Birthdays and Balsams

We celebrated Yaakov's birthday in high style. I spent most of the morning baking and frosting his birthday cake which we were going to take to the Balsams for Shabbos. I was determined to make a frosted layer cake, even though I didn't have the right pans, and the cakes were falling apart as I removed them from the pans, and I kept saying, "Well, I can always put the messed up side on the bottom," except then I realized that there is only one bottom, not three. In the end, it looked really nice, thanks to Ariella's careful placement of the sprinkles.

After gan, we went to celebrate with ice cream. Normally, we drag the Sassoons along with us on these celebratory ice cream outings, and I was considering calling Jenny and saying, "Hey, why don't you just take all 3 kids, hop on a bus to Jerusalem, and from there catch a bus to Modi'in, then get off in the middle of the highway at the Shilat bus stop, and I'll pick you up at Shilat, but since, unlike those clown cars, we can't really squeeze two adults and five kids into our little Ford Focus, I'll first drop my kids off at the ice cream store , leaving Ariella in charge, then swing by Shilat, pick you up, and we'll all have ice cream together! Then just do it all in reverse to get home! Doesn't that sound relaxing and fun????", but I thought if I mentioned that plan Jenny would suddenly remember she had an appointment to get her tooth removed with a straw. So it was just the kiddies and myself. I got one of those awesome "fro-yo" things with the frozen yogurt (hence the original name), mixed in with stuff. It was delicious. Ariella and Yaakov got gum-flavored ice cream, then decided they didn't like it and shared a chocolate ice cream. The best part was they didn't like Mommy's ice cream, so I got it all to myself! ("Leave Me Alone So I Can Eat My Fro-Yo.")

For Shabbos, we headed over to Chashmonaim to visit with Lisa and Crazy Uncle Nafi. Now, many of you may know that Nafi is crazy, but not many people have been privileged to witness Crazy Uncle Nafi in action. We first caught a glimpse - well, it was more of a full-fledged assault - of Crazy Uncle Nafi at the seder, when, during the whole "every generation should see itself as the one that left Egypt," he grabbed the children and ran out to the hallway, simulating the Exodus. Many thousands of years ago, our ancestors, too, grabbed their shrieking and giggling children and ran out into the hallway with them. On Friday, during Yaakov's second birthday party (and that was where the cake came in), he did not disappoint, and the children found it HYSTERICAL when he pretended to be VERY UPSET with whoever ate HIS birthday cake. The children were so entertained and enthralled that Lisa and I briefly considered running upstairs and taking NAPS.

All in all, Shabbos was very fun. Lisa and I got to shmooze and drink coffee and the kids got to play together (and the 3 big ones played nicely for the most part, and at least had the decency to take turns being insulted and stomping off in a huff.) The "baby in Lisa's tummy" did not go unnoticed by my children, as Ariella pulled me over in the afternoon and quietly asked me if the tummy was that big even without the shirt. I assured her that the size of the shirt reflects the size of the tummy underneath.

Now we await Donny's return, which will be, please God, tomorrow afternoon. It was none too easy breaking up fights all by myself on Shabbos (and on Friday, Thursday, Wednesday.....)