Sharing Hanukkah Traditions!

Sophie enjoying latkes

Will was the best latke eater!
Sophie and Becke posing at the menorah

The kids enjoying the dreidel game


Sometimes being Jewish is tough. Being Jewish in Harford County, Maryland is even tougher. While the county is slowly becoming less homogeneous, the amount of Jewish families in the area is slim. That being said, its tough for Sophie and Mason in December. Everything is red and green, Santa and Rudolph and Jingle Bells. So, we decided to have several of Sophie and Mason's little friends over to enjoy some of the Jewish traditions of Hanukkah.

We ate latkes, spun the dreidel and lit the menorah. The kids all had a great time, and Sophie and Mason (particularly Sophie) was really happy to share her customs with her friends. It was really cool to see several of her friends already know about the rules of dreidel and different aspects of the holiday.

Tomorrow night we are headed to the synagogue in Harford County for a Hanukkah party. That should be fun!

On a scary note, I was in Target last week and asked an employee where the Hanukkah paper, bows, etc was. He replied "We don't do that here". Hmph!

It's so much fun to share customs and traditions. I truly believe it makes people more tolerant, accepting and loving to all people when you can step outside the box. When the Hanukkah hoopla dies down next week and Christmas celebration kicks into high gear, hopefully the kids will learn new things and experience the fun of the Christmas season!

First Snow of the Season!

Well, the calender may still say its Autumn, but we got our first blast of winter today with a little snow! The grass is covered and we probably got an inch or two. The streets mostly remained wet, so it didn't slow me down on my day off with tons of errands to do.

The kids loved seeing the snow fall from he sky and Sophie tried to catch snowflakes in her mouth. They wanted to go out and play, but it's getting dark out now..hopefully tomorrow.

I work tomorrow, so I'm curious to see how Maryland calls it. Traditionally, the schools close in Maryland at the first flake, so I'd be content with a snow day or a delayed opening!

We had the first night of Hanukkah last night and Mason got a V-Tech toy and Sophie got High School Musical dolls. The highly coveted Troy and Gabriella. They are excited to open up another one tonight!

Countdown to Candle Lighting!

I spent Friday night knee deep in wrapping paper getting all the Hanukkah presents wrapped. As my parents did for us growing up, we always had a few days to eye the gifts and strategize which one to open up first. The kids came downstairs on Saturday very excited to see all the presents out. However, in true kid style Sophie comments "Mason got more than me". I assured her that her counting was off, they both had exactly 8 gifts, and that I treat both kids equally. Although Sophie definitely got a better haul this year. Since Mason is only 2, what does he know?

Hanukkah kicked off a little early yesterday since my parents won't be able to make it down during the week. The kids got great gifts. A Leap Frog Leapster for Sophie and an awesome train table for Mason.

First candle tomorrow night!

A Walk on the Feminine Side

Mason is home with me today as he has been under the weather the past couple days. Yesterday he coughed so much that he threw up in school. He was really miserable yesterday. So, I kept him home today and he is doing much better. He is happy, not coughing nearly as much and playing. He keeps telling me he wants to go to school.

I went down to check on him in theplayroom, and there he was..standing at the play kitchen with a pretend ice cream cone and wearing Sophie's princess shoes. He loves the Belle ones the best as they are yellow.

I'm sure we will be able to blackmail him in the future at his football banquet with this picture.

The Turkey is finished, let the retail madness begin!

Well, Thanksgiving is over. We had my mom and dad down, along with my sister, brother and law and my two nieces. Have you ever stopped to think about how long you spend preparing a Thanksgiving dinner and how long it takes to eat it? Well, with some down time last night I did. I shopped for food for probably 2 hours, got table accessories on my afternoon off, started preparing side dishes the night before and basically did not sit down all of Thanksgiving day (That's with my mom making the turkey and my sister bring the pies..the 2 hardest tasks). We sat down to eat and were finished the main meal in under 40 minutes. Yep. Do the math..it doesn't seem very productive, does it?

