Monday, December 26, 2005

Chanukah 2005

First night of Chanukah (well, at least our first night lol) - we made a zillion latkes and a VERY unjewish (or as my friend says, Half-assed jew) dinner of baked ham. It was SOOOOOO Yummy! Just a twinge of guilt, really



Tomorrow we will have our BIG game of dreidle, Thank you Bob for the gelt! And then on Wednesday we are having Chris and Reyna and their girls over for dinner - so another big dinner AND dreidle AND hot tub! YAY!! Here's the yummy Latkes we made:

Looking forward to more nights of candles with the OCL (Official Candle Lighter, not to be confused with OCCL, who is too young to light candles :D) and some days off with Jerry later in the week.

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Christmas Day 2005

Woke up at 4:45, nursed Ori for about an hour, fell back to sleep till Beca tiptoed in, around 6:30 I think. She was quite gentle and sweet, not trying to wake anyone. Eventually I told her she could turn on the tube and watch A Christmas Story (which was on for 24 hrs. straight LOL) which she happily did. Ori woke around 7 and we nursed and laid around waiting for Daddy to wake up. He roused around 8am, took a quick shower and then we all went downstairs to look for stockings (and change diapers). Beca found Ori's first, in record time. Mom and Beca found theirs at almost the same time, after about 15 minutes of searching. Daddy took a LOT longer - must've been naughty this year!!! We enjoyed going through and digging out the goodies Santa left for us. Daddy got a beetle tie-tac, Godiva chocolates, sweets, the BIG Lee Valley catalog, and loads of other little things. Mama got some wonderful little gifts, including a powder incense burner w/nag champa incense, wool socks, hot chocolate, and mulling spices. Beca hit the mother load, literally ha ha, and found a knock-knock joke book, a maze book, a find and seek book, a new Molly book for her collection, sweeties, a flashlight (actually we each got a mini mag light), a pretty heart pendant necklace, a wooden 3-level tic-tac-toe game, and more! Ori got little racers and bath toys and a new bib and wool socks and oh ... it was fun to see the children so enthralled with everything. Here's Ori actually motivated enough to go AFTER one of his new toys:

Jerry took the kids into the hot tub just before afternoon nap, which was so nice for them all. I got some straightening up and vacuuming done. We all chilled out for the afternoon, played games and finally motivated out to get chinese food for dessert. Now we're all exhausted from a long day of doing... not much :lol and we're off to bed. Tomorrow we start the Chanukah celebreation with a feast and the menorah and singing the prayers. Looking forward to a good night of sleep...I hope!

Saturday, December 24, 2005

Solstice 2005


Winter Solstice: Dec. 21 2005
What a wonderful day and night!!!

We kindle this winter fire to bring us back around
to remember our ancestors who lived and died by this fire,
and found shelter in it's heat.
May the flame warm our hearts,
and the light remind us of the ever-returning sun

a woman lights a candle
sends off a prayer
she knows in her heart
that winter is ne'er

a man lights a candle
sends off a prayer
he knows the seasons change
of darkness not beware

A child lights a candle
sends off a prayer
winter gets shorter
let long nights be fair.

a baby lights a candle
sends off a prayer
close to family always
winter's not worth a care.

We exchanged our gifts for the year, which is always fun, and had a nice roast chicken dinner.
We soaked long and well in the hot tub. The kids went to sleep peacefully, Jerry and I snuggled on the couch. All in all a marvelous event for us :D

Here's Orin with his Radio Flyer Walker Wagon - shaky steps but becoming more sure every time! Certainly a boy who will walk at his own pace in life, we can see!















Here's the gang showing off their new woolens LOL




And Beca flanked by our solstice candles.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Dragons and Dragonflies



I am a dragon, fierce and loyal
strong and confident.
I love to curl, snug inside the cave of my warm life
protect the golden treasure of my family.
My sweetness lies burried, but I will rescue you no matter where you are.
I love the greeness, but live by the red-brown fire.
My strength may scare you, but my magic will give shelter to your fear.
I can soar, fly high above my reality, or swoop in and snag my meal with dagger sharp teeth.
Fear me, belittle me, you shall never overcome me.

Which Mystical Creature resides in YOUR soul?