Happy Hannukah!

The Asch Family (especially the kids) have been eagerly anticipating Chanukkah...the candles, the gelt (yum!), the jelly doughnuts (yum! yum!), and the presents. What could be better?In preschool, Miriam made a great chanukkiah, which she kindly gifted to Robin who doesn't have one yet. After we lit the candles (but not, thank goodness, the girls' hair, as we've done in the past), the girls opened their first presents: beautiful Shabbat coats from Nana.

The girls in their coats. Dickens novel? Nineteenth century Eastern Europe? You be the judge.

Robin with the chanukkiah that Miriam made her.

Miriam is enthralled with the candles.

Jumping!

We've been holed up inside the house recently since it has been getting cold! This means we have to find some ways to get our exercise inside. Here, Robin demonstrates her jumping skills and her expanding vocabulary.

Photographers at work

Miri and Robin got a new digital camera (it's allegedly kid-proof -- we'll see), and they have been taking pictures of all sorts of things: the floor, the toilet roll dispenser, the faucet. Every now and again, we'll see a person in there. Check out their oeuvre:

Miri self-portrait

Robin, as seen by Miri

Panda portrait

4

One unexpected thing about parenting is finding out why cliches are cliches. It's because they are true! That one about kids "growing up too fast"? True. Miriam turned four years old today. Holy cow! How did that happen? Miri was so excited last night that she couldn't sleep, and she spent much of the day with a big grin on her face. We spent the morning with three of her pre-school friends at the Imagination Stage, a wonderful kids' theater where we watched "What Does Red Do on Thursday?" In the afternoon, we had our family party, complete with a chocolate lamb cake (Miri is obsessed with her lamb -- which her mom had adored growing up), pumpkin custard, and hummus (for Robin). The birthday girl was so wound up that we'll be surprised if she actually sleeps tonight...

Um, Robin...it's Miriam's birthday, not yours!

Don't blow the lamb's head off, Miri!

Goofing around in Nana's hat

Judge Costa

We're so proud of our old friend, Gregg Costa. In the old days back in Sunflower, "Mr. Costa" and Daddy lived and worked together, and folks in town used to get them confused. Now he's "Judge Costa" -- President Obama nominated him to be a federal judge in Galveston, and he came to DC for his confirmation hearings. Congratulations, Judge Costa!

Halloween craziness

Our neighborhood is teeming with little kids, and we rounded them up for pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating a day early. Miriam is well versed in the Halloween routine, and she knew that she wanted to be "something purple" this year. What's purple? "A train!" Well, okay, the Purple Line is going to come through our neighborhood in a few years, but we already did the Metro train (and the Metro bus) before, so how about something new? "Grapes!" Grapes? "Grapes! I want to be grapes for Halloween!" Okay...so we got her all fixed up and ready to roll.

Little did we know that she would end up looking like the "Fruit of the Loom" guy...

Lions and pumpkins and grapes, oh my!

Victory!

Chilly camping

We had big plans for our Fall camping trip, but most of them fell through -- cousin Pearce couldn't make it, neighbor Sienna backed out, and then the girls got sick. But we went anyway! We inaugurated our new-to-us minivan by heading to Greenbelt National Park (can't believe it's so close) for a crisp night of stars & s'mores. It was chilly (40 degrees ) but fun. Robin and Miriam hogged the sleeping pads and slept better than their parents. Some highlights:

Miri teaches Robin the ways of fire-blowing

S'mores! S'mores! S'mores!

Oatmeal by the fireside with Lamb...what could be better?