Hi Mom - Here are some pictures from Emily's Birthday. I took her out for a movie and shopping, and Diane make a home-made Birthday Cake. She got some books and other gifts. But the big gift was this: She loves this musical called "Wicked", which is a farily recent Broadway musical about the Wicked Witch of the west. So we bought her a CD of the songs, then in the last envelop was tickets to the show, which is happening at the end of April in Eugene. So the pictures below show her excitement when she opened the tickets.

Here's a video of her. 

March 13 (afternoon)

Hi again Mom (and Myrna)! 


It's very stormy today.   Diane has a sinus cold this weekend, so I'm doing double-duty parenting.  


Yesterday I took Sara to her friends birthday party at the local pizza parlor, which also has arcade games, laser tag, and blacklight mini-golf.   We were there 4 hours!   Today we're staying home mostly.   I did take Emily to a paper store to get materials so she could design her own invitations.  She wants to invite friends to go night-bowling (they turn on the black-lights so the bowling pins glow, and they turn the music very loud - perfect for teenagers!!!)    


Last weekend Sara had a her friend Mackenzie come over and we took them bowling.  Here are some photos:

March 12 (Morning)

Hi Mom!  



 Today is Sunday -- another drippy weather day.  We did have one nice sunny day on Friday (the first taste of Spring, and the daffodils and crocuses are blooming - always a nice sign). 



It's been a busy week.   Last Sunday Emily went to a birthday party. Tuesday night was high school orientation night:  we went to hear the administrators tell the freshmen to get involved with activities and there were tables about the clubs, but not too well organized.   Emily definitely wants to be in the all-girls choir in 9th grade. On Thursday Emily had her last choir concert at her school gym, but there are two competitions coming up in April and May, one in Salem and one in Portland.   Also, Emily is doing a club activity that's connected with her math class.  The math teacher organizes something called "Pentagames", and Emily and others will be practicing for a few weeks before competing against other schools.


Last Saturday Sara, Emily and I went to the Salem synagog to help with their annual hamataschen baking.  Over 3 days they make enough for 300 boxes (a dozen a box).  Sara and other little kids had their own table for rolling the dough, filling, and pinching to make the cookies.  Emily was helping the adults with their batches.  I rolled dough while Emily did the filling and the "pinching" in triangle cookies.  We should get our boxes in a few days.

Sara's Birthday Party

Sara had her birthday party last weekend and I wanted to share some pictures. She invited 10 girls, however due to a flu bug going around, only 6 made it. We went to the local arts & crafts center and the girls made clay pots and clay rattles. Then we had cake and presents and watched the clay pots come out of the kiln. We also had a pinata filled with candy, and the girls really enjoying wacking at that pinata (it took at least 10 minutes or more of smashing). Finally, we played a few egg toss games. Sara had a great time.


Click the link below to see the rest of the pictures:

https://picasaweb.google.com/MNJaffe/SaraSBirthdayParty2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCNaDv8T2gcPm-gE&feat=directlink

Hi mom -

I'm uploading some new pictures that you haven't seen. The first show Emily with her new haircut. She decided to cut her hair (which was down to her waistline) to shoulder length. She donated her ponytail to "Locks of Love", and they use the hair for wigs for kids who have had chemotherapy.

Click this link for more pictures:   https://picasaweb.google.com/MNJaffe/HaircutForTheGranddaughters?authkey=Gv1sRgCLekgO_7hdPykAE&feat=directlink

More Pictures and Family Update

Here's a picture of Sara playing goalie for her soccer team.   There are some other pictures I added from soccer and the holidays.  Click the thumbnail pictures above to see them.


I'm in the middle of my end-of-the-year vacation.  It is so nice to have an extended break and not have to think about my work.    We haven't done a lot over this break:  mostly chores around the house that were overdue; playing with new games, puzzles and books; some shopping; and more sleep.  

The weather has been raining (not a surprise there!) - yesterday we had a brief snow flurry but it wasn't cold enough for the snow to stick to the ground.   Diane took the two girls to Borders Books and they each bought books with the gift certificates that Ina, Lynne and Paul sent.

New Photos! New Photos!

Mom and Myrna - I uploaded some photos from September and October - when Sara started first grade and both girls dressed up for Halloween. Sara was a vampire and Emily was "DEATH". There's also a picture of Sara going down a swing at the pumpkin patch.

This weekend went very quick. Lots of shopping. Rainy weather so we did things inside with the girls.

Love you Mom and hope you are well.

Merry Christmas to you Myrna!