HAPPY DAYS!!!!

YEAAAAAAAAA !!!!! :-)

We have an appointment to get our household goods!! Next Tuesday morning to be exact!! FINALLY we will have the girls' toys, strollers, baby tub, high chair, plastic bowls, cups, plates....kitchen >>>OMG I will have my pots, pans and bakeware!!!LMAO Never did I ever think I would be so happy to see kitchen stuff :) Nevermind our TV, bikes, dog beds, etc.....

Yup next Tuesday will be a very happy but busy day!! Now if we can just find our SUV we will be set !

My days are still filled with the kids mostly (feeding, cleaning up after kids and dogs - gawd its groundhog day haha) The stock market as most of you know has been tanking and between that, the volatility, and the kids keeping me from watching it uninterrupted, I have not been doing much in it.

The yard is now done (was seriously overgrown when we got here and has not gotten better on its own!) which will be nice to enjoy now that the temp has dropped to the 70's & 80's. Just need some flowers which we have to wait for the truck to get...and Lisa..my dear sister...how I wish I could teleport her here so she could help with the landscaping! Or pot-scaping I guess I should call it as there are empty pots everywhere - its just a matter of figuring out what to plant in them! I know there must be some great smelling flowers for this area - just a matter of figuring out which!

Bathrooms....

Ok - HOW can I live here a month and NOT know how many bathrooms we have?? (Yes one is in the basement and it never gets used...but sadly thats not the one I forgot about)

We have FIVE yes FIVE bathrooms!! Four of them with showers or tubs....gawd that is too many bathrooms!

I am looooosing my mind.....LOL

Moments in Israel....

Checking out the flowers in the backyard in the morning....

Dang - she found the chocolate!

Playing with the hose takes care of the chocolate!

While Alex chills


Later that day when Dad makes it home we head to the beach...

and this is the view Ty has from her swing!

Sad thing is she won't remember this all so I am trying to

remember to bring the camera for lots of pictures!

Update!

Were does one begin? This will be the shot-gun effect for blogging today :-)

We are still without our household goods and X5. We hear that the HHG should be here on/around the 24 (and still has customs after that I believe), and the X5? Your guess is as good as mine! But we have been making due. The kids have been keeping me busy..Someone said that having one child is having one...having two is like having 10LOL I now see their point!

Alex is now rolling both ways (back to front and front to back) and inching forward with her toes! In the house of stairs I was really hoping she was going to take a while for her to get moving. She also likes to be upright (here's wishing we had our stuff already) so i know she will enjoy her bumbo chair, etc once its here. Ty still like having a lilttle sister LOL and gives kisses, hugs and blankets to Alex...till I am feeding her and then Ty tells me "Baby sit" while patting her swing or a blanket on the ground. Tyler is talking quite a bit and has hit the independent 2's. (Well independent till someone else talks to her - then she is attached to my legs) Both are growing like crazy and keep me running!

August was hot but you can start to feel it cooling off a bit now, especially in the mornings and evenings..not cooling off like it does in Germany but it is cooler. Like 28 C instead of 34 C during the day. In other words thank god for air conditioning!

Sebastian seems to be settling into his new position and is enjoying it. It keeps him really busy, making the time fly by, and is quite interesting being in and working with people from such a different culture. He doesn't travel a great deal and his office is actually walking distance from him which is great.

Ahhh the culture :-) There are definitely differences here - some we read up on before we came and others we have been introduced to. Here are some interesting ones:

Overall rule: All laws and rules are, well, strong suggestions that don't really need to be followed, much less followed at all times :-)

Driving: This can make driving interesting to say the least. Watch out for people on scooters (who I swear have a death wish as they weave in and out of traffic) but also for those lovely souls who think one way street sign does not apply to them! Honking is normal so don't be shocked or offended, as is being cut off. Parking?? OMG! Parking in streets, parking on curbs (sometimes half the car sometimes the whole car), double parked, triple parked is not unusual...apparently the lines on the ground are, again, just suggestions. You know - guidelines to follow or not depending on ones mood (OK lot of that has to do with the sheer numbers of cars here too!)

Lines: Cutting into line is not a surprise...nor is getting pushy :-) Waiting patiently is for suckers apparently

Dress code is officially casual! They have the designer names here but you won't, for example, be out of place in khakis and a polo shirt at a 5 star restaurant.

Hebrew has to be the most different, and difficult, language I have heard! Unlike being in Europe, nothing about it sounds or looks familiar.....makes grocery shopping an interesting experience LOL I will take some pictures and post them soon. Still it is kind of cool when you realize you are listening to a language that is over 2000 years old! Most people in this part of Israel do speak English too.

Our house is made of concrete and is walled around the yard. This is true of all the houses in this area. There are lots of mature trees which softens things a bit but I do miss seeing people in their yards - makes it a bit harder to meet the neighbors LOL But we are not far from things - the beach, shopping and parks are walking distance so I think the location is fantastic!! I'd much rather live here than in Tel Aviv proper...if we did not have dogs and kids I might feel differently but since we do this works out much better!

Ok -'nuff for now. Here are some pictures!



Let the education begin LOL






Ty at the park - it is a beautiful park thats not too far away. Wish I had more pictures of it but my memory card was full!

Gecko's are NOT cute

Okay - the only Gecko I ever wanted in my home (maybe) was from Geico.....this unwelcome critter decided to park itself at our ceiling!!! It was small - 4 inches from tip to tail - which just made it that much faster - UGHHHHHHHH!!

It has been re-assigned to outdoor quarters where it can eat bugs to its hearts content!! I'll take spiders anyday!!