All in all, the food was good. The kids were as good as 4 children under the age of six can be. Brooke and Mason were amongst the pickiest of the eaters, but no one walked away hungry.

I went to sleep early last night, thinking I can score some good Black Friday deals and get an early workout at the gym. I was out of my house at 6:00 am, only to discover that the coveted GPS we were thinking of getting flew out of the stores within 5 minutes of opening. I was able to score some good scrap booking supplies at a nice discount. This Black Friday thing is maddening. It is so wild to see no parking at 6:00 in the morning and lines wrapped around the stores. Next year, I'm buying online. I'll still have to wake up early to catch to deals, but at least I can do it from under the covers.

Enjoy the shopping! Although I don't think it can be classified as retail therapy today!

New York, baby!

Brian and I recently celebrated our 6th anniversary with a long weekend jaunt to the Big Apple. We dumped the kids off at Brian's mom's house and set off for 3 days without dependents. It was so weird to be driving and looking at the seats in the back without car seats.

We had a few setbacks on our trip. First, we check in to our hotel and we are informed that the only room they have left was a smoking room with a queen bed. So, before we can be pissed off we were offered a free night at the hotel across the street with a promise our room will be ready tomorrow. Not too bad..we slashed our hotel bill in half.

As we were getting dressed on Saturday to head down to Tix for discount theatre tickets we see on the news that a strike on Broadway is looming. The Stage Handlers decide to pick the weekend I go away to fight for more fair pay. So, most of all the popular shows are shut down. There were 8 shows available that were not part of the striking union. It worked out ok, cause one of the shows was the Putnam County Spelling Bee. What a great show..absolutely hysterical. We had it on our list of ones we wanted to see so we weren't disappointed.

We took to the streets, mostly on foot, partly by subway and did the 5th avenue stroll..as I lingered in the windows of Tiffany's, Fendi and Cartier, Brian picked up the pace. After the show, we had a yummy dinner in Little Italy.

On the way home Sunday, we stopped at Harold's Deli..a famous stop on the New Jersey Turnpike for monstrous sandwiches and other Jewish delicacies. Brian and I shared a single sandwich and had enough leftovers for 3 sandwiches. It was crazy good and as good as it was, it was even more fun to watch other people get their meals. We attached a picture of the monstrous corned beef sandwich.

When we got to Brian's mom's house..both kids pitched a fit to go home with us. Sounds like everything went well and we can plan our next getaway sans kids soon.

Break out the fleece!

There is an autumn chill in the air! We have not turned on the heat yet, but getting close. I have already gotten the comfy, cozy pajamas out for the kids to keep them toasty when they sleep. Mason gave us a tough time with the "feeties". He tried to peel them off as fast as we put them on.

Generally, Mason is a good kid. However, we had a "time-out" incident in school today. He and another one of his partners in crime decided to pull all of the library books off the shelf in his room and jump on them, pretending they were a pile of leaves. They did not stop despite warnings and both ended up in the time out chair. His teacher said the two boys sat in the chairs and laughed. Great.

Sophie has finally graduated to a booster seat in the car. She is thrilled to be out of the car seat, and she really looks like she aged once we made the transfer.

Brian and I are off to NY for the weekend to celebrate our 6 year anniversary. Brian's mom is taking the kids for a few days while we get some adult time. Hopefully the kids will be good so she will want to do it again! This is our first time leaving the kids overnight (actually 2 nights!) so we will see how that goes.

Knee Deep in Candy!

Halloween came and went and we are now coming off our sugar high.

Sophie celebrated yesterday at school. Mason had his celebration today with a parade and party. Everything went well, and Mason surprisingly kept his hat on the entire time. I was worried that was one part of his costume he would not tolerate.

