As we all know, a winter storm tends to change people's plans and it's no different on First News. Unfortunately, that means a big change for Friday morning. As I mentioned in my blog yesterday, we had planned to be live at the new World War I museum at the Liberty Memorial. That was before mother nature decided to go from 70 degrees one day to 20 degrees and freezing rain the next.

Tune in Friday morning for complete coverage of all the winter weather. Also, you can send us your weather pictures and give us your comments right here on our website. We'll be sharing some of those comments and pictures on the air tomorrow morning. We'd love to hear what the weather is like in your neck of the woods. The way this snow storm is approaching, it looks like people in various parts of the metro could see much different conditions.

Again, this means we won't be out at the World War I museum, which really disappoints me, but be sure to tune in to KMBC 9 News for complete coverage of the grand opening on Saturday. You know what they say about the best laid plans... in this case, snow changes everything.

Saturday is a big day for Kansas City. A new attraction will open that hopefully will draw tens of thousands of people to our area every year and will add another great reason for people to come to the heart of the city.

On Saturday morning, the new World War I museum will open at the Liberty Memorial. I visited the museum months ago as work was underway, but I haven't seen it since. This week, I had a chance to talk to the museum's curator who, while extremely busy, couldn't hide his excitement about the project.

What's really fascinating about the World War I museum is the way cutting edge technology will be used to bring a century-old conflict to life. There will be plasma screens, audio and video displays and even interactive study tables. This was a war that featured everything from air warfare to hand-to-hand combat and the new museum promises to show it all.

Curator Doran Cart emphasized to me that the museum will focus on the people affected by the war, both soldiers and civilians. "This is not an historian-driven exhibit," he told me. "It's a people-driven exhibit, of the ones who took part in the war."

You can see the new museum for yourself this Friday morning on First News. I'll be live inside the exhibit all morning long, with a look at the interesting features and we'll talk to the people who made it all happen. I can't wait to see it for myself and share it with you, a day before a new crown jewel in Kansas City opens to the public.

Jack had no idea he was doing it, but he was laying it on thick. Real thick. And boy, did it work. Surprisingly, it wasn't me who fell for it this time, but rather a complete stranger.

Here's what happened: My son and I were inside one of Jack's favorite stores, a shop at Crown Center that sells model trains. We had just enjoyed the Mayor's tree lighting (a great show, by the way), eaten dinner and were checking out some of the stores. Jack loves trains and always enjoys the various toy train displays at this shop and this night was no different. However, a couple of months ago, we started a system where Jack can earn money by performing various chores around the house. For the first time in his young life, he has his own cash. It's not much, but it's his. And that's how he melted the heart of a salesperson.

As I looked on, Jack stood in front of one of the sales counters at the store, looked longingly at some of the merchandise, then slowly pulled two quarters out of his jeans pocket. He proceeded to glance between the coins and the toys in a way that was so darn cute and a little pathetic. Before I knew it, the salesperson was asking Jack what he liked. Jack picked up a set of small cars and an airplane and lo and behold, the salesman told Jack he could have it. I was stunned. I told the man he didn't have to do that. I even offered to pay. He would have none of it. He insisted he does this often and wouldn't even accept Jack's two quarters.

Again, Jack didn't try to pull a scam here. He was honestly trying to figure out if the 50 cents in his pocket could buy any of the great toys in the store. But his act of innocence turned into something much more.

Jack was very moved by the salesman's kindness and so was I. Several times later that evening, when Jack expressed how excited he was to be was given the toy, I took the opportunity to use it as an example why giving and sharing are so important. It was one of those nice moments I'll always remember. The simple kindness of a stranger that had a big impact on a father and son.

What a great holiday. Yes, we gorge ourselves with delicious food, but it's also a day to give thanks for the blessings in our lives. It's something that many of us simply don't do often enough and it seems like maybe we should have more than one day a year set aside to do it. As for my thanks, I won't bore you with a long list, but I definitely appreciate today's warm temperatures and Chiefs football on Thanksgiving night (after the Plaza lights, of course.) As long as I have a healthy family to celebrate with, that's enough for me. Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, you know what they say: everything falls apart after you turn five. My son Jack turned the big 0-5 this weekend. He had a great birthday, complete with a trip to the T-Rex dinosaur-themed restaurant at the Legends. I knew he had a good time when I discovered sand in his shoes after we got home. They have an area where kids can dig for "dinosaur bones" and Jack, along with his best friend, had a great time playing in what is essentially a giant sand box.

However, late on the night of his birthday, he woke up with an ear ache. Most parents are familiar with this - the all-too-common ear infection. Jack has had them before, but this one seemed much more painful. There is no worse feeling that seeing your child in agony. It absolutely broke my heart. At one point, he tearfully said to his five-month-old sister, "Kate, I wish I could play with you, but my ear hurts." As a parent, I just wanted to take on his pain. Anything to make it go away.

Of course, kids rebound amazingly fast. We took him to the doctor the next morning. He gulped down some medicine, took one of the longest naps of his life, and was completely back to normal that night. Wow. If only we older folks could bounce back that quickly. The ear infection was quickly forgotten, and the attention was back to all the birthday gifts he got. Maybe being 5 isn't so bad after all.

I mentioned on this blog a few weeks ago that we were part of a national toy test here in Kansas City. The 27th annual "Great American Toy Test" went to 45 cities in all, and KMBC brought the test here. We took dozens of toys to Operation Breakthrough and let the kids play with them, under the watchful eyes of their teachers. Now, we know the results.

