A Recap on the Bat Mitzvah

A little over 2 years ago, I shared all the planning that was going in to getting ready for Annie's Bat Mitzvah. It was such a beautiful day!

So many friends and family came to help us celebrate Annie's great accomplishment.

When we first started out on this journey, we really didn't know Megan, the girl with whom Annie shared her Bat Mitzvah, and her family. Now, I can't imagine my life without them.

Here's some of the things we did:

For the service we wrote our own program. It had some information about the girls and specifics to their service, a lot of information about our synagogue and some great ideas about things our visitors could do while they were in Memphis. If you would like a copy for your Bar or Bat Mitzvah, email me!

We also made busy bags and coloring programs for the service. This was a HUGE part of having a really great day! The kids who came to the service all had a way to engage with the songs that are a regular part of the service, but the coloring pages were pictures of what was happening in the same order that things were actually going on!

For the luncheon following the service, we invited family to Central BBQ. We had posters of each girl for family to sign and paper and crayons on the tables to keep the kiddos occupied. Flowers acted as center-pieces for a few of the tables and the whole experience was warm and special.

For the party, we headed to the pool! A inflatable projector screen made it possible to share pictures of the girls and we grilled burgers and hot dogs! We had custom cups printed as a party favor, and really got to enjoy a big birthday celebration!

If you are interested in the weekly to-do lists for the last couple of months of planning, I am working on a DIY workbook! If you are interested in being one of the first to know about it, please let me know, by emailing me here.

Here's a few pictures of the great day!

It was a great day, beautifully photographed by our dear friend, Hiedi Walter. If you would like to have her photograph your family, please email her here.

Why I do what I do

If you have a job that you love, cool. But if you have a job that mostly doesn't feel like a job, THEN you have something worth hanging on to.

I am not sure who said those words to me. But, I firmly believe in them.

This afternoon was another great example of this. I met with another parent and talked to one on the phone. Both of them were met with my usual happy upbeat personality, but I think they both were surprised by how very clear I am. So many teachers are so tired of what they do, that I don't think they really understand how vital they are. Some truly do not understand the impact they can have on their student population and the lasting effects of those relationships.

Each year I say that I have 204 kids; 4 I gave birth to and 200 that the school gave me. This year I feel that even more than normal. These kids are really incredible. I hear people say, "they have such a bright light" about different people and I've never really known what that meant. This year I do. These kids are AMAZING. They soak up the material while we're in class. They tell me jokes. They tell me problems. They ask me questions. They are incredible. I force them to work really, really, really, hard and they do it.

For the most part, I don't have any behavior issues. Ever. It is so strange to me. I've never been this lucky before. I give all the credit to the kids. Don't get me wrong, I am working my tushie off! I study every night to make sure I can teach them correctly, do my best to write quizzes and tests that are aligned with the primary learning objectives, write lesson plans that I think are really fun and they they will engage in and then write study guides that I believe will guide them in the right direction. It's the best hard work I've done in a long time.

I think this is the, "I am so blessed" post. Most of the time those sound so trite to me. I hope this doesn't sound that way. But, truly, I have never had a roster full of kids for whom I feel nearly the same way as I feel about my own kids. They're incredible. They make me want to work harder at my classes for my Doctorate to be sure that I am working at setting a good example.

Now, this is where I get pretty out of character for me....If you are of the praying kind, whatever your method, prayer beads, incense, spiritual gods, good vibes, positive energy, what have you; say a prayer for us. We have a big mountain to climb to try and get these kids to reach the proficient goal on the end of course test in May. I want to see these sweet kids reach the top. Help us reach the top.

Getting Ready for Hanukkah

It is my understanding that many people do not know much about Hanukkah and that they are quite curious how it is celebrated in someone's home. These are some of the questions I get and the answers I give. If you want to know more, I'll include some links to help you out.

1. Do your kids get Christmas presents?
Nope. We do not usually celebrate Christmas. If we go to Geoff's mom or dad's for Christmas, then they will get Christmas presents then. But at our house, we don't usually do Christmas.
2. Do you guys decorate/put up a Christmas tree?
I love to decorate! However, we usually do a winter decoration of some kind, but not for Christmas specifically. We have done a Christmas tree before and I own a LOT of ornaments and twinkle lights. I happen to really love the smell of Christmas trees and really like the look, but they do not go up for the Christmas holiday. If we have them it is for fun only. But, target certainly gets in the holiday spirit for us! Giving us a whole 10 feet of an aisle...check it out:

3. Do your kids get 8 BIG presents?
No way! I do not have enough money for 8 BIG presents and it is 100% not what the holiday of Hanukkah is about. Hanukkah is more about being thankful for what you have and celebrating those things. In fact, Purim, a spring holiday that goes with the story of Ester, was the original gift giving holiday of the Jewish faith. Here's a picture of our buffet with all the presents I had finished wrapping after Thanksgiving.

By Saturday, I had this:

4. What exactly is that light/candle thing for?
The light/candle thing, is called a menorah. It represents the oil lamp from the synangogue that was destroyed by the Greeks. The Macabees, Jewish Soldiers, fought to defend it. In each synanagogue there is a lamp above the Torah scrolls and it represents the eternal light. In the synanagogue destroyed by the Greeks, the people could only find enough unspilled oil to last 1 day/night. When they put it in the lamp, it lasted for 8 days/nights. So we celebrate that with a menorah that has 8 lights. We have a special one, called a Shamesh, that sits up taller than the other 8. It is the leader. 
5. How do you guys do presents?
Geoff and I get the kids presents and they do usually end up with 8 things to open, but some nights are definitely bigger than others. Which is TOTALLY fine with me.

6. Why don't you celebrate Christmas; Jesus was Jewish?
7. Do you decorate?
I love to decorate! Since I do a lot of sewing, which you can purchase at www.etsy.com/shop/SewSoStyle I love to make things for our house too! Like my dish towel? I'm working on making a bunting banner and a table cloth for the house; once those are done, I'll share them too!

8. Why the potato things?
The holiday is the celebration of oil. We make potato pancakes that get fried, in oil. For some, the whole holiday is about the celebration of oil and they only eat fried foods for their first nite dinner. (We are not that way.) Some others do donuts. We'll make latkes and have dinner and a few friends over. I'll share that in another post.

I hope that I have answered some of your questions :)

Happy Hannukkah!