Ooo...my friend!

Oh me oh my has my friend Wildman been extra wild these days! He is not walking on his own (and I'm pretty sure that is due to stubbornness because he knows how!) but let me tell you it does not slow him down. I'm pretty sure he lies awake in bed and thinks up his list of things to do the next day to get in the most trouble. If it has a plug, he unplugs it. If it is full, he empties it out. If it is closed, he opens it up. You get the idea. I'm just plain tired of fussing at him all the time and I also don't want him to think his name is only said in sheer frustration! So in order to remain a disciplined and constructive but positive atmosphere in our home I've started saying "oooo my friend" when I'm losing my cool. Try it, but you really have to drag out the "ooooo" that way by the time you get to the "my friend" it's funny. And a good laugh helps everyone and it slows down the Wildman for a few minutes!

See all those clothes behind him? He had great fun!

Ooo look at all of the goodies I can drag out!

This is what you usually get when trying to snap a picture...

Finally somewhere I'm allowed to climb- the park.

Happy Day!

mmmm...Pancakes

When we first moved away from home I knew that some things like food, clothes and language might be different from what we knew. However little did I know just how different it would be and how different every country would be. The grocery store seems like a whole new world! Most things are pretty easily acertainable- spaghetti, apples, meat, fish those kinds of things. The baking aisle is a whole new ballgame folks! Not a single thing is what you expect it to be and it doesn't take long for you to decide that experimentation will be the name of the game.

This week I was determined to figure out what I would need to make a killer batch of pancakes. That meant I would need flour, baking soda, and the ever mysterious baking powder. I headed to the store with a wish and a prayer and hoped that what I brought home would help out. Lucky for me I guessed right, but ended up with two types of flour.

That's right I label them in English when I get home. I don't trust myself to remember this stuff from one day to the next!

Now there are some things that are not the same, not ever going to be the same, and nothing I can do about it. I just go with it and am really grateful when I get back to mi madre's and can cook something larger than a loaf of bread and brew a good cup of coffee to go with it.

Stoves are tiny- that puppy fits one cookie sheet. Thats it!

This is a moka pot aka coffee maker.

And sometimes you have to become more creative than Martha Stewart to get what you want. This time it's vanilla extract- three groceries store and one erboristeria later and no luck. So what's a gal with a hankering for pancakes to do? Refer to Pinterest, those gals know everything! 

This is vanilla. Now I'm not a good enough cook to figure out how to use that powder or conversions if I do use it.   

One bottle of vodka, 4 vanilla beans and time. That's it.

In just 6-8 weeks I will be savoring a delicious stack of pancakes. I can taste them already! Up next... chocolate chip cookies!

Happy Day!

Boring Boring Boring

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adambindslev/4804939869/

Life has been pretty boring all week long, well not really but it would be really boring for you to read! Just a little background: our lives have been in a bit of limbo since the middle of November when we left Israel in the midst of the upheaval. While on a planned vacation in London and Cambridge my husband's company made the decision to move us to Italy permanently and immediately. So now we are here and since it is no longer the holiday season we are dealing with the nitty gritty of being citizens of one country, residing in another and having all of our belongings in a third! All in all a lot of emails, phone calls and house hunting meetings. BORING! But today the sun was shining brightly and there was not a cloud in sight so we headed to the park. It was just what the doctor ordered for our boredom.

What a gal! Since this is how she lines up to race I don't see track and field in her future :)

Mama's boy

and see that white guy back there?

That's right Car Car is here and the kids are delighted!

It was a ponytail and glasses kind of day (and bright too!)

Next week it's more of the same with hopefully some resolution mixed in. Here's hoping I'm posting pictures of our new home soon!

Happy Day!

Family Traditions...

With all of the hubbub of the last few months over Mister and I decided we would start to celebrate Saturdays as family day. No working, no exercising and no runs, just focusing on the kids and a few fun activities. This last week we let E-rie pick what she wanted to do and no surprise she picked watch a movie. We limit their television time so she takes what she can get! She requested a Mickey Mouse Christmas movie but I couldn't stomach it again. Instead we downloaded the old Goofy how to's. Mister loved them as a child and still chuckled over How to Hook Up Your Home Theater.

E-rie is a gal after my heart! When I told her we were going to watch Goofy her response was "Mama we need our mouse ears! And can we have pahcorn in Mickey bowls too?" Already making sure everything is an event! Stay tuned for next week when our rocking night includes a raucous game of CandyLand!

