It's been five days

I think the toddler is weaned.

*sniff*

Finally watched a few episodes of Dr. Who

And okay, call me shallow, but it's just not the same without the flirting!  Peter Capaldi is an amazing actor, but I never watched only it for the plots.... sigh.  I still miss David Tennant.

Books, TV, and hammers

So I read this book last month, and am only now getting around to mentioning it:  Blood and Beauty: The Borgias, by Sarah Dunin.  It was a rollicking good historical fiction about the pope's family in 15th century Renaissance Italy.  It's like House of Cards, only real!  I hadn't realized until after I finished the book and was fact-checking it for historical accuracy that Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI, was actually the model for Machiavelli's The Prince!  It was a very screwed up political family, to say the least.  And the book was excellent, really bringing the characters to life.

The new season of Dr. Who and Marvel: Agents of SHIELD have been on Netflix for a while now and I haven't seen them.  It's a travesty, I know.  Don't give me spoilers.

And what else?

Jonathan and the boys went to Lowe's for a "Build and Grow" program this morning.  The older boys worked with him to nail together a model wooden car, they each got their own safety goggles, apron and kid hammer.

Connor got one too, but then, as Jonathan tells it, "he hit his brother on the head and the hammer got taken away.  Hammers are a privilege, not a right!"

Connor apparently felt differently.  :)

Another nice article

This one is entitled, "New Rabbi Brings 'Loving' Leadership Style to Temple Beth Orr."  By Nicol Jenkins, in the Coral Springs and Parkland City News.

Various and sundry updates

Life for each of us....

Connor can now say "book," "ball," "truck" (no "r), and a few others.  He is also smart enough to communicate in other effective ways, such as pointing and motioning.  He's excellent at making his feelings known... such as, when someone is reading his brothers a book and he wants attention, he takes off his diaper and purposely poops on the carpet.  (Yeah, that was a fun day.)

Ari has an adorable boy-crush on his swim teacher.  This morning the first thing he asked was, "Is Mr. Matt coming today?!"  Then he paused, smiled, and said almost dreamily, "Mr. Matt is SO beautiful.  And so nice!"  Yes, he is, Ari, I like him too. :)

Xander excels at making up games for himself.  He uses household objects and creates little projects, like tying a light-up wand to one of my old Sigma Tau Delta cords (now a play toy) and attaching it to a paper towel roll to make... something.  He's amusing himself, and that's what counts!

Jonathan and I went on a date day and saw Inside Out.  I thought it was fabulous, maybe Pixar's best movie yet.  I won't tell too much about it but let me say for the record - after you watch it, call me so we can discuss it!  I'm so glad we went without the kids.  It's a movie that will stay with me for a long long time, figuring out who I am and how I work, how I help myself and my children deal with moving, and how my actions can be reflected in their eyes.

I really really like the weather here.  It's been warm but not hot, humid but not too humid, when it rains it's warm rain, I love seeing the geckos everywhere, and the ground is constantly lush.  I'm kind of amazed, I thought I would hate it.

Coral Springs as a whole has been an unbelievably lovely surprise.  I'm still discovering what it means to be in a "Jewish area."  Our neighbors across the street are Jewish.  The guy who worked the customer service desk at the movie theater is Jewish.  SCHOOLS CLOSE on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur because so many children are absent!  It's a whole new world.  Also, everyone is from New York.  I've heard this area referred to many times as "the sixth borough" or "New York lite."

And I'll close with our new favorite dinner meal.  Jonathan bought a box of fusilli because it was on sale:

The boys thought it was awesome and dubbed it "loop'dy-loop pasta." Then our neighbor showed me the proper way to cut up a mango, and voila, since we live in the tropics, we now buy them in bulk. It's the fruit du jour, and "loop'dy loop pasta with red sauce, and then mango" has been the dinner of choice for three days in a row.

I hope you all are doing well, and have a wonderful Monday!

Preparing a lesson plan

"Aagh!  No more candy, Ari, that's enough! "

Skunks, selfies, and strange yellow Minions

Jeff and Connor exploring a skunk at Underground Reptiles

Wrestling, aka I've been dog-piled!  

Ari's photograph of his little brother

Ari's photo of himself

Jonathan's selfie with Connor

Okay, have two.  I couldn't decide which was cuter!

The older boys after seeing the Minion movie.

It's late at night as I type this, I'm indecisive.  Both pictures are good!