Today was the 10th of Tevet, a day in history when the Romans surrounded Yerushalayim for 2 1/2 years and finally destroyed the temple. I am still unsure if they surrounded it by building a wall or with Roman soldiers but we built a wall out of wooden blocks around our own “Yerushalayim” with the Jews inside and the Romans outside gaurding it…

For Yosefs coat, we cut out a white coat from felt and used water colors to color it. We then stuck it on a paper Yosef.

And then to explain the idea of saving food (to prepare for the famine) we made a storage house out of brown construction paper and I hid food stickers all over the house and the kids went looking for food to stick in their storage house- very cute!

For some reason, I cant upload photos, so when I get the chance, I will:)

Tonight I made a huge pot of chicken soup, with chicken breasts, zuchini, carrots, potatoes, onions, parsley and spices.

I then took the chicken and all the veges and mashed them together with a potato masher, added some flour and eggs to bind it together and fried patties—

It was SUCH a hit, the whole family LOVED them and its now a requested dinner…

HIGHLY recommended!

I wanted to get a photo of the golden “chicken soup latkes” but they were all GONE by the time i got my camera:)

Today I was chatting with my mother in law. She is a professional educator and I was telling her how just sitting at the breakfast table and talking about the story of Chanukah, the kids absorb so much. They ask questions and we discuss the different concepts and words and it becomes something that they truly understand, not just a story being told to them.

Some conversation pieces that came up this morning were
“what is a war” – from talking about the war that the Macabis faught
“where is Syria and Greece” – which led us to our map on the wall and looked at where those countries are situated today
“why didn’t the Yevanim like the Jews?” this was a tough one considering my Cutie is only 4, but these questions just kept coming and coming…

I then showed them how we can use olive oil to light a menorah and we took a babyfood jar and filled it half way, put a wick inside and lit it and watched for a few hours to see how long it lasted. Then we discussed how the oil in the Menorah lasted 8 DAYS!!! The kids really understood how that was really such a miracle since they saw with their own eyes that it only lasted a few hours, never mind a whole day!

We then painted with dreidels which Cutie loved- he dipped the dreidel into red paint which I put into a teaspoon and then spun it on a piece of paper. He loved the different designs it came up with, the finished product is gorgeous but here he is in action:

Then we learned Parshas VaYeshev and decided to paint a multi colored coat for Yosef. I took an old white T-shirt and cut it down just the front so it looked like a coat. We then laid it out and everyone got a bunch of different colored paints and painted it. We laid it to dry and got a gorgeous multicolored coat! While it was drying, the kids decided to continue with the paints and fingerpainted on the paper that I had laid out under the coat. It was a great great activity and they had a ball!

oh- and we BAKED Sufganiyot- SO easy, I did it with all 3 kids…
I got the recipe from Redbook Magazine, heres the recipe:
Sufganiyot Recipe
They came out delicious!

So thats it for now, we will see what other fun activities we come up with as the week progresses! a wonderful week to all~~~

Here are a bunch of ideas of things to do for and on Chanukah:

-Telling the story of Chanukah
-sort different colored draidels by color and pattern
-Sequence pictures of what happened next in the story
-Make a felt Menorah where the kids have to light the candles.
-Make a menorah on a paper and laminate put play dough on top
-Set up a science center with different color oil and water and glitter and droppers
-Make a big menorah with each candle a different material (dot paint, feather, noodles, buttons, tissue paper, string, felt, foam, wood sticks)
-Make stain glass driedel with contact paper
-driedel spin on paint
-sort candles by color
-talk about the diffrent kinds of candles we use chanukah candles, havdala, shabbat
-different ways of getting light, candles, flashlight etc.
-trace hands and make a chanukia
-squish olives to get oil
-pach- pouring from one to the next
-small picture of kosher and non kosher menorahs made into a card game to divide in a tray
-small picture cards of photographs of various menorah can be a matching game
-creating patterns with dreidels- their own and specific ones that you create for them to copy
-letters of dreidel matching to dreidels-one to one correspondence
-playdough chanukah shapes
-letters of the word CHANUKAH spelled out for tracing, playdough, dry erase, copying etc (words FALL MENORAH etc)
-sponging with chanukah shapes
-tracing chanuka items – we have template
-scooping potato flakes in the sensory table
-potatoes and safe peelers in sensory table
-painting with candle wicks
-oil painting
-playing dreidel with money or pepples or any other manipulative
-acting our chanukah story
-placing tape on the floor near the blocks shaped like a menorah have kids use it as a guide to build a menorah

