Undocumented Visitors to the Manger

Jar Jar Binks by Christian............ Happy Feet by Anna.............

101 Dalmatians by Bethany..............

Goofy by Christian................

Never a dull moment at our manger scenes!!!

A Day in Oakley

Our family has recently rediscovered the joys of Oakley. Since our church is in this area and our two oldest are at school nearby we have a chance to snoop around the area quite a bit. So I am going to tell you about a Cincinnati Field Trip that every couple and/ or family should not miss! King Arthur's Court is the BEST and I mean the BEST toy store in Cincinnati. Even if you are not in the market for buying, this is a great place to play! Toys and games are out for everyone to try. Their Lego and Playmobil offerings are extensive and all of their toys make kids and bigger "kids" think and imagine. Very fun.
We usually tie in lunch or dinner when we are "field tripping it" in Oakley. Our favorite place - Dewey's Pizza. You can half your pizza at Dewey's so adults can satisfy their taste and kids can happily enjoy more traditional toppings. There are other locations around Cincy but this one is our fave.

Our most recent find up Madison Road is AbbyGirl Sweets! A cupcakery! You all know I love me some cupcakes and our family is currently out to find the "best" cupcakery in the United States! We have had some pretty good cupcakes but so far the actual "best blend of icing and cake award" goes to this establishment!! I highly recommend the peanut butter/chocolate cupcakes.

Yes. Yes I do.

Also, if AbbyGirl's does not totally quench your sweet tooth your family may want to try Aglamesis Brothers Ice Cream and Candy. They have caramel marshmallows that have to be tried!

Yes. Yes you should. (oh, and their raspberry whipped cream, too.) You'll thank me for that tip.

Stay tuned for more updates on this wonderful area. I know we have yet to discover it all!

Christmas Tree Shopping Near Cincinnati

Bill and I have been cutting down our Christmas trees for over 20 years. So we have experienced a variety of tree farms that have offered cut your own trees. I would consider Bill and I connoisseurs (Christmas tree snobs) and we have found the perfect place not too far from home. Big Tree Plantation www.bigtreeplantation.com is located in Morrow, Ohio and offers the best selection around. Here is the whole crew out shopping this year! Poor Anna injured herself in the gym earlier in the day so she got a little transportation help from her strong and mighty big bro!

It has never taken us longer than 30 minutes to pick the perfect tree. Getting it back to the tree shaker was easy and the process of paying for and tying the tree to the car was painless. They even have a pretty sweet gift shop offering free hot chocolate. Santa was there, too, plus some reindeer.

This year they added outside food vendors. Food as in fried stuff. We had to try some of that fried stuff since I refuse to fry food in my own home! And the crazy idea that someone would put snickers, oreos and rice krispie treats in a Fry Daddy was just too intriguing!! We can now say that we have partaken. We will not partake again!!

So, aside from leaving there with higher cholesterol levels, we had a marvelous time. This is definitely our pick for a family Christmas Tree adventure!!

The End of a Season

Most people mark the end of fall by the calendar - December 20. I however mark the end of fall by the date that all those darn leaves are cleared from the property!! You see, we have about 3 acres with about 20 mature trees and it takes us pretty much a whole month and a half to clear them off! Many of my friends comment on how beautiful our home and property are but are soooo happy they are not the owners of all those leaves that fall each autumn! So when they are finally off of the trees and off of the lawn we have our ceremonious picture taking event. I had to have Grams and Gramps get in on the action. After all they have been raking these leaves for --oh, about a 40 years! (not sure why they wouldn't sit down in the pile though, party poopers!).
Anna and the pup were next to have their picture done. It was a hot fall day. Can't you tell by the 12 inch tongue hanging out of the dog's mouth? She's probably dripping slobber all over those leaves that Anna will jump in later!!!


Even that crazy couple below stopped long enough for a photo-op!

Now this is the only remaining pile in the yard! Yahoo! We will leave this one as a drop zone for Anna's zip line and a place for the pup to lose all of her outdoor toys!!

