The eye of the storm

Last night we lit the last Hanukkah candles, and as Jason and Alanya sat waiting and watching for the last one to puff out, it made me sad to think we had to wait another year to do it again. I guess that's what holidays are about. If we did it every week, it wouldn't be special. There was something different about this year's Hanukkah though as our family raced through our daily schedule of activities it was a bit more of a challenge to carve out the time for a family dinner to light the candles. We do our best to eat together every night and it is a rare night when Jason can't leave work in time for dinner, even if it means working from home once the kids go to bed. I remember some nights that I had to light the menorah alone with the kids, and say the prayers while the kids mumbled along in some form of Hebrew. Those nights were a little odd and surreal for me, trying to keep traditions going, even when it wasn't my tradition. But that's the point... now it is.



Last night Noah had a wrestling match in another town and I knew having dinner ready for 5 starving people when we got home around seven was going to be a challenge. I was tempted to go out to eat, but alas, you can't bring your candles to a restaurant. So instead, we did the next best thing as you can see in the picture. Chinese Food.

We did have a true Hanukkah celebration with my sister and parents on the second night complete with dreidel, gelt, and Jason's latkes. That night we started what I hope will be a new Hanukkah tradition for our family - homemade sufganiyot, or jelly donuts. Jason outdid himself, and they were delightful.

Later today I'll get Alanya set up with the waxy menorahs to clean them with a toothpick, and I will continue wrapping gifts. No rest for the weary. This is a marathon for our family and this weekend is simply the eye of the storm. We won't slow down again for another week. The kids are having a ball, Jason and I are nearing exhaustion, and now I know why we only do this once a year.