Reds vs. Cardinals

We took the girls to a Reds game. It was so much fun. When we entered, an attendant asked if this was the girls' first game. We said it was and he took our seat information. Before the game was over, another attendant brought the girls certificates for attending their first MLB game at the Great American Ballpark. And they both got free Reds jerseys. Very cool.

Birthday celebrations

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We have had a fantastic month, full of birthday celebrations!  We're so proud of our big four-year-old and our little one-year-old.

We took the girls to the Children's Museum and to an Imax film right before Caroline's birthday. Both of the girls really enjoyed that. Caroline got a special date with Mommy - manicures. I got to go to Caroline's school and deliver cupcakes and read a story to her class. The girls each got special birthday meals and cupcakes. And presents, of course! Caroline was so sweet. She said, "Oh my goodness!" with every present she opened. She was genuinely thankful of each one. My sweet big girl helped to make her little sister's birthday very special.

And finally, a couple of birthday videos:

I do this every year for my girls. Caroline got sung to probably six or seven times all day.


Helen didn't quite know what to think of her cupcake at first. But she got into it after a little experimenting.

Snow #5 (or is it 6? I've lost count.)

More snow. It fell all day long. And the snow from last week's winter storm was still on the ground. We certainly weren't expecting a winter this exciting! Caroline's school Valentine's Day party keeps getting pushed back until the next day. Kevin says it will be March before they can celebrate!

Gotta love a man who shovels snow in a shirt and tie! Or who just shovels the snow.

Snowed in

We've been snowed in for a couple of days.


But it hasn't been that bad.


I feel guilty saying "snowed in" when we have friends on the east coast that are really snowed in. This is nothin'.


We've wintered a lot this year and have made the most of it.


The girls and I were excited to finally get out of the house this afternoon.


But, come on, SPRING!

Hans Brinker

Sometime in January, we took Caroline ice skating at Fountain Square in downtown Cincy. We all had a good time. She fell a lot and I thought she might get discouraged. But she hopped right back up every time and kept going.




It is really hard to keep yourself balanced and help a small one stay upright, too!


Shucks... Kevin just missed getting photographic evidence of my triple toe loop.


Please tell me you've seen the movie Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates? It's a classic. It was one of my very favorite wintertime too-sick-to-go-to-school flicks.

Christmas at our house

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We waited until we returned home to do our family Christmas. Our third celebration was a very sweet time. Caroline was so appreciative of all her gifts and was so excited to see others open theirs. It's really fun and special to see her "get" Christmas. We all got some very nice things from each other: a new baby doll for Helen, bird-watching gear for Caroline, a Dremel tool for Daddy, an enameled cast iron skillet for Mommy (to name a few).

This week Caroline has been out of her regular activities, so I took the girls to the Newport Aquarium to see "Scuba Santa." It was kind of silly, but worth it to see my three-year-old's delight. Caroline has been asking us what Santa is doing now that Christmas is over and we've been telling her that he's probably sleeping. When she saw Santa scuba diving, she said, "SEE! I knew he wasn't sleeping!" Then she asked me, "Why is Santa scuba diving?" I told her he is on vacation and people sometimes scuba on their vacations.

Wee little tree

Last Christmas we had no idea what our living situation would be this year. We didn't know if we would be in an apartment or a home or if we would have tons of storage or busting at the seams. So we packed up 95% of our Christmas decorations, including our tree. (We do a prelit, artificial tree.)

Caroline said one morning, "Mommy, when are we going to put up our Christmas tree?"

I said, "Well, we put our tree and ornaments in the storage unit in Memphis."

"But...it's almost Christmas," said Caroline sadly. I was crushed.

Kevin heard about our daughter's lament and came home with a tiny tree. A $12 tree. It leans and has a huge bald spot. It's a Charlie Brown tree. I love it. And, in a way, it's perfect for this season in our lives. I would have never been able to keep Helen out of our big tree. This one fits on our window seat.

Caroline had the best time picking out a few ornaments and the colored lights. And there was plenty of room for her hand-made ornaments.


Caroline is thrilled to flip the switch that turns the lights on each night.

Snow

Caroline woke up one morning to something very exciting! She couldn't get through with breakfast quickly enough! We didn't get very much and it wasn't good snow to play in (too dry). It was freezing cold this day, so we were only out for a little bit. I'm sure there are more snowy days ahead for us here in the North. (You all know how much I love snow. Bleh.)

Lollipop Symphony

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has a special set of concerts for young listeners, called the Lollipop Series. It was the perfect introduction to the orchestra for Caroline! They gave out crayons and fun programs in the lobby. All of the musicians wore colored shirts that coordinated with the family of their instrument (strings wore red, brass wore blue, woodwinds wore yellow, and percussion wore green). The program included instrumental pieces, singers, ballet dancers, and sing-alongs. The theme of the program was Thanksgiving, so the pieces were about thanks, food, and animals. It was so much fun and Caroline really enjoyed it. Her favorite piece was the "Old MacDonald Sing-Along" and her favorite instruments were the big drums and the trumpets.

