Purim 2014 Recap

Well, it's almost Passover and I'm just coming in for Purim recap! Oy.

Life can always be crazy but add one Daddy with a new job + a Mommy very busy at her job + A baby boy under the weather, and you get one hectic few weeks. Hence the lack of blogging!

This year, our Purim was jungle themed.

The kids were supposed to be a lion and a monkey, but someone (AHEM toddler monkey) did not cooperate, so this is all the evidence I have:

Our shalach manos (gift baskets we hand out to friends) kept the theme going...

I love assembling our baskets, and I love seeing them accumulate on Purim morning!

Families get all dressed up and go door to door delivering:)

Another Purim tradition is baking hamentashen, or special Purim cookies filled with jam.  I love baking at least one batch:

I also imitated an idea I saw in a magazine, creating a giant challah hamentashen for the Purim meal!

Next year, I'm totally going to leave the filling empty and add a savory dip!

In the middle of the day, after the chaos of hearing the Megilah (the story of Purim) at the synagogue, and answering the door, and delivering baskets, we enjoyed some family time.

So delicious:)

We tried to get a great family photo, but with two little kids, you end up with something more like this:

Or this!

Finally, at the end of the day, we hosted a bunch of friends for a celebratory Purim meal. We took photos at the end after some guests had to leave, but a shot at the ladies:

and gents...

And that was our Purim! Hopefully we'll get the next  update up here before Rosh Hashana:)

What's YOUR favorite holiday?