Bubbie’s Menorah

Okay, I know I said last night was our last night of Hanukkah, but no one objected when we decided to add a ninth night.

Tonight we headed up to the ‘burbs to Bubbie’s house. In addition to Hanukkah, we also celebrated Bubbie’s seventy somethingish birthday.

The boys had a blast. And who wouldn’t? They were showered with gifts from both Bubbie and Grandpa Bill as well as their Aunt Brenda. Brenda is a teacher and mother of three. She always knows the perfect gift for the boys at whatever age they are at. A remote control car for Jack, books for Ben, the twins got a toy phone and talking ball. Even a kid friendly iPad cover (which I think it more of a gift for me than anyone else). And everyone enjoyed the electric piano with microphone! Thank goodness there is a volume button on that one.

Bubbie and Naughty Cake

Once again we ate too much, including a very naughty Culiver’s Turtle cake (Bubbie’s favorite).

As an added bonus, the Meyers (Grandpa Bill’s daughter, her husband and son) showed up. Having 11 year old Evan there was like having a built in baby sitter! He disappeared in the back room with the older boys for a while and not once did I feel the need to check on them. Evan showed up later carrying a giggling Ben.

The twins scooted around on the floor like little cats. But they were far from ignored, as you can see, they got plenty of attention from the entire group…

Grandpa Bill, Bubbie and the Twins

Evan entertaining Aaron

Liz and Aaron

We had so much fun on our last night of Hanukkah that we actually forgot to open our presents.

Lighting the Candles

We may not have our elf on the shelf or great holiday Cartoons, but we had managed to have a bit of fun of our own anyway.

We ate a ton of unhealthy food. Brisket, latkes, and matzoh ball soup were part of the tradition. I threw in some roast broccoli with chick peas as well as a brussel sprouts with balsamic and cranberries recipe from The Pioneer Woman.

Rebecca brought an insane pie from Hoosier Mama Pie company.

Dreidel Game

Dreidel Dessert

We played the driedel game.

Hedy organized a make your own dessert, a dreidel made out of a hersheys kiss, peanut butter, marshmallow and pretzel. It was so good I ate two. Okay, maybe I ate three. ALL RIGHT it was four. I had to make one later to photograph it for you people!

The kids stayed up way past their bedtime, with the promise of opening their last presents in the morning.

Also, between the Processco Rebecca brought and the Cote du Rhone Hedy brought I’m definitely not breastfeeding tonight!

Jack’s front tooth has been coming in over his baby tooth. The baby tooth, much like it’s owner, has decided stubbornly not to move an inch. It’s really stuck in there.

We were hoping it would work itself out and gave it a good amount of time, but no luck. The dentist would have to extract it.

Against the dentist’s wishes, Adam sat in with Jack. He said Jack did very well. There was crying when they shot him Novocain. A few times. I cringe thinking about it. And he said he felt them yank the tooth out. But by the time I saw him, he seemed fine.

They put his tooth in a little plastic treasure chest. While Adam put the older boys to sleep, I set to work on Jack’s favorite gift from the tooth fairy – a scavenger hunt.

In the past I have drawn Jack maps, but since Jack is learning to read at school, I thought words would make for better clues this time.

I wanted to share this in case you want to use it for your own kids, or any loved one. And not just for the tooth fairy, it could be for anything! Wouldn’t it be cute if that naughty elf on the shelf stole the gifts and sent your kids scrambling around the house with clues looking for them?

So, first I picked ten spots to hide clues…

Each clue was put in an envelope with the number clue on the front. On the back corner I wrote where the clue is located (basically copied the clue in front of it before folding it into the envelope.) I didn’t add the number on the clue in the picture, but I think it’s a good idea to do that also. Jack often wants to re-hide the clues and do the hunt all over again, and if you do this it only takes a second to stick them back where they were.

Next hide the clues.

Jack followed all the clues to ‘Breakfast Time’. The only mistake I made here was being too clever. I had his last envelope, the one with the money in it, on his breakfast plate. He wanted to know if I saw the tooth fairy put it on. I could see the gleam of suspicion in his eyes.

Finding the clues.

Jack put it best when he said, “Angelica is the best babysitter ever.”

Yes, she is!

She showed up Monday night bearing Hanukkah gifts for the whole family. It’s no easy feat to find something perfect for ALL six of us, but she did.

The boys got these t-shirts and onsies from a company she used to work for called Threadless.

From the top left, counter clock wise: For Jack, his favorite food – “Mac and Cheese”. For our little chunker, Sam – “Runnin’ Rhino”. For Aaron, “The Day the Fire Brigade went on Strike”. For Ben, our budding artist, “Crayons”.

But there was more! Fannie May chocolates for all. Assortment boxes, chocolate snowmen, hot chocolate mix and mint melts. Mmmmm.

Thank you Angelica!

Last night was the first night of Hanukkah. Such a fun time for the kids! It is so much fun to watch them every night. This year we were given a present from Ben’s teacher’s that had us rolling on the floor in laughter. More on that later.

Adam took the boys up to the suburbs for the morning. Besides driving MIchelle home from our saucy evening the night before, he wanted to take them to see Nickel City. From what I understand it’s kind of like Chuck y Cheese. He was hoping I’d get a nap in, but the twins never slept at the same time unfortunately.

Instead I laid on the floor of the basement, vowing never to drink again. I pumped every three hours and tested my milk for alcohol content with Milk Screen Strips until it cleared.

Lighting the Candles

That evening the boys got their first Hanukkah presents. They actually went with Adam and picked out their own presents, so they told us what they wanted to open that evening. Jack picked his 2 remote control cars and Ben picked his busy book with miniature Mickey Mouse figurines.

