SUKKOT SHENANIGANS 2024

After a week (and a few days) in the Sukkah, we finished taking it down yesterday. Another year of memories and fun times doing our silly stuff out there. This year, we had a hard time narrowing down our list of themes - so whatever didn't make the cut this year, we will likely see next year! The boys are always thinking of new ideas, year-round! My list grows constantly, and then it's hard to make the final selections around the end of July-ish when we vote on which ones we think are best for this year or are most excited about. The winners for this year: Marvel, The Beatles, Squid Game, Get Out the Vote, Israel, Ted Lasso, and Glee. Here's what it looked like!

Marvel Sukkah!

The boys invited some friends (Landon, Jack, Myles, Haden Reid, Nathan, Clark) to join us on this first night. They came up with the theme and many of the food ideas: Thor’s hammers, Iron Man tray, Groot Beer, Fanta-stic Four, The Daily Bugles, Ant-Man on a Log, Infinity Stones, Avengers Pizza, and a Captain America cookie cake. It was simply “marvel-ous!!”

The Beatles Sukkah!

We got to “Come Together” with BeeBee, Zaide, NaNa, and Colby for an incredible evening of songs and fun food! Quinn gave the most “Help!” prepping our Let it B-L-T Bites, Yellow Submarines, and Strawberry Fields. We also enjoyed Penne Lane, Veggies and Dip-la-Dee, Dip-La-Da, Jello Goodbye, Sgt Dr. Pepper, Love Me Dew, and so much more! Sam won the Emoji Song Title competition, and we completed the evening by watching Yesterday.

Squid Game Sukkah

We had a very full, very loud sukkah this evening with cousins and friends. We ate Red Light Green Light Salad, “squiddlers,” savory Turn Overs (as in “your turn’s over”), Tug of War Ropes, rice, corn, and Dalgona cookies before competing in Tug of War, Red Light Green Light, Dalgona, and Glass Bridge. Thank you to the grown ups who helped judge, lead, and “eliminate” players.

Get Out the Vote Sukkah

With less than 34 hours to go before EARLY VOTING begins in Texas, we did everything we could to DO SOMETHING! Grandma, Papa, Aunt Jacque, and Uncle Freddy joined us for a dinner filled with reminders about voting. We had “High Stakes for the United Steaks of America,” Campaign Trail Mix, We the Peaple, zucchini votes, “Eggs-ercise Your Right to Vote,” “Donut Forget to Vote,” AmendMINTS, Bill of Rice, LiberTEA, Cheese Block Walk, Let Freedom Ring, and Churn Out the Vote. We helped write postcards to help turn out the vote across Texas and for our friend, Texas State Representative Mihaela Plesa’s, re-election in HD-70! Then, our guests left with yard signs. Finally, I introduced the boys to one of my favorite movies, Iron Jawed Angels, which reminds us of how lucky we are to GET to vote!

Israel Sukkah

We hosted an Israel-themed dinner with our friends (and Sam’s co-workers), the Friedmans and the Gottliebs. I loved watching my three big kids play with the little ones. I enjoyed conversation and catching up with friends. It’s been a hard year for Israel and for Jews everywhere. When Jewish people across the world celebrated Sukkot last year, we couldn’t have fathomed what was about to take place in Israel. This Sukkot, so many families are missing someone (or many more). With pain in our hearts, we remember them. We pray for the prompt, safe return of the hostages. But with pride in our hearts, we move forward. We are still here and persist and thrive. As Rabbi Stern said in his Kol Nidre sermon, “… in the face of such overwhelming darkness, we insisted on life…. We are more than shattered fragments… We insist on the whole tablets alongside the broken.”

Ted Lasso Sukkah!

What a fun night with Robin, Kevin, Keaton, Mischelle, Brycen, Nami, Hayla, and Jillian celebrating all things Lasso! If you haven’t seen Ted Lasso, you’re missing out! If you have, you’ll probably know why we had all these foods: goldfish, Biscuits with the Boss, an open jar of peanut butter on the counter, kebabs, fish and chips, brown water (tea), sparkling water, Diamond Dogs (ironically, I unintentionally got Nathan’s brand hot dogs)- with Wonder Kid buns, Jamie (Pop) Tartts, and a big “WHISTLE!!” It was, in the words of Roy Kent, “FU…..NNNN!”

