Chanukah Shabbot is A Lot...

OF FUN, FRIENDS, FAMILY, FOOD, & LOVE!

On the seventh day - god rested! 

This year on the 7th night of Chanukah - we got Shabbot (the rest day)!  Whoop! Whoop!

We invited a few very very close friends over for Chanukah Shabbot and it was perfect.  Seriously perfect.

Jonah and Vera played the night away with their good buddies and Mama and I were able to connect with a few of our best best friends - and all of this happened in the light of the seven candles on the menorah.

It was just good. 

The kids played with the awesome gifts they got from Auntie Renee the night before - coloring pages, stickers, markers, stamps and more.  They also had a serious game of dreidel going as well. 

The adults ate some good food and chatted around the table for a long time.

There was some reading of comic books by Jonah and Mama.

There was a ton of desert!!  Earlier in the afternoon, I went special to get the Israeli donuts - sufganyiot from the kosher store - and they were yummy.  Our friends showed up with super special cupcakes and the kids were gobbling chocolate gelt when they weren't laughing or playing!

It was really nice to be surrounded by our buddies and enjoying a Friday night Shabbot and 7th night of Chanukah.  I am thankful for it all!

Spooky Shabbat!

Last Friday we had a little Spooky Shabbat action with our Auntie C here at home and then we ventured down Conn Ave to the National Zoo for Boo @ the Zoo!

This was Jonah's & Vera's second visit to Boo @ the Zoo.  It is an experience.  First of all, you get to hang out at the zoo after hours and in the dark.  WOW! And then there is all the candy you get while "trick or treating" at the zoo! 

Of course, en route to the zoo, Jonah fell asleep in the car.  He managed to stay asleep while I moved him into the stroller and strolled him around the super crowded zoo... everyone who walked by would yell and point, "Look it is sleeping spidey!"

I finally woke him up and he got into it - sort of - but he would not get out of the stroller!  That is, until he insisted on the way out, that we go into the small mammal house - and we actually had a good time in there. 

Vera was wide eyed from the first minute we entered the zoo!  She loved of every minute of her ride in the stroller!  She was talking up a storm!  Saying "trick or treat" and "thank you" at every treat stop!  You know, just stealing the show as spidergirl!

We all had a very good time and I was happy that we did it.  I was originally hesitant to go - Jocelyn was out of town for work but then Auntie Chris said she would go with us and I figured - why not?  Let's give it a try.  We could always just go home!

It was a great way to kick start the trick or treat experience!  Here's to continuing our Boo @the Zoo tradition! 

Shabbat Shalom Everyone!



Shabbat Shalom! From SpiderGirl!



lighting the candles

saying the blessing

covering our eyes!



now the wine!



and the challah!

 



finally at the zoo!



sleepyhead!

back home with all our loot!

Camp Shabbot!

We still have some posts left over from August to get out of the way, and this one is a Shabbot one - so here it is!  Happy Friday everyone!  And Shabbot Shalom!

In the midst of our less than august August, I decided we needed a good dose of backyard camping fun!  We went all out - we had a super deluxe tent with 3 "fold down flaps" that had a lake, a cookout station, and a forest trail on them.  But that wasn't all.  It also came with whole a set of cooking out paraphernalia including a little camp fire that lit up and made noise, and a whole set of camp out pots, pans, cups and canteen!  We also had lawnmowers, horse shoe game, golf, watering cans, a little set of table and chairs perfectly sized for my Jonah & Vera.  Their chairs were froggys!  They also had matching red Elmo camping hats!  We had breakfast, lunch, snacks and shabbot dinner in the backyard at our camp site!  We BBQ'd a dinner of super camp food - hot dogs!  And yes, after dinner we even toasted some s'mores over a little flame!

During the afternoon Jonah & I made butterfly nets from recycled stuff - a big milk jug, paper towel holder and a plastic netting bag that some pool toys came in.  It was fun to make them and even more fun watching the kids trying to catch the butterflies!

It was a good old fashioned camp out in our little backyard. While August may not have been august, we still managed to have our share of fun!

ready for breakfast

our tent

horseshoes

mowing

 

A little milk break!

 

sweeping up a bit

watering the plants

making the butterfly nets

golf

shabbot dinner

after dinner camping fun

and now some smores!

long good day camping!