Hanukkah

Last night was the first night of Hanukkah. We are not Jewish but I think it is a good thing to learn about other cultures and religions. It’s a way to show love and respect as we all deserve.

So as the kids ate latkes and challah, I read a book to them called “The Story of Hanukkah” by Norma Simon. The recipe we have for latkes came from a Hanukkah book I got at school when I was a little girl.

I introduced them to the song, “Hanukkah, O Hanukkah,” which I remember my brother’s elementary school class learning and singing on the radio many many years ago.

After we ate, we played dreidel with chocolate coins. Over the years we’ve collected so many dreidels, mostly plastic but my son has a wooden one.

My husband was given some dreidels when he did balloon sculptures for a Hanukkah celebration years ago and I think my son’s came from school.

Even in different religions we can find things we have in common, including celebrating miracles. Let’s please show love and respect to others. It’s the right thing to do.

There was lots of love shown in our family yesterday. Lots of hugs. People helping out. Jet even sang a song. "I love you. I love you... Mama."

I absolutely love it when we have good feelings in our home.

P.S. December 14 was also Monkey Day so there was some fun monkeying around going on. 

Celebrating In December

December 1 was Eat a Red Apple Day. We did.

 

Since it was also the beginning of December, we started our Countdown to Christmas scripture study. Pick a flag with a scripture for each day, answers questions, earn mint M&Ms.

The first Sunday in December is always the First Presidency Christmas devotional so we are able to say a song that was sung, a story that was told, something like that to earn our mint M&M. President Nelson encouraged us to gain our own testimony of Jesus Christ, that He is the son of God, and because of Him we don't have to go through challenges alone. That is a great thing to remember (I'm glad I took notes).

 

December 4 was National Cookie Day. We took Oreo cookies and cream pudding and Oreos and made "Dirt."

December 5 was Walt Disney's birthday. We listened to Walt Disney music and some interviews with him. I made sure to wear my bow earrings that night at Jr.'s holiday concert.

 

For St. Nicholas Day on December 6, everyone got candy in their shoes again. It was also Put on Your Own Shoes Day. Jeremy didn't think he'd gotten any candy in his shoes. Ha Ha Ha. He realized he did after he put them on. Tee Hee.

 

We had good intentions of celebrating Cotton Candy Day on December 7 and Pretend to Be a Time Traveler Day on December 8 but it didn't really happen. So December 9 we finally traveled in time to eat cotton candy but not before Jr. Jr. posed in an epic time traveler position.

December 11 was International Mountain Day. We took that day to make a mountain of latkes, ate challah bread, and played dreidel with chocolate coins which we ate, too. Yumm.

On Frank Sinatra's birthday on December 12, I listened to Frank Sinatra music while getting things done.

On Cocoa Day, December 13, we were going to do our annual Polar Express Party. We got as far as Jeremy dressing up and reading the book to us. Then I was tired and didn't want to deal with things, getting supplies out for cocoa. Sigh. I went to bed and the kids played video games.

December 14 was Monkey Day. I went to watch one of my monkeys play in his first real orchestra concert. Well done, monkey.

 

December 15 was Ugly Christmas Sweater Day. I didn't get any pictures of Jeremy wearing it but he got himself a t-shirt this year with this on it:

I love it.

That's enough for one post. Stay tuned for more December 2023 catching up.

Candy in Our Shoes?

December 6 is St. Nicholas Day. In Hungary, children leave out their boots the night before and Szent Miklós comes by and puts treats in them. Our children were surprised and happy to find candy in their shoes Monday morning. 

It was also Put on Your Own Shoes Day so that worked, too. And it was Microwave Oven Day so you know we used the microwave throughout the day. That particular holiday had nothing to do with shoes.

 

I wanted to make challah and latkes for dinner that night. Since Jet is my baking buddy, I decided to put an apron on him this time. We've had to do some outfit changes in the past when he's "helped." He really liked stirring the dry ingredients, I finally had to use a different spoon since he wouldn't give up the dough hook and get another bowl with flour for him.

