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An Ice Cream Tradition…

Monday, December 7th, 2009

There is a Newman tradition that I believe started with Travis when he was a baby…I might have to get my facts straight on that one.  Oh and since I just put all of his baby pictures on disk…you’ve got it…here is a baby picture of my hubby!

Travis When He Was a Baby

Travis When He Was a Baby

So…yes, he was an amazingly cute baby and you can see his red hair already!  And also, my children look exactly like him…I know this and now you do too!

Back to my story…

I believe Grandpa Newman started a tradition of giving the baby their first taste of ice cream.  He was delighted to see the faces of the babies as they discover the wonderful new flavor and texture of this famous desert.  What started with Travis continues into the next generation!  Brook was given her first taste of ice cream on Thanksgiving of 2005.  It was her first turkey day and the first day she learned ice cream is good.

Brook at 4 Months Trying Ice Cream for the First Time

Brook at 4 Months Trying Ice Cream for the First Time

So fast forward to this past Thanksgiving.  The tradition has continued and Grandpa Jay gave Blake his very first bite of ice cream.

Blake Having His First Bite of Ice Cream

Blake Having His First Bite of Ice Cream

Both kids liked this tradition, although I think both of them were a little wierded out by the coldness of the dessert.  The fact that both of them tried ice cream for the first time on Thanksgiving is completely coincidental.  It’s just that this is a family event and since all the family likes to witness this tradition, Thanksgiving seems the appropriate time.  We were also able to get a picture of four generations of Newman boys…this is a great shot!

Four Generations of Newman Men

Four Generations of Newman Men

Grandpa Newman couldn’t resist giving Blake a few bites of ice cream also…

I’m not going to wish life away, but I must admit that one day, when it’s Travis’s turn to give the ice cream to the grandchildren, I’ll fondly look back and remember when my babies had their turn…

Gotta love traditions :)

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Posted in Family, Holiday, Kids, Milestones | 2 Comments »

Crafts for Kids – Halloween Ghosts…

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Two weeks ago across the street, I saw some awesome homemade ghosts in our neighbors tree.  I went over to see how they made them and I was surprised to find that they were only handkerchiefs, cotton and string.  I thought this would be a great craft to do with Brook, so I promptly went to JoAnn Fabrics to get the material.

Brook's Ghosts Hanging In Our Tree

Brook's Ghosts Hanging In Our Tree

While at JoAnn’s, I picked up some styrofoam balls for the heads and some white floral wire for hanging, but the didn’t have any handkerchiefs…

Here is where my stupid shows up…

I proceeded to spend the next two days driving around town trying to find handkerchiefs for this project.  Why did I have to have handkerchiefs?  Well, because I had a one track mind…stupid.

I went to Khols, Target, Marshall’s, Michaels, TJ Max, Ross, Sears and I went…CRAZY!!!

Finally, I started to think outside of the handkerchief box when Travis suggested I buy a sheet and cut it up…Yeah, couldn’t find a cheap enough sheet…That is another day of running around…See my stupid is really showing now!

So, have you figured out my solution yet?  On the third day my brain decided it was sick of being stupid and the light bulb came on (don’t worry, my brain is now being ran on eco-friendly CFL light bulbs)…

Ready for this?  JoAnn’s sells fabric by the yard!

WHO KNEW?

Not me obviously!  So, I went back to the very first place this whole quest started and bought 3 yards of white fabric for a whopping $2.99 a yard.  Oh and the $40 of gas that I spent to run around town and figure out my solution was underneath my nose.  Unfortunately, the gas was not so eco-friendly…crap!

Was it worth it?

Yes!  Brook loved the project and now you can learn from my mistake…you can get everything you need at the craft store and it’s actually really inexpensive to do and the little ghosts look so good outside hanging on the tree.

Brook loved making different faces and she could twist tie the styrofoam balls in place too.

One of Brook's Scary Ghosts In Our Tree

One of Brook's Scary Ghosts In Our Tree

So, here is the the supplies and instructions for making Halloween Ghosts…

Halloween Ghosts

18 – 2 1/2 inch Styrofoam balls

3 yards of White Fabric

18 pieces of 20 Gauge White Floral Wire – 18 or more inches

Scissors

Sharpie Pen Thin Tip

1 – Cut out 12″x12″ squares out of the White Cloth (or whatever size you want)

2 – Put the Styrofoam Ball in the center of the cloth and pinch the cloth around the ball.

3 – Secure the ball in the cloth by twist tying the Floral Wire around (see picture)

4 – Use Sharpie to make Ghost Faces

5 – Hang in a tree or anywhere you want using the remainder of the floral wire after twisting it around the bottom of the Styrofoam Ball.

As always, go and make some memories with your kids and Happy Crafting!

