Early Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has come early to our house. Actually, Thanksgiving is every day at our house. We are all thankful for one another. Rebecca and I are thankful we were blessed with Rachel in our forties and that we got pregnant right off the bat. Okay, Rebecca got pregnant. I helped a little.

Rachel is the blessing that renews itself every day. Sure, she can be a moody, headstrong blessing, but she is our moody, headstrong blessing. My mother and father warned me my temper would get me in trouble one day; they just never explained it would be in the form of my daughter.

We've had a new reason to be thankful lately. Two and a half months into kindergarten, Rachel has started to read. Not just your basic words; she is reading some fairly large words. For that, we can thank the Davis Academy and other factors.
Rachel has always enjoyed playing the "letter game." She suggests a letter starting with "a", then mom and dad provide two more and we work our way through the alphabet. Sure, we get tired of Rachel saying "nose hair" when we get to "n", but the important thing is she is learning. Sometimes it was an all animal version of the "letter game", sometimes it was all food. But it sure is paying off now.

A couple of weeks ago, I was reading to her from a book called "Poppleton." It's about a pig whose neighbor is a llama. I read her the first chapter and she asked to read the second chapter. My jaw dropped as I realized how many words she recognized. Now, when we eat out, she asks whether she can take a book with her. Thanks to school, she has a favorite author, Nancy Carlson.

We're also thankful she enjoys school and has embraced her Judaism. We're not jamming it down her throat. I don't think I was exposed to it enough as a child and I often felt "different." Rachel has a real sense of belonging, as Rebecca and I do.
For her consecration, she was given a miniature Torah, which is kept in a wooden ark she painted during a crafts day with daddy in Sunday school. The ark and Torah are in a corner of her bed and she recites the Shema every night before going to sleep. That's the most sacred prayer in Judaism, pronouncing the belief in one G-d. We did not make her do this. She took it upon herself.

On a lighter note, I am thankful dried Cheerios are not carcinogenic. I spent several hours this afternoon cleaning around the living room couch. That includes under the couch and its cushions. Let me tell you, I have never seen that many dried Cheerios and Cheerios dust in my life. If there were to be a worldwide Cheerios shortage, I would expect the Secret Police to be knocking on our door. Mixed in with the Cheerios, were about a hundred small beads, ten whistles, assorted natural Cheetos and two huge bags of raisins that have likely fermented and would make me drunk if I ate them, as well as two bibs, seven doll shoes, four rocks, two acorns, twelve dollars in change, mismatched Polly Pocket shoes, a Polly Pocket kitten, two pairs of school socks, four mismatched socks, one pair of shoes, one pair of plastic high heels and three books.

We're sure the "list of things to be thankful for" will expand in the months and year to come. I know Rebecca looks forward to Rachel enjoying more classic rock and no longer enjoying the high pitched voices on her "Backyardigans" cd. We bought the cd yesterday. It was played the first time in Rebecca's car today. Perhaps we'll "misplace" it in the former "Cheerios Graveyard" under the couch. There is finally room there.

Heredity

We have a very small freezer. Anything that goes in there has to be crammed in and precariously balanced in hopes that when the door is opened, nothing falls with a painful thud onto bare or sock-clad feet below.

Among the items taking up space are a likely-by-now fossilized chocolate Easter bunny. It was given to my sensitive, loving, empathetic wife before we were married (we've been married six years.)

There it has remained. Rebecca can't bear to eat the bunny's chocolate head. In a few scant years, the chocolate bunny will be old enough to apply for a driver's license, although once it would thaw out, it would likely dissolve under the intense rays of the summer Georgia sun, not to mention its difficulty seeing over the steering wheel and applying the brake simultaneously.

Anyhow, cut to yesterday. We are in Border's Books and my wife is purchasing a raspberry mocha latte. I don't drink coffee, but I know enough to know my wife loves raspberry and chocolate, as long as they are not shaped like a bunny. This cup of coffee entitles her to a free cookie, but there is only one chocolate chip cookie left and a 5-year-old who would likely devour it if she learns of its existence. Rachel was a few feet away, looking at a Nick Kids or Disney magazine.

Rebecca then spots an adorable little shortbread cookie. It has yellow and brown icing on it and is in the shape of a cat, complete with whiskers and a cute little nose. She buys both cookies and the coffee. We round up Rachel and walk out to the car.

Rebecca tells Rachel she bought her something special, but she is not going to give it to her until we're in the car. Naturally, the twenty seconds of suspense drives Rachel crazy. We get to the car. Rebecca gives Rachel the cookie. Rachel thinks it is cute.

Rachel and daddy head to a nearby Barnes and Noble to see whether it has children's books Border's did not. Mommy walks down from the Border's to check out Michael's. Daddy and Rachel are happy not to be at Michael's and will return to pick mommy up.

