Fire Truck Monday

"Fire Truck Friday" would have sounded better, but hey. I don't get to choose.

Two weeks ago (on Monday) we were ready to leave the library, waiting for the elevator down. there was another family before us- a mother with a baby in a carriage and a little girl. I was with all the kids, and although we'd fit, it would be somewhat squishy. So I decided to wait.
Soon after they went in, I heard a ringing sound. The library's elevator is prone to breaking, so I immediately suspected that that was the reason for the bell. I asked a librarian if the elevator was working, and she said she didn't know. Nice. Meanwhile, another librarian already heard the bell and ran over to a phone to call 911.
By the time we bumped the carriage down the stairs, we heard sirens and soon enough saw firemen walk into the library. The boys wanted to stay and watch them rescue the people. I was so grateful for my claustrophobia from preventing me from entering the elevator with another family! I mean, they weren't in any danger, but being stuck in a 4' x 5' area is bad enough with one adult, two kids and a carriage... it would be that much more unpleasant with two adults, five kids and two carriages.
Soon enough the firemen were able to get the elevator to come down and the family was freed!

  By Gedalya, age 4.5

Last Monday I entered my bedroom and smelled smoke. It was pretty faint. I looked out the window and saw fire trucks lining our street. What?! I tried to look down the block to see what they were doing, and it seemed they were working around a car. Soon we went outside and a few feet down the block I stopped in my tracks. There was a car... or more like the frame of a car. I'm not sure what happened, but from what I gathered, it started smoking while people were driving, so they pulled over and got out before it burst into flames.
The fire was already out when we got there, but here are some pictures I found online:

 

I was hoping that this Monday there will be no fire truck events... and there weren't. Although, whether there were or not, fire trucks wouldn't be able to get ANYWHERE because our streets aren't plowed! And by that I mean kids are sledding on the streets. Cars can't enter at all. Our government is messed up.

Gedalya's Place in the Sun

My kids have very defined strengths. Zusha is artistic and creative. He has a neat handwriting and loves to write. Gedalya is athletic and outgoing. He is a risk-taker and will try just about anything. He also reads fluently in English and knows the Alef Bais since 18 months old.

But Gedalya does NOT have a neat handwriting. He is an excellent speller, but when he writes something, it is unrecognizable. And that makes him feel bad.

That is, it made him feel bad... until he discovered a way of writing where his handwriting didn't matter!

Gedalya had just turned four when he wrote these.

Park:

This one is a little funny, but I guess I have a funny kid! What is it?

Zusha's what? "Zusha's pie." LOL! I have no idea. Zusha wasn't eating pie at the time. We didn't even have any pie in the house! He wrote it in my computer's log-in screen. Look how creative he is- couldn't put a space, so he substituted an = sign. And he even got the apostrophe right! (Apostrophe, comma... he's four, still time to learn.) No child of mine will abuse apostrophes, I will make sure of that!

And of course, abstract photography is a longstanding talent of his!

Today's Forecast is

(By Zusha)

(By Gedalya)

At least Gedalya put a cloud into the picture. I don't think we will get such a luxury today. It's a HOTHOTHOT summer. I don't really mind that much. All winter long I look forward to summer. Last summer wasn't a hot one at all. Many days I was able to dress the kids in long sleeves and pants and if it ever got over 85 degrees, it was not too often. I felt kinda jilted when the summer ended. The sprinklers were off many of the days because it just wasn't hot enough. We didn't use the summer to the full potential. But now... I guess we are making up for it!
One of these days I went out from a store and was surprised to see the street all foggy and smokey. It took me a little while to realize the my glasses got fogged up from going from a cold place to a hot place! Just like going indoors in the winter, but the opposite. Wacky!

Best Summer Vacation, Week 2

On Monday we finished off the sand art project with two lovely flowers.
Like so:

Doesn't it look sweet?

Then we went to a park which we haven't visited in a while because it's a mile away from us (and not on the way to any of our regular places.)

There we had a grand old time running around over, under and through rainbows.

And blowing bubbles!

Actually, "blowing" isn't the correct term. This humongous wand swivels, creating lots of big bubbles.

