Holiday Cheer

Hello and happy holidays, lovely readers. Although I meant to post more this month (um, last month), it seems I've gone from one holiday activity to another and am finally in the post holiday relaxation phase. I consider this time between Christmas and when everyone returns to work and school after New Year's to still be "the holidays," so in no way do I feel delinquent bringing you the following holiday cheers...and maybe a few jeers.

• Cheers to the friends and family who sent a steady stream of greetings to our home this month. We love seeing your pictures and hearing about your adventures. Extra kudos go to those of you who were so clever with your words and funny with your photos or actually hand wrote a note. I put up all the cards we receive on our glass doors and by the end of the season, the whole thing looks like a very diverse, festive, old-school Facebook Friends Collage.



• Cheers to the teachers who put together so many class parties, holiday programs and festive activities. Even though I may grumble about all the holiday projects that come home each year, I love having that stuff around. A friend of mine still decorates her home with her son's holiday drawings and artwork from the early grades. That son got married this summer! My kids' gifts to us were a gorgeous ceramic tile with a colorful hand print and a calendar with our family's birthdays and other important dates highlighted. Thanks teachers!


• Jeers to getting laid off a week before Thanksgiving. Anytime is a bad time to be out of work, but it takes a special kind of scrooge to give you the axe at the holidays. I'm confident that my friend, Karma, will prevail in the end.

• Cheers to celebrating both Christmas and Hannukah. Both holidays are special and fun and I feel lucky that we get to enjoy them both. What would December be without our tree and ornaments and latkes and gelt? This year we turned off all the lights other than the tree when lighting our Menorah. It provided a lovely glow for the occasion. The kids are getting into reciting the blessings and lighting the candles themselves and it's lovely to see them participating. We know so many families who observe both holidays and I enjoyed sending them this card:complete with wishes inside for a Merry Chrismukkah and L'Shanah Tova (Happy New Year). Speaking of Chrismukkah, check out http://www.chrismukkah.com/ . Here's someone who's taken the meaning of "Moses is Moses, business is business" and run with it. Very cute and clever. Although I still despise Hannukah ornaments.

• Cheers to the Wii! We're all having so much fun with our new toy. Finally, there's something the family can all enjoy.

• Cheers to my dad who came up with the best Hannukah present ever: all the home movies of me until age 7 on DVD. How much fun to see baby ME and my mom and dad as young parents. Way to go Baba.

• Jeers to yet another family malady: this time Ray's messed up his neck and shoulder and has been in intense pain. This is in addition to 2 kids with messed up stomachs, 3 kids with colds and my stupid cough/cold/congestion that is back before it ever fully went away. Things seem to be improving slightly but it's been a difficult week for all of us, especially him.

• Cheers to a great New Year's eve and day after. We went to my parents', where I effectively abdicated all of my parental responsibilities and didn't think for a good 24 hours. At least 12 of those hours were spent sleeping. It's just what the doctor ordered.

• Cheers to all of you. Thanks for hanging in there with me and reading my rants and ramblings this year. I could promise more regular posts in the coming year but I know me and my crazy life and I'll just promise to do my best. Here's to a happy, healthy and prosperous new year for us all, with just enough humor thrown in to keep us sane.

From Turkeys to Santa

It's been a while, loyal readers. Life gets busy, you know? So, what's been going on since I blogged you last? Julia got glasses: big trauma that has turned into a good thing. I'm proud of her, and proud of how we handled it. Ethan is Ethan. He's all about play dates, Lego, and staying up 2 hours after he's in bed and playing the dark. Bunch just gets better and better. He's figured out how to give kisses. But he's sneaky and gutsy and thinks he's one of the big kids.

It seems like Halloween was just yesterday, and now here we are, less than 3 weeks from Christmas. Thanksgiving was great. Once again, my cousin Sissy hosted and I had so much fun watching the kids play with their cousins (and cousins-in-law). There was all kinds of food, to which I happily contributed. Only problem with not hosting Thanksgiving is that you don't really get to control leftovers (plus there were NO leftover sweet potatoes and Julia has been waiting for them since last Christmas), so we had Thanksgiving again last night, with Ray's mom, who is here visiting. I made my first ever real turkey breast and it came out awesome. I almost think a monkey could make it but I don't want to disparage my own turkey-roasting skills. Plus: holy crap. Costco mashed potatoes. They must be from the gods.

