News on the Newmans

Updates

2011-01-25T08:45:00.005-06:00

What a nice way to start the new year's blog. The Steelers return to the Super Bowl and I found this great pictures of Emmy and Tyler at a younger age in there Steeler best. I will highlight some updates of each kid and their parents from youngest to oldest.

Tyler: This guy is keeping busy. He has a record of 7-7 in wrestling this year with 3 coming by pin. He has won a match at every tournament and has not been pinned this year, all losing coming on points. The most recent tournament Tyler took second meeting his goal for the year of a second or better at a tournament. He has also been active in Tiger Cubs taking second in his den at the Pinewood Derby race. He has started playing basketball this year and is super excited. It has moved to his favorite sport with wrestling and football following behind. His flag football season was great. he also played soccer in the fall and has decided that was his last go round with the round ball. He has one more tournament for wrestling this year and then will have basketball. In school, Tyler is doing really well all As. He has read over 700 books, his goal is 1000 by the end of first grade. Tyler is also singing in the Little Angels Choir at school

Emmy: Our sports nut. Emmy has been playing travel soccer this year, mostly playing against 9 and 10 year old boys. She loves it! She has started her second year of basketball and had really improved over last year, making 3 baskets in her first game. She will be continuing with soccer with a travel tournament in St. Louis, that she is really looking forward to. She is currently playing soccer 4 days a week and basketball 2 days a week. She is looking forward to summer soccer and softball. She is also doing amazing in school earning As in most subject and 2 B+s. She is enjoying being a Brownie after 2 years as a Daisy. She also is singing in the Little Angels Choir.

The Parents: We are happy, proud, and tired. Carrie continues her work with the American Cancer Society and loves being a sports mom. Brian has taken a position with Child Care Connection as a Provider Services Manager and loves the new role and challenges. The family has had great vacation this last year from Vermont to Disney to Gulf Shores. Traveling continues to be a passion of all of us. We are always on the look out for the next place to go.

Disney Day 2

2010-10-25T21:24:00.002-05:00

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 !

2010-10-24T21:28:00.002-05:00

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

2010-10-14T09:11:00.002-05:00

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?

2010-08-24T12:17:00.002-05:00

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)

2010-08-20T15:56:00.002-05:00

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

2010-05-10T12:46:00.006-05:00

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

2010-01-26T11:00:00.002-06:00

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

2010-01-25T15:49:00.002-06:00

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

2010-01-25T15:40:00.002-06:00

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?)

2010-01-20T14:56:00.003-06:00

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!

2010-01-12T12:56:00.001-06:00

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!

2010-01-08T15:41:00.002-06:00

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

2010-01-04T14:24:00.007-06:00

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

2010-01-04T14:04:00.003-06:00

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

2010-01-03T14:04:00.009-06:00

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.

Proud mama!

2009-12-20T13:35:00.005-06:00

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!

2009-12-20T13:24:00.000-06:00

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

2009-12-16T13:06:00.002-06:00

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

2009-12-14T18:15:00.002-06:00

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

2009-12-10T20:58:00.002-06:00

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

2009-12-06T20:12:00.005-06:00

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

2009-11-25T19:58:00.003-06:00

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!

2009-11-21T00:01:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-20T21:34:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-20T21:27:00.003-06:00

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...

2009-11-18T20:31:00.001-06:00

too busy for babies

2009-11-17T08:44:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-15T18:26:00.010-06:00

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

2009-11-13T12:25:00.002-06:00

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?

2009-11-12T20:01:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-10T20:08:00.002-06:00

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?

2009-11-09T14:34:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-03T19:50:00.009-06:00

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

2009-06-30T21:52:00.002-05:00

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

2009-05-03T21:56:00.007-05:00

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

2009-04-23T10:48:00.002-05:00

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

2009-04-20T21:26:00.004-05:00

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

2009-04-20T21:19:00.003-05:00

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

2009-01-19T08:16:00.005-06:00

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.