And of course, the classic favorite park activity, splashing!

 When we were getting ready to leave, the boys asked me about the train. The D train is right by the park, and they were curious to see where it goes under the ground. We already had a fun adventure going to see the F train go under the ground (that's another post!) and now the boys were hungry for more. So we followed the tracks.
Eventually we did get to the right spot! We saw the tracks descend, and we got to the next train station. We went in to look around and to ask for a train map. The boys collect them. They love train maps to pieces. Literally. Which is why we need new ones every so often.
But more than discovering the train going underground, we found a whole train-fixing center.

You can't see it clearly, but really, it was cool. There were tracks upon tracks of broken trains cars and special repair trains. By then we had wandered pretty far away from home and it took us close to an hour to get back home. It was a HOT and tiring day, but the boys had a wonderful time.

In contrast, Tuesday was mild.

We played in  a local park, scooted on scooters, and FINALLY went to buy the night diapers I forgot about the previous Tuesday.

Wednesday was craft day at the library. The boys made button pins.

They made three deigns to fill it with, and they rotate them depending on the day and their moods. :) The picture at the foreground here is Earth.

Adel didn't make a craft, but she did go on a ride on the way home!

The girl LOVES rides.

Thursday was a super fun and exciting day at the library. They had a reptile program.

This man has pets. Not hamsters or fish. He has a python, anaconda, snapping turtle... lizards, frogs....

and...

...an alligator. Her name is Wally. :)

I have lots more photos of these wondrous creatures...
Like Bluey here.

But they will have to wait for another post!

Sunday:
Our Sunday's activity can be found in the two posts below!

We Made...

Paint!
We made our own homemade paints, and it was the easiest recipe. When you hear how simple it is, you will run to make it the first chance you get!

You will need: 

Condiment bottles from a 99 cents store 

Food coloring

and equal amounts of:

salt

flour

water

I used two cups of each of the ingredients to make five (3/4 full) bottles of paint.

And then you just squeeeeze like puff paints. No brushes, no messes.

See?

It's fun!

And after it dries, you have a lovely sparkly picture.

Gedalya's

Zusha's

If anyone ends up trying this project, I'd love to hear how it turned out!

What Did We Make?

The day started out like any other summer day in the Poozil family.

Climbing, running, getting wet.

Ready...

Set...

Caught ya!

Wet little puppy!

But then we went home and did an activity that's not like any other in the Poozil family.

Mix, mix, mix.

Taste, taste, taste.

Oh, phew... Maybe I shouldn't have done that.

Alright, on with it! Color, color, color!


Sooo, any guesses as to the final product?

Week One!!

(all images are clickable!)

Since this planner starts the week on Monday, I guess I will, too. *shrug* No big difference to me.

MONDAY:

We were supposed to have the first session with our NEW speech therapist, but she was sick that day so we skipped it.
We went to a program at the library.
On the way we passed a public school. The lawn sprinklers were on, and the boys could not have been happier to chance upon such unexpected loveliness.

That day Zusha was entitled to a free book, and we chose one of my childhood favorites:

I also learned a lesson: Budget cuts affect everyone. If the library elevator is broken, it will be broken the next week, as well. And the following week, too. And three weeks hence. So unless you want to hold 22 pound of sleeping child (because your stroller is downstairs and there is at least 1/2 hour wait between the toddler program and the RIF program your older child is part of) you should bring the Ergo next time.
You meaning I.
Unless you attend the same library as me. (Which some of you do.)
And refuse to drag your stroller to the second floor.
And use an Ergo.

TUESDAY:

17 Tammuz. I didn't fast because I'm still primarily nursing Adel.

I mentioned before that the physical therapist wanted to do kenisio-taping on Adel's ankles to align the heels with the leg. She did that on Tuesday.
You are just-just able to make the tape out in this photo. Because it's still clean and blends in with her skin color.

By the time I took it off this morning, almost a week later, it was dark gray.

Although Adel screamed during the application of the tape, she now totally ignores it.