A quick note- this past Tuesday we tried an online class through www.room613.net and it was FABULOUS!!! My Cutie sat there for 45 minutes and loved every minute of it (he’s almost 4)-

It was all about the Parshah and Aleph Bet- there are going to be 2 more free model lessons and I highly recommend it— enjoy:)

We have started a really fun way of learning the weekly Parshah:
Every week we first sit down and talk about the story of the current Parshah. I use My First Parshah Reader which is fabulous for Preschoolers.

We then “act out” the entire Parshah using all the toys and books in our playroom. The kids LOVE it and ask to “play” Parshah all the time. By the time Shabbos comes, they know it so well, and make daddy very proud when he asks them questions at the Shabbos table!

Here are some of the scenes we “acted” out from Parshas Chayei Sara and Toldos:

This is Eliezer speaking to Rivkah at the well getting water for his camels while Avraham and Yitzchak wait for him to come back

Here are Yitzchak and Rivkah with their twin sons Eisav and Yakov (you can figure out who is who:)

We spoke about how Yakov loved learning Torah and Eisav was a hunter

Here is Yakov getting the blessing from Yitzchak

These are just a few, the site for some reason is not letting me upload more photos… but we literally played out each scene from each Parshah- you can use any toys, and it makes it more real for the kids to identify with each person from the Tanach.

I am sure many of you have read Jessica Seinfelds cookbook “Deceptivly Delicious” or “The Sneaky Chef” by Missy Lapine- Well, being a Jewish Kosher mom, I had to get creative in some of our traditional Jewish recipes to sneak in veges for my kids. It works like a charm, my kids have no idea they are eating veges and I at least feel good that they are:) There are so many ways to sneak veges in to our food, here are the favorite recipes in our house, enjoy!

~Spinach Brownies~
1 box Brownie Mix (we use Dunkin Heins as it is dairy free)
1 cup Spinach and Blueberry Puree (1 cup blueberries, 3 cups cooked spinach, rinsed and drained and then pureed together)
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup wheat germ
Mix all the above ingredients together and bake according to directions on the box. I like to throw some chocolate chips on the top before putting it in the oven, comes out really yum and there is absolutely NO trace of the spinach in it, its amazing! We serve it as dessert on Shabbos as well as for breakfast Shabbos morning and our guests always say how delicious and moist the brownies are… when I tell them the “secret ingredient” they are SHOCKED!

~Cauliflower Matzah Balls~
2 cups pureed Cauliflower
1 cup flour
1 egg
Mix the cauliflower, flour and egg together and set in the fridge for 15 minutes. Drop by teaspoonful into boiling water or directly into soup. When they float to the top, then they are done. They will come out more like dumplings (not really round) but I cut up my kids matzah balls any how so they really dont see the difference in shape or taste!

~Scrambled Eggs ‘n Squash~
Add 1/2 jar Winter Squash Baby Food to 3 eggs- mix well and scramble in a frying pan with oil… they will never know!

~Carrots ‘n Ketchup~
Add 1 Tbs pureed carrots to 3 Tbs Ketchup- us as a condiment:)

~Captain Ketchup~
1/3 cup Ketchup
2 Tbs white bean puree
With a hand blender, mix until you have a smooth consistancy. If the result is a little lighter then the usual Ketchup, just add a little more ketchup to make it darker. My munchkin eats Ketchup with EVERYTHING so I feel a little less guilty giving it to him now that it at least has some fiber!

