Tag-- I'm IT!

Well, I was doing a little catching up on my blog reading this evening when lo and behold! There I was tagged in Jenn B's blog. I'm not entirely sure what the rules are, so I'll make them up. I'm supposed to list 6 random things about me, so here we go! Should be fun...

1.) I am the youngest grandchild on my dad's side of the family. I do rather like being the baby :)

2.) Someday, I aspire to be a lactation consultant and help out all those new nursing mamas of the world.

3.) I can fold my outer ear inside of my ear. It's a great conversation starter.

4.) I desperately desire to sing in the church's worship band, but nerves (among other things) unfortunately keep me from it.

5.) I met Mike Myers and Dana Carvey at the filming of Wayne's World Two in the summer before my 9th grade year. Mike Myers is very funny and nice-- I got to make sure no one ate his sandwich. Dana Carvey, not so much.

6.) I met my husband at Boy Scout Camp and that is where he proposed to me as well!

So, Jenn tagged two people and I think that seems reasonable! I tag Kathy Wathy and Carala. Have fun!

Confessions of a Food Snob

Hello. My name is Courtney and I am a food snob. I come by it honestly, surrounded by a mom, aunties and a grandma who all love to cook-- and eat. And now that the next generation has grown to the ripe age of contribution, I also have 9 cousins and a brother and sister who can cook and enjoy good food. It's a great life, when the food is good, fresh and ALWAYS homemade (you should have heard the gasp and the looks of disgust on my relatives faces when my mom presented a piece of leftover pie that a friend had made with-- dare I say it???-- canned already spiced pumpkin!! In my mom's defense, she was just trying to get rid of it!). Thanksgiving dinner is no exception and it is SO LOVELY when you can delegate a huge meal like that amongst the masses and come knowing that every dish is going to be mouth-wateringly delicious and stunningly unique! That is a Newman family gathering-- every time, I kid you not. In addition, every Tuesday evening (formerly known as "craft night," but cleverly changed to "Tuesday nignt dinners" when no crafting was being done), we have a smaller scale gathering where we rotate who brings the main dish and the sides. It is, without fail, everyone's favorite meal of the week. I'm getting hungry... but I digress! It is simply the best. My only goal in life is to raise two boys and a girl to love good food. Okay, I'm sure I have more goals than that, but it's a good one, wouldn't you say?

So, tell me about your favorite home grown dish! Are we the only family like this? Was there something just unbearable at your Thanksgiving feast this year or in the past? I wanna know!

So SO thankful for...

*These two little boys that all at once love on each other and scream in each other's faces.
*A little girl who waits for us half way across the world-- someone we love already, but don't even know yet.
*My husband who has a heart for protecting and loving others in his job and his family.
*A warm house that is a precious home.
*Income during a very hard financial time.
*Extended family that lacks a lot of drama :)
*Certainly not least of all is this: I asked Timothy this morning what he was thankful for and without a moments hesitation he said, "Jesus!" Me too, my little man, more than you or I even know...

Happy Thanksgiving and be blessed, everybody!!

Barnes and Noble

Here is your opportunity to help out by doing something that you were already going to do just by mentioning this with your purchase!!



On Sunday, December 7, Families with Children from China - N. Calif.
is having a fundraiser at ALL Barnes and Noble bookstores ALL OVER THE
COUNTRY and you can participate. Orphan relief programs in China will
benefit so this is a nationwide effort. Please forward this message
widely.

1) Do some holiday shopping at Barnes & Noble Bookstores on December
7! When you go to the counter, mention

***code 428490 ***

or hand them a voucher
> and
about 10% of your purchase price will be donated to FCC. N. California!

2) This program is nationwide, so tell your friends and family members
to use this code when making purchases at a Barnes & Noble Bookstore,
or order by phone from a retail store on Sunday, December 7.
(Unfortunately, it is not valid for Internet orders.)

These funds will go to help orphans in China who need surgeries,
nutrition, education, and other basics. Please circulate this notice
widely!
Sincerely,
Peggy Scott for Families with Children from China - N. Calif.

Fingerprints

We got our fingerprint ("biometrics") appointment for USCIS!! It will be December 3rd, so not as soon as I would hope, but one step closer...

Wonderful Weekend

**Man! I've been trying to get this post out for a week now, I guess we've been busy...

What a great weekend we had! It started on Thursday with dh surprising me and whisking me off to exotic Bellevue (ha ha). He got a great deal on a very nice hotel room and my dad was able to come stay with the boys, so off we went! We did a little early Christmas shopping and just enjoyed an evening of us time-- something we desperately need these days. We came home in the morning on Friday and got ready for our big night of Halloween festivities. We went to our church's celebration and it was crazy!! Poor little Timothy was so overwhelmed by it all that he hardly said two words-- not to mention that he refused to wear his adorable giraffe costume. Oh well, not a battle worth fighting with a two year old. Samuel looked very sweet in his "doggy costume" for the second year in a row and he was so cute running back and forth to the mirror to examine his makeup.

Then Saturday, we all woke up early and headed east over the mountains to our annual Newman Family Cider Weekend. We've done this on an annual basis now for at least 35 years, so I can't quite imagine life without it! My family has a functioning apple farm up in the Naches Heights area of Yakima, WA (my great-grandfather purchased the land quite a long time ago) and we are spoiled with the beauty of it at this time of year. Unfortunately, we had to move the weekend back by one week and the rain came! It worked out just fine, though, cider can still be made in the rain. This year we made over 100 gallons, quite a feat in our history. But I have say that ever since we voted three years ago, pooled our money and bought the electric cider press, I've felt like we're cheating (frankly, I voted no, but I lost. I prefer the crank and grind of the antique cider press that they used to drag out every year. It was made by my aforementioned late great-grandfather). Samuel and Timothy both had a grand ole time helping out. They were as much a part of the process as anyone else in the family-- that makes me so proud! So, without further ado (and sorry to keep you waiting), here are a few glances at the fun.

Caught in the Act!

I love to sing. And I had a song stuck in my head. It's a song that is on our computer, so I thought I'd turn it on while I'm reading email and sing along. IT'S A VERY PRETTY SONG. So, there I was checking email and humming along, not really paying attention until my husband walks into the room very slowly. As I finally noticed his presence, I turned around to see the very funny look on his face and to hear him say, "Uh, you're singing RAFFI?!" I don't KNOW any popular songs right now, OKAY? Raffi is as good as it gets around here.