Not even a full day in the house together and the girls are like 2 cats in a sack.

Dear God, help me survive the summer.

The kids and I will be in Jerusalem on Thursday. SR and I are getting haircuts and I need to return the airline tickets so it can be canceled.

Are there any parks in Jerusalem that have sprinklers? You know the kind you find in many public parks throughout the US?

So... feel free to give me a call if anyone wants to get together.

SR had her first screeching meltdown of the day. Not surprised really. She always gets that way when she needs to clean her room.

TC came downstairs in such a bear of a mood I actually sent her to her room and told her to go back to sleep for another 2 hours. She's better now.

NS is cutting two teeth and Kvetchy and Clingy have come for a visit. It doesn't help that he refused to take a nap since getting up at 6:30 this morning.

Not that he'd be able to sleep with all the yelling that's been going on.

So he's been dosed with Acimoli and lo and behold, is sleeping.

I made Challah for Shabbat. My intention was to make half a batch so I'd have 3 loaves. We'd have one for tonight, I'd take a fresh one and the last frozen one over to the neighbors for lunch tomorrow and we'd have the last one with rolls for the ladies third meal I'm hostessing.

So 7 cups of flour and two tablespoons went into my bowl.

And then full measures of everything else. Sigh. Luckily I realized this quickly and Zach helped me add another 7 cups of flour and 2 tablespoons of yeast (I had a 'club hand' of really wet dough and couldn't manage one-handed).

Then I made a couple frantic calls to neighbors to find homes for the other 3 loaves.

I need a vacation.

Some more annoying than others...

The less annoying:

Bought a white sleeper for NS and a green hat at the Gemach. Now I have to buy green dye and some fabric and his Godzilla costume is on its way. I need to buy fabric for my Mothra wings.

I also found a Chicco animal sounds train there (with working batteries!) so for 2NIS (roughly 50 cents) NS has a new toy. And he LOVES it. He was pushing the buttons and when the animals started making their sounds, he started yelling along. Of course as soon as I took out the camera to start taping it, he stopped and started hamming it up for the camera.

Zach and I took the tour of Ariel and we're really excited. There are several minuses though. The new, mostly completed housing is already all sold and there's a building freeze so who knows when the next block will go up. After living on small settlements for the past 11 years, the fact that it's so sprawling has me a bit worried. The fact that there isn't a set location for the Anglos. I'd really prefer my near neighbors to be English speakers. I'd prefer that the English Shabbat shiur isn't 20 minutes away and uphill in both directions. Also my impression is that rentals are hard to come by. Which reminds me, I need to get in touch with the guy to get some info on real estate agents so we can get things moving along. (Ok, done).

And on to the more annoying.

According to the custody agreement, I'm responsible for paying for summer camp for the girls. Now summer camp in Israel is only until about age 12 and it's only for July. But basically what we've done is the girls go to the States for August. The two summers they didn't, I believe they helped their step-mother run a camp from her home.

My ex called me Saturday night and told me that his sister R wants the girls to come and be a mother's helper for July. I asked if they'd be working in the US or Canada (R lives in Canada) because if they were going to work in Canada, they'd need work permits. I asked if they'd be working for her or someone else. He has no idea and he said they'd be working off the books so they wouldn't need permits if they were going to be working in Canada (they have American passports so I don't think they need a visa to enter the country). Between you and me, I'd prefer everything to be above-board, but what do I know.

I told my ex that we were thinking of going for July, before the Three Weeks. He said he'd speak to his sister about changing the dates. I also said that we'd pay for one, he'd pay for the other and we'd forgive the bond that usually has to be posted for the girls to leave the country. This is where he reminds me that I have to pay for the girls summer camp and I should pay for both tickets and 'he'd be open' to forgetting the bond. I said I'd talk to my parents about this.

