17 December 2010

1.  Last Friday we had Eric's agents and staff over for the CBB holiday party.  You never quite know how an office Christmas party will go...but when the last guests left at 1:22 {one left doing multiple somersaults down our driveway in the falling snow} we knew it was a success.  There was lots of laughter at the Newman household that night.  I'm just glad E still had a job Monday morning.  I wasn't sure how some would react when he got his Speedo out, but all is well.  =)  He only wore it OVER his jeans to shovel snow so people could get out, but still.  COME.  ON.

2.  Speaking of that snow...Holy Hannah.  Shakopee held the state record for the weekend with 21.5 inches falling in 24 hours.  Thank goodness we had no place we had to be since everything was basically cancelled for the weekend.  We spent a lazy Saturday at home together which we haven't done in quite some time.

When it was time to blow snow E was sure glad he got the snow blower working again.  That would have been a LOT of shoveling.

A view from the street Sunday morning...

3. By Sunday the snow had basically stopped and we were somewhat able to buck the drifts to get out, so we headed to church to light the Advent candles and then zipped off to celebrate my Dad's birthday with my family.  After a nice lunch we retired to our house to let the kids make cookies with Gram.

Of all the kids Ave was the most dedicated baker.  Beckett just wanted to stick his tongue in the sugar in the bowl {see pic above...can you tell he was caught red handed??} and Jack just wanted to keep adding Hershey Kiss wrappers to the dough.  Little stinkers!  Tate was at a birthday party and missed out on most of the making of the cookies...but was still there to enjoy the eating part!

4.  It was "Watch Week" at Avery's dance class.  We are normally are not allowed in to watch classes, but during watch week you can go in watch and take pictures and video.  After these two pictures I decided I needed to move so my flash wasn't in the mirror in every picture...

 Much better after I moved...

She seems to have fun with the other girls, especially loving that Brielle is in the same class!

She loves ballet but really loves the tap portion of class and is doing her aunties proud!

Santa happened to stop in during dance as well.  I had to laugh because as soon as we got in the car she said "MOM.  Did you see Santa's shoes?!  That was NOT the real Santa."  I said, "Yes, I noticed too.  It must have been one of Santa's helpers.  His beard didn't look real either."  She said, "It kept falling off!  So fake!!!"  She cracks me up.  She can spot a pair of Sketchers a mile away.  =)

5.  On Wednesday night I was leaving school with a little bounce in my step.  I had all my lesson plans ready for Thursday because my team teacher Angie was going to teach for me on Thursday.  I taught a couple mornings for her in October when she went to Florida with her family so she was going to return the favor so I could finish up my Christmas shopping.  I was rifling through my purse on my way out to my car and realized my keys were not there.  I immediately knew I had locked them in my car.

I am not even going to get into the details of the entire night, but after E came and we waited 2 hours to get someone to come make us a set of keys the guy called and said that he wasn't going to make it so we left my car in the school parking lot overnight.  I would like to say the conversation was rosy waiting in the car, but it surely was not.

I was more calm than I was the last time I locked my keys in my car in the school parking lot 6 years ago...that time I had a screaming 8 month old who had been holding the keys while I strapped him in his carseat and locked the doors with the remote.  After calling 911 I waited not-so-calmly with a policeman for 45 minutes until the tow company came and opened the doors and rescued my screaming infant.  So in the grand scheme of things this was much better.  Not as good as, say, NOT locking the keys in, but you know what I'm sayin'.

So after my car spent a night at school, we stopped at school during our shopping trip and met our new best friend...

Within about 10 seconds we were in and in about 10 minutes we had a second set of keys!

In spite of a damper of the night before we had an awesome day shopping.  We haven't shopped together for Christmas gifts since before Tate was born.  E insisted on saying "Glad Tidings!" to everyone who wished him a happy holidays...he's such a geek but I sure laughed.  Hopefully we'll make this a yearly tradition...maybe without our new best friend the key guy and the "glad tidings". =)

10 December 2010

1.  Friday night was Avery's preschool Christmas program at Mount Olive.  Even with the snow, we all made it on time...Addelay, Aves, and Olivia even had time to pose for me before they lined up...

After some sing-shouting like only 3 and 4 year olds can do, they posed for a group pic.

