Happy New Year Friends

Our New Years Traditions:
Yummy dinner, a little more than usual,
Hor'dourves,
Movies, movies, movies,
Home made treats,
New Years hats,
Banging pans
Blowing the shofar,
Kissing and hugs,
and best of all...
Banana floats with ALL the fixings!

Hope that all our friends and family have a great new year filled with many of God's blessings!

One of the kidos Broke an Ankle

Did I tell you one of my babies broke her ankle? And that I didn't take her in to the doctor for a week cuz I thought it was just a sprain? Or that she has to have a cast for three weeks minimum? Or that I have much mom guilt for not taking her in sooner? Good thing she is such a trooper.

It has been very educational for her. She isn't allowed to put any weight on her foot. This means crutches and not a lot of moving around for her. It also means no chores. And as good as that sounds, that means she has to ask her sibs to help her out. And she has to be nice about it or they say no. She has had to learn to be patient. Not everyone can jump when she wants something. She has to go slow or her momentum makes her fall forward. She has to pay attention where she is going or she can slip on things that have been left on the floor. She has to sit in the car while we run errands cuz she can't stay on the crutches for too long. Or get the cast wet which isn't easy in our wet PNW. Yesterday, while one of my other girls was getting her hair cut, our awesome stylist let me use her sink to do her hair since she can't shower. That was a great blessing.

Today we went to our favorite resale store to get some pants and shirts to go with the skirts I whipped up for her to go over her cast. Two pants and ten shirts plus a pair of boots, fabric and scarf and a shell all for $26.99. What a deal. The St. Vincet de Pauls near my house can't be praised enough for their great prices and friendly, happy staff. She is so happy to be wearing pants. Apparently skirts and crutches and casts aren't as perfect a match as I thought. She says they are very constricting. So for home, these legging kinda pants will be fine.

She has had it changed once already because her leg has shrunk so much. It started off white, so all her friends could sign it. Now it is hot pink, just because. We sure are praying it heals quick.

Hannukkah

Chanukah was a blast this year. I must say, it wasn't the best we ever had, but it was fun.

We only had one entry into this years pageant. We usually have 3 or 4. And the girlies that did perform did it all on their own with no prompting or input from mom. It was sort of sad because my kids really like performing. I think they realized how much work I put into their performances in the past though. A lot goes into making this crew of mine's talent shine. I didn't have time to work my mojo this year so nothing got done. But they are all looking forward to doing something for Purim.

On the home front, we did have a nice little party this year. It is always fun to spend time with friends noshing and laughing. We played a game called This or That and had a lot of fun. You learn a lot about people playing that game. Even the teens who were with us had fun. There was lots of good food and drink to be had and I am glad to say, most of the unhealthy stuff was gone so no temptations for me ^.^. It is always fun lighting candles with friends.

The decorations have stayed up way past the last night, I just don't want to take them down yet. It just looks so festive in here with all the new hanukiah I have collected over the past year. The sparklies help brighten up the dreary weather feeling. They also help me remember that most of the rest of the world is still celebrating.

A new tradition we started this year involves chocolates. We got a Whitmans sampler on sale and every night we lit at home, we would each pick a chocolate from the box. Now of course the night of the party, we forgot to bring out the new big box we got just for the occasion, but rest assured, it didn't go to waste. It was fun watching everyone try and figure out which to pick. Since we didn't do as many gifts this year, is was a fun way to get a treat every night.

The schul also has a homemade channukia and homemade dreidle contest every year. Usually we spend a couple of hours at Joannes looking for just the right materials for our entries. This year, because of time constraints, everything had to come from what we already had at home. We had some very interesting things done with painters tape and clay. Now we have the challenge we have every year. What do we do with them now? They are to clever to just throw away, but not quite worthy of going in the Hanukkah box and displaying next year. What to do, what to do.

God said that we are to be a light in the world and not to conform to the world. Although this particular holiday isn't a biblical holiday, I am glad we celebrate it. It helps us remember as a family that we are dedicated to being God's children. It helps us to remember that being different from the rest of the world isn't bad. It makes us focus on God's shamish, Yeshua, or Jesus and what He did and does for us. It allows for light in this dark season of our year. It reminds us that God's miracles are always just in time.

What I've Been Doing the Last Week or So

I can see the end from here. Mostly. I hope that's what it is anyway. ^.^

My sweetheart says I take on too many things. I thought I was being good and not taking on too much. I have told everyone that I can't be in charge of anything, but apparently that isn't good enough cuz I always end up doing more than I planned.

