Proud mama!

What a weekend! Yesterday was our last day of soccer for the Fall session and both kids did awesome. I think it helped that Grandma and Grandpa were there to watch. Tyler scored a goal on a penalty kick after he got knocked to the ground by another kid. Even more exciting...he paid attention for the entire game!!!! Emmy got to play on another team because they were short players. She was ecstatic because two of the girls on the team were friends from outdoor soccer. She scored two goals and had two assists. She was really excited!

Today was our first wrestling tournament. For those of you not familiar with wrestling, you weigh in at 7:00am and wait around to wrestle until 9:30 or so. After your first match which is 3 rounds of 1 minute each, you wait for about another hour and wrestle in another match. Then you wait another hour and wrestle in your last match.

Tyler started out with a little guy from the Chilli Dawgs club and got pinned in the 2nd round. In the next match he wrestled a guy from Illini Bluffs and he did great in the 1st round until he got elbowed in the nose...then he just kind of gave up and got pinned in the 2nd round. In his last match, Tyler did awesome. He didn't win, but he managed not to get pinned! Pretty good for his first match ever!

Thank goodness for youth sports...or I don't know what we would do with our weekends!

Instead of sending out cards this year, I figured I would just post it on the blog! Here's wishing you one of your best Christmases ever!

Shout for Joy

This week is incredibly hectic for me. I have a bunch of presents to still buy, a ton of pasta salad to make, brownies to bake, presents to wrap, Christmas programs to attend and all of the other stuff we do every week. Needless to say I have been a bit stressed! But, yesterday I got the opportunity to truly experience the Christmas Spirit and as Pastor preached this week- I wanted to Shout for Joy! In the midst of Christmas craziness I got to go shopping for a family that would otherwise not have a Christmas.

Each year our office adopts a family that has been touched by cancer and will not be able to afford presents. This year our family consists of a mom battling cervical cancer, her boyfriend and their 6 kids. She is unable to work because of her treatments and he was recently laid-off. The kids understood that they weren't going to have Christmas, but were so excited when we called to tell them we wanted to help. Anyway, yesterday we took a huge list to Kohl's. We knew we couldn't get everything, but we wanted to get as much as we could. When we left, we had gotten everything on the list and still had a little bit left for an extra game for one of the daughters. I don't know how we accomplished it, but God does provide!

Also just an FYI...I found my library book...sitting right in my office! Another reason to Shout for Joy!

Lost Library Book

Somehow I have managed to lose a library book. For those of you that know me well, you know that I always have 3-4 books checked out at a time, so they can be a little hard to keep track of. The amazing thing is I only have one book out right now! I remembered reading it last week as I was getting a new car battery and Emmy remembered me reading last Thursday at Tyler's wrestling practice, but now it is just gone! I had to get it on CD today so I could find out the ending. Here's hoping that it turns up soon!!!

We had a super busy weekend. Brian spent Friday in Chicago at his work Christmas party. His boss got all the Directors Scentsy warmers! Yeah!! I have been wanting one, but since I only smell about 10% of the time, it seemed like kind of a wasted of money, but now that is it is here I just want more scents. Brian and the kids told me that the house smells so good...I'm hoping soon I'll be able to smell it too!

Saturday was soccer again. Tyler was not so keen on going, but I promised him a trip to Walmart to spend his money afterwards if he tried. I was so proud of him. He played his little heart out! He didn't chew on his shirt once or stare at the clock. He even scored a goal!

After the game we did head to Walmart to buy gifts for the exchange at school. A $4 limit is a challenge, let me tell you! I know I promised Tyler he could spend his money ($2), but the toy aisles were out of control, so I told him he could save it until after Christmas. Saturday was Bethel's day to ring the bell at the kettle at Walmart, so we saw lots of people we know ringing. I asked the kids if they wanted to give some of their money to the Salvation Army and explained that they would be helping people that don't have as much money as we do and they decided that would be a good idea. Each of them gave 1 of their 2 dollars to the kettle. I was so proud that they decided to do that!!