A little closer up...

Then the obligatory pose with her adoring brothers...

We sure love this little lady!  Can't believe she'll be in Kindergarten before we know it.

2.  Saturday morning was Eric's annual Trees for Toys event at his office.  It is always such a fun event.  I take pictures of all the kids with Santa, Eric runs around talking to all his clients and referral friends, and Becky and Roger chase our kids around...thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

3.  We added another member to our family Saturday night.  This little guy just happened to show up...

  

After some discussion the kids have named him Eddie.  If you've never heard of an "Elf on the Shelf" read more about him here.  The kids can't wait to wake up each morning to find where he's moved to.  With a crazy December I am NOT above a little help with behavior modification...just sayin'.  

4.  Eric was doing dishes this week and paused to snap this pic of Tate reading to us.  It really is amazing watching a kid learn to read.  I've seen it lots of times before at school...but it is even more amazing when its a child of your own!

Gotta love a little No, David!

5. Our Christmas cards are finally in the mail as of 3:00 today.  Eric's letter is as long as ever...I know you can't wait!  {Sense my sarcasm??}  Glad to have them done with a jam-packed weekend ahead.  If we haven't already gotten it, please send us your card, too.  I live for mail in December!!

3 December 2010

1.  We had a wonderful but busy Thanksgiving weekend.  As I mentioned last week, we started out at the cabin and I couldn't resist posting the pic of Beckett from Thursday morning.  He had been talking about "eating cinnamon rolls at Grandma's cabind" forever.  {I don't know why he always adds a d to the end of cabin but I love it!}  Here he is with his cinnamon roll...

And a pic of the kids having our "What we're most thankful for" discussion...

We spent Thanksgiving Day at Aunt Sally's in Glenwood.  I can honestly tell you we ENJOYED it this year...not that we didn't enjoy it other years...but I mean our kids are finally getting old enough they will go play with their cousins and E and I get to finish our meals and do a lot of talking!  Loved it!  That night it was off to the farm to hang with my fam.

2. Friday my mom, my sisters, and I attended a baby shower for my cousin Jason and his wife Sally.  Here we are right before leaving...

And here is a rare photo op with the Bruns boys...the closest thing any of use Pete girls will ever have to brothers...

So fun to catch up!

3.  After the shower on Friday we came back home to put up the tree.  As I have been saying all year...as much as I loved my babies, it is so fun when they get old enough to do things with you in a way they never have.  I have NEVER in my life put up a tree so fast or had so much help.  The three kids sorted every single branch and "fluffed" them then handed me to put them on. 

We had so much fun and they were so proud of that tree that we had a campout in the basement Friday night and left the tree on all night to admire.

4.  Saturday we got to celebrate my niece Finley's first birthday.  She is a hoot, that girl.  She makes me VERY scared for when she is old enough for her and Aves to really play together.  They just might be trouble.

5.  This has been a whopper of a week.  One of those weeks where you can only think of the things you have to do the next day so you don't get overwhelmed.  Part of our craziness is that our kitchen partly under construction finally finishing the backsplash we had intended on doing last winter when we updated the kitchen.  Then Christmas shopping came, and...well...those expenses became more important. 

My dad was going to be in the cities all week for a conference, so he told us he would help us come get it done.  We are almost finished and we think we'll love it and we laughed so much.  Thanks, Daddio! <3 you!

The crazy week continues right through the weekend, so we will have lots more to report next week!

26 November 2010

This week we decided to skip our traditional post.  We went to stay at the lake on Wednesday night so we were closer to Glenwood where we were to attend Thanksgiving at Sally and Rod's.  On Thanksgiving morning we ate cinnamon rolls and discussed the things we were most thankful for.  It was really hard not to prompt the kids, but I really wanted to see what THEY would say.  We went around the table letting the kids take turns.  Tate was bound and determined to say things completely different than the other two, but actually we were very impressed with what each of them came up with on there own. So here are each of our fives...

