Tonight is a very special night in this house. Yeah, yeah, I know it’s New Year’s Eve and that in itself is special, but we are really looking forward to it this year because we are getting together with our oldest friends (Dawn from Dishin’ with Dawndi and her husband and son), a tradition we’ve had for years with the exception of last year, because they had a family birthday party to attend. If you miss one year of a great tradition, and then pick it up again the following year, it’s sure to be magical in some shape or form. What will we do? Well, the main event involves…
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When Good Stalking Leads To A Great Marriage
Once a month, our temple’s Friday night services include Birthday and Anniversary blessings. It’s a really great tradition, and there’s something about having the rabbi and cantor give a blessing for the upcoming year (being witnessed by the congregation, of course!) that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Jim and I do our best to, as he says, “Go get our blessing” every year, and we did just that two weeks ago. At this part of the service, the rabbi calls all couples who are celebrating a wedding anniversary up to the bimah. As you can imagine, December is not one of the more popular months for weddings, and…
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Lazy Is As Lazy Does
Jim and I went out for our first snowshoeing workout of the season yesterday. I decided to bring Roxie with us because she hasn’t gotten too much exercise lately, the temperature outside wasn’t too cold, and I thought we’d really tire her out by taking her out into the deep (for her, a beagle) snow. I’ve taken her out with me (by myself) several times in the past couple of years, and I practically had to drag her home because she was so tired. Hmm. This year, unfortunately for us, because she’s no dum-dum, she figured out that snowshoeing would be easier–and more enjoyable–for her if she just trotted behind…
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Schnitzel and Face Masks and Hookers, Oh My! (Alternate Title: “How I Spent My Christmas Eve”)
Friday (also known as Christmas Eve) was a lovely day. It was the first time in ages that Jim and I had day-long plans, alone together. To top it off, we were going to one of my favorite places–downtown Chicago–and experiencing a few of my favorite things. We took the train from the station near our house; the hour-long ride was lovely. Seeing the holiday decorations at each station along the way was very cool, even though some of the life-sized snowman decorations made by school children at the Berwyn stop were mega-creepy (sorry kids!). Once we arrived at Union Station we headed upstairs and grabbed a taxi that would…
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Yep, We Have Christmas Traditions Too!
I know that hardly anyone is out there reading blogs today and tomorrow, but thought I’d take this opportunity to wish all of my friends who celebrate it a very Merry Christmas! Jim and I are taking the train to the city for the day to enjoy the last day of the Christkindlmarket (and have German food for lunch! Woot!), to see “Wicked” again (his 2nd time, my 4th!), and then to enjoy dinner before heading home. After that? Well, you know what me and the rest of my family will be doing… I hope you have as much fun as we plan to. ©2010 Suburban Scrawl
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To Sing, Or Not To Sing? THAT Is The Question.
I’ve got a new post over at The Music Mamas, about little kids and nasty lyrics. If you’ve got time in between wrapping and baking, head on over by clicking here! ©2010 Suburban Scrawl
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Parenting Secrets From Behind the Tiara
I wrote this post a couple of years ago, for a friend who needed a guest post on her blog. She has since shut down her site, so I thought I’d post it here! My husband Jim and I are successful parents. Really. If we were in Oprah’s magazine, our mad parenting skillz would be featured on her “What I Know For Sure” page. Of course we are not the only successful parents in the world, but we’re the only ones that matter…to our kids. I am happy to report that our boys are fine, upstanding young men–and it’s not only because we think so: that’s the general consensus from…
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At Least I’m Still Lovable.
My younger son had a really bad day yesterday. I won’t post the reason why out of respect for his privacy, and he will be fine, but yesterday was a little dicey and I felt a little helpless because I couldn’t fix things for him by snapping my fingers. Late in the evening, the phone rang. I looked at the Caller ID and noticed that it was one of my favorite people, a young lady who is one of his best friends. I wrote back in the spring about how awesome her family is. This girl is home-schooled for part of the day, and lives a few miles away (not…
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What To Make For Dessert That Will Have Everyone Humming…
I’m swamped at the moment, between my Productivity project and trying to catch up on a few other things this week, so today I thought I’d give you Christmas-celebratin’ folks a great (and easy!) last-minute recipe, should you need a dessert at some point this week. It’s called Hummingbird Cake and though I’m probably way off, I consider it a sister of the carrot cake. It’s got pecans, pineapple, and banana in it, and the frosting is of the cream cheese variety. It is, as my sister (and Weaselmomma) would say, “STUPID GOOD.” When I wanted to make it last week, I couldn’t find the recipe I got from my…
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Simple Gifts
My sister, upon seeing the title of this one, will think that this post is about one of my favorite songs, which is “Simple Gifts”. The older boy used to play it when he was in middle school orchestra, and then the younger boy learned it on the guitar. I adore it, and he rarely plays it for me anymore. Don’t know the song? Since I haven’t yet caught my kid playing it on camera yet, here’s my second favorite version. But this post isn’t about that. As a second grade religious school teacher, I sometimes receive gifts at Hanukkah or at the end of the year. It’s not necessary,…