8th Night of Hanukkah

Note: The 7th night was skipped since we had a holiday party at Tony and Christine's house last night. The kids had a great time, playing with Delaney and we were able to catch up with our friends from out of town; Sandy, Jeff, Darrin and Jill.

Tonight we celebrated the last night of Hanukkah. Lita came over for dinner and we opened presents. Isaac opened his Tinker Toys from Aunt Nadine and Uncle Michael, I missed his reaction on the video but he was ecstatic! He played with them so long we still have some gifts he did not open yet. Olivia got a Little People Hanukkah set from Stacey, Josh and Gabriel which is hilarious and a stroller from Miriam and I. This stroller took longer for me to assemble than her real stroller! But it was well worth it to see how happy she was to push her baby around in it.

Check out more pictures and a video.

The 5th & 6th Night of Hanukkah

Tonight was the fifth night of Hanukkah and our first night we spent back at our house this year, so we were able to light our new "homemade" Menorah. The kids were really excited!!
Next, was presents, of course, they both decided to open the largest gifts first. These were from Grandma Hillary and Grandpa Ricky. Isaac got a KidzJamm DJ table and Olivia got a Little People house. They were both extremely excited.


View more pictures and the video from the 5th Night here.

On the sixth night, Isaac decided to open one of his gifts from Aunt Stacey, Uncle Josh and Cousin Gabriel. It was Lite Brite! Olivia opened chose our gift which was books.

View more pictures and the video from the 6th Night here.

Christmas Eve at Lita's House and Isaac's first Sleepover

Tonight we went to dinner with Lita, Natania and Jeff. After dinner we went to Lita's house for dessert and presents. We had dessert in the "Christmas Room" which Isaac helped decorate last week. The room featured Fiber Optic Tree and the infamous Fiber Optic Santa.
For Dessert, we all sat around the kids table and had ice-cream. Isaac showed me his spoon trick(we are not sure where he learned this....I just turned around and he was doing it!). Then we opened presents. The kids got animal calendars and some Little People sets. Lita got a "Boombox" and a mug the kids painted. Check out a video compilation of the post present party with the pictures.

On our way out, Isaac asked if he could stay for a special Christmas sleepover....so Olivia, Miriam and I said......"Goodnight, we will see you tomorrow morning, Merry Christmas!"

Many more pictures and a video at the link.

Check out last year at Lita's

Hanukkah Weekend in Albany

Thursday we headed to Albany to visit Grandma and Grandpa for Hanukkah. Stacey, Josh and Baby Gabriel met us there for a fun filled extended weekend. On the way there the kids got to be part of a High School Orchestra in the airport and ring the bells for some holiday songs. Friday we went to Target bought Olivia some snow boots and a sled and went sledding. There was over a foot of snow! The kids had a lot of fun, so much Isaac talked Nadine into going again Saturday afternoon.Saturday Ricky and Hillary invited all of our family and friends over to meet the 3 kids for lunch. We took some family photos, played games and enjoyed catching up with everyone. The kids got a lot of presents (Thanks everyone!!). One of the presents Isaac received was a Super-Hero costume and handbook. He put on a show once everyone left.... this makes up the majority of the video for the weekend(it was a bit long and I could not post it her so it is with the other pictures, use the link below..).

Sunday we went to Disney on Ice, Olivia fell asleep on the way but once she woke up she was as mesmerized as Isaac was by the show. Later that night we celebrated the first night of Hanukkah making Latkes, lighting the candles and opening presents. This was the first Hanukkah with all 3 cousins together!

Monday we celebrated the Second Night of Hanukkah and Isaac Sang the Dreidel Song. See the video of the song too at the link below.

Tuesday we went to the museum and then headed back to Michigan. Our flight was delayed 3 hours so we got home around 11:30 PM and the kids were already asleep....

See more of our pictures and a few videos here.

Also, see the pictures Jessica, Hillary and Josh took. You can also find the links to these sites on the left hand side of the main page of our blog in the "Other "Lubin" related photo sites" section.

Check out last years' 8 nights of Hanukkah....

Friday Night with Dad

Friday night the kids and I hung out at home while Miriam was out....Isaac took some pictures. The one above he even told us where to sit...Cosmo even cooperated!

Also check out the video of the next Olympic sport "High Chair Fencing!"

There are a few more pictures here.

