I Flip My Latkes In The Air Sometimes

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. There are many reasons for me to be excited. Eating latkes. Lighting candles. Giving presents to my girls. Reading Hanukkah stories. Alain's dreidel cake. Um hello, jelly doughnuts! But what excites me most? Well, it just so happens to be this video...



I can watch it as many times as I want without shame at this time of year.

Sophie and I saw the Maccabeats in concert just over a week ago. It was fun! (Although I was disappointed that my two favorite guys weren't there.) We met Yonatan while we were waiting in line for the restroom and he was the nicest guy. Sophie turned all shy because she recognized him from the video. Their show was happy, interactive and fun! When the guys started singing "Candlelight", the crowd went wild....you would've thought Elvis himself had just taken the stage!

So Happy Hannukah to all of our friends and family who just happen to celebrate the Festival of Lights! Hope you enjoy the video!

Suburban Field Journal

Let's set one thing straight ~ I like Christmas lights and decorated houses at this time of year. In the spirit of Clark Griswold, it's fun to drive around and see what people have created. Children love it and get so excited. As do adults!

But this? This is ridiculous. Is this really necessary?

An inflatable reindeer taller than your house? Seriously?

I had to look up the cost of just one of these beasts. Prepare yourself. It's $350. Even I was estimating around $200. WTF?

I could sit here all day and list the myriad of things I'd do with $350. Important things. Things to help other people. In this economy and living in a town where thousands of people have been laid off recently and nonprofits are struggling to survive, it's almost offensive to drive by this. Imagine the money it takes to pay the electricity bill to keep this embarrassment lit and inflated!

And you want to know the best part?

This particular house had a matching Santa to go with it.

I wish I had that kind of money to waste on absolutely nothing.

And can I just say.....I am so, so, so very thankful that I am not this person's neighbor.

PS ~ I'm feeling bad that my suburban posts are so negative. I want for my blog to be my "happy place". At the same time, this is a topic that interests me to no end. So in order to compensate, I wanted to share this positive story, also regarding Christmas lights and decorations.... I read this article over the weekend. We visit this house every year and the lights are unbelievable. And I was so pleased to see that the owners donate all the funds to St. Jude's. Yes, that's more like it!

Madly In Love

I am madly in love with these photos I took of Clara while I was at my friend Elizabeth's house last week. (Note the blanket I had to put down so that my little Sweet Pea didn't spit up on Elizabeth's nice couch!) I think I like these so much because they fully capture the crazy adorable hair on my child. You can also see how curly it's getting. Just like her Big Sissy.

This was a particularly hard morning for me as I'd only slept about three hours the night before. I arrived at Elizabeth's house straight from the shower. My hair was crazy without a speck of product. That's the thing about good friends ~ they get it and they don't seem to care what I look like.

I read about this challenge on Design Mom recently and it struck a cord with me. I never like photos of myself ~ too many wrinkles, grey hair is showing, look too chubby, blah blah blah. So I've been working on this and trying to capture more photos of myself with my children. I wish I had more photos of me with Sophie when she was still small. Of course there's no way to recapture those moments now. So, on this morning, I asked Nathalie and Elizabeth to take a few shots of Clara and I. These two I found acceptable enough to share. Crazy-ass hair, grey roots, bags under my eyes and all!!!

Suburban Field Journal

Have you ever heard the adage, "in the suburbs they tear down all the trees and then name the streets after them."? Well, it's true. And it doesn't just apply to trees. Let's take a look....

I searched long and I searched hard but I have yet to find....a wheat field, a running horse, wild berries, a grove of any kind, a hickory tree, a briar patch, orchards, cattle, foxes or enough trees to produce kindling on any of these streets.

In fact, all of the streets looked exactly the same. A little something like this....

Suburban Field Journal

It's trash day in the suburbs. You know what that means! Very large bins filled to the brim and, sadly, a lot of them are overflowing....

How can it be that a single family can produce this much trash in a week's time?

Don't be misled by thinking I had to drive around for a long time looking for these....or that I collected them over time....I took all of these shots within the space of about 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon sight. I see it every week, even in my own neighborhood.

When the extremely large bin isn't big enough for all of your trash.....just pile it up on top.

I guess when your house is, say, this big.....

it does take a lot of stuff to fill and maintain it.

This sign could be found on the side of most of the trash bins I saw today.

The small print says "Promoting Clean Living". As if. All of this trash has to go someplace. It's called a land fill. Someone must live close to the land fill. I doubt they'd call it clean living.

Yes, God Bless the U.S.A......and all of its trash.

The Newest Foodie on the Block

Yes, it's none other than Clara Louise.....

She had her first taste of rice cereal today, her very first solid food. Due to Clara's reflux issues, I spoke with her doctor and was told it was okay to start and try it out. I think it helped because she fell asleep almost immediately after the meal and slept over an hour. At any other time during the day, Clara never sleeps more than half an hour at a stretch.

Clara has been eyeing our food for several weeks now. She watches every move when we're eating. This kid knew EXACTLY what to do. With gusto, she'd reach out for the spoon with both hands and help guide it into her mouth. It warmed our hearts to see how much she enjoyed it. I made the cereal a little on the thicker side and you could tell that she really enjoyed the different texture. Her passion for solid food was clearly evident and we were all so, so happy to watch. Even Big Sissy got to give her a few spoonfuls.

What an awesome way to end our beautiful weekend

PS ~ I took Sophie and a friend to see The Muppets today. Could it be any more adorable? Hooray for The Muppets! It makes me so happy to watch them. And Sophie sat on my lap for part of the movie so I got to snuggle her. I loved every second of it!

Furry Birthday Wishes

My baby girl, McKenzie, turned 12 years old today. A true miracle. I was happy all day just thinking about it. To celebrate I am posting what might be my all-time favorite photos of Kenzie. She LOVES to find a patch of sunshine to lay in. She'll follow the sun as it moves around the room. She gets so relaxed and sleeps so soundly. I love it.

Happy Birthday to my furry little soul mate!!!