Not-So-Secret Summer Sundays

Most rabbis I know have a dirty little secret:

We love Sundays in the summer.

Because most of us, for most of the year, have a little thing known as Sunday School. So every Sunday, we're up at the crack of dawn with our enthusiastic smiles on, ready to impart Jewish knowledge and wisdom to the next generation....

But in the summer, we get to experience Sunday mornings. Lazy and delightful.

So today, I made chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes (not together, but separately), drank a cup of (decaf) coffee, read the newspaper, and then we went to a pool party sponsored by my younger kids' day camp. Wonderful!

What is better than popsicles at the pool?

P.S. This is late for Robin's Summer Stock Sunday and early for Tracey's Best Shot Monday.

Cool Tushies

Real quote from these children:  

We're cooling off our tushies!

Do you like it better like this....

or like this...using a 70s action from Pioneer Woman?

What was your Best Shot this week? See Tracey's place for more.

Passover in Pictures

Better late than never, right?

A quick recap of Passover in pictures...

See more great shots over at Tracey's place.

Spring and Baking

(Recipe for these 2 tone brownies, from this month's Cooking Light - Black & Tan Brownies)
They were SO good.
Great way to use up flour AND beer.

other Best Shots over at Tracey's place.

Springing Up...

Warmer weather and blue skies got some of us to peek our noses outside...

Others ventured all the way out...

"I'm making you a cake, mama!"

Things went well until we realized that spring was not quite here yet... 

she asked for a hat. Brr!

*See more Best Shot Monday posts here.

Hamantaschen Test Kitchen #3: Gluten-Free

My family is not gluten-free. But we have several close friends who are. So when I posted earlier this month that I'd be starting my hamantaschen baking, one of those friends asked if I'd be making any gluten-free delicacies.
Um, no. (Who does she think I am?)

But I offered to come over to her house and try to make them with her (because I thought it would make a good blog post, I'll admit it)...and so we did.

We used this recipe, which I thought seemed to be the most resembling regular hamantaschen.

I've never baked gluten-free, but I have tasted many of my friend's results. I know how much work goes into getting these baked goods to come out right, and how generally important the directions are. So when it says to "coat" the dough in (GF) flour, it really means it.

I'm just sayin'....

So, here's what they looked like before baking...

And after....

And my little gluten-eaters didn't even know the difference.

See more Hamantaschen Test Kitchen Posts:
Cream Cheese Dough
Gingerbread?

More coming - I have two other recipes that I'd like to get made before this weekend!

And, in case you're interested, I think that last one is my Best Shot Monday!

Negotiation?

I have an almost 3-year-old who really wants to be carried.

All the time.

Sometimes it requires a little negotiation.

My favorite shot from our end-of-year road trip.

What's your Best Shot Monday?

Don't Let the Light Go Out

Haveil Havalim is up over at Frume Sarah's place. Go tell her what a nice job she did!

Chanukah comes to its inevitable end.

The lights shone brightly

and filled our hearts and homes.

We have come to banish night,

banish it with candlelight.

May the lights of Chanukah continue to warm us

from within

as we work to banish night all over the world.

This is my Best Shot for the week. See more of them over here.
See more Chanukah Shots over at Batya's place.

Reflection

A little self-reflection, courtesy of Sam.

See other great shots from the weekend at Tracey's place.

Don't forget the Got Latkes shirt giveaway (ends soon) and the Oh Nuts giveaway going on right now...

Eight is GREAT!

When David was born, it was at that moment that I became a mother.

It's a little bit hard to believe that 8 years ago, I wasn't someone's ima! But now....wow.

He started out like this (6 days old):
(this was originally a film print...oy, I feel old!)

...to this....first birthday: (also film....)

...to this 2 year old....

...to this 3 year old....

...to a 4 year old with super powers...

...to a five year old...

...to a six year old karate-doing, kindergarten-going, book-reading kid...

...to a 7 year old, actual person who has likes, dislikes, and interests...