Happy Day!

Mama said there'd be days like this

Today was one of those days! E-rie is two and a half and anyone who has ever spent more than 10 minutes with a two and a half year old knows what that means! They are called the terrible twos for many reasons- assertions of independence (usually at the top of her lungs!), picky eating and crazy mood swings. You know when I got dressed I didn't realize I needed to dress for a battle day. It all started with a refusal to drink anything but milk and god forbid we have any fun at the park! After refusing to eat lunch I put her little self in bed where it belonged thinking I would go back in a few hours to a happier girl. Well instead of a sleeping angel greeting me when I opened her door I found all of her and her brothers clothes in the floor. Now is probably a good time to mention we are staying in one of the company staff houses while we arrange for the shipment of our household goods from Israel. So the stuff we do have here is not as organized as I would like, but it was certainly not in the floor! And her sassy self decided to take it up a notch too. When she threw her snack in the floor she was informed that she would pick it up or go to timeout. Her response "Wildman, I'll be back in two minutes. I got time out." Needless to say I have never been more ready for bedtime!
Now I'm off to do all those things I was supposed to do while I was cleaning her room. Tomorrow is a new day (thank goodness)!

La Befana

A uniquely Italian tradition is La Befana. Legend has it that on their way to see the baby Jesus the wise men stopped and asked an old woman for directions. She did not know where the baby was but the Magi stayed the night and invited her to go with them to find him. She declined but later changed her mind and was unable to find them. Thus every January 5th La Befana visits all of the children of Italy and leaves gifts in the stockings that are still hung on the chimney.


In Ravenna La Befana is played by gentleman in the -whatelse- Vespa Club!

They appear in the Piazza del Popolo and hand out treats to the children. Now unfortunately we were not there for the grand entrance because wildman took a tumble down the stairs and we had to clean up blood and swelling. When will the boy learn that he has limitations? But the old ladies were still there dancing and laughing when we finally made it to the Piazza del Popolo. Wildman loved every minute of it and E-rie was okay as long as La Befana didn't talk to her, of course.

sorry for the fuzziness- those dancing old ladies were hard to catch!

looking no worse for the wear

After walking around town looking at the Nativity scenes (that now include the Magi) we headed home and ran into a gypsy band singing the La Befana song.

This is why we live overseas- to experience new cultures and traditions. Loving Life!

Happy Day!

New Year... New Goals...New Me?

So I'm a bit late coming up with goals for this year but I wanted to be sure the goals I set were realistic and achievable within one year. There is nothing worse than realizing in November that there is no way you will checking anything off your list! In no particular order here are my goals for 2013.
Drink more water.
Eat healthy non processed food and stay within our budget.
Grow out my hair- and for real this time-no chopping it off after a few months. Oh and wear it down more often that is why I'm growing it in the first place!

I want to make sure I take E-rie and Wildman to the park 4 times a week.
And I need to be up and dressed before they get up- it just makes the day go more smoothly.
And my final goal is to buy myself the LeCreuset set.

Isn't she a beaut? That means saving $100 a month until the end of the year, and saving it at the end of the month so other stuff doesn't suffer.

So that is my list. Now I'm asking you to keep me honest and accountable- I really want that cookware ;)

Happy Day!

On the road again...

After a relaxing, crazy fun holiday in the States with our families it was time to head to our new home in Ravenna, Italy. Traveling with kids is always a challenge and now that the wildman is getting older I knew we were no longer able to just jump on a plane and stay for hours on end. So we decided to give ourselves a 4 hour layover in Amsterdam, and it worked out great! Here are a few highlights of the amazing, kid friendly Schiphol Airport... After a quick check of the internet I found out the airport had a play place, and it was a god send! The kids ran around for a solid hour and I got to sit and breathe.

We also found a Baby Lounge with individual dark pods with cribs and couches. They even had a place to give kids a bath! If you are going to get stuck in an airport this is the place to be. And if you are fortunate enough to travel sans kids they have everything to entertain adults too: a casino, museum, library, food, shops and lounges too. All in all if you are traveling to Europe I highly suggest going through Amsterdam (the passport control is even incredibly efficient!) I have never been to Amsterdam but if they have this much in the airport imagine the fun to be had in the city! And just a few quick shots of our champion travelers...

Peek a boo!

Out of the mouth of E-rie:

This is a little plane. Does that mean we are almost home?

Yes E-rie

Whew! I'm tired now!