Just for the Mitzvah

This post could be taken exactly as the title says, as I could be writing it just for the mitzvah of letting people know about this great company with the hard-to-find website. With last year's BBQ craft, apple picture frames, a huge success, I wanted to find something even better this year. So I had the idea to prepare Simchat Torah flags, and to encourage everyone to bring their flags back for our celebration of the holiday later that week. After a lot of searching around, trying to cobble together the items I'd need, Stephanie sent me to the following.

The company is called Just for the Mitzvah, and can be found here. You can't order things on the site itself, and it looks like the site is composed of catalog pages. So really, there's not a lot of detail. But I took a gamble and ordered the velour Simchat Torah flags, with glue-on Torahs and sequins. I bought glue and some markers as well.

The craft was great! The kids were really creative with how they decorated the flags, and since the projects took a few minutes to complete, it gave me time to chat up their parents too. And I did see a few of the flags at our synagogue celebration as well. All in all a great project, and I would happily recommend Just for the Mitzvah!

Meet Me at the Fair

Our plans for this weekend made it on the calendar several months ago. Fillis had mentioned wanting to go to a fair with all of us this fall, so I looked up the dates for the Big E, which typically conflicts with the Jewish holidays. But the fair concluded October 3, so we were able to find a day to go.

Being a bit tired from all of the holidays, we spent a lazy Saturday morning at home. Marc made us a brunch feast, which we all really enjoyed. Later in the day we made it to Hartford, where Hannah got to show off her attempts at riding a bike without training wheels. Nate and Evie were visiting as well, and we had a great time going to the playground with all four kids. After the younger kids went to bed, Hannah and Fillis settled in to watch "Meet Me in St. Louis" to get ready for the fair the next day.

Marc and I took advantage of the free baby-sitting opportunity to go see "The Social Network," which we really enjoyed. Afterward we went to the Goldroc Diner, which has become a bit of a post-late-movie-in-Hartford tradition for us.

Unfortunately, Evie woke up the next morning with a bit of a cold, so she and Fillis had to stay home. The remaining six of us piled into the Traverse, and the two little boys had a ball being in the car together, and later, sharing the double stroller. We had a great time walking all over, seeing the animals, sharing the junk food we bought, and putting Hannah and Max on a few of the rides. Nate behaved so well - far better than our kids would have at his age! We stayed until the parade had finished passing us by. After dropping off John and Nate, we headed home. It was a really great day!

End of September Catch Up

- Both kids are doing well at school so far. Hannah's enjoying the challenge of first grade, and is excited to be taking both karate and pottery during After Care this year. We went to the Back to School picnic and curriculum night, and later this week is the After Care potluck. Hannah also had her first "sharing day" today and she had to bring three special items. She chose her Torah from last year's consecration ceremony, her purple karate belt, a picture of her "Mary Poppins" Broadway show snow globe (no way was that being brought on the bus!). Max really enjoyed the JCC sukkah and is remembering more about his days at school too. I also attended curriculum night there, and did well on a quiz to identify each kid in the class. Max's clue was "I have an older sister and I love Thomas trains" - definitely accurate.
- Yom Kippur had a couple of nice moments this year. I took a vacation day the day before, so we had plenty of time to eat a meal together before the holiday began. Hannah joined me for Kol Nidre services, where I got the very special honor of holding a Torah scroll during the main prayer itself. I was pretty nervous, especially about how my back would hold up, but it went well. All four of us made it to the concluding services this year, and the kids loved receiving glow necklaces during Havdalah.
- Sukkot was a great success this year too. Fillis and John came to help us put up the sukkah, and we had plenty of time to get it all done in advance of the holiday - I even used the staple gun for attaching decorations this year. We had some very nice meals in the sukkah, including dinner with Julie and Mike, and threw our annual sukkah party. We had a great time catching up with so many friends and neighbors, and it was wonderful to actually get to be outside this year, on what turned out to be a very hot day! It was especially great to have Rachel and Jon bring my niece and nephew, Evie and Nate, to our house for the first time!
- The annual synagogue BBQ was also during Sukkot, and it was another great event. We rented an extra large bouncy house this year, complete with a basketball hoop and slide (thank you DifferRentals!). Once again, Ana did an excellent job with face painting, and the balloon twisters are always a hit. I also had a great craft this year, with more details to come in another post. (Marc also took Max to Touch a Truck while Hannah and I got everything ready at the BBQ!)
- Finally, Simchat Torah began on September 30. Marc let the kids take a day off from school on October 1 to join him at synagogue.

