I flip my latkes in the air sometimes, saying ay oh, spin the dreidel...

Chanukah is one of my favorite holidays. Unlike most Jewish holidays, it does not require a lot of advanced preparation. It also does not have the same restrictions and prohibitions. This is especially appreciated in years like this one, when Chanukah literally crept up on us just a few days after Thanksgiving. It was filled with good food, good family and friends, good parties, and a good youtube video. (I usually think these things are silly and that the people that make them are even sillier, but I'm telling you, these boys have got it going on. This will be the next Chanukah Song.)

Party at the Parents' House:



Eating:



Opening presents:





Inventing a new game- it's sort of like a cross between paper football and basketball. Played with chocolate coins, of course. Extra points awarded for getting them into the light fixtures:





Housewarming Party:

Greeting guests:



Enjoying a doughnut:



Me and one of my besties (good news, guys, she's single!):



Just 100 or s0 of our nearest and dearest:



Plus we had lots of fun on our own every night!

Lighting the menorah:





Singing songs:



Opening presents:

Where Have I Been?

Entertaining. Specifically: Mom's birthday. Sleepover company the weekend before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, including sleeping company for the whole weekend. A birthday brunch for Shimmy's almost-eighty-year-old grandmother the Sunday after Thanksgiving. A huge Chanukah/Housewarming Party the very next Sunday. Now it's time to start thinking about Sophie's birthday. But before I do, prepare for a barrage of blog posts.

Thanksgiving- A Bird's Eye View

Here's the story of our Thanksgiving, as seen through our turkeys:

The day began bright and early with the deep-fry. About 50 people, most of them men, came to drink, grunt, and fry things. Among the things fried were sausages, salami chips, this turkey:



And for the first time, a turducken, seen in it's precooked state here:


(as you can see, I had nothing to do with the process besides for the festive paper napkins)

The deep-fry lasted from about 9am, when people first started showing up, until 4pm, when our dinner guests arrived and the last of the deep-fry guests trickled out. This was way too long and really, really stressed me out.

Meanwhile, I was in the kitchen all day preparing dinner, which included: turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, pumpkin bread, cranberry-apple crisp, corn muffins, and for the first time, a tofurkey, which was actually the most involved and time-consuming dish I prepared.

This is the dinner bird, aka the REAL bird, or MAIN EVENT, in its precooked state:



And here it is again, all carved on the table:




This is the tofurkey, which was DELICIOUS and was enjoyed and devoured by vegetarians and carnivores alike!




Around 4pm our dinner guests arrived and we had a wonderful meal together.

We had pilgrims:



Native Americans:



Dance parties:



And fun watching Lilah try new foods:




All-in-all it was a great Thankgsiving. The deep-fry fest went on way too long, making it hard for me to have the actual dinner prepared as perfectly as I would have liked (I am not posting pictures of the dinner table this year, because I get annoyed every time I see the aluminum pan that the corn muffins are in and the brita pitcher instead of the crystal pitcher). However, delicious food enjoyed with my family, while genuinely telling them how thankful I am for each of them and what makes them who they are, is what Thanksgiving is about and is why I love that holiday!

I never thought...

I never thought…

The silk scarf I bought at a street fair on my honeymoon in Paris would be a staple in my kids’ games. It has served as a super hero cape, a baby blanket, a table cloth for tea parties, and everything in between!

My old ratty flip flops would become evening wear for dress up.

The silk purse I bought in Chinatown in San Francisco would get absorbed into the dress up bin and I would never be allowed to use it for myself.

The small hairbrush I used to keep in my evening bags when I went out many years ago would become my daughters’ regular hair brush.

My high school notebook would become a coloring book for my kids.

My Power Puff Girls tin that I used to keep my makeup in when I was a teenager would hold the kids’ crayons.

My stickers that I saved when I was a kid would end up stuck all over the house, put there by my own kids.

My daughter would play with my old barbies, complete with eighties outfits and hairdos (okay, maybe I did think that would happen).

Sophie would take a nap after 6 months of no naps and I could have time for things like blogging again!

To be continued...

Octoberfest

Every Sunday this month I have planned a different fun Fall activity for the kids. This was mostly out of necessity (see previous post), although I do enjoy being outdoors during Fall. I love the weather and the colors. The first week of Octoberfest was spent apple picking (and then apple baking and eating!):





The second week we to a fall farm with a hay maze and huge slide:





Yesterday we went to the pumpkin patch:








This coming Sunday we are going to a party! Once November arrives (presumably with colder weather and shorter afternoons), I will need to come up with a whole new list of activities!

A Case of the Mondays

Before I had kids my favorite day of the week was Sunday. I could sleep in, even stay at home in my pj's all day if I wanted to. I could catch up on my to-do list from the previous week. I could plan and do fun activities of my own choosing- even if that meant just watching old movies in bed all day. I could begin the next week rested and refreshed.

Now that I have kids I HATE Sundays. I get awoken around 7 am, just like every other day. The only difference is, there is no school, play group, music class, or any other planned activity. To adults, this equals relaxation. To kids, this equals boredom, which equals absolute insanity. Throw football into the mix and you have one parent trying to tame the insanity alone, and often quite bitter about that. The only solution I have found is to ignore both the fact that I should be relaxing and that there is another parent around. This means planning activities that take up the entire morning away from home. Another post on these activities to follow.

