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Rosh Hashanah 5772 Celebrations

Posted on October 2, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

At nursery school, JSL has been creating a lot of items especially for Rosh Hashanah. The class has a display in their room of shofars that each of the kids made. I can not recall which of the ones was his. My guess is that it was one of the predominantly blue ones.

The kids got to see a shofar up close and even heard the rabbi practice the blasts before the holiday. Earlier in the week, a bee keeper came in to visit the classes. At the end of the day, the kids were allowed to take a piece of bees wax home with them.

As we walked out of the building, I noticed that most of the kids had their noses to the wax. Silly me, I had no idea what it was all about. Even JSL got in on the act when we got to the car.

Of course, when we arrived home I had to check it out myself. OMG – it was sweet like honey and smelled amazing. I was most definitely in love with this scent and so were all of the kids.

Since apples and honey are big for the holidays, the kids were making a lot of apple art. JSL arrived early one day and jumped right into his. I have to say, if they had allowed blue, his apple may have been that color.

Wednesday night, we went to celebrate the start of Rosh Hashanah with Nana and Papa. JSL and I picked out some of the apples that we got on his field trip the week before. They were perfect and ready to go with the honey that Nana got from a coworker.

We also had round challah with raisins on the Halloween table cloth (kind of funny no?!) and both of the boys helped to say the blessing.

Now I look forward to seeing how JSL learns about Sukkot and the rest of the holidays this year. He gets so excited and I can not wait to watch as he learns about our traditions.

How do your children embrace your holiday traditions? Feel free to share some of what your family does for any holiday that you celebrate.

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Disney Store Dreaming

Posted on October 1, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL & JSL,

Once upon a time, in a galaxy within our reach – there was a Disney Store at our local mall. Actually, before the two of you were born, we had two of them. Then they closed one to centralize everything. Just around the time JSL was born, the remaining one closed its doors for the last time. It was a place that we often went to. We were able to be with Disney and have a fun time. Now, the closest store is several hours away.

A week ago, Shannan and I went to to the Disney Store in NYC on one of our breaks during the SheStreams Conference. To say that I was in heaven would be an understatement.

There was so much to look at in every corner of the two levels of the store. The Phineas and Ferb area immediately got me to check everything out. I now wish I had bought you both something.

There were endless amounts of the Disney Princess items. Those areas of the store were gorgeous, but my attention went to places like the gigantic Toy Story section. So many possibilities that my head was just spinning.

I joked to Shannan that the two of you would not have known where to go next. I think the Marvel area would have kept you there for a while. Lots of Spiderman, Ironman, Captain America, Hulk, and friends. I will say, I am sad that I didn’t get you each one of these:

Back on the first floor, I found what I was looking for. There was a giant display of Vinylmations. I knew this was what I was going to bring both of you and Daddy. I bought each of you a Lion King box to open at home. Then, I saw the NYC Cab series that are only available in this store. I picked one of those tins for Daddy. Then, for the heck of it, I grabbed a Muppet Series 2 box.

Oh, I also stopped myself from picking up one of these for each of you:’

The reason I stopped, I want to head to NYC on a train with all of you for a fun day that includes a stop at the Disney Store.

When I got home and started to unpack, I had the bag from the Disney Store ready to go. The two of you were thrilled with the new Lion King packages. I do not think you were aware that they existed. Daddy was very happy with the two he got as well.

So now we just have to figure out a time to take the train to the city for a fun day together. There are a ton of places that we HAVE to go to and the Disney Store is just the first on a long list. Now if only we would get our Disney Store back here.

Love,

Mommy

__________________

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Shannah Tovah with Apples and Honey Song

Posted on September 27, 2011 5:06 pm by TheAngelForever

I am fresh from the SheStreams Conference in NYC only to get home and thrust into the holiday bonanza of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shmini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah. Yes, tis the season for a bounty of holidays. JSL came home from nursery school today with an art project. He made a Rosh Hashanah apple dipping plate. This will be heading to Nana and Papa’s house for dinner tomorrow evening to welcome the sweet new year.

Once we were home, JSL started to race around the living room and wanted to put on a show. Suddenly, I had my video camera in hand to record the little guy singing “Apples & Honey” that he recently learned.

As I learned at SheStreams, a large number of bloggers post raw, unedited video on their websites. That was golden to me. I often hesitated to post video that I made because of this reason. Let’s be honest, kids will be kids and often surprise you with their antics. Of course, this makes the video more real and quite authentic.