After Walmart we went home to bake cookies and brownies for our neighbor. As noted above, I had to get a new battery for my car last week because mine was in bad shape. I found this out at 8:00 on Wednesday morning as I was getting ready to take the kids to school and go to work. Thanks to my father -in-law the kids got to school. Thanks to my neighbor (who spent 30 minutes in the freezing cold getting my car to start) I got to work. That at least deserves a plate of goodies!

Finally Brian got home and we all headed to Emmy's soccer game! She did awesome as well! After soccer we headed home, had dinner and went to church,

Sunday we all went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I wish you could take pictures in the theater so you could see the awe and excitement on Tyler's face during the show. He sits on the edge of his seat absolutely enthralled. Though he has only seen the show once, he almost has it memorized.

After Joseph, Grandma took us all out to Steak and Shake for dinner- Yummy!! Thanks Grandma!!

Christmas Music

This is the first year I have not made a Christmas CD. I was going to tonight, but there isn't any new music that I like, so I'm just burning a new copy of last years. Maybe next year I'll find new music I like.

I am finally in the Christmas mood. Yesterday I spent the whole day wrapping presents, and I'm almost all done with my shopping! Last night we went to the Advent Service at church to see Emmy sing with the Little Angels Choir and both kids to sing with the school. Tyler belted it out!

Otherwise it has been a pretty uneventful week. This weekend we're looking forward to soccer games and going to see Joseph on Sunday.

Disney

We just got back from a trip to Disney with my parents. What a great time! We planned the trip to see Disney at Christmas since the kids had never seen it decorated. We left early the Friday after Thanksgiving and drove to Atlanta. The kids are such troopers. There were six of us in my dad's SUV, so the kids got relegated all the way to the back for the 10 hour drive. Saturday morning we were up early for the drive to Disney! We didn't head to a park until Sunday, but went to Downtown Disney on Saturday night for dinner at T-Rex where we got to eat surrounded by dinosaurs and a meteor shower. We also discovered the beauty of hand dipped rice krispie treats at Goofy's Sweet Shop. Yum!!

Sunday we headed to our hotel at Bay Lake Towers...amazing! The view was of the Magic Kingdom so we could see the fireworks from our room. The room itself was unbelievable. It felt like it was bigger than our house! After we checked in we went over to Magic Kingdom where Tyler rode the Haunted Mansion for the 1st (and last) time. It was not his favorite! We rode everything we wanted to and walked back to the hotel for a bit of (cold) pool time! Sunday night we watched the fireworks from our balcony and walked over to the Contemporary for the Electric Water Pageant.


Monday was our Hollywood Studios day. When we were there in July we didn't get to do everything we wanted, so this time we went to Toy Story Mania twice, American Idol and we got to see the HSM3 show. Emmy got picked to dance with HSM cast and was so excited. Emmy also got to ride Tower of Terror for the first time with Grandpa. She liked it, but thought one time a trip would be fine with her!

Monday night we headed back to Magic Kingdom and Tyler and I got some quality time on It's a Small World, Tomorrowland Speedway, Peter Pan and Buzz Lightyear while Emmy and Brian rode Big Thunder Railroad 5 times in a row. Brian was just a bit green afterwards. We also got to see Cinderella's castle all lit up for Christmas and it was beautiful!

Tuesday we went to Epcot and rode all of our favorites...Soarin, Test Track, The Big Ball, and of course, for Tyler, the 3 Caballeros! After Epcot we swam and then went to Hollywood Studios for the Osbourne Family Spectacle of Lights and what a spectacle it was!

Wednesday it was back to Epcot for more Soarin, Nemo, Kim Possible and of course 3 Caballeros. Wednesday night, Brian, my dad and I got to see part of the Candlelight processional with John O'Hurley at Epcot. This is a presentation of the Christmas Story complete with orchestra and huge choir. After, we got to see the holiday version of Illuminations. What a great way to end our trip to Disney...with Peace on Earth playing and fireworks illuminating the sky!

