In Loving Memory

This post is dedicated to the memory of Gramma Sarah who passed away on Monday after a long and valiant struggle with ALS. We prefer to remember her the way she looked in this picture of her and Simon taken in October of 2004. I'm so glad that David took Eli to see Gramma Sarah in Chicago before we left for Israel so that she was able to meet Eli for the first and only time. He and Simon obviously won't remember her, but we will make sure to tell them lots of stories!
After we got the news on Monday, David booked himself on a flight to Florida for Tuesday morning. I dropped him at the airport around 9am and the poor guy traveled for almost 24 hours and arrived in Florida at 1am on Wednesday (which was 8am here and it was so bizarre to me that I had a full day and slept a full night and he was still traveling). He's turning around and coming back on Thursday afternoon and he should be home shortly before Shabbos.
The boys and I have been coping quite nicely on our own. On Tuesday afternoon, Simon and I just hung out and relaxed while Eli napped and then we met Tali and Boaz and Uri at La Trattoria for dinner. It was nice out, so we sat outside and had a really nice dinner. After dinner, we walked to the toy store around the corner. Simon got a little truck and he picked out a bath toy for Eli. Simon then walked the entire way home crouched down so that he could push his truck along the sidewalk. It took FOREVER to get home, but it was a nice night for a walk.
I gave the kids a bath as soon as we got home and then put Eli to bed. Simon insisted on giving Eli one of his pillows, which was a good call on his part. It might have helped his congestion and enabled him to sleep through the night for the first time in a long time (either that or I just didn't hear him when he woke up because usually David is in charge in the middle of the night). Simon stayed up for a little bit longer but then went to bed with no arguments when I said it was time.
This morning they woke up around 7 and we were out the door to go to Becky's by 8. While they were there, I went with Abby to Tel Aviv to get pedicures. It was such a treat and so much fun! When I picked up the kids, Simon noticed my newly painted toenails the following conversation ensued:
Simon: did you paint your toenails?
Me: I didn't do it myself, I went to a place
Simon: A place where everybody has toes painted?
Me: Yup, it's called a pedicure
Simon: Did you stand very still so they could dry?
Me: Yes I did.
Simon: I need green paint on my toenails. Will that be a good idea?
Me: I don't think we have any green nailpolish, but we do have green crayons.
Simon pondered that on the ride home and when we got home, he asked me to paint his toenails with green crayon. I did because I thought it would make a good photo op (but the camera battery was dead) but I didn't realize how hard it would be to get the crayon off...one trip to the pool and one bath later, his toenails are still green!!
After Eli's nap, we went to the pool with Tali and the boys and Abby and Jake and we also saw Andi with Ma'ayan and Idan. The boys had fun swimming and eating snacks. Eli just helped himself to all of the food that Tali had brought without even giving her the chance to cut anything for him. Again, it would have been good to have the camera to get a picture of Simon and Eli both having put way too much cucumber in their mouths at once.
We hurried home to have a quick dinner and then Marcia came and I went to school where I got back my calculus midterm on which I got a 99 (Eliav--are you impressed?)...I would have gotten a 100, but I made a really stupid mistake in the middle of one problem where for some reason I turned an 8 into a 7.