hanukkah begins tonight. i always enjoy watching joe light his menorah each night. the kids at his school are excited about the holiday, but they’re also learning it’s not all about receiving one gift a night. this year, the school conducted a program where the kids were to donate one of their toys (not go out and buy an extra toy, but give a gift they received) to jewish family services to be given to needy children. the school collected 305 toys, which i think is amazing. people tend to think children are selfish, but this is just one of many examples that shows that they aren’t. the kids also could use money they earn to buy a toy, and one little boy saved all his chore money to purchase a game boy to donate. i thought that was really cool. the program was featured on channel 11 news this morning, which was really cool. joe did a great job getting it on, and he’s been receiving a lot of praise for it. you can go here if you want to watch it. it’s under the video now headlines.

the ptsa at joe’s school gave him a $25 gift card to target. yay. it looks like a trip there is in our immediate future.

we’re going to joe’s parents’ sunday to celebrate hanukkah. my parents are coming this year, so it’ll be a lot more fun. i’m excited for them to see how it’s celebrated and just to have them involved since we’re all family now.