Well, JSL did not fail on that. At four, he has a quirky sense of humor and is gaining confidence in his talking and singing. A few short months ago, he never would have agreed to share this song in front of the camera. Check out how he replies to my questions and ends the video.

As I enter the new year, I hope to embark on many new and exciting things. This will include more videos and vlogs in the near future.

To all of those celebrating Rosh Hashanah, I wish you and your family a Happy and Sweet New Year.

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Weekend in NYC

Posted on September 24, 2011 9:41 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

Right now I am sitting in NYC and missing you and Daddy. Of course, at the same time I am having the time of my life. I am here for a conference called SheStreams. The two of you know that I have a blog, Tweet, and go online. One of these days you will both understand the wonderful and wacky world that is social media. This conference is all about that and learning more while with amazing people.

Thank you both for getting up early on Friday morning and taking me to the train station. I know it was strange heading out of the house in your pajamas, but it meant a lot having you go with me. It was the best to get great big hugs from both of you and Daddy right before I got on my first ever train ride.

So far, I have learned a lot of great things, met more fabulous people, and seen some of my silly friends. I think you will appreciate one of the photos of them at the Build-A-Bear Store.

I can not wait to show you the Build-A-Bear Store photos from NYC. Wow, it makes the one near us seem so small.

One day soon I hope to take both of you on the train to see the sights and sounds of the city. Miss you all (TechyDad too). See you all Sunday afternoon.

Love,

Mommy

__________________

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Apple Picking Field Trip

Posted on September 22, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Living in New York State, we are lucky that we have a lot of apple orchards around us. Not only can we get fresh apples during the right season, but in many instances we can go and pick our own. Last year, JSL’s school was supposed to go on a trip. Thanks to the weather, it was canceled. This year, we hoped that the weather would behave and the kids would be able to go apple picking at Indian Ladder Farms.

When we got up Wednesday morning, the fog was thick and it was pretty wet outside. A light drizzle was in the air, but nothing too bad. Thanks to this, the ground was not very nice, but it could have been a lot worse. JSL wore his boots and was all set to go.

I had worried that we may arrive late since we had to travel a bit after dropping NHL off to school, but we made it in time and were able to wait with the other kids and families there for the fun morning. While we were waiting for everyone else to arrive, we decided to buy a bag to pick some extra apples for home.

The main reason we opted to do this is thanks to the selection that would be picked today. The Jonagold are a favorite and we hoped to find some of these to share with TechyDad and NHL.

The little guy was very excited to get into the fields to pick some apples. We quickly realized that he was smart to keep his hood up. Thanks to the damp morning, you were rained on as you pulled the apples off the branches. Not to worry though, JSL thought this was pretty funny and got into the apple picking.

Some of the trees were not in the best of shape. I’m not sure if this is because they were already picked over, or if Hurricane Irene had something to do with it. JSL and I still managed to move a few rows into the trees and found lots of apples to take home.

Going alone with the little guy was special. He was so proud to pick apples on his own and put them into our big bag. At one point, I made sure to stop him for a photo with an apple that he had plucked off a tree.

Before too long, our bag was filled and it was time to head to our car.

Yes, we have a good amount of apples to hold us over until we are able to go apple picking with the entire family. The little guy was so upset that he could not lift the bag, but I told him it just meant that we did a really good job.

After moving the car, the classes took turns going on a hayride around the fields behind the big store/barn.

Even at about 10:15, it was still really foggy. The fog lifting off over the mountains was gorgeous. Here’s a quick shot I was able to snag:

Then, we had snacks under a tent – JSL enjoyed the donuts that the nursery school brought (I promised to buy cider donuts to take home).

The kids were given money to buy food to feed the animals. I wish I had gotten a shot of JSL – he was brave and tried it, but I was helping him with the machine. The goats ate it too quickly.

Of course, there were even more animals down a bit from the first group.

Then, it was time to say goodbye to everyone from nursery school and head into the Indian Ladder Farms store. Here, we picked up from cider donuts and a bread for home. Of course, JSL was able to have one of the donuts in the car since that is a tradition after going here.

Despite the rain that greeted us in the morning, we had a fantastic time at the apple picking location. I know that JSL and I will have fun thinking of ways to use all of the apples we picked and heading back with the rest of our family to get more apples soon.

Have you gone apple picking this year? If you have what are your plans for all of your apples?