holidays | The Angel Forever

Category Archives holidays

Tuesday Tales: The Night Before Hanukkah

Posted on November 18, 2014 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Growing up, there were not a lot of books about Hanukkah or most Jewish holidays. My children do not understand this because they are lucky enough to have so many wonderful Hanukkah tales to pick from. As fans of The Night Before series of books by Natasha Wing, we were excited to receive an email asking us to review her latest book. The Night Before Hanukkah is the latest of Ms. Wing’s 22 children’s books which include popular favorites like The Night Before Kindergarten which has sold over 1.5 million copies since it was published in 2001.

The Night Before Hanukkah – Written by Natasha Wing – Illustrated by Amy Wummer

Published by Gosset & Dunlap October – ISBN 9780448481401 – $3.99 – Ages 3-5

Like other books in The Night Before series, The Night Before Hanukkah uses the familiar rhyme and pattern from The Night Before Christmas story. The focus of the book is on the family within it and how they celebrate Hanukkah. The beautiful illustrations by Amy Wummer help to make Wing’s words come alive. We are able to see this Jewish family get ready for The Festival of Lights the night before the eight day celebration. Then, we follow along to see their traditions each evening when the family lights their menorah. We are able to watch them play the dredel game, eat chocolate gelt, listen to the story of the Maccabees, devour latkes, and more.

Once again, Natasha Wing has hit it out of the park with The Night Before Hanukkah. The book shares the essence of this Jewish holiday. Kids will be able to identify items that they do with their families, and others that may be new and different. She also incorporates traditions that the family has continued from generation to generation, which is important to the Jewish community. I know that I will be taking this book in to share with my son’s second grade classroom. I think the kids will adore listening to a story and hearing how JSL does many of the same items with our family. I definitely recommend this book to young readers to learn more about this holiday even if you do not celebrate Hanukkah.

Have you read any of The Night Before series? I would love to know what if your favorite and why. As always, Tuesday Tales is all about sharing our love of books. Please let me know what you have read recently. Link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else.

Disclosure: As noted above, I received this book from the author to review. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Categories:
books holidays Tuesday Tales

Apps for The Festival of Lights

Posted on November 17, 2014 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

No matter how you spell it, The Festival of Lights begins at sundown on December 16, 2014. That means that we will just finish lighting the candles on our menorah before everyone else is celebrating Christmas. To get into the holiday spirit, I thought I would share some fun apps that my family will be enjoying this Hanukkah (or Chanukah).

Menorah – Chanukah

This app is a virtual menorah that will help users to light their Chanukah candles each night. There is an animation that will actually show you which way to add and light candles once the holiday begins. In addition to this, you may listen to Chanukah prayers with music. The menu at the bottom also allows you to follow along with the prayers in Hebrew, English, or the transliteration.

The boys and I can not wait to have this to listen to while we light our candles each night.

Match 8 Hanukkah Game

For some reason, we never found this game last year, but this year we are going to be addicted. Match 8 Hanukkah is a game that adds a touch of math with a twist. You must combine candles on the menorah so they add up to the number eight. As you do this, the candles will be burning and you do not want them to burn out. It is a simple and very addictive game. As you increase levels it gets a lot faster. You need to be quick with your fingers to combine candles before they burn and time runs out.

I have a feeling we will be having Match 8 competitions over the next few weeks.

Droidel

Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I play it on an app. When it’s time for Chanukah, I spin my 3D top! Yes Droidel is an Android version of the dreidel game. The count down calendar let’s us know how many more days until the Festival of Lights begins. We can customize the game for 2-4 players, change the song that plays, add a name to the droidel, and keep track of the spin statistics. The boys are having a blast using this one already and I have a feeling they may compete with the Droidel and reals dreidels once the holiday begins.

When I put this onto my phone, I missed the fact that it is not compatible with my Galaxy S5. It does work, but I am unable to get the settings menu which is there for other Android devices. Be sure to check and see if it will work with yours before you download. Without the menu, you will not be able to adjust the player options, see your spin statistics, change the type of dreidel, or access other customizations.

What are some of your favorite apps for the holiday season? I would love to know, so please share in the comments below.

Disclosure: As a member of the Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers, I receive devices like the Samsung Galaxy S5 to test out and share ways that I use it in my life. I am a long time Verizon customer, and all opinions are my own.

Categories:
holidays Technology

Halloween Costume Selections

Posted on October 15, 2014 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Captain America and Harry Potter have left the building and will not be here for Halloween this year. Our house will have two new characters wandering around later this month.

After several years in a row, we decided to let the boys select something new. We started looking at one location, and then made our way to the party store where there was a much larger selection. Gone are the days when it was easy to pick a cute costume and the boys would just wear them and be happy.

Things get complicated when you have one child that needs adult sizes because he’s too tall for the kid sizes. Then, you have to weed out ones that are not appropriate for an eleven year old and are too pricey. Sorry, but I can not justify $50 for a super hero that does not include any of their accessories. By the time you add in a wig, weapon, and various other key items, it would be well over $100 (conservative guess there).

When we were finally able to leave the store, TechyDad and I had two boys that were thrilled with their selections. Of course, later on in the day I saw JSL take his costume out of the bag. He was already half dressed by the time I caught him. I had him go outside with me for a photo shoot. There is just something fun about Star-Lord.

Alright, I admit I was saying I am Groot to get the kiddo to laugh. If I had the time, I probably would figure out a way to do something with Groot.

It’s time to share what Halloween costumes your family have this year. What did your kids select and did they have a tough time deciding? Are you dressing up or do you have a costume you would love to wear if you did?

Categories:
holidays

Time for Sukkot

Posted on October 8, 2014 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It’s hard to believe that Sukkot is already here. The holiday season continues with the start of Sukkot at sundown this evening. The kids have been talking about it at Hebrew School. JSL came home with an edible sukkah on Sunday.

Making one of these was something we talked about for a family celebration that I am helping to run. If you are interested in making them, it is very simple. You just need the following items:

Paper plates for building – to construct your sukkah on
Graham crackers – three squares make the sukkah walls
Frosting – holds the pieces together
Small pretzel rods – for the sukkah roof
Candy pieces – kosher candies like mini chocolate chips, marshmallows, gum drops, fruit shapes, and licorice

Kids can make their sukkah while listening to Sukkot stories like The Vanishing Gourds: A Sukkot Mystery which I shared on Tuesday Tales in the past.

Now I am off to finish preparations for three fun Sukkot related art projects that I will be helping to coordinate over the weekend. I leave you with a fun Sukkot Style spoof from The Maccabeats.

Additional Sukkot posts sharing great projects that my children have done over the years can be found here:

Happy holiday to all that celebrate and please feel free to share how you traditionally decorate your sukkah.

Categories:
arts and crafts holidays

Sweet New Year Wishes 5775

Posted on September 24, 2014 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

At sundown this evening, my family will begin to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. The Jewish New Year is a time to look at the year that has gone by and reflect on things that have happened in our lives. It is also a time where we wish others a Sweet New Year with apples, honey, honey cake, and other special items.

Not only do we have the sweet items from a Rosh Hashanah basket above, JSL made some fantastic crafts in Hebrew School.

Now I leave you with a fun new Rosh Hashanah song that I found while on YouTube. Matthew Rissien made All About That Rosh-Hashanah (All About that Bass Parody – One Man Jewish Acapella) that seemed perfect to share.