Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew: ראש השנה‎) is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days which occur in the fall. Rosh Hashanah customs include sounding the shofar and eating symbolic foods such as apples dipped in honey. Although the boys did not join Dad at temple to hear the shofar this year, they did get to dip their apples in honey for a sweet new year. I also made matzo ball soup (one of Micah's favorites) and a vanilla honey cake (one of Dad's favorites). What will this sweet new year bring???

Goodbye Mickey

I couldn't resist... I had to go back to use our Disneyland annual passes one more time! We went to California Disney and watched a live show and rode the new Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure ride. Afterwards we park hopped to Disneyland where we rode Micah's favorite ride, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. On our way out we saw Mickey Mouse and the boys ate their last Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Bar. We had a nice time and hope the boys have fond memories of this place... how many years will it be before we return???

I'm 3!!!

Micah's 3rd birthday party was at Travel Town Museum. We had an old fashioned train theme with the kids in conductor hats and red handkerchiefs. BJs Pizza catered with gourmet pizzas, spaghetti, and BBQ chicken salad. All the desserts were handmade... I made a Barefoot Contessa chocolate cake, Martha Stewart vanilla cupcakes, and my Mom made various types of cookies using Barefoot's recipe. Micah and his friends had a fun time taking a train ride, decorating train cookies, getting tattoos, and hitting the number 3 shaped pinata full of balls. This birthday party was great... what will be next year's theme when he turns four???

Churros

Noah received a card from Bubbe congratulating him on the loss of his first tooth (the card also had 5 dollar bills which he promptly placed in his wallet). This afternoon we went to a local cafe to have Spanish style churros that you dip in chocolate. Jawsh paid for the first round but Noah offered to pay for the second round of churros. He went to the register and counted out 4 dollars... it was very cute. Micah had only 1 dollar and wanted to buy churros and left in near tears because he didn't have enough money. Noah tried to comfort him by saying, "just lose a tooth and you'll get money." Great advice, eh???

Surprise!!!

Today we celebrated Caryn's 60th birthday by surprising her with family, her closest friends, and the Beatles! This party has been in the works for a few months and it came off without a hitch! All of Caryn's favorite things were present (except her grandkids): the venue was at her favorite library, the food catered by Lazy Dog Cafe, her favorite Almond Creek wine, her favorite chocolate cake, her friends old and new, her family, the Beatles, and the most creative displays created by Jawsh and a new ebook (which lured her to the library) from Zach. Everyone had a great time eating, dancing, and drinking. I think the best part of the party was how happy she was. The next party we have to deal with is Micah's 3rd birthday... what are we going to do???

Homemade pizza

Today we made homemade pizza using a Barefoot Contessa dough recipe. I don't know why I was so hesitant, because it was very simple... the only difficult part was the amount of time that we had to wait. The boys loved rolling out their own dough and sprinkling cheese on top. I need to learn how to make homemade pizza sauce from scratch next... any good recipes out there???

First Day of School

Noah was excited to return to preschool (since he was born in November he will enter kindergarten next year) and Micah was very excited to go to school (finally!). Noah was looking forward to playing with his friends and Micah was looking forward to playing with one friend in particular, S.C. Since we are at a co-op, I volunteer on Tuesdays this year. I was able to stay today to make sure Micah was doing well, but he was so busy he didn't even notice that I was there. How will the rest of the week go???

One dollar

The Rubin Family has a long tradition of creativity. Grandpa Art used to write notes for Bubbe when she lost her tooth. Grandpa Art shared one story referred to as the "Famous Pay Off." He started a string under her pillow, then ran it down 1 1/2 flights of stairs (from bedroom level to basement) where he left a note....it was an I.O.U....the following morning Bubbe Caryn yelled "you know, there's a cheap tooth fairy around here!" With Noah, we left a note from the tooth fairy and left a string that led to the front door with a dollar attached. Noah was very excited but Micah looked nervous. Now every night before bed, Micah asks about the Tooth Fairy hoping she won't return... when will she visit again???

