Back Again

I am sorry the updates have been so sporadic, but life really is intense… by the time the girls are in bed I am so tired, all I can do is read emails (usually procrastinate about answering) and check on some websites… I haven’t been reading or even watching TV… It’s kind of sad when you’ve been living in a country for two months and you have NO idea what is on TV… But I hope this will change very soon.

We are in the midst of the third week of school. The girls are doing quite well, although Danielle had a breakdown the other day and told her teacher that she “either wants to know how to read already, or go back to Chicago” she went on and said “ I can live with ABBA (dad) and we can come visit… Today however was a better day, after doing her homework she went bike riding to the “town center” about a mile away, found out there was a “happening” there, came back to get me, bumped into some class mates, and began to realize the freedom that she has here, which she would never have had back in the States…

Kids here are SO busy here, it is unbelievable… Everything is so intense… Maya & Danielle take horseback riding lessons once a week, they swim twice a week. All three take a ceramics class once a week, Maya has youth group meetings (TZOFIM which is the Israeli scouts) BTW to out Highland Park readers, they are the troupe of teenagers who come from Israel every summer and perform at Port Clinton, who knows you may see her on stage in a few years J. In reality, Danielle is the one who decided to pursue a theatrical career. She is in a song and dance troupe (that also takes up 2 hours of her week) They will be performing in community events and such… No we all do remember that non of them drive right??!!! Do you start to get an idea of why I am SO tired? Why this blog is never updated? And why I have two books that I have been eager to read, and I haven’t even seen anything beyond the cover of? Now I know some people will comment about limiting your child’s extra curricular activities… But I figured, they have so many changes in their lives, if there are things that make them feel good, as well as allow them to develop social connections then… I did put my foot down when it came to gymnastics…

I haven’t developed a life beyond the girls yet… L I did however, get us a membership to the health club this week and hope to resume my work out routine ASAP. I was happy to see that they have the same machines I used at lifetime (same brand and everything – even if there are only 2 compared to Lifetime’s 20- all I need is one J ). A joining gift I received 3 sessions with a personal trainer. I am psyched.

One of the things that has been keeping me down is a girl from the Neuroblastoma world. I made a decision that this blog will be about us, not Neuroblastoma, but for the past two weeks I’ve been thinking, mourning and following this amazing young girl… If you want to get a sense of where I’ve been go to her site… christithomas.blogspot.com It will not be an easy visit, but this is one amazing family, and this girl who is now loosing her battle is one very, very special young lady…

Lior has been having play dates and spreading her social wings… She is having the best time of the three J The other day she asked if there was school everyday in Israel, when I said, no not on Saturday she made a sad face and said “oh too bad, I love school.” Oh I forgot to mention that I a room mother for each of the three classrooms… I am the treasurer of Lior’s class ( I am sure Ofer got a good laugh out of this one). My sister in law was shocked when she first found out her initial reaction was “are you crazy? Didn’t I tell you not to volunteer for ANYTHING?!!!” did I mention she is a teacher J. I figured my focus this year is getting the girls acclimated, I think a part of it is getting to know their school environment, and more importantly, having the schools know me J.

I do have some pictures to upload, but I need to recharge the camera, so I decided to update and load them later.

I will try to do this more often. Thanks for checking in!!

Be safe and be well,

Love,

Ronit

Back Again

I am sorry the updates have been so sporadic, but life really is intense… by the time the girls are in bed I am so tired, all I can do is read emails (usually procrastinate about answering) and check on some websites… I haven’t been reading or even watching TV… It’s kind of sad when you’ve been living in a country for two months and you have NO idea what is on TV… But I hope this will change very soon.

We are in the midst of the third week of school. The girls are doing quite well, although Danielle had a breakdown the other day and told her teacher that she “either wants to know how to read already, or go back to Chicago” she went on and said “ I can live with ABBA (dad) and we can come visit… Today however was a better day, after doing her homework she went bike riding to the “town center” about a mile away, found out there was a “happening” there, came back to get me, bumped into some class mates, and began to realize the freedom that she has here, which she would never have had back in the States…