Speech classes for my kidos for instance. I said right off that this was an easy one, all I had to do was drop off. Ummm, no. There are these things called competitions. And often they are far, far away and I have to drive them there. And once there, I have to judge others so that my kidos can compete. They had their first competition last weekend and had a lot more fun than they thought they would. They both placed second in the individual speeches and found out they had a lot more work to do on their duo. I learned that judging is not my thing. I don't like being critical of other peoples children. Mine on the other hand, not a problem. I was totally amazed by the speaking ability and composure of these kids. There were a few that blew me away and I wonder how on earth do you choose who comes first and second when there are three really good choices? At the end of the very long day, (350 miles and 18 hours later) I am wondering what was I thinking?

Then there is this little thing called Hanukah, (one of the many spellings, I just make 'em up as I go now) that we are in the middle of. I try to make each year memorable, with old traditions and new activities all rolled into one. We had bought a ton of decorations years ago to festivize our home for this holiday, but many things have gone away. It is starting to look a little sparse and so of course this meant shopping and frustration cuz I live in the PNW not the east coast and apparently not a lot of Judaica finds its way over the Rockies except some cutesy stuff at Target that I was still grateful for. Oh well, we are staying understated this year. Then I just had to have some friends over. It is a party festival after all. And it went from latkes and donuts to vegi tray, hot wings and cookies and oh yeah, hot chocolate and don't we have some olives somewhere. Yeah, I have a tendency to have to make too much food. But it sure was good! We had a ton of fun and laughed and giggled til the kidos started to fade. And the truth about how my house looked so nice came out. Yes, someone opened the bedroom door and now the secret is out. At least it didn't fall out in an avalanche onto his poor head. I think I need to put a sign on the bathroom door. ^.^ And this year, we skipped the present every night thing cuz.....

We are starting a mini remodel thing. Yup, I'm crazy. But these girls are making me crazy! I have one neat person in my whole house. She just happens to share a room with the messiest of the messiest. It is a never ending battle that ends up being a fight every night. So... we are taking our office, storage, class room, computer room space and dividing it in half and making another bedroom. So we have to take about 300 square feet of unorganized everything and fit it into 150 square feet of already filled space. The shredder and I have been busy and the St. Vinnies knows us by name. So the kids are all getting a new bedrooms and more space soon. This has cost a few pennies, so we said at the start that this would mean few gifts this year. And you know, they haven't complained at all. Well, except when I tell them to do some cleaning up of the moving around mess, but that doesn't last long.

And then we are back at P.E. at the YMCA again. That has been really good for my social kidos who thrive in large groups, but it sure adds to the running time. We run to get there and once we leave, we have to hurry out. Let me tell you, it was super hard for me not to jump in and volunteer to help with swimming, they could really use some more parent teachers, but I am being so good! It is also cutting in to my cleaning my house time. I didn't think I would miss that so much, but with all the activities going on, I really need the clutter to be at a minimum for peace of spirit. Couple of more years, and maybe I'll feel okay just dropping them off, but not yet.

And then there is my mom in law. Just a great big THANK YOU to God for helping her along. She is finally coming to terms with her new lifestyle and becoming so much easier to deal with. Her blood chemicals are stabilizing as is her fluid level and it has made such a difference. She is taking responsibility for her diet and medications. The last week, she has actually been pleasant. But it is still ten hours away from the house that I really miss. I keep wondering if there is a part time job I could do while I was there so I could at least make some money while I am there. Not going to take that on though, my sweetheart would kill me ^.^! It will be interesting how things go when they move from the hospital she is going to, to the community dialysis place in a month or so. But we will just wait for that to happen.

Then there is that little boo boo my car has. Well, it was a bit more than the tow truck guy thought it was. The mechanic told us I did some frame damage, but nothing dangerous. He is a great guy and a friend so I can trust him. That's always a good feeling when dealing with a mechanic. The blessing from it all, he discovered that I had NO back brakes left and needed to get them changed asap. But they weren't a contributing factor in my little escapade in case you were wondering.

Another blessing is that our home based business is starting to take off. Nothing like a hard work and family situation to motivate you to get more money coming in. And with the wacky economy and tax laws changing, it is just in time. But that too adds a little more drain on the clock. Let's just say, when I get to sleep, it is very soundly ^.^ Life is very exciting.

So the end I see is not really the end, just a break in the craziness as the rest of the world slows down and stops to celebrate Christmas, it gives me a break and time to catch up. Just a little secret, don't tell my sweetheart, I would rather be super busy than have nothing to do.