InstaFriday

Happy Friday! Hanukkah started Saturday night and we've had a nice evening ritual of lighting candles, opening presents, playing dreidel and eating latkes. Yum! It's also been a busy TKD week; tomorrow morning Ted will mid-term and after lunch all four of us will compete in the first ATA/FMA all-school C tournament. It should be a fun but busy day. Next Thursday is our Holiday Party at TKD and Ted's in the demo - it's going to be really cool. Fun stuff!

12:12pm on 12/12/12. Cool.

So pretty.

Dreidel!

Latkes ... mmm...

Sam's first year to light his menorah without help!

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Ted is home!

Exhausted, dirty, sunburned and full of stories, Ted is home safe and sound. He wants to go for two weeks next year and had a great time. He even offered that "all the Jewish stuff" was kind of cool. :-) Here are some pics from Shabbat day and some goofing around back in Denver after getting off the bus.

Aleph Overnight

I can't wait to hear about what went on at the overnight. They hiked someplace and camped out in a huge teepee. It must have been so fun.

Fun had by boys

More pics of Sam at HHS. What a goof! Today they baked challah and sang/celebrated Shabbat with the oldsters at Frasier Meadows.

It's too bad the Y doesn't take pics of their campers; Mae's camp experience is not at all represented! Rest assured that she and Zoey are having a great time together!

More Shwayder pics!

More pics from Shwayder. Looks like a High Ropes course, some gardening and an evening Rainbow program were on the agenda. How fun!

Bunk Pics!

I know they want us to order these pictures, and I will, but until then, I can't resist looking at them and smiling, because Ted is obviously having a blast. Hooray!

Shwayder!

I sent Ted off to overnight camp yesterday! He was about to burst from excitement. Here are some pics with his friend Jack and Zach. Warren gave the boys a speech about making new friends (love Jack's expression). I sent him a care package that should arrive today or tomorrow (with a diary, pen, book & small stuffie) and we were able to send an email message this morning. Can't wait for pics! I love the moms pic - Heather looks so excited! Hee hee.

more great shots from KHHS

All the kids have had a great first week at their respective camps. Mae loves the Y Camp and gets mad when I pick her up. The boys enjoy biking to HHS and seem to be thoroughly exhausted and happy at the end of the day. I just love the sweetness of KHHS. Look how happy they are! You can see Ted (in orange) behind Sam with Seth. I love this community, this place, these people. We are so lucky!

HHS Camp Fun

While Mae played with Zoey at the Y camp, Ted and Sam enjoyed their first day at HHS Day Camp.

Mae's Pre-K Graduation

Mae graduated today. She was very shy and obviously uncomfortable on the stage, but she stuck it out, sang the songs and even smiled a few times. We are so proud of you, Mae-Mae, and can't wait to see you blossom in Kindergarten!

Passover & Rosa!

It's been a busy few days! Between Easter rehearsals for my church gig, Rosa visiting (remember, we were sick all of March so finally able to move again!) and hosting a seder, it's been lively around here. Rehearsals have been long and slow (those tenors are l-a-m-e!) but the payoff will be good (extra rehearsals mean extra money!). Rosa's visit was great - lots of catching up, some hikes, brunches, lots of coffee and even a massage and pedicure! I can't wait to see her in June when we are in Chicago. We hosted a seder this year and Rosa helped prepare all the food with me - thank goodness! Ted's teacher and her family joined us this year. It was one of my favorites for sure because Ted (and Aria, Julie's daughter) took part and read a lot. I have one copy of A Children's Haggadah and we've xeroxed it and used it each year. This year I made a few more copies and highlighted "parts" for everyone to read. The kids were so proud to be part of it. Besides the reading, my favorite part was watching the boys act out the plagues. Too funny.

Today was a big day in Ted's classroom - the wrapping up of their Egypt studies. Called "a living museum," we were invited to tour the classroom and view all the things the kids had learned about and created (including the chicken they mummified, the 1/100 scale pyramid they constructed and the model of the Sphinx they created out of clay.) Very cool. Tomorrow Ted will give a presentation about the different types of pyramids that were built. This will be videotaped and put into his file for school. He is very nervous - which I think is cute. They are also at work on their play - Ted's play is The Epic of Gilgamesh and he is Humbaba- the monster. My mom, who taught this for years, likens Humbaba to the Black Smoke of Lost lore. The costume aspect of his role frightens me a tad. *gulp*

Rosa flew Southwest this time and informed me of the truly amazing low fares they offer. I checked it out and they are nuts! $69 one way! I am definitely going to fly home from our summer vacation this year! So, if you want to fly somewhere, forget Travelocity and those places and just check Southwest! It's free to check bags too (up to 2 I believe.) Hooray!

Happy Hanukkah!