September was totally crazy, celebrating all the holidays during the start of the school year, but I think we managed to do everything we wanted to do and more (like getting the kids their flu shots, and getting our dishwasher, oil lines and sprinklers all fixed and/or maintained - oh joy! [Thanks, Marc!]).

Life Is, Indeed, Good

We spent Labor Day unpacking from our trip and letting Hannah have one last day at home before the start of first grade the following morning. Marc took Hannah to her first day back at Bowen. She is off to a great start, liking her teacher and having lots of friends in the class. She seems to have fallen right back into the routine.

I had two busy days at work, and since the JCC was still closed for the week, I brought Max downtown to Bright Horizons. He loved taking the commuter rail and had a great time there. And then we were thrown right into the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, which fell so early this year, followed on its heels by Shabbat. It was a pretty quiet three days, which included the celebration of Marc's birthday. Hannah started religious school on Sunday (same comments on great start, teacher and friends apply here), so it was four days in a row of being at Temple Emanuel.

After religious school we made our way to Canton to attend the annual Life is Good Festival, which was held for the first time on a much grander scale this year. There were stages for both kid and adult acts, though our kids seemed equally happy to dance around in front of either stage. Everything was very well organized though we were very tired and dirty by the time we left. We had a great time though, and Hannah said that Marc and I are "cool." Well, maybe in the eyes of a six year old, but I'll take it where I can get it. :)

Max started back at the JCC yesterday and was anxious to get back there this morning to play with the toy bus. The next few weeks are filled with back to school events and meetings, plus Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Life is busy as always, but indeed, good.

"Vacation, All I Ever Wanted"

After carefully planning our vacation time to coincide with an end-of-the-summer gap in childcare, I was so very ready for a break when we finally packed up the car on August 31.

We began with about an 8 hour drive to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, all of us using our new passports for the first time. Max informed us along the way that we were going to "polka dot" and then chimed in from the backseat when Marc informed the border guards that we're from Newton, Massachusetts. We arrived at our hotel and took in the great views before getting dinner and walking along the falls. We used the "incline train" to get back up the hill to our hotel and then we all went swimming. Hannah must have gone down the water slide two dozen times, absolutely loving it. We made it back to our room just in time to see fireworks over the falls. The following day we took part in a tour that took us to all of the main Niagara Falls attractions - Journey Behind the Falls, Maid of the Mist, a butterfly exhibit (one landed on a very displeased Max's head), and the Skylon Tower. We had such a great time, and were so glad we made the side trip.

We drove the remaining hours to Solon and arrived late in the evening on Wednesday. We spent most of Thursday at home with Grandma Susan, where the kids really enjoyed all of their new toys and playing with the dogs. On Friday we tried to go to the zoo, but were foiled by rain, so we ended up at the Western Reserve Historical Society, and then had dinner at the best pizza place I know, Geraci's. Saturday started out rainy, windy and cold, but we persevered and went to the Taste of Cleveland for lunch, and then to the Cleveland Air Show. Marc and the kids toured several of the dozen or so planes they had assembled, and then we watched the Blue Angels show, which was incredibly impressive. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, Max, or Grandpa Hal getting to be there with Max. Marc and I got to meet up with Betsy and Bill, and it was great to catch up with them. We had such a great trip, that even 13 hours in the car to drive home couldn't put a damper on it. Thanks again for having us, Mom and Dad, and we hope to get to see you again soon!

August - Get Rid of It?

It's been a rough August. On Slate, an annually recycled piece encourages us to just get rid of the month. After a very busy and fun July, I have to admit that this month has been kind of a drag.

We attempted the Southwick Zoo in Mendon the first day of the month, but left after only a couple of hours because all four of us weren't feeling all that well. I took just ONE picture on that excursion, when normally I'd have taken many, so that's a strong indicator of how we were all feeling.

The following weekend was quiet - we attended the new Family Service at Temple Emanuel, which Marc and I are helping out with (but really, it's all rock star Pam). On Sunday Newton had an event where they closed the streets to traffic near Crystal Lake, and we had a great time, with Marc and Hannah on their bikes, and me pushing Max in the stroller.

