Postcard from Home

I'd like to try to make this a Friday tradition, a little postcard, all's-well, wish-you-were-here, kind of post.

So here's my first:

Dear family and friends,

It has been raining here since yesterday afternoon! One of the reasons we chose the Golan Heights over other areas of Israel is because so much of the country's produce is grown here, so many of the residents are farmers, here the connection to the land, to the rain, and to God is palpable.
I called my cellphone company today to pay my bill. We took care of all that stuff, and then I called Odeliya insiide from puddle jumping. So I asked the rep where she was, she said Tiberius.
"Ah, so you're also in the rain!" (It happens to not be raining in Jerusalem right now!)
"Yes, Baruch Hashem." she answers. " 'שתמשיכו ומלאו את הכנרת בעזרת ה" ("May it continue and fill the Sea of Galilee, with God's help") - the cellphone representative!

Love to all! Wish you were here, in the rain!

With love, from the Land of Milk and Honey,
~Ayelet

Miss O is Potty Training!

My little cutie struts her stuff!
I cant help wondering if she'll hate me for this some day...

Why I'm Not a Hippie

Yesterday my friend Sarah was over and my mom called.
Me: Hey, Ma, you know what I did? On Sunday we ran out of milk and I've been trying to cut out dairy, you know, to help Netanel's behavior. So I had about a kilo and a half of almonds, and I made almond milk! How cool is that? and now I have the almond meal left over to make cookies. And his gannenet (=pre-school teacher) told me that he's been exceptional this week - so I think its really working!
Mom: Great, Ayelet. wow, ok.
(from the next room, Sarah:  You're such a Hippie!)
Me, laughing: Mommy, my friend thinks I'm a Hippie cuz I make my own almond milk.
Mom: So what else is new?

Well, I've never been a conformist (<-- see any non-hippiness yet?) so I decided to go about proving why I can't be stereotyped.
To those of you who know me well, I know you're laughing!
Here's what I came up with:

1. I don't co-sleep (from the hours of 5:30-6am when Yoram takes Yitzchak out of my bed)
2. I don't wear my baby (when I'm holding him) and niether does Yoram.
3. I do not nurse in public (if my kid isnt hungry)
4. I haven't breastfed past 2 years old (b/c I caught listeria when Miss O was 22 months old and I was already 13 weeks pregnant and so dehydrated that I couldn't get out of bed for 2 weeks.)
5. I use disposable diapers (when all the cloth is in the wash)
6. I trust the doctors and obstetricians (to care for sick people or high risk pregnancies, which is why I choose to have my normal, healthy babies at home)
7. I haven't read Spiritual Midwifery (since last year because we haven't bought bookshelves yet, so our books are still in boxes)
8. I vaccinate my children (for a few things on my own schedule)
9. We take medicine when we're sick (well, my kids think it's medicine. It's really raw honey, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar...)
10. I use birth control (well, I wont take hormones, but I've been charting using the Fertility Awareness Method for 6 years.)
11. I don't live in an eco-friendly house (b/c we're renting)
12. I don't wear Birkenstocks (I wear Naot - to weddings)
13. I don't wear long, flowy clothing (to bed)
14. I trust the labels on all the products in the supermarket (that's why I mostly buy raw ingredients and make most of our food from scratch)
15. I am not a vegetarian (I've just barely eaten any meat for months)
16. I don't have my own organic farm (yet)
17. I don't homeschool (and no, I haven't been considering it and researching it since Netanel started school - ok that's a lie, yes I have!)
18. I don't have anything to write here, but I really wanted to get to 20!
19. I do not listen to bluegrass and classic rock (b/c these days we're listening to Sandra Boynton and Uncle Moishe)
20. And finally, I don't play guitar, and the first song I didn't learn was not "Blowin' in the Wind" (were there enough negatives in there to cancel them all out?

 

So, do I get a medal or something? :-)

It's 4 o'clock, do you know...

Yes, I know it's cliche, but it happened to me.

Little Miss O, princess of curls, and lacking pants and shoes walked down the block. I was nursing. I called her. No answer. I stopped nursing and ran out looking for her, sending Netanel around the block the other way and calling her name as I go. I looked into my neighbor's house (the one who's dog is pictured in my previous post) No one was home, except Punch (the dog). I continued looking.

As I ran frantically back towards home, I turned my head towards their house again, the door creaked open, and there was her curly little head poking out.

 The little $%*&! she was hiding from me!
I think I need to give new thought to Hubby's idea of inventing a leashless collar for children!

While the Yeast was Proofing...

