Zoe's 4th Birthday

Our baby girl turned 4 years old! We knew she loved princesses so we made her a princess themed birthday party in our Sukkah and had a funny Magician come and perform for all the kids. Zoe (and Zachary) had a great time and we felt it was another successful birthday party!
Zachary giving birthday kisses to Zoe on the morning of her birthday when she was opening presents ... little did they know what was waiting downstairs see below
A giant doll house (behind Zoe) that was fun for everyone, complete with furniture and figures! Zoe is wearing a new dress that GG brought her, doesn't she look adorable?
On Zoe's actual birthday we celebrated in the sukkah with yummy cheesecake and GG and Zadie were with us.

On the day of the party Zoe dressed up in a beautiful dress that Grammy had given her . The family was very excited to celebrate with all our friends.
Zachary was a good sport for the Magician who had lots of tricks up his sleeve.
Zoe's favorite trick was when the bunny appeared in the box, and then when she go to hold the bunny in her lap and all her friends could come up and pet the bunny.
Princess cupcake cake in the shape of a 4, was so cute and delicious! And an adorable picture with Zadie.

Grammy and Grandpa enjoyed the party too ... and we all set together to watch the Magician. Did you notice that Glenn had shaved his beard, doesn't he look different?


Make a wish ... hope it came true!

Garden Harvest

The carrots were still small ... but the cukes have been plentiful and Zachary's parsley continues to flourish. Did we mention that we have so much basil. Already made our first batch of pesto and it was yummy. Tomatoes finally in a steady stream, more than Mama can eat, but the kids are proud of them even though they wont partake. Still waiting on the carrots and beets!

September update - apple picking, family and garden harvest

In order to get ready for Rosh Hashannah (Jewish New Year) we went on our annual apple picking trip. We picked LOTS of apples as well as pears and a few peaches. We had nice weather but sadly not all the varieties of apples were ready just yet. The kids enjoyed nonetheless and we were able to bake a delicious apple cake, make an apple pie and eat lots of yummy apples and honey throughout the holiday.

Daddy taught the kids how to properly remove the stem from the apple and find out who you are going to marry. Not sure it worked out so well for Zoe :-)

Nothing sweeter than Zachary and Zoe's faces in the apple orchard, but we are biased I guess. By the way the kids chose to wear their tie-dyes!

Grammy and Grandpa came for Rosh Hashannah and we snapped a few pictures of the kids with them before dinner. Everyone had fun being together and eating all the sweet treats. We also had a big garden harvest that day, basil, parsley, cucumbers, tomatoes and a carrot. OK so we learned it was too soon on the carrots, we have some more still in the ground. The parsley is the one Zachary planted in Kindergarten (see April entry) which we transplanted into our garden in the early summer. We are sure proud of our garden this year, seems to be the best year yet.

First day of school

Zachary has begun 1st Grade, and with that homework. Here he is completing his first (of many) assignments ... and it seems that soon enough he will need a desk in his room but for now the work is quick and he is good about getting it done and doing a good job at it. How sweet is this face?

Zoe has begun her final year in pre-school, at Gan Hayeled Nursery School. Because Zachary got a brand new backpack (see below), Zoe of course wanted one too. So Aunt Fara and Uncle Ari bought her a princess backpack (a little early) for her 4th birthday. She was so excited to wear it the first day and head off to school. See above as she works on a butterfly in her classroom. She has adjusted quite well although the schedule has been crazy with all of the Jewish Holidays. She has now learned to write her name which is very exciting and we can't wait to see everything she learns this year.

On the first day of school at Ezra Academy, there is a family dinner picnic. This year Daddy was off and was able to join us on the Ezra field. We were excited to see all our friends and have perfect weather. We bought new Ezra shirts, ate our dinner (Daddy packed us lots of yummy treats) and play on the playground and field. One pose with our big bad 1st grader.

Below is Zachary sporting his brand new backpack which he picked out and ordered complete with his name stitched on the back. He was very excited to get to school and sit at a desk. The transition continues -- learning more hebrew, formal math, desk work, and more but he is slowly settling in and happy to head off each morning. We look forward to many big milestones this year for him and are enjoying watching him learn so much already.
zf