I was really looking forward to it this year. We don't buy a lot of toys for the kids during the rest of the year, so Hannah began making requests in September, and I felt so fortunate to be able to get her so many of the things she wanted. But the big cause for excitement was Max. At this age, Hannah attended a family daycare, so Hanukkah wasn't such a big deal with her. But with Max attending the JCC, he had the holiday down. We'd been hearing about candles, dreidels, latkes and Chanukiahs for weeks, so he was ready to go.
We had some wonderful events during the last eight days. The first night of Hanukkah was Shabbat as well, so we got to enjoy celebrating both simultaneously. We opened the Wii Fit, and (mostly) Hannah's been enjoying that. Saturday night Marc and I attended a holiday party at our friends Darci and Ben's house, and we had a great time there. On Sunday I finally got to meet my friends Allison and Mark's new baby, Micah, who was just adorable (and loves being bounced around). Sunday night brought Julie and Mike over for our 3rd annual Hanukkah celebration with latkes and more time with the Wii. On Tuesday night Marc took the kids to the Temple Emanuel Hanukkah party while I attended a party for work. Wednesday night Marc and the kids also made a stop at the JCC ELC Hanukkah party. Thursday was our last night to celebrate at home, after Hannah enjoyed an after school play date, and Max was a bit upset when he woke the next morning and saw there were no more presents to open. Friday night we traveled to Hartford to spend the last night of Hanukkah with Marc's parents, and then Saturday morning we had a mini-family party with Rachel, Jon and the twins, and Aunt Melinda, scaled down because of the impending snow storm. Hopefully we'll get to see everyone else when we try to reconvene the party next weekend. We definitely crammed a lot in.
It may be a bit gratuitous, but I'm going to list what we got for the kids this year. We really put a lot of thought into what we chose for them, and I think it was our most successful flurry of presents yet. We bought almost all of it online this year, and if I was really motivated, I'd put in links for everything, but this will have to do (it doesn't total to eight since Julie and Mike were one night, and the Stobers another night). Hannah got American Girl doll bunk beds, Bendaroos, a color-your-own messenger bag, a candy jewelry maker, the Littlest Pet Shop game for Wii, and a really girly kipah. Max got a stuffed Torah, new letter magnets, wooden blocks and a wooden helicopter, and two sweaters, one with a train and the other with a Jeep. Marc's present is this new sign for our kitchen, reminding us of a great trip we took to New Orleans in 2001 (and documenting the most requested items in our kitchen, coffee and milk). I received a new scarf to go with my new winter coat.
So today we'll be sitting home and admiring the snow. Marc will finally get to try out our new snow blower. I'm only working three days this week, and will be taking a bit of time off to spend Hannah's first winter break with her. We've got a lot planned for the coming weeks as well, so stay tuned!
A few images to leave you with...
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