Date Night!

Sharing Germs
So, my husband and I were having a fight discussion intense debate heated conversation the other day. I was in the driver's seat, getting ready to leave, and he was standing outside my window. Sam was eager for us to leave. We were intent on our conversation. Finally, he shouted "we're going to be late!" (which is what, of course, I always say) and we realized it was time to end the discussion. As he walked away, the same thought occurred to both of us. We've both just finished reading

Rituals for Thanksgiving
It's hard to believe that the holiday of Thanksgiving is nearly upon us. Just one more week! Thanksgiving is such a wonderful American holiday. It's simple - say thank you for the blessings in life and share a meal with those you love. But often, the meal takes over, stress of family and needing a "picture perfect" celebration cause a little fraying at the edges. Creating an atmosphere of gratitude can be tricky when you're just trying to keep your 3-year-old from pulling the tablecloth off the table, don't you think? I have created 3 different Thanksgiving services, based loosely on the idea of the Passover seder. After all, one good holiday centere

Magnifying Glass....Cake!?
So what kind of cake would you make for a Secret Agent party? We discussed making binoculars out of chocolate donuts. That sounded delicious but complicated. Instead, I settled on a magnifying glass cake. It took 2 boxes of cake mix. Seriously, cake mix is really good stuff. I used one box of chocolate and one box of sprinkle cake. I made 2 rounds, 1 square, and 12 cupcakes. The cupcakes were just for kicks so as not to waste the rest of the cake mix. They went to the staff in my office!)

Secret Agent/Spy Party
For David' 8th birthday, he requested a spy party. I did a little research and came up with this secret agent/spy party. Each secret agent was greeted by the Spymaster (AKA the Abba), and put their fingerprint and signature on an ID card created by the Ima. They got a notebook and pencil and lined up for some Secret Agent calisthenics and other spy warmup tricks. We played a form of "pin the tail on the donkey" - each Secret Ag