spend time with them; I went to the movies to see Julie and Julia; I worked on a (major) house project involving many, many years of photos; I worked without having to rush home to pick up the kids - in other words, I worked until I got the job done; I slept; I ate whenever I wanted, whatever I wanted; I cooked recipes that sounded good to me, with onions and garlic, green things and the like; I exercised ALOT; I slept; I skipped chores if I didn't feel like doing them; and oh, did I mention, I slept - through the night, without an alarm clock?

When I picked Ron and the girls up at the airport, I was SO glad to see them and to hold them all in my arms. And, I don't want them to be away from me for an extended period of time, any time soon. But perhaps next summer, I will really like to do this again...

Computer Challenges... The Rest of Vacation and Beyond

2009-08-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

About a week before the end of my vacation, my computer decided that it too needed a vacation. So, during the last week of our trip, I unplugged. A good thing? Yeah, probably - of course, I still had the iPhone...

During our last week, the girls and I had some really special times together. Here are the highlights:

A day trip to Martha's Vineyard to visit Liz, Kevin and their extended family.
The ferry ride to the island, anticipating the adventure.
Wandering the shops on the vineyard, buying a few treasures to take home with us.
Reconnecting with the Lucia clan, including Ander and Addison who we hadn't seen in almost 10 years.
Time at the beach playing with the kids.
Dinner with the adults while the kids went to play at the arcade.
Ice cream at the vineyard's famous Mad Martha's ice cream shop.
Barely catching the last ferry off the vineyard.
Carrying Talya and Ayelet in the house fast asleep as we arrived back at the Cape house after 11:30 pm.
A visit to the Cape Cod Hospital ER the next day when I wasn't feeling so good.
Michaela and Talya's amazing help, especially with Ayelet when I wasn't up to the task.
More beach time.
Watching Ayelet make the beach her own, in particular, check out the shots of Ayelet pulling the boogy board behind her, note the board is bigger than she is.
Barbecue with the Wednesday morning beach club girls, Carly and Kelsey and their families.
Birthday dinner and cake with Nona.
A morning of paper shopping with Aunty Nicky in anticipation of Michaela's Bat Mitzvah invitations.
An afternoon visit with Danny, Elizabeth and Asher where all the kids entertained us with a musical concert.
The annual trip to Oleana Restaurant in Cambridge, where Ana made sure that Nicky and I were spoiled with lots of different culinary creations.
Reuniting with Ron on Sunday morning.

Enjoy this slide show, snaps of our last week.

A Day With the Navisky Clan

2009-08-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday turned out to be the perfect beach day which worked well as we were joined by the Navisky family for the day. We spent most of the day playing at the beach. Three generations of Nacamuli's and Navisky's were there (with few exceptions). Talya and Adam had a blast playing together.
Ayelet found lots of arms ready to hold her.

After dinner the entire group of us (15) went on a bunny hunt through the neighborhood, we must have been quite a sight to see.

The two Nona's -

Eventually, Ayelet had to walk like all the big kids.

Visits with Friends

2009-08-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning, my two dearest friends from my school years came with their families to see us. Liz, Kevin and their two boys Zachary and Jacob (pictured below) and Craig, Heidi and one of their two boys came over. Because of how spread out we are (Craig and Heidi are in Boston, Liz and Kevin live in Memphis and Ron and I are in Seattle), we rarely see each other together. It was such a gift to spend the morning together, adults catching up, the children playing. We were having so much fun, I forgot to take photos... These are the only ones that were taken.

After our morning of visiting, we left Boston to return to Cape Cod. We had plans later that day to get reacquainted with the Wednesday Morning Beach Club. We managed to get a quick ice cream cone with Carly and her mom, Lisa.

Michaela Is Here!

2009-07-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

Michaela arrived on Wednesday night, her first solo flight! She did great and was so sophisticated walking off the plane, it brought tears to my eyes. When we arrived back at Nona's house, we had dinner and a belated birthday celebration.

Today, the girls and I went to New Hampshire to visit Nana and Grandpa, Aunty Debbie and cousins Josh and Morgan. It was so fun for the kids to get reacquainted, the cousins are looking forward to spending more time together when Ron is here.

Poor Talya....

2009-07-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Talya had a sore throat and low grade fever. Since I had so recently had Strep, I got worried and took her to the clinic on the Cape. They ran a Rapid Strep test which was negative (as mine had been) but were unable to run a regular culture because the Sunday clinic can't send things out. On Monday, Talya was still sick, but she still tried really hard to rally and go to the beach.

After talking to her doctor, the decision was made to treat her for Strep. That night, she was still feeling sick, but still took the time to read to Ayelet. Fortunately, by the next morning the antibiotics had kicked in and she was already feeling MUCH better.

So of course, we headed to the beach!

And, we went on a bunny hunt.

Then, that night, Talya and I went to Sundae School and Talya danced up a storm.

Tomorrow - Michaela arrives!!

Settling In At Cape Cod

2009-07-26T18:24:00.000-07:00

We have spent the last few days getting reacquainted with our favorite parts of the Cape. Blueberry picking was a big hit - though Ayelet couldn't understand why her bucket kept emptying instead of filling.
One beautiful beach day, Talya found a friend and Ayelet fell in love with the sand, the water and the sun.