I planned to go to ShopRite to get nighttime diapers for one of the boys because our supply was running low. Well, we went... we got cat litter, baby food, diapers for another kid, some other random stuff... and should I even mention what it is that I forgot?? Today that child went to sleep in a diaper that barely fastens on him. (I haven't night trained any of the kids... it will come on its own. I'm not a fan of waking the kids at night.)

We got home and I wasted no time in setting up paint for our next craft.
In retrospect, I should have done something for 17 Tammuz, but I hadn't thought it through. We did a craft that has been waiting patiently in the closet since before Pesach. I bought wooden model vehicles that you need to paint and assemble with glue and nails.

Zusha got a train.

Gedalya got a helicopter.

The great part of this craft was that the pieces were all separate.
Which means they get painted separately.
Which means after they are assembled, the finished project looks really neat! No need to stay within the "lines."

The train was very simple to assemble. I did it in no time flat. But the helicopter... it had little toothpick-like sticks that were supposed to go into holes narrower than their diameter. After struggling half the night (and then silently apologizing to Gedalya for having to chuck all the tiny toothpicks he slaved over painting) I just glued the uh... ski-like sticks right onto the helicopter's body.
I thought I had gotten rid of all the pieces, but this morning I found one in Adel's diaper. It hadn't gone through her system, thankfully. It just ended up there somehow. *shrug*
There were many more issues with the helicopter, but I will spare you the details. Luckily, the boys were none the wiser the next morning.

We also started a mini project for the summer... letter hunting. The boys keep a lookout for letters - in alphabetical order - and then photograph it when they find one.
They are having a great time. Right now they are up to "Q." They walk around shouting, "Q hunters, to the rescue!!"
I wasn't sure what to expect of this idea, but it looks like the project is off to a creative start!

WEDNESDAY:

I got a package the day before that was padded with paper. Lots and lots of paper. One looooong stretch of crumpled up butcher paper. I hadn't put it in recycling yet when my boys discovered it in the morning.
Guess what they are.

Little birdies in a nest!


The boys also wrote letters to send to friends. It's one of their favorite activities!

What makes it all the more fun is that the postage rate keeps changing. Well, that's not the fun part. I gave up buying new stamps because the rate goes up before I can even open the packet. Instead I buy stamps that are 1, 2, 5, 10, and 27 cents worth. That way we can always choose the right combination. And that's the fun part. The boys get to choose many "stickers" and get a lesson in math!

THURSDAY:

We finally met our new speech therapist! I haven't been this satisfied with the therapy setup ever before. I'm feeling very hopeful that we'll finally teach Adel how to chew instead of spending half of each lesson arguing the same point- what food to use.

The therapist we had for many months uses yams to teach most of her kids to chew.
I am trying to feed Adel as much of an organic diet as possible. Yams are one of the food most affected by pesticides, but I haven't been able to find organic ones. I do have many other organic veggies available at local stores, and I offered the therapist to use regular potatoes or carrots. But no, it needs to be yams. I buy organic pureed yams for Adel, but obviously that won't help with chewing.
I understand that the combination of taste and texture might make yams the perfect food to learn to chew on, but I don't think it's inimitable.
So instead of teaching Adel to chew, we started each session with, "Do you have sweet potato we can use today?" and followed the rest of the script.

But that's all in the past. Soon she'll be chomping away like a pro!

On Thursday we had some repair work in our home as well, so by the time the workers left, Adel was ready for a nap. We didn't leave the house until about 5 PM that day!

FRIDAY:

At first I didn't think I had anything to write about for Friday... shopping, cooking, cleaning... but I actually do have something.
My mother got a fun, fun present for Zusha's birthday (which I MUST write about some time SOON!)
Light up wheels for the scooter! There were two wheels in the pack, but instead of putting both on Zusha's scooter, we decided to put one wheel on each boy's scooter. We had the wheels for a long time, but didn't have the tool. I had ordered one, and it took its sweet long time in arriving. Well, it finally arrived, and on Friday the boys rode all over town with sparkly wheels!

SUNDAY:

Look what we made!

Sand art!
But not just any sand art.

We used salt and chalk to create our own colored sand!

It was the boys' favorite part.

And then we filled up the bottles.

We are planning to make flowers to stick into the top and then seal the opening with glue. Fun stuff!