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Passover Memories – 2004

Posted on April 18, 2008 10:10 pm by TheAngelForever

As we look forward to JSL’s first Passover tomorrow evening, I thought it would be nice to look at some photos from NHL’s first holiday. We were still living in our apartment at the time. We technically were almost home owners. We were set to close on our house at the end of the month and moved in July 4th. NHL was almost 8 months old at the time. To put it into perspective, JSL is 11 months old now.

Nana and Papa came to celebrate with us as well as Uncle I. JL and I were hosting our first seders that year. It was very spur of the moment and we managed to put it together in less than a week. Here are some pictures of our table all set for the first night.

As you will see our finest china was out for the special event. Since we had a new little one we were too lazy to haul our Passover dishes out. We opted to use paper for quick and easy. It was not too environmentally friendly, but what can you do? It was only for a short holiday.

NHL loved to model his kippah and matzoh bib. Here is his reaction to us telling him he would have no chumetz (bread and the like).

My cute little matzoh ball loved all of the attention and was ready to ask the four question – well in baby talk at least.

All ready for the seder

Biting his tongue about eating matzoh. Oy vey what it does to your tummy!

To all of those celebrating Passover, I hope that you have a wonderful holiday with your families.

Categories:
food glorious food holidays jl looking back nhl photos

Passover Ponderings

Posted on April 14, 2008 9:52 am by TheAngelForever

Growing up I really loved Passover. It was a fun holiday. We were able to see many of our relatives, tell the story of the holiday and eat amazing food during the Seder. I have fond memories of many Passover seders at my Mimi and Poppy’s house. Whether it was at the house that they shared with Aunt T and Uncle H, or their apartment after selling the house – it was always wonderful times. After that we spent many Passovers at Aunt S and Uncle M’s house where the memories continued. The only negative in my childhood memory bank was taking lunch to school. Matzah and cream cheese got old after a while.

Flash forward to being an adult. Things have changed a lot. I still like the seders and passing on the traditions to our boys, but now I see the expense of the holiday (Passover food is flipping expensive) and know the preparations needed to kosher everything for the holiday. That does not even account for actually making the food for the seders.

This is a sneak peek of one of the cabinets that is housing our Passover food while we clean the kitchen for the upcoming week. There is a lot behind the front and we have even more in another cabinet. One of the items you can barely see is the pink of a 5 pound box of matzah (behind the water) – a necessary beast. We were also lucky to score some Tam Tam crackers for the little guy to have. We were not sure we would find them thanks to the shortage this year. We never get pancake mix, but thought JSL may enjoy it since he likes pancakes. The cost of the tuna makes me ILL. Kosher for Passover tuna costs $1.88 a can!! Sick isn’t it?

And here is even more stuff:

The other cabinet has gefilte fish and a few other odds and ends. We also have some Passover stuffed cabbage (already made) in the freezer, along with boneless chicken breasts and turkey to make burgers. Oh, there is also a lot of cream cheese, yogurt and cheese in the refrigerator. We can not forget that since it is crucial. We probably will not need much more aside from lots of produce since we bulk up on meals with veggies (lots of salad) and snacks are fruit filled.

Oy vey . . . Passover is coming way too quickly for me. Off I go to flood my brain with happy childhood memories of the holiday.

Categories:
family holidays looking back

The “sick” week in photo review

Posted on April 3, 2008 11:42 am by TheAngelForever

Now that everyone is as healthy as we have been in months (I will not dare to say we are healthy – that would be bad news), it is time to play some catch up. Last week NHL was home sick from school and I then had what he was ill with, so blogging took a back seat.

***Note to self: Be sure to work on the new rules of sharing with NHL. There are limits that are acceptable – flu is not included!

Last week I blogged, but I did not write as much as I have in the past since I was so exhausted at the end of the day. Thankfully I had the energy to take photos. Here are some highlights of the week gone by.

On Monday (3/24) JSL decided to try NHL’s Doodle Pro. He had fun with it at first and then realized that his big brother was missing.

He set off on a mission to find NHL in their room. This was by far one of his longest crawling adventures to date!

Little brother on a mission

Finally he arrived at the destination of choice.

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On Wednesday (3/26) I gave each of the boys a little gift. I wanted to give NHL something for doing his nebulizer treatment. JSL received a Fisher Price Little People egg that had a little boy in it. It was an Easter toy, but aside from the egg holding it you would never know. I was a sport for $1 (and the next day they were ten cents). JSL was in LOVE with his new toy. He would throw it out in front of himself and crawl to it. Here he is playing with me while NHL slept on the couch.

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By Friday (3/28) NHL was going stir crazy from being in the house all week. We had to come up with things to keep him busy. All of this while Mommy was getting a fever and horrible body aches.

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On Sunday (3/30) I was feeling slightly better. I forced myself to do all of the laundry from the week that had not been done. NHL went to his room for being naughty and actually fell asleep. At the same time JSL fell asleep in an interesting position on Daddy.

