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NHL’s Chanukah Party 2007

Posted on December 13, 2007 8:13 pm by TheAngelForever

Yesterday was the rescheduled Chanukah party in NHL’s classroom. It had been on Monday, but thanks to the ice storm it was pushed off. When we arrived all of the kids were waiting for us at the circle area. We went over and they "lit the candles", said the blessing, and sang a few songs. After that the teacher explained that the kids would rotate around the centers will all of us. There were 5 total and we went to all of them.

Here are some photos of NHL from when I first arrived and one of JSL with his Chanukah bib on. The last photo at at the first center that we explored. This center was the pretend (dress-up/kitchen) area that also displayed all of the show-and-tell items for "H" day. NHL brought in his travel "Hungry Hungry Hippos" game.

Our next stop was the math center. Here they had a menorah set up to count candles.

Then we went to the fine motor center. Here they had dreidels to spin and play with. As you can see they had sheets to show the kids how to play. Please note NHL’s teacher took a photo of all of us and I had fun taking a picure of the dreidel whirling around.

Next we went to the hands-on center area where they had latke tasting for everyone. Here is NHL testing them out with some sour cream and apple sauce.

Then we went out to the hall where the motor center was set up. Here the kids had to sit and wait their turn. Then they got onto a scooter and pushed their body on their tummy down the hall. They had to get some Chanukah cards and bring them back to a sheet to make matches on and identify them. These are some photos of NHL doing this activity.

At this point it was already getting late. We barely had time at the block center on the rug. No photos of this, but I did take some of random Chanukah art that was in the hall and within the classroom.

Then it was time to have some brownies and get presents. The kids (and teachers) made the parents photo frames with their photos in them. The teachers also gave a bag of goodies to the kids. It was a very nice hour in the room and we were able to see how centers run, just with a LOT more people in the room. I was floored that almost every child had at least one parent/grandparent there.

With that I will share one more photo of my fun Chanukah socks. (Hey L this is just for you!)

Now it is time to get the big kid into bed. We already have at least 6.4 inches of snow outside and they claim a bigger storm coming Sunday. The bad news – our snow rake temporarily broke while JL was using it on the roof. He did the side that gets ice damns more, but the other side will be finished at a later time.

Categories:
fun holidays jsl nhl photos school weather

Is it Hanukkah or Chanukah or . . .

Posted on December 11, 2007 3:55 pm by TheAngelForever

Tonight is the 8th and final night of Chanukah. How fitting it was when I was looking at my Google Reader and saw a post all about how to spell the Festival of Lights. On the GoodyBlog today there was a post called "How Do You Spell Channukkahh?" – all about this dilemma.

Growing up I always spelling it Hanukkah. This was probably because most of the items you could purchase for the holiday spelled it that way. Then I met and married JL. He had a strong preference for Chanukah. . . so I not only agreed to have a Kosher kitchen for him, but also switched my spelling of the holiday too (just kidding). Do I really care – no not really. In fact I think more non-Jewish people are worried about the spelling than those of us that celebrate the Festival of Lights.

In additon to posting other website references about the spelling of Hanukkah/Chanukah, the GoodyBlog also had the following You Tube video. Since I thought it was cute I am also going to share it with everyone.

Enjoy and Happy last night of Chanukah to all of my Jewish friends!

Categories:
fun holidays video web fun

Chanukah Party & Family Day (12-8)

Posted on December 10, 2007 4:16 pm by TheAngelForever

Thursday evening my brother (Uncle I), sister-in-law (Aunt M) and niece (SG) came into town. Due to NHL being really sick Friday we were not able to have dinner with them that evening. Saturday morning all seemed to be well. The high fever disappeared almost as mysteriously as it had appeared. Thanks to this we felt it was fine to make plans and see our family.

Aunt M and Uncle I requested lunch out at the newly opened PF Chang’s. We all said that was fine, so I made a reservation for 12:30 for the nine of us (that included the two babies). We had a very nice lunch, looked around the crazy mall quickly and then stopped at Target. We needed to go there for more Aveeno diaper rash cream as well as frosting and sprinkles for Aunt M’s Chanukah cookies.

After that it was time to head back to my parent’s house. At Nana and Papa’s we all decided to let the kids have some of their Chanukah gifts. Nana and Papa gave NHL the new Fisher Price Smart Cycle. It seems like a great "toy" for in the house during the winter. It will provide him with muscle movement (PT), and nice hand/eye coordination with the joystick (OT) using educational games. Here is a mosaic of NHL opening the gift. Note when he finally sees what is inside. Also included are some photos of him riding on it.

Meanwhile JSL was enjoying his first Chanukah (check out the cool shirt that Nana and Papa got him). It was so fun watching him get into his new toys. He sat on the floor for quite some time playing, talking, watching and enjoying the farm toy that Nana and Papa gave him. He loved finding the places that would make music and kept experimenting with everything. Here are some photos of him including when he got there in his snowsuit, playing with Papa, modeling his "My First Hanukkah" shirt. Unfortunately we never had SG and JSL in a photo together with their matching shirts on. In addition to the farm toy he LOVED the Glow Worm from Uncle I, Aunt M and SG. When we got home Saturday night he kept singing with it. When it would stop glowing he would kiss it on the face and talk to it trying to make it go again.

