One of these things is not like the other

One of these things just doesn't belong...

Who remembers that song from your childhood? Yes, it's from Sesame Street...

Well on a daily basis in my lovely abode, there is something that does not belong on my front hallway console.

Look carefully.

See it?



Yes, it's a pair of socks. On my entry hall console.

Why are there socks there? Every. Freaking. Day?

Because Dovi seems to think that the front console is the appropriate place to put his socks every time he comes home. Because Dovi is like me and prefers to be barefoot at all times (well except for this winter. It's been so cold that I actually purchased, and wear, fuzzy slippers. No worries, I had a coupon for them and they were on clearance)

But back to the socks.

Every day, Dovi comes home and removes his boots or shoes.

And takes off his socks.

And puts them on the console.

And I mean every, single, solitary day.

I have begged.

I have pleaded.

But for some bizarre reason, that is where Dovi believes his socks belong.

I have actually considered putting a basket there for him to put them in

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em?


And on a separate note, I would like to thank the wonderful soul who allowed his dog to make on our snow in front of our house and not clean it up. That little pile of poop has provided my little lovelies with many, many hours of entertainment.

This is all

Shabbos!

I swear, I will be done with this eventually.

So now we are up to Shabbos.

First of all, it was cold. Very cold. The Monday before Dovi's Bar Mitzvah it was 60 degrees. By Shabbos it was about 25.

So back to Friday night...Benjie's brother David and his wife Rochie, along with my in-laws, hosted an absolutely gorgeous Friday night dinner. It was so nice to not have to worry about Friday night dinner...thank you! The food was gorgeous...and I wish I could say more...but...ahem...the wine was excellent :) There were some lovely speeches. I seem to recall my brother in law mocking us mercilessly doing a very funny Balderdash shtick, and Raphi, Dovi's third parent Dovi's beloved counselor spoke as well. I also recall laughing hysterically about something, but don't really recall what it was. After dinner, most people went back to their houses, but we had some people come back to our house for cholent and birthday cake (not for Dovi. It was someone else's birthday).

Shabbos morning was quite hectic, at least for me! One of my oldest and closest friends was making her son's Bar Mitzvah. A mile and half from my house. I had no plans on going...we talked about it, and I assumed that I would have a house full of people. What ended up happening was that my mom and I were sitting and drinking coffee and reading the paper at 9:15 in a completely silent house. At which point I decided that I was running to Keren's Bar Mitzvah. So I got dressed, put on my gym shoes, and power walked to the Bar Mitzvah. From leaving my house to getting to her to coming back home...45 minutes! I have really not a clue how I walked that quickly, but I am really glad that I did. She is one of my closest friends and it would have been very sad if I hadn't made it there to say mazal tov.

So after my mad dash, we made our way to the shul for lunch. Lunch was very generously hosted by my mom and her husband. It was lovely! We had food dropped off from one of the restaurant caterers, and I coordinated most of it. It turned out really nice-we had some lovely speeches. My brothers Aaron and David, my brother in law Nahum, my sister in law Yehudit, and another counselor, Ari, all spoke. It was lovely. Then back to our house for more food! It was seriously never ending.

Saturday night was an awesome Melaveh Malka for Dovi, hosted by Kids of Courage. Guys, thank you for an awesome time!!! I'd also like to thank the Carlebach Trio for supplying the music and Young Israel of West Rogers Park for donating their space...so let's have some pictures, because I know you all (even my noncommentors) only come here for the pictures.


I must say...I was very impressed! This was set up by a bunch of guys-not bad! Look at those artfully arranged paper plates! And the scattered candy!




Anything for a t-shirt

Great picture of Hudis (married to Ari who spoke on Shabbos day) and awkward angle of me.

I love this picture.


Eliyahu and Elisha


Thank you Carlebach Trio!




Check out the adorable cookies!
My brother in law David

Tzipporah...luckily before she puked but after she ate a slice of pizza. She then went on Charles's shoulders and bounced around like a little top. Then she puked.


Awesome KOC banner!




There were a lot of kids!



It's all about the shoulders.


Shana is too cute for me.


Really too cute.








Dovi did a dance solo. I wanted to bite him.

Then Miri and Shana danced too. They are really good! I guess that the $1,000 year never ending Sunday mornings at ballet have really paid off!





Dovi and Aharon...Mazal Tov Aharon on your engagement! We can't wait!


It was so much fun!!


After the Melaveh Malka, all my siblings and their kids rolled on out (actually, David and Debby and their kids left before the party...it's a long drive back, folks!!). So after the party, we were down to my mom and Hershel and all the guys.

And no party is complete without the after party. In our case, the after party was a midnight barbecue and movie watching. Until 4 am. At which point Benjie left for Midway Airport and another car left for Ohare Airport...I went to sleep at 4:30 am! I am wayyyyy to old for this, let me tell you.

Sunday morning brought the blessed arrival of coffee and donuts (thanks, Shosh and Dovid!) and the departure of all the rest of the guys. So my mother and I spent Sunday digging out from the disaster of my house (which I must say really wasn't that terrible-everyone was so excellent about helping to clean up, but still....we had 40 people in our house for 5 days!).

I will end this final Bar Mitzvah post with the list of casualties of the weekend:

• Benjie's 180s
• Benjie's Bluetooth (hey does anyone have that??)
• My favorite fleishig knife (seems to have been thrown out with the barbecue garbage)
• 4 bottles of booze from my brother in law's house (he was amazed at everyone's abilities...)
• about $30 of change at the laundromat to wash everything...
  

And thus ends the huge, epic, Dovi's Bar Mitzvah weekend.

No worries, we headed out 4 days later to Ezra's Bar Mitzvah in New Jersey!

Friday...the fun didn't end!

Seriously. Did. Not. End.

Friday morning, bright and early, my immediate family plus a few nice guys (seriously, thanks guys for coming at that unG-dly hour in the freezing cold) went to the cemetery for my dad's unveiling. It was the most logical time to do it since we were all in town. Kinda weird to do it the day after Dovi's Bar Mitzvah, but heck, we did my grandma's unveiling the day after my wedding (but my mom did not tell me. She didn't want Benjie and I to feel like we had to come the morning after our wedding. OK I totally get it but still....)

So we went. It was freaking freezing. We unveiled. My father in law ran the show. My brothers both spoke beautifully. We ran back to our warm cars.

Wait. Hang on a second. We got a few more guests on Friday morning! Eli, Hudis, Ari and Ari also arrived, ready to continue the Dovi party.

And drove home, and then we headed out for our activity for the day (I felt like we were a shabbaton)...Jump Zone! It was perfect...entertained everyone! We had pizza there and headed on home to get ready for Shabbos.

We had a lovely, gorgeous Friday night dinner at Benjie's brother's house. But brrrr.....was it cold outside!

And because you all are all about the pictures, I hereby give you...fun at JumpZone!








Do you see Dovi crying next to the machine? All he wanted was a ball. So he cried. Until people gave him money.

Yay! Suckers!




But then. He noticed....there was a Cubs ball. He had another team. So more crying. More suckers.