Shalom Chanukah 2011
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The Festival of Lights Begins Tuesday Night
On Tuesday night, Jewish families will gather together to light their menorahs to commemorate the miracle of long ago. Every family has their own traditions that they pass along to the next generation. TechyDad and I are really trying to focus on the miracle of Chanukah and not on the gift giving and material items. The reality is that those are not really what the holiday is about. Society has pushed it to this more thanks to being at the same time of year as Christmas.
Yes, we will be giving the boys some gifts, but nothing extraordinary. This year, we hope to make some potato latkes, spin the dreidels, dance to Chanukah music, and sit together for family time while watching the menorah shine.
Something else I can not wait to share with the boys are the fun new series of 30 second Chanukah tips from Mama Doni. Yes, this hip and rockin’ mama shares eight of her tips including:
- Makin’ Lotsa Latkes!
- Get Your Dreidel On!
- The Story of Chanukah
- Are you Gr8teful?
- Is it “Chanukah” or “Hanukkah?”
- Honey This Ain’t Money
- Gobble Up Some Sufganiyot!
- Eight Special People in Your Life
Here are the videos, which will play one after the other:
I love how fun, energetic, and informative they are. Mama Doni also gives great items to talk/write about with older children. Do you have a favorite tip from the videos?
Disclosure: I found these videos thanks to subscribing to Mama Doni’s YouTube Channel. I enjoyed them and wanted to share with other families.
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The Making of Clumsy and Snowflake
Last week, an e-mail from Build-A-Bear came to me. It was actually for my son. It was inviting NHL to come back to make a new friend. The coupon allowed him to get a free $12 friend, or apply it toward a more expensive one. After seeing The Muppets, we walked up to Build-A-Bear Workshop to see if there was anything that the kids were interested in.
Within a few minutes, NHL and JSL each had a new best friend that they wanted to make. It was no surprise to me that NHL wanted to make a Smurf and JSL picked the blue Winter Wonder Teddy. I had a feeling they might select these after I saw them at an event in NYC during SheStreams
After a short wait, we met with the person to help make our new family members just perfect for lots of hugging. She was amazing. This was not our first time at Build-A-Bear, but I have to say she really made this experience even more special. She talked with both of the boys, helped them to make the Smurf and bear just right.
Then, it was time for the new family members to get their hearts. She had NHL and JSL do a cute dance routine when they gave their friends their hearts. After that, it was time to sew up their buddies to begin their adventure within the store.
From here, it was time to clean our new Smurf and Bear friends. We spent some time at the area making sure that everyone looked just right before we went to the next part of the process.
Once the boys were done here, we went to wait on line to register our new family members. This was also the time that they received their names. NHL named his Smurf Clumsy and JSL named his bear Snowflake.
Once we had the certificates and paid, the boys posed for one last photo in the store. Then, we took everyone home to meet Spike and Puppy.
Of course, Clumsy and Snowflake are getting used to life here with us. Snowflake has already been on several adventures and those will be shared another day. Now, if only I had my own special Build-A-Bear of my own – *wink* *wink*
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Memories of Muppets Music
Growing up with the Muppets, I remember playing my Muppet Show album on my old Fisher-Price record player. Actually, I think my father also had it on an old eight track as well. Man do I feel old and, with my birthday coming, this hurts even more. Anyway, I have always loved listening to the Muppets sing.
Last week, TechyDad bought the The Muppets Original Soundtrack
To say that I enjoyed the movie would be an understatement. I will just say that I can NOT wait to buy it on DVD and watch it over and over again. More on the movie coming later. One of the items that I really liked about the movie was it was old-school Muppets. It brought us back to the days when the Muppets really did a lot of singing and dancing. The songs were classic and fun for all ages.
When I got home, I found a fun video on YouTube about the soundtrack. It is a bit longer, but worth it. They had a lot of fun mixing The Muppets and their humor with would be YouTube comments.
Yes, the Muppets are back and I thank Disney for making it right. I do think Jim Henson is smiling down watching the next generation of Muppet addicts like my children.
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Chanukah Fever with Mama Doni – Giveaway
Growing up, we had one main song that we heard for Chanukah. It was the dreidel song that everyone knew. Of course, our Hebrew School teachers introduced us to others, but they were a bit boring. These days, we are lucky to have many more amazing options.
