Lamah?

No, not llama! Lamah. Why?

Yes ladies and gents, we've reached the age of "why?".

"It's time for bed." "Why?" "Because it's already 8:30."
"You can't have that cheese because you just had a hot dog." "Why?" "Because that's not kosher."
"You can't jump on Sophie's head!" "Why?" "Um....REALLY?"

I know that kids naturally start asking this question around the age of 3 so Yaeli is pretty much right on time. However, I didn't think she'd be asking why in such a pointed way. The examples above show that she's not just asking why to be a pest. She really and truly wants to know the answers and I'm very impressed. It will be my challenge to make sure to answer her in a truly informative manner. If she's going to internalize it I need to make sure she's getting the right message. And she often internalizes it the first time we answer her. Well, except for the one about climbing/jumping/shoving her sister. She still likes to do that one a lot. Of course some things will need sugar coated, but you can't really expect a 3 year old to understand everything.

On the topic of speech, Sophie is beginning to say some words too. She's been saying Mama and Papa for a while. The other day she said "Hi Bob" to her uncle Bob (Baruch) and then walked away with her face on her hand saying some version of "oh my goodness gracious!" (my father in law, Papa, says that to the kids a lot and that was one of Yaeli's first phrases too). And just yesterday when I went to pick them up after work, Sophie came running over to me with a huge smile on her face, gave me a hug and said "hi Ta"! Oh it was just so yummy.

Just One Word

It's just one word. Six little letters. Two syllables. Some words are more powerful than others. This one is, arguably, the most powerful of them all.

Cancer.

One of my dearest friends has cancer. I've known her almost all my life. She's not my mother but when I was growing up I considered her to be almost like my second mother. There were days when I stayed home sick from school and she took care of me. When I first arrived in Israel back in 2005 she made me my first meal there (hamburger soup, pita, chummus, maybe a fruit?). She's Stella, and she's one of the strongest people I know.

And yet, cancer is trying to steal her from me. From her husband. From her children. From her myriad of friends and supporters.

Her battle has had some ups and downs. Last year her husband raised somewhere around $40,000 in a solo charity bike ride. Cancer may be evil but on that day, cancer brought thousands of people around the world together in an overwhelming display of charity. Take that cancer!

As I've said before, I've been running lately and have already done a 5K race. I'm going to be dedicating my running career to Stella. Some day cancer may take her from us. But she will always live with me when I run.

Two years ago I read an amazing poem about cancer. I'm going to share it with you below. Please credit the author if reproducing it.

Cancer affects everyone. I can't think of anyone who remains untouched by this wicked disease. Who are you "running" for?

Just one Word

With just a word

A day could change

From great into despair

Or one small word

Could change a mood

From down to in the air

With just a word

The news it brings

Can kill or it can save

A tiny word 

Can build me up

And make me know I’m brave

Or one small word

Can break my heart

And know that I will lose

With one small word

I may be asked 

To be the one to choose

Just one small word 

Can say I love

Or fill me full of hate

Yes one small word

Can crush a friend

Or serve to elevate

With one small word

The time we have

May seem too short to spend

With one small word

I may find out

Our time is soon to end

Yes one small word

Can make or break

My outlook on the day

Oh God 

Please make the word I heard 

Be gone from yesterday

-Elana Miller 4/28/2011

That's Just Peachy

Yesterday a family that we are friends with contacted Rivkah in the morning and invited us to come peach picking with them. We didn't really have any solid plans for the day so we said sure. We restructured the day a little to make sure the visit to the farm fit into what we needed to accomplish.

So, we packed up our lunches and hit the road. The kids fell asleep within 5 minutes of leaving the house. We arrived at the farm about 35-40 minutes later and had some peace and quiet before the kids woke up.

After we had lunch we drove over to the peach orchard and started picking. It was a lot of fun finding good peaches and making sure they were ripe. We bought a peck box (not quite sure how much that is) and spent about 20-30 minutes filling it up. Yaeli got to pick a few of the peaches but wasn't really tall enough so she ended up being the relay person, taking the peaches from me and from Rivkah and putting them in the box.

The farm also had a petting zoo. Yaeli got to feed some sheep, goats, ducks, a turkey, and a pig. She was really brave and wasn't afraid of the animals at all.

When we got home Yaeli and Rivkah took naps and Sophie pretty much played by herself in the living room. I put on my brand new, handy dandy chef's coat and got to work. I made a peach salsa that the kids and Rivkah really enjoyed and then started into cooking our food for the rest of the week.

I really like the idea of supporting local farms. Even though this farm is a bit far from our house, I think we are going to try and get out there once a month or so and pick or buy some fresh, locally grown fruits and veggies. I hear they have good pumpkins in October. The produce is worth the drive.