After both boys were up from their naps, JSL decided he wanted his sippy cup. He noticed that he was under the dining room table. I thought it was hilarious how he was hunting for the cup. I grabbed my camera. Soon after this JL got his out and was shooting away with me.

NHL even got into the act, but he apparently forgot his camera.

Fun photo shoot

At one point both JL and I were taking a shot at the exact same time. The result of the front and back shot of this moment is really neat (also know that I was taking this photos blind since my hands were under the table and my head above).

In the end we gave him some quiet time after bombarding him with all of the flashes from the camera. As you can see he just wanted to drink some water and read the newspaper!

So that is a sick week in review via photos of some memorable moments.

Categories:
family jl jsl looking back my boys nhl photos sick kid sickness weekend

The Night from Hell – 1 week later with many thanks

Posted on February 23, 2008 11:12 pm by TheAngelForever

Tonight I am counting my blessing that both of my boys are tucked into their room sleeping soundly. Both are now on antibiotics, and one is just back from from a four day stay in the hospital.

A week ago now I was just coming back home. I went out to meet Laura to get some fabric for flannel blankets and pillow cases. I was gone for an hour and a half in a night that never wanted to end. When I arrived home both of the boys were in bed. I was getting ready to sit down to knit when I heard the little guy fussing.

JL went in to try to get him to settle with his pacifier. It worked for a little while. At about 9:30 I heard some strange coughing coming from the baby monitor and went in. I scooped JSL out of his crib and noticed he was VERY hot and having a hard time breathing. We took his temperature and it was 102.8. I quickly got the motrin and bulb syringe to clean out his nose. Ugh, what a mess.

Minutes later JSL was really laboring to breathe. His temperature was soaring and causing his heart to beat wildly. A quick call was made to my parents. I asked them to please come over quick. I just had a feeling (if you ask my friend earlier in the week I made a horrifyingly accurate prediction that this was not going to go well and we would end up in the ER – Mother’s intuition perhaps?). I called our doctor’s emergency number and when he called back asked what to do. He was very alarmed with JSL’s breathing and told us to stabilize JSL’s temperature and then take him to the ER for hydration.

My parents arrived and we put JSL into the tub. He played happily and then WHAM – the nightmare that I never hope to repeat began. Please see previous posts about this here and here.

Now I sit here crying. I am afraid to go to sleep tonight on this week after. I know I will relive those shades of gray flashbacks that a parent should never see on their child. I keep wondering about items and going through what if’s.

What if this had happened when I was out?
What if my mother was not there to administer rescue breaths to my baby to make him breathe again?
What IF? I can not even fully type this one out . . . you all will know what I mean.

There are other thoughts on my mind too, but I just can not get typed out. Just having them on my mind is painful enough, reading them back would be too much.

I am so thankful that my baby is slowly getting back to himself. JSL is gaining his strength day by day and at the same time learning new tricks to show us. I am also so thankful that my mother was there that horrible day. How painful it must be for her to relive what she did. Still I cherish how my baby kissed her over and over the next day. I think somehow he knew that Nana had saved his precious life.

We also need to thank my father for staying here to man the fort while NHL slept. Big brother still does not know the horrid details of what happened while he was sleeping in his room. I knew that had he gotten up and seen Papa there he would have been comforted. Papa also stayed with NHL most of Sunday and Monday night so JL could be at the hospital with me.

My Aunt S and Mimi also helped us so much. The two of them were able to watch NHL so JL and I did not have to worry about him when everyone else went back to work. NHL had two fun days with Aunt S and her girls (cats). Then the day after JSL came home Mimi had NHL spend the day with her. He loved every minute of it. We truly are so lucky to have family here that our kids are so close to.

I would also like to thank my friends:

Laura – thank you for chatting with me into the night while I could not sleep at the hospital. We also love the amazing flannel blankets and pillow cases that were all ready for us when we got home from the hospital.
H & J – thank you both for coming to the hospital. JSL loved his puppy puppet and seeing familiar faces. You were able to make us all laugh when we needed it. I will forever remember JL and J putting together my pathetic hospital breast pump and the thunderous laughter that followed. That one nurse never looked at us the same again! H – thank you for taking me home Sunday to shower and get things to stay overnight. I never would have been able to drive myself and while I cleaned myself up, you cleaned up our clutter.
Sandy – thank you for your beautiful notes. I will definitely be talking to you soon about things. Sorry that I scared you with that text message, but it was the only way I could let you know.
To all of my internet friends – thank you for all of the comments of prayer and speedy recovery for my little guy. I am still catching up getting back to people, so please understand how much I did appreciate it.

Here are some more photos of JSL in the hospital, just back home, and today. Be sure to hover over the photos for the captions.

Now I am off. JSL is fussing and I will likely watch him sleep most of the night. I need to see his snuggly little body sleep peacefully. I have to make sure his chest goes up and down . . . I need to hear his soft breathing noises.