...to this character of an 8 year old, who is full of opinions, a comedian-in-training, and the life of the party...

I can't believe that I'm the mother of an 8 year old!
He's a real person, he watches movies and tells stories, he reads books cover-to-cover and he plays video games. He always wants to do whatever's next, whatever he might finally be old enough for, but he also likes to watch Dora the Explorer with his little sister. He's in that not-a-baby but not-a-preteen, still a little kid but with the vocabulary of a middle-schooler. He slides on the floor whenever possible and never walks when he can run. He hasn't yet asked for his own cell phone but I can't believe the request is that far off (not that I'll grant it, mind you)....he's definitely growing up!

What a difference 8 years makes....

That last one is my Best Shot Monday, even though technically my dad took it.
I ordered the shot (nicely, of course).

Cute and Sugared Up!

This week's Haveil Havalim is up over there.

I have definitely made my feelings about Halloween clear.

But I know that my kids really want to be a part of what's going on in the world around them. And, as I repeat yearly, if I just don't make a big deal of it, it will eventually go away. (Thank heavens.)

The only thing I like about Halloween is being able to take cute pictures of my kids in costumes!

So here are my little ghosties and goblins. Okay, actually, a dragon, a Dora the Explorer (but wearing a big fluffy white coat, I kept trying to convince her to be a polar bear - it was cold), and a ninja. We went to a friend's party and the kids collected just a little candy. They had more fun eating ...pizza, cupcakes and, of course, chocolate!

(The ninja was busy running around with the big kids and didn't want to stop for too many pictures!)

This one is my favorite...she was so excited to eat the candy. I love this face that I captured:

Go see all the other great shots over at Tracey's Best Shot Monday.

Day 2 of NaBloPoMo and I haven't missed a day! Yay!

Signs of Fall...

On my driveway....

In the backyard...

On the car window...

And what's fall without some cookies baking in the oven?

Go see other people's pretty pictures this week.

Gonna Make This Garden Grow....

Haveil Havalim is up over by Jack's place. Stop by and visit.

As I was saying, I now have two years of gardening under my belt and I've decided it's time to step it up to the next level. My wonderful, amazing, spectacular husband offered to buy didn't have a choice agreed to get me a raised bed from NaturalYards. (Yay for an early birthday present!)

Four boxes arrived less than a week after I placed the order (4 feet by 12 feet by 16 inches high...in these cute little boxes!) - pretty amazing delivery service, don't you think? Excuse the front-porch mess.

Not only did my wonderful husband let me get buy me this great garden, he grumbled helped me put it together! It took both of us to carry those cute but heavy boxes around to the backyard.

(Isn't he cute?)
I was totally impressed by the ease with which this garden went together. No tools needed! Isn't that incredible? And it's all cedar. Amazing. It was like a game of tetris.

And voila, a finished garden. Seriously, less than 20 minutes to put this whole puppy together.

 

And inspired by my friend over at Juggling Frogs (actually, this is a fascinating post about vermicomposting), I acquired a broken swimming pool from my neighbors. Hopefully it will be a nice bed for strawberries, which is what she uses hers for. My kids will flip if we can actually grow their favorite fruit. We'll see if it works. I dumped all the old garden pots into it (usually I just clean them out, I'm thinking I'll let this dirt mellow over the winter. Does anyone know - will my mint plant revive/grow/return next year?)

 

And here you have it, all ready for winter...(oh, and some dirt yet to arrive to fill up my garden bed) - my Victory Garden:

 

I can't wait to continue the updates of my garden.

What kinds of things did you do this weekend? See other people's best shots over at Tracey's spot.

Painting is Fun!

I thought it would be fun to paint some posters to hang in our sukkah....and I had the brilliant ridiculous idea to make the kids' handprints...you know, for posterity and all that. So much for the handprints.

What a messy idea!

Then we went back to painting with brushes, which occupied the little people for quite some time!

Stay tuned for finished product pictures, which ended up laminated and hanging in the sukkah.
See other people's Best Shots over at Tracey's place.