Sukkah party

We had our first annual sukkah party this weekend.  Unfortunately, it was so cold that everyone pretty much ate at our dining room table, as opposed to outside in the sukkah.  What I like most about Sukkot, as a holiday, is that it's really like you build a little Jewish clubhouse, decorate it up, and hang out in it for a week.  In theory, you're supposed to be eating all of your meals in there, and even sleeping in there, if you're so inclined.  We were not that inclined.  In fact, I think we've only managed one or two meals, but it's mid-October in New England, and not precisely the best weather to be dining outside.  In fact, with the pouring rain and wind, one of our new ways of celebrating Sukkot is to watch out the window to see if the thing was actually going to blow away.  Thanks to some serious PVC glue, it's stayed standing so far.  It was Marc's first time building a sukkah, and it has been remarkably resilient.

In other news - Julianna is almost sort of walking.  Maybe.  If your definition is extremely generous.  She's standing more and more without holding onto furniture, and occasionally taking a step or two.  Given that she'll be a year and a half in two weeks, I'm just all the way thrilled.  She's so cute, she's all about being a "big" kid, she wants so badly to keep up with her older brother and sister.  God help us if we get just Sam some breakfast and not serve her the same thing.  Whatever we're doing for one of them, be it brushing hair, or helping with shoes, etc - Julianna insists on being included.

We also had my stepdaughter Sarah spend the night on Saturday night.  Having done this stepparent thing for a while now, I'm becoming more and more aware of how it changes.  The relationships ebb and flow, sometimes they love being here, sometimes they hate it.  Sometimes one of them will decide she wants to be here all the time, sometimes they want to be together and sometimes separate.  Lately, we've had a lot of time with Sarah and it's been lovely.  We still see Lilli, but the older she gets, the more she's carving out her own identity, and part of that is breaking away from the little kid thing we have going on here at the house.  She still loves us, I know, but we don't see her as often :-(.