After school we gathered up the costumes again, got out the candy buckets and had an outside pizza party at our neighbors before trick or treating. The kids ate next to nothing, so I resolved myself that candy was going to be the main course tonight. Oh well, it's once a year. I may not get the mother of the year award, but I can live with that.

Sophie and Mason had a great time trick or treating. Since it was a fairly mild night, most people sat outside to give out the treats. We only covered half the neighborhood at the very most and got a huge haul.

The kids know the rules. They can have 2 pieces a day. I figure if I don't touch it myself (yeah right) it should last until next summer. I'm going to need to get this out of my house..or hope the kids and Brian gobble it all up and leave me with the sweet tarts. Yuck.

Happy Halloween!

Twas the Night Before Halloween..

Everyone is very excited for Halloween in the Schorr house! Sophie had her Halloween party at school today. Smart teachers. THey know she is going to be so sugared up tomorrow, they decided to celebrate a day early. Mason has his parade and party tomorrow.
The kids are very excited to go trick or treating. We plan on meeting a bunch of families for an outdoor pizza party around the fire and then off for the big candy run.
Sophie helped me get the jack-o-lanterns ready tonight by scooping out the pumpkin seeds and the guts. Brian got creative with the faces.
Check back soon for pictures of the kids dressed in their costumes!

Armed for the Winter

We went out on a wet, miserable morning to get everyone (except Brian) our annual flue shots. The Harford County Health Department sets up clinics in and around the area to get immunizied for the winter flu season. This is always such a pleasant experience for Sophie, who does so well (note sarcasm) with shots. She woke up suprisingly well this morning and knew she was getting her shot, but as we got closer and closer to the actual event, the crying, turned into screaming and then turned into Sophie trying to run away.

Mason on the other hand did really well. When he saw me roll up my sleeve, he started to do the same. Unfortunately, Mason's shot went in his leg. A little crying after and Mason was pacified by a lollipop.

Brian likes to play Russian Roulette and not get the flu shot. Says he never got the flu. Let's hope his current record stands. I don't feel like playing nurse to him this winter.

Thank goodness this ordeal is over with for another year.

Rain, Rain stay a while!

But please stop by the weekend! Finally some much needed rain! This weather has been so crazy, it makes no sense to be sending the kids to school in shorts and t-shirts, but it looks like the weather is finally taking a turn toward more seasonable temps. I was able to break out the sweaters today. I just hope Halloween is a mild night so the kids won't have to wear jackets over their costumes. Mason is going as a fireman (so his jacket is part of the costume) and Sophie will be a princess witch. She was going to be a diva, but I thought the capri pants and halter top would be a little chilly for this time of year.

We remain very very busy and I have not been home at night this week yet! I finally get to settle in tonight and watch tv. Brian's dad and wife come down on Saturday, and we have a Halloween party at my parents on Sunday. The kids will also get their flu shots this Saturday..so that should be tons of fun.

Back to blogging...

Ok, so it has been a while since I have blogged. I was gently reminded of this fact at my cousin's bat-mitzvah yesterday. I'm glad people are actually reading this. So, now it's time to catch up. I can't believe I have not posted in 2 months. Yikes.

Things are good in the Schorr household and we are back in the swing of school. The kids love their new classrooms and are learning so much. Mason can name all his shapes and colors and recognizes his name when he sees it now. He is talking non-stop, and the speech therapist in me is a little worried that he is a little hard to understand, but I have been reassured by my colleagues that he is completely on track. He sure has been making us laugh lately.

Sophie is doing very well in school as well, and has taken to the new routine after several weeks of "I don't want to go to school". She is learning to write her letters and loves her reading program. She comes home with a new sight word every week and loves to look through her books and find them. I'm predicting she is going to be an early reader.

I'm working at the schools 2 days a week now, and helping Brian with the video game business the other days. I love my new schedule and much more relaxed this year. It gives me more freedom and I can competently get a balanced dinner on the table most nights of the week.