I'm waiting for my yeast to proof so I can make pita bread for the next few days. This is my third attempt at making pitas that pocket... I'll let you know!

Anyway, while I have a minute (the kids are watching a dvd, and kooshkoosh is nursing - yes, I'm typing w/ onre hand!)...

First a pic of Miss O - she miraculously let me brush and put her hair back!

The Chard Salad came out excellent! So did the cinnamon buns and water challah!

The yeast is now totally bubbly and foamy, so I'm going to make my dough!

I love watching yeast proof!

Can you imagine? I've always loved to cook, but never fancied myself a baker. Now I buy freshly ground whole wheat flour straight from thew grower - 10 kilo worth! We haven't bought bread in months!

So while my dough rises, let me tell you what happened on friday...

My brother called, he's expecting his first in February. We got into a parenting conversation, chatting about the importance of giving each kid the attention that they need even though its hard with three, and he related a story that happened between him and my big one when they were here visiting about how Netanel was able to express that he was feeling ignored, and that they - wait.

Where's Miss O?

I hear the neighbor's dog barking playfully. They are best friends. I look out the window:

 Can you see her?

And no, your eyes are not deceiving you. She's not wearing any pants.

And although we're laughing hysterically on the phone together, I don't think my little brother will be taking parenting advice from me!

(Update from the present: I am now typing to the tune of a kvetchy baby, classical music in midi from the little toy piano, winnie-the-pooh, and the two big ones tearing up toilet paper... time to go!)

Wonderful Tasty Chard!

I bought chard in the market this week b/c we've been low on dark green leafies, so I decided to get creative for preparing it. Here's my original recipe for  

Chard Salad w/ Cooked Grains
5 stalks chard (red or green)
1 leek
3 cloves garlic
1 cup barley
1 cup rice
~3 Tbs olive or sunflower oil

Directions:
Cook up the barley and rice (i did it separately, but you could probably cook them together and save time.
chop up chard, leek and garlic
sautee lightly in oil with some salt and pepper

refrigate all components separately.
before serving toss together with some fresh cilantro and lemon juice
Enjoy!

Shabbat Shalom from the Land of Milk and Honey!

How I Melted the Mixing Bowl

It's 10:15am in the Land of Milk and Honey, and I am ready for a nap!
My day so far:
05:30 - I wake up to hubby asking Lil Miss O to stop pinching him.
06:00 - O (insistantly): I wanna watch a wevee! (trans: movie)
             Hubby: nu. (he's praying and is not supposed to be talking)
             me (from bed): O... come bring me books, I'll read to you.
              Big Brother has awakened and joins O, Kooshkoosh, and me in my bed. I try to read through the foggy haze of sleepiness and lack of vision correction implements (i.e, glasses)
06:18 - Hubby comes upstairs and takes Kooshkoosh downstairs to make coffee, I continue to try to read.  
06:30 - the bed is all mine and I drift longingly into 15 minutes of sleep, but now a voice breaks through the fog:

Hubby: Ayelet, do we have oatmeal?
yes, we do, but not the puor-boiling-water-over instant kind. I try to convey this via calling from my bed but end up abandoning all hopes of sleep.
I get up and come downstairs. A mug of coffee has been poured for me, bless that man's soul, little did I know it would need reheating before I'd get to drink it...

So I began to cook the oatmeal, I'm up already, let's make it good. I add in cut up apple, pear and plum pieces and some honey (ala my wonderful friend, Chaviva!! Thank you!!)

And then I notice the smell... I live in a row house, so I often smell things wafting from other houses, and the odor of burning plastic couldn't possibly be coming from my house....

It may have been 3 whole minutes of cooking before I realized that the noxious odor was in fact coming from my house, and not only that it was coming from two feet in front of my nose. My incrtedible, beloved, 32 cup Tupperware (TM) mixing bowl had become the first victim of my coffee-less morning.

The next was my husband, who had washed the dishes last night, bless that man's soul. But had decided that the stove top was a good place to leave a large plastic bowl to dry. (He was still home when I started cooking.) He got a pretty abusive call from me, which ended in tears and appologies (from me!)

Then came the child sacrifice. Here is my beautiful oatmeal:

And here is what my son left in his bowl (he was the one who wanted the arduous oatmeal which I awakened to prepare):
            

No, I did not raise my voice and lay on the guilt and threaten to never feed him again (ok, I really didn't do that last one!)

My morning: I ate a whole pot of oatmeal by myself, drank reheated coffee, sent Big Brother off to gan on his own (yes, Mom, he made it safe and sound!) , and started a new blog. At least some good has come of this!