Tate Peterson Newman, age 6 years and 9 months, is most thankful for:
1)  the earth
2)  rain
3)  our house
4)  being alive
5)  toys

Avery Elaine Newman, age 4 years and 11 months, is most thankful for:
1)  dress up clothes
2)  my family
3)  my food
4)  my friends at school
5)  the sun

Beckett James Newman, age 3 years and 2 months, is most thankful for:
1)  my grandmas and grandpas
2)  my daddy
3)  Wrigley
4)  my house
5)  Emily and "Lizabelle" {our babysitters...real names Emily and Isabelle}

E and I decided we didn't want to taint each other's answers, so we decided to write them down.  So here are our fives this year...

Eric Alan Newman, age 33 years, is most thankful for:
1)  my wife and kids
2)  my job
3)  our support system
4)  my health
5)  our home

Jessica Gena Newman, age 31 years, is most thankful for:
1)  my wonderful family and friends
2)  my {part time!} job
3)  good health
4)  laughter
5)  a comfortable home

In all honesty, if you are reading this you are more than likely someone we count as a blessing.  We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

19 November 2010

1.  Snow.

Not sure I was ready for it {so glad that Target is one minute away so I can buy new snowpants with all the other moms and dads at 8:00 on first snow morning} but the kids sure had fun in it.  It also gets me a little more ready to take on the Christmas shopping, decorating, and baking.

2.  While in the car waiting for Tate to be done with piano lessons, Avery was practicing writing letters in the car.  She likes to write them in order, so she starting saying the names out loud.

A...B...C...

Beckett started saying them for her.

D...E...F...

He was doing pretty well, too, until he got to K.

J...K...EMMA...NENNO...P.

Avery and I both cracked up.  I have heard him {and many other kids, for that matter} sing the LMNOP part of the song something like that, but it totally was hilarious when he was slowly saying the exaggerated names and impatiently waiting for Avery to write them.  Now every time she writes them she giggles when she gets to that part and writes them correctly but shouts EMMA...NENNO...P.

3.  Are there moments when you officially feel like you've turned into your mother?  One of those moments happened to be Monday night at about 7:55 when Tate and I were trying to practice piano.

He was giving me grief about practicing after school because he wanted to play in the snow instead and I knew it was going to be a super busy night.  We had gotten through his Math and Spelling.  We went to dance, I made supper, etc.  By the time we got around to sitting down he was tired and so was I.  I ended up being overly short, he had tears stinging in his eyes and a crackly voice.  All of a sudden I felt like I was 8 years old and I was hearing my mother's words about putting it off until you're too tired was a bad idea slipping right out of my mouth.

Aaaah.  Okay, Mom.  I give.  You were right...and so am I.  Too bad Tate won't realize it for 25 more years! 

4.  Keeping in touch with my sisters got much more fun in the past few weeks.  It started with finally downloading Skype on my computer.  The kids are obsessed with talking to Kara and Kasey {and many nights even Jackson from a mile away!}.  Tate won't stop putting things in front of the camera to block it...you know, forks, pencils, paper.  6 year old boy kinda stuff.

5.  E is hunting again all weekend in South Dakota.  Our freezer will officially be full of pheasants.  E tried to pawn some off on Kara last weekend, but she saw the claws and gave him an official "I'm out."

Figuring he better put them to good use, he spent all day Sunday while I was at a baby shower making white pheasant chili.  I am not much of a pheasant fan, but it was pretty tasty.

I have to say that I am officially over hunting season and completely ready for it to be done for the year!  No more man-cations for a while.  Anyone want to go on a girls' hunting trip?  We could hunt for purses or maybe a new pair of black boots for me? 

12 November 2010

1.   It has been pretty quiet around here this week.  The biggest news is that I knocked one of my "30 in my 30s" off the list.

See #22?

Check!  The van was getting to the point where we were going to need to put some money into fixing a few things or trade, so we decided a trade was in order.

2.  Being a guy who likes to steal my thunder, E also traded his car in.  Only he got a NEW car, not just a "new to us car."  Ha!

Actually, the truth is that it just made more sense not to have two SUV payments and gas mileage.  His Fusion payment is less and the gas mileage is awesome.  Thank goodness, too, for the free year of door ding fixes, because on the second day we had the cars one of our children {who are used to having sliding doors that can't ding anything} put a dent in E's new car.  I am learning to park a little further away so that the doors open completely without touching his car.

