Oh Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel, I Made A Lot of Pay!

Today we had our annual family Hannukah party -- aka Dreidel for Dollars. Yes, I know Hannukah is over but we Goldmans have always been a little behind. Before getting into it, we posed for a pic with all the girls. Apparently stripes are in with the under 25 crowd!

Then it was time for one with the boys +1. Looks like Uncle D is trying to grow on his head what Uncle Joshie has under his chin.

I decided to go in for a closer look. Yep, Uncle D's got some something growing under there. He always did like his fuzzies.

Mash-ups all the rage these days thanks to Glee, so Grandpa, Mommy and I rocked out to James Brown and Dean Martin -- I Feel Good/Everybody Loves Somebody.

Uncle Joshie, Uncle Noah (or just Unkie as I call him), Uncle D, and Cousin Ryan got into the act and a dance-off ensued. I busted out my best robot.

Soon it was time for presents. I waited patiently for my turn.

And then I laid into them. Cousin Sara helped me unwrap. And Daddy helped me rap.

Finally, it was time for dreidel. We all broke out our singles. Not sure why Uncle D had so many on him.

Elmo and I surveyed the action to make sure there were no false gimels.

The stakes were too rich for my blood (and Aunt Karen was cleaning up) so I decided to quit while I was ahead. If only Daddy had taken my lead before getting suckered into the high-stakes spin-off with Cousin Rob.

After dreidel, it was time for surgery. Great-Grandpa Irv started by extracting an outlet plug from my stomach. It was an electrifying experience.

Then Dr. Ryan gave me my shots. I was not so patient this time.

I was left to recover on my own in the waiting room. Where's health care reform when you need it?!?

Soulshine

Tonight was the last night of Hannukah. As we lit all 8 candles, we thought of Great-Grandpa Abe who passed away earlier this week. With the lights shining bright, we could feel Grandpa smiling down upon us. I'm so lucky I was able to meet him. And I thank him for the good genes he passed down to me -- not the least of which was the ability to pun-tificate on all the things that happen in life. This blog is dedicated to GPAbe.com

Thanks for Giving Me Your Attention

G.A.S. and G.U.G. hosted Thanksgiving dinner again this year. One of our traditions is to sing to all the late-November Birthdays. Cousin Ryan helped his Uncle Brad blow out the candle. (Another tradition is family Jeopardy which ended this year in a disputed tie. The Pechter/Ellis' had a guaranteed win if they bet nothing in Final Jeopardy but Daddy goaded Brad into betting it all. Noone got it right so we were left with zero. Except for the Farbers, that is, who scored -300.)



I met my cousin Maddie for the first time. She's a cutie patootie. Believe it or not, she's never had her hair cut -- her bangs just grow perfectly to the brow.



Maddie and I wasted no time sharing some QT and gossiping about our crazy families.



Cousin Brad showed me what it's like to be in his airplane when he's flying. Someone pass the barf bag!



Clearly Maddie is not as exciting a passenger as yours truly. (I was gonna go with the caption, "Just flew in from Vegas and boy are my arms tired" but that was too easy.)



Cousin Sara, as always, was very attentive. Hmm, where have I seen that outfit before? Note to Cousins Rob and Lisa... nothing gets by the Goldman fashion police!



Cousin Ryan continued to edumacate me, this time showing me how to work the remote. Unfortunately, it's for the TV, not the James Brown figurine.



Uncle Josh, or Joshie as I call him, got so excited to see me, he peed his pants.



Cousin Rob has lost so much weight, he's borrowing my clothes now.



Soon-to-be-Aunt Sara danced with me to that Apple Bottom Jeans song that cousin Brad kept playing.



After listening to that song for the 10th time, we all started to go a little crazy.

Monkeying Around with Miles

Finally, the actual day of Halloween is here. Somehow, I managed to keep my costume clean this week. Miles came over for a little Trick or Treat. The Trick was actually keeping us on this chair long enough to snap a pic. And, of course, the pic itself is the treat.

Little Peanut

Daddy and Mommy took me out to brunch in costume. Not sure why but I had a hankering for peanuts so I asked them to add them to my Tusk-an salad. I'll never forget this halloween. OK, I'm out of elephant puns.

Ellie-phant

Here's a sneak peek of my Halloween costume. Let's hope this elephant ain't afraid of it's shadow (or reflection)!



Mommy's tan is faded but we still look like Ivory and Ebony. Me, even more so today.



Looks like no-one else got the memo that Bubbles class today was supposed to be dress up. Oh well, I'll just rock out with my trunk out.

Sho-far So Good

Today Mommy and Daddy took me to high holiday services at the 4th Presbyterian Church on Michigan Avenue which doubles as a synagogue on Rosh Hashanah. I managed to sit quietly for about 45 minutes but as soon as they finished the tekiah gedolah on the shofar, I let out an "uh-oh" that reverberated through the church and that was our cue to peace out. We stopped outside for a quick photo opp before heading up to Skokie to meet up with Josh, Katie and gal-pal Sadie.

What's your Rosh?

Tonight was the first night of Rosh Hashanah so we all gathered at Bubbie and Zayde's (who graciously accommodated my sleep schedule much to the disbelief of cousin Rob who had been campaigning for earlier start times for years!) to nosh on apples and honey and Gerber Graduates Puffs. Before we commenced dining, we huddled for some group photos...



Hey, someone's missing!



Where'd Uncle Noah go? Don't you guys know how to use the timer feature?



Cousin Sara and I wore our loudest outfits to match our demeanor.



And cousin Ryan schooled me on the finer points of pool. I couldn't get past the name of the game. I kept wanting to dive in.

Oh Dreidel I Shall Play

We celebrated Hannukah at Great-Aunt Sue and Great-Uncle Gary's today. As is customary, we played a little high stakes dreidel. Sure enough, cousins Rob and Sarah cleaned us out. Guess we'll have to start over on that college fund.



Cousin Ryan's gotten a lot bigger (and hairier!) since I last saw him at his 1-year birthday party. He took a break here from eating his bagel to try and snag my barret.



Uncle Noah let me in on another Goldman holiday tradition... the wedgie!



When it was my turn to eat, Mommy made me work for it -- tossing the puffs into my mouth.



Here's a closer look.



Finally it was time to open presents. I made out like a bandit but the most popular gifts of the night were...



...the full-bodied calculators -- weeee! Ryan was nice enough to share his with me and Daddy taught me his trick to remember the order of math equations -- Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sue.



All the excitement wore me out. I was party pooped.



After the party, we went back to Bubbie and Zayde's where Uncle Noah resumed Project Wedgie...



... and Zayde cracked me up with his off, er... behind the wall antics.

Merpy Chrismakwanzannukah!

Ever the shameless self-promoter, I convinced Daddy to put my blog URL on our holiday cards. Let's see if traffic spikes more than the holiday nog.

'Hop'py Hannukah!

Daddy and I made up a new Hannukah song to play using the popcorn tin that Great-Grandpa Irv sent us. It's sort of a comedy. Not Adam Sandler style though. More like if Stewart Copeland did Hip Hop.

Oh Hannukah, Oh Hannukah

Tonight we celebrated the first night of my first Hannukah. We gathered around the Hannukah bush to light the Menorah and mumble the prayers.



8 days of presents!?! I could get used to this!



You all know how much I love paper. Needless to say, opening the presents was my favorite part.



Although playing with the John Deere toy Grandma and Grandpa got me was pretty cool too.