Of course the Smart Cycle did not come assembled since Santa does not do that for Chanukah – *wink* Thanks to this JL had the opportunity to put it together for NHL. Here’s a shot of that fun.

NHL was quite bored waiting for his Smart Cycle to be ready. Part of the time he watched Papa’s new "baby" play Noggin.

By this point he was starting to really need something to do. Aunt M had him help SG open her Chanukah gifts.

Then he was quite sick of waiting. Note the sour puss.

Since I was getting slightly bored I took the following photo of my shoes and dreidel socks:

SG was quite content when mommy read her a book and Papa came over to chat with her:

Once NHL’s bike was set, everyone just stayed together in the living room waiting for the other family members to come to the Chanukah party.

Even the Chanukah Puppy was just hanging out:

Finally everyone arrived and it was time to eat. Here is a mosaic of all of the family gathering around the lit menorah enjoying our meal together. Oh and of course the goodies!

Poor JSL just had too much fun and excitement and fell asleep while the rest of us ate our meal.

We had a very nice time with my family celebrating Chanukah together. More photos and weekend/Birthday updates coming later.

Categories:
family food glorious food holidays jl jsl nhl photos weekend yummy

Chanukah Night 1 and Feeding take 2

Posted on December 7, 2007 5:15 pm by TheAngelForever

Tuesday night we lit the first Chanukah candles and boys opening their presents. Unfortunately, the photos of the menorah with the candles burning were taken on JL’s camera and I do not have them yet. I did take my camera out and catch a few of the boys.

Here is NHL playing with an amazing wooden Chanukah set that he received from a family friend a two years ago. It is an amazing toy. There is a menorah that he can set up and then "light" his own candles. Here NHL is setting up his menorah and the Chanukah gelt (coins) are also seen.

01 - Chanukah 2007

There is also a fry pan to make latkes, along with a spatula for flipping them. We can not forget the dreidel that must be there to play!

02 - Chanukah 2007

Each night (and after school some times as well), NHL takes out his Chanukah set and plays with them. It is too cute to hear him reciting his own version of the prayers said when lightning the candles. I will have to try to get a video of that.

On the first night when NHL was playing, JL was cooking dinner, and I fed JSL. Last week I decided to pull out the baby food and give it a try. I just made rice cereal – VERY thick. The kid likes to "chew" so he accepted it. After a night or two of him gobbling that up, along with Cheerios and Gerber veggie puffs I decided to try something different.

For the first night of Chanukah I added a "secret ingredient" to his rice cereal. Hey why not try it – right? JSL will not eat his veggies if they are too soupy – a la baby food. So, this seemed like the perfect solution. I put half of a stage two jar of butternut squash into JSL’s rice cereal. He looked at me funny, noting it was different.

04 - JSL feeding time

He stopped and wanted to watch NHL playing. Then this is what he decided to do . . .

03 - JSL feeding time

Clearly the little guy was a little confused. Actually he was teething and must have just figured out a new and inventive way to gnaw at his gums. *sigh*

After a while of chewing on the high chair tray he decided he wanted to try the rice cereal with my "secret ingredient" again. This time he was much more interested and gobbled it all up. Here are some of his faces with his big blue eyes.

05 - JSL feeding time

Thank goodness he was not coordinated enough to stick his fingers up his nose! Also note he is wearing his hockey shirt just for mommy!

02 - JSL Feeding time

Then he got VERY serious about eating and seemed to be annoyed with Mommy and her flashy thing. Hmmm. . . unless it was when he was loading his diaper!

01 - JSL feeding time

More photos of Chanukah to come later. Now I am off to take care of a sick NHL. His teacher called me at 9:20 this morning to tell me he had a fever (almost 101) and to pick him up. Poor little guy asked her to rest and crashed when he got home. If everyone is feeling well we are going to have Chanukah dinner with my parents, grandmother, and brother and his family (in from out of town).

Categories:
fun holidays jsl milestone nhl photos sick kid teething

Chanukah 2003

Posted on December 4, 2007 1:26 pm by TheAngelForever

Tonight at sundown the Festival of Lights begins. This will be JSL’s first Chanukah. Will he understand what is going on around him? No, but he will love watching the bright lights on the menorah. Just four years ago we watched NHL celebrate his first Chanukah. Here are a few photos from 2003.

Please know that we did NOT let NHL light any of the candles. We staged this pose to Photo Shop flames onto the candle to freak out relatives. LOL – it worked too!

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Here he is watching all of the candles burning:

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I hope to post some photos of our 2007 Chanukah celebration soon. This weekend my brother, sister-in-law and niece (SG) will be in town for a little family gathering/party Thanks to being in Identity Theft HELL – I have not had a lot of time for blogging lately. Lots of things to catch up on soon.