Disney Day 2

Well, we began our morning early again and getting to Epcot for the 9:00am opening. I run over to Soarin' for fast passes, and plan to meet the family at Test Track. The line to get fast passes is 10 minutes (crazy). We walk on at Test Track. We were a little worried about Tyler until we are zooming around the track and he yells "THIS IS AWESOME". The kids are bounce as we get off, a cast member sees Emmy's B-Day Pin and asks if we would like to ride again. No waiting and we are back on Test Track flying around to corners. We head to Innovations and Spaceship Earth before Soarin. After Soarin', off to Food and Wine Fest in the World Showcase.

Emmy and Tyler enjoy their first taste of Food and Wine. They eat a dark chocolate dessert that they love. Carrie has a few tastes and I have a few beers. We finish with a Kim Possible mission before heading back for homework, swimming, ping pong, and air hockey.

We ate at Fuddruckers before our Pirate and Pals Fireworks Cruise. This was awesome. The first time for the Newmans and it was worth every dollar. We start with cool pirate bandannas and an amazing snack buffet. We get to meet and greet with Capt Hook and Mr Smee before heading out to the Seven Seas Lagoon for a picture perfect view of Wishes fireworks. The return to dry land is meet with Peter Pan. We all agree this maybe one of best things we have done in Disney. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party tomorrow

The Trip to Disney and Day !

Well we were "welcome home"ed today. those who know me know how good this makes me feel. We had a very uneventful drive to Orlando, nice hotel last night, Orlando Vista. We ate at the Ale House, Zinger Melt and Yuengling's beer, a little slice of heaven. We were able to check into Boardwalk this morning. The room was ready at 8:30 am!!!!! I know this means very little to some but to check into your room this Early at Disney and have it ready is amazing. On to Hollywood Studio aka MGM...

I was a day of first for the Newman children. The plan was solid. Toy Story Mania fast pass, got them at 9:05 am for 11:05 am. It is amazing how quick this went. This is a good ride but not a fast pass out by 11:00am for the day and 190 minute wait. We shoot over to do the Backlot Tour, first time for the kids, then walk over to the new Disney Channel Rocks Show, first time for everyone, it opened Friday. We got to have our picture taken with Lots O Hugs Bear from TS3. It has time for TS Mania, Daddy wins with 180,800 points. We leave the park, grocery shop, swim, make tie die shirts and get ready for Rock and Roll a Coaster. Tyler decided o bail on this Emmy and I get ready. She is jumping up and down the whole way because she is so nervous. SHE LOVES IT! Tyler is ready for Fantasmic. This is a show we have never seen with the kids so it was also their first time and great reviews from the kids. Home at 10:00 pm and everyone but me asleep by 10:15. Big day in Epcot tomorrow and Pirate Wishes Cruise

Quick Update

We have just finished our second flag football season with Tyler. He loved it and played really hard. Emmy and Tyler will be finishing up soccer in the next two weeks. Tyler has loved getting treats but not so much soccer. Emmy has been a real trooper this year, this was the first year she had to be a leader and work really hard to help everyone else. We only had 6 girls on the team and may times were playing short handed. She has scored in every game and every girl on the team has scored a goal this year. I coached Emmy for soccer and Tyler for football and both have been some of the best experiences. Emmy will be playing indoor soccer, basketball, and continuing tumbling this winter. Tyler will be wrestling (his favorite sport) and playing basketball this winter
I am so proud of both of the kids, they are dong wonderful in school, Tyler has read over 350 of 500 books he is to read this year. Emmy has been awesome in second grade and enjoying everything. Emmy and Carrie will be attending second grade Pioneer Day, both are very excited. Tyler and I had a great time at Apple Blossom Farm for his filed trip. Tyler has also started Tiger Cubs this fall and is already earning badges.
We will be making a fall trip to Disney this October and will try to blog from there. Love and prayers out to everyone

How Do you spell Jesus?