The first night of Hanukkah was also Shabbat. Mae and I decorated the house while Sam napped and Ted had TKD. When they got home we roused Sam, ate latkes, lit the first candle on the chanukkiah, played dreidal and opened presents from G'ma & G'pa. They got to bed late, almost 10pm! Wow.

Saturday the boys had their Gingerbread House day and I'll have to get pictures up soon - they are so cute. Ted's involves a snowball fight and Sam made a dog run with a dog and his bone in it. Cute!!

Then they had Jason's bday party at the pool, which was fun. And home for Family Presents night! We lit the menorah and went at it. This was certainly a tough year, financially, but the kids did well. They each got one really good present: Ted got a (new to him) DS and a small Indiana Jones Lego set; Sam got a volcano lamp (so cool) and his rainbow blanket, and Mae got (pink!) Legos and a Careesh Tiger Shark. While I wish I could have filled the house with presents for them, they were happy. And so are we. I have a post I'm working on entitled 'Gratitude.' Tonight I have so much to be grateful for, and my wonderful family is top on the list.

Happy Hanukkah!

Snow!

This is our 2nd snow of the year. It looks like a pretty good one out there right now - large flakes coming down fast. Wow! Paul takes the kids to school on Wednesday and while I was supposed to sub, she cancelled so I have the morning to tame the disaster that is our home by Wednesday. All this snow (and my knitting) has put me in the holiday mood a bit earlier than usual. Hanukkah begins on December 11 this year, so I need to be on the ball. I came across this tradition recently and fell in love with it. Our holiday tradition has always been to open one gift per night, for a total of 8 gifts. One was a goodie (like a Lego set) and the others were small but special (new art supplies, a new dreidel, etc.) Last year we decided to open all 8 gifts on the first night, to get the "rush through the candle lighting to get to the presents" issue out of the way. It felt like WAY too much... stuff. I enjoyed the every night tradition because each gift received full attention each night. But at the expense of the true meaning of Hanukkah? Not worth it. This year, we also plan to open gifts all at once. But we will try this on for size. I think it sounds perfect and beautiful. What are your holiday traditions? What do you love and what would you wish to change?

Chag Sameach, and Rosa's visit

Poor Rosa. First I forgot her at the airport (I thought she was arriving Monday night, not Sunday night! A happy surprise!) then she had to help me prepare for Pesach. We had such a great visit; the weather was amazing. My favorite day was Tuesday when we hiked the Mesa trail off of Chautauqua and had brunch at The Kitchen. We cooked up a host of goodies too. She also helped me bake our GF matzah. The best news of all is that Ted really likes it - hooray! We introduced her to the craziness that is a seder with five active children. Luckily there was plenty of wine, so she survived. It was a wonderful visit and I can't wait to visit her in June, if our 8th grade reunion really materializes. 

Here are some great pics of Ted and Sam at the seder (we went to Ted friend Annie's house). Mae stayed clothed in her original pretty dress but had a very good time nonetheless.

Saturday

It has been a whirlwind around here lately. Friday I kept Ted home from school to recoop after a week of intense TKD practice. That night we both tested and advanced, so we are psyched. He wrote that goal for himself in January and is very pleased with himself for achieving it, a few days early no less. I think some other kind folks took some pictures of Ted for me, so I'll post them as soon as I get them.

Then this morning it was Consecration at HHS for the 1st graders. I missed the memo on dressing up (there was a picture, and we (the parents) presented the kids with their own little torahs) but as Wendy pointed out, Saturday morning in the temple probably assumes a step up in attire. Now we know.

After that, we had a quick lunch at O's, picked up Ted's GF DF EF cake, and headed over to the party. It was a BLAST. Miss Holland, Mr. D, little Mr. D, mini Mr. D, and Miss Lang kept the kids moving with tons of fun games. I think the hit was the obstacle course. After lots of games, lots of situps, and lots of "Yes, Ma'am!"s, they all had cake and a goodie bag. All his Horizons friends got together together and got him the Lego Miners Crystal Sweeper ... he is in heaven. He is also totally excited to ski with his friend Alex, who drew him the cutest Lego Miner card, complete with crystals. He bounced around the room for quite a while after reading that card, remembering the (little) terrain park and the one blue run they did last year ("This year we can do all blues!" he said.) An exhausting but fun day. 

I have tons of pics and am going to get them on flickr asap. Happy Birthday Party, Ted! 

P.S. Yes, his head is buzzed and ATA is shaved into the back of his head. Mrs. D did that. He thinks it is so cool. 

A fun weekend

Saturday night's Reflections event was a very good time. Ted had ski school in the morning and I got my hair and nails done. I don't do this regularly, so it was a nice treat. Ted lost a pole on the chair lift, which we should be able to retrieve next week. He also graduated from Blue to Beginning Black, a huge milestone for him. He has a report card and everything, listing what he's mastered, what he's just learning and what he's practicing. 

