Shana Tova

Happy New Year!  Those apples we just picked off the tree came in handy today, as we honored a really old tradition of serving apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah.  And, as you can see above, we also had the shofar out to blow, announcing to the neighborhood that it is time for the new year to begin.  Madison blew that from the back deck, once she got some pointers from Mommy and Daddy. At first, she was inclined to use it like a massive kazoo, but once we got the whole brass instrument technique explained, she was blowing out a bunch of short blasts off the back deck.  Daddy has a little more experience, so he was showing her how it ws done, with this long blast that just had to sound crazy in this neighborhood!

This iPad is wonderful - we then looked up a great, short video about Rosh Hashanah, one that explained what the day was all about, but in a kid-friendly way.  That way Daddy could understand it too.

Having done all that, it was time for a snack!  Those apple slices in honey were absolutely delicious.  That's just one apple, by the way, a huge Jonagold apple we picked this past Sunday.  The three of us dipped our apples in the honey and tasted the sweet goodness!  The apples are sweet, and the honey is sweet - it all symbolizes our wish for an extra sweet year.

We had school today.  Madison knows her spelling words already, and she is getting better with her math skills.  She's not quite at fifty correct problems in under three minutes, but she's close.  And certainly ahead of the rubrik there.  Art class had her doing more work decorating a panda bear.  I'm not clear on what this panda bear is going to look like.  Most are black and white, but I have a feeling there may be some wondrous variety to this one.

We did our usual piano work, and we also threw in a trip to the library:  the purpose was picking up "A Pinch of Magic," the latest Never Girls book.  We might be all caught up with this one when we are done, which means we'll be looking for something else to read.  We read chapter one before bed tonight, which still captures Madison's attention very well.  Mommy's attention too - she wants to know Never Girls updates from time to time.  At the beginning of this book, it appears as if one of Mia's more impulsive friends has gotten her into a bit of trouble, in a baking contest without a clue how to bake.  We'll have to see where the fairies from Pixie Hollow fit in with this one.  My guess is that Dulcie the baking talent fairy is going to help come to the rescue, but we'll see as each night goes by.

Daddy finally finished the messages of the LEGO series today, which actually begin two Sundays from now.  These messages will span a two-month time, ending the weekend after Thanksgiving, so Daddy was under a bit of pressure to do more, and do it quickly.  We're still Under the Sea at KidPak, but we're certainly heading towards an end point.  Two months seems like a good time to say goodbye to a series.  Once this one started, I didn't want it to end because it was so magical and there was so much to talk about.  Right about now, I'm ready to say goodbye.  We still have a fantastic Sunday dedicated to the Pearl of Great Price this upcoming weekend, and last weekend was all about Winter the dolphin, and how we overcome and inspire.  So each weekend has been full of great things to talk about.  But in our hearts we're ready to try something new.  And that's going to take a lot of work next week.  Who am I kidding?  It has taken a lot of work THIS week, as each day Daddy has been scrambling to finish up all these LEGO-themed messages.

Anyway, the point is, we're off and running with this new year - we've got a lot of great things planned at KidPak.  Madison is going to see the best stuff as we move forward this year, and beyond. Shana Tova!