Hanukkah - a little late

Well this post is a little late in coming, but again I was bad at taking pictures so I had to get them from my mom.

We headed to Chicago to celebrate Hanukkah with my family a couple weekends ago.  We had a great time playing dreidel, eating latkes, lighting the candles and sharing gifts.  It was really fun to watch Caroline get so excited about lighting the candles, saying the blessings and playing dreidel. She was also a HUGE fan of latkes. Here are a few pictures from our time celebrating Hanukkah.

Caroline made her own menorah using lifesavers and frosting. If you look closely you can even see a little frosting that made it's way into her mouth :)

Caroline had a great time playing dreidel with anyone and everyone.  Somehow she found a weighted dreidel and managed to spin gimel (a winning spin) just about every time.  This definitely brought out the competitive side in her, but she was always quick to share her winnings with anyone who ran out as long as she had a few to eat in the end.

We also had a great time baking Hanukkah cookies with Auntie Shawna and Nana.  Caroline's favorite part was rolling the dough and then gathering the dough that was leftover from cutting so she could roll it again.

Auntie Shawna showing her how to roll out the dough

Jack got in on the action too!

Caroline and Nana

I love this girl!

The boys!

You know she's concentrating hard when the tongue comes out.  I just hope she didn't drool on any of those cookies.

What's a cookie without some sprinkles.

We may have snuck a taste :)

Caroline and Jack also got lots of great presents (a trampoline, easel, movies, clothes, trucks, etc.) but again I'm bad with the camera so there are only movies of these - which take forever to upload.  So instead, I will leave you with a video of Caroline saying the blessing.  She did pretty good for a 2-year-old, a little camera shy and with crazy bed head from her nap, but we were pretty proud of her.   Better than her Uncle Tim, I hear :)


Hanukkah Blessing from Jenn Miedema on Vimeo.

Oh wait, I almost forgot...Jack decided to roll over for the first time while we were there and we actually caught it on video.  We didn't think he'd ever do it but he did.  Now we have to convince him not to roll over when he's supposed to be sleeping because it is keeping him from getting a good night of sleep/nap.  And to think we wanted him to do this...ahh, the joys of parenting.  Enjoy!

Jack rolls over from Jenn Miedema on Vimeo.