Lag Ba'Omer!

Last night:

Last year:

We left our house on Tuesday morning and headed to cheider.


Snapping photos, more and more... last chance!


Somebody is really looking forward to being a big boy!


We dropped Zusha off at cheider and took Gedalya to the park until the festivities began.

Upsherin portraits by Mama.
Saved myself the $300.
Bonus: the bench is real, the leaves are real... not props and a backdrop.
Another bonus: natural poses and expressions.


And then, it was time to join everyone at the bonfire.

We arrived at the bonfire and Hillel lifted Gedalya up on his shoulders.

Shortly, the other fathers lifted their upsherin boys as well.
There are four boys in this photo. There were about 6 all together.



The preschool classes stood by the wall, while the rest of the students and Rebbes danced around the bonfire.

Adel stood by the fence and watched.



They brought a table to the middle of the yard and lifted the boys onto it. The two Rebbes each proceeded to snip off a lock from each boy.
So Gedalya got bangs!



After that, the dancing resumed. Hillel took Zusha into the circle as well, since it was his brother's simcha.

The ceremony was over and we took the boys for ice cream...


...and then to the park.




On our way home we took the scenic route, to make for some more gorgeous photos.
Gedalya's curls bounce all over the place as he runs.

To see more posts about Gedalya's upsherin, click here.

A "First" for Me

Zusha's friend from cheider has a little brother Gedalya's age. He turned three a couple of weeks ago and his mother asked me if I could take upsherin photos of him. Of course, I agreed!

We met at the park. This boy is a little shy and will not cooperate if a stranger asks him to do something. He sat next to his mother, and the first few photos all looked like this:


I asked Gedalya to blow bubbles to distract him, and it worked a little.


Then I suggested that we go into the grassy ball field and I'll take photos while Shloimy plays ball with his mother.

It worked great!



We got some really nice shots that way. Yay!

Now for the Long-Awaited Haircut Post!

First we put Gedalya's hair in a ponytail and chopped that off.
Here he is, ponyless.


And then, BZZZZZZZZZZ. Let the upsherin begin!



Testing out the size of the peyos.


And now, the AFTER photos!






Gedalya seeing himself in the mirror for the first time.

He couldn't get enough of himself!


So this is it! And now we have two big boys.

The First Snip!

We arrived at the bonfire and Hillel lifted Gedalya up on his shoulders.

Shortly, the other fathers lifted their upsherin boys as well.
There are four boys in this photo. There were about 6 all together.



The preschool classes stood by the wall, while the rest of the students and Rebbes danced around the bonfire.

Adel stood by the fence and watched.



They brought a table to the middle of the yard and lifted the boys onto it. The two Rebbes each proceeded to snip off a lock from each boy.
So Gedalya got bangs!



After that, the dancing resumed. Hillel took Zusha into the circle as well, since it was his brother's simcha.

The ceremony was over and we took the boys for ice cream...


...and then to the park.




On our way home we took the scenic route, to make for some more gorgeous photos.
Gedalya's curls bounce all over the place as he runs.