First toof

Noah lost his first tooth tonight, the lower right central incisor. We were at Pat and Oscars and he was eating a breadstick and out it came. Jawsh and I were talking and Noah tried to interrupt us to tell us what happened, and of course, before I heard him I said, "you need to say excuse me." Noah then said, "excuse me, I lost my tooth!" Jawsh and I were so surprised! There was not a lot of blood and Noah was very proud of himself... his first tooth... my baby is growing up, right???

The Force

Today we went to Disneyland with one objective: for Micah to be chosen for the Jedi Training Show. This is the last time we will be at the Jedi Training Show at Disneyland for a long time and it was very important for us to make sure he got a chance. We dressed him up in his Obiwon costume (Noah was dressed up as Luke), put him in the front row, and we even had him practice jumping while waving his arms frantically. All this preparation came in handy, as Noah and Micah were chosen first. I believe the Jedi Master said, "the two younglings come forward." Micah and Noah were center stage and Micah ended up being the butt of the jokes, which was funny. Micah got to fight Darth Vader while Noah got to fight Darth Maul. After the children duel the Siths they are supposed to sit, but Micah ended up jumping up from his seat and he ran towards Darth Maul with his light saber in hand. Micah ended up fighting Darth Maul as well (which was not supposed to happen). Jawsh and I were shocked that he did this and Jawsh said, "Micah is an opportunist." The opportunity was there and he struck! Who does he take after???

Jiu-Jitsu

A family friend, Chie, trains at the Gracie Academy. Chie introduced me to the Gracie Bullyproof program which teaches kids about confidence, increases awareness, and ensures readiness and offered to teach Noah. Now every Thursday, Chie comes over and introduces Noah to jiu-jitsu through games, which Noah absolutely loves. When will we sign him up at the Academy???

I'm a Ray

Noah is continuing his swim lessons and now he is at the Ray level. This means he is an intermediate beginner, able to swim 5 yards independently free style and 12 yards free style with a swimming barbell. Noah takes class with two friends, V.D. and Y.H. and he is doing well. When will Micah start swim lessons???

NHM

Today we went to the Natural History Museum with a few friends from preschool. The kids had a great time looking at fossils, playing in the Discovery Center, going through the Insect Hall, and eating lunch outside. Although Noah and Micah have been several times, they continued to be amazed by the dinosaurs. Noah really liked putting the dinosaur bones back together in the Discovery Center... will he be an archaeologist when he gets older???

Wildlife Learning Center

Today we ventured to Sylmar with the friends to the Wildlife Learning Center. The Center rescues wildlife and provides outreach and onsite education in wildlife biology. There are over 70 different species of rescued and zoo-born wild animals at the Center. The kids got to touch and hold a rosy boa and they got to do a wildlife encounter with a fennec fox! This fox was rescued and named, JoJo. He was very soft and those big ears were amazing. Micah loved petting the fox, can't you tell???

Pony-rrific Party

Today we celebrated my nieces' birthdays (Kaitlyn is turning 5 and Emma is turning 2)! They had a lot of friends over to play on a huge jumper that was attached to a water slide which was wonderful in 90 degree weather. There was plenty of food, drinks, and fun. The kids loved breaking the pinatas, playing pin the rainbow to the My Little Pony, and of course eating all the desserts. Noah had such a great time he asked me if he could have his party at Halmoni's House too. It was a beautiful party full of pink ponies, balloons galore (and I mean a ton of beautifully designed balloons), and water fun. Micah's birthday is at the end of this month and we have yet to plan... what are we going to do???

Shusi

Noah said "shusi" for the longest time until Uncle Zach helped him out with the pronunciation... good thing because Noah loves to eat sushi. He loves to eat hamachi, kappa maki, and shiro maguro. Micah also loves to eat sushi... his favorites are unagi and rice rolls. I'm so happy they like eating this, because now we can go get lunch together when Daddy is not around (he likes non-raw items like California Rolls). Will Jawsh ever get into it???