Thursday we began our trip to Memphis for the St. Jude Marathon. We stopped overnight in Birmingham and got to Memphis on Friday. We got to see Graceland and ate some great Barbecue at Marlowe's (as seen on Food Network's Diners Drive-Ins and Dives). Mom, my uncle Dave, and cousin Aaron all ran the half-marathon and my brother-in-law, Zac, his sister, Amy and my cousin Christy all ran the full marathon on Saturday. On our way home we got to stop at Lambert's, the restaurant known for its throwed rolls. If you ever get a chance to go, it is well worth it!

Overall another great vacation!!

Simple Gifts

I just got home from my favorite church service of the year. I have loved Thanksgiving Eve Service for as long as I can remember. This year pastor focused on the fact that for the first time in many of our lives we are having to go without. I thank God every day that we have been blessed with jobs that we love, a roof over our heads, food on our table, and healthy children. This year, though, I have realized the importance of the simple things. So as I think of all of my blessings this last year, what I think of are family game nights, sitting around the fire making s'mores on a warm summer evening, watching The Apple Dumpling Gang and eating microwave popcorn, reading books cuddled in our big blue chair, trips to the zoo and Wildlife Prairie Park, and homemade breakfasts on Saturday mornings.

So as I look back on this past year, I am so thankful for all of the simple gifts God has blessed us with!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday Mom!

You have been the best mom anyone could ask for! I am so blessed to have you in my life not only as a mom, but also as a friend. You shaped me into the person I am today. You showed me how to care for others, love unconditionally, and accept people for who they were. You taught me how to be strong and stand up for myself.

I look back on how you raised me for guidance as I try to be a great mom to Emmy and Tyler. I pray everyday that I will be able to instill in them the values and respect that you instilled in me! Thank you for always being there for me!

I Love You!

Happy Birthday!

Christmas before Thanksgiving

Today I took down all of my Fall decorations. I was so sad to be putting away my pumpkins and turkeys six days before Thanksgiving, but since we are leaving the day after Thanksgiving for Florida, I realized that this weekend will be our only time to decorate fro Chirstmas before December 12th. Since I take down my Cbristmas decorations on December 26th, I thought we may want to put them up a little earlier this year rather than have them up for only 2 weeks.

I also worked on some Christmas shopping today. So did everyone else. Toys R Us was insane, but at least I got in, got what I needed and got out! I need to do more internet shopping next year!

Car Conversations

Emmy: Daddy, do you know what the stars are?
Daddy: What do you think they are?
Emmy: Nickelodeon says that they are fairies that are making their wands light up
Daddy: Could be
Emmy: But I think that they are angels that are very far away, that is why we can barely see them.

Emmy: Why aren't we supposed to swallow gum?
Mommy: Because it doesn't get digested and it might get stuck in your intestines
Tyler: What re you intestines?
Mommy: The part of your body where your food goes after your stomach but before it comes out as poop.
Emmy: What happens to the gum after you swallow it.
Mommy: You poop it out
Tyler: Cool! Your poop would smell like gum!
Daddy: No, Tyler your gum would smell like poop!
Tyler: Gross!
Mommy: Exactly! That is why we don't want to swallow our gum!

words can't describe...

too busy for babies

On our way to school today we were talking about birthdays and Tyler mentioned that there were a lot of birthdays in October. Emmy proceeded to give us the reason why there were so many babies born in the fall. First, people are too busy at the pools to have babies in the summer. It is too cold in the winter to have babies and of course, everyone is busy planting flowers in the spring so there is no time for babies. That is why Fall is the perfect time to have babies and hence the large number of birthdays in October!

Christmas in November

This weekend kicked off Christmas in Morton. We had our Holidazzle celebration Friday and Saturday. Friday night we headed downtown to see Santa, shop at our local shops, and look fro Tyler's Tree of Dreams poster. After he found out that Emmy had won 2nd place, all he wanted to do was find his. We walked up and down main street to no avail. We did get to see Santa and tell him what we wanted for Christmas.

After we enjoyed the shops, we waited for our town Christmas Tree lighting and then headed home.

Saturday we had two soccer games and another search for Tyler's Tree of Dreams poster.