Oh yeah, the other thing that happened last month was that my poor husband became one of the half-million plus Americans who lost their job. The week before Thanksgiving. Happy Holidays to us. After the requisite anger, cussing, and a few days of mopiness, we're back in the holiday spirit. Maybe it's all the meds I'm downing daily for this godawful cold-turned-sinus-mess-plus-incessant-back-agony-from-all-the-nights-spent-coughing-on-the-couch (not to mention the mind altering drugs humming in the background) combined with the persistent sleep deprivation, but I'm not freaking out. I wasn't thrilled with Ray's previous work situation. Besides, we'd known for a while that this layoff might happen. He was working for a land developer. Duh. So, I'm confident that something much better is in the works. In the mean time, it's great to have Ray home, especially while I've been sick. The kids are in heaven; I'm already worried about how sad they'll be when he goes back to work.

Tonight we went Chrismukah shopping while the kids stayed with Grandma Dooley. We had a great time! It's not about how much we spent. Sure, I love buying expensive gifts for friends and family. I am a shopper at heart, after all. But it's also fun to get creative, find bargains and make our budget work. It reminds me of Christmas shopping in college. But I also know that we are so lucky, so blessed. It's not about the job, the income, or any of that. I love this time of year and an uncertain financial situation isn't going to change that. So our halls are decked, we've got visions of latkes in our heads and it's time to be jolly. We're going to enjoy this bonus family time and look forward to the next good thing. It's all good.

Belated Boo!

Halloween has come and gone and while I wasn't all that much in the spirit at first, I managed to get into it by the end of trick or treating. Here are some photos for your enjoyment:

Julia, in her very original Purple Pelicans uniform, er, costume.

Halloween at Kindergarten never gets old.

Never has one Thomas costume been such an enormous value. 3rd Halloween in combat and still going strong.
Dr. Jones decided that his hat was too large and could only be fixed by wearing it in the other direction.

Hope everyone had a happy one!

The Witch Is In

Any guesses what the "T" stands for?

Ethan Does Yom Kippur

This awful cell-phone picture with bad lighting hardly does justice to Ethan's look for Yom Kippur services. Decked out in his new soccer ball kippah, he didn't think his outfit would be complete without his yellow striped tie. The two missing bottom teeth were the final Ethan touch. He spent most of the service decorating his tie with the number stickers from seats and making friends with the amused and annoyed adults seated around us. Brady spent his time up my skirt and asking "Is it done?" after every prayer. No matter, we were all together at the service and it was a nice way to end the holiday. The Gelson's cinnamon pull apart bread didn't hurt either.

A Very Nice Summer and other stuff

For those of you who still check in despite my sadly sporadic posting, thank you. I'll try to do better, really I will.

It seems strange to be posting about summer on what is the coldest Memorial Day weekend I can remember since we moved back to southern California from Seattle. It has actually rained (I think most of the rest of the country would call it drizzling) for the last few days. News directors all across the Southland had a very difficult decision for last night's evening newscast: do I lead with the high speed chase du jour (which was made all the more dramatic by the slick streets, spraying water and fishtailing. Boo YA!) or Storm Watch 2008? Decisions, decisions. Of course the live feed of the chase won, and the bastards had the nerve to go to commercial and make us miss the end, which is usually the best part, and have to watch a replay. Amateurs.

Regardless of the weather, signs abound that summer is almost here, and as sad as I am to see Julia's awesome year in 2nd grade end, I'm ready for a break from frantic mornings and busy schedules. Those of you have been with me a while might recall that for the last couple of years, I and some others declared it would be The Best Summer Ever. The first time we did this, the summer really lived up to it. There was ice cream, a new swing set, more ice cream, trips to Disneyland and Legoland and fun and relaxation all over the place. Last year, I thought, it would most definitely be the BSE. I mean, how could it it not? We had a new house with a pool for the first time ever and we couldn't wait to spend every waking minute in it. Well, I'll tell you how: start the summer by literally losing your mind to the point that you don't want to get out of bed or even know which end is up. Add a flood to the entire downstairs of said house that takes 2 months to clean up from, hole up in your steaming hot upstairs (in the dark for most of a week, as it turned out) and add a half-assed air conditioner and asbestos in your ducting. That's how.

While we've recovered from the effects of last year's summer fiasco, I'm not thinking I want to jinx things this year by setting up some crazy unrealistic expectations. So, my friends, I hereby declare the summer of 2008 A Very Nice Summer. That's it. I still plan to send my kids to camp, do a lot of fun things, go to the beach, grill, swim a ton, and eat a lot of Shave Ice. But I think I'll be a lot more content hoping to just have a nice time than to pressure all of us to make things the BEST EVER. I'm all about baby steps right now and this seems to be a good one to take. Maybe in a couple of years I won't be as gun shy. For now, let's make it a nice summer.

In other news, I'm having a great time with my Uppercase Living business so far. Every day I think of new ways to use the expressions and lettering. The possibilities are endless. I had a party at a friend's the other night and it was nice to see the positive response I got across the board. I have some high hopes for this company.