Before I had kids I hated Mondays. I hated waking up early and going to work after a relaxing weekend.

Now that I have kids I LOVE Mondays. Back to work for the football-loving parent! Back to school for the demanding pre-schooler! Babysitter will be here any minute for the tantrum-throwing-almost-two-year-old! I can BREATHE. Even if breathing means doing three loads of laundry, cleaning up the kitchen, and running on the treadmill (which is how I spent this Monday morning and most others). Because I can do all of those things BY MYSELF and think MY OWN THOUGHTS INSIDE MY OWN HEAD! Ah, relaxation! Monday just cannot come soon enough!

Abby's Plant

Abby is one of those special people. She has a calming energy about her that puts others at ease. She can make you laugh, and hard. She gives awesome hugs. She is one of the things I miss most about my old job. When I first met Abby she was a counselor and I was an intern. As we moved up the ladder over the next couple of years, Abby was promoted and moved to another branch of the organization, and I was promoted and moved into her old office. Once she relocated, I missed our chats throughout the day and eating lunch together. I did; however, have a piece of Abby to keep me company- her plant. Abby's plant was, very appropriately, a peace lily. It was nothing fancy- just a regular green, leafy plant in a plastic pot. Something you might find in the floral department of the grocery store. But since it had been Abby's, and was now all that remained of her in that office, I grew kind of attached to it. So much so, that when I left work to be a mommy I asked my boss if she minded if I took it home with me. I brought it home, re-potted it, and put it in my living room. I loved that plant for all it represented- my old job, my old life, and most importantly, my old friend. Eventually, Abby moved to New York and our infrequent visits become nonexistent. The plant became even more important to me. Over the years I took care of that plant as best I could. I had had bad luck with house plants before, but I was determined to keep this one going. Then, one summer while we were on vacation, that plant suffered. I don't recall if it had been deprived of sunlight, water, or both, but it just wasn't the same after that. I tried my hardest to nurse it back to health, but it was clear that Abby's plant just wasn't going to make it. When we moved to this house last February I brought a dead plant with me. In denial, I would not so much as empty the pot of dirt. As Spring drew near, in a final desperate attempt to save this plant and all it had come to represent, I placed the pot outside. A few weeks later, to my amazement, there were signs of life. Two types of plants were sprouting- the original peace lily and a new coleus. Even typing this I know how odd it seems, but I was thrilled that the plant had not given up. Whenever I walk past this plant I think about so many things: that it pays not to give up, that it makes me feel complete to hold onto the past while forging ahead into the future, and that special friends stay in the heart no matter how much time passes.




Abby's Plant today- changed, but thriving


Abby and I in early September 2008

S.A.D.

My favorite month is June. The entire summer stretches out before me in all of its warm carefree splendor. July is also nice. By then we are in full summer mode- lounging by the pool, taking trips, and enjoying a general state of relaxation. For me, seasonal affective disorder begins in August. I can already feel summer slipping away. By the end of the month school has begun. We are forced to return to a rigid structure and less opportunity for relaxation. Then, before we know it, September is here. The holidays are upon us and I move indoors to become a full-time chef. Even though the days are still warm, the nights are cool and the pool becomes too chilly for swimming. The leaves somehow know they should start falling. It is the beginning of the long wait for summer to return. Though this is cute:




I much prefer this:

Snapshots

When the day is long, the whining is loud, and I am beyond tired of wiping other people's noses and behinds, I like to focus on the snapshots. These are the small moments within the seemingly larger ones. The moments when I can't help but smile. The moments I always want to remember. The moments that will remain with me when my girls are grown and I yearn for the long, whiny, wiped-filled days of yesteryear.

Happy New Year!

Shana Tova!
Wishing you a year filled with good health, happiness, and peace!

Revisiting My Roots

It hasn't been a month yet since we've come home from vacation, so it's still a perfectly acceptable amount of time to blog about it, right?

So we went to Charleston! Again! Yes, we go every summer! It is my birthplace, my hometown, my roots. It becomes more important to me the older I become. And the older my grandparents become. In my mind and heart they are ageless. As ageless as the beautiful oaks that fill Charleston. They are the same grandparents that taught me how to play canasta and took me on fun trips. But when I see them each year during my annual visit (which is just not enough- I hate that I can only visit once a year) they resemble the great oaks physically as well. Gnarled hands that cannot mold into mine when I hold them. Gray mossy hair. Limbs that twist and bend, and sometimes break... which breaks my heart.

We stayed with my aunt. My cousin and his wife were away on a cruise, and they left their daughter who is two months younger than Sophie with my aunt. Sophie had a built-in best friend and they had lots of fun dressing up and having tea parties.

We drove down all day Sunday, with minimal complaint from the girls. We arrived in time for dinner, play time, and bedtime. Monday morning we went out on the boat:



We stopped at a sand bar to play:



Then, we went home and got cleaned up:




We went to visit some other relatives, and then called it a night!

On Tuesday we hit the beach again:







And then visited the relatives again. On Wednesday we went to the Aquarium:



And then I took a Road Trip to Charlotte with friends to see:



Where I looked like this for the first half hour:



On Thursday, we went to Charles Towne Landing, where my uncle, photographer extraordinaire, took several gorgeous photos, including:



Thursday evening we said our good-byes to everyone and took in the local beauty for the last time (until next time!). This is where I'm from: