Sharing "squares"

School begins again in the morning for my little A.  He is so excited for his 4 year old, Jr. Kindergarten class at HAMC as this is his 2nd year there and he certainly knows the ropes.  One of the best parts about this year is that A and E will be in school together.  He is such an amazing big brother to her, every day I am more and more impressed with how he is patient with her (for a 4 yr old of course), shares his snacks and toys (the oh so important things again to a 4 yr old) and loves teaching her.  That makes this Mommy melt!  Just yesterday while visiting my Dad's house we made a peanut butter sandwich for E when she woke up hungry from her nap shortly after A awoke from his slumber and joined us.  He told me he was hungry and without any prompting at all, E (my 2 yr old) handed over one of her "squares".  Seconds later he said he was still hungry and no joke without hesitation again she handed him another "square" of her sandwich.  At this point he was satisfied, thank you's were exchanged and I was "kvelling" as only a Jewish mommy could do.  The best part about this exchange however was a day later when the reverse occurred and it was my sweet, but always hungry E who needed some nourishment and A remembered what she did for him the day before (thanks to the small help of Uncle J) and immediately gave her some of his bagel. 

It will be a huge treat for him to walk E in to her classroom on her first day, alas that will have to be next week, because this week there is only school on Tuesday due to the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. 

Tonight we tried so hard to remember what it was like before Summer and hoped to create that earlier evening feeling of dinner, bath, a few special stories, some songs and of course bed!  It wasn't that easy, they were both so over tired from the exciting weekend, probably a bit overwhelmed about pulling out the "lightning mcqueen" backpack and lunch box as well as discussing what would be worn tomorrow on that oh so special first day.  But, the biggest reason why getting to bed tonight was so emotionally draining for my adorable A was because he wanted nothing more than to have his sister sleep in the trundle bed below him.  Not sure where or when this developed? Did they discuss this during bath time in their own secret language? Was there planning that happened during dinner and D and I were just aloof to it? Not quite sure, but none the less they both said they "needed" each other and you betcha my heartstrings were tugged and pulled in a few different directions! 

Obviously given that she is only 2 we can't trust her yet to have a sleepover, granted she would only be in the next room over and on a trundle really close to the floor, but even my beautiful klutzy darling of a daughter would find a way to get injured!  As well, we explained to A over and over again as his big blue eyes welled up with tears, that this was the night before his first day of school and getting plenty of rest was so important for him to have enough energy for school to play, learn, etc. This was a hard scenario, but ultimately we saw that he really truly loves her, as if we didn't already know this.  I did have to stay in his room for an extra back rub and story, but he finally went to sleep and of course asked if the next night she could sleep in his room.  Not sure if this was the best answer (we will see tomorrow) but I said, "Yes!" because afterall they don't have school, since it is the night before Rosh Hashanah, so why not?  Let's try it...

Splendor at the shore

So, I decided today that one of my favorite smells besides my kids heads, clean folded laundry, D's cologne, the bouquet of a fabulous red wine or lily of the valley's has to be the salty air that you can only breathe in off of the Jersey shore.   While thoroughly enjoying the glorious day at the beach with my family, Father and middle brother we all were magically transported to a special place: our childhood!  It wasn't just because we were with A & E and enjoyed playing in the sand building magical castles, bridges and tunnels, or tossing a football back and forth with sand between our toes, or watching the kids run back and forth as they chased the waves.  No, it was because we all somehow felt carefree but yet energized at the same time.  The beach is serene and calming yet exciting at the same time.  Riding waves in the ocean with my brother was definitely a highlight of my day.  That was my moment of remembering back to when we were little kids together and playing all day in the ocean, staying in until our fingers looked like wrinkled prunes and loving the fact that I was now an adult and still such great friends with my brother.  It is so nice to have such a great friend who is also your brother (I am pretty lucky because I have two).  After this weekend there may only be 2-3 more weekends of going to the beach, however without having to buy a beach badge and pay so get out there and take a walk on the sand, build a castle, feel the cool water on your toes because it truly is one of  the best places to feel like a kid again! 

All in a year!

Hard to believe that our family has been living in NJ for a full year now. So many things have changed within our lives besides the mere geography of relocating from Tampa, FL to Randolph, NJ.  Simply put, and in no particular order we have bought a new home, transitioned our children into a new school, made new friends, been welcomed into our new synagogue community, finished out a basement, watched our daughter learn how to walk, saw how amazed our kids were over the huge amounts of snow, navigated ourselves each and every day thru the new grocery stores, unfamiliar roads and explored all the many parks, lakes, festivals, farmer's markets and restaurants we could!  It has been a great year of personal growth and exploration as well as family growth.  WE learned we can conquer and succeed together!  As this was such a "scary" decision to make when it was all presented to us about 2 1/2 years ago.  Now, however I can not imagine living anywhere else.  I truly believe that my family is at it's happiest in the "Garden State".  We are close to family (which was the silver lining to this entire relocation) as well as major cities that are filled with vibrant culture, arts and sports.  There is much to miss about what and where we left and we will always have a soft spot for Florida.  Not just because that is where my husband and I met, we got married, our children were born and my "die-hard" Gator fan of a husband went to college, but it was and always will be a special place full of memories.  Thank goodness we have many special friends who live there and we will always return to the "Sunshine State" for vacations, visits and special events.  What really boggles my mind the most about time and recognizing all that can be accomplished in a year is the level of comfort and happiness that I have for my new NJ life.  I know that this 1st post of mine may be a bit sappy for some, but what I am trying to get at is that when you completely uproot yourself and your family from every single thing that you know and love and move somewhere brand new it is a scary thing.  Not many would do this if it wasn't for "corporate relocations", however since we really didn't have a choice and needed to because of the above mentioned we were forced into a situation that we made the absolute most of.  I don't enjoy not knowing about my surroundings, more so I thrive on being the "authority" on all things fun to do! Be it, kids oriented activities, culture, sports, restaurants, festivals, etc.  In the past I would kid around with my friends and say that I liked to be considered the "concierge of town".  I love hooking people up with fun stuff to do, as well as even hooking people up with other people.  My husband has always said that I need to find a way to turn these skills into a "job", per se, now wouldn't that be perfection!?  I'll keep searching... There is nothing better than looking back on your past year and seeing all that you have accomplished and most importantly who you have been so lucky to accomplish it with.  Special friends have warmed our hearts when the harsh weather this past Winter was at it's coldest.  Our children's school has opened our eyes to how meaningful great education can go hand in hand with religious and cultural experiences for A & E as well as for us!  Some of our greatest friends were made thru the school's community.  So, as we are in the midst of celebrating the last weekend of Summer in truly great Jersey shore style, we look ahead to next week when we will celebrate the beginning of the Jewish new year, our high holidays, where we always reflect, apologize, repent and turn over new leaves so to speak.  It makes sense that I finally bring this dream of starting a blog to life.  I no longer wish to procrastinate, I know it may not be perfect (much in life is simply not), but getting the ball rolling and beginning to type is how it begins.  I may not always talk of everything "happy" I also, like you have my moments of doubt, sadness and worry, but when it comes to my family, my friends and celebrating all of life's little treasures I do feel immense happiness!  Now off to enjoy this gorgeous Saturday evening in Red Bank, NJ where I am surrounded by my hubbie, kids, brother J and Dad - we just finished a game of bocce ball in the backyard, the veggies are being grilled, and seafood galore is about to be served straight from the ocean that I now call home, someone please pour me that glass of chilled Rose I have plenty of points stored up as I jogged earlier on purpose because I knew what kind of goodies were on hand! Yum.