An older lady - a friend of Dovid's grandmother - complimented Mordechai on how handsome he was. She went on to say how important sons were. After all, she said, they carry on the name.

My son thoughtfully mused, "What's more important, the name or the religion?"

spelling samples

Two samples that I discovered among my kids' writings...

Mordechai: ...this little piggy cried wii wii wii all the way home.

Sari: ftogrufer (Can't guess it? It says photographer!)

First day of kindergarten...

First day of school...

third- and fifth-graders

BIG news

Mordechai and I were the only ones home as Shabbat was winding down yesterday. We got into conversation about the Twin Towers and terrorism and Israel and Arabs and then - oil spills. (As in, what's worse? 9/11 or the oil spill? He's always asking comparison questions like that....)

He said to me, "You know how I know the oil spill is really BIG? They were even talking about it on espn!"

Lessons for Life from the Science Fair

(Forgive the length of the post, Uncle Meyer. I hope it won't deter you from reading it through....)

I finally have Mordechai's science fair project behind me. Despite the fact that we kept it clean and simple, it was still a huge pain. Mordechai was harassing me all last week to get the final details together (order the prints, get the tri-fold board, etc.). Of course, I really should be pleased that he has his project prepared well in advance of the due date as opposed to his usual method of night-before-it's-due-panic mode. It's so much easier to be annoyed and critical when they do it the wrong way than to remember to be pleased and complimentary when they do it right, just like you told them to....

As a whole, it was a fairly valuable learning experience as he worked through the process of gathering materials, clarifying the procedure, recording his results, and coming to a (somewhat valid and relevant) conclusion. He dropped a basketball from 3 different heights and recorded how far up they bounced back. He discovered that it never came back up to it's drop level. The lower the drop height, the greater the percentage of the height was achieved on the bounce back. So, dropped from 2 feet, the ball bounced back up to 87.5% of the two feet i.e. to 1 foot, 9 inches. From 6 feet, the ball bounced back up to only 66.7% of its original height i.e. to 4 feet.

As we working out the ratios together, Mordechai got excited with an idea he had: You can think of it like two people. Reuven has a "two-foot" potential. From your view-point, you see him reaching 1'9" which is not so impressive. Shimon has a "six-foot" potential. You see him reaching 4 feet. Looks like he's reaching greater heights - and he is. But in reality, Reuven perhaps deserves more credit because he's maximizing more of his potential whereas Shimon is not really putting in much effort and he could be expected to reach an even higher level. People can only see what you accomplish and what "level" you reach. Hashem knows how hard you really are working. It's not so much what you accomplish that's important but how much effort you put into your growth as a person.

Mussar haskel from my 10-year-old man. Yiddishe nachas.

Love and Marriage

Mordechai: When people kiss on the lips in a movie, do they have fake lips? Or, no. Are they husband and wife? (pause) Yeah, they're probably just husband and wife.

Sari to Daddy: Why don't you call me honey like you call Mommy?

Randoms

We've had record low temperatures in Florida for the past couple of weeks. Since we live in an old house with no heating and lots of cracks and holes and stuff, it's crazy cold by us at night. So we have a couple of space heaters that we huddle around. I spent several nights sleeping on the floor of the girls' room next to their heater because I couldn't warm up in my room. It was pretty insane. Showering was not even an option. The girls have been going to school in the strangest outfits with tights mismatched to clothes mismatched to layers of sweatshirts. But, who cares? My favorite part is the quote I heard from Ada one morning as I was getting her dressed: "I'm sugaring!"

Here are some more:

Ada (sipping a hot cocoa) to me: Do you think Sari would enjoy this? I think she would enjoy this. Let's save some for her.

Me (looking in the mirror, fixing myself up before a gala dinner): Uch, I'm so fat!
Sari (admonishingly): Don't say that Mommy! You're not fat!

That coming from the same girl who says: Are you sure you're not pregnant, Mommy? Your stomach is getting bigger...

And: Why are your thighs so fat?

Ada to Mordechai: I wish this [ice cream] didn't have soy in it.
Mordechai: Why?
Ada: So you could have it!

I am thankful...

Mordechai: ...that we have a house ...that we are healthy and safe

Sari: ...for my siddur that my Savta gave me ...for kosher food ...for my family ...for Hashem

Ada: ...for my family and my neshama

Mordechai has become quite the avid sports fan lately. To "chill out," he likes to watch game highlights online. I was nearby on the couch one afternoon while he was watching what must have been an exciting moment in the game. The sports announcers were going nuts as they are so wont to do. I wondered aloud, "Why are they always yelling on the top of their lungs like that?"

A few moments later, Ada piped up from the recliner, "I think they yell so loud so that everyone in the stadium can hear them."

If only there was such a rational reason!

How fun is it?!

About a week into the school year, Mordechai and I were sitting one night going through his daily schedule in school. He was telling me about his morning routine when he learns limudei kodesh with Rabbi Guttman. After recess, they learn mishnayos. He said excitedly, "Mishnayos is really good!" I said (perhaps a bit skeptically), "It is?"

He looked at me like I was off the wall and said, "Oh, yeah. Mishnayos is even more fun than recess!"

Kudos to Rabbi G.!

Summer fun down the block ;)

Mother knows best...or not?

