Falling into the unexpected and the dreaded category would be our treadmill breaking. We pound on this thing everyday so it's not that surprising but it was a cruel twist of fate to collapse during the holiday season. Between the latke marathon and the cookie carnival at our house, we all needed some EXTRA exercise. Thank g-d for our little trampoline... I'm now happy to report a working treadmill (and parts were covered by warranty!) and metabolisms getting back on track! ;-)
Zoe had a visit to the dentist who, once again, put in a hardcore argument for thumb removal. Shockingly, I've gotten both the girls down to thumb sucking ONLY when going to bed. This is a HUGE improvement and I'm still in shock that I was able to get Ruby's thumb out of her mouth at all. Ruby holds her Jiffy to her mouth (no thumb) now and says "look at me! i only suck my thumb in my cwibby!" It's crazy cute. Zoe will tell on Ruby and Ruby will tell on Zoe if one of them slips. ;-) It was a super hard transition for the first week but they did it!!!!! Next step, stopping the bedtime thumb. Zoe knows that she's getting a HUGE prize when she accomplishes it and told us that she's been practicing trying to stop while she's in bed. I haven't even mentioned the idea of Ruby giving up her nighttime thumb yet. Too much for Mommy to handle right now. ;-)
Hanukkah was super fun. The kids were so excited and loved making lots of decorations for the house. Ruby made a wooden menorah at school and that almost turned into a real fire. Um, there's a reason menorah's are never made of wood! What a nightmare (category: unexpected!
I went to Zoe's school to talk to the kids about Hanukah (along with another family) and Zoe sang the candle lighting prayer for her schoolmates. She was fantastic! I brought latkes for the kids to have for snack and they gobbled them up (except for Zoe, of course). We brought little dreidels and chocolate gelt for the kids to take home. It was a fun day and Zoe loved it.
I had a great birthday. These last few years they have passed uneventfully but somehow it seemed extra special this year. I got lots of flowers (love it!!!) and gifts and good wishes. My favorite thing - G got me speakers for the kitchen. ;-) During my monthly Girl's Night Out, my girls brought a cake to dinner which was also super sweet.
Right around my birthday we also had school conferences at Children's Center. Zoe is doing fantastic and got glowing marks from her teachers! They also felt that should would really benefit on "being the big shot" at school next year (young 5's program/pre-k vs. kindergarten) and further developing her social skills. Since she's starting to spell and read a few words, they thought a reading class would be a good idea (if she is interested) so we'll supplement with that. She'll be going to Pre-K at Children's Center five days a week starting in the fall.
Mid-month, Ruby finished with her last class at Gan Ami. Here's a bunch of pictures (taken by her teacher) over the course of those few months. She really enjoyed school and it was a great experience for her.
On New Year's Eve day we went to the Children's Discovery Museum where the kids made noise makers and party hats, painted their faces and we celebrated with a countdown at noon for another time-zone! At night we ate little franks in blankets with sparkling apple cider, shot off some silly string, wore New Year's crowns, ate brownies, lit a fire and collapsed pretty early. Perfect!
Luckily, the extra fun stuff outweighed the dreaded and unexpected. Stay tuned for January where the kids (and G and I) set our New Year's Resolutions!
Please click here for all the December pictures. And, if you missed links above click here for Ruby's school pictures at Gan Ami. And, here are pics from Zoe's Holiday Show and classroom party that followed.
Enjoy the videos below.
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