We have been busy most weekends lately with fall activities, parties and families visiting. Before we know it the weekend is over. Brian's mom and brother came down today and they took the kids to the playground. I have posted some pics of the kids today at the playground that Brian took. It gave me an opportunity to finally clean out my closet that I have been putting off. I've been saving clothes, thinking I'll wear them again, but decided to finally put the past behind me and donate to Goodwill. Why I was saving all those blazers with shoulder pads is beyond me.

I'll be back with more news in a day or two! It's a promise!

No One Likes Change

Well, we are back in the school routine. I sent the kids back to school this week as I plan to start back at the end of the week myself. The kids spent the summer home with me and while I was nervous at the beginning of the summer how I was going to enjoy being a stay at home mom, the summer flew by and the kids and I had a great time.

Apparantly we had too much of a great time. Both Sophie and Mason are having a terrible time transitioning back to school. I drop off both kids in the morning, crying their eyes out. Sophie is having a really tough time, but is usually fine by the afternoon. Mason is crying all day and constantly crying for "mommy". My heart is breaking. They are both in new rooms so there is change there. Plus, add Mason's broken leg to the mix, and it's a mess.

Everyone tells me to relax..the kids will be fine. It has only been 2 days. It just is awful getting there.

Time to catch up

It has been a while since the last post cause we have been extremely busy in our house. We came back form vacation at the beach last week. The kids had a great time. They both enjoyed the sand and Sophie really enjoyed the ocean. Mason..not so much. The waves were scary and too loud for him. Since the weather was over 100 degrees on most days, it was no fun to stay out of the water with him. Sophie surprised us with going on some amusement rides even I would not venture (although that is not saying too much. She loved riding the teacups (spinning like crazy) and rode a car track that went superfast going backwards as well. She even kicked me offf the merry-go-round as support. She told me she could do it all by herself.

When we got back from the beach, we had my birthday and my grandmother's 90th. We had a family pary up at my cousin's Debbie's house. It was nice for everyone to be together.

The piece de resistance came Monday night. We were outside on the neighbor's playground set after dinner. Mason climbed up, but refused to slide down. I had to rescue him and when we went down the slide, he did something to his leg. He screamed and cried for several hours and to make a long story short... broke his leg. Yes. It is his Left leg, the lower portion. He got casted yesterday. His first choice was pink..but I talked him out fo that. He isnt in pain anymore and is being quite a trooper but it will be tough for us for a little while. He has to be carried or in a stroller since he can't weight bear. Right now he is fine, but I forsee him trying to get more active as he gets used to the cast. Luckily, toddlers heal quickly, so he is getting it off the day after Labor Day.

More updates later!

A Wiggly Good Time!

Yesterday we took a day trip to Reading, Pennsylvania (where Brian and I used to live before kids) to see the Wiggles. This was Sophie's 4th concert and Mason's 3rd. It was pretty wild going back to the town I used to live in. Some things have changed but much has stayed the same. Lots of fun to go back and see our old house. Our first house. Mason particuarly had a really good time at the show. He was really the perfect age for it. Sophie had fun too, but after the show she informed us she was "wiggled out" We met up for dinner with my 2 fiends Carolyn and Sue, who I used to teach with. It was so fun to get together and have them meet the kiddies.

The Wiggles show was really fun. We got to see the new Yellow Wiggle, Sam..who replaced Greg. He was really good. It was tough to hear the difference with several of the songs..but weird to see a new a new guy in the troop.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream..

For Ice Cream! What is summertime without ice cream treats? Sophie's friend Becke came over to play last night and the kids enjoyed push-ups. I was not home for the mess, but apparantly Mason had a good ol time trying to get the ice cream out of the push-up. A jump in the bath and the stickiness was soon forgottten! Until tomorrow that is...

Finally...Back on the Air!

Well, a wild storm ripped through our neighborhood on Monday afternoon leaving us without power until the next day. Furthermore, we did not have internet or cable tv..so things were really bleak. Things finally got back to normal this morning. You don't realize how dependent you are on technology until it bites you in the butt.