Chanukah Carnival in Huntington Woods

After Noah's Birthday party, we went to the Chanukah Carnival in Huntington Woods. The kids were able to make their own paper flowers, dreidel and menorah (we actually built it and then painted it). We also had some latkes, did some sand art and stocked up on Chanukah candles!

Again we forgot our camera so just a few shots from the phone....

Noah's Birthday Party

Sunday was Isaac's friend, Noah's 4th Birthday party. He had it at BounceU! We forgot our camera but took a few pictures with Miriam's phone. Below is a picture of some of the boys watching the safety video before they could go into the bounce houses. As you can imagine we all had a great time.

Thanksgiving Weekend 2008

Grandma Hillary and Grandpa Ricky arrived Tuesday afternoon and the festivities began early Wednesday when we all took a trip to the Birmingham library. Later that evening we went to Lita's for "Get Together Day" which Isaac has proclaimed to be a new holiday the night before Thanksgiving where we all.....get together. We had a very nice dinner and played for a while.

Then we decided to bring the Turkey home for preparation. Upon doing so we realized that the Turkey was much more frozen than we expected.....panic ensued. Cooler heads prevailed and we placed the Turkey in cold water and began the comical process of "expedited turkey thawing". For those unaware, this entails submerging the turkey in cold water for an hour and then changing the water every hour....until the turkey is thawed. This takes an hour for every 2lbs and we had an 18lb Turkey.

The next day was Thanksgiving everyone woke up early and continued thawing, begin grocery shopping and cooking....

Once again everything turned out great! .......even the sweet potatoes which unintentionally had fruit flavored marshmallows this year!! We are not yet sure if this will remain a tradition like the cinnamon on the turkey.....only time will tell.


Friday, of course we went shopping.

Saturday we went to the Southfield Kids Library and then Saturday night Grandma Hillary, Grandpa Ricky, Miriam and I took Isaac to his first movie in a theatre, Madagascar 2.

Here is a video compilation of the weekend.

Check out some more pictures (mostly taken by Grandma Hillary) here....

Isaac's Parent Teacher Conference

Tonight we went to Isaac's school for his parent teacher conference. Ms Janet provided some pictures of Isaac from the last few months. Here are a few of the pictures.


There is also the one above which was taken by the professional photographer....

Sunday at the Mall

Sunday we went to see a play Hyronomous A. Frog, after the show we headed to the mall and found a great play area in one of the stores....

See more pictures from the day here.

Also view some of the action....

Night Night Snack While Mom is at Work

Here are a few more pictures of the kids having there snack before bed.

Also check out the video below of them joking around:

Isaac's 1st U of M Football Game

Today was a big day; first Miriam, Isaac and I went to Jacob's Birthday party at Pump it Up! The kids(and Dads) had a great time bouncing around....we had so much fun we did not have time to take any pictures.

We also had tickets, which the kids and Miriam bought me for my Birthday, to the Michigan/Northwestern football game....the weather, was not really cooperating, but we decided to tough it out anyway. It was raining and snowing at the same time!

When we got to Ann Arbor, it was just around half time, we parked the car, got all bundled up and walked to the stadium. Isaac had a really good time on the walk (probably because we were carrying him most of the way) and he was extremely excited to get to the stadium. Once we arrived we quickly got some hot chocolate and took our wet seats.

Isaac was amazed at the size of the stadium, all of the people(even though about half of them had left already) and especially the band!

We stayed for the 3rd qrtr and part of the 4th before Mom and Dad were too cold to stay any longer. We then trekked back to the car, pumped up the heat to dry off and warm up. Isaac was asleep before we got on the highway!

There are a few pictures and a short video....

Pictures and a Video from last week

On Sunday, we took some pictures in front of Miriam's favorite tree in the garden. The kids are each eating cheese and holding a leaf from the tree(not sure why...).

There is also a video below of a random compilation of the kids doing cool stuff! The video may or may not include; observing the fall foliage, jackhammering at target, experimenting with fluid dynamics, a growling flower or a flowering growler, and Isaac composing a song on his computer with Spanish lyrics....play it and enjoy!

See more pictures here

Selena's Birthday Party

Saturday we went to Selena's Birthday party....as you can see Cinderella was there too.

The kids had a great time, hanging out with Cinderella, getting painted (Olivia got a cupcake painted on her arm) and Isaac got a Batman tattoo!

Check out a few more pictures here.

1st Time Trick-or-Treating

This was the first year Isaac went out and Trick or Treated. In the past he has liked staying in and handing out candy at the door, but I think he liked the idea of getting the candy better!