It is maybe five minutes from Border's to Barnes and Noble. As I turn right and prepare to park, Rachel tells me, "This cookie is too cute to eat!" I crack up. "You're going to have to tell your mother that when you see her in a few minutes." Rachel asks whether she can take the cookie with her, all while repeating it's so cute, she doesn't know whether she can eat it. We decide to leave it in the car. We walk hand-in-hand to the store.

When we pick up mommy at Michael's, I tell Rachel to tell her mom what she told me. Rachel does so. "Looks like we've got another one!" I exclaim.

I mean, I'm sensitive and sentimental too. It's one of the reasons Rebecca married me and our marriage continues to work. However, if it's chocolate or a sweet, it's going down my gullet no matter how cute it is.

By the way, the cat cookie did get eaten several hours later. As far as I know, the chocolate Easter bunny is still in the freezer.

"I Don't Want To Work...."

"I Wanna Bang On the Drum All Day...."

Daddy/Daughter Dance

Afterwards, there much dancing to music provided by two clarinets, a keyboard and drums. For a while, two Torahs were brought out and passed from one person to another. Rachel enjoyed being hoisted on daddy's shoulders, slapping daddy's forehead to the music.

Rebecca and the Torah

During the Simchat Torah service, the Temple unrolled the entire Torah around the sanctuary and kids who were bar or bat mitzvahed over the past year read one sentence of their portion, which symbolizes the passing of the year. Rebecca got to hold up part of the Torah during this part of the service.

Happy Honoree

Simchat Torah-Pre-Service

Last Monday was Simchat Torah. It's a Jewish holiday that celebrates the five books of Moses and the completion of reading Deuteronomy and the start of reading Genesis again. This was my first time I attended this service.

As part of all this, kindergarteners, including my favorite strawberry blonde, were welcomed into the fold. They receive miniature Torahs, sing a song and lead the congregation in singing the most sacred prayer, the Shema. I was very proud of Rachel. She asked for and received a Star of David necklace to wear for the service. She is very proud of who she is and it does my heart good.

Moose!

Well, we covered Major League Baseball and the NFL below, now it's the National Hockey League's turn. The Atlanta Thrashers practice about fifteen minutes from our house. One day, when Rachel had no school due to a Jewish holiday and I had a day off, we went to practice. Some of the players are gracious about signing autographs when they come off the ice, but we prefer pictures. And on this particular day, there were not many kids there.

The smile on defenseman Garnet Exelby's face when Rachel was jumping up and down shouting, "Exelby, Exelby!" put a big smile on my face as well. But Rachel and I both have a special place in our hearts for goaltender Johan "Moose" Hedberg. (He used to play for the Manitoba Moose and has a moose on his goalie mask.)

We took our first picture with "Moose" two years ago. He knelt down so he was less imposing to Rachel and I snapped a picture. A year later, he was signing for fans after practice and I had Rachel with me. I thanked him for being so good with her a year earlier. He saw her and said, "Well, she's a year older. Do you want to take another one?" I said, "Sure." He lifted her up behind the security ropes and we took another picture.

So when we saw him the other day, I said, "This is getting to be like an annual school picture; can we take another one?" He said it was fine, knelt down and engaged her in conversation, telling her "I remember when you were just this high" and putting his hand beneath her current height. He kidded with her about how old she was and how she had grown.

Rachel also got her picture taken with aforementioned Exelby, defenseman Zach Bogosian and goalie Kari Lehtonen. And whenever the Thrashers play, Rachel always asks where "Moose" is.

It seems goalies like Rachel. The Gwinnett (our county) Gladiators play down the road from us and we go when possible. Tickets are incredibly cheap and parking is free. One game, Rebecca and Rachel went down to the glass to watch the pre-game warmups up close. A goalie from the other team, Jeff Jakaitas, saw Rachel and tried to toss a puck to her. If you do it just right, you can flip it over the protective netting and it will fall harmlessly to the side where the fans are standing.

The first time he tried it, an older boy grabbed the puck. The second time he tossed one, I was able to get it and give it to Rachel. I gave him the nod of thanks and he nodded back, a big grin on his face.

Needless to say, when Jeff Jakaitas returns to the Arena at Gwinnett later this year, he will have three big fans in the stands, even if he does play for the other team!

This Smells Good!

This is a lavender rose on the walkway leading up to our front door. I can't even describe how good it smells, at least to me. Rachel is not as big a fan. But she did take this picture. Perhaps she has a future as a photographer?

Go, Falcons, Go!

This is Rachel after her first Atlanta Falcons game. The pom poms were three dollars apiece. That made no sense to me. Who buys a pom? You need at least two! Rachel played with them at least a day before losing interest.

As for the Falcons game, she seemed to enjoy it until a Verizon Wireless commercial on the scoreboard insulted the Wiggles. No one insults the Wiggles and escapes Rachel's scorn!

Down In Front!

Hula Hoop Fun

Rachel's First Day at the Davis Academy

Go Braves!

I am so behind on posting Rachel pictures! This is from July 4th when Rachel and Rebecca went to a Braves game.