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....