Brook Tying a Ghost to the Tree

Brook Tying a Ghost to the Tree

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Posted in Art Projects, Holiday | 1 Comment »

Halloween Artwork with Cotton Balls and Q-Tips…

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

This past week at Brook’s school, I noticed one of the classes working on this skeleton project and decided I would do it with Brook.  On Saturday night, Brook was bored and said she wanted to do an art project and I actually felt awesome knowing I had this one in my back pocket…it’s super easy and even your husband will have fun doing it, case in point…

Brook and Travis Working On Their Skeleton

Brook and Travis Working On Their Skeleton

Here is what you will need:

Halloween Skeleton Art Project

  • Black Construction Paper
  • Cotton Balls
  • Q-Tips
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Hole Puncher
  • String or Ribbon
  • White Marker
  • Black Stickers or Paint Pen for Face

1 – Glue the head cotton ball on first.  Glue one whole Q-tip underneath head for the body and then glue second cotton ball under Q-tip to represent the pelvis area.

2 – Cut off the tips of 4 Q-tips and then cut them in half.  Glue them on the right and left of the long “body” Q-tip…they are representing ribs.  Tip:  if you put the glue on the paper first and then put the Q-tip on, it seems to be easier.

3 – Glue two leg Q-tips under the “pelvis” cotton ball and glue 2 Q-tip arms by the ribs.  Use any black stickers you have or some type of paint pen from the craft store to make a face on the skeleton.  Or, leave it faceless…your choice.

4 – Use the white pen to put your name on your piece of art.  Make two hole punches on the top of the paper and string the ribbon through the hole punches and tie it off.  This is so you can hang your art work.

5 – Find a fun place to show it off…

Here is what the finished product could look like…

Skeleton Project

Skeleton Project

This is how happy my family was making these fun guys!

Brook Doing Her Halloween Art

Brook Doing Her Halloween Art

The Artists Showing Off Their Masterpieces

The Artists Showing Off Their Masterpieces

And this is where are art gallery of skeletons are inside our house…

Our Studio and Gallery

Our Studio and Gallery

Have fun this Halloween season and make some memories…Happy Creativeness!

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Posted in Art Projects, Friends, Holiday | No Comments »

Just When I Think I Know Him…

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

He’s cute and cuddly and his laugh is contagious, but…

He now thinks it’s funny to pull Mommy’s hair.  Before, he would caress and “pet” it, but as of yesterday he gave it a good tug and thought it was the funnest thing ever!  So, he did it over and over and over…

My hair will now be in a ponytail for the next 6 or so months, get used to seeing me in one hairstyle only people!

Blake Playing with a Mound of Toys

Blake Playing with a Mound of Toys

Also, I was just bragging that he is finally sleeping through the night.  That he has been going down from around 7:30pm and getting up between 5:30 to 6am and then going back down after a bottle for another hour or so…

THIS WAS AWESOME!

Was is the key word in the last sentence.  He is back to getting up between 3am and 4am.  This would be fine, but the last two nights he actually wanted to get “up” for the day.  Let’s get up and go, he said in his baby ways.  He was so noisy and fussy about going to bed after his early morning bottle that I had to go back in his room and comfort him back to a sleepy state…Three hours of my sleep gone.

When no one sleeps well through the night because of him and then in the morning Brook decides to sleep in, I let her.  We are always late to her school because of this and I am sure the teacher hates me for it, but here is the thing…

I need my sleep!  So do the kids.  I figure she is a better student while she is there because she is well rested and I am less of a psycho Mommy because sometimes Blake doesn’t just wake me up…he wakes her up too.

You never understand the power of sleep until you are a parent and then after that it seems like your world is really only about sleep.  Well that and poop.

On another thought…if you were like me and up around 4am last night, did you see the moon?  Here it was beautiful!  It was a crescent moon, but it was very large and so bright that you could see the outline of the rest of it.  Also, there was a planet on it’s left which was just as big and bright.  It was the highlight of my 4am wake up call.

Well, he can always sleep through tonight, we will see.

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Posted in Kids | No Comments »

Carpooling on Steroids…

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

I wish I would have had my camera with me this morning, but alas, I didn’t.  So, you will just have to use your imagination.

In my Jeep, I had Ellie, Blake and Brook crammed in the back…

CUTEST THING EVER!

Ellie (Brook’s best 4year old friend) and Brook sat by the windows and Blake was turned around and smashed in the middle.  He was completely hooked in and we did a seat belt/hook combination for the girls.

Both girls were super excited that they could watch a video on the way to school and each of them had their own headphones.  Blake was cracking up looking at both of them.

He was all like, “hey look at me squished between two cute girls…well, gross one’s my sister, but still fun and entertaining.”

Blake liked being turned around and looking at what the older kids were doing, then at himself in the headrest mirror.

Last year, we had a carpool with another neighbor and the kids had to share the two headphones we had and it wasn’t ideal, so the girls definitely like the third kid being a baby who can’t even see the screen, let alone demand to hear the DVD.

CUTEST THING EVER!

If I happen to pick up Ellie from school today, I will be sure to take a picture and update this post…we will see!

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Posted in Kids, Parenting | No Comments »

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