The three Z's Zachary, Zoe & Zevi: 1st 2 nights of Hanukkah

Here are the kids on the first night of hanukkah - we set up our hanukkiot (menorahs) in the kitchen window this year as now that we have the piano our 'old' spot isn't available. This works better as now when we display our burning candles people might actually see as they drive by! Of course we still have our light up menorah in the window too - and the house is decorated with lots of the kids old decorations from preschool. We are using both hanukkiot the kids made and hanukkiot we already had each night - always fun to pull all that stuff out. No one made a hanukkiah this year, they are too big we guess.
First night was movie night, the kids got new DVDs and they watched one afterwards (Tom and Jerry). Daddy got an iPad, which he loves, well, we all love! And Mama got a bound book of the blog so far, what a treat to look at the last 3 years of posts, can't wait for you to see it too.

On Sunday was the shul hanukkah party which Mama helped to organize. The kids had a lot of fun - and here you see them showing the hanukkah cookies they decorated with edible paints. They enjoyed eating them too - but they were very sweet, as Zoe gave Mama a taste of hers.

After the Hanukkah party , we lit our candles at home and Daddy and the kids posed for another picture. The kids each lit their own hanukkiah, but Daddy helps to put the Shamash in after they light.

The second night was presents sent from Grammy and Grandpa - Zoe got a fashion designer set and Zachary got the Crayola light designer. They also each got a book of Judith Voirst poems, which Zoe and Mama read some of at bedtime. They were both excited, although the light designer was the big hit (we can see why this is a 'hot toy' this year) - kids had a lot of fun playing with it that night and in the morning. However, Zoe also designed a beautiful dress with her kit and we think she will enjoy it for a while, plus it is a lap desk so it is good for travel.