Xander graduated kindergarten!

I can't believe he's going to be in 1st grade!

The evening started out with the play The Wizard of Oz,with all parts played by the graduating class.  I was really impressed that they memorized so many lines and knew their choreography.

Xander had originally been the Cowardly Lion, but then had wanted to switch for the non-speaking roles of Munchkin and Flying Monkey, remember?  Well, he got the lead back, because the boy who had replaced him as the Lion apparently started to cry for real when he was only supposed to be pretending.  Here is Xander our lion, "backstage":

And for my family or anyone else who is interested, below is the full 24-minute play (Xander's part begins approx 12 minutes in).  The only thing it doesn't include is the sing-along to Over the Rainbow.  The commencement ceremony followed with little black tasselled caps and cuteness, but that includes all the children's full names, so I'm not posting it.  Enjoy the play though!

The power of the mind

I am constantly amazed by my children's creativity.

- Xander leaps off my bed.  He says, "Wait, Mommy, I'm going to get my cape!"  He runs to the dress-up bin, grabs a cape, ties it around his neck, and runs back.  "I'm a superhero," he proclaims.  "I'm MICROSHOT!"  I ask, in confusion, who Microshot is, not remembering anyone with that name in the Marvel or DC universes.  "I made him up!" he says.  "He has radioactive powers with his microwave rays."  We actually took a long video of him explaining the various powers and nuances of Microshot (he is apparently also super fast, as fast as microwaves, and can fly) - but alas, we didn't register that Xander was only in his cape and underwear at the time, so sorry, not sharing with the world.

- I changed into blue pajamas, and Ari said, "Mommy, you're on a boat!"  And he pretended to be a wave and go "woosh, woosh," as if my blue boat PJs were the ocean, and we were all on board a yacht of our imagination.  The day after he played with the Playmobile pirate ship for a full 20 minutes by himself, making up voices and scenarios for the plastic people.

And Connor?  He's teething up a storm, putting everything in sight in his mouth, and is never happier than when he's in his brothers' presence.

For Savta

Hello my wayward grandmother without an email address,

We no longer have to use this blog as a method of communication!  I've set up an email account for you.

If you're on the computer reading this, open up a new tab and go to "www.gmail.com"

It will ask you to sign in to your account.

Your new username is "lillianjanetliss"

Your password is your maiden name, and then the 4 digits of the year that your father emigrated to the U.S. from Russia.  No spaces, all lowercase.

So if anyone wants to email you, your email address is "lillianjanetliss@gmail.com"

You can access this email from any computer, anywhere.

I hope it works for you!!

Love,
Michal

Media recs of the week

Books:  I recently finished Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson, which was hilarious at parts and like a car crash all at the same time, you just can't look away.  The woman's childhood in ultra-conservative rural Texas was as far from mine as could possibly be, which made it a fascinating read.

Movies:  Her with Joaquin Phoenix.  Highly recommend it.  A man falls in love with a computer operating system, and it's amazing.

TV: Better Off Ted was the best satirical show on television that no one watched.  And for anyone who's interested, Netflix now has the latest seasons of Scandal, Dr. Who, and My Little Pony.

Music: I have no idea, people. My repertoire is limited to the Frozen and The Lion King soundtracks, with the radio top 40 or Taylor Swift's RED thrown in for kicks every once in a while.  Plus, the Pandora oldies station for when I clean. :)

We are all God's children, are we not?

Last night, as part of an interfaith seminar series, I had the privilege and honor to speak about Judaism at a local mosque.  It was a fabulous event.  I especially loved the last part, where we got to observe Muslim prayer.  One of the women did my scarf for me, and more than one person commented on how natural it looked.  My Middle Eastern side is showing. :)

Spiderman shirts from Bubby!

Very excited Ari.

Eldest big brother.

This couch photo session was adorable to shoot.

"Wha?" says Connor, as Ari spontaneously kisses him.

Kiss recovery.

Connor makes a break for it.

The kids crack up.

They're all looking at the camera!

Chemistry for the preschool set

THE GRAND MILK EXPERIMENT

Ingredients: milk, pie pan, food coloring, dishsoap, Q-tips

Preparation time: 3 minutes

Experiment time: until you get bored

Put milk in pan.  Have children add food coloring.  

Dip in Q-tip.  Nothing happens.

Add droplet of dishsoap to Q-tip and VOILA! Color explosion.  From what I understand, the milk's fat molecules are repelled by the soap molecules, and we see the action through the food coloring molecules.

And again, making pretty patterns.

What happens when they both do it at once?  Two polar vortexes!