TechyDad | The Angel Forever

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Celebrating Purim

Posted on March 20, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As a child, I have many memories of celebrating Purim with my family. My mother, father, brother and I would go to Shul with my Mimi and Poppy. I often dressed up as Queen Esther since this was her big day. For years I would not go near our rabbi because he scared me in his Megillah Gorilla costume one year. I am happy to report I was able to get over it since he was also the one that married us almost ten years ago.

TechyDad and I have also taken our kids to synagogue for Purim celebrations.

The boys adore dressing up and taking part in the Megillah reading celebration. Groggers to make noises each time we hear the name Haman uttered, only adds to the fun and excitement for a child.

Today, the boys and I will be celebrating Purim a little differently. To help get you in the mood and tell you the story, I wanted to share the Maccabeats Purim Song video. Enjoy!

For previous Purim related posts that I have written, you can check them out here.

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fun holidays jsl looking back Music nhl TechyDad video

We Have a Playroom Again

Posted on March 10, 2011 8:14 am by TheAngelForever

It is no secret that space in our house is a problem. We live in an older home, with small rooms, and limited storage areas. Before we moved into the house, we put carpet into the large, open room upstairs and made it our playroom. We used the room a lot before we had Wi-Fi. When JSL was born (he is almost 4), we pretty much stopped using the room. It was just too difficult to maneuver both boys up the steep staircase. Rather than enjoy the space, we used it as a glorified storage area. Here is a photo of it not too long ago:

The boys are bigger now. They are able to climb stairs. More important than any of this, they need more play space – and I want my living room not to resemble a toy store. TechyDad and I have really been working on the room. This past weekend we kicked it into high gear.

When we were finished trying the summer clothing on the boys, we moved upstairs to see what we could do next. Suddenly, I suggested moving TechyDad’s old work from home desk to the other side of the room (basically the right corner area of the picture above). Oy! This was a lot more work than you would think. This desk is a monster. In the end we got it moved. Then I hauled toys to the stairs and TechyDad brought almost all of them up to the room. The boys went to visit with Nana and Papa for a while and we finished things up. The new toy wall is where the desk used to be. Here is the new toy area in the largely revamped playroom:

When the boys did not have school on Monday, we spent the entire day upstairs. The kids love the space and are doing really well with putting things back before taking something else out. Here are my happy kids enjoying a space that we should have been utilizing long before now:

The room still isn’t perfect over by the desk, but it is getting there. I would say it is 90% finished and very functional. Now we can check that mostly off the project list and work on something else.

So have you tackled a big problem lately? Please feel free to share in the comments below.

Categories:
house jsl nhl photos TechyDad weekend

Busy Day at Home

Posted on March 5, 2011 8:38 pm by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

We stayed home today, but we got a lot accomplished during the time here. This morning Daddy and I pulled out all of the spring/summer clothing. We had to see what the two of you have for the trip to Disney World. After the two of you tried everything on, it was time for lunch. Then, we decided to head upstairs and try to move the big monster desk to the other side of the room.

This sounded like it was going to be a lot easier than it was. The two of you were so wonderful. You sat upstairs watching a movie and helping when we asked. Thank goodness we were able to move the desk. Then, I decided to surprise both of you. I started to move most of the toys from the living room upstairs into the new and improved toy room. This is such a great space that we have not been using since JSL was born. The two of you stayed upstairs with Daddy watching Lady and the Tramp and playing with toys for quite some time.

When you came down here, I had started to watch The Princess and the Frog. You both joined me until it was time to eat dinner. When we were finished eating, everyone piled back onto the couch in their PJ’s and we finished watching the movie.

Tomorrow, we will try to head out for a little while, but I have a LOT of laundry to do to get ready for our upcoming trip. I hope the two of you have sweet dreams tonight of Disney movies and more magical memories coming soon.

Love,

Mommy

_______________________________________

If you want to participate in Dear Kid Saturday, head on over to Cutest Kid Ever by clicking on the button below.

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Dear Kid Saturday Disney house jsl nhl TechyDad weekend

TechyDad Goes Sledding

Posted on March 2, 2011 8:30 am by TheAngelForever

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fun jsl TechyDad weekend winter Wordless Wednesday

Making New Hockey Memories

Posted on February 21, 2011 8:37 am by TheAngelForever

The smell of clean ice in the air, the cool breeze whirling around, and jerseys galore. This is what we experienced yesterday when we took the boys to see the Albany Devils hockey game. The minute we stepped into the arena, it was like déjà vu. You see, back before I met TechyDad, I was a River Rats season ticket holder. Back in the day I went to every home game and my amazing seat was located just behind the home bench. Ah, the memories of games gone by. Watching players like Patrick Elias, Petr Sykora, Mike Dunham, and countless others start their careers here and move on to the NHL.

The kids were sick of being cooped up in the house and thanks to Time Warner Cable, they had an amazing deal on tickets. All tickets were $10 or $5 depending on where you sit. So we packed up the kids and went to the early start game. While I went to buy tickets, the boys went and saw the Devil Dawg.

When the players came out for warm-ups, we made our way down to the ice. The kids really enjoy being down there and can see more of the action.

Of course, the players are always great with kids. At one point, they flipped out a puck. NHL happened to be in just the right place. It bounced, he ran, and this is what he got:

Then JSL was excited to see the zamboni. Yes, my three year old was thrilled to see the red and blue zambonis circle the ice getting it ready for the game.

Of course, this also gave TechyDad some time to test out his camera and get some photos of the new jumbo tron that the Times Union Center recently installed.

JSL held onto his team roster and watched the first period without fussing too much. Sure he was upset I refused to give him a snack right away, but eventually he kept watching.

Then it was time to stretch and see another visitor that was in the building. The boys went to wait to meet Dora. It is a sad moment in my hockey life to admit it. My three year old son was more excited to see the zamboni and meet Dora the Explorer than watch hockey. *sigh*

Luckily, NHL got into the game. He was intrigued with why the players went into the penalty box, why the ref had an orange band on his arm, and more. I think you can see, he was a very happy camper:

The game eventually ended in a 3-3 tie. We quickly went to a five minute OT period where a lot of penalties came. JSL declared that the game was taking FOREVER. When told that if the Devils would score a goal we would be done he started to loudly cheer “Let’s go Devils!” Of course, a goal would not come during that time. We were able to witness a shootout. We sat behind the Albany goalie (Caruso) who stopped all of the shots that he faced. With one lone goal scored on ex-River Rat goalie Leighton – the Albany Devils won the game 4-3.

We had a fun time at the Albany Devils game and I look forward to making more hockey memories with my family. Next time, I may feel the need to break out my game worn Sharifijanov River Rats jersey. Hmmmm……