3rd night of Hanukkah

We went to Maryland to spend some of Hanukkah with Aunt Rebecca, Uncle Brian, Joshua and Ethan. It was a great visit - we lit candles and had shabbat dinner together. Saturday night we even went to a Hanukkah party at the Shul where Uncle Brian had his Bar Mitzvah. We loved being together during Hanukkah for the second year in a row and think it might now be a family tradition - next year in New Haven with the new baby (girl) cousin!

Zoe got a load of new baby (doll) accessories which she was very excited about and loved! Zachary got a very cool lounger chair for his room and a telescope. Thanks Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Brian.

Ethan spent a lot of the weekend with his Uncle Glenn - great pals and so cute together.

A very belated Happy Birthday to Uncle Brian - who finally got his gift from us, a new Polo sweatshirt which he loved and wore to the Hanukkah party saturday night. We thought he looked pretty spiffy.

Zachary helped to set up the candles in the Hanukkiot, he also lead some of the blessings for shabbat and helped Joshua with his train set up. It was a great weekend, everyone had a blast!

2nd night of Hanukkah

Daddy was with us for the second night of Hanukkah and took the great shot of our display of hanukkiot. Both Zachary and Zoe had new ones they made this year.

Note Zachary's new Hannukiah - the one in the front of this picture - multiple colors and free form. He made it at school and he was very proud of it. He even tried to coordinate candle colors to the bases.

Daddy got his present - a new lens for the camera and it came with other photography accessories including a camera bag, tripod and more. He was very happy and the kids enjoyed helping him unwrap everything. Mama got a new calendar, and a new knife. The kids got movies and games for the big trip to Maryland for the next nights of Hanukkah ... stay tuned.

1st night of Hanukkah 2010

First night of Hanukkah 2010 ... Daddy had to work, but Mama and the kids had a great time decorating and setting up the Hanukkiot. We each lit candles and then the kids got gifts from Mahma Rita and Aunt Marcia - a suitcase and a Cinderella costume. There were also some treats from Mama. The kids enjoyed their gifts and the hanukkah gelt too. Stay tuned for the rest of Hanukkah.

"un" Thanksgiving pictures

As you may (or may not know) we celebrate thanksgiving in a very non traditional way, and in so doing , call it "un" thanksgiving. However, it is very important to note that we do not mean to be unthankful, in fact quite the opposite. We (as a family) donated a turkey (since we don't eat one) and we also bought bowls handmade by local potters to support the community soup kitchen in honor of Thanksgiving.

So for our "un" thanksgiving, we watch the parade and eat donuts, stay in PJs as long as possible and make homemade pasta to eat (Daddy and the kids do this while Mama makes side dishes and pasta sauce) and bake cheesecake (Daddy with help). It turns out to be a yummy DAIRY feast and fun to prepare with the most stressful moments being the removal of the cheesecake from the oven and whether the ravioli actually float.

This year the ravioli floated beautifully but the cheesecake sunk a bit - however it tasted delicious and both kids wanted seconds.




This was one of our favorite pictures of the day, because Zachary and Daddy look adorable and you can see all the lovely raviolis that we made.

Zoe made many beautiful things at school for Thanksgiving this year so we displayed them at her spot at the table.

Note the side dishes: roasted brussel sprouts (kids wouldn't try, Mama and Daddy loved them) and spaghetti squash baked with pesto and cheese.

Besides ravioli, we made flat noodles which hung from the chandelier both to dry and to add ambiance to our pasta themed dinner. We had a great day and a fabulous dinner as a family. Zachary said he was thankful for the food (as well as trees and air) and Zoe was thankful for dogs and babies.

Hope everyone else also had a wonderful holiday however you spent it.

Happy Hanukkah!

Our Hanukkah cards went out, so now we wanted to post the pictures Daddy took of the kids for the card. The kids were good sports (thankfully) and we were able to get some great pictures of them together and individually. These are the best ones, as you probably already know if our card has arrived.

Happy Hanukkah and stay tuned for pictures from our Thanksgiving celebration and then Hanukkah!

