Ah, my favorite night.  Why? Get ready for it.  Are you ready?

LATKES! 🙂

Latkes!

Guess what we ate tonight?

Anywhoo, tonight as far as presents go was “book night”.  And, in all honesty, the kids knew exactly what they were getting – because they picked the books, the other day when we were at Barnes & Noble for Aaron’s first public performance.  We bought them the books with the caveat that they would have to wait until Hanukkah to “open” them.  Hey, we’ve got eight nights to cover here, historically everything purchased by the family after December 1st technically becomes a  Hanukkah present.  If we still run out, we start giving them socks. 🙂

So everyone opened their books (including Dad & Mom) and we then, amazingly, sat quietly and read them.  For about 20 minutes.  Then normal chaos resumed.

Pictures as usual.

Well family, you do not have to worry.  The musically-inclined gene, which I am absent of, has passed on.  Come on, don’t patronize me.  Yes, I loved making music when I was younger.  And I’m sure to my parents, it sounded great.  But I couldn’t play anything but the guitar, and even there all I could do was play chords.

Aaron, on the other hand, has really got it.  The other night, he was playing with his keyboard, which we bought him when he was younger.  He found it in his closet, pulled it out, and promptly started playing Ode to Joy by Beethoven.

Now mind you, he’s played this song before.  On the Trombone.  He hasn’t touched a keyboard since he was a tyke.  And now, after digging it out of his closet, he’s playing classical music on it.

Yeah, I get to brag.  Sue me.

Here we are, at a time where we think about the miracle that occurred when the Maccabees overtook the Seleucid empire and rededicated the Holy Temple of Jerusalem.  The story tells us that, despite our own troubles today, there have been tougher fights that we have won, and harder obstacles that we have overcome.

We started today a bit unprepared.  I had not gone to the store to buy candles,  but like the Maccabees a miracle occurred and we found some old Hanukkah candles, buried in a cabinet from years past.  So the lights went on, and presents were opened, and pictures were taken.  Well, I don’t think the Maccabees took pictures.  But you get the idea.

Happy Hanukkah!

Aaron has been playing basketball with the MNASR Wildcats team, and today was the “finals” game to determine if their team went to the championships.

I won’t keep you in suspense, they didn’t win, but given the difference in skill levels between the two teams, they did a very good job and Aaron was a key player on the team – everyone was cheering for him!  He scored first, preventing a shutout, and was strong on defense and fast break offense.

The blurry mobile phone pictures are HERE.  Enjoy!

UPDATE: Yes, the pictures are blurry, and it’s hard to tell who is Aaron.  He’s wearing a purple uniform, number 13.

Aaron performed a duet with his band teacher, who also happens to be a world-class trombone player, at the Barnes & Noble bookstore at Old Orchard shopping center yesterday.  This was Aaron’s first real public performance; he’s performed solo at (private) competitions before (and won), and he’s performed with his band in public performances (at school).   Just one good picture, so no “gallery” link, I just posted it below.  Click on the picture to see a bigger one.