~Super Scrambled Eggs~
3 Eggs
1/4 cup Cauliflower puree or Cream of Cauliflower Soup
Mix together and make scrambled eggs… they will never know:)

~Choc Chip Cookies with Fiber~
1 box Dunkin Heins Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix (or any company or your own Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe)
1/4 cup pureed white beans (any kind of white bean, I used butter beans)
2 Tbs Wheat Germ
1 Tbs Soy Milk
Follow the directions on the box (I had to add 1 egg and 1 Tbs margarine) or prepare your own recipe. Then add the pureed white beans, wheat germ and soy milk.
Bake as if you would normally bake them (follow directions on the box)

~Healing Chicken Soup PACKED with Veges~
Ok- now the SECOND I spot a runny nose in my family, it is time for the Chicken Soup Prevention Marathon where the whole family has Chicken Soup and Veges for 3-4 day straight- I know it may sound harsh, but my Chicken Soup is DELISH and can be made and eaten in many variations listed below—–
THE SOUP:
1 Cornish Hen
1 Onion, peeled and chopped
4 Carrots, peeled and chopped in chunks
6 stalks on Celery, washed with the ends cut off (leave them long so they will be easy to remove later)
1 Sweet Potato, peeled and cut into chunks
6 Cloves of Garlic, throw in some more if you like, sometimes I use an entire head!
Cut about an inch or two of Fresh Ginger, and peel it
1 bunch of Parsley or 2 Tbs dried Parsley
a hand full of fresh Basil or 2 Tbs dried Basil
a hand full of fresh Dill or 2 Tbs dried Dill
1 Tbs Tumeric spice
1 Tbs salt
1 tsp Pepper
*** I often run out of certan Veges or have other veges in the fridge such as Butternut Squash, Kabochi Squash, quite honestly, there really are no rules when making Chicken soup- I say the MORE veges you can get in there, the better! ***
Cook ALL the above ingredients for a good 2 hours.
You can either serve it as is, with pieces of chicken and Veges in a clear brothe
OR:
Once the chicken is so soft, it can almost fall apart, remove it from the soup as well as the Celery stalks. Once removed, using a hand blender puree the entire batch of soup. You can then place the Chicken and celery back in. (Pureeing the celery will cause small pieces of string bits in the soup)
You can serve the soup with my Magical Matzah Balls, soup Croutons (my kids LOVE), noodles that were already baked in chicken brothe if desired and I am sure you have your own good ideas!

~Perfect Pasta~
Follow directions on any box of Pasta (I try to use whole wheat or vegetable Pasta’s) and instead of boiling it in water, boil it in Chicken Brothe~

~Great Grilled Cheese~
1 Wrap/Pita Pocket
3 slices of Yellow American cheese (or any Yellow cheese your kids enjoy)
2 Tbs. pureed Sweet Potato (I used my babies Organic Baby Food)
Put cheese on one side of the wrap or inside Pita pocket. Place 2 Tbs of sweet potato puree on the cheese. Bake it in the oven for 5-10 minutes (depends on your oven) just until cheese has melted.
Fold wrap in half to close it and disguise the sweet potato in the cheese.

~Mighty Matzah Balls~
1 cup Matzah Ball Mix
1/2 cup pureed white beans (lima bean, butter bean)
2 eggs
2 Tbs water or soup broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients together until forms a nice consistency for Matzah Balls. Put in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to firm up.
Boil a pot of water on the stove and cook Matzah balls for 15 minutes, covered.
Serve Matzah balls with Chicken soup, Vegetable soup or any soup you enjoy!

