Child Labor

I am the proud owner of a new beautiful clue Nissan Rogue. Not being a car person, I have not washed my own car in about 12 years... but I actually care to keep this one shiny - and I thought E would get a kick out of the hose - so we washed her down together yesterday afternoon...he LOVED it!! Of course, you can now all thank me for the insane rain today!

Ethan and Daddy get down to Business

Anybody who knows us well knows the saga of the front door that you have to violently coerce to open... well BIG news - it is fixed and now breezes open and shut with grace and ease. Here Ethan and J put the finishing touches on our new - old door. (thanks Dad!!!)

The Zoo

We went to the Bronx Zoo recently with many of Ethan's fave Aunties - Aunt Jo, Aunt Mols, Aunt Nanci - oh yeah and Daddy joined us too... We saw a few fun things and I was not so creative on the camera - but here are a few highlights...

Ethan and Aunt Nanci blow on the butterflies. Mom trie to be creative with butterfly pictures. Ethan is a BUG! Daddy and Ethan pose in front of a grizzly bear (can ya see him?) LIONS! - the baby one is the first in 30 years born at the bronx zoo. a fun day!

Captain Hamburger!

Ah the never ending creative-imagination of an almost 3 year old!

Yee Ha!

Ethan is very into dress up these days - we have very little at home, but at school the 'fireman princess' is apparently a huge hit! Anway, this item was way too adorable for me not to share with you.

RAINBEAU RIDGE FARM WITH CLASS 2A

Shaaray Tefila Class 2A visited Rainbeau Ridge Farm this week! Ethan loved it - we saw lots and lots of baby goats, some were only 2 days old! Enjoy some pics below...Ethan skeptically glances at the goat which is clearly set on eating him...

oops... looks like the goat has the upper hand...
Total Surrender!

Ethan's very first pre-school class - Shaaray Tefila's Class 2A....and a goat :-)

Chutzpah!

Ethan is often known as the chutzpah child - I have been calling him this for at least a year... and today he epitomized this name when he informed me that:

"grown ups can not go in the bed (our bed) because it is very dangerous with dinosaurs and bears"

he then proceeded to scream at me that i should "GET OUT" and "LEAVE ME ALONE"

a few hours later as i discussed sternly with him that he needed to stop jumping on me while i am on the computer he uttered "Stop Saying THAT and I am not behaving"

Publish Post

for any of you that are counting he is 2 YEARS AND 10 MONTHS - not 16! May Gd have mercy on us in 10 years!

more things ethan says...

Just a few fun and yummy recent Ethanisms-these are of course, all verbatim:

Tonight at dinner at my Mom's:
"Thanks, Savta, for cooking the dinner - yummy, yum oh"

We visited the Natural History Museum this weekend for the first time with Aunt Nanci. When she showed Ethan the ancient civilization exhibit that depicted Egypt - he said
"That's where King Pharoah lives"

At the BIG TREE stump (a 1300 year old tree exhibit) he explained that
"When the tree is sick I will cut it down with my saw..."
I was just kind of amazed that he connected the proper use for a saw...

Here are some pics from our day at the Museum -

Ethan at Castaway Cay Beach

HERE IS A TID BIT FROM ETHAN ABOUT OUR DISNEY VACATION... as he happily plays on the beach at Castaway Cay of course!

the things ethan says...

here in the land of the 2.75 year old we are managing the ups and DOWNS of boundary testing, defiance and basically ethan's mission to make his parents lose all patience and cool ALL day EVERY day... however the battles have their moments of total hilarity and thank gd for the comic relief -

yesterday morning as we had our usual fight over breakfast he walked away from me and defiantly declared:"ACTUALLY, I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS WITH YOU RIGHT NOW" this was by far the best in a list of recent comments such as "I AM VERY ANGRY AND I AM NOT BEHAVING" and another favorite "I DON'T" is in response to any and every thing he prefers not to do, which is basically anything we ask of him...

also as he continues to explore his limits he asks often "CAN I DO/PLAY WHATEVER WHAT I WANT IN HERE/RIGHT NOW?" also too adorable and very funny... i do my best to keep you all somewhat updated... as many of you know my friend molly has an AMAZING and very detailed blog of her son (ittybittygitty.blogspot.com)... i will never even come close to her fabulousness... but at least whatever i can get out will be great to share at his wedding ....

A Few Disney Moments

We just returned from a 4 day Disney Cruise and it is the BEST experience you could possibly have with kids! We took about 100 pictures. But here are just a few highlights... I am still fighting with blogstop so these are in backwards order... maybe I will get it some day :-)

The Nevarez Family on Castaway Cay - Disney's Private Island

Our glorious ship and J's artistry in photo taking :-)

the FLYING DUTCHMAN - a la Pirates of the Carribean - an actual ship floated for show on the shores of Castaway Cay

Our fabulous stateroom - spacious and with a balcony!

Every night a new towel creation left by our stateroom host - Francis - this was by far the most awesome!

We saw 2 really fabulous shows on board - this was the 1st - full sets and all - and Ethan is now obsessed with Buzz Light Year and Woody, of course!

It took a few character encounters for Ethan to decide he was ok and he kept asking "Are they in costumes?" much to the dismay of the Disney staff who are very clear that these guys are real - we shushed him around the other kids :-) Minnie was his FAVORITE... oy are we in trouble!

The main kid pool is shaped like Mickey and just the right size for Ethan splashing!

Ethan enjoys the view from our veranda.

the first day we spent at the pool at our hotel and saw close friends dave, candice and maya. the kids love eachother!

Israel Connection

This is the amazing quit that cousin Rachel made for our Eitan and he now uses on his BIG BOY BED!

This is the GORGEOUS sunset we saw from Jaffa port (old city of Tel Aviv) - and J's skills with the camera on our recent trip a few weeks ago!

This was from a few months ago when Jason was away. Ethan pronounced all on his own a very logical reason for Jason's work travels - see what he has to say...

Winter 2009 in GB

i will be working on posting video and many more updates on recent Nevarez events and life....but to get us started here are some yummy pics of E enjoying snow in the suburbs.
Oh and Marti likes it too....