C'est Moi!

Oui, c'est MOI! I am, how you say? Tres coool :-)




Sooooo we were wondering how long Tyler's hair was if it was straight. So I straightened it one day (couldn't believe she sat for it) and, well, we are not doing that again LOL She looks waaaay too much older this way!



She was getting tired of Mom taking pictures :-P

Pretty in pink :-)

So Sebastian is over his latest bout of food poisoning and there is not much new on this end. OH! Except we have booked a trip for Germany in March. Sebastian has a course he is going to so we are piggy backing onto that for an extra week. Looking forward to getting to see the Harrell's and Germany one last time...given that we are still set to leave this June, I am pretty sure it will be the last time! (Hey Kelly R. if you're reading this let me know if you are still going to be around as well ;-D....)

Other than that it's been pretty much the same. One sucky thing - I had been doing a Mommy & Me playgroup with the girls. It was mostly for Ty but since I don't have anyone to watch Alex during the day I was taking her too (something I had cleared with them prior to ever going). That had worked since December but apparently no more. While Alex is getting bigger & moving more it has been manageable. I guess the school people had a change of heart. They, of course, try to make it sounds like its a concern for Ty's benefit but its oddly coincidental that once the room is packed and there are a couple kids on the wait list, this suddenly becomes an issue. Not impressed but what are you going to do, eh? Soooo now to find another outlet.

I may be volunteering to host a weekly playgroup group LOL but I'll let you know how that pans out. I have a location, now its just seeing who wants to/is available, days times...ahhh yes. This should be interesting! What's the saying about one door closes another one opens? ;-) Or should I be thinking about Pandora's Box?!?

Food poisoning & Pizza

Well Sebastian has another case of food poisoning. This is the 3rd time while here (I have had it once); and it is definitely the worst of the three. I keep telling him to keep drinking water and to stick to broth/clear soups till it's over.

Apparently he is at the point of feeling hungry occassionally but is not over the hill yet (I can relate, it really suucks to be at that point)...but will my darling husband listen to me? No. What does he crave? His ever-loving PIZZA. With anchovies. UGHHHHHHH! For all that is holy that is just not natural. He just laughs and says something about eating pizza on his deathbed...

I'm telling ya it's....just....not...normal LOL :)

Makes sense - but toooo surreal

Okay I was emailed a link to an Israeli website that gives you pointers on what to do if you are in rocket/mortar attack, a missle attack, a terrorist attack... WOW Yeah no one linked us up with this site when we were making our decision to come here :)

Think about it. A population who has been undergoing this for so long that they have a website with instructions on what to do "if"....Meanwhile our (north american) sites tell you what to do if you get a flat!

You have to see this yourselves

http://www.oref.org.il/315-en/PAKAR.aspx

Alex and Tyler.....

Ahhhh it's the little things that makes life interesting, isn't it?

When Ty wants Dad's attention when he's busy (or to call him to dinner) he is "Sass-chen"

Alex has been nicknamed "Baby Terminator" because

1) she commando crawls dragging herself along like one did in the movies and,

2) as the movie says, "(s)he will NOT stop...they never stop!!!" LMAO Off after whatever Tyler currently has in her hands or any visable electrical cords. I took her away from the Wii the other day, placed her 6 feet away and put Ty's purple couch in front of it to hide it.....she immediately turned around and dragged herself across the carpet, AROUND the couch and back to the Wii. (sighs) Yeah and she only 7 months old. Her alternate nicknames? Pudge and Stickyfingers

Max will howl when either child is crying...and will NOT stop until the crying stops....and yes he will do it from OUTSIDE the front door too.

Ty has reached the stubborn independent stage: if she wants to do it herself and you do it for her she will undo it just so she can do it herself....its alllllways "Ty's turn"

Little girls like the rain and mud....until their feet sink and they cannot lift their shoes out! Then Mom's help is okay :-P

Two and a half year olds can suddenly become allergic to bathtime....

When things go well Tyler likes to give 'knuckles'...when they don't she'll lift her hands up and say 'oh gawd dude'...LOL those words have come from our mouths, but never in that phrase/order!

What's yours is mine sister!!

Update post-Gaza invasion

Ok so the pictures are up and onto the next question I get emails on: how is the war affecting us. So far, believe it or not, IF you did not watch the news you wouldn't know there's a war an hour away from here. (Ok or listen to people around you talking) Yes, they have been launching shells/rockets up north and they are reaching further than they ever have before - but still not enough to reach Tel Aviv much less us. They seem to have been much more focused on hitting another city, Be'er Sheva, now that they can.

That said it did impact our travels with Sebastian's parents. We'd thought about going south and were not as concerned about rockets as much as sympathizers who may resort to physical attacks (stabbings, rocks thrown thru car windows for example) or, worse, suicide bombers. While there have been no suicide bombings yet there have been some incidents here and there so we are just trying to be careful. If it were just Sebastian and I it would be one thing but with little ones it becomes a different matter. Some shit you just never want yout kids to experience/see. So we have done more day outings & are staying north at the moment.

We have a variety of news sources on satellite and online and its been interesting following who shows what and interviews who. At first we wondered if this would be over quickly once the air strikes had hit their targets but with the ground invasion kicking off methinks this will be going on for a while. There is talk about the Israelis getting in and out on the ground as quickly as possible but to accomplish their end goal - taking out Hamas' infrastructure so they cannot launch rockets & shells (if not Hamas themselves) - well no one I have heard has suggested a quick means to do that soooooo I think this will be going of for a while. If other Middle Eastern players get involved then who knows.... Evacuation is a possibility (happened in the 2006 war with Lebanon) but how that would be decided I do not know. It isn't happening right now so we just go about our day and keep an eye on whats happening south of us here.

Ok - 'nuff for now. For anyone on the other side of the pond interested in online news sources you may want to check out these too:

http://www.haaretz.com/
http://www.jpost.com/
www.bbc.co.uk/

The first 2 are Israeli and are in English (as is Aljazeera - interesting to see what they are saying; just google them)....BBC has more indepth coverage typically than CNN or Fox.

hugs to all!!

Past month in pictures

Hi All!

I have some pictures that never made it up so I figured while I was trying to update the blog I'd put them up here.....somehow the setting ended up on 'big' pictures but there are enough of them that I am not re-uploading them LOL Enjoy!

Picture below is from Christmas party at ambassador's house....

Girls hanging out together

I have TOES!

Soooo tired!

YAHH! We like this one!!

More to come another time ...... have a great day!