She Laughs at the Days

In case you can't read that, it says A Suburban Housewife. Congratulations. E-mail me your mailing address, and it would help if you'd measure your little princess from the nape of her neck to the back of her knees, or just slightly longer so I know how long to make it. That was fun, we'll do it again soon so every one else has another chance. (Yes I totally took this picture right after every one woke up.)

One of the activities that go on during the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is to make things right with people, along with prayer and good deeds, and taschliche (To cast.) We take stones to the sea or to moving water that flows to the sea, and we cast them into it. The stones have our sins written on them, sometimes literally, often figuratively, and we throw them away into deep fast moving water from which we cannot retrieve them. We throw away the things we are sorry for, the things we did wrong and want to make right, the habits that we find hard to escape and slip right back into the next day; anger, rebellion, self-pity, and meanness. It’s a symbolic act, a picture of the cleansing that takes place on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It’s the day by which all should be made right, and messianic Jews go one step further and celebrate it as the day we remember that all things were made right, for all time, by the only High Priest any longer required, he who is after

I've been enjoying reading some frugal and green living types of blogs the last few months. I've especially enjoyed the stuff on restyling and using what is already in your house to make what you need. So I have been having a bit of fun using what I have laying around the house to restyle into new things. First there was the pinafore, born out of a desperate need to keep pretty dresses from being stained while still allowing the Girl to indulge in her desire for prettiness every. single. day. I made this out of an old sheet. Then there was the princess/queen cape, made from the pretty end of an old silk sari I've been hanging on to. And then there was the King cape, that used to be a bed sheet and will soon be followed by a knights tunic, though I may actually buy some leather to make that one because it's probably going to be the Boy's birthday present. Anyway, I'm having fun doing this and it occurred to me the other d

You are even cuter now than you were last month. I don't even know how that's possible, perhaps the degree to which I am smitten with you has just gone even deeper. You walk. You have been walking, it was a race between your first teeth and your first steps, and your first steps won, by a long shot. You are cranky and restless and unhappy with the growths that begin to protrude through your gums but they are not yet through and you have the sleeplessness and terrible bum rash to prove it. When I get to heaven I've got some questions for God. Things like, "Why hair down there? It's just, so uncomfortable." and "How can it be fair that after all of this work pushing a baby out it's like I get my period for an entire month?" oh and "Why isn't life fair?". On that note I also want to know why little babies when they are already dealing with the pain of teething get the most terrible raw rashes on their tiny bums. Talk about adding

I participated in a contest held by the lovely, and increasingly skinny, Mel of Actual Unretouched Photo and The Amazing Shrinking Mom hosted a contest sponsored by Chicco baby products. To my complete shock, I WON! Soon one of these lovely strollers will be here for me to take the Baby around in. Thanks again Mel.

I've been trying to decide what if anything I should write about this. I'm very tempted to just sweep it under, let it lie, and not mention it at all. But I can't, because this story may help someone else. On Saturday night we were at a party at the parent's of one of the little boys that the Boy plays with. He is cute and sweet and as normal as boy as seems possible. They have played together all summer and are fast friends. He is 4 years old. There were a lot of grown-ups present that I hadn't met yet, and lots of babies, and it seemed like a great idea to let the three older kids watch cars by themselves in a bedroom with the door ajar so we could tell if they were getting into trouble. Several minutes later screams ensued, from the Girl and this little boy's father went to investigate. What he found was the Girl laying on the bed with her skirt up, no underwear, which was entirely her and my fault, she forgot to put it on and I forgot to double check when

Or happy Jewish New Year to all of my Jewish friends out there, and others who keep the feast. We are almost ready, here is a short preview of our Rosh Hashana celebration. The Boy and Girl decided to make name cards for everyone after setting the table. They love to set the table on holidays, just so they can handle the pretty things and it adds to the excitement. I didn't register for a china pattern or anything when we married. At the time I thought I was going to move to Thailand, and I wanted my mother's set which you see here. She told me when she gave ti to me that she wasn't sure why I wanted it, it's old and chipped and missing several pieces, but I wanted special dishes that my children could use, not that sat in a cupboard gathering dust, and I remember thinking they were beautiful when I was a child. Guess what, my kids think the same way. The Boy went around and photographed everyone's place setting, I smiled when I saw his photos, but I won' s

We went camping this past weekend. I love camping, and we hadn't gone on a trip together like this since we moved to the US almost two years ago now. What I like most I think is that once we get there, while it is hard work to plan everything to get there and have things go smoothly, we are together. Without distractions, without computers or telephones, our little family actually spends all of our awake time with each other, doing practically nothing. I wonder if that's why my kids remember little trips like these so vividly. It takes so little to give them these grand memories of their childhood and going on adventures with family. The only thing that really has to be done is to do it, and to not get crabby at people as my parents did when I was a child. I'm glad to report that the GH and I do not usually fight with each other once we have some down time together, which makes me really glad. We went to a place called San Onofre , which is a beach near a power plant. W

For several months now I've been following a really wonderful story. The Owlhaven's have once again expanded their hearts and family to include two more children, now they have 10. This time they've adopted two sisters from Ethiopia aged 9 and 11. These girls have been living in an orphanage since the death of their birth mother until Mary and her husband flew across the big ocean to take them home. In this post she describes a simple moment in the first few weeks after these beautiful girls left behind all that they knew to travel with people they had just met in order to find a family again. This whole story has tugged at my heart but this one moment is one of those almost too good to be true occasions that fill me with hopeand made me cry. And that is why this month I have nominated Mary and her post Making Injera, Blending Families for a perfect post award. For more perfect posts be sure to check out Suburban Turmoil and Petroville .

We escape the tight embrace of damp heat by plunging our bodies into the lukewarm swimming pool in the hour before supper. It's warmer now than it was last week but the pool is deserted. No children ring our bell or run boisterously through our house. Such is the desolation wrought by the return to school. We swim alone most days. The only people to keep us company are the elderly, and the very small. There is the old Indian gentleman who walks with a cane, he can say no more than 20 words in English and greets us with a stately nod. He always says “Good evening”, nothing else. He likes to sit near the playground when we are there, or near the pool when we swim. He is always alone. I try to smile and take the time to greet him. A Filipino grandma pushes her 1 year old granddaughter around in a stroller. Her spare frame and bright smile a flashback to the girl she once was. They come to play at our door, or find us in the pool if we are not at home while they wait for the middle g