Starting Thursday morning on First News, we'll unveil the "Fabulous 14" toys from this year's test. Literally thousands of toys were tested nationwide and these toys came out on top. The list includes games, DVD's, toy cars, and bikes. There's something for everyone. The toys on the list were enjoyed by the kids and admired by teachers and parents for their educational value, quality and, perhaps most importantly, their ability to hold kids attention for more than two minutes.

We've got five reports over the next week, showing parents the top toys and demonstrating why they stand out among the hundreds of choices in the toy aisle. Of course, many parents are just starting to think about holiday gift buying right now, so hopefully our toy test stories can help out. (If you've already finished your Christmas shopping, please refer to my previous blog post.) Again, tune in every day through next Wednesday (Thanksgiving Eve) for our 2006 Toy Test reports on First News. Then let me know what you think. Did we miss any great toys? E-mail me at jgish@hearst.com and let me know. Santa can always use a little help.

Let me first say - I love Christmas. Like many other people it is, by far, my favorite holiday. I work in a business where you have to work on holidays and quite honestly, the only one that I really hate to work is, yes, Christmas. So having said all that... enough with the early Christmas stuff already!

For me, the Christmas season starts after Thanksgiving. I don't do any Christmas shopping until then. I don't even decorate my house until after turkey day. When I turned on my car radio on November 1st and heard Christmas music, I was stunned. There is nothing more heart-warming that a great Christmas song, but if I start listening to holiday tunes now I'll be burnt out by December 1st.

Perhaps surprisingly, I'm actually not targeting retailers with this little rant. I understand why they put Christmas decorations and items out so early. For them, it makes or breaks their entire year. I don't even begrudge people shopping early. If you can get your Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving, more power to you.

But it seems like tree lightings and other holiday events are getting earlier and earlier. A cable TV network is airing "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" this week. Can you even steal Christmas in early November? I don't think that's possible, even for the amazing Grinch and his little puppy sidekick.

The bottom line: let's not dilute the most wonderful holiday we have. Independence Day is great, but we don't start celebrating it in May. I don't think you're a Scrooge if you wait until late November to get into the holiday spirit. At least, I hope not or I'm in trouble.

My, how time flies. One of the first charity events I did after coming to KMBC was the annual Hillcrest Ministries fundraiser in Independence. This weekend, I emceed the event for the third consecutive year, although it seems like only yesterday that I was at my first one.

Hillcrest Ministries is truly one of the great charitable groups in our area. They provide transitional housing for homeless families, but really they do so much more. As part of the program, they help clients find jobs and provide financial counseling as well. Every year at the Hillcrest Gala, a client gives a testimonial. And every year, it's incredibly moving. I don't think there was a dry eye in the room after a mother told her story of overcoming domestic abuse to get a great job and work her way out of debt. These are people whose lives have been completely turned around thanks to the efforts of a dedicated organization.

Once again, I was amazed at the generosity of people here in the metro. This year's Hillcrest Gala and auction raised $80,000. Thank you to everyone involved, and I'll see you again next year.

I have some good news to pass along today. Two months ago, I did a story about vandalism at the Shoal Creek Living History Museum in the Northland. I also wrote about it here on the blog. Vandals rampaged through several buildings on the museum's grounds, breaking numerous antiques and spraying a fire extinguisher in one of the buildings, coating several rooms in white dust. As I mentioned in my previous post, it was a senseless, terrible crime.

But the volunteers who keep the museum going weren't going to let this stop them. Immediately, they went to work, cleaning up the mess. It wasn't easy. They quickly discovered that if you used water on the fire extinguisher dust, it turned it into a sludge that was even more difficult to clean up. But with patience and perserverance, the volunteers cleaned up their beloved museum. In fact, people from the community stopped by to help out - some who had never even been to the museum before. They heard about the vandalism on the news and wanted to do something about it.

I visited the museum grounds again this week and I was impressed by the clean up efforts. There are still signs of the destruction, but things look much better. The dust as been cleaned up and other signs of the vandalism are disappearing as well. Yes, there's more work to be done. A front window will be replaced any day now, and the repair work on an antique loom still hasn't started yet. But if someone walked in today without knowing what happened, they might not even think about it. That's thanks to plenty of hard work by a group of dedicated people. I was so glad to see that the museum wasn't untracked by something so petty. Police are still looking for suspects in the vandalism. If you know anything, call the TIPS hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

Halloween was super in the Gish house. Literally. We had a superhero theme for our kids' costumes this year. Jack was Spiderman, his all-time favorite superhero. We actually bought the costume for him all the way back in January, but he liked it so much he still wanted to wear it for Trick or Treat, 10 months later. He's worn the costume over and over again this year and he never gets tired of slinging webs.

Kate, our 5-month-old, wasn't able to pick her costume, of course. But she was super, too. She celebrated Halloween as Batgirl. Her super powers were derived from an outfit from Build-A-Bear, of all places. Jack bought a Batman bear a few months ago, and we soon discovered that the cape and hood that came with it fit Kate perfectly. My wife created a bat logo shirt, bought some black leggings and our little Batgirl was born.

Jack is almost 5 years old and this was the first year he really got into trick or treating. I can only imagine what it's going to be like the next few years. In years past, Jack enjoyed dressing up and getting lots of free candy, but only for short periods of time. He tired pretty quickly, which my wife and I definitely did not mind. Not this year. It was cold outside, his Spiderman mask got wet around the mouth (remember that from your childhood?) and he admitted his feet got tired, but there was no stopping him. I think he would have kept going house to house for hours if I didn't finally put a stop to our quest for candy. Oh, he gets Halloween now. And it scares me more than any ghost or goblin.