Odds & Ends and The Calm Before the Storm

The end of September was remarkably quiet, all things considered. Mikaela is settling into her first grade routine. Jonathan continues to explore his music (especially classical music) obsession. Even the high holidays were relatively stress free. Of course, this is really the calm before the storm – Fall craziness is just around the corner.

Next week, Mikaela turns seven years old. Just about any day now, we’ll be welcoming a new niece into the world. Halloween will be upon us before we know it (Mikaela is all set to go as Harry Potter. Jonathan wants to be a dinosaur again). Grandma Sali and Paca Steve are coming for a visit. Then comes Thanksgiving, followed closely by Jonathan’s birthday and Chanukah is early this year (first night is December 11) and Miriam’s birthday will be during Chanukah. Deep breath. It should be a fun ride.

One random Jonathan note. We’ve been getting books through the PJ Library program. By far, Jonathan’s favorite is “Bagels from Benny”. It’s essentially a riff on the classic story of leaving bread for God in the Ark, the bread being taken from the Ark by a poor person, and the person leaving the bread learning the lesson that giving to the poor is doing God’s work in the world. The story ends with Grandpa telling Benny that feeding a hungry man has made the world a better place and saying, “and what better thanks could God have?” Jonathan thought for a moment and said, “Hmmmmmmmm. I don’t know. Maybe cake?”

Oh, and a couple of links, because people have been asking.
Mikaela’s Amazon Wishlist: http://amzn.com/w/3H9DXQM787VGX
Jonathan’s Amazon Wishlist: http://amzn.com/w/ZHKS0FLCFHN