Thanks to Waldmania! my family was introduced to The Mama Doni Band when they released the Shabbat Shaboom CD in the spring. Now my family is rocking out to a classic Chanukah CD from Mama Doni called Chanukah Fever.
About Chanukah Fever:
Chanukah Fever contains 14 songs by Doni Zasloff Thomas (Mama Doni) that show off her love for embracing Judaism, holidays, and traditions. She uses words and song to teach lessons while exposing families to new types of music. Doni blends her musical talent with reggae, rock, disco, Latin, klezmer, and more. The topics of the songs include latkes, dreidels, Yiddish expressions, and a lot of humor.
Tracks on the CD include:
- Intro
- Chanukah Fever
- Latke Man
- Honey, This Ain’t Money!
- The Legend of Sour Cream vs Applesauce
- The Funky Gold Menorah
- Bubbie’s Mi Yimalel
- Eight
- A Land Called Sufganiyot
- Dear Hanukah Harry,
- Mac A. Bee
- I Say Chanukah (You Say Hanukah)
- La Vida Dreidel
- Ma-oz Tzur Finale
Thanks to YouTube, I can also share the “Chanukah Fever” video so you can hear what at least one of the songs is like. Here is The Mama Doni Band with “Chanukah Fever” – get ready to dance!
What We Thought:
To say that we loved this CD would be an understatement. The weekend that we received it, it stayed in my car and we drove around listening to it. Within a few listens, the kids were singing along. TechyDad and I could not help laughing and loved how it integrated traditions, Hebrew/Yiddish, and more. NHL is eight and knew some of the items from Hebrew School so it gave us some fun items to chat about. Even JSL, 4, loved rocking out to the catchy tunes.
I think my favorite song on the CD is “I Say Chanukah (You Say Hanukah)” because it pokes fun at the need to use the chhhhh (pretend you are trying to clear your throat) sound. It isn’t every day that words like Chanukah, l’chaim, chupah, and tuchus. I literally had tears in my eyes thanks to reading the words to this song.
I’m not sure if the boys have an absolute favorite since they enjoy the entire CD. Just the other day, NHL randomly started belting out “The Legend of Sour Cream Vs. Applesauce” while riding to school without the music on. I am sure that this CD will be played a lot in the upcoming weeks as we get ready for the Festival of Lights and try to keep family traditions alive.
For my local readers, The Mama Doni Band will be in town this weekend. On Sunday, December 4 they will have a concert at Congregation Agudat Achim in Schenectady, NY. For additional concert dates, head over to The Mama Doni Band Facebook page for updates.
Giveaway:
Thanks to Waldmania!, one lucky reader will have a chance to win their own copy of Chanukah Fever.
Rules for Giveaway:
- MAIN RULE – Which song from Chanukah Fever
are you most excited to share with your family and why?
The following Bonus Entries may also be done. Please be sure to leave separate comments for each that you complete below to make sure you get the right number of entries.
- 1 Bonus Entry – Follow TheAngelForever on Twitter
- 1 Bonus Entry – Tweet the following about the giveaway (May be done three times a day, but at least an hour between each Tweet): Enter to #win a @MamaDoni Chanukah Fever CD from @TheAngelForever http://bit.ly/rF7JNu #Giveaways #Chanukah
- 2 Bonus Entries – Stop by The Angel Forever on Facebook to say hello and leave me a comment on a status message. Let me know you have done so here.
- 1 Bonus Entry – Subscribe to my RSS feed (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment.
- 1 Bonus Entry – Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from the months of November/December. Leave a comment here to let me know which one. This Bonus entry may be done twice per day.
- 3 Bonus Entries – Add my blog button to your website and/or add me to your blogroll. Be sure to leave a link with the location.
- 1 Bonus Entry – Head over to TechyDad’s blog and say hello to him. Let me know where you posted a comment. May be done once a day.
To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today December 1, 2011 and ends at 10:59 EST on December 11, 2011. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to US and Canada residents only.
Disclosure: This review and giveaway was made possible by Waldmania!. They provided me with the Chanukah Fever CD to facilitate this review. The opinions of this review are mine and I received no other compensation.
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