Visit at Zichron Ya'akov

Zichron Ya'akov, founded by Romanian immigrants in 1882 on the southern slopes of Mount Carmel, 33km/21mi south of Haifa, is now one of Israel's most important towns. The growing of vines and almond-trees was introduced by Baron Edmond de Rothschild in 1887, and a bottle factory was established at Nahsholim, 9km/6mi west. The settlers showed their gratitude by naming the village and its synagogue, built in 1885 at the expense of the Rothschild family, after Edmond de Rothschild's father Jacob (James)...(information taken from one of the sites available).

we started our stroll in this street finding a good place to eat lunch

we ended up at this place Cucina Bar, an Italian restaurant

Enna-Marie staring at the other kids

what's for lunch mom?

Menchie ordered this delicious Greek salad...

...and Maarten had Ricardo pasta...also very good!

after lunch we continued strolling and saw this store with a small garden. These are some of the ornaments.

very colorful!

angel and froggy ornaments

flower shot turned out good

you can find jewelries, paintings and some ceramics in this art shop

ornaments hanging on the wall

handmade birds for sale in one of the stores. Enna-Marie will for sure like one of these in our balcony.

a mailman statue

mama trying to smile while Enna-Marie is getting crancky and tired

a unique decor in one of the stores

of course we had ice-cream (mango and watermelon) on this very sunny day...yum!

our dear princess has fallen asleep on our way back to Haifa

Enna-Marie playing ball...

first I got the ball from mama

am soo happy

listening to her instructions

then I threw the ball...

asking her to give it back to me

begging...

aha, I got it back!

a kiss for Mama please

and now am with papa who took all these photos except this one.

Some photos with Carmel...

We have not been seeing auntie Sarah and Carmel lately, this is because they were very busy moving to their new house. This evening they invited some of their friends at their place to meet Carmel's uncle, aunt and cousins who were on pilgrimage and also her grandfather is in town visiting them. Her uncle Daniel was papa's flatmate when they served at the World Centre in 1993.

I hope to see her again so we can play more. I heard that mommy and I will visit them again in two weeks. See our photos below...

me with Carmel and her cousin Ruhiyyih (she is also a beautiful mix)

nice shot of the two of us

beautiful Carmel

Carmel showing us her book

Dinner with the Broomhalls & Hortons

We are glad that we were able to invite Noel and Edward for dinner before they go back to Australia. They are visiting the Holy Land for some weeks as consultants. Mojan and Eric from the United States also joined us. We had a lovely evening and enjoyed our time with them. One thing we discovered this evening is that all three husbands (Edward, Eric and Maarten) before getting married were the bosses of their wives at work. Oh how things have changed :-)!

Laroya Baby Shower

Last Friday I organized a baby shower for our friends Canan and Arnold. It was my pleasure doing this for them. I love organizing parties and events. First we had some music and devotions, then ate delicious refreshments that friends brought for the occasion, played some fun games and last part was giving advices to the couple. We had a great time...even some friends stayed for awhile after the group photo taking, had some tea and Turkish coffee and just continued eating the leftovers. We brought home some sandwiches (potatoes and egg) that Vanysha made, cakes from Jenny and chicken salad from Mitra...all very good!

Well...All the best to Canan and Arnold as you both enter the pathway of parenthood. Enjoy motherhood Canan as it is the greatest experience ever!

yummy food

the happy couple

another pose

We played the game 'guess the mommy to be waistline ' using the toilet roll paper. Canan stood in the middle so friends can have an idea how big her belly now at 7 months...

friends listening carefully to the rules of the next game

very focused on the game "celebrity babies"

Menchie with her assistant Arnold showing the results of the game. It was a tie for both groups, 11 out of 15 points.

here's the first group

the second group

this is the 'baby unscramble' game

Canan and Arnold played 'charades' where they tried guessing some words related to babies that only friends knew as I only showed the words to them.

so much laughter

Here's Kiyoko giving advice...

Minoo...

Negeen...

our group photo

the two preggies Canan and Farzana

opening presents

thank you for all these gifts...

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to Lolo Max, daddy Maarten and to all the fathers out there. Since we are honouring the fathers today, I'd like to share with you an excerpt of the article I read in the Child of Our Time website about "Being a Dad". This is in relation to one of its episodes "What are Dads for?" that I recently watched together with the other moms here. So here are some of the things that fathers can share responsibilities at home and elsewhere...

The evening routine
Set aside time each night to help with everyday tasks such as homework or getting ready for school the next day. Don’t forget playtime, but do slot it into the routine.

You and your kids may enjoy rough and tumble play, but try to keep it for the start of the evening. Hyping your kids up close to bedtime will not get them in the mood for sleep. Calm activities and bathtime can provide the closeness you and your children need as well as helping prepare them for bedtime.

Active participation
You may feel a little daunted about getting involved in some of your child’s activities outside the home, such as playgroup or the parent-teacher association. There are still more women than men taking part, but this is gradually changing. Do take the plunge and get involved - whether you're a trailblazer setting up your own group or joining other parents your child will benefit by your participation.

Good behaviour
In the past, the stereotype of mum warning, “Wait till your father gets home” showed who was supposed to be responsible for discipline in a family. This way of managing children has given way to a more positive approach to parenting in which the adult present, whether mum or dad, uses warmth, encouragement and praise to get the good behaviour they want and applies any consequences for unwanted behaviour straight away.

Teaching by example
For your children, you’re the most important male role model. They will be watching and copying you to learn how to behave. When they see you behaving in a sensitive and respectful way, they'll copy and understand this is how others should be treated.

Good communication with your partner is needed to ensure each of you supports the other with a consistent approach to your children. Put aside time to discuss what you both consider is wanted and unwanted behaviour, set the ground rules you expect the whole family to follow and agree some rewards and reasonable consequences.

Setting standards for all of you will work best. For example, if your family is trying to develop good eating habits by having meals at the table, problems arise if one adult still has their meal in front of the TV.

Fathers living away
If a relationship breaks up and you end up living apart from your children, maintaining contact can be challenging and at times distressing for both you and them. The majority of children want to continue to see their father and report losing contact as the worst aspect of their parents’ separation.

To make time with your children successful for all of you, both you and their other parent will need to cooperate and communicate clearly about visits. Make concrete arrangements about when and where you’ll see your children and then stick to these plans. If you're going to be early or late let the other parent know what's happening.

You don’t need to plan expensive trips or gifts. Your children will benefit most from time with you doing everyday activities such as going to the park, doing schoolwork together, visiting the pool or playing at your home. Boredom can be a problem when children are away from their everyday environment. Ask if they can bring one or two favourite toys with them or keep some games for them to make sure they have a variety of things to do.

When picking up or dropping children off, stick to calm discussions about contact. Keep more emotional subjects or disagreements for private conversations between you and you former partner.

Whether you live with your children or not, your warm, supportive relationship promotes your child’s development.

Did you know...
Almost two-thirds of fathers are concerned about the emotional wellbeing and behaviour of their children but most don't get in touch with services to obtain the support they need. A major worry for fathers is the desire to improve family life and communication. (Parentline Plus Report 2004)

When dads spend time talking with their sons about worries, school work and social lives, their boys grow up with greater confidence and motivation.

Boys and girls whose fathers are involved in their education when they are age seven have higher educational attainment by age 20. (The Impact of Parental Involvement on Children’s Education, Department for Education and Skills 2003)