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The Adventures of Aubs and WillDecember 22 School...Well....Its been a tough semester- I took 2 courses in addition to the 40 hours a week I teach at the school, and that kept me busy - not to mention AUBREY and WILL! I was so stressed about a course in which I had written papers, legal briefs and created a website of my work. Well...we went into the final exam where we were being tested on what a teacher needs to do to avoid a suit, copy write law, lesson planning models, website design, and a few other random things- it was 6 essay questions! We had no actual grades to know where we stood in the class before the final exam, so I had NO CLUE how I was doing. I just knew I had done all the assignments I was supposed to. I was not happy with the exam- I knew enough to pass, but was concerned about the grade- plus all the assignments I had done, but no grades for. I just did not know what to expect! Well, Xavier posted grades today, I recieved an A for that class. I also got an A in my Early Childhood Special Education Foundations Course. (but I was being graded as I went in that class so I knew where I stood!) Here is a link to the website I created and will use throughout my career at Xavier.
I hate the picture but I will replace it soon...
 The Lights At Sharon Woods...Tonight we headed to Sharon Woods to see the Christmas lights with Stephen. We got there at 8, but did not see any actual Christmas lights until about 9, cause the line was SOOOOO long. Good thing we stopped at UDF before heading in! We started at 8:00 to listen to Christmas music to put all of us in the holiday spirit, but then we discovered that we all had different views (WELL...AUBREY DID) of what we should listen to, and we pretty much listened to Hanukkah songs until Stephen took over as DJ of the IPOD. I have to say the lights were pretty nice, we were supposed to turn off our car lights....BUT MINE CAN'T shut off! If its dark they are on, so I probably annoyed the guy ahead of me, but oh well. They were worth the hour wait, and it was fun eating our snacks, listening to music and hanging out in the car. My personal favorite was an action light where a gingerbread man was jumping on a trampoline- very realistic movement for an inanimate object. After dropping Stephen off, we headed home and before we made it home both kids were asleep. It was rough getting them inside, cause it was rather fridgid here...at 3 degrees with the wind making it feel like about -7. But they all made it into their beds and are curled up under their covers- dreaming of Christmas! December 21 Happy Hanukkah!Aubrey asked me on Thursday night if we celebrated Hanukkah. She said she told her teacher we did. I was like..um, not really. I mean we learn about it at church, but as far as actually celebrating it, not so much! It goes well with the fact that Will has been singing this Kwanzaa song he learned at school ALL THE TIME. WE have actually spent more time this holiday season singing about Kwanzaa and Hanukkah- no wonder my kids don't know we celebrate Christmas....I kid, they do know, I think they just think if they celebrate these other holidays as well, they will get more presents! Christmas at the Aquarium...In an attempt to put those wonderful memberships we given to the aquarium to good use, we headed to the aquarium to see Scuba Santa. He was even cooler than we thought he would be. He told us why he had to come to the Aquarium, and that Rudolph can often get the other reindeer in trouble! We sat in the front row and even got to get a picture with Scuba Santa (which we will post later- Mama's scanner isnt working so well) . Here are pics of Scuba Santa
  It was less busy than the last time we headed to the aquarium which was nice, and the kids really got to see what they wanted. These are some goofy shots of the kids. Aubrey I understand why she is so goofy- I mean look at her biological DNA, however- Will may put the nature vs nuture to the test with his hamming it up for the camera.
     She really looks hurt in that last shot! SO DRAMATIC!!!
Last time we were there Aubrey was unable to sucessfully touch a shark, but this time she did several times! They love petting sharks!
    All and All, it was a fun afternoon! Christmas In KillarneyOn December 6th, we had the pleasure to see Miss Aubrey Chann perform with her new Irish School- The McGing Irish Dancers. They have a fun Holiday recital where they do a lot of ceili dances and get to wear goofy head gear! Aubrey danced the Walls of Limerick and the Seige of Ennis. Oddly enough those are two of the dances I learned from Kate at Scoil Rince Ni Chiara! (I took an adult class a summer ago!) Aubrey did a great job and of course was darling. Here are some great pictures of her, although I cannot take credit for them- our friend Stephen took them for us (He had a camera that could take these without a flash and from a distance, cause he is a real photographer- not like me!)
November 08 BobCat Day....Ok, I am playing catch up, but I figured if I didn't do some current stuff I would in catch up mode forever. A friend of mine uses a bobcat at work, and this weekend he was using it at a friend's house to help clear the debris and trees from the windstorm we experienced in September. We went over to help out a bit. Aubrey, Will and Sadie had a great time. (I not so much, I have a horrible cold.) Will helped gather wood for a bonfire, Aubrey practiced her climbing techniques on the piles of logs and wood, and Sadie ran around and found a new friend named Max- a border collie and mountain dog mix. (He looked like a cross between Caddy and Joepa- very sweet) The kids each got a few turns riding in the bobcat- they loved it. I forgot my camera, but I did get one crappy shot on my camera phone - you can see Aubrey's feet and Will's head watching the bobcat. Will was so funny- he pretended to be a bobcat machine for a while and gathered up sticks for a long time. With all the running around they did, I bet they will sleep well tonight!