Game One- Orange Tigers vs. Lime Lizards- An exciting match-up of two Kindergarten unbeatens. Tyler played hard and ended up scoring a gaol despite being kicked in the shins and knocked down a couple times. Boy was he a trooper! After the game when we congratulated him on his first goal he was not at all excited, but at least we were!

In between games- Off to Field Shopping center

for more Holidazzle and to look

for Tyler's poster- and we found it!!!!

Game Two- Orange vs. Lime- Emmy's plan was

to score one goal instead she scored 2 goals and had two assists! We didn't have to worry about her not being excited. She managed to tell everyone she saw the rest of the day that her team had one and she had scored 2 goals and had two assists!

Positivity

Just a quick update on my tooth situation. I just knew that I was going to have to have a new crown put on my tooth (at least $600!) I went to the dentist today only to be told that it is only a superficial crack! All I needed was a little polishing and some sealant! A huge thanks to Dr. Anderson for his quick, painless and cheap fix!

mommy...can I tell you somefing?

This is how Tyler prefaces most every statement and today it was followed by "it is kind of difficult to...(sleep, go to wrestling practice, clean my room, etc.) because of the bump on my head. I got a call around 2:15 to let me know that Tyler had a head-on collision with a first grader. Unfortunately, he hit the front of his head on the back of Justin's head. Needless to say Tyler took the brunt of the impact and has a huge bump on his head!

It kind of tops off one of those weeks. First I have been sick all week and just kind of crabby. Yesterday at work I was eating a popcorn ball, which wasn't good, and I managed to crack the crown on my front tooth. Then I woke up this morning and just knew it was Friday. What a rude awakening when I realized it was just Thursday! Finally I have to make 50 breast lump key chains tonight for the weekend. Not my idea of a great Thursday night.

On a more positive note, tomorrow is Friday and we are going to the Christmas tree lighting here in town. Also, the kids and I have started planning our Disney trip. Tyler spent the whole night reading Birnbaums Guide to Disney World. I think we are going to get him on the Haunted Mansion this time and Emmy is going to ride Tower of Terror with Grandma and Grandpa.

So despite a kind of icky week, we have a ton to look forward to!

Nocturnal bathroom visits

Each night, Tyler gets up at least once to go to the bathroom. Most of the time he is probably walking in his sleep, so I make sure he at least gets close to the potty. Two nights ago, he came out to tell Brian that he had to go potty so Brian sent him to the bathroom. Brian listened but didn't hear anything hit the water. He walked in to see Tyler peeing on his shoes and clothes he had laid out for work the next day! Of course Tyler didn't remember a thing, but I think Brian learned to make sure Tyler is actually awake when he uses the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Last night Tyler had his 2nd wrestling practice and he is already improving. Tonight he and Emmy were wrestling and he actually pinned her! Maybe we have found his sport!!

A few weeks ago the kids were able to decorate posters to celebrate our local "Holidazzle" celebration. I ran by the bank today where they have the winning posters and Emmy took 2nd place from her school. I'll try to get a picture of her poster in the window sometime this week.

70 Degrees in November?

For those of you not Central IL this weekend you missed out! Emmy even wore a tank top and shorts yesterday as the thermometer topped 70 degrees...a rare occurrence this time of year! We had such beautiful weather this weekend and the kids made the most of it!

We had a relatively busy week because winter sports have started. Tyler is trying his hand at wrestling this year. Now I enjoy most sports, but wrestling is very new to me. I thought I was doing well until the coaches began talking about a special foam that they make for wrestlers to wear that keeps the germs off. They also made it very clear that the boys should shower immediately after every practice. On top of that, they described a typical wrestling tournament. The day will begin at 6am or so (now Tyler hasn't seen 6am ever!) and will finish up around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. during the tournament Tyler will wrestle 3 times with each match lasting about 1 minute. So if you do your math, we will be waiting for about 7 hours and 57 minutes at each tournament!

After Tyler's first practice he had learned one move. He came home and practiced it on Emmy and she had him pinned in about 15 seconds. Tonight is practice number two...can't wait to see what move he learns!

