NEW BLOG!!!!!

Please visit our new blog (which is under major construction) at www.ourfamily.blogsite.org. We are so excited about our new blog and just in time, before our new addition! You'll see plenty of changes as we continue to work and develop our site and take feedback.

Mike and Hila

Bye Bye 2008!

We wrapped up our Hannukah with delicious Sufganyiot (doughnuts) that Mike made.

Yesterday, we took the kids to the science museum to have some fun, then out to dinner at Panera's, and topped off the evening for an hour at Borders bookstore, where they ran around and picked books that they wanted to read....it was a great family outing!

First at the museum, Mike and the kids climbed up to the tree house where they played with blowing air:



Then, Jonathan and Mike made a paper airplane...

And threw it back and forth to each other:



And as we bid goodbye to 2008, we are so excited for this new year! In 2009, Mike will FINALLY finish his training and start a REAL job, we will have another addition to the family, and we'll relocate to warm and sunny Florida...and who knows...I may start a new job myself! 2009...a very exciting year for us!

Snow, Snow, Snow

We missed a big ice storm with power outages during our trip to Florida, but we came back to snow storm after snow storm and our driveway now looks like a snow sea that Moses parted. Mike (with occasional help from Jonathan) has been shoveling all weekend long and the snow has finally stopped. Now, it is just plain cold, but we did see some sun. Jonathan went back to 'school' again today and was reunited immediately with his girlfriend and the two of them went to play together as soon as his boots were off!
Here are some pics of the kids outside with Mike and Jonathan shoveling, topped off with Sylvie on the potty.

This is a video of Jonathan shoveling with Mike, while Sylvie is looking on saying "up, down":



And this is what the kids do to keep themselves entertained during the winter...

Sylvie is 1 1/2 years old!

Not to overlook a major milestone, Sylvie turned one and a half last week!!! What a big girl!!! Her favorite word is clearly "no!" which is accompanied by a vigorous head shake. She likes to combine 'No' with other words. For example, when washing her hands, if the water is not hot (just warm), she'll say "Hot, No!" She's becoming more accomplished at self feeding and understands everything that you say and everything that is going on. She definitely has a strong personality with clear opinions and lets you know exactly how she feels about a situation. And a couple of days ago, she made her first poopy in the potty! She kept saying "push, push" as she was doing it...very cute. She does a pretty good job of keeping up with Yoni but usually gets frustrated that he beats her to the bathroom to wash hands. They play well together, but she does get mad when he takes toys from her hands, sits on her, etc. They do like to imitate each other, which is cute to see. Her new skill is smiling on command, which turns out to be a funny face.



Yoni also has some clever one liners as of late. I asked him to get Sylvie's socks and slippers for me (because she doesn't keep them on for more than 5 min at a time) and he replied "I can't mommy. I can't bend down because I have a baby in my belly!"
And this morning, when he spoke with Saba on the phone, Saba asked him if he watched Bob the Builder this morning and Yoni replied "No Saba, I didn't because it's not good for my brain!"
Yoni came back from FL with quite a cold and has been out of school this whole week...but we're hoping he'll go back on Monday. As for myself, I'm getting bigger and more uncomfortable by the day, but I'm not yet ready for the sleepless nights to return!

Hanukkah 2008

We celebrated Hanukkah a bit early this year in Florida. We went down for a week and had such a great time. It was a busy week - we went house hunting, took a tour of the kids' new school, I had a job interview, and most importantly, we managed to avoid an ice storm back home that caused a state wide power outage! As usual, we stayed with Grandma and Grandpa who are the world's best hosts, and met up with the cousins as often as we could. The weather was beautiful and we can't wait to move down already!
We have tons of pictures from our trip, which I finally went through and can be seen here.
Mike's sister, Jen, also took some great photos which can be seen here.
Now it's time to prepare for baby's arrival...and then the move!

Here's a short video of Grandpa and the kids enjoying the elf video.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Holiday Card 2008

holiday 2008, originally uploaded by Beckerman.

coming soon to a holiday near you...

Thanksgiving - Part Two

This Thanksgiving has flown by and we've enjoyed every minute. Idan and Amy joined my parents here and we all had fun playing nightly games like Taboo and Cranium. And yesterday, Mike and I went to NY for the weekend which was a great treat. Sylvie and Hudson got along really well and here's a video of them showing that he'll only take food from her!



Here's a video of the kids (esp Yoni) being silly:



And here are the rest of the pics.

Thanksgiving 2008 - Part One

My parents arrived on Saturday for the week and we are having such a good time with them. As always, they came bearing gifts and gave Mike and I a pasta maker attachment for our Kitchen-Aid mixer. Mike, of course, couldn't wait to make home made pasta - and it was really so delicious...I don't know how I'll ever go back to regular pasta again!



Click here to see the fun we've been having thus far.

Decorating

The kids and Mike and I were upstairs cleaning and at some point, Mike and I realized that it was wayyyy too quiet. So, Mike found the kids in Yoni's trashed closet....apparently they were "decorating".