In other other news, Ray's mom is coming to spend next weekend with the kids so he and I can spend a couple of nights away. Even though we're just staying at a hotel down the street, we have a massage and a nice dinner scheduled and we plan on just relaxing for a couple of days. We so need this.

The following weekend, I'm going to my hear Stacy Julian speak at my scrapbook store, Treasured Memories. I'm really excited to hear her talk and hope to get motivated inject some sanity into my overwhelming pile of to-be-scrapped photos. Treasured Memories is a great store and the owner, Christine, is lovely and generous. Definitely good people. If you're ever in the area, stop by and spend lots of money.

Hope the weather is sunny where you are and that you have a great weekend.

A Happy Mother's Day

It seems we've been celebrating Mother's Day for several days already. It started Thursday morning when Ray & Julia came into my room with big smiles, holding the local newspaper. Imagine my surprise when I saw this:

Our local paper does this every year. Julia came up with the thoughts and Ray helped her get it to under 100 words and it totally made my day. Especially the part about "the brothers."

Friday I got to celebrate at Ethan's school where we were serenaded by a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds who couldn't stop grinning long enough to sing. Beyond cute.

We took a break yesterday to attend Julia's last softball game. They placed 3rd in their tournament which thankfully earned them big gaudy trophies that completely erased any disappointment they may have had about losing their game. They celebrated the end of the season at a swim party at one team member's AMAZING home. The girls had such a great time and it was nice to see Julia be one of the crowd. It's a struggle to let her be herself while trying to get her to be a little more outgoing. I'd like to think this experience has helped.

This morning I got my mother's day presents that were so amazing and sweet that my teeth hurt...or is that the Starbucks donut I had for breakfast? Never mind. Julia's teacher helped the class make a compilation of artwork and poetry throughout the year that is truly remarkable. The best part is the card: Top 10 Reasons Why I Love You. It's an entire scrapbook in itself. Ray hooked me up with some salon services that my nasty hair desperately needs. But my favorite present is the Webkinz panda that Julia and Ethan INSISTED I get. I had the most fun half hour this morning adopting it, decorating its room and taking it to Dr. Quack for a checkup, all with their guidance and advice.

This Mother's Day is a lot nicer for me than last year, thanks to me being more aware of what's been going on with me emotionally and having the tools to get through it. I'm looking forward to spending the day with my mom, who has truly saved me and my family throughout this year. To all the moms out there, a happy, happy, relaxing day to you. Our work is endless and the rewards infinite and no other job is done with more love and dedication.

Spring Traditions

With blue skies (finally) and gorgeous weather, not to mention blossom-covered trees everywhere, spring has arrived at last. This point was brought home to me last Sunday, when my family participated a number of spring traditions all in one day.

Our day started out at a local Purim carnival. I love living in an area of the country where my Jewish kids have plenty of other Jewish kids around. When I lived in the Northwest, it was very isolating to not be part of a larger Jewish community. I either felt really lonely, or like an animal in the zoo as I was subjected to the fascination of several people who had never met a Jew before. So our trek to the carnival took all of 5 minutes and we played, bounced, jumped, rode a poor, sad pony and ran into lots of friends we knew.

From there we had lunch and headed to our former neighbors' home for an Easter bash. It never occurred to me just what a pretty holiday Easter can be. While the religious meaning of the holiday is completely lost on me, I love the pretty pastel colors, the flowers, the signs of spring everywhere and little kids dressed in pretty clothes running around in the sunshine. Besides, who doesn't like bunnies, especially the variety who bring chocolate. Our friends went all out: each child got his or her own half-dozen eggs to dye before heading out to hunt for 350 eggs! I think we adults had as much fun hiding them as the kids did searching for them. Brady LOVED sidewalk chalk and Julia and Ethan rode their sugar high well into the evening.

Just as the party started to wrap up, we headed home to get read for Julia's 3rd softball game of the season. Their coach says they are steadily improving. Their score has gone from 4-0, to 12-2, to 13-0. I don't see how allowing the opposing team to score more runs in each successive game is an improvement, but I'm not a math major. That's right friends, Julia plays for the Bad News Bears. The games are not only boring, but just bad. We have games each Saturday and Sunday, and Ray and I trade off going so as to not subject ourselves and the other spectators to Brady's incessant screams throughout the game. While it's quite an occasion when our pitcher manages to throw a strike (rather than pitching the ball behind the batter) there are small signs of progress. Besides, sitting outside watching a ball game definitely feels like spring. And the score isn't all that important, right? I know this because after every game Julia has asked us hopefully, "Did we win?"