He was really excited. He spent the afternoon with Miriam tricking out his tricycle to be his trick-or-treat mobile with all sorts of things they got at the library.

It did not take long for Olivia to get in on the fun....by the 2nd house she was walking up to the door and getting some candy too!

We all had a great time!

See more pictures here...

Halloween Pre-School Parade

This morning was the Halloween Parade at Isaac's school. Isaac has been very excited about this all week. Lita came over around 8 and helped us all get dressed up.

As you can see, Isaac is dressed up as a Pirate and Olivia as a flower. When we were all getting dressed up Isaac asked me if I was going to wear my "work costume" to the parade since I was in my suit.

As we got to pre-school we met a girl dressed up as a Pirate too.....then we saw Julia and Michaela and Julia was dressed up as a Penguin!
The kids had some time to play around in the classroom and then it was time for the parade. The parents all went into the "Big Room" to watch. After the kids circled around the room a few times they all gathered in the middle to sing some Halloween songs.

Click here for some more pictures from the morning.....

Isaac's Pre-School Open House

Last night we went to Isaac's school for our second open house at Somerset. We had a great time meeting all of his new friends and seeing his teachers again. Olivia could not get over how many toys there were!! We spent some time playing musical instruments, playing on the phones, watching the kids sing songs and coloring. Isaac drew a ghost and an incredible rainbow!

Before we left Isaac took some pictures, including the one above....

Here is a short video:

Check out more of the pictures from the Open House here.

Flashback

Isaac's 1st Open House

Pumpkin Carving 1977

This is a picture of David (me) and my Grandfathers carving a pumpkin when I was about Isaac's age (3-4) around 1977.

Grandpa Jack (Ricky's father) is on the right and Grandpa Bernie (Hillary's father) is on the left holding me.

Pumpkin Carving 2008 - Freak Out!

It's that time of year again, Pumpkin Carving weekend!! This year Isaac chose "Freak Out!"...which has now become a household phrase used for various appropriate and inappropriate reasons.

Grandma Hillary also sent us a pseudo-candle...which is actually an LCD light which changes colors..pretty spooky!!

Pre-Carve picture

Post Carve picture.

Here is a video compilation of the entire event.

Click here for some more pictures.

Flashback: Check out some previous pumpkin postings

2007-Dracula

2006-Wolf

2005-Owl

Meeting Cousin/Nephew Gabriel

On Tuesday October 7, 2008 we had the amazing experience of meeting our new cousin & nephew, Gabriel Jackson Wallach!

When we arrived Grandma Hillary, Grandpa Ricky and Great-Grandma Pearl "GG" were already there and "settled" in. Gabriel posed for some pictures with the family and we all just relaxed around the house. Gabriel was kind enough to share his bedroom with his cousins Isaac and Olivia. They really enjoyed sleeping on the blow up bed and in the pack and play for a change....except the night I forget to close the cap on the blow up bed and Isaac basically ended up sleeping on the floor.

On Wednesday, Stacey and Josh held the Briss at their house which was a beautiful ceremony!


Isaac was really intrigued by the rabbi and the ceremony in general but later retreated from the masses up to the bedroom to watch some shows while the rest of us enjoyed the bountiful spread Stacey and Josh had for their guests. This is when he met his new fried Ava.
After the ceremony Christina and Joe (Ava's parents) invited Isaac over to hang out with Ava since it also happened to be her 3rd Birthday. Isaac jumped at the chance and was so excited he did not even realize this was his first official "play date" without Miriam or I with him. He spent all day there and when we came to pick him up for dinner he was not "ready" to leave so he stayed for hot dogs...later we came back to celebrate Ava's birthday with cake and presents.

The next day we were heading to the Magic House in St. Louis so we invited Ava and Peggy (her Grandma) to come with us. We all had a great time exploring.....

It was quite an electrifying experience....

and really blew us all away.....


Later that afternoon we all went outside to play some soccer and baseball. Isaac got a soccer workout playing goalie against mom and Grandma and then received a free batting lesson from Grandpa......his first.

Check out the video of the Magic House and sporting events

We had a great week and were so excited and happy to meet Gabriel and see everyone!

We did miss Stuey and Jeb though....maybe they can come to Albany for Hanukkah???

MANY MORE PICTURES

Click here for more of our pictures from the whole weekend.

Here is a link to some of Peggy's Pictures from the Magic House and the Marian's apple picking.

Check out Josh and Stacey's Blog for even more pictures!!