Em See

 So I was asked to be the MC at this wedding. It was a beautiful wedding, with high energy, lots of family, and lots of yumminess. The kids behaved so nicely, Eitan was a star and Hadar was cute til we put her to sleep in the Pack 'n Play. And the couscous and challah schnitzel were crazy good. 

Here is the live stream video: https://youtu.be/ZhZAiCPleuk?t=1769

Here was my original MC Script:

Welcome everyone to Ephraim and Shirli's wedding. We are so glad you could make it, from near and far to celebrate the marriage of Ephraim and Shirli. From London, to the tri-state area and to Arizona, from Kiryat Shmona to Modiin, and everyone all across the globe watching on the live stream, we are so glad you are able to be part of this exciting event. As Ephraim said during his Shabbat Chattan this week, he and Shirli are important but they are just a link in the chain, all the way down each family tree. This includes of course family members who are no longer physically with us, yet have a huge part in who we are, what we do, and the entire family trees themselves. 

Grotsky family - Ephraim is a great guy. His music lights up the room, he has time for everyone, and he truly sees the good in each and every person. He always does what he believes in, and he is our walking moral compass. 

And we have been blessed to get to know Shirli over the past few months as well. Gosh, it really works out well to have both families from Modiin. She is nice, sweet, caring, great with kids, and she is perfect for Ephraim. And apparently, she has seen exactly 3 million birds in her life as of last week, though that number may have been added to since. 

Mazal tov to you, we wish you a lifetime of happiness, love, health, togetherness, and may you always surround and be surrounded by the people you love. 

I would like to call upon the Mesader Kiddushin, Rav Vider, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Hakotel.

Chanukah Party Time!

Today we got to go to our first gan party. It wss very cute, with 20 little critters running around, building chanukiyahs, dancing to the music, getting chocolate coins, and eating donuts of course. Obviously our little critter was the cutest one. The little guy was happy and participated beautifully.

Happy chanukah!

Playing Doctor

 Eitan got a toy that he loves, which is doctor toys. He loves checking his sister, getting checked etc. Yesterday he wasn't feeling too well, but woke up completely fine. As we were getting ready to go to Gan, he asked S to check him. Shifra, being the amazing mother she is, agreed. Which I was fine with until she saw that his tonsils were blown up and red. I was very impressed with this finding, and agreed we could take him to the doctor. When we got to the doctor, he asked why I had brought him in, told me that he is completely fine, and everything in his throat looks normal. A little embarrassing, but funny too. And maybe we need to get some actual doctor tools instead of the toys if we are going to make a diagnosis like that. 

EDIT a day later: he does have strep it turns out. Gotta bite the bullet on this one.

Shnitzel Date

 For the first time since my dad started at AS, we met in Tel Aviv. The rest of the TLV group couldn't meet that day, so my dad and I went to have some shnitzel. It was delicious and super fun that we were able to just do that, and Tenbis/Cibus took care of the bill. Always love hanging out with my Daddy, and would never take for granted that we can just meet for lunch after a 7 minute walk. 

Sleep Clinic - Hadari and Me Time

 Well, that was one of the rougher nights I remember. Somehow I convinced Shiff to let me take H to her sleep clinic. She screamed most of the way to there, and kept falling asleep on me until we got in. She did NOT like the strange man putting the belts and stickers on her to track her sleeping, and it took a long time to settle her. Most of the night she slept on me, and every time I tried to move her she would wake up. We were woken at 6, and told we could go home. Overall, I am happy H and I are now close enough for her to trust me to take care of her like that, and I just want her sweet self to be happy. 

Lions Baby

 The Lions have never been a good team. There were years here and there where you could enjoy the team, but there was no growing and building the team to be sustainably good. This year started off 1-6. But then the Lions won 3 out of 4, and excitement was building for the Jags game. I got to host my dad and Mikey, which worked well because Shiff was out til 9 anyway. I debated what to make, but ultimately ended up grilling with our applianes. We had wings, burgers, fries, onion rings, fried onions, etc. It was really fun to make the food and also we set up the room in a nice way so we projected the game on the wall in huge. It was really fun, and the Lions gave us a relaxing and enjoyable 40-14 win. If we can somehow beat the 10-2 Vikes next week, I will be in full believe in playoffs mode. 

Airplanes don't fly on Shabbat

This Friday night, we had Aunti Mori over for dinner. We always enjoy her company. At one point during the meal, E wasn't eating properly and Aunti Mori tried to encourage him to open his mouth by telling him that the airplane was coming (referring to his food). However, E replied "Airplanes don't fly on Shabbat", and continued to keep his mouth closed. Too smart. 

Football game 5

 Rough game. We lost 7-0. We continued our strong defense, and have now given up just two TDs in 3 weeks, but our offense was a mess. I mostly played D, but on the last drive I was brought in to play TE. It was really hard to block them all game, and on the last drive, my glasses got knocked off 4 times, but I stayed in to fight. On to next week.