Another spring occasion is upon us today with the celebration of Noruz (nowrooz), the Persian New Year. I wrote last year about how much I love celebrating a new year in the spring instead of in the middle of dark and gloomy winter. Being spoiled, lazy and overwhelmed with the rest of the chaos in my life, I've left the work to others this year. My sister made the traditional sabzi polo because she enjoys spending an entire day to make one pot of rice. More power to her. We will be celebrating at my parents' tomorrow night, and the eggs my kids dyed at the Easter party will be adorning Goobie's haft seen.

It occurs to me that I've gotten away with doing very little work for any of these holidays this year. No matter, I don't feel guilty. Someday I'll be the grandma or the hostess or not nuts and go all out. For now I'm happy to enjoy the fruits of others' labor, happily buy my carnival tickets and transport my family from one location to the next. However you celebrate, I hope your spring is lovely and full of sweets.


Many thanks to macieklew for his stunning photo. Check out his other work; you will not be disappointed.

Happy Valentine's Day

Whether you love it or hate it, today is Valentine's Day and it is hard to escape the onslaught of hearts and roses. I know some people feel that this is an artificial, overly-commercial "holiday," and they're pretty much right. But then, aren't most holidays these days? It's not a holiday in America without the retailers getting their cut, right?

Even so, I see nothing wrong with a day to celebrate all the people we love, especially when it involves chocolate. I'm always up for an excuse to get gifts and cards and decorate, regardless of the fact that my budget doesn't have much room for it this year. All the more reason to get creative, I say. Having kids makes it more fun to make a big deal out of silly little days like today.

So, live it up and eat some chocolate. Send someone a Valentine. Even better, surprise someone with a Valentine and don't even sign your name. It doesn't have to be romantic, just nice. The world can sure use a little more niceness these days. And don't forget to be nice to yourself. Get YOU some flowers. And if you're one of those people who hates Valentine's Day and is determined to be pissed off all day, it's OK. It's just a silly made up holiday after all.


Happy Valentine's Day to C.P. Storm, who provided the photo for this post.

Funny Valentines

For some reason, I got a wild hair up my butt to make, instead of buy, Valentines this year. I think the reason was that I just couldn't stomach another trip to Hallmark while I try to throw whatever inappropriate card is within reach into my cart (my Hallmark has carts, do they all?) as quickly as possible while Brady screams at me yet again. Although I'm practically immune to the stares of the other shoppers by now, I knew that somehow I'd grab the wrong thing and my in-laws would end up with an "On The Loss Of Your Pet" card in Spanish for Valentine's Day. So I decided that I don't need any more gray hairs this week and went for the home-made variety.

The first part of this endeavor was getting them to clean all their crap off the dining room table. The next day, I pulled out stickers, cards, scrap paper, die cuts, stamps, ink, punches, markers, glue and probably other stuff and let them go to town. There was a lot of attraction in using Mommy's supplies and Ethan, especially, was quite the enthusiastic little stamper. Unfortunately for him, he was not allowed to use every color ink simultaneously. Anyone who knows him will not be surprised that he would want to.

Other than try to salvage what's left of the finish on the dining room table, I stayed out of their way and just let them create, keeping my opinions to myself (yes, Tannaz, it is possible). Therefore, we ended up with a rainbow of colorful cards in addition to plain old boring red and white. I bet you didn't know purple and yellow (together) were Valentine colors.

What I loved most was watching them create together. There was an interesting give and take in their process. They had to make some decisions together, like who the next card was for and which color it would be, and even though they disagreed, they quickly compromised and got on with it. It was like they subconsciously knew not to ruin their fun with pointless bickering. There was also an unspoken division of labor: Julia did all of the writing (though Ethan signed his own name) and most of the punching while Ethan was the main stamper. He had some great creative ideas and I was glad to see Julia follow his lead. Somehow the age difference between them disappeared and they cheerfully cooperated and created together.

They were more enthusiastic about the first card than the fifth, but we all had a great afternoon together. I'd like to think they got something out of the process. I certainly did and hope to make this yet another tradition. Hopefully the recipients of those Valentines will be able to sense some of the joy and cheer that went into creating them. Especially the green one.

One Gift, Many Occasions

Remember way back when I totally blew off blogging in December, then promised I'd do some holiday posts in January? Lame, I know, but here's one of those posts. If it makes you feel any better, I've been feeling guilty about it since, like, November. So now I have less guilt and you have something yummy to read about. Win, win.