Unfortunately, that ended up straining my back muscles too much, and I have been in pain for about two weeks now. Definitely nowhere near the level of pain I experienced last winter, but not insignificant either. I've been trying to take it easy since then, and now I know that pushing the stroller is a bit too much for me, but it's still very disappointing.

Fillis and John came over to hang out with us the next weekend, and it was great to see them when we didn't have a big event to attend. Marc and I took the kids to buy new sneakers - specifically to the Sketchers store. Sketchers advertises CONSTANTLY on the channels the kids watch, and it is one of the few brands that Max can proudly identify (even if he can't quite pronounce it). Max chose some totally obnoxious light-up shoes that look like flames are emerging from the toes (he loves them) and Hannah got her first pair with laces. Another fun milestone to pass.

Max also got to spend a day with Fillis and John on his own, and he had a great time going to the beach and riding in a boat. Hannah had her second and final Arts Nite of the summer; this time she played the part of a duchess and said "do drop in for tea sometime" in her best British accent, wearing a very fancy red dress.

This past weekend wasn't all that fun. Our dishwasher stopped working on Saturday, after just 3 years in use. We are awaiting a repair person, and we'll see what happens with that. It's an LG, and I've use the #LifeIsNotGood hash tag on Twitter to describe the situation. We're also attempting potty training with Max. As Marc said, if potty training were similar to getting your driver's license, Max could easily pass the written test, but he's not ready for the open road.

Camp is now over, and Hannah's in an extra week at the JCC for "vacation camp," which thankfully is going very well. This weekend we'll be packing up for our annual road trip to Ohio to see my parents. We leave on Tuesday, and will be spending the night in Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side (yay for our new passports!). Then we'll have three days in Ohio, and we're hoping for good weather so we can check out the zoo and the air show. After the drive home, Hannah will have Labor Day to rest at home and purchase any last minute school supplies, as she will start first grade on Tuesday. Max doesn't go back to the JCC until September 13 due to Rosh Hashanah.

So even though August wasn't the greatest month, I guess there was still plenty to write about. I'm very excited for September though - I love fall and we have so many exciting plans ahead of us.

July Rolls Along

Highlights from the past few weeks:

- Hannah started camp at the JCC, meaning Marc gets the honor of both dropping off and picking up the kids each day (yay for me getting to work early! SUCH a difference in my day). She's enjoyed camp, but has been very tired and often cranky. Her first Arts Nite of the summer was this week, and not only was she a "star" in her group's show, but she made some lovely artwork as well. We stayed to watch the Upper Camp's production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and I was incredibly impressed.
- Over Fourth of July weekend Marc and I left the kids with Fillis and John (thanks again!) and had a great time. We saw a movie, ate out at a few restaurants, and tackled some big home projects: painting our dining room and hanging a bunch of pictures along our staircase. Both projects came out beautifully, and I'm so thrilled to have them done. The kids had a great time away too.
- We had some fun dinners catching up with the Weitzman, Falkenstein and Tarr families. I love how summer makes things seem simpler and getting together for dinner, even on a weeknight, is easier.
- I had multiple cavities filled. Since they were in different parts of my mouth, I had to do it in shifts, and one of the three experiences was totally awful. I am so relieved to have that behind me, and am hoping for a stretch of time without any major medical interventions (PLEASE).
- Marc's parents spent some time on Cape Cod and we joined them for a day on the beach and around Hyannis. At first Hannah was scared of the water, so I had about an hour of swimming and floating to myself, which was so relaxing. Marc and I got very sunburned though, but his body deals with it better than mine it seems. He's gotten a tan while I'm still peeling and as pale as ever.
- Max had his turn as Shabbat Helper for the Room E Elephants. He did a great job with the songs and prayers, including saying his "Shabbat feeling" was over on the table where the candles and kiddush cup were (you're supposed to say a body part, as in, "I've got that Shabbat feeling here in my heart").

And now we're in the middle of Julie and Mike's wedding weekend festivities. Last night we had a lovely Shabbat service and dinner, and this morning we're going to the aufruf. Marc will be chanting Torah and Hannah can't wait to throw candy at the bride and groom. Tonight I'm having a mini-reunion with some of my Brandeis pals, and tomorrow is the big day. I'm so happy to be included in all of these wonderful events, and absolutely thrilled for Julie and Mike. I never imagined the first friend I made at Brandeis would still be my best friend fourteen years later, and I feel very blessed to have them both in our lives.