Now that the lawn is clear - Bring on the Snow!!

Hiking: Miami of Ohio

Bill and I have decided that our future will include a lot of hiking!! We both enjoy it very much and have decided to see how many trails we can get under our feet before we cark! That's Bill's term for leaving this earth! I bought a wonderful book entitled 60 Hikes within 60 Miles and we have begun checking off the hikes surrounding the tri-state area. Our first hike was to the natural areas of Miami of Ohio and it was Fun, Fun, Fun! The Sycamore trees were huge as Anna and Bill are showing above. Anna could even crawl up in many of the crevices of the trees. When not crawling in she was climbing up!

The swinging bridge was the absolute coolest! Love this pic of Anna going across. She and her dad had the best time swinging and swaying! I made them stop when I came across. Although they did dare me to run across. I managed a slow trot!!

I did run across the concrete stepping stones. OK, it was also a slow trot but I did it more than once! Anna continued another three or four times.

The total length of this particular hike is 4.32 miles. We broke it up to get to the swinging bridge faster so I believe we did about 3.5. Certainly the 4.32 is doable with Anna. For younger kids it is only about a mile trip straight to the swinging bridge.
I highly recommend this hike for all families. I am sure you can visit

www.muohio.edu and locate the natural areas to hike. For a good reference this hike circles Bachelor Pond.

Heritage Village Museum - Sharon Woods

As part of our literature study on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Anna and I were able to visit an event nearby that featured Ichabod and the Headless Horseman. Sharon Woods is part of the Hamilton County Park district and features a recreated 1800's village. It is open year round but offers special programs during Christmas and Halloween. Anna and I enjoyed the event which included trick or treating (ok the candy was not spectacular). Our favorite activities other than Ichabod and the Horseman were the semi-haunted 1800 house and the mad scientist. The pic above is from the haunted house. My flash captured this picture and made it lighter but the house was quite dark and the antique furniture added to the haunt. This was the chain lady who offered the only scare, really. The sound of the chain dropping to the floor was unexpected but fun!!!
I think Anna enjoyed the mad scientist. We went to see him twice! He was pretty silly and delivered a funny and not so scary act.

Our favorites by far were the Headless Horseman and Ichabod. Sorry, I know you can hardly make out Headless on Horseback below but I had to try to include a picture!! These actors were wonderful. The paths were lit by lanterns and Headless would ride up to unsuspecting visitors. He had his horse circle Anna and I (very tightly!) 3-4 times. We were amazed at how well trained the horses were and how well the actors played the parts and stayed in character!! Also, other characters jumped out us at various times on the paths. It felt a bit like Sleepy Hollow!!

Overall it was a fun experience and we were glad to witness our study on the Legend recreated. The evening was a bit pricey but worth it for us since it involved something we just studied. I got the feeling that most of the visitors present were not there for the Sleepy Hollow atmosphere!! And if they were there for the candy I think they were pretty disappointed!

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Literature Study

We love doing literature studies as part of our homeschooling! We take a certain piece of literature and study various topics mentioned withing each piece. There are so many premade curriculum available. One that we loved to use in the younger grades was Five in a Row by Jane Claire Lambert. Now I often make up my own and this month we have been studying THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW by Washington Irving. Some of the topics we have covered are:
*Henry Hudson
*the Hudson River
*Hessian
*St. Nicholas
*New England Superstitions
*Screech Owls
*St. Vitus
*Horses
*Don Cossacks
*1 Timothy 4:7
*and of course Washington Irving

Crafts included: oil pastel fall tree, collage tree with Bible verse and the Gourd pumpkin in the above picture.

We have been reading this in its original text and also in some easier versions. We came across a radio drama of the story by the Colonial Radio Players that is marvelous! Also, we watched the television renditions by Shelly Duvall theatre and Wishbone.

Our most exciting adventure for this study came with a trip to a haunted village complete with Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman on horseback. More to come on that in my next post!