Much to my husband's annoyance, I insist on making a home made food gift for a select few friends and neighbors each holiday season. He, being of the "Why Bother?" school of thought thinks this just causes unnecessary stress and effort. I, being of the "If Anything is Worth Doing It's Worth Doing To Excess" school of thought, ignore him. But this year, with sanity, time and money all being at a premium, I had to rethink the process. God forbid I would skip the gifts altogether. This was not an option. However, I needed something that was easy to make and relatively inexpensive, since I had a lot of people I planned to give to.

It's no secret that I have an enigmatic relationship with my crockpot. Although I hear raves about it, I've yet to produce anything in mine that doesn't come out tasting and looking like, well, slop. Not ready to give up yet, I was browsing yet another slow cooker cookbookin hopes of finding something that didn't involve a can of cream-of-sodium soup. Towards the back of the book, I happened upon a recipe for apple butter. Hmmmm...interesting. My husband and I had always loved it when we lived in Washington and hadn't had any for a long time. It sounded good, easy, and inexpensive. After consulting the brain trust (who, by the way, devotes many posts to gifts-in-a-jar) and finding a cute little apple spreader from Crate & Barrel to go with the goods, I decided to give it a try.

The basic recipe is to chop granny smith apples and stick them in a crock pot with sugar. Let the apples sit all day until they release a lot of their juice and collapse slightly, then add some spices and cook overnight. The next day, take off the lid and cook some more to thicken. Puree with an immersion blender (OMG I LOVE MINE) and that's it.

I made my first batch for Thanksgiving, planning to take a jar to my cousin's as a hostess gift. The good thing about this recipe is that it lasts up to two months in the refrigerator, making it a perfect for those who like to do things ahead of time. So I knew I could test run a jar at Thanksgiving and be able to use the leftovers at Hannukah. Of course, the presentation was also important. Julia and I stamped some plain brown gift bags with leaf stamps from Close To My Heart, then used the same stamps on grocery bags to make a topper for the jar. I used the stamps again to make a gift tag. I attached the spreader with some ribbon to match and voila! By this time I was so overwhelmed with the cuteness of the stamped stuff and the whole home made-ness of the whole thing that it wouldn't have mattered if the stuff tasted awful.

Fortunately, it didn't. I never heard from my cousin the unknowing guinea pig, but the rest of us who tasted the apple butter all loved it. I immediately began massive apple butter production and spent a lot of time chopping, stirring, and pureeing. The rest of the time I spent talking about apple butter. Conversation is pretty lively around these parts.

I realized that one batch only gave me a little more than two jars of apple butter. So I stuffed my crock pot with even more apples the next time to make the minimal effort worth it. It totally worked. I also unwittingly messed up the second batch by forgetting to add the spices before I turned the crock pot on and let the stuff cook overnight. So I added them the next morning, along with some water because the stuff looked a little thick and guess what? It was even better!! By not letting the spices cook and get concentrated as long, their flavors remained a little more bright and distinguishable while allowing the fresh flavor of the apples to burst through.

As I moved into full production mode, I loved the smell of it simmering and I loved having a refrigerator shelf filled with jars of the dark, rich, apply goodness waiting to be gifted to friends and family. Starting with Hannukah (it was early this year, remember?) I must have given 10-11 jars out. It made a lovely thank you gift for a friend who helped us play Santa and when we accepted a New Year's Eve invitation at 4 p.m. on New Year's Eve, it was a no-brainer grab and go hostess gift. The only thing that had to be changed was the ribbon and the stamp I used to decorate the jar, bag and tag.

With all this apple butter flowing, you may be wondering just what it's good for. The obvious choice is on toast or bagels with butter or cream cheese (or all by itself), although we think it tastes awesome with peanut butter. Julia now takes peanut butter and apple butter sandwiches to school for lunch. At Hannukah it was a more sophisticated topping for latkes and it was delicious. I also like it on simple grilled or roasted chicken. Lately, I've been putting it on the muffins Ethan and I have been baking together.

Things I love about this recipe:

• Not too sweet but plenty of flavor
• Can definitely stand in for fatty spreads and actually started out as fruit
• Tastes great!
• Easy to make and to make ahead
• Makes a generous amount
• Stores for a while in the fridge or freezer
• A monkey could make it
• Everyone seems to love it

I'm sure I'll be making more for my own family as we're down to our last jar. But the best compliment I got was from a friend whose son has severe food allergies. Not only was he able to enjoy the apple butter on his rice cake with no problems, but her daughter apparently said it was the "best sauce" she's ever had.

