hanukkah this year
This year Hanukkah is about as early as it can ever be, with the first night falling back on Sunday the 28th. With so long to go til Christmas, that means we have plenty of energy to celebrate it! We've lit candles almost every night, I've made lots of latkes, and we've done lots of dreidel. And that's all before our big gathering with Leah's parents tomorrow evening! We've also helped our friends learn about the holiday. On Wednesday we made latkes together, and this morning we painted our own dreidels and played a long competitive game (plus a special bonus game of battle tops). No presents at our house, though; with all that we do for Christmas it would be a little much. But that's alright, presents aren't the main point to the holiday, anyway—the main point is lights burning for a long time! Which the candles on our menorah do, for sure; so long, in fact, that we've been moving the menorah up to the boys' room when they go to bed. It burns in their window like a self-extinguishing nightlight. Though with two more nights to go I think we may have to put an end to that practice; I dripped a lot of wax on the carpet carrying it upstairs this evening. Maybe we can just do one candle upstairs. Hanukkah may be almost over, but the bigger season of Light in the Darkness still has a way to go!