Shh . . . Don't Tell the Kids!

Usually for Thanksgiving, my brother and his family come up and we enjoy all of the traditional Thanksgiving fare. This year we are headed here . . .

We know we are crazy!  It is one of the busiest times to visit the happiest place on earth. We decided to go because my niece Logan is in a soccer tournament at the Wide World of Sports. The bonus was that my dad was going to allow us to push him around in a wheelchair since he is having knee surgery soon and couldn't walk all day.  YES!!!  We had a free pass to the front of the line. Unfortunately, my mom came down with pneumonia and even though she is feeling better, she won't be up to the trip. We are so sad that they won't be joining us!  It won't be the same without Mom, Dad and Elizabeth. 

Now don't tell the kids!  We haven't told them yet.  It's not so much their precious little faces when they find out, it's more that we didn't want to answer all of the questions that they ask. Does that make us bad parents?  We plan on letting them know once we leave Charlotte EARLY Wednesday morning. 

So, wish us luck. We are off to Disney World. This should be fun!!

Congratulations Denise!!

Pair of sexy mesh panties to wear after giving birth . . .

@ $5.00 (depending on insurance coverage)!

Package of Luvs Diapers . . .

@ $8.00!

Knowing that the job will be done right this time

because you are doing it yourself . . .

PRICELESS!!!!

Denise,

Even though I only barely know you through Dawn and Dolly, I feel like we share a very special bond. My youngest son was also a sweet surprise.  He arrived after my husband's vasectomy didn't work. I am sure of one thing; God knew that I needed my sweet Kaden. 

When we first found out that I was pregnant, there were some tears and lots of questioning. I hated being pregnant with my other two so I couldn't figure out why God would play a joke on me like this. As I got used to the idea, I was excited that we would have one more baby to love. He is the joy of my life. He is so sweet and cuddly. He loves his momma so much! He brings us so much happiness and we can't imagine our life without him.  Everyone always tells us that God must have great plans for him because we had planned on being finished. No matter what things he does, we know that the greatest plan God had for him was to be a part of our family!

I hope that you have a wonderful time getting to know this precious new, yet unexpected, addition to your family!  Congratulations!!

Amee

**What type of diapers do you prefer?  I know everyone has their favorite and I'd like to get you what you would use.

Pirates and Cheerleaders and Cowboys, OH MY!!!

When I was growing up, we were not allowed to celebrate the Devil's holiday, a.k.a. Halloween. We would occasionally attend a church "fall" party conveniently scheduled on the same night. You know the ones where you have to come as a Biblical character and you get a tract with every treat. One Halloween I do remember dressing up as a "hobo" to go to two houses in our neighborhood. We knew both families so I  guess we could trust them to not convert us to Satanism or put razor blades in our fun size Snickers.  I'm not bitter, I'm just telling it like it was!  There is something about grandchildren though.  Now my mom's entire driveway and porch are filled with Halloween decor and they love to see my kids all dressed up in their costumes.  Again, not bitter, just telling it like it is!

Creative costumes are not my strength but I have had a few.  Carter was a pig his first year.  I bought a pink one piece pajama thing and a pink stocking cap. Don't judge, that's what color pigs are. I added a pipe cleaner for the tail and made ears that attached to the hat.  Emilee has not strayed far from the princess, cheerleader theme.  Kaden has been the recipient of costume of the year twice.  His first Halloween he was a mummy.  We dressed him in white long johns and wrapped him head to toe in white fabric strips. His second year he was a bum. He even had a sign that said, "Will work for candy".  That was my favorite!

This year Halloween snuck up on us so costumes were a last minute thought. Two weekends before, I picked up a cheerleading outfit at a consignment store for Emilee.  Kaden insisted on being a cowboy.  Easy enough.  Throw on some jeans and a flannel shirt and call it a day. He was lucky because we had a hat, gun, and toy horse in the dress up bin. Carter was a little more difficult.  His final decision was a pirate.  We put together his outfit for about $10.  Just don't tell him that it was mostly girl's/women's clothing. He wore little girl's black pants, a woman's piratesque shirt, a woman's black belt, a fabric remnant scarf for his head and brown penny loafers that I spray painted black. (Again don't judge. That's what was at the Goodwill on October 30th.)  I thought it turned out pretty good.  He even told a pirate joke as our friends arrived to trick-or-treat. (Why didn't the little kid get into the pirate movie?  Because it was rated Aaarrrggghhhh!) 

Halloween is a fun time.  When else can you dress up as someone different for the night and ask the neighbors for candy?  I guess you could in June but the neighbors may not go for that. For now, it is something that the kids love. I will say thanks mom and dad for loving me and protecting me from all the scary things out there! Seriously though, would one night of free candy have been that bad? I am not bitter. I am not bitter. I am not bitter . . . 

A Special Treat

When Nick came home yesterday he was very excited about something outside. He managed to convince the kids to turn off the video games and join him.  On the street was a large truck with a list of tasty treats plastered to the side and a music box that was blaring so loudly our partially deaf neighbor heard it.  The ice cream man had come to our neighborhood!  