Happy 8th Anniversary and Final Garden Harvest

We celebrated our 8th anniversary with a night out. Thanks to Mona for watching the kids for us. A delicious dinner out during New Haven Restaurant Week (we are lucky to have our anniversary always fall during Restaurant Week). We enjoyed our time out, talking and eating. We can't believe it has already been 8 years , the time has flown by. Later that week the kids saw the Highlights of our wedding video and they were actually quite captivated, Zoe loved seeing Mama as a bride and Zachary recognized a lot of the family despite their younger appearances.

The last of the garden was harvested: carrots, beets, and the final tomatoes. We gave the carrot tops away to our friends who enjoyed them tempura style. We cooked up the carrots and beets for a special shabbat lunch that was almost entirely vegan. The carrots could have grown a little longer but we were worried about the overnight frost warnings. Next year we will even try potatoes.

Halloween 2010

The kids were very excited to dress up and go trick-or-treating, and most especially to get candy. They both wore thermals under their costumes to keep warm and carried the bags that Mamma Rita and Aunt Marcia got them years ago. Zoe wore a new costume this year, a poodle girl which we hope she will wear again for Purim cause it was so cute. We think she needs saddle shoes to complete the look. Zachary was very happy to wear Darth Vader again especially since he was going trick-or-treating with his friend who was Han Solo. Here are the kids before we left the house.

Being silly in the kitchen later on ... Zachary thought wearing Zoe's boa (her own addition to her costume, which did make a great scarf) was hilarious and Zoe making faces as always.



Upon leaving a house both kids were excited to collect the candy and they tried to remember to say thank you each time. They were very good about saying trick-or-treat and Zachary thought saying smell my feet, give me something good to eat was pretty funny too. We were very glad to have Daddy meet up with us on his way home from work. It was a lot of fun!

Fall fun 2010

Visit to a local orchard to get pumpkins with Grammy and Grandpa. Lots of photo opps of the kids ... stay tuned for our Hanukkah card these outfits will look familiar.

This tractor is so cool, and there is room for both kids, what fun!

Zoe is looking at the animals with Grammy Ellen.

funny candids

Zoe borrowed Mama's hat ... and we couldn't resist getting a picture of this adorable look! The hat is really too big but it looks so cute that some days we might just have to let her wear it.

Zachary got dressed to head to the pool and insisted on keeping his tie-dye on with his baithing suit despite some effort on our part to convince him he looked, a bit busy. Well, we do think it is good to exercise your fashion sense (or nonsense) so we let him go ... and by the way isn't this another awesome homemade tie-dye???

Zoe's School Apple Picking Field Trip

It's fall in New England and Zoe's pre-school took their annual field trip to Rose Orchards. Daddy had the day off from work and got to 'chaperone' the trip. Zoe and daddy were very excited to pick apples, wander through the hay maze, see the animals and take a haunted hay ride.

Zoe enjoying her third red delicious. She couldn't resist picking (and eating) more than the 2 'allowed' by the orchard....

"Can we have this one daddy? How about this one? We can have them all daddy...." Zoe and daddy enjoyed the orchard so much that they brought Zachary, grammy and grandpa back there a couple weeks later (photos to be posted soon....)

Zoe's 4th Birthday

Our baby girl turned 4 years old! We knew she loved princesses so we made her a princess themed birthday party in our Sukkah and had a funny Magician come and perform for all the kids. Zoe (and Zachary) had a great time and we felt it was another successful birthday party!
Zachary giving birthday kisses to Zoe on the morning of her birthday when she was opening presents ... little did they know what was waiting downstairs see below
A giant doll house (behind Zoe) that was fun for everyone, complete with furniture and figures! Zoe is wearing a new dress that GG brought her, doesn't she look adorable?
On Zoe's actual birthday we celebrated in the sukkah with yummy cheesecake and GG and Zadie were with us.

On the day of the party Zoe dressed up in a beautiful dress that Grammy had given her . The family was very excited to celebrate with all our friends.
Zachary was a good sport for the Magician who had lots of tricks up his sleeve.
Zoe's favorite trick was when the bunny appeared in the box, and then when she go to hold the bunny in her lap and all her friends could come up and pet the bunny.
Princess cupcake cake in the shape of a 4, was so cute and delicious! And an adorable picture with Zadie.

Grammy and Grandpa enjoyed the party too ... and we all set together to watch the Magician. Did you notice that Glenn had shaved his beard, doesn't he look different?


Make a wish ... hope it came true!