If you'd like to make the original recipe, consult the cookbook. Here's my adaptation:

5+ lbs. of Granny Smith apples, washed, cored and cut into large pieces
(I overstuffed my crock pot and couldn't get the lid on, but as the released their juices and collapsed it was no problem)
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
pinch of salt
big splash of vanilla extract (I use the good stuff from Trader Joe's and splash quite enthusiastically)

Layer the apples and sugar in your crock pot. Place lid on (it may not close all the way, this is OK) and let sit all day without turning on the crock pot. By the end of the day you will have a ton of apple juice in your crock pot and the apples will have collapsed to the point that the lid will close. Turn crock pot on LOW and cook overnight. In the morning, toss the apples with the spices and vanilla. At this point I like to add a cup or so of water. Eyeball it and add as much or as little as you like. Continue to cook for several hours until you reach your preferred thickness, removing the lid if it's too thin. Cool in crock and use immersion blender (or regular blender or food processor) to puree. Store in refrigerator for 2 months or freeze for up to 3.

I'd love to hear from you if you try this recipe. Let me know how you like it and how you use your yummy apple butter.

You Know You're Old When...

you (or your husband, in this case) breaks out the TV Frogger game he got for Christmas and has to repeatedly tell the kids that this is Frogger, for God's sake, and NOT Zacky's Quest.

For those of you who are still here, I apologize for being such a lame Blogger in December. It gets busy, you know? I hope you all had a happy and festive holiday and that you got exactly what you wanted out of the season. To make up for my pitiful neglect, I'm contemplating posting a few of my December posts in January. It may extend the festivity of the season and who really likes January anyway? Besides, it's so true to form for me to be a day late and a dollar short. Why mess with tradition?

Hannukah Readings

Happy Hannukah to all of you who celebrate it. So far ours has been good, with gelt, gifts and latkes, of course. More of all of those to come in the next few days, along with yummy donuts too.

Yesterday, I was asked to go to Ethan's preschool class to talk about the holiday to his class. I loved it! I read a book, showed them our Menorah and left them a bag of chocolate coins for snack time. They couldn't have been cuter. The best part is that at dinner, Ethan said he was thankful that his Mommy went to his class. It doesn't get any better than that!

Over the last few years, we've accumulated a nice collection of children's Hannukah books (anything to try to balance out that giant tree!). Reading a holiday book each night in December has become one of our family traditions. As I was thinking about the book I read to the preschoolers, I thought I'd share my favorites here in case any of you still need a few ideas for the kids on your Hannukah gift list. By the way, these would also make a great addition to classroom libraries. Unfortunately, most classes are woefully lacking in Hannukah materials. Be a mensch and help them out!

A Blue's Clues Chanukah:This is the book I read to Ethan's class. Despite it being written for preschoolers, it's quite comprehensive. It doesn't discuss the war and victory which led to the holiday, but it covers all of the rituals and traditions of Hannukah. Blue and his pals are invited to a Hannukah party at Orange Kitten's house. Since none of them have ever been to one, Orange Kitten explains everything that is going on. From Menorahs and latkes to the dreidel game, it's all covered. There are even a couple of simple songs at the end.

The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming: This newest addition to our collection is by Lemony Snicket. So already you know it's going to be a little on the strange side. It's about a screaming latke who escapes the pan of hot oil and runs into different symbols of Christmas. Each time he has to explain why he has nothing to do with Christmas. The subtitle of this book: A Christmas Story, might lead you to think that it is about celebrating the two holidays in peace and harmony side by side. That is not the case. It's more about the fact that Hannukah seems to get swallowed up by Christmas and that so few people understand what the holiday is really about. It's a great depiction of what it feels like to be the only person celebrating Hanukah in a world covered with Christmas lights. Plus it's funny!


It's A Miracle: I love this book and have purchased several copies as gifts. Luckily, it's available in paperback this year. It is about six and half year old Owen, who this year has become his family's O.C.L. - Official Candle Lighter. Each night of Hanukah, Owen's grandmother tucks him in and tells him a different story. From Palominos to aliens, her stories are quite diverse. As it turns out, the stories tie Owen more closely to his own family. But the book also includes positive references to celebrating Christmas and acknowledges that in our country, celebrating Hanukah goes hand-in-hand with that other December holiday. What I love is the theme of family that runs throughout the book. Owen celebrates the holiday not just with his parents, but also grandparents, cousins and aunts and uncles. The illustrations in this book are also great. Kids are going to love Owen and his grandma.

Light The Lights: We've had this book for a couple of years and my kids really enjoy it every year. It's about a little girl, Emma, whose family celebrates both Christmas and Hannukah (sound familiar?). It deals with the holidays respectfully and sweetly, and focuses on the commonality of Hannukah candles and Christmas lights. Emma's family honors both traditions and the result is a sweet but not preachy little book with pretty illustrations.






Thank you Aviruthia for the lovely Menorah picture.