Good Morning America and Dad/Kid's Video Game Day

2008-11-26T06:53:00.002-06:00

Well it has been a huge week. I got to be part of the Good Morning America Great American Job Fair in Chicago. There were over 2000 people that attended a job fair that started at 5:00am. People started lining up around 2:30am. When I arrived to finish setting up the booth 300 people are standing in line waiting to get in. The fair was very positive yet some what sad at the same time. There were 60 employers there and each average 3-4 openings. That figures to be only about 240 jobs that 2000 people were hoping for only 12% weer gong to get jobs that day. It makes me very thankful to have a job and it is an added bonus that I work for an awesome company. I did get to see my back on TV for about 3 seconds. No future movie star career from that. 5 was also interviewed by the Chicago Sun Times for about 10 minutes, they took pictures of me and my booth but I think I ended up on the editor's floor. Oh well, it did not take away from the greatness of the event.
This Saturday, with Carrie safety shopping in Chicago with her sister, Emmy, Tyler, and I played video games for six hours. We start our morning with normal breakfast for everyone and then went and rented three new games, 2 for the Wii and 1 for the PS2. We had to get Tyler a haircut which is finally starting to look better and run some errands. We stop and ate and Subway and then headed home for our video game marathon. Tyler got to pick first,since he is the youngest, and chose Carnival Mini Golf. Tyler has this game on his Christmas list so we wanted to try it out. It proved to be a big hit not only with Tyler but everyone else. I would highly recommend this game to anyone, it is very fun. Emmy choice was Petz 2. Emmy also wants this game for Christmas. I could be the stupidest game ever but Emmy liked it. Interesting side note, the bad gut in this game is a wolf and guess who woke up last night with nightmares about a wolf???? Our last game to try was the new Guitar Hero. We had fun playing the guitar and singing along. There is something wonderfully twisted hearing your children sing Joker by Steve Miller. We also pulled out Disney DDR and High School Musical-Sing it! These are tow of our faves that we try to play when we get the chance. Carrie came home to sleeping children and brought us all new stuff from her shopping trip. She will have to get on and talk about that.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and God's blessings to you all

Since August

2008-11-18T16:08:00.005-06:00

I can not believe it has been this long since the last post. It has been crazy here in the Newman family. September brought first day of school for both Emmy and Tyler.

Our annual trip to the Apple Orchard

Carrie and I went to the Ryder Cup and saw the USA finally win back the cup. We were also able to finish off the last of the bourbon distilleries. We have finally seen them all and are ready to start over.

October brought on Cousin Jack's birthday, Emmy's Pumpkin theme birthday, Oktoberfest at cousins Ron and Steph's, trip to Food and Wine Fest for Carrie and I and Emmy's birthday trip to Great Wolf Lodge in the Dells. Emmy's birthday trip was during Halloween so we had great weather, trick-or-treats, water slides, and lots of great food. We sure do try to do as much a possible in the time we get together. This list doesn't include fantasy football draft parties, trips to Wildlife and Miller Park Zoo.
November is looking to be just as busy. I love getting ready for the holidays, they just seem to happen so fast anymore. We had a great wine tasting event at Mackinaw Winery, Emmy finished up her tumbling class, gave midterms at ICC, and getting ready for Thanksgiving at the Chatts. What a busy month already. I may be on GMA on Thursday, I will post more later

Door County and the Pate wedding

2008-08-21T20:02:00.015-05:00

I know everyone loves to hear the play by play of our trips so here is another one, only with pictures. This trip was without our children but we did go with another couple, Courtney and Aaron. You will see pictures of them throughout also. We left Thursday night after work, and headed to the Super 8 about 1.5 hours from the Door. Not the greatest hotel but good for a night's sleep and a little breakfast the next day.

Our trip to the Door began early on Friday, with a quick stop at the world's largest grandfather clock. Very weird and cool all at once. After the clock was our first winery of the day. Door Peninsula

I nice winery located in a old school house with many wines to try. We picked up a few bottles of our favorites as did our traveling partners from here it was on Simon Creek Winery.