Indoor soccer also started this weekend. Tyler had his first game ever on Saturday and he did great. He had no problem being aggressive. In fact he managed to knock over his own teammate to get the ball and had a great breakaway play to the goal when was on defense. He did great for the first 3 quarters but by the 4th quarter he was watching the clock and chewing on his shirt. I think our goal for this session will be to actually play the whole 32 minutes.

Emmy also had soccer on Saturday. She had played outdoor soccer and enjoyed it. Her team never lost and usually beat their opponents by at least 3 goals. Though she believed that she was the 3rd best player on the team, she had a lot to improve upon. Her indoor team is not quite as good. In fact, Emmy could be called the star player...for at least 1 quarter anyway. She spent the first quarter and a half running up and down and side to side trying to cover the entire field. Unfortunately, she was dead tired for the 2nd half of the game. Her team ended up losing and the worst part is they actually keep score on an electronic scoreboard so we can't even lie and tell her that her team won.

I promise to update more so the postings are not quite this long, but today I am home sick, so I had a bit of time to work on the blog so you got all caught up on last week's activities.

Starting Over

Wow it has been a long time since we've posted! I've (Carrie) decided to start over on this blog. So much has happened since June when Brian posted last.

July

In July, 15 of us headed to Disney World for a fun-filled family vacation. We had a blast! this year we did a few things we had never done before.

We got to watch the fireworks from a special spot with a delicious dessert buffet.

We also signed the kids up for a Pirate Cruise where they got to find a hidden treasure.

After we left Disney, Brian, the kids and I headed to Vero Beach for a few days. This was the first time the kids had been to a beach and this was the first time Brian and I had tried a relaxing beach vacation. I think we're more theme park and water park folks, but I will say the resort was beautiful!

August

August brought with it the beginning of school! Emmy is in 1st Grade and Tyler started Kindergarten. Emmy loves school and as Tyler said a few weeks ago he is starting to get used to it! In fact yesterday he came home to tell me he was going to have new attitude towards school. Of course today when I asked him about his new attitude, he said it got off track, so I guess we'll

see!

August also brought about Fall Sports! Tyler played Flag Football for the Morton Hogs and Emmy was on the Shamrocks soccer team. Emmy loved soccer. Tyler liked the games, but was not a big fan of the twice a week practices.

September

For those of you not familiar with Central Illinois, you may not be aware that with September comes Morton Pumpkin Festival. This entails a week of gorging on pumpkin donuts, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin chili, etc. It also includes a pumpkin decorating contest. This year's theme was Christmas in the Pumpkin patch. Emmy decorated her pumpkin like Santa Claus. Tyler thought he could wait till Halloweem and make a jack-o-lantern. Maybe we'll try again next year.



At the end of the month Brian and I got to head to San Antonio to surprise a fraternity brother of Brian's from college. Nine of us met down in San Antonio for a long weekend and had a blast. As you can see Brian and I went to the Alamo, a bunch of wineries, and the Missions during the day and enjoyed the Riverwalk each night! It was exactly what we needed!

October

October is always a big month for us. We have our nephew's birthday, Emmy's birthday and all of the Halloween activities we can fit in! Since Jack and Emmy have birthdays less than a week apart, we decided to hold a birthday party together. This years theme was Dr. Suess.




The weekend after our family party Emmy had her friend party. She invited her whole class and some friends from her summer camp. Despite the flu outbreak at Bethel, we still hosted 13 kids plus two cousins for pumpkin decorating, making caramel apples and overall Fall Birthday Fun!

Finally October brought Halloween. We love all the festivities leading up to Halloween. We went to Howl-Zoo-Ween and Wildlife Scary Park. We spent our Halloween evening Trick or Treating with Jack and Brooklyn in Dunlap!

So, now you are caught up on our life. I have made a commitment to myself to keep this blog up to date, so check back often!

10 years and still having fun

We had a great trip to south western IL and Hermann, MO. We tried lots of wines and beer. We had great food and alot of fun.

We would highly recommend Forsse Vineyards and Winery in Coffeen, IL Super nice people, wonderful wines and just a great way for us to start our trip.

