a sporty Chanukkah this year

Jena raked in the gifts this year with a baseball glove and tee ball set,rollerblades, hockey stick, puck and goal, football trading cards,cars cars and more cars as well as a Wii game (of Cars) and not be be forgotten- a trundle bed for her Babies. Stef went with the one 'big gift' and got an iPod touch. Everyone had a good laugh looking at Jena's giant pile of gifts and Stef's lonely little one. Now that Stefanie has an allowance and spends her own money (sometimes) she fully understand the value of 'good things come in little boxes' and asked everyone else who was buying her something to get her an iTunes gift card.

Olympic 2020?

here's a peak at what has been taking up most of our time- the JCC sharks Swim team. Stef was thrilled to move up to the competition level of the team (the Mako Sharks). Practice a minimum of twice a week and first meet next week. i will be sure to share the results

Happy Chanukkah!

a very busy holiday this year- Stefanie sang with choir at the local mall the first night and we rushed home to light candles and open gifts quickly so that everyone had a little time to play before going to bed, since it IS still a school night! Stefanie was thrilled to get the iPod touch she has been waiting "forever' for and Jena loved each and every gift, big or small, everyone was '"ust what I wanted"!

just because-

--she looked so cute! so many pictures of Jena in her sports attire, I thought it might be nice to to post a picture of her looking pretty in purple

Happy Thanksgiving

thankful for the best family

Yep- she's 6!

Fruma Ruchal Naomi

Stef had her first 'real' aliyah at the youth minyan today. Since I can't videotape in shul here is a repeat performance for the camera.

the Fab Five

much easier to get all five Anhui girls to sit still this time around!

The Happiest Place on Earth

Our second Anhui China Sister's reunion was wonderful. We didn't think we could top the trip from 2 years ago, but everyone agreed it was even more fun the second time around.

four years

wow.

Happy New Year 5771!

Everyone had a great time at my parents. The food was great and the girls had a fun time playing with Rafi. Most importantly I got some great pictures!

Wishing all our friends a happy and healthy new year!

First Day of School 2010

The girls were up and ready to get the bus for kindergarten and 3rd grade and, yep, you guessed it, NO BUS! I drove everyone to school, had a few tears from Jena ("just a little crying" as she likes to say) and off they went. Both did get the bus home and both reported that it looks like this will be a good year. It seems I am a slow learner but after four years of this the lesson I finally learned is don't even bother waiting for the bus on the first day!

we love camp

tie-dye day at camp

"the call" Aug 3 2006

I can't believe that it has been four years since we first got a look at Jena's picture. Jena is older now than Stefanie was then. I remember looking at all her referral pictures and thinking that she really needed a smile on her face. Now, as I looked thru pictures to find ones to post, I can't find one where she isn't smiling. She is excited to be starting school and taking the bus with her big sister (big sister not quite as excited to have her on the bus). She continues to love sports of all kinds and keep me informed of the results of any professional philly team that played the night before. She still looks at every day as a party and every glass as half full. Can't imagine how empty our house would have been without her. And yes, there are no training wheels on that bike!

summertime fun

we had a GREAT weekend, starting with a trip to BJ and Olivia's and finishing up with Dutch Wonderland with Rafi. Hot hot weather made it a perfect time for swimming in BJs pool and splashing in the water park.

July already?

seems like the summer is flying by! Both girls are loving camp. They come home dirty and exhausted. Stefanie spent last week at Bethany Beach,DE with her china sister Olivia and had a blast. Even though Olivia only lives in Harrisburg we don't get to see her very much so when her mom invited Stef for the week we thought we would give it a try. I was a little worried Stefanie might get homesick but boy was I wrong- turns out Stef had so much fun she didn't feel the need to call her mother AT ALL. I had one message from her the whole week that simply said "hi mom- I am having fun'. Jena was not happy to be going to camp without her big sister, even after I told her that when Stefanie was 5 she didn't have a big sister to take her to camp! We still have our beach house vacation in Aug to look forward to.
two typical after camp pictures- jena on the kitchen floor waiting for dinner and Stef on her beloved computer

Stefanie the piano player

Stefanie played beautifully at the concert as well...

Jena's first piano recital

Jena was the youngest pianoist at the concert and it was down to the last minute whether or not she was going to participate. She finally agreed to play if she didn't have to announce her name.

end of an era..

Jena had her end of year party at the JCC this week. Hard to believe that starting in September I no longer have to dive anyone to preschool in the morning. The school bus picks up right in front of our house- I just may spend the whole day in my nightgown! Jena is wearing her "not a princess" shirt, which she plans on wearing to Disney, so everyone knows she is NOT A PRINCESS!

notice anything?

look who lost her first tooth today!

Storybookland 2010

We made our annual trip to storybookland with Aunt Sarah, Uncle Dave and Rafi. This was the first year that Rafi agreed to go on many of the rides, after watching Jena do it first, of course, just to make sure it was OK. The weather was beautiful and everyone had a great day.

look what I can do!- part 2

ok- it appears i can only upload one video per post so here is video #2

look what I can do!

new computer- new video camera! here are two "test videos"

Hag HaTorah

Stefanie had a special ceremony at school this morning where she officially received the first book of the Bible. The class lead morning services and preformed a play about creation. Amah and Zayde spent the night before at our house so that they could attend and Jena even got to miss school. Every time Stefanie's class puts on a program we are all amazed at how much they have learned.

Happy Mother's Day!

It was my turn to take care of the sick babies so I spent mother's day at work. I had two beautiful handmade pins to wear on my scrubs and all the other Mommies were jealous. We had an overnight guest on Saturday night and here is a picture of everyone having fun.