We got this present from Ben’s teachers…

Can you see it? It’s a picture of Ben’s first painting at school….

I like how he didn’t take his shoes or socks off. That would be uncouth.

The evening festivities continued in the suburbs. Our friends Dave and Caryn had a Hanukkah party. Most of their friends had older kids who also attended but since the start time was 7pm, we decided to get a sitter.

It was a pretty impressive spread of food and, having no kids to distract me, I completely stuffed my face. They gave out iTunes gift cards to the kids, including our kids which were not even there. I thought was a very clever idea. One I fully plan on stealing at some point.

Last night I was surprised over and over again by my good friends here in Chicago.

First Pam and Cindy came by to pick me up. I was surprised that Pam was driving. Wasn’t she going to drink with me? I found out later she was dropping her car home and we were going to a restaurant nearby.

But before that, she drove us to the suburbs train station for my next surprise – Michelle came in from the burbs to celebrate with us!

After that we went for a drink at a bar near Pam’s house. I thought it was the end of the surprises but after drinks we sauntered over to Namo Thai. Once again I was surprised to see many more good friends sitting together waiting for me to show up – Katia, Jackie, Hedy, Jennifer, Kelly, Karen, Myla and Vonda.

I felt very special seeing so many friends making such an effort of my big birthday.

There was a 40th birthday balloon hanging on the back of my seat which followed me with pride for the rest of the night. Though I can’t say I’m proud of the way I acted the rest of the evening.

I’m not going to do into all the details. Basically because as the night went on the details got a bit fuzzy. I will say this – my good friends, when I say “let’s do shots” what I really mean is, “I’ve obviously had enough, time to shove me in a cab home.”

My friend Heather has very kindly sent me a reminder of why Big Bird came to sing to me for my 40th birthday…

At the surprise 16th birthday my Mom threw for me.

Yes, that’s me in my red t-shirt with shoulder pads, FSU boxer shorts rolled at the waist, Keds and white scrunchy socks. Got to love the 80s for fashion.

I guess some memories are so embarrassing that you just block them out for forever. Or maybe I’m so old now that my brain is addled and looks like swiss cheese. Either way, somewhere in my brain, a hole the size of the moon’s South Pole–Aitken basin, is where this memory should be stored.

I called my mom first thing this morning. Now that I understood why Big Bird was at my 40th, I wanted to know why he was at my 16th.

She explained to me that she was planning some entertainment with my girlfriends for the party. The girls suggested a stripper. She thought Big Bird would be more fitting. Which shows just how different my friends and my mother perceived me at this stage in my life.

Obviously, Big Bird prevailed.

I guess I should thank her, because it would have been mighty awkward for Jack and Ben to watch a stripper show last night.

Last week Adam told me the weather would be nice for my birthday.

“My birthday is on the weather channel?” I asked.

Well, I guess if it’s there I can no longer ignore it. I’m turning 40.

The first thing I did was to call my mother and apologize. For the present I got her on her 40th birthday. It was a sweatshirt with the catchy slogan “over 40 and feeling foxy” on the back. I now understand why she never wore it in public.

Everyone came together to make me feel incredibly special today. I was continually surprised and humbled.

I was greeted with cards and presents in the morning. Adam let the kids pick out their own cards for me. All were hilarious, Jack picked out a Grave Digger Monster Truck card for me, but Ben’s pick was the best…

I was also presented with a brand new iPad. And there is MORE! I got the Vibram Five Finger shoes I’ve been wanting. I guess there is no excuse not to start exercising again now.

Our afternoon sitter Angelica came a few hours early to give me some time to myself. She even picked up cupcakes for me on her way over. Adam came home early from work and brought sushi for dinner.

But the biggest surprise of the evening came at dinner.

I was talking to Jack about his favorite book, “Happy Birthday to You” by Dr. Seuss. He makes us read it to him EVERY night and he has the thing memorized.

I jokingly asked him if the birthday bird was coming to visit me today. He said no, that’s silly. We don’t live in Katroo. But he was mistaken because not 10 minutes later…

The older boys were so excited that they ran back to their rooms to put on their own costumes. Smart little kids that they are, they realized it was not, in fact, big bird in our living room.

Big Bird was actually sent to me from 5 very special friends in my life. We have been tight ever since high school and even though we are spread across the states in Alaska, New York, Atlanta, Denver, Chicago and Florida, we continue to stay close. Thank you Heather, Holly, Gina, Jessica and Kate. Now I can’t wait until YOU ALL turn 40!

But wait! The party isn’t over yet! The celebration continues into the weekend. My girlfriend Pam told me to dress up, she’ll pick me up at 7pm on Friday night. No other information was forthcoming.

Sunday night Adam is taking me to Alinea, a restaurant so disturbingly expensive you’d have to turn 40 just to visit it.

As my evening came to a close tonight, I couldn’t help but reflect a bit. My thoughts drifted back a decade. To my 30th birthday. Sitting on the balcony of my newly rented Shanghai apartment. I had moved there the month before and didn’t know a soul in that city. I remember finding an inner peace that night. I realized I had been dating half my life and still hadn’t found prince charming. I made a pact with myself. If he never showed up, I could learn to live with that. After all, I was a fresh implant in a city I had always dreamed of inhabiting. I had a good job, the world of possibilities in front of me.

Shortly after I stopped being so desperate, as soon as I gave up the hope, prince charming arrived. In Jamaica of all places.

The next decade took me on a journey greater than my wildest dreams. Okay, they were more like nesting dreams. But they still exceeded anything I could have imagined. I won the trifecta. Most single girls in their 30s dream of a good husband, a couple of healthy kids, and no money worries. I exceeded the mark on all three.

Which makes turning 40 not such a bad thing.

Happy Birthday To Me!