Next stop Bretz Winery and Lodge in Carlyle, IL. The best thing I can say about this bar is it had Shiner on tap and cool atmosphere. The menu looked good and the place smelled liked cedar. Notice I have said nothing about the wine and for good reason. No good.

The final winery that day was Crooked Creek Winery in Centralia, IL. The winery has been open for 4 years but have been growing grapes for much longer. this may have been one of the best wineries We have ever to. the owners are awesome people and the wines are just superb. Just go here and you will understand. Dinner at Tony Roma's, so-so tomorrow Hermann.

Check out the pictures on my face book page for Mo Wineries. Robiller Winery in New Haven was our first stop. Great wines, great wine pouring person who knew lots of good pairings for the wines. A great place to sit and drink wine

Bommarito Estate in New Haven, MO. This is right up there Crooked Creek, if I had visited just this winery it would have been a perfect day. No longer on the Hermann Wine trail but the best wines we had in MO.

Bias Vineyard and Brewery was old winery in a good way. Wines were good and had some unique offerings. Beer was good but not great. We had lunch here with our beer. Ropp cheese spread and crackers, yummy.

Adam Puchta Winery, oldest winery in the area. great food pairing with wine and maybe the best port I have ever had. I got a bottle of the anniversary port. We were feeling pretty good at this point so $50 bottle of port seemed like a good idea.

Stone Hill Winery, the biggest in MO. his is a excellent tour and you get to learn about the area. Stone Hill wines are available everywhere and mass produce wine is similar to mass produced beer.

We check into Montugues B&B in Hermann. Great BBQ and a great place to stay. We walked over to Tin Mill Brewery and tasted their wares. Good but not great. We had a great meal at Wings a Blazin. Chicken Lips and Fitz's Root Beer just a perfect meal. Stop at Time for Pie and I would have to say crust was too salty.

We got up the next morning and headed to Hermannof Winery and were pretty wined out so we will try them again on the next trip. We then headed to The Swiss Meat and Sausage Co. as seen on Food Network. Carrie discovered she likes brats, who knew. This place is awesome. After getting some brats we headed for home. Every time I get a chance to be alone with my wife, it reminds me how much I love and the fact that we enjoy the same things only makes things sweeter or dryer depending on how you like your wine. Cheers!

Relay fundraiser at Willet's

What a super night and for an awesome cause. Carie and I attended and meet with many friends to enjoys this great evening. We drank a bottle of bottle, a white, I think and enjoys some wonderful food. We brought home a great dry red. We always enjoy Willet and consider one of the best wineries in IL. If you are ever in Manito, be sure to check them out.

First T-Ball Practice

Tyler had his first t-ball practice last night. The Diamondbacks appear to be a solid team. They look to have lots of team speed and good chemistry. Tyler loved being able to wear his new baseball shoes and try out the new glove. As the lone leftie on the team, we are expecting big things from him vs. right handed tees. Emmy's first practice will be this Saturday, this is the sophomore season of t-ball for her, so she should be more ready for the ins and outs of softball t-ball. Emmy was able to get a little work in last night with Tyler after practice. It is looking like a good season in the making for both of these ball players.

That 70s night

Carrie and I got a chance to volunteer at the ACS Gala. This year's theme was the 70s. It was a great night that raise alot of money to help fight cancer

Well it has been a while since our last post but here are some updates. Emmy now was two seasons of indoor soccer under her belt and when she is not dancing or singing is a pretty good player. She really likes to play goalie. Her favorite thing to do at the moment is tumbling class. She love working on cart wheels and back bends. She has gotten really good at controlling her body. Tyler has also finished up a soccer camp. Emmy and Tyler will both be playing t-ball this summer and can not wait.

Christmas Catch Up

It is amazing that Christmas has come and gone once more. It was truely a blessed eent agian this year. The Newman's did some traveling and took lots of pictures. We took the kids to downtown Chciago, they had never been so it was a big deal to them. Christmas week had us visting the cousins in Macomb. family brunch in Peoria and dinner in Dunlap on Chrismas day. Check out all the pictures of the great holiday.