What a year it's been....

Oh what a year it's been....a little wrap-up of 2008 in blog-posts.

I made some resolutions, sort of. (More on that in a later post, by the way.) I hosted a party for Tu B'Shevat that was full of green-y goodness. (I even made green pancakes!) My son answered a very existential question very simply, and Yael turned one. (That last link is one of my most interesting regular hits, by the way. I get a lot of traffic for "tie dye cupcakes"!)

We said good bye to Helena, who died in February of this year. May her memory be for a blessing.

I went to Israel not once but twice. In February, when it snowed (pictures here, here and here) and again in March for the Family Mission. (some pics here)

David lost his first tooth (and quite a few more, since then actually) and we celebrated Purim. I started Tuesday Torah, pretty regularly, and I went to the Devorah Quilting Kallah at OSRUI. As I prepared for Pesach, I wrote this little piece on the Seder that won me an Honorable Mention in Scribbit's Write-Away Contest for April! (I also won a matzah brie contest....) April was quite a month for me, since I also wrote a post on 60 Bloggers for Israel.

I told my favorite joke and talked about why I love Israel. I hosted my first edition of Haveil Havalim, the Jewish Blogging Carnival. I cut off a lot of my hair for Locks of Love and I started growing other things too. I tried to have a quickie (shower) with Amy. I counted Omer and celebrated Shavuot. Plus I went to a wedding and hosted Haveil Havalim again as we packed for camp.

Our yearly camp experience was fun but lightly blogged (too much fun, I think, or maybe it was Yael's daily 4am wakeup call).

I mourned Ehud and Eldad.

We skateboarded the grass, played in the yard, and grew tomatoes. I mused about community. Sammy mused about snacks. Sometimes I took bloggy breaks and enjoyed the summer. Real Simple Magazine published my thoughts on motherhood's most important tool. I sent the boys off to school (with lunch) and I ditched the disposables. I took a High Holy Day hiatus and then got really really bugged.

I was part of Blog Action Day and celebrated Sukkot (but really didn't blog about it at all, October was a quiet month here on my blog!). I participated in NaBloPoMo and stuck it out for all 30 days! We celebrated birthday after birthday after birthday in November and survived it all! We lived through history and celebrated with great joy. I was a MotrinMom and a locavore. I shared my Thanksgiving rituals here and here. And in honor of NaBloPoMo, I even hosted Haveil Havalim again!

I counted down to Chanukah with a lot of giveaways and I made baked soufganiyot, a first for me. I gave away 2 birthday parties in honor of my own birthday. And now, as the year draws to a close, my eyes and heart are in the East.


Some of My Favorite Posts of 2008:
Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is
Walking in Right Paths
Seder Night
It Takes a Village
Why Spin Instructors are Like Rabbis
May the New Year...
Freedom from Fear
Living History
Prayer for the Economy?

Since I wrote last year's wrap-up post (wow, it seems like the year went by so quickly), I've written 301 posts. I've begun to twitter and I still love my Facebook world. Plus I've read almost 80 books (see left-hand sidebar) and lived and worked....

So what's up in 2009 for the Ima?
I'm hosting Haveil Havalim again this week. I'm going to celebrate holidays and visit Israel and go to camp and the quilting retreat. I'm sure I'll rant about something and giggle about other things. Maybe this is the year that the Reading Rabbi will kick off. Or not. I'll talk about world events and about silly things. Summer will return and then autumn again. I might cook or bake or make projects. I am so honored to have you all reading and sharing my life, I hope that somehow, in some way, my blog brings you something....inspiration, or a laugh, or even a little cry.

Happy (secular) New Year, y'all. May this year bring blessings and please, please, may it bring peace.

See you on the January side!

My Heart is in the East...

New people to follow:
http://twitter.com/Muqata
http://twitter.com/israelconsulate

Read this Post from Mother-in-Israel
and Jack continues to post updates and share posts from lots of people.



(original words by Yehuda HaLevi - My heart is in the east but I am at the end of the West...)

Birthday Weekend...in Photos

First was the 7th night of Chanukah, celebrated at my parents' house with candles and dreidel games...
(Sam will *not* take out his paci for a picture, no matter how nicely I ask....and if I steal it away, he just cries which ruins the picture anyway. I can't wait to get rid of the darn thing.)

 

My mom taught David to play Cat's Cradle, which was probably even more fun for me! If you haven't played it in a while, it rocks....

