Unpredictability

Unpredictability.
That's the name of the parenting game, isn't it?
I bought Pampers Pull-Ups for the kids. I usually buy Huggies Pull-Ups, and those have velcro sides which you can open up in case of a poopy accident. The Pampers are fused shut on the sides. As soon as I noticed this, I thought, "OK, no big deal, I should just remember not to use them on shabbos." Because if Gedalya takes a dump, I can't rip them open to clean him.
On Friday night I was dressing the kids for bed. Gedalya got a regular diaper. And for Zusha I decided the pull-up will be fine. It's not like he poops at night.
Come morning: I wake up to Zusha calling me from somewhere in the house, "Mama, COME!"

So I dragged myself out of bed, and Zusha announced that he had an accident. Believe it or not. He hasn't made in his diaper at night in... oh, a year. (Except for a couple of times when he was sick with a stomach bug.) And the very night that I assure myself that he never poops at night, he wakes up dirty. What kind of cruel game is this?

Anyway, when I laid out the cloth on the floor to change Zusha, Gedalya said, "Naya poe! Naya poe! Naya poe!" I didn't realize what he was saying right away, but Zusha told me, "Gedalya says 'naye pol!'"
Which means new floor.
How creative!

Here Comes Our First Snow!!

Yesterday was the first snow of this winter! Gedalya totally didn't remember snow from last year, but Zusha did. He was waiting for this all summer! Once in middle of the summer he spied the menoras in our China closet and really, really wanted to have them. So I told him he will have it when Chanuka comes. Try to explain THAT to a toddler!!
So I told him that when snow will come, it will be Chanuka.
Did I mention that any word that escapes my lips becomes a promise, according to Zusha?
So I was fervently hoping that it will indeed snow before Chanuka arrives, and it did! Yesterday was our first snowfall, and tomorrow night is Chanuka.

The kids enthralled by the magical snow:



And out we go!!


Uh, oh... And there I stood, snapping pictures like any good mother should. :)

Little boys holding hands. I told them to hold hands, and Gedalya began stamping his feet and laughing. Zusha got annoyed, because he figured since I was giving instructions and didn't say to stamp their feet, Gedalya shouldn't be doing it. I told him that it's OK for Gedalya to stamp his feet, so he calmed down. :)

Little Mountain Climber

He is totally fearless, isn't he?

He climbed up on the drawer which holds the keyboard. Yes, drawer. It goes inside the closet. Which can happen while he is standing on it. Of course, he did it because I put something there to keep it away from him.

Creativity in the Park

There is a tree in our local park that drops short, flexible branches, which Zusha loves to collect. One day, he did more with the branches than just gathering them...

You see my branches? I'm going to make something REALLY fun with them.

This used to be a water sprinkler...

...but now it's a sun!

Let me just fix it up a bit here.... And here is the proud artist with his masterpiece!

How creative and original! Way to go Zusha!

Winter Hairstyle

Gedalya's beautiful, curly hair becomes a nightmare in the winter. It gets so matted under his hat that it's almost impossible to brush. There are lots of tears every time the brush makes its appearance. I bought him a detangling spray, and although it does work to an extent, it does not do wonders.

So this will be Gedalya's hairstyle for the duration of the winter. Before putting on his hat, I pull his hair into a high pony tail. He looks cute, but I miss his corkscrews. Will I have to wait until spring to see them again?

It's So Nice When People are Nice

I recently made an order from babycenter.com. I ordered two portacrib sheets for Gedalya (one is velour, yummy!), a hood extension for the stroller (Rayshade), and an organic household cleaner spray (Babyganics, uses no chemicals, so it's safe around children.)

When I got the package, this little card was in it:

How cute was it for her to draw that smiley face?

It Would Be Easier to Go to the Post Office

The post rate changed several months ago from 39 cents to 41 cents. I never had a chance to buy the 2 cent make-up rate stamps. I never even had a chance to buy the 39 cent stamps. I am still using the 37 cent stamps from time prehistoric.
In fact, I am still using the VERY coil of stamps I bought for my wedding invitations 4 1/2 years ago.
The reason is that we almost never use stamps. I used to use them to send out the electricity, phone, and cell phone bills. Sometimes I'd send the rent check by mail, too. The gas bill is postage-paid.
Now we pay most bills online, so we rarely use stamps.

Common sense dictates that to go to a post office that is over a mile away and wait on a line that is over a mile long to get some generic American Flag stamps is not a productive nor fun way to spend one's day.
Besides, anyone who knows me knows that I have a soft spot for pretty designs on stamps and think that it's a sin to waste one's creativity on generic flags.
Just look at these stamps that I ordered:

But things have DEFINITELY changed a lot since I shopped on the USPS site last (century).
First they asked me to sign in. I don't remember having an account there, so I looked for an option to buy without signing in.
Sorry, no such choice. So I signed up. I had to change my password 3 times because they didn't like it. Because it has to have letters AND numbers AND capital letters AND has to be a certain length. Then I had to sign some sort of agreement without which I would not be allowed to join their site.

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Basically, it was so guarded. I'm buying STAMPS, not WEAPONS! But finally I outsmarted them all and was able to order all the really cute sticke... er... stamps. Can't wait!