Chevy Enjoying Chanukah

A few pre-haircut pics of Chevy on Chanukah.

Zookie's Chanukah Ad

A Cut Above

Due to popular demand, above are some pictures of Kayla's recent haircut, though they definitely do not do it justice. I don't think she'll be needing another for quite some time.

All things considered, it could have been a lot worse - like a crewcut or bald spots (or my sheitel!). And as you can see from the photo, Kayla wasn't too upset about it. We're not sure, but she may even have asked Sruli for the "trim."

Chevy escaped relatively unscathed with only her bangs cut.

In any case, we all learned our lessons. No sharp or electrical objects within the kids reach, Uncle Jacob, and no sleeping in, Mommy!

Eternally Grateful

Rabbi Noah Weinberg -- Yisroel Noach ben Yitzchak Matisyahu -- Rosh Yeshiva of Aish HaTorah, returned his soul to his Maker this morning after an extended illness. Although I never had the chance to meet him or hear him speak in person, I feel an eternal debt of hakaras hatov, gratitude, to him.

To say that Rav Weinberg had a tremendous impact on tens of thousands of Jews across the world is an understatement. Through his dream of bringing the light of Torah to Jews everywhere, individuals and families from NYC to Jerusalem to London to Johannesburg, have returned to a Torah lifestyle.

On a personal level, Aish HaTorah was the first yeshiva my husband attended, and it was primarily due to them that he became observant. I feel that Rav Noah's work was responsible - with Siyata Dishmaya, Divine intervention, and him as the messenger - for giving me the gift of my better half.

I'm reminded of a story that I heard Rabbi Paysach Krohn tell over. The true story is about a Jewish doctor who refused to give up on a woman who suffered cardiac arrest in a hospital cafeteria, when all of the other medical staff had stopped trying to save her. The woman ended up surviving and could not adequately thank the doctor when he visited her later in her hospital room. She said that every time she saw a sunset, or enjoyed a beautiful day, she would thank the doctor, and every time she celebrated an occasion with her family, she would thank the doctor, and so on.

If it's impossible to sufficiently thank a person for saving one's body, than all the more so for saving one's neshama.

Every time that I light Shabbos candles with my kids around me and sit down to a Shabbos dinner with my family, I have Rav Weinberg to thank. Every time my husband shares a dvar Torah or my son tells me about the Parsha, I should thank Rav Weinberg. Every time I pick my children up from gan or read them a bedtime story, I should thank Rav Weinberg. And every time we have guests over at our Shabbos table who are returning to Judaism, I have Rav Weinberg to thank.

We cannot measure how far-reaching his efforts were; how many individuals, families and generations were saved from being lost to the Jewish People forever.

To all those touched by Rav Noach, in essence "the entire Jewish world" as Aish.com states, HaMakom yenachem etchem b'toch shar aveilay Tzion veYerushalayim. May G-d comfort you among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

Math Whiz

This post is for my father - and all the other fathers out there who tried to tutor their children in math, despite screaming and crying. I'm sure he'll have a lot of nachas.

I was extremely proud of myself yesterday. I actually used 2 algebraic equations. I needed to figure out how many hours, approximately, I had spent editing the first issue of a magazine. So I used information I had about how long it took me to edit pages of the second issue.

Here they are:
11.6p=70 (11.6 was the number of pages edited in the 2nd issue, which took 70 minutes)
63p=m (After calculating that p=6.03, I figured out that m=380, and I spent 380 minutes or 6.3 hours editing 63 pages of the 1st issue.)

Brilliant. I think NASA will be contacting me about getting involved with the space program after they hear about this. And Abba, I think I deserve some "Grandma's" cookies for this one!

Keeping Busy

The kiddies are all ready for Shabbos in their warm, comfy pajamas.

Sruli and Kayla love going to their arts and crafts class on Mondays. They made mini knock hockey boards with a cheerio for the puck. Kayla kept eating her puck, though.

Awwww

Chevy's checking out what's going on outside.

Chevy in Action

So as not be accused of neglecting to take baby pictures of the 3rd, here are some cute shots. Chevy's rolling over and showing off her pearly whites. She already has three teeth on the bottom! We're sure she'll be eating steak in no time.

Sisterly Love

While Sruli was taking his afternoon siesta on the couch, the girls shared some bonding time.

Uncle Elie

To quote Uncle Jacob, "Aww.... I dont know who is cuter, Chevy or Elie. I think it's a tie!"

The Last Night

We had so much fun lighting our menorahs, cooking and eating our greasy latkes and sufganiyot, spinning our dreidels, dancing at Chanuka parties and even getting a few presents. We were sad to see Chanuka go, but are already looking forward to Tu b'Shvat!

Chef Sruli at Work

Sruli's special Chanuka gan started a little later in the morning, so we used the time to fry up the doughnuts we made the night before. I added in ribat chalav (duche de leche) and Sruli spread a little strawberry jelly in his. They were delish!

Yummmm!

Here we are enjoying our first jelly doughnuts of Chanuka. Yum!

The First Night of Chanuka

We were so excited to light the menorah on the first night and to watch the oil burn. We had fun taking walks outside after we lit to look at all of the menorahs in the windows. It's great to be in Jerusalem for Chanuka - menorahs outside in glass cases by doorways and in nearly every apartment, and no x-mas decorations in sight. We loved eating our latkes and doughnuts that we made together, too.

Chanuka Party Performance

VIDEO:

I know Chanuka is over, but you can relive the excitement watching these 13 seconds of Sruli's gan Chanuka party performance. Sorry, the card on the video recorder was full. Of course, the actual live performance was much better, but you get the idea.

Chanukah is in the Air!

Sruli and Kayla have been busy at home and in gan getting ready for Chanukah. Kayla came home today with a "frying pan" full of jelly donuts that looked almost good enough to eat. We might have to try our hand at making our own sufganiyot, jelly donuts, this year. Sruli made a "Chanukah Man" with a jug of oil for a head, candles for his arms and gelt for his legs.
They are both learning so much about Chanukah. When I asked them who won the war, the Jews or the Greeks, Sruli's answer was, "Hashem!" We are all getting very excited for next week....

Bad to the Bone

After a brief hiatus, Woozy Shmoozy has recovered from her stomach bug, b"H. Since I know that all you "fans" out there really come to check out the kinderlach photos, I hope these latest will satisfy you for the time being.

Here they are attempting to ride Sruli's bike/motorcycle together.

Gettin' Long in the Tooth

Well, Chevy's really growing up. If you look closely (get out the magnifying glass) at the picture on the left, you can see Chevy's 2 first bottom teeth. In typical Chevy fashion, we didn't even know she was teething until, one day, there they were. We'll be giving her steak in no time.

You're Never Too Young...

Here are my 2 reliable "babysitters." Sruli and Kayla take their jobs very seriously - and literally. They bring over their chairs and then sit by the baby. They know to give Chevy a "teeth toy" and to try to make her smile when she cries. Now, I wonder how long until I can leave them alone...?