Going to the Symphony is one of my most favorite things and I really hope that is something we can continue to enjoy together.

First day of preschool

We've enrolled Caroline in Redeemer Episcopal Preschool, which is right around the corner from our house. She had a great first day. She loves school - just like her mommy and daddy!




Helen and I walk Caroline to and from school most days.

She is so excited to learn!

Clifford's Big Red Train Adventure

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Saturday, we took Caroline on a big adventure - Clifford's Big Red Train Adventure on the LM&M Railroad. It was so much fun! Caroline was really, really excited to meet Emily Elizabeth and Clifford. We boarded the train and had a 30 minute ride to the junction, where Clifford was waiting! We had a short stop for photos and playtime, and then we got back on the train for the return trip. And little Helen was such a trooper - she just looked and smiled and looked some more. It was a great afternoon, made even greater by Caroline's happiness. I hope we can take another train adventure very soon!

(If you got this as an email, click on the links to see the picture album.)

A really big deal

This grocery store trip was a huge adventure to Caroline. For weeks she's been begging me to get one of the car carts. With a baby carrier and tons of groceries to get, I just couldn't accommodate her wishes. Kevin was on night duty a few weeks ago, so I left him and the baby napping at home and made Caroline's day. Her joy is evident, isn't it?

More visitors

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Emily and Jonathan came to visit us last weekend. Saturday morning was yucky and rainy, so we waited until the afternoon to head downtown. We went to the Contemporary Art Center. It was built by a famous architect, so Emily and Jonathan really wanted to see it. It's also the home to the Unmuseum. Caroline had a blast exploring and touching and doing. I think the adults enjoyed it a little bit, too!

It's really easy to entertain two architects for an afternoon. We just hopped in the car and took them by all the neat and famous buildings in town. :-) There are quite a few, especially on the University of Cincinnati campus.

After the driving tour, we headed down to Newport and went to the Hofbrauhaus. It was very fun. Caroline is still doing the chicken dance.

Sunday, we had waffles at the Coffee Emporium - about 2 blocks away from our house. That's dangerous. Those waffles were delicious! Then we took Caroline to the park. Emily must have pushed Caroline in the swing for 30 minutes. Kevin swung the baby right to sleep. With all the children in expert hands, I really wished I had brought a book along with me.

It was another great weekend entertaining guests!

The Dales visit

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My family came to Cincinnati and it was a lovely visit. We went to the Zoo on Saturday. It's a really nice zoo and we enjoyed so many of the exhibits - the gorillas, the manatees, the baby tigers. We wanted to eat at the Hofbrauhaus Saturday night, but the wait was too long. So we wound up having a good time at Johnny Rocket's instead. I was a little disappointed, but as my mom reminded me, it's really just about having a good time together no matter where you are! And we certainly had a good time all weekend long!

Park

Home in Cincinnati

Here we are! The move went well, but we could have done without a bum U-Haul, a shared illness, and plumbing problems. We think our new home is very nice. We are very fortunate to have found such a well-kept rental home. I think we were able to adjust quickly because it's very similar to our Midtown Memphis house.

Our living room

The girls' rooms are upstairs with a bath between them. Caroline wants to show you her room.


She has a huge closet for an overabundance of toys. Closets are a novelty for us. We had one real clothes closet in Midtown. Now we have 3!


Helen's room needs some work. She's still Mommy and Daddy's roommate, so it's a low-priority room. I'll get some better pictures of it later.

This little area at the base of the stairs is our "playroom." The window seat opens up for storage. I'm thinking I need to make some pillows for it...

Downstairs master bath

Our bed really isn't this shiny. The flash must have been working overtime.

Dining area

Here I am, probably on my way to do something wifely.

We have a lot more counterspace in this kitchen, but we miss our big pantry!

The basement isn't much to look at, but it's a fantastic multipurpose room - laundry/ironing areas, a sewing/craft area, an extra refrigerator (Kevin's much-coveted "beer fridge" :-) ), a computer workstation, a TV/play area, tool storage, and plenty of room for Caroline to have wheely bee and tricycle races. It's a really great space.

Yay...all of my sewing things! I've been using this area quite a bit already. I picked up about 6 new projects to work on before we left Memphis. I feel very lucky that we had enough room for me to bring all of my fabrics and ribbons and notions.

Our backyard is lovely. It's shady and has a great deck.

Guard dog - looking for squirrels, I'm sure.



Our neighborhood is nice. There are a few young families, but we haven't made any playmates yet. We can walk to a downtown-type square with shopping and dining. One of our next door neighbors is the sweetest lady - 82 years young and does all her own gardening! It's an amazing yard and she has already been very generous in sharing her flowers with us.

Everything we need is so close by. Caroline's school is about 1 minute away from the house. It will literally take me longer to load the kids in the car than it will to drive there. I'm sure Helen and I will be doing some strolling to drop her off and pick her up.

Our adventures here in Queen City are off to a wonderful beginning! We're looking forward to this year!