Then...yesterday was my birthday, and we spent they day celebrating with a trip to the Milwaukee Public Museum (a great museum, if you're ever in town). They have a permanent butterfly exhibit.

My personal favorite part of the Museum is the Streets of Old Milwaukee, a reproduction of the gas-lit streets of yesteryear. I've always loved looking in the windows of all the houses and shops. It was only 10:15am but we popped into the candy store and I bought some Raisinets (health food, right?) and doled them out to my little people. How silly is this: you're not allowed to eat in the museum, but they sell candy. We were allowed to eat inside the shop, so we did.

This picture definitely falls into the category of "no one except mom is looking at the camera or even interested in having their picture taken but we're going to document this moment, darnit." Yeah. Thanks for trying, dad. (He took all the pictures that actually have me in them!)

But of all the pics of the weekend, I think this face from Yael wins as my Best Shot of the week. I'm not even sure what it means, but it was too cute to pass up.

See other Best Shots here....

Stay tuned for the winners of all the Tzedakah giveaways from the past week....and stay tuned for information about Israel. If you're interested, follow the updates of Jack and Jameel, as well as ynetnews and jpost.com....may safety and peace come soon.

Israel/Jewish Blog Updates

In case I forgot to link to it, Kosher Cooking Carnival is up here.

This week's Haveil Havalim is here.

And Jack is rounding up the Gaza posts right here. Jameel is live-blogging, but he's resting right now.

And of course, I'm following #gaza (although there's a lot of misinformation and inappropriate statements there....) and cnn.com and jpost.com and ynetnews.com with great concern.

Next week, I'm hosting Haveil Havalim, so get your posts in early, it always helps!

Plus, don't forget to comment on my birthday post to win a Birthday Party for a child in Israel.

Birthday Candles, Birthday Angels

Every so often my birthday falls during Chanukah. When it happens, I get a whole lot of birthday candles! This year, it happens to be the 8th night, so it's quite a display.

So, this year, in honor of Chanukah and my birthday, I will give away one Birthday Party to a lucky commenter on this post!

The catch: it's not for you.

It's for a kid in Israel who can't afford a birthday party, through an organization called Birthday Angels.

Check out their video:


It's a big bang-up ending to my 2 weeks of Chanukah fun and giveaways.
AND....If I get more than 32 comments on this post, I'll give 2 Birthday Parties!

So tell your friends, tweet it up, and let's celebrate!
Leave your comment....



P.S. Stay tuned for all the winners of the Tzedakah giveaways....

Birthday Candles, Birthday Angels

Every so often my birthday falls during Chanukah. When it happens, I get a whole lot of birthday candles! This year, it happens to be the 8th night, so it's quite a display.

So, this year, in honor of Chanukah and my birthday, I will give away one Birthday Party to a lucky commenter on this post!

The catch: it's not for you.

It's for a kid in Israel who can't afford a birthday party, through an organization called Birthday Angels.

Check out their video:


It's a big bang-up ending to my 2 weeks of Chanukah fun and giveaways.
AND....If I get more than 32 comments on this post, I'll give 2 Birthday Parties!

So tell your friends, tweet it up, and let's celebrate!
Leave your comment....

Soldiers & Chanukah...a Tzedakah Giveaway

It's very clear that the story of Chanukah is a military one. Most renditions of the tale indicate the the holiday is a celebration of a military victory. It's relatively clear to me that the rabbis of the Talmud weren't super-comfortable with a holiday that celebrated military might, especially while they were living in Babylonia (and therefore subject to a foreign power), and so they reworked the story to focus on the miracle of the oil instead.

But all of this does allow me the link from the military victory of Chanukah to the present-day Israeli soldiers, many of whom serve at checkpoints, bases, and other various military installations. Standing Together is an organization that was founded to send pizza to soldiers and has expanded to sending coffee, donuts, and other treats and comforts that helps soldiers feel appreciated and cared for. More than anything, the soldiers of Israel are her children, and Standing Together helps remind us of that.

So....in honor of one wonderful and very lucky commenter, I will provide Chanukah donuts for four soldiers! Comment away on this post. How do you find comfort when you're away from home?

And, if you so desire, click over to Standing Together and make your own donation. Five bucks goes a long way, and if you're in Israel, contact them to arrange to deliver the pizza, coffee and donuts.

P.S. The awesome Leora has posted a great edition of Kosher Cooking Carnival. Go check it out!