Kids here are SO busy here, it is unbelievable… Everything is so intense… Maya & Danielle take horseback riding lessons once a week, they swim twice a week. All three take a ceramics class once a week, Maya has youth group meetings (TZOFIM which is the Israeli scouts) BTW to out Highland Park readers, they are the troupe of teenagers who come from Israel every summer and perform at Port Clinton, who knows you may see her on stage in a few years J. In reality, Danielle is the one who decided to pursue a theatrical career. She is in a song and dance troupe (that also takes up 2 hours of her week) They will be performing in community events and such… No we all do remember that non of them drive right??!!! Do you start to get an idea of why I am SO tired? Why this blog is never updated? And why I have two books that I have been eager to read, and I haven’t even seen anything beyond the cover of? Now I know some people will comment about limiting your child’s extra curricular activities… But I figured, they have so many changes in their lives, if there are things that make them feel good, as well as allow them to develop social connections then… I did put my foot down when it came to gymnastics…

I haven’t developed a life beyond the girls yet… L I did however, get us a membership to the health club this week and hope to resume my work out routine ASAP. I was happy to see that they have the same machines I used at lifetime (same brand and everything – even if there are only 2 compared to Lifetime’s 20- all I need is one J ). A joining gift I received 3 sessions with a personal trainer. I am psyched.

One of the things that has been keeping me down is a girl from the Neuroblastoma world. I made a decision that this blog will be about us, not Neuroblastoma, but for the past two weeks I’ve been thinking, mourning and following this amazing young girl… If you want to get a sense of where I’ve been go to her site… christithomas.blogspot.com It will not be an easy visit, but this is one amazing family, and this girl who is now loosing her battle is one very, very special young lady…

Lior has been having play dates and spreading her social wings… She is having the best time of the three J The other day she asked if there was school everyday in Israel, when I said, no not on Saturday she made a sad face and said “oh too bad, I love school.” Oh I forgot to mention that I a room mother for each of the three classrooms… I am the treasurer of Lior’s class ( I am sure Ofer got a good laugh out of this one). My sister in law was shocked when she first found out her initial reaction was “are you crazy? Didn’t I tell you not to volunteer for ANYTHING?!!!” did I mention she is a teacher J. I figured my focus this year is getting the girls acclimated, I think a part of it is getting to know their school environment, and more importantly, having the schools know me J.

I do have some pictures to upload, but I need to recharge the camera, so I decided to update and load them later.

I will try to do this more often. Thanks for checking in!!

Be safe and be well,

Love,

Ronit

Long time no blog…

The Gliksman Family

Sorry everyone, life has been hectic and I’ve been, well, tired…

School started a week ago! We had many fears and anxieties (we meaning the girls and I J) The night before school started (Sunday, September 3^rd) Danielle said “what is wrong with this place starting the school year on a Sunday” Well, I decided that it was only fair she should know, that not only was it a Sunday, but it was Labor Day Weekend J Evil I know, but these are the small pleasures in life J. Well she was shocked and dismayed. She than announced that there was no point waking her up the next day as she was NOT going to school. She said it in that Danielle tone that made it clear that there was no point in trying to argue. I thought fast and said, “Well you have to go it’s the law!” The next day she reluctantly went, only because it is law J.

Since than they’ve been doing amazingly well! Maya is able to keep up with all her class work as well as homework granted her spelling is VERY creative, but hey, we are all for creativity! Danielle is having a harder time, she does not read or write yet so she is in complete concentration mode all day and comes home exhausted. But I spoke to her teacher and she told me she was amazed at how well she’s doing. We will tackle her literacy ASAP and hopefully get her on track very soon. Lior LOVES school!!! She goes with a smile everyday. I was concerned that she wouldn’t want to go on Fridays since the other two are off. Not only did she go, but she was very disappointed to find that there is no school on Saturdays! So I guess all is well!

Chica is ruling strong, she’s growing and feeling very much at home. Being a typical Golden Retriever pup, she jumps and bites… SO much so that Lior has began living parallel to the floor… She carries a chair around and when ever Chica gets close she JUMPS on the chair… What you hear most at our house lately is Chica N O!!! No NO …

We are still waiting for her to master the whole toilet thing… The little bitch (so nice to use the word properly J ) can be out side for 30 minutes, walk inside and… PEES! YUCK! But we’re hoping this will soon improve…

Ofer left today. He was here for two weeks. The girls were so happy to be with him! We had a hard time putting them to bed them knowing that he will be gone when they wake up in the morning…. We kept telling them that he will be back in 19 days (Danielle’s birthday is on the 29^th and he will arrive on that day).

Well, now that I am single parent I should go get some sleep… My biggest “fear “ is getting them out the door in the morning… (and getting Chica out as well). But I’ll update tomorrow let you all know how it went, Whether we made it to school on time or if the girls received their very first tardy slip… J.

SO Thanks checking in, I will load some pictures soon and until then love to all and to all good night.

Ronit