So I've been driving the kidlets to school in Boca every day. We pick up another kid along the way as well. The other day, I was spacing out and accidentally drove right past our meeting spot so that I had to get off the next exit and turn around to go back to pick him up. Mordechai was thoroughly annoyed and was delivering a lecture about how I should pay more attention to what I'm doing. Besides, he continued, I went a dumb way to get back which took much longer than necessary (all true, unfortunately - not that that's a good excuse to talk to your mother like that...) blah, blah, blah. When he ran out of steam, Ada piped up from the back,

"Mom, you should always listen to Mordechai when you're driving. He's our GPS!"

Trip to the ER

Sari nearly sliced her thumb off this evening while trying to cut a slice of challah for herself. I heard a cry of surprise from her and one of admonition from Mordechai. I saw her race past me on her way upstairs and I asked Mordechai what happened. He told me she had cut herself so I called to her to ask her where she was going. She said she was going to get a bandage. By the time she came downstairs with a bandage her hand was dripping with blood and she was looking pretty shaken. I couldn't even tell where the cut was because the blood was all over so I took her to wash the blood off. I could see that she had cut her thumb pretty deep so I (calmly) called Dovid to check it out and he agreed with me that it needed medical attention. Sari wanted Daddy to take her to the ER (I'm trying not to be offended) so I wrapped her finger in a gauze pad. I was afraid a bandage would be a bad idea because taking it off would mean pulling the pieces apart. ***shudder***

I thought I'd go crazy when I called Dovid's cell and heard it ringing in the living room! How could he forget his cell at home when he takes one of MY kids to the ER?! A friend of ours called a little while later and suggested I call the ER and ask for him. How like me is that? To forget that there was life before cell phones? Duh. The receptionist was happy to transfer me to bed #22. Sari was fine and was getting her wound taped rather than stitched which is certainly a lot less traumatic and will hopefully prove to be equally effective.

A little while later I called again to find out that they'd been discharged. Mordechai had been practically pacing the whole time since they had left but he seemed to be somewhat relieved to hear the news that they were on their way home. He turned to me and asked if I thought he should give Sari all his stickers. I was quite taken by surprise and didn't really have a chance to answer before he decided for himself that he would do just that. When she got home he handed her his whole sticker album. Now, granted he's not really all that into stickers for quite some time now, but, how sweet is that?

Loosening the apron strings

Mordechai had his first summer away from home. It was a huge experience for both of us. He stayed at Dovid's sister, Sari's family. He didn't say that much about his days but I do know that he was usually "too busy" to talk on the phone with me. Good sign, I guess.

After the second day of Chaim Day Camp, Mordechai reported that his Rebbe was awesome. His only complaint was, "Why do they have learning for so long if it's camp?" A little culture shock coming from his Florida day school, eh? By the next week he was pronouncing hebrew words with a deep yeshivish accent. (It reminded me of when I got married and heard Dovid make kiddush using "oh" for the cholam instead of "oy" like m faythers and brothers do. To me he sounded like a girl! It's a Chafetz Chaim thing :).)

My family was so wonderful taking care of my baby. I felt truly comfortable knowing he was in such warm, loving hands. My mom-in-law (where Mordechai spent most weekends), shared some anecdotes with me (in her voice):

1. We were talking on Shabbos about Miriam - that she will be the first of the grandchildren to go to sleep-away camp. So Mordechai puts on that smirky smile and says, "What about me, I am the first to go to sleep-away camp....I am sleeping away and going to camp!!"

2. Shabbos we had for dessert a yummy chocolate cake from Tziporah and Mordechai says its good that everyone has something that they are good at."Tziporah is the best at cakes and cookies, my mom makes the best salads, Aunt Sari cooks the best apple kugel & pies and Rivky and Rena are, ya know, good at cooking." (me: To appreciate how funny that is, it's important to note that I haven't made a salad in ages! He just made something up about me so as not to leave me out!)

3. On Sunday Mordechai was excited to go to Savta for the BBQ because he says she has the best steaks in the world. But he added that he is a little sad. When I asked why, he answered, "cause my mom always cuts the steak into little pieces for me."

Purim 2009!

From Rochelle and Mordechai's wedding

Mordechai was complaining about the lack of scheduled activites for Erev Yom Kippur.

“I’m gonna be so bored!” he said.

I pointed out that we could play, read, and eat. I also mentioned that we still had to do tashlich. Then I added, "Oh, and we have to do kapparos tomorrow!"

His response: "Yeah, but what's the point of doing kapparos…there’s no poor people in Palm Beach!"

A g'mar chatimah tovah to all!

Big brother wisdom

Mordechai to Sari: So which seat are you in?

Sari: I'm the second to the last seat in the second row.

Mordechai: Good. If you're sitting in the back, that means you're good.

Kvelling

Mordechai (who's having trouble falling asleep so I let him come out to read) just handed me a little gift. It's a piece of paper folded first accordion-style and then folded in three. On the outside are printed the words USA MAP. When unfolded, you see a drawing of the U.S. with many (mostly rectangular) divisions indicating states. Texas and Florida are fairly true to shape. Actually, on second glance, Florida is very well drawn. He was beaming as he watched me unfold it and made sure to point out, "I even folded it like a real map!"