Anyway, Reflections was really fun. I enjoy getting fancy once or twice a year, and this time I did go all out, just for the heck of it. Hair, makeup, nails, fancy dress, even earrings! I "won" a month membership to Lakeshore, which I am very excited about using. Also some adorable Sticky Mango Designs T-shirts for Mae. She loves those shirts (Tara's designs). Reflections was a fundraiser for the new JCC building being built in the next few years. I love events like this, where the entire Jewish community is there. It is a pretty large community, that's for sure. Beautifully done. 

This morning I ran the Frozen Foot 5K, very slowly, in 32 minutes. It was a great morning for a run. Then we had chavurah, which was very mellow. I am so tired. We even did Level 1 of the Shred tonight. On to Level 2 again tomorrow. 

Fun times

We went skiing on Wednesday. The weather report reported -20 with windchill. It was cold and incredibly gusty. I tried to take video but all you can see is swirling snow. Most of Eldora was closed, but Little Hawk and EZ were open, so Nancy and Ted did quite a few runs. We took the ski bus and that was an adventure too. Today we went to the zoo. It was a balmy 52! Pics on moeltini. Tonight we played a rousing game of dreidel and had delicious latkes. I have finally discovered my perfect latke recipe. Hooray! Since today is Christmas Day, I fixed Mel's traditional oyster stew too. Nancy and Paul both enjoyed the meal.

Happy Hanukkah!

Tonight is the 3rd night of Hanukkah. We spent the day literally hanging out at home. It was one of the slowest days ever but everyone seemed to be ok with that. After lighting candles, we opened presents and the kids were in heaven. Lots and lots of cute pics on moeltini. Skiing tomorrow!

more bullets?!

What can I say? Paul's been sick and we've had a crazy week! I PROMISE there will be pics soon. 

• Ted is testing for his Blue Belt on Tuesday. He is also going to start in the Leadership program in January. Notice the nifty striped collar and yellow patch. Kewl.
• I am testing for my Green Belt. Yikes! I can't make the testing (Xmas reh) so I'll do it in class next week.
• Paul's been sick again. He's on the mend now but this one was a douzy.
• The engineer from the warranty company is scheduled to come out on Jan. 14. I am annoyed that we have to wait that long for someone to re-do a report that's already been made, but whatever. If it's all covered, it will be all worth it! 
• Sam had a fabulous day at preschool today. They prepared latkes and ate them for snack AND played dreidal with real chocolate gelt. And Sam got gimel. So he got tons of gelt. He was talking about it all afternoon. Cutie. 
• Mae has been more ornery that usual. Hmm. Marilyn comes next Thursday for Mae's first EMDR session. Should be interesting!
• Our friend Epin received her referral for her baby yesterday! Pax is soooo cute! Hana Hu is very excited to be a big sister. The excitement is so strong for those of us watching them prepare...I remember how incredible the wait til travel is. 
• We've discovered a meal we'll all eat!! It's fish tacos. The kids eat the fish sticks, shredded cheese and tortillas separately while Paul and I make tacos complete with salsa/soy mayo sauce and cabbage. Truly delicious and easy.  

That's all folks! 

Gut Yontif!

Whew. I made it. We had two back to back Kol Nidre services on Wednesday night, followed by two morning Yom Kippur services. After a brief hour, we had the 3+ hour afternoon services, ending around 7pm. I was BEAT. But happy and inspired. Our rabbis at Har Hashem are awesome, but I always enjoy a good sermon, and while these were LOOOOOONG, they were also fantastic.

Paul survived while I was gone and apparently Ted wore a suit to YK (his choice). He took the kids to a break fast at Jen's and actually got home after I did last night.

Today Ted went to our new holistic pediatrician. He's going to supplement, not replace, our regular (and much beloved) pediatrician, but I wanted a 2nd opinion on the asthma. I was actually pleasantly surprised at his practical approach. He put him back on Pulmicort/Albuteral nebs twice a day and also ramped up his supplements. We discovered that Ted can swallow pills now (he is SO proud) so I don't have to fight with him over the fish oils anymore; he can just pop the gel cap into his mouth and swallow it. Hooray! Everything else we'll just add to his smoothie. He was very accepting of this today so let's hope it continues. Basically, he's getting the same stuff, but lots more of it. He also ordered more bloodwork to test his zinc and iron levels, as well as a celiac test to test for gluten intolerance. Between no dairy and no meat, we're hard pressed enough, but if we need to go off gluten too (I say WE because we eat what Ted eats; no forbidden foods in the house) we're going to have to stop eating out all together. Which might help the pocketbook I suppose.

Off to bed. But TONS of new pics on moeltini. Enjoy!

PS Our house is freshly painted and looks great!