102.1

No, that is not a radio station.  It is the fever Grace has tonight.  She was going to make this cool gingerbread train with the babysitter while we went out, but instead we did it together.  I just didn't fee comfortable leaving Grace when she was feeling sick. Of course, she is not too sick to eat the candy!

Thanks, Nana and Ba for this awesome project!

Sugarplum fairy

This afternoon, Grace and I attended the 20th anniversary performance of the Ballet Theater of Ohio's The Nutcracker.  It was really interesting to listen to the director talk about how the show has progressed over the years from their dance school recital where parents made the costumes and sets to the million-dollar performance it is today.  The show was wonderful and Grace loved every minute of it.  I love being with my girl and watching her enjoy the dancing, music, and costumes.

Grace wore her holiday dress. Not bad for a $10 consignment purchase!

Adding the ballerina ornament to her special Christmas tree.  

Outside the theater in her "fur" coat. 

We came home with this beautiful nutcracker.
There were dozens to choose from.  

When Grace saw Santa she immediately reminded him that she saw him last week at the parade. He looked up at me a little, but didn't miss a beat and kept the conversation going.  When Santa asked what she would like for Christmas she asked for Stompeeze slippers.  I have to wonder if Grace has a little strategy going on here...she tells something different to each Santa she sees.   Maybe that is her way of trying to get a lot of presents!

The "real" Santa

There is nothing better than and adventure with Nana and Ba to see the real Santa!

Ba said that the visit was wonderful.  Santa spent about 15 minutes with Grace.  He talked to her, read her letter, and promised her that he would bring her a surprise.  Then he asked his elf, Butterscotch, to put the letter in a special mailbox.  (Macy's donates $1 to Make a Wish for every letter to Santa.).  Grace told me that he said, "Look in my eyes.  You need to be a very good girl."  It is almost a week later and she is pouting on the stairs right now.  I wonder if I should remind her of this!

Thanksgiving in NYC

Our NYC weekend was a great adventure full of fun, new experiences for Grace.  She was "over the moon" excited about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and for weeks told anyone who would listen that she was going to see the parade and wave to "the real Santa".  I am pretty sure the reality of the weekend lived up to her expectations!

Our hotel was on the same street as the balloon inflation.  This posed a little difficulty with parking and checking in the first day, but was worth it to see the enormous balloons held down all night by nets and sand bags.

Buzz Lightyear even had "Andy" written on his foot.

After Grace went to bed on Wednesday, I went back outside to practice
using manual mode at night.  Not bad for doing it without a tripod.

After getting up at 2:30AM on Wednesday, driving 8 hours, and staying up for 20 hours straight, I really didn't want to wake up at 4:30AM on Thursday for the parade.  But getting a curbside space was important so we all got up and met at our planned location a little before 6:00AM.  Yes, that is 3 hours before the start of the parade!  But it was worth it. And, luckily, it wasn't too cold that morning so the wait wasn't too bad.

The three kids were AMAZING all morning.  They played on the iPad, entertained us with Charades, and kept checking over the barrier to see if there was any glimpse of the first balloon or band.

And then, suddenly we heard the roar of the crowd uptown and were surprised by roller blading clowns (Grace did not like ANY of the clowns in the parade!) who swooped right by us.  In the sky was the first balloon - Hello Kitty - making her maiden voyage in the 2012 parade.

Hello Kitty was followed by a cast of familiar characters including famous performers on floats and high school and college marching bands.  Ever the music lover, Grace told us over and over that she enjoyed the marching bands best!

Along with Hello Kitty, Papa Smurf and Elf on the Shelf made their first appearance in this year's parade.  We were standing next to a woman whose daughter was a handler for Papa Smurf! 

And, then, two hours after the parade began, Santa and Mrs. Claus rode their sleigh right past us. We jumped around, waved, and called his name. I am sure he saw Grace!

Pinecone bird feeders

A new friend from school came over to play today.  Christina couldn't make it to the class playdate at the park last weekend, so we invited her to play at our house this afternoon.  I just love listening to the conversation of 5-year olds!  So cute!

Christina's mom told me she loves animals so we decided to make bird feeders with pinecones, peanut butter, and bird seed.  They loved getting messy with the peanut butter but I have to remember that this is a good project to do in the spring outside!  Even though they were careful we had a lot of birdseed on floor!

The finished product.  What a feast for the birds!

Salute the flag

A little late for Veterans' Day, but Grace was proud to show me how to salute the flag.

Houston, we have a problem....

Today, I got an email from Grace's teacher about something that happened at school today.  Here is her apology letter.  Can you figure out what she did?

What? It's November?

Looking back at the blog, I can't believe it is November 11th already.  This will be my first post this month (I guess we have been busy) and even though the calendar says it is November, it certainly doesn't feel like it outside.  It is about 6:00PM as I write this and it is 68 degrees outside!  This is Northeast Ohio - we RARELY get weather like this.  So, we took advantage of the mild, sunny conditions by being outside as much as possible this weekend.  Today, I planned a playdate with Grace's friends from kindergarten at one of her favorite places - the "red" park!

The wise leader and a bounty hunter

I couldn't have imagined that our jack-o-lanterns would turn out to be characters from Star Wars. But, Grace and Kyle Googled "alien pumpkins" and the rest is history.  Here is how the story played out....

Grace drew her design on newspaper.

Then she transferred her idea all over the pumpkin.
(Good thing rubbing alcohol removes Sharpie!)

With help from Daddy, the top was cut off and
Grace cleaned all the seeds and guts from inside.

Like most 5-year olds she lost interest and went to play and get ready for bed.  When she returned, the two pumpkins turned into Boba Fett (a bounty hunter) and Yoda (the Jedi leader) from Star Wars.  Grace was thrilled, insisting she knows who these characters are.

The finished products in the light and the dark....

Class party, Halloween-style

I got to be a room parent today in Grace's kindergarten class.  That is HARD work!  I like my principal job much better!  Actually, it was a lot of fun to see Grace in this new atmosphere.  The girl cracks me up with how much of a "social butterfly" she is.

Playing "hot pumpkin".  The kids were good sports when
the music stopped and they we out!