Another set of great wines, our favorite of the trip and two of the folks working there were from Peoria. Crazy! Another two bottles of wine in the Explorer and it was time for beer at the Shipwrecked.

Aaron and Courtney enjoying some good beer at the Shipwrecked, did I mention they were free. (I love WI) Cheese curds, beer, and an amazing day. One more winery to go, fish boil, and Haunted Door County Tour.

The last winery was a little disappointing. We did not buy any wine. Time to eat some fish. If you have never been to a fish boil go. One of the coolest things I have ever seen. Great food and awesome beer, New Glarus Spotted Cow. Carrie was a true camera person hanging in to get a great shot after the rest of us bail out.

Our last stop of the whirlwind day was the haunted tour. Carrie and I have taken a few ghost tours and have never seen anything or had anything that one would consider supernatural. This tour proved to be different. Both Carrie and Courtney took pictures of the same thing within a few minutes of each other with different cameras and got the same images. The cameras were fine all day and fine soon after. Check out the awesome sunset photos from the tour and the weird images.

I would also tell everyone to take this tour and enjoy all the great stories. I even heard a new one about the Door County Strangler/Slasher.

I will leave you with great photos of the wedding.

St Louis for the Kids and winery/movie combo for parents

2008-08-12T16:10:00.002-05:00

Emmy and Tyler continued their summer of travel again this past weekend. They, along with Jack, Brooklyn, Grandma T and Grandpa T went to St Louis. Reports back form the children was a great time. They got to go back to Grant's Farm, Incredibel Pizza Company, and the Magic House. These were their favorites from our last St Louis trip so they were very excited. Grandma reports that Tyler keep them laughing for most of the trip. They also got to stay in a hotel with 7 floors. This was a new expereicnce as we normally stay at Marriot's that have maybe 4 floors. Tyler's favorite part was, "The Magic House and playing with the balls there". Emmy's favorite part was, "the swimming pool, it was cool becasue you could swim in and out". I think just being with Jack, Brook, gma, and gpa also ranked pretty high. Kid trips this summer: 2 trips to St Louis, Starved Rock Water Park, Galena, and Amana Water park. Plus many trip to Wildlife, Miller Park, Peoria Zoo, and Children's Museuem. Not a bad summer.
So what did Carrie and I do while the kids were gone? After we cleaned up around the house, Carrie laid out and I watched golf. We then went out to Kickapoo Creek Winery. We have been out there before for a wine tasting but did not taste their wines. We decide to safe the tasty for some other day well it came. We ended up trying abotu 12 different wines. Decent wine,but nothing great. We decided on one we both liked, Red October. It was semi-sweet table wine and it went well with grilled steaks we had for dinner. After dinner we went to see The Dark Knight. We both agreed great movie. I would highly recommend it.
Side bar-I played in another blackjack tourament at the Par-A-Dice. I have won one of these before but to no avail this time, I only took 7th and got $100. This is one zero less from my previous win, but it was a good time. Brian Pate and I played in as we did last time we both won. It was not in the cards,haha, this time. Brian will be getting married this weekend in Door County, WI. Carrie and I are looking forward to the trip north with another couple, Aaron and Courtney. I will be sure to post about the adults only trip.

Vacation Bible School

2008-08-08T09:32:00.002-05:00

It was a busy week here at the Newman's. Vacation Bible school has been going on with the kids and Carrie gone almost every night. Tyler had a great time and had "good listening ears" all the time. Emmy loved playing with the "big" girls. Carrie liked doing music and said the kids where great. I worked most nights and had an officials meeting to discuss the upcoming football season. Carrie heads off to relay tonight in Washington so me and the kids will have some dinner and make a fire. The children are off to St. Louis with gma, gpa, Jack, and Brook. Carrie and I are hoping to have a date day and go to lunch and see the Dark Knight