Ok. I'm annoyed. Paying for the girls' summer camp, where they'd be having fun and not working is one thing. But paying for them to fly to the US, to work for someone else (presumably his family) is another thing entirely. That's not summer camp. I'm going to have to check the wording on the agreement. In addition, of course the bond will have to be forgiven. Not only that, but papers will have to be drawn up and signed by me, my ex and his sister that no funny business will take place. If the whole reason bond is posted in the first place is to ensure one parent doesn't abscond with the girls while abroad (as ridiculous as it sounds in this case, it has been known to happen)... well say I do post. And the girls go off to their aunt's.. what's to stop her from disappearing with the girls or refusing to return them. Then my parents are out $25,000 and more importantly, I'm out the girls!

We're now 3 regulars to Mommy and Me at Malcha Mall - me, roseball and a woman we both 'know' from FruMarrieds. Yesterday when I told zachkessin a bit about the third woman, he said "I wonder if she's married to a guy I'm in contact with on a large-format photography forum. After all, how many English guys can there be who are professional photographers and spend most of their time in the UK while their wife and child live here in Israel."

I PMed her last night and asked her if she's by any chance B.R.'s wife. This morning I was met with her reply "Why yes! How did you know?" I PMed her again to tell her. Small world.

It's rainy. I'm glad I went into Jerusalem yesterday.

TC is having a friend over for Shabbat. I'm planning my menu now and I'd like to do the grocery shopping tomorrow so I can cook Thursday. Since we're taking the tour of Ariel on Friday, I want as much cooking done beforehand as possible.

Apparently it isn't food that NS doesn't like, just the way I prepare it. I bought several jars of baby food yesterday and a box of rice cereal. Yesterday he polished off a jar of apples and bananas in 2 sittings and this morning he had half a jar mixed with the rice cereal. Eating and being awake cleared his poor stuffed nose enough that he could nurse and he's been napping for the past hour.

I moved the puppy from the tiny downstairs bathroom to the bigger upstairs one. I want to see if he's at least paper trained. Until now the entire floor was covered with newspaper. Now only part of it is. In the meantime, he's been crying and scratching at the door.

Oh, Shabbat menu...

Friday night:
fresh half and half challah
vegetable soup with matzahballs
roasted chicken
potato kugel
broccoli kugel
spinach noodle kugel

Shabbat lunch is in the air... I'm thinking perhaps dairy - spinach-cheese lasagna, baked fillet of salmon, unfried potatoes and steamed veggies. And cheese cake.

Third meal will be various leftovers...

Poor SR.. she's got some sort of cold... here she is availing herself of some steam and eucalyptus oil therapy.

And now for some gratuitous family photos, taken Friday.

Can I trade in my children for less cranky ones please?

When I was in elementary and high school, I honestly cannot recall any of my teachers going out on maternity leave (there might have been one Bible-studies teacher in 9th or 10th grade, and MAYBE a 6th grade teacher but I think that was it).

Granted, in elementary school many of my teachers (come to think of it, most of the teachers in general) were older women. In high school, many of my teachers were men.

Here in Israel, at least in the schools my daughters have gone to and the teachers they've had, many of the teachers are younger women, in the prime of their fertile lives.

Now that's not a bad thing (unless you factor in lack of teaching experience). Nor is it sour grapes on my part (I've come to terms with my lot in life).

But I think it's a problem.

One year one of my girls went through three teachers as one and then the next went off on maternity leave. There was no continuity at all. Learning was all over the place.

Yesterday, TC and her class spent the day in Jerusalem. Why? Because their teacher had a boy and they all went to the Brit (circumcision). Of course no transportation was provided by the school and rather than bring the girls back afterwards, they had a 'fun day'. Read: wasted day. And this is less than 2 months into the school year.

I don't know. I remember my brother's Brit. It took place in the morning there was a festive brunch and I was back in school by the end of lunch period bearing plates of cakes and cookies. I seem to recall several classmates doing the same. And I certainly don't recall a teacher inviting her entire class to the Brit and calling off learning for the day.

This is more of a vent because there really isn't any solution. Tell teachers they can't have kids during the school year? Hire only older teachers who are past having children? Hire only men?