Blabbing without Words

Recent Rambles

Things around our house have been nuts lately. So nuts that we're too busy to even write full paragraphs explaining the craziness. We're trying to keep some amount of normalcy, both taking time for ourselves and for the kiddos. So in honor of 2 of our 5 bedrooms being use-able right now, a massive snowstorm with Levav's first trip to the ER, I present, our crazy week in photos:

Pre Shabbat Cake Baking (Brownies with peppermint frosting, was delicious!)

Scene from our MLK day family trip to the Asian market

Perfecting the art of at home lazy sushi making (fish free edition)

Ditto (fish full addition)

Happy Patient during a huge snowstorm at Johns Hopkins Children's ER (he's fine, thank god, had a bad burn and our pediatrician's office was closed so she sent us over)

What Lever's room looked like as pipes were being repaired (uggggh, this kid can't get a break!) 

8th Anniversary

Last Wednesday we celebrated our 8th anniversary. We officially are a no presents kind of people, instead we prefer to go do something together. The plan is to go away for a weekend, Ami's parents are going to take the kiddos, but for now it's kind of on hold due to other not exciting burst pipes, household issues. It WILL happen though, just not like, next weekend.

Ami brought home these beautiful flowers, and I ordered a picture frame for this photo he took in a photography class way back in his Vermont school days that we'll get up in our newly painted bathroom. Once we know for sure that no more water is going to come from pipes.

We're not going to get into the details or really anything else about the pipes and the damage over this blog, at least until all the cause and reimbursement is accounted for, but responsibility aside, we've had a lot of drama this week, and are thrilled today to have heat, hot water and at least use of half of the rooms in the house.

Scenes from a NJ visit

Has it really been two weeks since we our visit home? I feel like a very bad blogger. We had a great trip, so happy that Hudy and Debra came from Israel on their way to Paris for their anniversary. Yes, you read that right, they came to NY on their way to Paris from Israel. 

Anyways, life's been crazy, the recent coldest-days-in-20-years has created a bunch of havoc in our house, but that's a topic for a different post. Here, enjoy pictures from wonderful weekend with the Kirschenbaum side minus Nina, when the words Polar Vortex didn't mean anything at all...

New Camera, Lots of Levs and Happy 2014!

New Year, new camera. Our beloved camera that we got while Eitan was just a little babe is a wonderful workhorse, but I never really took to it. It's kind of like a DSLR in that you can customize all these different features, but on auto mode, where I feel comfortable, it wasn't great. And somewhere along the last three years, two countries and three cities we've lived in, appeared a small scratch in the lens, that we can work around, kind of, but gets in the way with some weird light bubbles sometimes.

For Chanuka, we got a new one. It's very very point and shoot,small, and I'm loving playing around with it. Ami hates it, it's way too automatic for him, but for me, adjusting only the ISO and white balance, that's great.

Here are some pics I snapped up of sweet baby Levs (keep in mind, learning how to adjust for best results as I go!):

Baby takes a bite out of a shark

And I found the white balance button!!! Let there be light!

Last year we spent new year's eve celebrating Hudy and Debra's wedding. It was a glamorous event in a beautiful venue a half hour outside of Tel Aviv. This year, we were in our house in bed by 10! Thankfully, we did get in a visit with the not newlyweds anymore in Teaneck last weekend. Pictures to follow, promise....

Innocent

At his three year old check up our pediatrician thought she maybe heard a heart murmur in little Eitan's chest and recommended we check it out further. I made the appointment weeks ago, for the first available non-urgent, non-emergency opening, and didn't think about it, because, really if she was concerned about it our pediatrician would have told us to go sooner rather then "whenever you can get in for a non-emergency check up". So last Friday off we went, me and Eitan for a big adventure in the city at John's Hopkin's Pediatric Cardiologists. Which didn't seem scary until we actually got there, to the big fancy hospital where really sick people come from all over the country for. And then I tried as hard as I could to put my anxiety far away and make like everything is normal for the brave boy. 

Thankfully the little monster is FINE, and the only thing that's innocent about him is his heart murmur, which he does have and will effect him in no way.

He did have to get hooked up to an octopus of tubes all over his little chest and get blood pressure machine "hugs" all over, but again, thankfully, that was it. And the waiting room had Alice in Wonderland the cartoon on, which was supremely exciting to him. 

After we got the all clear and I thanked Hashem I let him goof off a little bit on our way back to the parking lot. 

Before dropping him back off at school we stopped for celebratory donuts, well he actually had a muffin and me a hot cocoa, because what better way to honor a clean bill of heart health then sugary pastries? 

Thank you Johns Hopkins, Thank you Hashem, Thank you sweet brave Eitan!

PS I Made This...

Last Sunday I was finally sick of keeping my chunky jewelry in a candy dish on my dresser. It would all get tangled up, and the boys would grab at it. So I google-ed and pinterest-ed around and found this solution.

I bought a cheap thrift store picture in a frame, popped the picture out, put together some cork board tiles, fabric we had on hand and stuck some thumbtacks. 

Kablamo. Somewhere to hang up my chunky necklaces and bracelets. And remind me to wear them, and keep them untangled and out of the kiddos hands. Hooray!