So we're in the car yesterday on our way home from school talking about spelling words. Emmy was telling Tyler that she knew two of his Super Spellers for the year. He asked if one of them was Jesus. If so, that was easy because he already knew how to spell Jesus...J E L L O. Close buddy, but not quite!

School has been going well. Our big excitement each evening is hearing who in Tyler's class got their clip moved for misbehaving Last week poor Joey got his clip moved two days in a row to red! Luckily, we have seen no clip movement for Tyler. He is pretty excited that his clip has not gotten moved (So are we!)

Tyler's first outdoor soccer game was Saturday. Secretly, we were hoping that he wouldn't like it because doing both soccer and football is turning out to be more than we bargained for. Unfortunately, he loved it. His coach told him that he "was an animal on defense". I wouldn't exactly call him an animal, but at least he kicked the ball the right direction which is more than I can say for most of his team!

Emmy's first soccer game was last night. Brian is coaching and I think he may have been running more than the girls. They all seemed to enjoy themselves and they came close to winning. Most the girls have never played before, so it's been a bit of a challenge!

Catching Up (again)

Once again, just realized it has been quite a while since I posted. We've had two teeth lost by Tyler since the May post. The first was lost as he swallowed his dinner. We had to write a note explaining to the tooth fairy that there is no tooth, but he still really wants some money! Luckily, she obliged!

We've had softball, soccer camp, cheer camp, basketball camp, and wrestling camp this summer. We had an awesome vacation to Vermont. I really need to post a separate entry on our trip with photos...but I will say at one point Emmy said "Mommy, I hate to say this, but this might be better than Disney."

School started Tuesday. Tyler is in 1st grade and Emmy in 2nd. I will also try to post pictures from the first day of school at some point.

We are now in the full swing of things with Soccer (Emmy and Tyler), Football (Tyler) and Gymnastics (Emmy). Brian will start teaching at ICC next Thursday so things could get a bit crazy.

You may ask...why am I posting after so many months? I was motivated by reading a friend from college's blog today so my goal will be to at least update weekly if not more often.

The Best Mother's Day Ever

So I just realized it has been over 4 months since i posted. It has been incredibly busy, so I guess the time just slipped away. I'll try to catch up in this post starting with yesterday and going backwards.

So yesterday was Mother's Day and I just had an awesome day. We actually started celebrating on Saturday because the kids couldn't wait. Tyler made me a great cookbook at school and Emmy made a cool totebag that we are going to use as our library bag. The best part was the card that Emmy made me. It was one of those fill in the blank sheets, but the first line was "My mother loves"...and she wrote family. I immediately started tearing up. I try so hard to make sure my kids and Brian know how important they are to me and it meant so much for her to get it!

Anyway back to my great Mother's Day. I got to spend the morning in bed reading while Brian made chocolate chip pancakes with real maple syrup (yummy). After that I just kind of picked up a bit and baked a pie for dessert. The Newman's came over for lunch and after they left we headed out to Kennel Lake to fish. I actually got the catch of the day with an 18 inch channel catfish. The kids were so excited especially Tyler because I was using his pole so he figured that it was actually his catch. We finished up the day with S'mores over the fire back at home. I couldn't have asked for a better more relaxing day!

Now to catch up on the past 4 months. We have been working a ton at our regular jobs, and other saving up for our upcoming trips. A few weeks ago we headed up to the Dells for Tyler's B-day trip. We stayed at Hotel Rome on a timeshare deal. They actually ended up paying us $1 to come and stay...not such a bad deal. Now I wouldn't recommend staying there if you have to pay, but it was awesome for free! The kids had a blast. The hotel had an indoor theme park, indoor water park and outdoor water park. Despite the fact that it was 40 degrees and rainy, we rode go-karts on a gigantic track. We also played plenty of games in the arcade, rode the indoor rides and rode on a few water slides.

The Trojan Horse was the Go-Kart track and also Brian and the kids standing by one of the biggest roller coasters in the US.

