Happy Chanukah

For most of us, that is. Ben's Chanukah, at least the gift-receiving aspect, will begin tomorrow because despite countless warnings he refused to behave himself tonight. The most disturbing part was that upon realizing that he wasn't getting a present, Ben did not throw a fit. Oh, he whined a little bit, but in the end he really didn't seem to care all that much. My conclusion is that he gets so many presents anyway that Chanukah is not all that special. So I am currently mulling over a no-presents-unless-it's-Chanukah-or-your-birthday rule.

Ben wasn't poorly behaved all day; in the morning we baked cookies (and made a thorough mess in the process) and in the afternoon he went to his friend Maya's Chanukah party, where he was for the most part well behaved and consumed large amounts of sugar. Once we got home though it was all down hill, and by dinnertime it basically seemed like he was provoking us on purpose so that he could see just how far he had to go before losing his present. When I finally sent him to his room, he seemed glad to go.

Eventually he sidled back downstairs and watched the assembly of Becca's present, a cool play house thingy with lots of levers and buttons to press, from Joel's parents. Becca was too tired to play with it by the time I finished putting it together, so she'll have to check it out tomorrow.

I did get a few pictures throughout the day - Enjoy. Happy Chanukah!