Special time with family -

And of course, Sundae School, what would our vacation be without ice cream.

New York City!

2009-07-23T18:58:00.001-07:00

Talya and I had an amazing (though too short) day in NYC. Aunty Audrey kept Ayelet for the day, and Talya and I set out to see as much as we could of the big city. Talya is so young still, she knows tidbits about New York from some of her books and movies, she hasn't yet learned much more about New York. It was fun to bring the city alive for her!

We started with a train ride to Grand Central Station (which she remembered from Madagascar). We had decided on the train that we would start our day by taking a taxi to Battery Park and then taking the Staten Island Ferry (thanks Margot).
From the ferry, we were able to see the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and of course the New York skyline.

After our ferry ride, we took the subway to Times Square. We paused to look around for the newsstand from The Cricket in Times Square, then we walked up to Mr. Broadway's for lunch. I had wanted a good kosher meat lunch, but forgot about the nine days, instead I had felafel (delicious) and Talya had pasta.

The we really started to explore Times Square. Talya loved Times Square, there were street performers, like this one eating fire and all the glitz and glam of Times Square.

We went to the Ferris wheel there, and caught a glimpse of the life sized doll house and the video gaming areas, then we were off again and headed to the Plaza. (See Eloise post for details about the Plaza.)

After our visit to The Plaza, we hopped on the bus (it was raining) and headed back to Grand Central Station to catch our train back to Connecticut. There was so much more to do, but what a satisfying day.

Eloise At The Plaza

2009-07-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

Talya's favorite part of our day in New York was our visit to the Plaza. (Thank you Robin for this great idea!). She was so excited when we got out of the subway and the sign said "The Plaza Hotel"! The look on her face was priceless.

She loved the P's on the doors, rugs, walls, etc.
She tried to pose just like Eloise.

In the Eloise room, she sat down to have tea.

She wrote Eloise a letter and put it in her mailbox.

And, she had a chance to read Eloise's special Plaza Hotel menu.

Talya was SO disappointed that Eloise wasn't there. She asked someone there where Eloise was, they told her that Eloise was out for the day. I think that she would have waited there if we could.

We Made It - Summer Vacation Is Here!

2009-07-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

The girls and I had a great flight to NYC. Considering how nervous I was, I was so relieved! We were all thrilled to see Aunty Audrey too! Here are a few shots of our first night here.

Ayelet made herself comfortable by walking around Aunty Audrey's house and going up and down her steps.
After dinner we went on a successful bunny hunt.

Here is Aunty Audrey's beautiful house in Greenwich.

And the house across the street that I fell in love with! (Think big!)

Tomorrow, Talya and I are hitting the big apple!!!!!

Schechter Open House - We Miss Michaela!

2009-07-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

Sisters reunited!

"Mom, I am ready to come to camp, can you tell?"

Ayelet's 15 Month Check Up

2009-07-15T22:12:00.000-07:00

Ayelet had her 15 month check up (a little late)! In the last couple of months, Ayelet has really blossomed! She has grown a little:

Height: 30 1/2 inches (40th percentile)

Weight: 20.1 lbs (11th percentile)

She has many words now and really appreciates expressing herself. She also understands everything - which makes her a great help when it is time to tidy the house. When asked to put dirty clothes in the hamper, she does; when asked to straighten the shoes on the shoe shelf, she happily obliges. She loves doing everything that her big sisters do and that her mama does, she especially loves "talking" on the phone and cooking. She is walking like a pro and loves to swing and slide. She doesn't sleep so well, but after the past two nights, there is hope. Soon enough, she will be on the beaches of the Cape and she will make the sand and surf her own, just as her sisters did.

So Much Summer Fun

2009-07-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

A trip to the beach to enjoy the low tides,
Michaela's camp out birthday party,

Girls doing yoga in the afternoon.

Sisters - more zoo pictures...

2009-06-21T22:29:00.000-07:00

Talya is taking her role as big sister VERY seriously.

Father's Day

2009-06-21T22:21:00.001-07:00

We had a great Father's Day, celebrating Ron! It was so wonderful to spend time with him, we had him all to ourselves. After a leisurely breakfast at home (followed by breaking camp, see earlier post), we spent the rest of the day at the zoo!

Camping In

2009-06-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we were supposed to go camping with Talya's kindergarten class. The kids (and I) were so excited to go, but on Friday morning, Michaela woke up with a fever, so at the last minute, we cancelled.

We ended up camping out in the backyard for the weekend, and yes, it was a great trial run. We ate dinner and made s'mores early, then brought Shabbos in late. On Saturday, we played lots of games, played outside, ate, napped, and read. It was a lot of fun to go camping with all the comforts of home readily available: the toilet, shower, refrigerator, clean, dry clothes, etc. It was fun to go to sleep in the warm sleeping bag in the cold night air and to wake up to the sounds of cars driving down 35th and the music playing at Starbucks. We missed our friends, but enjoyed each other.