Ceili

In the middle you see Hannah and on the right there is Oliva getting ready to dance the "Walls of Limerick" with all of the McGing dancers around the balloom of beautiful Music Hall in downtown Cincinnati.

Walls of Limerick from Martha Pavlovna on Vimeo.

 Olivia with her partner, Sioban, doing the 4 hand reel.

Claire is one of the student teachers, the girls favorite!  She is a senior this year and we will really miss having her around.  Here's the ceili last year.

A new cookie cutter!

We wanted a cookie cutter that looked like the Irish dance dresses...  This weekend we have a "ceili" - that is an Irish gathering of music, dance and food! 

I used a large round cookie cutter (it was $1.59) and made a paper one, then undid it and marked the metal one with lines where I needed to bend it "in" or "out."

 First dress (using Mom's butter cookie)...it came out so nicely!

All ready to go into the oven.  Olivia was pretty excited!

Both Hannah and Olivia helped me to decorate these cookies, using a simple homemade icing (confectioner sugar and lemon juice).  Which do you like the best?
I was inspired by these cookies:  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/11118330303935824/

Wedding reception of our dear friends

Our friends were married in the church on Nov. 17th, 2013 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa...and had a wedding reception over the weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio with their family and friends.  ♥

Olivia and Rob went to the bar and got a Shirley Temple...then another and another...

And Hannah, had a few...made with ginger ale and a splash of grenadine, garnished with a cherry.

One beautiful wedding cake, and two vegan cakes...

Rob and Hannah...who did a little reel for the newlyweds.  She loves Irish dancing!

Our family with the new Mr. and Mrs. Davis....they are so sweet.  ♥

Oireachtas

 

We went to Grand Rapids, Michigan for 3 days for the oireachtas, an Irish dancing competition.  Hannah in her hard shoes...she danced "Jockey to the Faire," a traditional set dance.  There were over 100 girls in her age group (under 12, as of January 1st, 2013) and only she and one other girl did that particular dance, but she was not recalled. 

 

Olivia and Rob before she danced "St. Patrick's day" another traditional set Irish dance.  We were not allowed to take any videos or pictures of the girls on stage.

Hannah is also part of an 8-hand ceili team.  So she switched from the red curls to a brunette...and we thought she looked quite pretty.  The moms took turns doing the girls make-up, to look uniform.  The mom in the picture above did all the blue eyeliner, for example.

Putting on their soft shoes.  And ready to dance!!!

 Can you tell which one is Hannah?

Little of this...and that!

Olivia with 2 of the girls from her class on 

Saturday morning...dress rehearsal for Irish dancing.

 Hannah and friends painting pottery Saturday afternoon.

It was so nice to have little Elizabeth

here, she loves the trampoline and swings!
 We call her Liza, pronounced like "Leeza."

 Sunday after church, we had an early Thanksgiving dinner 

at Grandpa and Grandma's house.  Brianna said "Shouldn't we tell
what we are thankful for?"  So, we took turns sharing...mostly, we are thankful for the people in our lives.  Olivia said she was thankful to have the ability to physically DO things.  We volunteered at the Ronald McDonald house recently.  We are in good health, thanks be to God.
There are many who are not.

 Liza helped me with the chickens.  We raked leaves 

at Peepaw and Grammie's house.

 Grammie and Liza...

The girls were trying to pull down that branch.  Sadly, I lost one of my
favorite earrings while helping with the leaves...
*update* I found my earring today while walking through
my parent's backyard!
♥
Brrr...it's gotten cold here in Ohio.  

I hope we get some snow tonight.
What's the weather like where you are?

Gem City Feis (Irish dancing)

Hannah and Olivia wore their McGing school dresses to the feis (pronounced "fesh"), new clip-on earrings with gems, that they got at the first feis they went to in July.  We also got a wig for Olivia there (we'd curled her hair before and we have to put them in 24 hours before she dances, it takes a good hour to put in 40 curlers with gel).  It was her 1st time wearing it and she was anxious to take it off...as you can see below, she took it off as soon as possible. 

Both Hannah and Olivia chose to dance the reel and light jig.  Hannah got two 5th place ribbons.  Here is a video of her doing her reel:

Olivia didn't place in the reel, but got 3rd place in her light jig, which means she moves up a level to novice!  They both competed against about 10 girls their age and at their level of competition.  Hannah didn't compete against any of her friends, they are all a year younger than her, or in a different level, but they watched and cheered one another on...
Olivia did compete against one of her friends, but it was a friendly competition.  Some people can get very competitive.  I don't ever want us to get like that.  It's just for fun. 
Each stage where they danced has an accordian player, playing music live for the dancers.   It was beautiful music.
Next month, we're going to Michigan for another competition, as Hannah was invited to be a part of an 8 hand team! 

Red's baseball game

Did you have a nice weekend?  We went to a Cincinnati Red's baseball game (sadly, they lost), but the highlight of the game was that our girls both danced pre-game with the McGing Irish dancers.

The first 20,000 fans got FREE hats, because it was Irish heritage night.  They announced there was a total of 34,777 fans!

Last night some friends from our church came over for dinner.  This little 4 year old girl, Sofia, has cancer.  Please keep her in your prayers.  Below, I'm holding Sofia's little brother, Timothy and his mother, Maryna, Hannah and Olivia posing for a picture.  Maryna and her husband, Sergi, asked me to be Timothy's Godmother!

A ceili...

Ceili is a gathering of good music (the band "The Bloody Tinth" played, live fiddle, mandolin, guitar and drums) and Irish folk dancing!  Hannah dancing the Fairy Reel, with her girls.  She goes to class twice a week.

Olivia goes once a week...she JUST got her McGing school dress a week ago!!!  She danced the Siege of Ennis.  Olivia and Hannah both danced the Walls of Limerick and the Suites of May, so they each got to do 3 dances!

Another video...these are the kids who've been dancing longer:

Bread pudding made with raisins and apples, with a whiskey cream sauce and caramel drizzled atop...from Claddagh's Irish pub...to end the night!