an apple a day...

...keeps the doctor away.

if that is really the case, we don't need a doctor for this guy any time soon. he's crazy about apples.

wishing you a healthy, lovely weekend :)

soft light

i like the light in most of the rooms in this house. in the bedroom there are three small windows, but there's always a soft light mornings and afternoons.

but my favorite is the living room. the light through the big corner windows pouring in from noon till the day ends. it's magic. from the harsh midday sun to the soft afternoon light and then - as the grand finale - the golden light of the sunset with a view to deep red sky or purple and yellow clouds.

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i bought the pale pink dress in tlv this week when i decided to forget my concerns for a moment and went to have brunch with D. i really like the color and the lightness, but i wasn't sure if i could wear it, though, unless i worked up a serious tan. today i put it on and i think it worked just fine. anyway, if i am not wearing it it will look nice right there in the light.

the candle holder is ikea. i love it, the simplicity, the shape, but it's not really season for candles here. in fact i think a candle standing there in the sun a full afternoon would melt. i once had an entire box of 50 white candles from ikea melt into one big block after i left it in a sunny corner of my previous living room.

have a beautiful weekend, my friends :)

ps: to those of you who read my posts earlier in the week i would once again thank you so much for your feedback. things have calmed down and so has my mind. i will keep you posted.

corner view - animals

we have a rooster in the chicken coop, and we have no clue where he came from. after the chickens went out one day - it happens sometimes if we forget to close the door - we chased them back in. by the time we counted them  - three black, four brown, one white and the two little gray - we saw that there was now a big white rooster too. he must have joined them while they were touring the garden.

this has happened once before. suddenly we found that we had an extra brown chicken in the coop after they had been outside. so strange.

i wonder if anyone is missing them. we asked around at neighbors, but no one seems to be missing a big white rooster. or maybe that's just what they say because they are happy to be rid of him. he's a devil, this guy. he sometimes begins his cock-a-doodle-doo really early. as in before the sun gets up. or maybe he just never stops. i have heard him at two and three in the morning too. and when that happens i get violent thoughts, and seriously consider to make some chicken soup. ok, not really, but i wouldn't mind giving him to someone that will.

he looks mean, doesn't he? last time we had roosters in the coop, the chickens got all nasty and picked on each other all the time. not with this guy, they are behaving really well.- even the black ones that are usually really nasty.

by the way, i was checking what an english rooster says when i was writing this as you might have noticed above. in denmark they say kykelikyy, here in israel they say kookoorikoo. maybe they immigrated along with the eastern european jews, because the polish roosters apparently say the same. dogs around here say how how, which i find really strange for some reason. when a canadian girl a few years back told me that the north american frogs say ribbit, i was all you-must-be-kidding-me. seriously, that is such a weird thing to say. i never heard a frog say that. ever.

any weird talking animals in your part of the world? 

for more animal corner views, please visit this week's corner view hostess, the sweet, golden joyce of  a perfect beginning. joyce is stepping in for jane of spain daily while she is investigating the unique sounds of the mexican tree frog. or maybe not.

cock-a-doodle-doo, how-how and bye bye from here.

just love them

this guy can be so thoughtful, so serious, so sensitive. he's going through a "shy" phase. not so much strangers as when he meets someone that was and is important to him that he didn't see for a while. after having seen his old nanny, that now lives in denmark, and his old daycare "mom", now living in hong kong, over pesach it's as if he has become a bit extra dependent on me. i have a feeling he's holding on to the "sure thing", after he was reminded of the people that he lost in some way.

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thank you all so very much for your comments and thoughts to my last post. except the very practical language barrier problem, i think the hardest part about dealing with issues like this, is that we feel torn. on one hand i feel like they are perfect just the way they are, they are happy and not causing problems, as i said. so then i think, why "work" on them, why make them into a problem? shouldn't we not just give them time to develop in their own pace, their own way, and if they end up having some issues, well, then let's take it then. and in this sense issues should be defined as something they themselves are not happy with, not what we or any authority defines as a problem.

then on the other hand i feel that i might not be helping them if i don't acknowledge that they have problems with language, to construct and use language, to communicate and explain themselves. we already take them to speech therapist, but what if that is not enough? they also seem to have problems with focus and attention, and they don't respond well to general explanations and information given to a larger group. so maybe it would be irresponsible not to step in now before they end up suffering from not understanding what is going on, not being able to express themselves?

i do believe that most of (but not all) their attention and focus issues relate to a lack of language, and probably also maturity in general. but i am not sure whether "giving it time" will be the best approach, whether we need to step in and help them more to make sure they will not create social habits that will make them unhappy, that is, give them a fundamental feeling of being outside.