Thunder stealer.  =)  I have to get a copy of him with his new car from him, but in the mean time, visit his blog to see the pic and read his car buying experience if you are interested.

3.  Another exciting thing this week, which may not seem like a big deal to you but is HUGE for me, is that Avery wants her hair braided every morning.  Up to this point in her life it has been a huge struggle to even brush her hair, much less style it.  That is reserved for days I really needed her to have good looking hair.

So this is heaven to me...so much fun to do and she looks so grown up!

4.  We also had Avery's conferences this week.  Since I reported on Tate's, I thought it only fair to report on Avery's as well.  To be honest, with Avery's spunk we are always a little nervous about what Mrs. Monson might have to say about her, but apparently there was no reason to worry.  If anything she has gotten more shy this year {which does worry me too...that's what being a mom is about, isn't it?}.

We are proud of you, Aves!

5.  Well, it is now Friday morning at 9:26.  I just got home from dropping the girls off at preschool.  We had a wonderful night with the Pankakes last night celebrating Kelley's birthday at our house.  By the time they left we were too tired to do the dishes much less get out the computer to finish up my blog post.  Happy birthday, Kelley Jean!

Now off to do those dishes...and maybe eat a piece of leftover dessert.  =)

5 November 2010

1. Saturday we went to the Anoka Halloween parade...these people do NOT mess around! We saw two hours of the parade and it wasn't over! Anoka calls itself the Halloween capital of the world and we've always talked about going to the parade but have never been. This year Eric's cousin/god daughter Paige was in the parade {she is currently Miss Clara City} so we decided this was the year!

It was quite chilly where we were sitting but the boys were troopers {Aves was at a birthday party}. Beckett seemed tired and cold, which we decided was because it WAS cold and it was naptime. It wasn't until we got home that we realized he had 102.7 fever! After the crowd cleared out a bit Tate enjoyed collecting candy...his favorite treasure from the afternoon was the Gideon New Testament he got.

2. We have been so busy we didn't get around to carving pumpkins until Halloween afternoon!

I love Tate's face while scooping pumpkin guts. =) The kids really wanted faces this year instead of their names, but I was reluctant to give up the tradition, so we compromised and made their names into mouths and their ages into noses. They got to draw their own eyes for me to carve.

3. Y'all know I love me a Halloween theme. Every year I say it is the last year Tate will agree to dress up with his siblings. I think this year REALLY might have been the last year he will agree to it, though I think he will appreciate it someday, so I will try again next year!

The Wizard of Oz clan...

They were about the cutest Tin Man, Dorothy, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow,
and Glinda the Good Witch you could find.

The best part was that the kids have been watching the movie for a few weeks in preparation for Halloween and they insisted on being as authentic as possible. Avery actually thought they were going to link arms, skip, and sing "We're off to see the wizard..." ALL NIGHT. The boys didn't think that was nearly as good of an idea as she did. They made one lap around the cul-de-sac and that is about all sick little Beckers could handle.

Beckett's ibuprofen kicked in about the time we got home from trick-or-treating, so my kids would finally pose for a pic of the three of them...

Aside from the fact that this was the 3rd of 7 Halloweens with a sick kid or kids, it was a successful and fun day.

4. As soon as we got home from Trick-or-Treating, E and Wrigley left for South Dakota to hunt with my dad and the Hector hunting crew.

I had two nights of conferences and a meeting a church this week, so I have to give a HUGE SHOUT OUT to Rach for being such an awesome aunt and helping with the kids this week. I honestly don't know how I would have done it without her.

5. The only solitary picture I took once E left for the week is this one of Tate. He started piano lessons on Tuesday. He was embarrassed I was taking a picture of him, but Kerry {also a blogger} reassured him that this was totally normal.

He was very impressed that the Murphys have TWO pianos...this piano that she teaches on and then a huge grand piano in the living room. He told me when we got a piano we should get a grand piano to which I explained the reason we don't currently have a piano is because WE HAVE NO ROOM!

He LOVED every second of his first lesson...pretty much wouldn't put any of his books down for the rest of the night. He actually got up Wednesday morning early to practice before school. He said, "Mom, Kerry says I can practice before school if I want to." Why yes, Tate, you sure can! Have at it!