The vast selection presented a dilemma. How does one decide between all of the tasty choices including SpongeBob's head and Spiderman's face (both with bubble gum eyes)?  Oh what to do!! The boys both settled on Spiderman while Emilee went with SpongeBob.  Nick chose the old standby, a drumstick. Unfortunately my choice of frozen banana bathed in chocolate is out of season so I will have to wait until spring.  Eight dollars and four happy kids later, it was a nice treat on a cool fall day!

Happy Fall Y'all

I couldn't resist the title!  I used to teach and that was my bulletin board every October. You know the one . . . a giant scarecrow, some random hay stacks, candy corn border and everyone's best papers stapled to a pumpkin with their name on it. There were always the few kids who didn't do so well so it was hard to find a "bulletin board worthy" paper. Their choice usually ended up being a coloring sheet from art class or a word search from free time. Anyways, I digress. That was not at all what I had in mind to share.

On to the real topic, FALL has finally arrived in Lynchburg. Today was a perfect fall day. So much so that it inspired me to do a little pumpkin decorating. I don't really like the traditional carving of the pumpkin.  You have to time it just right or it caves in before Halloween. Then you have to throw it out or risk having it smashed on your front porch by the neighborhood kids. Pumpkins and mums in a little grouping are much more my style. However, in the course of my blog stalking, I came across a beautiful pumpkin decorating idea. Let me know what you think.

1.  Plain pumpkin cleaned off and ready to go.

2.  Painter's tape circles applied in a random pattern.  I did have to layer 3 rows of tape together to get the circle size I wanted.

3.  Spray paint the whole pumpkin with glossy black paint.

4.  Remove the tape and add a ribbon.  (The ribbon does match a little better in person.)

I love it!  I think it turned out beautifully.  Thank you to whoever I got this idea from!  I can't remember which blog I saw it on.  It is the perfect addition to our living room to welcome one of my favorite times of the year.

Don't Say It!

I am somewhat embarrassed by the fact that I haven't updated my blog in almost a month.  So many things have warranted a post but it has been so busy in our house!  I had grand plans of using the late nights of our vacation to post.  You know, while everyone else was peacefully dreaming I would open up the blog and grace it with well written thoughts of the happenings of our life.  However, vacation has come and gone and as you can see there are no new posts.  

Don't give up on me though!  I did just spend about 45 minutes changing the look of my blog. That should count for something.  Stay tuned for wonderful stories of Emilee's ear piercing experience, vacation memories, and anything else I feel like rambling on about. Even if you want to, don't say it!  I promise I will do better at keeping up with this.  To date, I do have more blog posts than scrapbook pages!

"Things They Said" Thursday

When I read other blogs, I see creative things like Tiny Talk Tuesday or Wordless Wednesday or Fantastic Friend Filled Fridays with French Fries and Finger Foods.  You get the idea.  Well, I hadn't gotten there yet, until today!  So many funny things were coming out of their little mouths that I knew I would forget until Tiny Talk Tuesday.  So, I have now started Things They Said Thursday.  Feel free to copy the idea or come up with your own catchy slogan.  Who knows?  Next week it might be Monday Musings!  

Here are a few of my favorites . . .

Mommy:  Carter, did you have fun at school today?

Carter:  Yeah, but I want to skip the first grade.

Mommy:  Why?

Carter:  We just did the ABC's and like 2 + 2.  It's too easy for me!  

(If you don't know Carter, he can read, spell, add, subtract, multiply, divide and kick my butt at Memory and Dr. Mario!)

Emilee:  I need to go brush my teeth.  I have a big booger stuck in this one.  (I'm not sure which one.  I couldn't look!)

Kaden:  Mommy, do you know about poisonous spiders?  And mommy, I didn't see a poisonous spider.  And mommy, I'm talking about a little cricket.  A baby one.  And mommy, it jumped on me.  And mommy, it tickled!  (I'm pretty sure this was all in one breath.)

If I Let Them Go Outside Barefoot . . .

For those of you who don't know me, I hate cleaning but love a clean house!  I would pretty much rather do anything.  (Maybe not skydiving, or flying, or bungee jumping, anyways you get the idea.)  The problem is our tub.  Anytime I give my children a bath, it gets filthy.  I think it is because it is old and not coated with teflon or whatever they put on fancy new tubs that keeps the dirt from adhering.  I always have to scrub it soon after or else it looks like I haven't cleaned it in years.  I find this very unfortunate and therefore my children are not as clean as they should be!

I decided to write a little story to help me work through my hatred of cleaning the tub.  Here is my version of the popular book "If You Give a Mouse A Cookie".  I hope you enjoy!  I have to go clean the tub again but at least my kids are clean.

"If I Let Them Go Outside Barefoot"

If I let them go outside barefoot, they will want to dig for worms.

If they dig for worms, they will want to stand in the dirt.

If they stand in the dirt, they will get dirty toes.

If they get dirty toes, they will need to have a bath.

If they need a bath, I will have to give it to them.

If I give them a bath, the tub will get dirty.

If the tub gets dirty, I will have to scrub it.

When I scrub the tub, I will notice that the rest of the bathroom is dirty.