Day 2-Niabi Zoo, Iowa Children's Museuam and the Wasserbahn

2008-08-04T19:06:00.003-05:00

We were up bright and earlier to head to the Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley, IL. The night at Stoney Creek was not the best. There was a wedding going on and people were celebrating in the hallways unitl 12:30 or 1:00am. Kids slept great, parents not so much.
We arrive at Niabi Zoo and head in with pony rides, the merry go around and animals waiting. All the animals ae great. New Africa exhibit was awesome with up close look at giraffes. We finish there and walk to Austrilia. Carrie and the kids have never feed Lorikeets before so we get some feed and watch as the birds swarm for the food.. Emmy freak out a little and dropped her feed. Tyler, surprisingly, loves it and likes fedding the birds. As we leave the are we get to watch and emu run off all the other animals so it could lay down. We head over to the Koi pond which is my favortie part. You throw the food and roughly 30 fish start fighting for food along with geese, swans, and turtles. I jsut love it. We pack up and head to Coralville and the Children's Museum.
We stop and eat lunch in food court. Subway for the children, pizza for dad, and mom decided no to eat. We went into the museum nd had a great time. New dinosaur exhibit was not as fun as kids thought it would be but rest of museum great as usual. We headed to Little Amana for the Wasserbahn.
The Wasserbahn is located in the Holiday Inn. We check in and get upgraded to a bigger room. Huge room with fridge and microwave, large beds, and pull out couch. We check out the indoor waterpark. There is a zero depth playarea with climbers and a small slide, a swimming pool and two large slides. We measure both kids and both are big enough for the big slides. Thye are very excitied to say the least. Back to the room to change and go swimming.
After swimming for a while, we decide to play on the playground outside before heading over to dinner at the Colony House. We have a great dinner and decide to have dessert back at the water park while swimming. More swimming, the game room, and Dippin Dots for the kids and we turn in for a great night's sleep. Tomorrow, more mini golf and Amana.

Emmy and Tyler's View of Day One

2008-07-31T18:35:00.002-05:00

Emmy's favorites from Galena: "i liked the cheese place, chocolate store"
Tyler's favorite from Galena: "The big slide,it was ginormous"