Other than that trip we haven't really gone anywhere this Spring. Mom and Dad did take all 4 kids to St. Louis in March. Other than losing Tyler at the City Museum they had a great time! Also this Spring, Emmy has learned to ride her bike. It has been within the last couple of weeks that she has gotten the confidence to ride up and down our street on her own. In fact yesterday, she rode her bike up to the street to the house of a little girl on her softball team and they ended up riding bikes together and playing. Tyler would much rather ride his scooter. Even the promise of a new bike will not increase his enthusiasm for bike riding...maybe next year!

Emmy got her ears pierced on April 17th. She and I were having a girls day out at the mall and we went into Claire's and she decided to go for it. Of course she cried before they even started, but once it was over she was really proud of herself.

Tyler went to the doctor Friday and measured in at 47.25 inches and 51 lbs. We are working hard at getting both kids to 48 inched by July, so they can ride the Alpine Slides and Ziplines in Vermont. Unfortunately, I think Tyler has overtaken Emmy by about a 1/2 inch or so, so we may have a ways to go!

I'm going to throw in a few pictures from some of our Spring Activities, but otherwise I think I'm relatively caught up. Emmy has her first Softball game tonight, but it's supposed to rain, so we'll see!

Here are Emmy and Tyler in their Easter Outfits

Tyler's 6th B-day Party

After the School Musical

All caught up...I promise to be better about updating!!!

Mammals

So last night we are sitting at wrestling practice and all of a sudden:

Emmy: Did you know that most mammals feed their babies with their bodies, but we feed our babies with big jugs of milk.

Mommy: Well, actually we can feed babies with our bodies as well. Some mommies breastfeed their babies

Emmy: What is that?

Mommy: Well you know...well ...you know how mommy has boobies? You can feed them that way.

Emmy: (Uncontrollable giggling...look of horror...)

Mommy: Aren't you going to ask if that is how I fed you?

Emmy: (Nod of the head...bigger look of horror)

Mommy: No, I used a bottle

Emmy: (Look of relief...) Is it only for poor kids who can't afford milk?

Mommy: No, Aunt Julie fed Brooklyn that way

Emmy: (More uncontrollable giggling...goes back to reading her book).

Not our best soccer weekend

So I'm not sure what happened this weekend, but things did not go especially well with soccer. First Tyler got picked to go play on another team for the first half of the game on Saturday. Now, he volunteered to do this and seemed fine through the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter he got pushed down and proceeded to do nothing the rest of the quarter. When he got switched back to his own team for the 2nd half he continued to do nothing but watch the clock and eat his shirt. After the game Brian asked him what was wrong and he said that he was upset because he had to play on another team. Really? Maybe next time you won't volunteer!!!

Tyler and I headed to the Bradley game while Emmy played soccer on Saturday. Her team got their first loss. Emmy was in goal when they gave up their only two goals. It was so sweet though because Tyler heard me talking to Brian about Emmy losing and he asked if she was "pointed" about soccer. After a few tries I finally figured out that he meant disappointed!

Now on to better news! Emmy scored her first basket on Saturday. She was so excited. I have to say that Upward Basketball is pretty amazing. Not only do the kids have to learn a bible verse each week, but they have a devotion for the parents during half-time of all the games. When a ref blows their whistle they take the time to explain to the girls why the whistle was blown and how to avoid it next time. What a great way for kids to learn about basketball and religion at the same time!!

Fight

So Tyler got in his first fight on Friday (sort of). When the kids and Brian got home from school on Friday, Tyler was really upset. I asked what was wrong and Brian said that Tyler had gotten in a fight at aftercare with a first grader. I tried to ask him what had happened, but he just stood there crying and saying that he didn't know. At this point Brian was pretty angry, so he asked Emmy what had happened. She said that Tyler and Michael were talking about wrestling and Michael asked Tyler how hard he could punch, so Ty punched him and Michael proceeded to punch Tyler back. When we heard his, I asked Tyler if he knew that you shouldn't punch people even if they asked you to and he said that he didn't know that. I have now made sure that he does know that, so this should be our one and only fight! (wishful thinking?)

