{36 Reasons} Two!

From this:

to this:

to this....

The fourth child seems to come to things so much more quickly. He has three eager teachers who are so proud when they can teach him a new word or skill. It's hard to believe that he's been a part of our lives for two years....

Happy birthday, Solly!

Blessed are You, O God, Ruler of the World, who has created us, formed us, and brought us to celebrate this day of honoring birth.

{36 Reasons} Hair Today

There's a Jewish tradition to keep a child's hair uncut until the age of 3. (Okay, it's really a tradition for boys, but I'm an equalitarian.) Except I haven't ever made it to that age with any of my kids.

Too. Much. Hair.

I thought for sure that Solly would be the one who would make it.

After all, who can resist those gorgeous blonde locks!? Not me.
But I was stymied. Halted. Thwarted.

Poor kiddo. He kept trying to brush the hair out of his eyes. And he inevitably woke up with a rat's nest of dreadlocks in the back of his head, no matter how much brushing or conditioner we put into it.

And while a ponytail might seem like a reasonable solution, it just wasn't in the cards.

So a haircut was in the offing. (Actually, I just learned that one sect of Hasidim cut their boys' hair at age 2, but I'm not too keen on modeling myself after various sects of Hasidim.)

I might have shed some tears. After all, this is my baby! My beautiful long-haired baby.

One last look....

Along the way...(he wouldn't wear the apron, so we thought we'd make it easier for the stylist)

 And the finished product...

He looks fabulous. But suddenly....so grown up.

Am I imagining things, or is he now standing up taller? Speaking more clearly? Acting older?
(But no, I'm not deluding myself, not more reasonable.)

I think it is true.
Two years old IS very grown up.

Especially when compared to this:

Blessed are You, O God, Ruler of the World, who has created us to grow and change, who has helped us to see both progressive and sudden growth, who has given us tissues to wipe away our tears, and who has brought me to this day.

{36 Reasons} Cheesy

I am a big fan of "fad eating."

You know, restaurants or foods that become "all the rage."

Silly, but I think it's fun!

Last January, I spent 10 days in New York. While I was, theoretically, there for a class, I seemed to do a lot of eating in my off time. We tried a mac and cheese restaurant, every cupcake spot in a 5 mile radius, and a rice-pudding-only establishment. (I might have missed something, but you get the idea.)

So I was pretty excited to hear about a Grilled Cheese Restaurant.

Remember, I'm from Wisconsin.

Today I ventured out to Evanston for lunch. For grilled cheese.

Cheesie's did not disappoint. (Good name, huh?)

I went with a friend, who was more than willing to order 2 different sandwiches to share. Truthfully, I wanted to order three, but then she pointed out the tater tots, and so we skipped a third sandwich in favor of an order of tater tots.

One was called "The Mac." You can guess - it was a sandwich with macaroni and cheese on it, served with a side of tomato-soup-like sauce.

The other was "The Popper," a jalapeño-popper in a sandwich - cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and jalapenos. (We skipped the optional bacon for obvious reasons.) It came with a chipotle mayonnaise, which was also delicious for dipping the tater tots.

Both were delicious, but I was a bigger fan of the Popper.

I will go back. I need to try other ones! Anyone want to meet me for lunch?

Blessed are You, O God, Ruler of the World, who has made creative chefs and entrepreneurs to offer delightful combinations of food, who has enabled me to take a friend out for lunch, and who has brought me to this delicious day.

P.S. I couldn't resist eye-bombing the parking meter.

{36 Reasons} Make a Mess

(I definitely didn't take into account the "other" bloggy business that I wanted to accomplish during this 36 Reasons to Say Shehecheyanu project. So there's quite a bit of personal creativity involved to get other things to fit into the whole thing...)

I received two products in the mail recently, both involving a whole lot of craftiness.

The first is this Chanukah House from Manishewitz. They are so excited about this product that they're offering big prizes in their decorating contest...check them out on Facebook for contest info.

We are, um, not going to win.
In fact, I feel like we're in a Pinterest-fail-type situation here.

It looked so easy!

Totally not so easy.

We were given wise advice from a friend who has done this before - she told us to make it a multi-day project. Put the house together and then let it sit for a day or two to dry and harden. Good advice.

With my two able-bodied and pajama'ed assistants, we embarked on the building.

Quite a few of the pieces were broken in the box. Oops.

Then, a few days later....we decorated. That was really hard! We didn't quite have the right tools, I think, and we weren't quite prepared for how difficult it would be to make it look pretty.

David wanted to try and make it look like he was eating it.

It looks NOTHING like the box design...which, as I pointed out to my kids, was created by a computer artist. The stuff in the box...eluded me.

Okay, so here's my thoughts on this one.
I just don't get it. I posted about it to Facebook and got mixed comments from friends, some who thought it was really cool and others who were with me in their confusion.