Mondy morning I took the kids to the Herrs Snack Factory for a tour of how potato chips are made, among other treats. We went with some friends. The kids had a great time, although Mason was scared of the Herr's mascot, Chipper and ran from his sight!

Take me out to the Ballgame...

Yesterday we ventured up to Philadelphia to see the Philadelphia Phillies play the St. Louis Cardinals. We met Brian's brother Jeff for the late afternoon game. After getting to the ballpark, all the kids wanted to do was eat and eat. They pounded the snacks I brought and kept looking for more. Mason was a little tough and was a bit fidgety through the whole game. I think the heat was getting to him. He found the icepack in the cooler bag and he held it most of the game, trying to get relief. For a little guy he sure sweats alot. Sophie did pretty well and was amused by the game and the attractions. She killed time with me waiting for 45 minutes for a cheesesteak. I havent had a "real" Philly cheesesteak in about 5 years, and man..it was worth every gram of fat and calories.

The Phillies won 10-4 so a good day had by all!

Four Generations Under One Roof

I had decided that one day this summer I would take the kids up to visit my grandmother in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. She has been able to come down to me the past few years and stay a few days, but she has had bad luck with her feet and legs and can not really move around well. So we decided to bring the mountain to Mohammad. My mom decided to join us for the ride as well. So, on Tuesday (the hottest day of the year) we headed upstate PA. My grandmother does not have central air, so basically I think I sweated off about 10 lbs. Older people are so funny sometimes..my mom and I were begging her to run the fans and the air conditioning units and she told us that she was comfortable and her feet were like ice. No kidding.

Ultimately we won and things cooled down a bit. The kids did great. Sophie slept with my mom in the guest room and Mason slept in my grandmother's room on the floor. I sacked out on the couch. Both the kids slept until almost 8 the next day.

So, we are all home now..the kids are still slleping (8:20 am!) and I'm catching up on my email. No high speed connection at Nana's house!

Fireworks Fun!

Last night we decided to check out the fireworks in Havre De Grace with our friends and neighbors Alyssa, Fritz and Becke. I fugured the kids had a really good nap, and may be good to stay up past their 8:00 bedtime. We met for dinner at 7:00, the kids had some snacks and we walked over a mile (the kids were in the stroller) to the park where the festivities were. In addition to the great fireworks, there was a huge carnival set up with rides, games and food. The kids loved the fireworks and were dressed for occasion with American flags and hats courtesy of Alyssa who is always prepared for a celebration!

All in all, a good time by everyone. Sophie adores Becke and Mason is in love with her. An older woman. Hopefully she won't break his heart!

We got the kids home and in bed by 11:00 and they were still going strong. They slept until 9:00 this morning which was a nice treat for us!

A very relaxing and boring July 4th for us. We ran some errands in the morning and relaxed this afternoon. A quiet barbeque for the 4 of us rounded out the day. Then the rain came down!

Happy Birthday U.S.A!

Swim Like a Fish!

The kids are really enjoying going swimming! I signed Sophie up for private swimming lessons and in the 3 lessons she had she has gained a lot of confidence in the pool. She can blow bubbles, submerge her head, jump in the pool holding someones hand and can float contently in an innertube. I'm sure many of you are thinking "big deal", but this was a kid who was scared to death 2 weeks ago and would barely sit down in the baby pool. I'd pay for 100 more private lessons if I could afford it. But at $25 a lesson, I'll have to settle for what I got. Mason is also having a blast. He will willingly go in the big pool with me, but is much more in his element at the the baby pool, playing with buckets and pool toys.

The best part about the pool is all the sun the kids get and how it knocks them out. I put them down for naps at around 12:30-1:00 and don't hear from them until at least 3:30.

Gearing up for the Fourth of July...we don't have any plans, going to be a lazy day. Hopefully we can catch some fireworks and keep the kids up for them!