it's been way too long...

i must start by apologizing for my hiatus over the last few weeks. no i was not so devastated by the passing of our dog...i have just been going a mile a minute.

in early november henry and the other kindergartners all performed in their first talent show. they were adorable! one of the mom's put together a little routine for them and costumes so that they could dance and look like penguins. it was very cute and henry well, just like his daddy, he looks studly in a tie (even if the tie was too big)!
lots has happened since nov. 11th so i will do my very best to catch you all up to speed.

first of all I turned 30 on the 12th. i really felt like this would have to be the moment when i finally felt like a grown up but indeed i still feel like a kid pretending to be a grown up.
okay so back to being 30...ross had been really doing a ton of work to celebrate my birthday in a special way. i told him i didn't want to know anything (which he was glad to know being that i tend to ruin surprises). on friday of my birthday week he said that we should meet for lunch at this great restaurant that is way down on the south end of town in a not so great area of town. this would mean a 45 minute to a 1 hr. drive just for lunch. i made other suggestions throughout the week to no avail so i thought, "he just wants to be sweet and so i should let him".

well the kids and i loaded up and head down to micha's. i was suppose to call him when i reached a certain point but being the confident driver that i am i found my own way. i was getting all the kids out and went to shut the sliding door on the van, not noticing that anna had grabbed onto the door frame, and i proceeded to shut my precious girl's fingers in the door. i was horrified and realized that i had already locked the doors so i had to fumble around with my keys to get it open again. praise God that He makes their tiny bones so moldable. she was fine within moments.

we made our way into the restaurant and finally found him sitting at a table with none other than my SISTER. she was my big surprise!! she came into town for the party ross was putting together. i was stunned! i had not seen her in about 51 weeks and so it was quite the gift to have her sitting at the table with me.

ross then sent us off that evening to enjoy pedicures, dinner and shopping. we had a great time...well except for the horrific sales woman at j. jill who had to have been secretly filming a "how not to treat your customers" video.

saturday was great because we spent the majority of the day just hanging out as family. ross had a few things he needed my sister's help with and after that we made a quick trip over to find shoes and some last minutes before the party.

ross left for allison's house (our phenomenal friend who opened her gorgeous home to us so that we could celebrate) and keesha and i followed a little later. when we arrived i realized that my precious husband had thought of everything. he catered italian food, he had a cake that coordinated with the invitations that he had sent out, there were party favors for the guests and then there is my favorite part... he had custom wine bottle labels made and put them on the wine. the labels had my age and the year i was born and where i was born. they were really neat!

that evening was very special. i truly enjoyed being surrounded by a handful of some special people in my life. my husband worked hard and blessed me greatly!

after my sister left it was time for thanksgiving. we had planned to spend it with ross' family but right before hand a sweet friend and her kiddoes needed a place to go for thanksgiving. my husband may not have tons of money to hand out but his heart is so generous. within moments of hearing what our friend's need was he said to "invite them to come to our house and have thanksgiving". i had not even thought of that yet but he had. this was about 2 days before thanksgiving so we went to the store and got all that we needed to make a traditional meal. without much time to plan my table decorations we were able to turn our little kitchen into a warm place to enjoy fellowship. all wednesday i cooked, loving every minute of it (wearing my fancy new red apron i received for my birthday- it only took asking for it for 3 years). thursday came as did our friends and we were able to enjoy serving our friends.

well there you have it...an update from the newman front. i will be back to my regularly scheduled blogs as of today. have a blessed week!!