Hanukkah at School

Mina and I did a small Hannukah celebration at school today for Hannah and Ella's classes.  We started all together reading Hanukkah books, eating latkes and applesauce, and lighting the menorah.  Hannah's class then went back to her classroom to play the dreidel game, and Ella's class made menorahs (including Hannah who wanted to stay).  Mina and I helped the kids make menorah's and Hannah was the last person painting - no shock.  The menorahs came out beautiful and it was a wonderful morning with my girls and their friends.

Dinner with the Blackmans

The Blackmans came over for dinner Saturday night, and the girls were in heaven with their cousins!  They got an extended bedtime with books from the entire Blackman clan.

Happy Birthday, Stella!

Ella's first school friend birthday party at Franklin.

Super Sunday

I was sick for most of the long weekend so we didn't do a ton, but we certainly made up for it today!  We started the morning doing Shrinky Dinks and painting while Jordan played hockey.  We then took Grandma Marsha to lunch, went to swimming, hit the open skate where Ella stood on the ice by herself for the first time and Hannah skated pretty independently, we then grabbed Hunter House for dinner and ended the night at Zoo Lights with the Hutsons.  It was an exhausting, but amazing day!  It was our first Zoo Lights visit and the weather was incredible - 60 degrees at the end of November.  The girls and Luke all held hands as we admired the lights, and then we decided to watch the Polar Express movie in 4D.  Hannah and I loved it, but Ella was not a fan.  She and Jordan left 3 minutes in, maybe next year.  Ok, off to bed!

Practicing before open skate

Ready to hit the ice

Waiting for Polar Express in 4D

Little Model

Thanksgivikah

Thursday morning Jordan got up with the girls and took them to the Thanksgiving parade with Softa and Zaydie while I slept in.  I was very thankful for the extra sleep and the girls had a fantastic time!  Ella's favorite part were the horses, and she was sad she didn't get to ride them.  And Hannah got a photo op with someone from the parade.

 
We spent Thursday afternoon making Thanksgiving cards for the family we saw at Thanksgiving dinner.  The girls worked so hard, and the cards turned out beautiful.  We had a lovely dinner at Al and Papa Stevy's, and Al and Sam sat at the kids table with the girls so Jordan and I could relax and enjoy dinner with the other adults.  Hannah and Ella quickly made friends with all of the adult guests and had them all playing with them by the end of the night.  Free babysitters!

Black Friday was spent putting up our Hannukah bush, and it was a blast!  Hannah and I were setting up when a naked Ella appeared.  After we got her dressed, we played holiday music while decorating the "bush."  Even the dogs joined in.  After we finished, the girls and I went to Michael's where each girl picked out one special ornament and each got one set to decorate.  We got home and decorated the new ornaments and added them to the bush.  Jordan ordered a Jewish star topper, so hopefully that will come soon to finish off our Hannukah bush.

Sky Unit Presentation

Ella's class has been studying all aspects of the sky - from rainbows, to clouds, to the moon, to nocturnal creatures, to gravity and more - they covered it!  This morning we celebrated the end of the unit with a morning of sharing.  Each kid had their own display covering a topic posed by their mom/dad at parent night at the beginning of the school year.  We asked Ella "Why is the grass wet in the morning even when it doesn't rain"  Her teachers, Amber and Karen, kicked it off by saying we would be amazed by the scientific responses of some of the kids, and others would have equally adorable but less scientific responses.  Ella's response to her question fell into the latter category.  Each parent went around the room and asked each child a few questions about what they learned.   All of the kids were very proud of their work and happy to share. It was such a nice morning.

Moon gazers with their telescopes - Ella is in the bottom right corner in a red/orange shirt

Apparently we need to work on the concept of gravity

Ella showing off the raccoon she made studying nocturnal animals

Ella telling Viveka about dew

Hugs for Amber

After we finished, everyone was eating muffins when Ella yelled to Karen across the room that she hadn't come over to learn about dew yet - Karen went right over

 More updates from school:

Ella made a leaf print out of clay in art class, and then glazed it with fall colors - bottom left

Ella wrapping a slinky for a study of the artist Christo

Making bead bracelets to donate to children's hospitals to teach the kids about giving - they also made place mats to take to a soup kitchen for Thanksgiving and super hero capes to send to a children's hospital