then there is the fact that our decision on how to approach this might collide with that of the institutions around us. if we go against the suggestions of their kindergarten for example, then it might be a problem having them there. are we willing to pull them out, start them somewhere else, and if yes, what do we then want for them? and what is there in the area where we live? we have been all over the place, considering homeschooling (or more like it "homekindergartening"), kindergarten for special need children, trying just another type of kindergarten, staying where they are with extra help etc. everything seems to have pros and cons, and i am really confused. and then of course there's that extra little catch, that what might be good for one, might not be for the other. i have not distinguished between them here, but obviously they are not the same, but i am really struggling with the thought of separating them. i feel they belong together.

the other day i completely freaked, because i wanted "to do something". the thing is, i am not sure i can do anything before i have settled my own struggles on the matter. every time i talk to someone close to the kids, to friends, or to "specialists", i tend to question the feeling i had the moment before. and the same goes for my husband. sometimes this feeling makes me doubt myself and my parenting. i am their mother, shouldn't i know them best, what is right for them and what they need? why am i confused and feeling insecure?

i have this feeling that we are gambling. whatever we do there's no way to say "sorry, that didn't work, it was a mistake, we'll try this now". or i guess there is, but everything we do will have a consequence, so i just wish i felt more sure about it. then i could at least say that i did what i truly believed was best. i guess, i am looking for some sort of safety net, but life doesn't have that.

anyway, we're on the path, there are some bumps, but i do realize that the most important thing is to show your children how much you love them. so in all my confusion, that is my mantra and guide: just love them.

breath. and focus.

i was saying it a while back - that i need to focus. i am still working on it, but i am far from what i would like to. that goes for my own personal goals and thoughts of the future, as well as for my family and everyday time and planning. i have been feeling a bit frustrated lately. for several reasons, but a lot of it has to do with that good old feeling of not being on home turf.

as i have mentioned before, my twin boys are having some learning difficulties, their language and social skills are not as good as they are supposed for their age. they are happy boys and not causing problems, only concerns and thoughts about how to help them the best way. but obviously there is a lot of considerations and decisions to be made all the time, and here i feel that my lack of language is a big problem (and yes, it is my own fault that my hebrew is best used for casual chit-chat, rather than talks with speech therapist, school psychologist etc. oh, but trust me when i tell you that i am the first to be hard on me for that these days). also, it is hard not to be able to understand the system and the way things work, and to not have as big a network as i believe i would have in denmark. any way, i need to focus on the goal here and not make it into my own personal what-else-should-i-have-done-differently-and-better. but i must admit that i have had a few days of banging myself in the head for a lot of things.

i hope your week got off to a better start than mine. i'll try and jump right back up on that big horse and get things under control. it's all about breathing. and focus.

big blue

more photos from eilat. i had planned to make a corner view yesterday about water, the theme was earth day and i thought it would be a great topic. but life is really hectic here these days. not in a bad way, but all this vacation doesn't leave much time to blogging. or to flickr for that matter (such a hard life ;).

first my friend came, then it was pesach, followed by a week of catching up with life and work. then we went to eilat, came back, had a couple of days off to celebrate yom haatzmaot, the israeli independence day, and then my little one got sick. you know, life just happened quite intensive for the last three weeks.

so, no corner view yesterday, but that shall stop me from celebrating this amazing, big, blue element.
in eilat we went to see dolphins and to the underwater aquarium. then of course we just hung out by the pool, mostly the kid's pool, and D did some windsurfing. and we went snorkeling - it is the red sea after all.

for a more serious post on the water issue in this specific (middle eastern) part of the world, i wrote this corner view a while back. and for more corner views, just go visit jane of spain daily.

i will try and get back into my usual blogging schedule and i will definitely put aside some time to catch up with all the amazing blogs on my blog roll. but first, time to have a weekend, quiet, at home. see you next week.

hi dolphin!

we came back yesterday. it was a great trip. we stayed at club med, eilat. ok, i am not really the resort vacation kind of type, but it was a treat from D's work because he's been working so much. D has been to a million club meds all over the world, because he loves to do sports, and i must admit, that as a quick family getaway it worked really fine. we had great rooms, the kid's pool was really nice and the food ok. we also brought D's younger sister, which gave us a chance to do some snorkeling and go out for dinner one night after the kids went to sleep.

we also made a trip to the dolphin reef in eilat. it's a really great place. we saw the dolphins getting fed, and watched them as they played. the philosophy is, that they are absolutely free to choose contact with humans, no tricks 'n treats. you can put your feet in the water, and if they come to you, then it's fine. but you're not allowed to run around and put your feet or hands in the water where they are. same goes for those who go diving with the dolphins. i did that once, and here you're with an instructor and not allowed to approach the dolphins, only swim around them. the only contact is the one that happens if the dolphins come to you. the instructors warn you about this, because if the dolphins don't feel like socializing, then they might hide out far away, and there's nothing to do about it. and some people get really disappointed about that.