What I Learned Over Thanksgiving Weekend

Over the last few days, I re-discovered that Thanksgiving weekend is my favorite time of the year. It starts with the planning and the lists. Actually, it starts with the elder members of my family, otherwise known as The Sisterhood, fighting over who gets to host. Then we decide who brings what, when do you start cooking, etc. The gringo husbands have to put in their requests for real Thanksgiving food while lodging their protests against rice in all forms. There are many logistical details to cover.

This year, my happy day was the Wednesday before the big day. My mom came over for a while to help cook, my cousin from the East coast was in town and hung out for a while, and it was just a great day to be home, cooking and looking forward to the next day.

The whole weekend turned out to be pretty great. We spent the day at my cousin Sissy's, something we hadn't done for years. Thanksgiving itself was lovely, and so was the extra long weekend. As much as I love the relaxing and the shopping and the cooking and the eating and just the festive vibe of being together eating and drinking and enjoying loved ones, I managed to pick up some lessons here and there. In the seasonal spirit of giving, I hereby share them with you:

• It's nice to break tradition and spend the holiday with a different group of family members. The more the merrier, right?
  
• The thought of celebrating Thanksgiving with among others, 7 children age 7 and under, is less desirable than a root canal to many people.
• It's not Thanksgiving without corn with butter, according to 4 year old Ethan. Apparently, it's also not Thanksgiving without 2 kinds of rice, salmon, and guacamole.
  
• Turkey breasts have been engineered to be so big that turkeys can no longer reproduce naturally and need to be, ahem, assisted. So, no turkey sex. Strangely, this doesn't bother me as much as it probably should.
  
• Peeling sweet potatoes is much easier for 7 year old hands than 6 year old hands.
• Apple butter doesn't contain butter. Actually, I already knew this. What I didn't know that it is fairly easy to make and makes a nice gift. More to come on this.
  
• Caterer turkey that is cooked in the same bag it is stored and transported in ends up kind of stewy and not great. Everyone should learn to make turkey like my mom: breast down, with saffron. The end.
• There is nothing better than a 4 day weekend.
• I can survive my daughter being out of school all of Thanksgiving week. Barely.
  
• Black Friday is much, much more enjoyable when you spend those early hours asleep in your bed.
  
• My good friend from 4th grade, whom I hadn't talked to in 25 or so years, is doing well and living in the Bay area. She's lived all over the world, is writing a novel, and has had some really interesting jobs, including a stint as a dominatrix.
  
• My cousin is an, ahem, naturalist. I didn't peg her for this one.
  
• My life seems to be quite boring in comparison.
• You can have pumpkin pie and pumpkin pecan pie and all kinds of other desserts at the Thanksgiving table and still think you'd really like some pumpkin cheesecake.
• Hannukah is way too early this year.
  
• It turns out that I'm more of a "Board Game Night" person than a "let's see how many chemicals we can ingest" partier.
  
• I've never been more thankful for my home, family, good health and all the loved ones who enrich my life every day. Bring on the holiday season!
  

If The Broomstick Fits...

Ride it!

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

Hooray For Halloween!

It's almost Halloween. When our big flood nightmare started, we hoped we'd be done with all the repairs by Halloween. And you know what? We just about are. There a few minor things that still need to be done, but they are cosmetic and not at all urgent. So it's meant a lot to me to be able to get a few decorations put up and actually get excited about the holiday. On Sunday, I took advantage of having my kitchen back by making Halloween pancakes. I used the molds from Williams-Sonoma, but Amazon.com has a variety of shapes.

I am not a pancake pro, and there was a definite learning curve to this process. I learned very quickly not to overfill the molds and that there's no such thing as too much vegetable oil spray. It also helps to have your pan and the molds pretty well heated before starting. After rejecting my first few attempts, I added a little more milk to the batter and achieved much better results. As usual, I ended up with more than I needed, which I love. They went right into the freezer for a little Halloween fun in a couple of weeks.

I'd love to say that my kids were amazed and impressed with my festivity, not to mention my mad culinary skills. At best, they were slightly amused. Except for the little one who wouldn't even taste a bite. My husband said some nice things, but I know he thinks I'm nuts for doing stuff like this. Fortunately, he keeps those comments to himself...at least half the time.

As for me, the greatest thrill was not the actual pancakes. I mean, after all, they're pancakes. It was having a kitchen to cook in and to be able to walk around without fear of stepping on nails or worse. Floors and counters will never again be taken for granted by me. And more than that, it was the fact that I'm once again taking interest and pleasure in the silly little things that bring a smile to one's face. This is huge progress for me and again, something that I'm definitely not taking for granted.

P.S. The last guy kind of looks like a burn victim, but I think that just makes

him look more authentic.