I will clean all of it.

After I finish cleaning the bathroom, I will want the rest of the house to be clean too.

When the rest of the house is clean, I won't want anyone to mess it up so I will send them outside.  

It is a warm day, they want to go outside barefoot.

If I let them go outside barefoot, chances are they will want to dig for worms!

One down, nineteen to go!

          (Before)                                            (After)

Today was cause for a big celebration in our house.  Carter lost his first tooth!  

We had been anticipating it for quite a while now.  I even did a "Before the Tooth Falls Out" photo shoot.  The second it could move just the slightest bit, he started wiggling it.  Each day I would get the update on how loose it had become.  It was all I could do to watch it.  The thought and/or sight of a loose tooth sends a wave of nausea throughout my body.  I'm not sure how I made it through three years of teaching 2nd grade!

Today when I arrived home, Carter informed me that his tooth could now bend backwards. Missy, one of our friends who was babysitting at the time, said that he had been messing with it all day and that it was probably ready to fall out. Carter waited until Nick got home so that he could show him.  Then in the midst of a game of Princess Memory for the kids and Nick (Nick finally beat the kids!) and a brief rest on the couch for me,  I was greeted with a bloody mouth, the tiniest tooth, and the proudest six year old you've ever seen.  Apparently when Nick went to answer the phone, Carter wiggled that little tooth right out.  

He was so proud of himself!  He was the big man in the house.  He was enjoying his moment in the spotlight.  He was surrounded by his sister and brother.  They were both in awe of this amazing feat that Carter had accomplished.  After the initial admiration wore off, Emilee went running through the house yelling that Carter had lost his tooth and Kaden kept telling Carter that he was going to die because there was blood.  I'm pleased to say that he is just fine and the bleeding has subsided.

As I sit here writing this for you to enjoy with us, I can't help but feel that this is a bittersweet memory.  It means that he is growing up.  I know that it seems silly but soon his mouth will no longer be filled with those tiny little baby teeth.  Weird, oversized, and, unfortunately for our wallets, probably crooked teeth will soon fill that sweet little boy smile of his.  With that comes all of the other inevitable and sometimes awkward changes that will come his way.  For now I will cherish the little boy who still likes to cuddle up close with me, who tells me how beautiful I am, and who lets me give him one kiss at night that he promises not to wipe off.  I might not be able to stop him from growing up but at least I have 19 more baby teeth to enjoy!

Oh and for those of you who know how we feel about Santa and the Easter Bunny, there will be no visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight.  I did promise to take Carter to the store and let him pick out whichever toothbrush that he wanted and his favorite toothpaste.  This is a big deal in our house because I refuse to buy special toothbrushes and they have to take turns choosing the toothpaste.  (currently it is Disney Princesses)  Apparently not big enough though because as I left his room he asked me if he could get $5.00 too!

When You Gotta Go

Disclaimer:  The picture has nothing to do with this post.  It was just cute and a picture related to the content seemed inappropriate.

We were playing a little baseball tonight.  Yes, it was well within my tolerable range of outside temperatures.  Not so hot that I would break a sweat while breathing and not so cold that it would justify my craving for a Starbucks hot chocolate.  Anyways, I spotted a small pile of suspicious brown stuff very close to our carport entry.  It seemed like an odd spot for an animal, which we don't own and rarely see in our yard, to leave us a present.  Hence the following conversation. . .

Mommy:  Carter, Emilee, Kaden does anyone know about this?

Carter:  Yeah, Kaden pooped.

Mommy:  Kaden, really, you pooped right here?

Kaden:  Yeah, that poop came out of my butt.

(You can laugh here too.  Emilee and Carter thought it was hilarious!)

Nick:  At least it wasn't in your pants buddy!

Thanks for the perspective Nick!  And for those who were wondering, it didn't smell like roses!

Here We Go!

So, I've been looking at all of my friends' blogs and thinking I should do this.  I have come to the realization that I have spent a small fortune on scrapbooking supplies that will more than likely never be used.  I mean, really, I turned out okay and the photographs of my youth are still recognizable despite being stored in acid laced albums, horizontally, in our 150 degree attic or musty basement.  My kids will be fine popping in a disc and recounting the day that we all gave our cheesiest grin in front of (fill in the blank).  Don't get me wrong.  I admire my friend whose scrapbooks look better than any magazine!  Seriously Christy, you are amazing!  Maybe one day when I have no more Law and Order or Lost episodes calling my name and a room where I can scatter all of my pretty paper, ribbons, and assorted embellishments around without fear of little dirty fingers grabbing them and sticking them up their nose, I too will tackle a scrapbook worthy of a magazine (or at least my coffee table).  Until then I have purposed in my heart to create a blog that shares what is going on in our lives with our family and friends.  

Now don't hold me to a post every day or even every week.  However, I will commit to doing my best to share as many Newsome stories as I can.  I mean who can resist Kaden and his crazy motorcycle, Emilee's sparkly rainbows, or Carter trying to figure out the square root of the sum of a+b.  If you are lucky, I'll even throw in a post that involves Nick!  

So here we go!  I would add more now but there is a good show on:)