November 05 CampingI have never been camping. My parents really weren't really into staying anywhere but in a real bed, so at 35 I thought it was high time I should go camping. (not to mention I thought it would be a semi cheap vacation with the kids!) So when we had an opportunity to go with friends down to Red River Gorge to climb and camp, we did not hesitate. Here are some pictures taken of the kids at the camp fire and climbing site- even Sadie went! It was a great deal of fun, and we hope to get a chance to do it more often next summer!
Aubrey....with a Machete??? Will enjoying the fire more than his mother would like....
Feis!This summer marked Aubrey's First Feis Season. A Feis is an Irish Dancing Competition, and Aubrey danced in her first Feis at the Cincinnati Feis on June 29. She danced in the first Feis Catagory and danced three dances. She danced the light jig, Reel and Slip Jig. These three were all soft shoe dances. Aubrey did great! It was rather intimidating as they had 7 stages going at once, all with their own LIVE music. Aubrey managed to get two 3rd place medals and one 4th place medal. She was so funny between dances and said she couldn't remember her steps- but she managed to pull it off and it was a great first effort!
The second Feis of the summer was in Dublin, which is a HUGE feis with over 1000 competitors. Aubrey did well there - and this time danced her soft shoe dances as a beginner and her hard shoe dances as an advanced beginner (they are not available as a beginner.) There were many more girls in her division and it was all the more intimdating! The list of dances on her number card were not in the order she was supposed to dance them, it was just indicated which she was signed up for. She did not know that. So when she headed out for the first dance which was the light jig....she read on the card....Reel, and danced it instead. What was amazing was that Kayce and I were standing there (Kayce is one of her teachers) and she was like- "Oh my, she is dancing the reel to the jig and she is ACTUALLY STAYING ON TIME!!" We joked that it would be funny to see if she placed. She then did her Reel (again), and her slip jig - to complete her soft shoe dances. She switched to her hard shoes and danced her Hornpipe and Treble Jig. She did great over all. We had to wait forever for the results, but in a much larger field than Cincy, we are proud to say she placed in all of her dances. Her results were:
Soft Shoes- Reel - Fifth Place
Soft Shoes- Jig - Fifth Place (which was actually her reel!!!)
Soft Shoes- Slip Jig- Fifth Place
Hard Shoes- Treble Jig- Fourth Place
Hard Shoes- Hornpipe- Third Place
So in typical Aubrey fashion, she did better at the things that were harder! But she did a great job and we were just proud of her getting up there and dancing in front of such a large crowd! She hopes to dance in more feis' next year. It was a rather bittersweet feis in Dublin knowing that this was the last time she would dance as a Rince Ni Chiara Dancer, but in a stroke of providence the head of her new dance school in Cincy just happened to sit down beside me as I watched Aubrey in her last two dances and was glad to see Aubrey in action. It was an ending with a promising begining.
September 11 Playing Big Time Catch Up! I have gotten very behind with this blog, my apologies to those who read it and anticipate the stories of Aubrey and Will. I am hoping to get back on track and get the pictures and stories posted of the summer. We have had a very busy summer, the kids enjoying time in Newark with their Daddy and with me down here in Cinci. Hope all is well with everyone who reads the blog, and hopefully between homework (Mine and Aubrey's- Will hasn't had any yet this year) I will get back on track with the blog! Love to all! June 29 A long days journey into a gorge....We headed to Black Hand Gorge this past weekend to hike a bit. Here is some basic info on the gorge- its located in scenic Licking County about 15 miles from Newark. It was part of the Ohio and Erie canal system. Here are some pictures from that trail.
The Quarry Trail path is a mile long and we headed back to the main paved path. We had a snack, and we talked about how we could not leave anything behind, and the kids were quite serious (especially the recycling king Will...) and when Aubrey's craker crumb hit the ground she began to freak out, because she did not want to be leaving something behind. Well....within seconds an ant came by and took the the crumb. Aubrey, Will and I watched that little guy for a bit as he carried the cracker away. Here is Aubrey's clean up crew....
Then we headed back down the paved path, which for Aubrey and Will was not as exciting for them, as they liked the dirt paths so much better. Here are some pictures of that section of trail.
Then we headed to the "Black Hand Rock" and although you can no longer see the black hand (Thanks to the canal building...) here is the rock. We headed down to the sandy area beside the licking river directly across from the rock. Here are pictures of us getting down there, and the rock itself.
We then headed back towards the begining of the path. At this point we had hiked about 2 miles. Aubrey really wanted to try to climb these rocks, and I had to practically pull her off. These rocks were rather slippery, due to the amount of moss on them. Here are a few pics of them...
Then we got back to the begining, but....we decided to head onto another trail - the canal trail. This trail was fun, because we didn't expect that it actually went through the canal. It takes you across the river, and then around to the trail, where you head back to the canal lock 16, which you first see from above. We headed further up the path, and as it rounds down, you end up walking through the lock itself. It was very cool- and very muddy! Here is what it looks like...
Then we headed back. At the end of the trail we had walked 4 miles, which I think was pretty good for 2 six year olds who had never hiked before. Here are a few pictures of the kids as we returned...I think they were a wee bit delierious....
All and all...it was a fun Saturday afternoon....
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