Chanukah, Day 1! :)

YAY, I'm SO happy an eight-day holiday has started! :)

It began on Motzai Shabbat (Saturday night). Though gift-given is not a traditional aspect of Chanukah observance (kids used to receive a small amount of money, or "gelt" in Yiddish), it's been incorporated in modern times due to the influence of a popular non-Jewish holiday that occurs around this time. I think it's wonderful to include gift-giving as part of Chanukah festivities. I know I loved receiving a gift each night of Chanukah. Anyway....This year, Grammy picked out a bunch of wonderful toys for Rena. Last night, after the menorah was lit, Rena got a very special Elmo toy called Baby Sniffles Elmo. It's a baby Elmo that wears a diaper, carries a "tissue," and sneezes. He perpetually has a cold. It's perfect for her because she loves Elmo and also loves to pretend that her stuffed animals are sick so she can "heal" them. I could totally see her becoming a doctor, dentist, nurse, or something when she grows up.

We just stayed at Grammy and Grampy's house all day due to the weather. Rena and I were playing as usual when we spotted two of the most beautiful "rainbows" on a wall, evidently due to light being refracted through the glass barrier next to the staircase. Wow, we could actually see all the rainbow colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet (Roy g biv). As if that weren't enough, after the light shifted and those "rainbows" faded, we saw another on the opposite wall! I thought this one was even more beautiful than the other two! The rainbow colors on this one were very bright! Wow, we saw three "rainbows" today....That must be a sign of something really good to come! :) Perhaps they represent my family....Or something. Whatever the case, thank you, God, for showing me such beauty today! :)

Soon after the rainbow sightings, Rena's Aunt Elaine dropped by for a quick visit and to give Rena a gift. It's a really awesome drawing toy called Stencil and Learn Studio. Now she doesn't need an iPad to practice tracing letters.... (Btw, I do think it's cool that I can hand my three-year-old daughter the iPad with the cover still closed, and she knows how to open it, turn it on, unlock it, and find the app she wants to use; and she's proficient at tapping and dragging. For most apps that she likes, I encourage her to do what she can herself because there are so many apps designed for preschool-aged kids, with activities such as letter-tracing, puzzles, ebooks....)

Rena received her second night's gift before the first day was technically over so I'll include it here, too: A Dora the Explorer Singing Star Microphone! :) She loves it, of course, since she's obsessed with Dora.

Rena's excitement is infectious! :) I almost felt as if I were a kid receiving gifts again!