so, back to unpacking and settling in. i'll catch up in the coming days. and hopefully get around to post a few more photos from eilat and the red sea.

have a wonderful week, my friends.

off we go

we're going to eilat - yay!

in the meantime, origami on film. :)

enjoy your weekend and see you next week

happy birthday, corner view

corner view has been going on for a whole year. amazing. time really does fly when you're in good company.

i think my favorite corner view was white. i remember seeing and reading so many interesting interpretations. but i also really liked love. they were fun to write about, but mainly i remember reading so much amazing stuff on these two corner views.

thanks jane, it's been a fun year. looking forward to the next :)

friends & family

it was good to see friends over pesach. the weather was great, we did bbq and went to the beach. good times.

except for that one day where we went to the beach. we did that several times, but this specific day sucked. the kids were cranky, then some of them got a wrong ice cream (which got me irritated cause i told D to get the same for all), and we spent a lot of time recovering from that and other really important issues. you know, just pretty much down hill from the moment we left the house. by the time we headed home things seemed to have settled a bit, so we thought we'd stop by this place on the way back. bad idea! i spent the entire meal power struggling with N about stupid things. because i guess, by then, i was a bit agitated and i wasn't really seeing anything in the right proportions anymore. do you know this feeling? to feel that you just need to win, while simultaneously knowing, that there is no such thing as a winner in these situations. that you chose the wrong time and the wrong reason to state an example and draw the line, and that this is exactly the reason why you just cannot let go.

yup, we have those days too :)

the blond beauty, the baby and the big boy in the hammock are dear friends. they used to live here and my boys spent most days with their oldest son. they now living in hong kong and we miss them a lot, so it was so good to see them over pesach.

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we decided to go to eilat and the red sea this weekend. D and i have not been there since the kids were born, and i already made them super excited by telling them about the dolphins. maybe i'll even find the time to go scuba diving again. didn't do that since the kids were born either.

making me happy right now

:: our little fig plant growing so fast. soon it's time to set him free

:: celebrating a baby boy (each his/her own way ;)

:: that i have less than 200 squares to go (plus a couple of white rounds on all of them, and then the connecting of them all. no sweat - i believe it'll done by fall 2013)

:: little coriander seedlings. i really really hope i - for once - can make these grow into big, tasty coriander plants. so far coriander has been my green challenge. if you have any advice, please feel free to share :)

:: pretty little easter eggs from my mom. which i forgot to put up for easter, so now they have a little post easter time to flash their prettiness (just too cute to pack away without having enjoyed looking at them at all, right?)

:: left-behind toys looking poetic and all alone in the afternoon light. especially when some kind of beam me up, scotty-sun ray appears in the photo. i think he wants to get back up on his space ship real bad - look how tense he is...

:: a beautiful bracelet, a gift from my friend

:: heart-shaped buns made by morfar (grandpa), fresh out of the freezer ;) warmed and served with butter.


what is making you happy these days?

lemons in various ways

when my friend was here we made lemonade from our lemons. it was a little factory, and yes, we did use child labor - but i think they liked it.

luckily she brought havannah club (i might have hinted that it could be useful - you know, since we have a lot of mint in the garden), so in the evening we used some of the lemons (had no lime) to make mojitos.

my friend left thursday, so we're just the family now. D is working hard again, but should be able to slow down by the end of the week. alas, things are pretty much back to normal.

oh, btw, that was not me with funky shades and great hair in my previous post :) that would be my friend - with her son. and since someone asked, nope, no fish for dinner either. there really aren't any big fish at the shore. sometimes there are good days for bananafish fishing, and it can be nice to grill them. but it's more like a snack, and the kids don't like them too much work with all the little bones).

have a great new week, my friends.

returning to the beach

it's official: it's summer, and we have returned to the beach.

corner view - vending machines

it's not really a vending machine, but it's awesome. and i have not been anywhere close to anything remotely vending-ish lately, but at least it's a machine. in fact it's a super cool espresso machine, and we only got it yesterday, so my hands are still in the air.

after the spring clean (and it was a serious one, where i - after i had sorted everything and removed everything - hired two women to help me clean the house a whole day). we decided to spoil ourselves and our extremely clean kitchen (my cleaning assistants spent 3 (!!!) hours in the kitchen) with this beauty. yup, now we drink grown-up coffee around here. not that i feel so grown up about it. actually i'm more like a kid with a new toy, finding excuses to make coffee, thus drinking way too much already this morning, just so i can use it, and especially that steamer. it's so cool.

oh, and btw, i must share with you that coffee is not the only amazing drink we spoil ourselves with these days: D found a wild passion fruit tree in the hood, and we have been making fresh passion fruit juice. with crushed ice i think it might be the best drink. ever.

i still have a lot of catching up to do in blog world, but you just go ahead and check out the corner views of the week via jane of spain daily. i'll be there soon too.