~Super Shnitzel~
Ingredients:
Chicken Breast
Whole Wheat or Spelt Flour
2 Eggs
1/4 Onion
1 Cup Steamed Cauliflower
1/4 Cup any White Bean (optional added fiber)
3 Cups Matzah Meal/Bread Crumbs/Cornflake Crumbs
1 Cup Wheat Germ
Salt, Pepper, Garlic spice, Paprika, Cumin, parsley- any spices you enjoy to add to Matzah Meal
STEP1:
Puree the eggs, onion, cauliflower and beans in a bowl until smoothe.
Mix Matzah Meal (or your choice of crumbs) with Wheat Germ and spices.
STEP 2:
Lay out 5 bowls in this order-
1- Chicken cutlets, cut to your desire (chicken fingers/nuggets/filets)
2- Flour
3- Egg Mixture
4- Matzah Meal mixture
5- Empty dish to put raw Shnitzel
Dip chicken into flour, cover on both sides. Then dip in egg mixture and cover completely with matzah meal.
Heat oil in a large frying pan and fry each piece until Golden brown on each side. Lay on a paper towel to absorb the oil then serve.

I have been reading this amazing book- How To Raise An Amazing Child the Montessori Way and have got some really fun ideas of sensory activities to do with the munchkins- and they LOVE it, check it out:

These are “listening jars”- I took 10 babyfood jars and put 5 different things in 2 of each of them: rice, a penny, cheerios, water and nuts. Cutie then closes his eyes and shakes one jar and listens to it. He then takes another and shakes it and listens to see if it matches the other. he shakes them until he finds a match- its great, he really enjoys it~

Next are “smelling jars”- I took 6 babyfood jars and put vanilla essence in 2, ginger spice in 2 and cinnamon spice in two and using the same idea, Cutie matched up the smells by smelling them and matching them~

This is a fabric box, with swatches of different fabrics- lace, velvet, satin, cotton, terry and Cutie picks one, with his eyes closed and tries to find the matching fabric through touch alone~

These are small Lima beans and Munchkin (age 2) took a small ladel and scooped it from one bowl to another- this took her about 15 minutes and she was really into it~

This was textile paper given to me as a gift and Cutie loved cutting along the lines- he then glued all teh draidels onto a paper and put them all back together like a puzzle.. this idea he came up with on his own:)

I recently saw a whole site on workboxes which I thought were just brilliant!
Click Here to check it out~
I hope to implement that into our little situation at home one of these days too…!

This morning i took the kids to the park. it happens to be next to an elementary school, so this is how a conversation with my Cutie went:

Cutie: mommy, whats that building?

Me: its a school, see all the kids going inside?

C: uhu… where are their mommies?

M: well, some mommies are at work and some are at home

C: so the mommies just leave them there??? who teaches all the kids?

M: the teacher

C: {deep in thought for a few seconds} ohh! so a school is where children go if their mommies cant teach them, right?

M: well, some mommies teach at schools. do you want to go to school one day?

C: could you be my teacher?

M: maybe

Suddenly the school bell rang….

C: mommy, whats THAT?

M: its the school bell. it tells all the children that its time to learn something else, or its time to play

C: but what if they don’t WANT to learn something else?

M: well…{me, slightly rnning out of patience by now:)} they will continue doing what they were doing the next day

C: oh…… {deep in thought again}

M: so, what age do you want to go to school? {Cutie has his life planned out according to age, he is very aware of it ex: age 4- starte takign showers 11- ride a skateboard 13-barmitzvah 18-drive a car 23-find a kallah(wife) and have a family}

C: oh! I’m going to go to school when i turn… {thinking……} ONE HUNDRED!

gotta love this boy:)

I have been doing alot of research on the Montessori method and am really loving it- my kids are loving it too and here are a few things we have done…

For my 8 month old, this is a basket filled with great natural things- silk scarf, wooden spoon, babyfood jar filled with rice, wooden bell rattle, silver measuring spoon and a sea shell, all in a basket. He emptied it out and munched on everything, LOVED it and kept him SO busy!

I then poured all his babyfood onto his tray- this was a WINNER! He mooshed it and squished it and fed himself and had such a ball:)

This was great: A Mystery Bag–
We collected different things from around the house and put them into the “mystery bag”. Munchkin and Cutie then took turns sticking their hands into the bag and find something. With their hand still in the bag they described what they felt and then guessed what it was. They played this about 4 times and took turns filling the bag.

More to come as I find some free moments to blog!