My gosh! I didn't realize that it has been over a week since I posted last. I guess we got busy and I forgot! We're back in the swing of things with basketball, soccer and wrestling. Brian just started a new semester yesterday, so for the next 8 weeks he is teaching Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I also start my busy season with at least 1-2 night meetings a week. This is when I have to become ultra organized!

Thankfully we just had a 4 1/2 day weekend which was awesome. The kids I read lots of books and got a few movies. One of the movies Tyler picked out was The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (one of my favorites!) We tried to watch it on Friday night but after the first ghost scene the kids were too scared. But, it was so funny because in the scene, the organ plays itself and Tyler asked who was playing the organ and I said that I thought it was the ghost. Tyler said "It can't be a ghost because there isn't anybody wearing a white sheet and ghosts always wear white sheets, right?" I had to explain to him that the ghost in this and other movies are sometimes invisible.

Monday we had a great day. We made birdhouses in the morning and Brian got home early and we played a couple games of Monopoly. Tyler was a Monopoly mogul...with a bad attitude I might add! He just couldn't believe how much money he had and how the rest of us didn't have any! The next game, Brian just couldn't let Emmy win and refused to stop playing until he had all of her money. Reminds me a when I was a kid and Dad wouldn't give up until he had beaten both Julie and me!

I guess I'm kind of working backwards, but Emmy had her first basketball game on Saturday. I missed it because I was with Tyler at his soccer game, but Brian said she played well. Their team scored 2 baskets. Emmy was most excited that she got to play point guard (I'm embarrassed to say, but I have no idea what the positions are in basketball).

Finally, please keep my friend Elise and her family in your prayers. Her grandpa had a stroke yesterday and it is kind of touch and go for the next couple of days!

Tyler won!

Yes, you read that right...Tyler won a wrestling match this weekend and wouldn't you know it, I forgot to put the memory card in the camera so we didn't get a picture of him!

He was so proud! Not only did he win, but he pinned the little guy. Unfortunately, his next two matches ended with tears, but he still got back up and stuck with it which is what really matters and this week he got third place in his bracket. One spot better than his first tourney. I think seeing him upset was the hardest part. I just wanted to run out on the mat, grab him and take him home.

Not to leave Emmy out...she had an awesome game on Saturday. We started a new session of soccer and she got on the team she really wanted with 3 girls from her outdoor team. She did especially well on defense which is not usually her strong point.

Next weekend we add basketball to the mix, so I'll have more to report!

Snow Day!

Yesterday we woke up to 6 inches of snow and despite Morton being in school, Bethel closed- Yeah!! This was technically Tyler's first snow day and he made the most out of it.

The kids created Happy Land (because that was the only name Emmy could come up with) in our living room. They took all the pillows off our couches, their bedroom pillows, blankets, stuffed animals and Brian's slippers (?) and made a huge make believe world. All was going well until Tyler decided it would be a good idea to jump off the couch and he landed on the coffee table. No major injuries- just a pretty swollen and bruised knee. He did agree afterwards that jumping off the couch might not have been the smartest idea!

After Happy Land, we made ice cream. The kids had gotten a Coldstone Ice Cream Maker kit for Christmas and we hadn't tried it out yet. We made chocolate oreo. It only made about 1/3 cup of ice cream, but that was plenty because it was so rich. I have never seen chocolate ice cream so chocolaty. Even Emmy said it was too much for her. But, leave it to Tyler to finish it off!

The kids had a great snow day and I can't help but wish we could have a few more of those this winter. It's not often that we have an unplanned day just to spend together!

Back to the grind this weekend- soccer starts up again, wrestling tourney, and we started basketball on Tuesday.

The Nutracker

I just realized last night that I have not posted anything about Mrs. Brown's Kindergarten class rendition of The Nutcracker. Tyler did end up being a mouse and he did a great job. Emmy came to watch and she got to stand up because she had played Clara last year...she was so proud! Here's a few pictures but they don't nearly do it justice!

