Chanuka

This year we decided to do a little something on each night of Chanuka, so that each candle was associated with a special activity or event (not necessarily a present).  Here are our Chanuka activities:

• First night: I made sufganiyot (traditional jelly doughnuts) for dessert.
• Second night: We went through our bazillions of stuffed animals and chose some to donate.  We decided to give the new-looking ones to the firehouse for Toys for Tots and the gently-used ones to an organization that gives stuffed animals to traumatized children.  We are hoping they will be sent to Haiti, since Akiva did some fundraising for earthquake relief in January, so he is familiar with the situation there.  (I am waiting to hear from the contact person to see if we can make the Haiti thing happen; otherwise they will go to other organizations that distribute them to children’s hospitals and the like.)
• Third night: We delivered our stuffed-animal donation to the firehouse and had Shabbat dinner together as a family.
• Fourth night: We had some dear friends over, and I made latkes for dinner.
• Fifth night: Thanks to my parents, we went to see Shirim Klezmer Orchestra perform in Cambridge.
• Sixth night: We made ice cream sundaes after dinner and had a wicked game of dreidl.
• Seventh night: We attended the Chanuka performance/celebration at Akiva’s school.
• Eighth night: We went to a friend’s house for latkes and then came home for another game of dreidl and more Chanuka chocolate.  I also wrote a love letter to each member of the family and gave them on the eighth day.

Thanks to my in-laws, there were wonderful and plentiful gifts for the children.  Here are pictures of each boy opening a gift.