Here's what I don't get:
Gingerbread houses are a tradition that has always eluded me in general. I think of Hansel and Gretel, and I know that they are a traditional Christmas decoration. They don't seem to have any religious significance, so that's certainly not my issue. I tend to shy away from projects that seem to be wasteful of food - I've never really met anyone who eats their gingerbread house. They're pretty but...

Here's the other thing I don't get. Aside from the Chanukiyot (menorahs) that we frosting-glued to the windows, what makes this house different from a Jewish house at any other time of year? I was so excited to affix the little mezuzah (we didn't say the bracha but we talked about it) which isn't just a Chanukah thing. I can't wrap my brain around the question...why a house? If this were a Sukkah kit, I'd get it. If it were a make-a-menorah-out-of-cookie kit, I might get that too. But a house? I'm a little lost on the significance.

In all fairness to my food-wasting concern, we did taste the house after building it. The kids really wanted to and I couldn't see any reason why not. They thought the frostings were awful and the cookie was super hard but tasted like graham crackers. We didn't eat all of it.

Overall, it was a fun project but again...I just don't get it.

The second product that we received in the mail was from Kiwi Crate.
What a fabulous idea - you pay for a monthly subscription and you get a "crate" of projects. If the monthly projects are anything like these - we literally had everything we needed in the box. I added newspaper and a scissors.

There were two projects in the box. We only ended up doing one because it was so much fun! I am planning to try out the other one during Chanukah.

We did Dreidel Spin Art - oh, it was so much fun! Messy, but awesome.

I loved loved loved that we used the crate itself for the spin space - no waste at all. My kids loved it.

Here's how it looked when we opened it.

Then we used up the rest of the paint to make the box beautiful...why not?

This was a fun and messy-but-contained and overall awesome project. All three of my big kids loved it.  (And yes, we did this one in our pajamas too! We only have limited time when Solly is asleep!)

My only complaints? The directions were simple and easy to follow, but there were no "suggestions" or "tips" - as we got started, I suddenly realized that we should put down newspaper. I didn't realize the kids might get paint splattered all over them, and while it did wash out of their hands easily, nowhere have I found information that it actually is "washable" paint. These are minor complaints, we had so much fun! (There is a "messiness meter" on the instruction booklet but it was awfully tiny.)

The other project is a menorah made using modge-podge and (included) LED tea lights. I'm sure it will be beautiful when we make it.

You can send gift subscriptions, or buy it for your own family! You can sign up by the month or for a yearly subscription. There are other holiday crates available too, and plenty of non-holiday stuff.  RIGHT NOW you can get $5 off gift subscriptions (3, 6, or 12 months), the code is GIFT.

Blessed are You, O God, who gives me the opportunity to have fun with my children, to create and do and learn and try and celebrate, who has made soap and water for cleanup and who has brought me to this day.

{36 reasons} Running Away

Remember my new shoes?
I gave them their first workout.

I love that Tricia wanted my first running experience to be in a beautiful place.

She took me to the OpenLands Lakeshore Preserve, which happens to be a total of 1.2 miles from my house. And I had no idea it was there. It was spectacular.

(In all fairness, this preserve area just opened in the last few years, I think. But still....have I been under a rock!?)

First we walked through a large ravine, and along the lake, until we came to the running trail. Including the walk out there and back, we covered about 3 miles.

A little pre-run photography

We walked some, we ran some.
I am planning to use an app to help me train (run-walk-run) but it was so great to have a friend out there who was patient and kind, who is a serious runner but didn't mind having me huff and puff alongside her.

Starting a new endeavor is hard. My legs hurt and when she talked about running UP the hills...I cringed but also imagined myself, someday, also running up those hills. Maybe it was just a beautiful day, maybe I have some kind of "runner's high"...but I'm already planning my next run. Even if I only go a little ways.

Blessed are You, O God, Ruler of the world, who created my body to move and function, who created beautiful places to see and feel and breathe, and who has brought me to this day.

{36 reasons} Independent Pancakes

The other morning, David asked for pancakes.

I love to cook. I love to make breakfast (after all, my Pinterest meal boards are called "My Favorite Meal" and "Not Breakfast"). But I thought this was a perfect opportunity to start him on cooking things other than baked goods.

And so I used the simplest pancake recipe I've ever made, to which Rebecca introduced me.

And I stepped back. Pretty much gave directions and let him do all the work.

And guess what?
He made pancakes.

Now he can even make dinner. Because everyone loves breakfast for dinner, right?

I'm aiming for total self-sufficiency...

Blessed are You, O God, Ruler of the world, who has given us skills and has enabled us to pass them onto our children, and who has helped to balance dependence and independence as our children grow, and who has brought me to this day.

{36 reasons} Memories of My Bat Mitzvah

Remembering my Bat Mitzvah...as I turn 36...it seems like an entire lifetime ago that I was called to the Torah for the first time. So much has changed, as it should.

Not to mention the glasses.

Blessed are You, O God, Ruler of the World, who has created us as creatures of memory, who has stored those memories in our minds to help us to see where we've been and where we are going, and who has brought me to this day.