#pottytrainingunlocked

- "Throwing away of the diapers" ceremony

- Selling the changing table on Craigslist

- Dry all day and all night

- It was a very long three days, but he is good.  

"Shabbat star"

Wearing the hat Ari made

Ari taking part in the Shabbat story/play.  Note his red kippah that he had traded me

Me singing a song, while Ari switches the hat over to Jonathan and gives me back my kippah

Leading the candle-blessing in his classroom

Interfaith advertising

This past Sunday I gave the homily (20 minute sermon) at St. Martin Episcopal Church.  It was a lovely experience, and they were very gracious.  

Here's some fun proof.  The marquee scrolled, so it's in two parts:

I had no idea it was there until a TBO congregant told me about it a few days before.  She had been driving by and saw it. What a great promotion for them. Everyone going to the freeway sees what their church is up to.

7 year olds. Sigh.

Jonathan asked our eldest child, "Did anything funny happen at camp today?"

"Yes!" he responded eagerly.  "We made fart sounds." 

Nicole and Joe live in FL!!!

Woohoo!!

They're on one coast of Florida and we're on the other.  We attempted to meet in the middle.

(There is no "middle."  The middle of South Florida is Everglades.  At some points "River of Grass."  At others more typical swamp. Marsh. Bayou. Pick a synonym.)

The road that crosses the mid-point is called Alligator Alley.

Pic of GPS saying "Alligator," as I missed the picture of the road sign

Other names were just as amusing.

"Snake Road"

We met a Children's Museum, and it was awesome.  Kinda crazy to realize that we had never met their daughter, nor they our two youngest children. The last time we saw each other was when Jonathan and I were in NY for a conference, and Xander was 10 months old.

After the museum, we went  for dinner to eat yummy food and wish Nicole a happy belated birthday.  I encouraged Xander and Ari to lead us in HaMotzi, the prayer before eating, and while they were busy shaking their heads no, two year-old Zara took up the call and started singing instead.  Love the #rabbiskids.

Joe reading about Star Wars to two of my three (Ari was coloring next to Nicole and Jonathan)

Zara and Connor making hummingbird noises with me.

Then home.

Asleep with Doobie, the second-generation lovey that I received when I was three months old.

You just have to laugh

Our internet wasn't working.

Jonathan was racking his brain trying to figure out why.

He tested everything in the house.

Nothing happened.

He finally gave in and called the internet company to come check it out.



The verdict?

Our neighbor ran over the above-ground cable cord with a lawnmower.

We're now arranging to have the cable buried.

House update, week something-something

1) We have window shades in the boys' room and in our room.   Yay for no longer waking up at 530am when it gets light.

2) The pool is completely grounded and bonded.  I don't know what that means exactly, but suffice it to say, the people who did our screen brought all the electrical stuff with the pool up to code.

3) Jonathan took an old outdated alarm system out of the garage.  It's amazing how many cables came with it.  The wall looks so much cleaner now.

4) He also removed the escutcheons in the kitchen and painted them white, to match the ceiling (they used to be brown).  The best part of this is that he told me what he did and I'd never heard of the word "escutcheon" before.  Then I looked it up:

es·cutch·eon

iˈskəCHən/

noun

1. 1.

   a shield or emblem bearing a coat of arms.
2. 2.

   a flat piece of metal for protection and often ornamentation, around a keyhole, door handle, or light switch.

Of course Jonathan knew the word and I didn't.  He knows way more than I do about both military issues, and building construction.   

5) Kippah wall!!!

Plus light-switch plating in progress.