Officially a Texan with an Upgrade.

So if all of you do not know, my dad gave me his 1973 Volkswagen Super Beetle. She is in great condition and its now my turn to take care of her. There are some things that need to be fixed but that will be no problem for me. Here are some pictures of her with her new rim upgrade.

New Rims

Noah's First Fishing Trip

Noah and I went fishing over the weekend at a little pond near our house. David, Drake, John, Kevin and Evan joined us for this fishing trip. Noah had a lot of fun catching 2 fish with me.

Noah's Fish

A spiritual conversation...

I often complain about the distance between our home and Noah's school (also my work).  Wouldnt it be easier if it were just down the street?  Sure it would save us some driving time, but then I would miss out on moments like this:

On our drive to school this morning Noah noticed it was rainy, foggy, AND cloudy outside...he was right!  "But thats too many things", he said "why does God make SO many things?"  WAIT...God? Noah is not even 3 years old yet, and he is thinking about God and the choices God makes?  I took advantage of this moment and explained to him that God is good, and God brings rain, fog and clouds for good reasons (i.e. the plants are thirsty so God gives them a drink). 

He thought about that for a second and responded with "So, when God is done in the clouds he comes back down?".  I said that God is everywhere. Noah said "Oh, like the song...God is Everywhere and God is One, Adonei Echad."  AMAZING, right?  However, Noah is only a little boy and thought about that concept..."But Mommy, I dont see God."  So, I did my best to explain to him that although we cant see God, he is with us everywhere we go. 

With about 10 minutes left to our drive, I took further advantage of this teaching moment.  I said "Noah, God gave us lots of things...not just clouds, and rain and fog...God also gave all the Jewish people the Torah".  Now, in the past when I talked to Noah about being Jewish his response would be"Im not Jewish, Im Noah!".  Today, his response was "Im not big enough to be Jewish".  I asked him if he is kind to his friends...he said yes.  I asked him if he was nice to his Mommy and Daddy..he said yes.  "Well Noah, then you ARE big enough to be Jewish.  Being Jewish means you are kind to other people, make good choices, and do your very best every day. 

 Noah ended our conversation by saying "Oh, then I am big enough....and I am Jewish!"  What an amazing morning!!!

I want to end this post with a letter to Noah:

Dear Noah,

I pray that you continue to grow and learn everyday!  You are an amazing boy with a beautiful heart.  I pray that your curiousity about God and Judaism continues to spark interest and questions in your life.  Thank you for reminding me how amazing God is, not only in his creations, but most of all in YOU!

I love you,

Mommy

Ok, so im giving this a try....

I have been wanting to include my own stories and updates for a long time now.  So, what has been stopping me?  Well, I have a confession to make...im just not as technically savvy as my husband.  He created this website and I have been just too scared to dive in and give it a try. 

Today is a new beginning...im writing my first post!!    Here is a picture of my beautiful son who inspires me every day to be a great Mom, a role model, and an inspiration for him to lead a beautiful life.  Enjoy!

North Carolina 2009

We took a trip out to North Carolina with My Parents and Sister, Brother in law, Dog in law :) Other than the rain for most of the trip, we had a great time. We flew kites, went to the beach, fished, played games, and relaxed. Here are some pictures of our trip. Noah loved going to the lighthouses. Thank you Mom, Dad and Hurak's for making this happen :)

North Carolina 2009

New Orleans 2009

If anyone had not heard Leora and I went to New Orleans for a few days. This was a birthday present that she chose and it was a great choice! Noah was so excited to stay with Saba and Safta, he was bragging about it to his teachers and they drew a picture about it.

Our trip was incredible, maybe it was because we focused on food? One of our favorite shows is Man V. Food (http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Man_v_Food) and he had done a trip to New Orleans. We basically followed all of the places that he had gone and it made our trip wonderful. The pictures do not do it justice but here they are.

We also have to give a big shout out to Bill Dalton from Firefly Digital (one of my customers) for both airport runs and the Katrina tour! He really made this trip so much better for us.

New Orleans 2009

Sea World 2009

So today we took Noah to Sea World for his first time. He was all excited about it as he has been talking about it for a while. We left at around 9:45am to start the 2 hour trip down to San Antonio. Noah took a nap in the car and woke up just as we were arriving. We get our tickets and enter the park. The first show we went to was a pirate show in 4d. BIG MISTAKE! Noah was so scared he was shaking. Chalk that one up on OUR BAD. Noah and I left the show and mommy stayed to watch it. Noah and I ran around this huge jungle gym they had until she came out. We then went to have lunch and wait until the Shamu show "Believe" started. We went to the see Shamu and was wondering why it was taking so long to start. One of the female whales decided to get up on the pad/stage and just sit there. According to the trainers the killer whales are run but the females. This was not part of the show and the whale decided it did not want to move. So our first big animal show was cancelled. We then proceeded to go to the Dolphin show. We sit down and about 10 minutes into the show it was postponed due to weather. We ran around in the rain for a bit and decided to go back for the 4pm Shamu show. Luckily this time the show went as planned. Anyways the day turned out a success, Noah had a blast. Just don't ask him about the pirate show. Here is a picture of the whale FAIL!

Sea World 2009

Classic VW Car Show

Classic VW Show 2008

Ginny B Photography

A friend of ours from the Jewish community took some pictures for us last weekend. They turned out AWESOME! I would recommend her to anyone in the Austin area. Noah struggled a bit in the beginning because he is so shy, so she allowed us to take our time and ease him into the situation. As you can see the pictures turned out wonderful!

Ginny B Photography
www.ginnybphotography.com
512-586-7884

Ginny B Photography

Let's Plant a Tree...

Noah has been learning so much in school. The last few weeks have been mostly about Tu B'Shevat...Birthday of the Trees. So off we went to Lowes last weekend to purchase supplies to plant our own tree in honor of the holiday. Ok, so we scaled it down a little and actually just planted some flowers in pots. Nonetheless, Noah had a great time! Enjoy the pictures.

Tu BShevat

Walter Long / Decker Lake

Our local lake treats us pretty well. We always seem to catch something when we are there. Here are a couple of pictures of Hybrid Bass (cross breed of white bass and striper) and a Largemouth Bass. The lake is a power plant lake so we have to ignore the fish with 3 eyes and eight fins.

Walter E Long Lake