 

Nichole did such a good job braiding the challah when we did this last year. I got to do it this year and I like how it turned out. Jet decided to taste test the bread when it came out of the oven (after a few minutes when it wasn't hot) without waiting for an invitation.

After we ate latkes and challah, we played dreidel with chocolate coins. Like last year, Jet got a kick out of the spinning dreidels and thought the coins were fun, too. After we were done, Jr. had fun scratching designs into the foil and I gave the kids instructions not to open the coins around Jet. He didn't get the connection between the coins that we were pushing around and the chocolate we were eating later. I'd like to keep it that way.

We had fun. I love good family time like that.

Tuesday, December 7, was Cotton Candy Day so that's what the kids had for after school snack. It was also Pearl Harbor Day so the we talked a little bit about that.

Serene Sunday?

LightTheWorld Sunday was supposed to be "Serene Sunday," finding some quiet time to reflect on "what brings you closer to God." It was not a quiet Sunday. It was a hectic Sunday. We decided to do latkes and dreidels that day, however when Jeremy and I were planning it, we thought we might try some other foods for Hanukkah. Turns out some foods take a while. Everyone except Jet helped out (some more than others- but everyone did something). This is what we ended up with.

Jeremy made latkes which we ate with sour cream, applesauce, or BBQ sauce. He also made roasted Brussel sprouts. He cut up a pomegranate (because we had one). Nichole and I made challah (I've been wanting to try making that bread for a while). Great braiding, Nichole. I love how it turned out.

While we played dreidel, we drank cocoa since December 13 is National Cocoa Day.

The kids had fun playing dreidel and Jet got really excited watching the dreidel spin. He even tried to figure it out himself. It was so cute to see him holding it with two fingers and dropping it to see what it would do. It will be interesting to see where he is next year with that.

After doing a lot with the food preparation and before we ate and played dreidel, I did take Jet out for a drive. Sometimes going for a drive helps me have a needed break. We drove up to Pleasant Grove so I could see the Christmas star on the mountain. Jeremy told me about it and I wanted to go see it so I finally took the time to do that. It's so nice. 

The radio was playing Handel's "Messiah" which I was in the mood for so that helped. I don't normally listen to the radio on Sunday but I turned it on that day and I'm glad I did. There was so much going on in my head- tuning out distractions didn't really happen- but Heavenly Father still managed to remind me of certain little things while I was driving around. I'm grateful for that.

Some Celebrations in December

December 20- Mudd Day
I watched the first episode of the original Star Trek series with Harry Mudd.

December 24 and 25- Christmas Eve and Christmas
I managed to blog Christmas Eve but we did more after I posted.
Jr. got a fire burning on the TV by our stockings for us- Darth Vader Yule Log.

We had our Christmas Eve program where we went around and said what we'd been up to that year.
The kids then got to open up pajamas to wear from Grandma and Grandpa.

I put Jet's on him for pictures then took them off so he didn't spit up on them during the night. Then I put them back on him in the morning for present opening. Or in his case, present sleeping through.

Actually it was the afternoon when we started opening presents because I was up most of the night with Jet and slept in when I could that morning. Bwah ha ha ha. So we started opening presents about 1pm. Jet just slept in my arms and we opened his presents later when he was awake. He didn't care. ;)

I didn't take pictures of the kids' handmade gifts this year. I didn't have a lot of time so I cut out strip of cardstock and had the kids decorate them for a "project" I was doing. So Christmas day they were surprised by their new bookmarks that they had decorated themselves.

December 26- Wren Day 
Jeremy and Nichole went out birding on Wren Day of course. They saw a marsh wren. And lots of other birds. They didn't just see a marsh wren.

December 28- Stan Lee's Birthday
We watched Spider-man Into the Spider-verse as a family.

For Hanukkah, we ate latkes and played dreidel.