Hanukkah

Hanukkah begins tonight and our home is filled with excitement and expectation.

Last night, after we had put the children in bed, we began to organize and wrap the gifts. We had them all laid out on our bed when the girls came knocking at our door screaming "N is throwing up! N is throwing up!" We quickly shut out the light in our room and closed the door so they couldn't see our gifts and got N out of his bed and into the tub. I took care of the mess in his crib while J washed N. I told L and M that they could go into the playroom because of the smell. A few minutes after that I noticed our bedroom door open and the lights on and the girls laughing quietly to themselves in the playroom. I asked J if he had gone into our room and quickly figured out that they girls must have. When questioned if they had seen any gifts they replied "No" So I threatened them. "If you do not tell me what you saw I will take all the presents back to the store" (thinking to myself.. please tell me so I don't have to take all the presents back to the store) They said they had seen the Pillow Pets, a Lady Bug and Unicorn. Man they were happy.

Good thing we were planning on having them be the first nights gift.

So the excitement of having Pillow Pets is in the air. We decided to forgo wrapping them since the girls know what they are getting. Maybe I will tie a ribbon around them. N is getting a tent tonight. Poor little sick boy! I hope he feels better soon.

I am excited. It is our first Hanukkah that we will spend the whole week at our home. Usually we have to travel during this time of year. I plan on cooking some great tasting food and spending some quality time with our beautiful children and my wonderful husband. I do work most of the nights of Hanukkah so we might improvise on the usual traditions and open gifts in the early afternoon before I leave for work. Then J will light the candles with the children after dusk.

FYI: We are not Jewish. We are just Christians who have decided to practice the feasts of Israel. It has been a learning experience and we are still in the process of learning the in and outs of celebrating these feasts and festivals. I'm sure we will still be adding and deleting here in there until we find a tradition that is traditional yet uniquely fits us.