Day One-travels to Galena and Amana

2008-07-31T10:26:00.000-05:00

Just back from vactation and thought this woudl be a good time to start this. Carrie (wife/mom/all round awesome) and I (Brian/Dad) have been saying we should do after seeing Julie's (sister in-law) blog. Mainly you will hear about our travels and anything going on in our lives. It will be the whole family blogging so be on the look out for blogs by Emmy (oldest child) and Tyler (youngest child).
We are just back from a long weekend road trip to Galena, IL and Amana, IA with a stop in Coal Valley, IL. We loaded up and headed out to Galena early Saturday morning. We headed north on the Great River Road to hopefully see some nice scenery and maybe some cool birds. Carrie an I saw lots of cool things while the kids saw two movies, their Leapsters, and listen to music on mp3 players, my how times have change. Just outside of Savannah, IL is a great flea market. It sounds weird but we thought the kids would find it fun. We walked through the booths looking at all the different treasures. We left 45 minutes later with two new Disney movies for Tyler and another stuffed animal for Emmy. They both felt they got great deals. It was a short drive to Galena from there and soon we were ready for lunch.
Before eating lunch we see the Galena Garlic Company. We must go in because Carrie and I love garlic. We walk to a cloud of wonderful spice smells. Tyler and Emmy think the place smells bad and need to leave before they pass out from all the terrible smells. Carrie takes them outside to wait while I get to explore a little. I pick a mole rub and a coffee BBQ rub. Both tasted great and will be used on the grill soon.
We had lunch at Green St Tavern, connected to the Desoto Hotel. Kids had chickens strips and fries, great deal only $4.50 and was huge, and Carrie and I shared the appetizer combo, not as good as the kids. Food was decent but beer selection was great. I love it when the bad beer on tap is Sam Adams seasonal.
We were full and ready to walk the streets of Galena. First stop was a chocolate shop. The kids needed dessert. They shared a huge chocolate covered strawberry, maybe one of the biggest I have seen. Carrie had a lavender truffle, which she said was very good. I had a chili cream chocolate. It was great spicy and sweet at the same time. It was dark chocolate, that I am normally not a big fan of but worked perfectly. Next stop, Webkinz.
Emmy and Tyler are addicted to Webkinz. They love playing the games on the website and building their webkniz rooms that their animals live in. In some of the best marketing I have seen, Webkinz issues a pet of the month so Emmy wanted the brown monkey-July's selection. SO we find a store with Webknizs, not hard in Galena, and they have the Brown monkey that has been talked about for three weeks. Do we buy the brown monkey, no. Instead we get a chihuahua and Tyler gets a cow. Both pay for their webkinz with their own money and we are off the the next store, Great American Popcorn Company.
We walked in the door to fresh Carmel corn, not a bad start. After looking around a bit, Emmy and Tyler see that they have ice cream. They need ice cream, shopping for webKinz makes you very hungry. They each get a cup of Blue Moon, think of the milk at the bottom of Fruit Loops and you pretty much have Blue Moon. Carrie and I both pass on ice cream but pick up some Galena Mix popcorn for a snack later. Next stop, cheese shop.
Emmy knows that there is a cheese shop in Galena because we parked by is and she LOVES cheese. We walk back to the cheese shop and head in. Tyler is tired and wants no part of the cheese shop so Carrie and him wait outside while Emmy looks for string cheese. They do not have string cheese. Emmy settles for a nice aged provolone, her third favorite cheese. We head out and decide that Mom and Dad would like to sample a little wine before heading to the hotel to check in, off to Galena Cellars.
We have never tasted wines with children before, I now know why. Emmy wants to eat her cheese and Tyler wants to leave. Carrie and I each try six different wines. We have tried some before and really liked Galena Cellars wines but this time nothing tasted right so we leave with no wine. Off the the hotel, Stoney Creek Inn.
We check right in, no problems, room is ready and so are we for a little rest. After some quick naps we go swimming before dinner. Rooms at Stoney Creek are small and so is the pool area but everyone is enjoying it any way. We have planned to go to Happy Joe's Pizza for dinner and everyone is hungry so we head to Happy Joe's
Everyone loves Happy Joe's. Kids got cheese pizzas, while Carrie and I get the Nacho Joe, imagine nachos on a pizza crust-just awesome. While waiting for the pizza we play in the game room and get some tickets to redeem. Decent redemption center but prizes a bit higher priced than others. Kids love it and pretty much get candy, dessert is taken care of. We decide to head out and check out Chestnut Mountain Ski Resort
I had read that Chestnut had alpine slides in the summer. These are pretty much a concrete slide that you ride down on a wheeled sled. We were not going to do this because of cost ($7.00/slide) and because we did not know if the kids would even like it. We decided to give it a try. The kids loved it! Emmy rode with me and just wanted it to go faster, and Tyler rode with Carrie and wanted to drive which caused them to stop and few times and almost cause a crash but everyone made it to the bottom and rode the ski lift back to the top. Of course they wanted to go again. Next time we will get the twilight lift passes for $20 to ride from 5:00 until dusk, something to look forward to. We spotted a playground and the kids wanted to play so we walked over and the the playground was great. It had all the unsafe equipment that Carrie and I grew up with. The merry go round with just handles and a place to stand, teeter totter with not handles to hold on to, and my favorite, a set of swing that spun around while swinging. We let them play for about 20 minutes and try out all the equipment that we never be a new playground. We were still going to play mini golf tonight. To the Lil' General Mini Golf.
Emmy and Tyler love mini golf as much as Carrie and I do. The Lil' General proved to be a tough course much like The General at Eagle Ridge Resort. We do not keep score but I think I won, however the children showed much improvement since taking golf lessons. Time to head back and go to bed. Another early morning tomorrow as we head for Niabi Zoo and the Wasserbahn.