Gulf Shores

Lucky us...we got to leave snowy cold Illinois and head down to Gulf Shores for the week after Christmas. Mom and Dad have a condo for the whole month, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go visit them! Their condo is awesome! The kids had their own little bunk room and they were really excited about it. If we had let them they would have spent the whole time in there watching TV!

This was our first trip to Gulf Shores, so we tried to take in all of the fun tourist activities. We ate at Lulu's (Jimmy Buffet's sister's restaurant), the Original Oyster House, went to the Zoo (as seen on Animal Planet), and had a blast go-carting and mini-golfing.

We spent New Years Eve at Lulu's "Noon Years Eve Celebration" The kids got to make jewelry and crafts, play in a giant sand pile and count down to noon years eve where there was a balloon launch and kid-friendly fireworks (aka huge rolls of bubble wrap that the kids jumped on). After Lulu's we went over to the Track recreation center where we played in the arcade, mini-golfed and the kids and Brian rode on a wooden go cart track. Lucky for me we had enough tickets left over that I got to ride on a go cart as well- not my favorite thing!

Overall we loved Gulf Shores...our only glitch was one day we were trying to find the Wharf...which is nowhere near the main drag...and came across Flora-Bama. From what I hear Flora-Bama is an institution. Brian wanted to grab lunch there which sounded like a great idea until we saw it. From what we could see it was just a bunch of trailers in a parking lot. It did not look like a friendly place. My Dad's jaw dropped...it was not what he expected. Needless to say we found somewhere else for lunch. Hopefully next time we'll all be a little braver!

I also have to give a huge cheer out to the kids. We drove straight through on the way home and they were awesome. We didn't hear a peep out of them for 7 hours! Now when they did start talking they were so slap-happy that I didn't know if they were going to stop, but luckily Emmy fell asleep and Tyler found another movie to watch!

So thanks mom and dad for the invite...we had a blast!

Christmas

What a great Christmas this year...the only downside was that Cousin Christy didn't get to come home from Florida! We totally missed her!

We make the most out of our Christmas starting on the 23rd with presents at Julie and Zac's. The kids both got guitars and have been rocking ever since. Emmy has aspirations of being the next Taylor Swift. I think Tyler's favorite toy was a game...I'm not sure what the name of it is, but he keeps calling it Beat the Clock and he has been asking for it since early November! The most exciting part of the evening was that Emmy lost a tooth. Instead of putting it under her pillow tonight, she wanted to wait until Christmas eve in hopes that the tooth fairy would get a chance to hang out with Santa a bit.

On Christmas Eve, we have my parents, grandma, Brian's parents and his sister and her (now) fiance over for a light dinner and then we go to Christmas Eve service. Afterwards we all get to open our new Christmas pajamas. The kids were so excited they has trouble sleeping. Finally they fell asleep, but at about 12:30, I heard Emmy just sobbing. When I went to check in on her she was so upset because she wanted to check and see if Santa had been here yet but she was afraid he might still be there and then he wouldn't give her any presents. I went with her to the living room to see that he had been there and she went right back to sleep. Don't you just love rule followers! I don't know too many kids that would happily go back to sleep after they had seen all their presents and stocking!

Christmas day began with brunch at my aunt and uncle's house. This might be my favorite part of Christmas. Of course, eating is one of my favorite activities!! After brunch we relax and then head out to Mom and Dad's. Last year we started a tradition of a "white elephant" gift exchange to simplify things and it seems that this year a few of us had the same idea...Snuggies! Dave, Dad and Aaron all got the Snuggies. We like to refer to them as the 3 Wisemen ;)

The rest of the evening is spent eating homemade pizza, playing games and watching football!

Our traditions don't end on Christmas. The 26th is just as important to our family. Each year we all meet at Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch and then head to a movie. We started this tradition about10 years ago when it was just grandma and me and slowly have added more and more people. This year was our record with 15! The adults went to see Sherlock Holmes and mom and Julie took the kids to see Alvin and the Chipmunks.