Tree lighting at Fountain Square

Not quite Union Square, but fun, just the same.

We crowded around the ice skating rink and did the countdown. Some guy named Josh Hutcherson (a new movie star who is in the Vampire movies) was there...he was raised over in Kentucky and we were entertained by the Naked Karate Girls, who were pretty good. Santa even showed up...on iceskates. After the tree lighting, they set off fireworks. It was a very easy night in which everything came together nicely....good place to stand, parking was abundant and a breeze to drive home. Downtown isn't exactly a shopping mecca and therefore, the feeling was very different from being in SF on the day after Thanksgiving. No PETA protesters, either.

Thanksgiving morning

Margaret and John were lucky enough to be carrying Dora in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Do you see them?

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The Hack girls came over in Jammies to watch the parade with us

Daddy, Santa does TOOOOO know where we live. He continues to bring us the Macys GWP Plush.

Skelatons in our bathtub

These are from Miss Margaret. She sent them for Halloween. A couple of weeks ago, I had a meeting at night. The next day, it was bath time and the girls insisted on showering in my shower...I didn't give it much thought. Since then, the girls have still wanted to shower in my bathroom.....well, here is the reason why- We have skelatons in our tub.

Turkey day at school for Kaley

Kaley had a Turkey dinner today at school. The 1st graders dressed up as Indians and 2nd graders were the Pilgrims. Good thing we just happen to have an Indian costume (thanks Nana). I made Ainsley's class the Turkey cookies (the ones, which we make every year with the candy corn feathers/sugar cookies), but she came home not feeling great again....back to the doctor we go.

Walnut Hills Soup Kitchen

Kaley is really liking volunteering and she has seen her share of it this week.. On Sunday, we were fortunate to be able to service others at the Walnut Hills Soup Kitchen. We served 200 Turkey Dinners. Kaley was the youngest there and was most comfortable helping to serve the primarily African American adults, although there were some children, too. Kaley liked serving the children and would pick out special desserts for them. The fact that many refered to Kaley as Tinkerbell delighted her. We had to make a cake- we made a Southern Pecan Praline Cake. Kaley was proud that it was the first dessert taken....Ainsley was still down with a fever, so she and Michael did not go..

mellow Saturday

Ainsley (with a fever) spent the day building with the Keva blocks and we are continuing to work with Kaley on tying her shoes. She is almost there. This will make Mrs. Caito (her gym teacher) pleased! Kaley had lots of reading homework to complete this weekend before Monday. We spent a lot of time playing this week....

St. Joseph Food Bank

Kaley and Ellen

Friday after school, we traveled with others to OTR (Over-the-Rhine) to sort food items - making 186 boxes for families in that area. All Saints students donated items by grade. Kaley's class was responsible for donating cans of corn and Ainsley's class was in charge of gravy.

Decorating Gingerbread Houses with Annie

Annie, Ainsley and Kaley went to the Blue Ash library to decorate Gingerbread Houses. Here is the link to the cake pan, which the cakemaker uses. http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E3191DF-475A-BAC0-53BA3BD42B6F8C98&killnav=1

The cakemaker owns a tea house in Blue Ash and makes 150 of these little stand up houses, using Betty Crocker's Gingerbread cake mix, for different organizations during the holiday. These houses are sooooo cute- they beat the kits. I think we've found a new twist on "old" tradition of decorating Gingerbread houses for Thanksgiving. A and K shared (it was one house per family). The girls were given a small cup of white frosting, which they smeared on the roof. As for candy, they were given some fruit loops, mini marshmallows, peppermint, sucker, gingerbread cookie, and a roll of smarties. Everyone had a great time and each house turned out differently. Annie sawed her cookie in half and attached it to the window (like a head looking out) and A and K put their cookie on the roof representing Santa. The girls had another classmate there, too, Sara Smith.

Young People's Concerts

This is next door to the Music Hall- American Classical Music Hall of Fame. http://www.americanclassicalmusic.org/index-02.html

Cincinnati Symphony offers Young People's Conerts which is similar to Concerts for Kids, put on by SF Symphony and something we've taken part in for the past 6 years. Our 1st was when mom and dad spent a summer in SF (thank you Dr. Speight ). I don't know where I heard about Concert for Kids, but the thought of taking the girls (then 1 and 3) to hear the SF Symphony for $2.50/ticket was right up our alley!! We went to the concert and then took Kaley to Laurel Heights to buy her first pair of walking shoes. Fast forward 6 years (almost) and we found ourselves sitting at Music Hall, listening to the Cinci Symphony. I took the girls out of school (I was a bit worried, not knowing if it was okay...only to find out that it is common that people take their children out of school for Reds' Games) and we went to our first concert in Ohio! Here, they add a couple of things, which we liked; 1) they have a screen which shows art of the time in which the composer was living 2) they showcase a student musician, who plays with the symphony (we heard a violinist who is 15 and has played violin for 10 years) and 3) they expose the audience to other forms of music...in this case, they had a Soprano, born in China who has been singing opera since she was 13. She is now performing in NY. It was a great experience and in March, dancers from the Cinci Ballet will dance while the symphony plays. We'll definitely be there for that one!!!

Soprano singer- Her dress was beautiful. Ainsley was concerned that the opera singer's singing (in Italian and Russian) was going to break the crystal on her watch.




15 year old from Cinci who has been playing for 10 years.

fancy drinking fountains!!!!

Observatory Discovery

We went to the Observatory and learned a lot! From our tour of Mt. Adams, when Kaye and Bill were here, we found out that Cincinnati is the birthplace of Astronomy. The new telescope (1904) is housed in the big building and the smaller building is home to the 2nd largest refractor lens telescope in the world. When we arrived, the front door was open, so we walked in, however the observatory wasn't officially open (not qute sure why the door was unlocked). A few minutes later, a car pulled up and a man entered the observatory. Turns out he is the Director and Professor at UC....he took the girls up the stairs and showed them the telescope. He explained that when the building was built n 1873, there was no indoor electricity and to open the roof, it is on a pulley system. The girls were delighted to be there when we were.