Categories:
family friends jl jsl looking back nhl photos sick kid

Giveaway Time –> Happy Blogoversary to Moi!!!

Posted on January 28, 2008 9:17 am by TheAngelForever

Welcome Bloggy Giveaway participants and everyone else! (Details of my giveaway below)

February 4th marks my 1 year Blogoversary! It is hard to believe that a year has passed since I became ~~sucked in~~ ~~addicted~~ welcomed to the wonderful and wacky word of blogging.So much has changed during this year. I am no longer teaching, I am a stay at home Mommy to my two little boys (NHL 4 and JSL 8 months). This has changed my life the most. I am not stressed like I was a year ago (the stress is just different now). I have time to spend with my boys and I enjoy doing things that I want instead of lesson planning and correcting papers in my spare moments outside of school. I do miss the kids and my fellow teachers, but at this point in my life this is where I need to be – with my husband and two boys.

I am going to take a minute to thank some important people. Please excuse me if I forget someone, it is not intentional. Very little sleep this weekend can cloud my memory banks –> teething is EVIL I tell you!

Laura – thank you for helping me to set up my original LJ blog. I kept reading yours and wanted to try something to release my stress from life at that time. So now you are technically to blame for the blogging addiction and the renewed knitting fascination.
My Porkloving Cousin – you may not know this, but you were a HUGE inspiration. I used to squeal when I would read your latest entries. I can not wait to read the book that you author someday. I expect an autographed copy when it comes out – do not forget that!
JL – my husband and webmaster all in one! Thank you for putting up with my blogging craziness. It is too funny how we now look at each other when something happens and say "BLOG!" I love you and am so thrilled you made me jump ship from LJ to my own special place. I owe you big time — *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*
All of my S3Mommy, May07 and Local Mommy Group friends with blogs (Sandy, Nancy, Renee, Kmelion and others) – You read, you commented, you helped me to explore my writing style. . . you are the best!
Kim – Thank you for introducing me to the Swaparooni group. What fun I have had with this amazing Flickr group thanks to you telling everyone all about it.
Mrs. OMSH – the founder of the Swaparooni group who helped me to make some amazing bloggy people (CityStreams, Airing My Dirty Laundry, Coolbeans, Bethany Actually, SAJ, Dutchblitz and so many others). Heather, you have inspired me with your fun, fresh and real blog to be myself and let my sarcastic and fun side show. Plus I have to include lots of photos of my kids and things. Thank you for being an inspiration. You and Jessica are two of my mentors (there are others too – so no hard feelings for not mentioning all of you now).
My boys – for giving me things to write about, photos to take and being super cute subjects for Mommy to use on her blog.

Why I am hosting a Giveaway:

While roaming around the Blogosphere I have found so many other blogs that I try to read daily (thank you Google Reader). There are too many to mention here and I am working on a new blogroll to give everyone some linky love. One of these blogs is Rocks In My Dryer. Shannon has another blog that showcases giveaways – perfectly titled Bloggy Giveaways. This fall she helped to arrange the Fall Y’All for people. This week she is organizing a Bloggy Giveaway Carnival. The timing is perfect with my Blogoversary so I am joining in with my first giveaway!!!!

My Giveaway Details:

I decided to put together a cute package to help busy people to have things on hand for when they actually need to write and not e-mail someone. Yes, some of us still do that from time to time! So without further babbling, here is a photo of my goodies:

Included: (1) A sheet of custom made address labels. I will put whatever you would like on them – you do not have to use Blue the dog. (2) A package of 10 blank note cards (3) A little memo pad with a pen (perfect for keeping in a diaper bag or purse to capture bloggable moments). (4) Magnetic Listpad (5) Gold and Silver metallic gel pens. (6) Valentine froggy magnet (7) $5.00 gift card for Target to get a little something special for you. Other surprises may get tossed in along with these, but these are definite.

Now for some rules/details of the giveaway (this is the teacher in me doing this):

To enter all you need to do is leave a comment. Only one comment per person and please tell me something about yourself. Do you blog? If you do. . . why did you begin? If you are not a blogger – why not? Come on you know you want to blog – see peer pressure exists even in the Blogosphere!
Any duplicate entries will be deleted and not eligible.
Please be sure to leave your e-mail address and/or blog so I can contact you for your information when you win.
A winner will be randomly selected from all of the comments by Random.org (no trees will be killed in the making of this giveaway).
Entries will be accepted until Midnight EST on Saturday, February 2, 2008. I will announce the winner here and post it on Shannon’s website during the day on Sunday, February 3, 2008 (the day before my 1st Blogoversary).
Unfortunately, due to being a SAHM and living on a budget, I must limit entries to people who are living in the United States and Canada only. Sorry to my other international friends, but man shipping charges are just crazy these days.

With that I hope you enjoy this and look forward to meeting new friends out there in this fun filled Bloggy world that we live in.

Comments closed 2-2-2008 . . . winner announced very soon!!!