Happy Season of Lights

 Happy Hanukkah, Christmas, Solstice or whatever you celebrate.  Let there be celebrations!  May your New Year be as silly as these kiddos.

Backpacking this summer

http://youtu.be/Sic9E7jKxS8

Here is a video from the Dad and daughter backpacking trip.  I have not been backpacking since kids.  YIKES.  I am determined to go backpacking this next summer.  Car camping is nice but just not the same.  Fingers crossed I can get HK out of diapers. 

Some photos and some stories and some thoughts

 This little man lives for his trains.  He will venture downstairs and I'll hear 'LIGHT ON.  Mooommmaaa LIGHT ON' and then silence for quite some time followed by another 'LIGHT ON'.  Sometimes he doesn't even call though and will just play down there in the semi dark depending on the time of day.  He is happy to be with his trains even in the dark.

 Elizabeth is super into tag games.  The rules are hard to follow since she constantly changes the rules with the addition of new bases or removal of ones that I'm running towards.  She will get on a base as I tag her and declare 'CLEARLY mom, I mean clearly I was on the base'.

And sometimes you have a scratch

 She has had a few more bumps in the road will her little friends.  I saw a friend tell her that she couldn't play with them, she went off and played with another kiddo and was pretty resilient about the whole thing.  Talking about it later I told her she did the right thing and found a sweet friend who was happy to have her to play with.  She then asked 'but how can I make the other girls be nice to me and play with me'.  Ugh.  Kindness finds kindness I keep telling her.  Can't make anyone do anything but can only control how you react so do so with kindness. 

 This holiday season I found myself very reflective about my little Jewish family.  We don't do Christmas or Santa Claus and exclusively celebrate the Jewish holidays.  A decision I fully embrace and find that I don't miss Christmas despite having such great childhood memories of the thrill of Santa.   Elizabeth also doesn't seem to miss or want for us to do it different which is nice considering most around us celebrate Santa.

 Over dinner the other night she starts belly laughing and can barely tell the story she is laughing so hard.   'In music class Gabriel said he didn't know what a Menorah is and the rest of the class didn't either.  Then they also said they didn't know about the Jewish language Hebrew.'  She says all this while in tears laughing basically saying what fools these kids are.  HA!  She then said that her and Lilly (another Jewish kiddo) explained it all to them.  So wish I was there for this conversation but glad she is happy to know and share about herself.
 I just finished reading a book that is peripherally about the WWII and that holocaust which has made me even more reflective.  It is a wonder to me that someone could hate my kids because they are of Jewish heritage.  It is not something I fear but more simply aware of.  I do know that the fear is real and more of a  daily struggle for so many other parents.  People hate for color and religion and ethnic tribe and political affiliation and nationality and so much more.  Kindness finds kindness I hope.

 Elizabeth and Henry at a school party.  She is shushing him.

Vancouver Holiday Party

We went to Vancouver for the annual JRS Holiday Party.  Stayed for just a night which was a bit short but we needed some down time at home.  In the past two weeks we have only eaten ONE meal at home at our house with just us. 
It was fun, there was swimming, there were cocktails and my dress shows were forgotten at home.  So I wore RED CLOGS to the swanky party.  Some people mentioned that they thought my shoes were 'cute'.  Meaning they thought this was my fashion choice.  Oh well.... shoes matched our color theme for the photo above!