Glee Sukkah!

Our big finale to this year's week of fun, family, friends, and food was a Glee-themed evening. The boys started watching the show this summer, and they’re nearly halfway through season 4. It was fitting to have Regan, Fitz, Sandler, and Taryn here because we carpool to Sunday school with these dear friends, and the kids love to take turns choosing songs in the car, singing along and introducing each other to new music. If you watched Glee (and can remember!), you’ll understand why we had: Grilled Cheesus, Cheerios, Rachel Berrys, slushies, tots, Breadsticks (that also happened to be (Emma) Pillsbury), Lima beans, bake sale cupcakes, Coach Bieste bars, little elves, grapes and sanitizer wipes, and Fondue for Two! We had such a delightful time chatting the night away!

Saying goodbye to Sukkot is bittersweet- I’m exhausted and ready for healthy food(!), but I’ll miss our evenings with company every night. We had an amazing week being silly, connecting with people we love, and enjoying some fun themes. We lucked out with the most perfect weather, too! So long, Sukkot! See you next year!

Dear Leslie (13)

Dear Leslie,

Trick-or-treating has officially come to an end, and with kids going to bed and the night slowing a little, it's finally time to take a breath. The yahrzeit candle flickers on the kitchen island, reminding me every time I pass it by, that it's been another year without you. The big event you missed this year was Banner's bar mitzvah. Yet, you were very much a part of it. We most definitely felt your presence, most definitely brought you along. Another big event was Paul's death. Oh, how you should have been here to hold Shelby through it. You'd be so proud of her - the help she gets for herself, the way she's moving towards healing on her own terms, the way she's navigating the bumpy road it's been for her this year. She really needed you this year, and it just plain sucks that you aren't here. Sometimes I get really mad at you. Not really you, but the whole unfairness that your kids and grandkids don't have you here. But mostly, I just feel so sad for YOU that you're missing out on all the things.

You're missing coming to cheer Quinn on at his baseball games. Oh, those are getting so fun to watch! You are missing laughing at Knox's ridiculous dance moves and silly jokes. You are missing hearing about Sam's latest adventure - whether it's traveling for work or off-roading in his beloved "Ellie." You didn't get to hear about our trip to Hawaii or how Richard actually went on a vacation! I bet you'd even love our Tova-girl! She's precious, and I bet you'd love snuggling with her. You missed Natalie & Kirill's wedding. You would have loved to see your brother so happy, full of joy and tears, walking his baby down the aisle and dancing with her that night. You would have loved to spend time with your extended family. I know this to my core - you would have been dancing, laughing, smiling all night. I can literally see it in my mind as if it happened - a memory that was never actually made but still so very real. How does that even happen!?

I spent the morning with my 7-month-old niece, Vera, Kindle's daughter. Kindle was telling me about Vera's Halloween costume and her music class with the other babies dressed in their costumes. It immediately brought me back to Banner's first Halloween and the playdate we had that morning with his baby friends. I was brought back to his first Halloween costume - Swee'Pea - and what a disaster that was! But then it also brought me back to how that day ended and what a shock it continues to be. Sometimes I still just can't wrap my head around it all, and yet it's still so very real, feeling like it all just happened.

These letters are getting shorter, I know. Partly that's because I know I'm saying the same thing year after year. And partly it's because I'm not finding a need to write it all down anymore. We think about you. You are alive within our memories, and sometimes even in the faces or expressions of my boys. We continue to tell them stories, share things you would say, or simply acknowledge it when we think you would have liked or enjoyed something. 

Leslie, sometimes when the days are hectic or it just all feels too overwhelming, I get discouraged and want to just give up on parenting, give up on trying my best. But, then I remember the promise I made to you years ago, when I was writing one of these letters. I promised I'd try to make each day beautiful. I promised I'd treasure the life we have and that I get to be here with your grandbabies while you don't. This season of life is hard - I'm feeling my age some days, and my patience is short with an angsty teenager, more than half of this crew having ADHD, and alllll the activities that come along with three boys. But I'm so very grateful to be their mom, to be Sam's wife, to have everything we have going for us. So just know, the promise I made to you is renewed each year when I write these letters - to think of you, to reset, to try my best to make it beautiful, because I know it goes all too fast, and even the hard moments are to be cherished.

Missing you,

Amber