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Shana Tova 5773

Posted on September 16, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Tonight, at sundown, Rosh Hashanah will begin. It is during this time that we reflect on the year gone by.

This is a tough one for me. It has been a whirlwind of a year. Though there have been some not so wonderful moments, even those have been valuable and will help my family in the long run. My motto of just keep swimming, especially during those Eeyore moments, seems even more fitting right now.

My inner Eeyore has been questioning items, things related to my faith. A lot of these feeling go back to the days when I was a child in Hebrew School. I keep reminding myself that no matter how I express myself within a synagogue or outside, NOBODY can take away my Jewish identity. Even with these thoughts in my mind, I take pride in being a Jewish American. I love teaching our boys about the holidays, going into their schools to share with their peers, and writing about books that help us to celebrate. I guess that is the beauty of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, it makes you stop to think, rewind, and wonder.

Then, beautiful things like the video from Fountainheads in Israel make me smile. They remind me of the beauty, wonder, and pride associated with Judaism. Here is the video that they made last year for Rosh Hashanah called Dip Your Apple – it truly is a catchy tune with beautiful images.

To all those that celebrate Rosh Hashanah – I wish you and your family a Happy, Healthy, and Sweet New Year.

Categories:
holidays looking back me moments vent

Making Sure to Take Deep Breaths

Posted on September 13, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As I type this post, I need to remind myself to take deep breaths. Things will be ok. The storm will end and there has to be some sort of rainbow coming. Of course, at the same time, my inner Eeyore does not believe it. I want to sit here and scream. Wednesday has not been a good day. I sent the little kid off to kindergarten in tears again. Once home, I did some work and then called to get blood test results from the ENT for him. Those were a-ok, but the radiologist does not agree with the doctor on his assessment of the x-ray.

I held it together as I waited to hear back about scheduling a follow-up appointment with the ENT. Knowing that surgery for my son may be needed. Then, JSL’s teacher wanted to talk to me. Apparently, they wanted to do further speech testing. JSL had just “graduated” from speech therapy in June after two intensive and amazing years. My sweet little guy is so nervous with all of the changes that he isn’t confident in his speech. All of the hard work has him talking slow and fragmented, which messes up the articulation. Of course, being stuffed up and having a hard time breathing will also make you do those things.

Then, it was a mad dash to get NHL and shuttle him to Hebrew School. Traffic was horrible, but we just got there before class started. Then things happened that blew my mind. I do not have words for what I witnessed. Thank goodness I went with NHL to the classroom and he did not go alone. We left and now wait to see what will happen. Memories of my Hebrew School experiences came flashing back. I will NOT allow this to happen to my child.

There is more that I want to write about, but that will come later. So much to share that may help others, but first I need to make sure we are set with the news and developments that happened over the last few months. For now, I will remind myself that I am blessed with my family, support system, and must just keep swimming.

How do you remind yourself to keep going and look for the rainbow?

It's Me

Categories:
allergies decisions doctor family looking back me moments photos school vent

Cleaning Pet Peeve

Posted on August 24, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Cleaning an older home can sometimes be a challenge. Sure the old hardwood floors add character to our living space, but they add a challenge to cleaning around the house. If you use the wrong item on them, you can damage the wood. Moisture is a problem, but you do need some to properly clean a floor.

For quite some time, I have been thinking about purchasing a steam mop to help with the floors. What often worried me was too much water remaining on the floors and ruining something. When I was offered to review the Hoover TwinTank Steam Mop, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to see how this would work. This is not a review post, you can see my review on Amazon here.

The experience with the steam mop has changed my feelings about cleaning not only the hardwood, but other floor surfaces in our house. Now, it is probably the toilet area that I loathe to keep clean (house of boys and me – ick!).

My question of the week is inspired by my cleaning find:

If you had to select only one cleaning task that is a pet peeve of yours, what is it and why?

Disclosure: I received a sample of the product mentioned to facilitate my review, but my opinions are entirely my own. Should you be interested in purchasing the Hoover TwinTank Disinfecting Steam Mop, you can use my Amazon Affiliate where I will receive a percentage from the sale.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #217

Categories:
Aloha Friday house me moments photos vent

Smiles in the Summer

Posted on July 22, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Time to be honest. Summer vacation can be a stressful time. I love spending time with my boys, but there are days when the fighting, bickering, and other sibling squabbles get old. Then, moments like this happen out of the blue and for absolutely no reason at all…

There was no prompt. I was just lucky enough to have my phone close by to capture this amazing moment. The boys simply curled up on my bed to stay cool and read. JSL rolled over by NHL. Where something could have happened, it didn’t. Instead, NHL pulled his little brother over for a kiss. A genuine sweet moment between two siblings. There was no screaming, yelling, or complaining. The only things I noticed were smiles like this…

The moments like these make the others fade away a little faster. I will cherish these moments because our 18 summers together are happening way too quickly.

P.S. One other message to get out there today:

Happy Birthday to Uncle I! We all hope that you are having a wonderful time and can not wait to see you all soon.

Categories:
birthday Disney jsl me moments nhl photos sahm summer vent

Parenting Worries

Posted on July 16, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As a parent, we often have to pretend not to be worried in front of our children. You know what I mean. Like when the doctor tells you they hear something that is not quite right with your child’s heart. You can not stand there and crumble into pieces. You have to be brave, find out facts, and wait patiently to figure things out. Then, you can also have your child distract you with a major reaction to a vaccine that they had the same day. Yes, that is the way it goes. You move from one worry to another and just keep swimming until you get more answers.

I often joke that this summer is filled with a lot of doctor visits. The first major one was when I had to take JSL to see the cardiologist. I was rather quiet about this leading up to the appointment. Was I worried and scared? Yes, but I also know that many children and adults have innocent murmurs that doctors detect. When we went, I explained to JSL what they would be doing. The EKG was rather traumatic to him. He was not scared of the test itself, the location and window next to him got him very upset. He did fantastic when it was time for the chest x-rays. You would have thought that JSL had done this before.

Then it was time to sit in the exam room to see the doctor. He was fantastic and listened to why we were there. Next, he listened to JSL’s heart and lungs. Seconds later, he told us that we had nothing to worry about. The murmur was innocent, had nothing to do with his heart valves, and no further testing is needed.

Of course, this visit really seemed to take a lot out on JSL. That afternoon he had a dentist appointment. Much to my surprise everything was a struggle. X-rays caused him to gag. He was beyond upset with the water spray during his cleaning and more. Thank goodness our pediatric dentist office is amazing and understood it had been a long day for everyone. After a quick stop at the craft store and the bakery, we made our way home. Just as I was about to pull into the driveway, I looked back and saw my little parrot sleeping.

That day is over, but my parental worries still there for other items on our plate. I hide them well from the boys, but sometimes I think they can read me too well.

How do you mask times when you are stressed and worried so your children do not pick up on them if it involves them?