Hats Off to Dad

Although in my self-absorbed little mind, I'm convinced that the world would fall apart if I wasn't there to manage its every detail, it's hard to argue that Dads are pretty nice to have around, too. They light the barbecue, hunt down and kill any insects or rodents who invade the home, fish various items out of toilets, assemble things (sometimes correctly), perform home repairs (sometimes correctly), and still manage to give a bath and change a diaper once in a while.

Of course, Dad does all of the above while managing a commute, bills, annoying bosses or coworkers, Mom's PMS, inflation, babies who don't sleep through the night, deadlines, and kids who discover his secret chocolate stash. No wonder he needs a day all to himself. In our house, days like that are hard to come by, but hopefully the day was a nice one for Ray anyway. This mom knows for sure that she couldn't get along without her kids' wonderful Daddy, even in his current banged-up state.

Thankfully. my mood is much less melancholy today than it was on Mother's Day this year. I have a soft spot in my heart for Dads. Despite all their faults, their failure to understand teenage girls, their grumpiness at times, their tendency to believe that their lectures actually matter to 4 year olds, or that their kids actually care about the score of the football game, they mean well. They love their kids, and their kids' moms, and want to make it all work (but can't help but look wistfully back to the days when their sleep and money were more plentiful). I love and admire the good dads, and similarly feel great contempt for the ones who can't be bothered with their children, who don't get that happy moms make happy families, that their time and love is the greatest gift they can give their kids. Also, my heart hurts a little for all those dads who are serving in the military far away from their kids who just want to wish their dads a happy Father's Day in person. How many of those will never make it home for another Father's Day? Let's pray the number is few, and that all the wonderful dads who fill our lives are blessed with safety and good health. And if they can get a nap in now and then, so much the better.

Moms On My Mind

We've all had Mom on our mind lately. Between Hallmark and all the jewelry store commercials on TV, you'd have to be pretty out of it not to know today is Mother's Day.

My brain has been doing some wonky things to me the last couple of weeks, so I've been much, much more introspective than usual when it comes to today. I've been thinking of all those who are missing their moms so much today, and the moms whose arms and hearts are aching to hold their babies but who can't. I've been thinking of the moms who wonder if this will be the last Mother's Day they'll spend with their kids, if illness or accidents will take them away from each other all too soon.

Through the darkness that I've found myself in recently, some rays of light have been starting to shine in. So I've also been thinking how very, very fortunate I am to get to spend every day with my 3 healthy children. How already we have experienced so much good fortune than some families ever do. I find the joy in my baby's squeals of laughter, in our family dinners together, in our first months living in our new nest. And while I tremble at how frail and fragile and precious it all is, I also marvel at the family we've created and pray for good health and happy days ahead.

I also pause to appreciate all the moms around me. From my friends who are as frazzled every day as I am, to my own mom whose endless help allows me to better mother my own babies. It's true what they say: once you become a mother, it feels like your heart no longer beats in your own body. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Happy Mother's Day to all you beautiful moms.

Not Too Much Going On

The last couple of weeks have been pretty humdrum. Between packing, endless trips to the new house, taking care of the kids (school, activities, award ceremonies, play dates, even baths and meals), a birthday party, and not one but two nights of Passover to celebrate, I hardly noticed when our computer and Ray's car both died on the same morning.

Still, I feel like the end, or at least a major milestone, is in sight. The movers come Friday, ready or not...and the way things are looking, it'll be not. We're so excited to move, and even though the next 3 months will be spent unpacking, getting into a new routine and figuring it all out, we can't wait.

Tomorrow we celebrate Ethan's 4th birthday. It'll be (flourless) chocolate cake and Matzah, but our whole family will be together. He has grown up so much in the last few weeks. Now that potty training seems to be miraculously behind us, he seems so much more mellow and loving. I think over a year of stress was weighing down his little shoulders. I'm really proud of my little guy.

Internet service will be spotty for the next few days. I'll check email when possible but I have no idea when I'll get a chance to post here again. Be seeing you soon and happy Passover to those who are celebrating it!

Happy New Year. No, Really!

Today is the beginning of the celebration of Persian New Year, or Norooz, which translates to "new day." Of all the new year celebrations, I think this is the smartest of all, falling as it does at the beginning of spring, when the world is waking up again, blossoms abound and the air is filled with the sound of chirping birds. Seriously, who feels like celebrating when it's -9 degrees outside?

I'd love to tell you all about this holiday, but I'm on my way to go celebrate it at my parents'. Instead, I'll let you read my sister's version of it here. If you read her blog, you'll find links to her and our mom's haftseens, hers funky, mom's traditional. Me, barely being in survival mode this year, have opted to skip the extra work and enjoy the fruits of their labor instead.

Happy New Year to you all. May it be full of love and light.