November was a time of great fun and great sadness for the Newhouse family. In September, our dog Duke started sneezing blood. After several trips to the vet, we deduced that Duke had nasal cancer (very common in his breed of dog). For a couple of months, Duke seemed to be back to his old self, but as the cancer made it's way up his nose into his brain, our old man went deaf and blind. It was horrible to watch. As soon as Bob got home from a business trip, we made the awful decision to put him down. In my ultimate wisdom as a mother, I talked to the boys about how Duke was going to the doctor who would help him to go see Jesus in Heaven. I told them that one day, we would go to Heaven too, and then we would get to see Duke again. This seemingly innocent explanation sparked off months of questions and concerns about doctors, dying, and going to Heaven. Even now, Ryan will randomly say to me "I don't want to die, Mom." Great parenting, grrrr.
Uncle Stephen and Daddy picked Duke out for Easter one year. I spent many years grumbling about him wiping his rear on my carpet, eating everything in sight (including a two pound block of fondue chocolate and a 5 pound bag of Reeses mini peanut butter cups complete with foil wrappers in Easter colors). I did not enjoy poop duty in the backyard or having to make sure that we were home in time to get Duke (and Dusty) out to go to the bathroom. All that being said, I sure do miss our dogs. We have become a one cat home. There is a lot less hair on the floor, but there sure is a lot of food that gets spilled under our table that doesn't magically appear. Ryan keeps asking us to go to the pet store and get another dog, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.
One of the boys' favorite pass times, eating popcorn. If we needed proof that these kids were related to Kathy Hadler Newhouse, here it is. Grandma Kathy could eat popcorn three meals a day. She loves it, and so do her favorite grandsons. I enjoy the taste of popcorn very much, but the detritus that is left on the floor after these messy boys get hold of a bowl is a sight to behold and definitely requires a broom.
My sweet Ryan. Ry loves to give hugs and cuddles, for which I am mostly grateful. At times, I just wish that the kids would play their video games on the iPad next to me rather than on top of me. I can't express the state of chronic pain my breasts have been in for the last four years. It seems like there is always some elbow digging in and bringing a tear to my eye. I'm sure as soon as they decide they no longer want to hang out with me, I will cry for the days of aching boobs, but until then, I'll just try and remember the good hugs and kisses I get.
The unceremonious draining of the pool with help. I think this picture is representative of at least a thousand words and needs no further comment or butt cracks.
Perhaps the most common sight of my children, all three of them enjoying the iPad together (only slightly more common than the three of them in full brawl over said iPad). James is an iPad master. He has moved from Temple Run to Lego Batman. Tragically, the kids have learned to check out the app store (especially Ryan who is always looking for a new game). Through several mishaps, we have now banned any purchasing of free items in the app store while the kids are awake. Recently a thirty dollar game (which we are still not sure what exactly it is or where it is), was purchased by some stellar child in the fifteen minute window Apple allows for purchases without passwords. I think this must be a billion dollar industry for Apple all at the expense of hapless, overburdened parents who have been worn down by constant harassment.
Michael the musician. The boys still love playing their instruments together in the band, but it doesn't seem to happen much anymore - it might be the programming changes around the house. Anytime Jake and the Neverland Pirates is on, though, there are lots of instruments that make their way to the living room, and everyone must participate. It's very funny how they have a group mentality versus an individual one. I know that they are individuals, but sometimes, they must perform as a group. When Michael went with Papa to get his hair cut, as the hair dresser asked him questions, he always answered "we." They do lots of things on their own - James hides with the iPad under the bed, Ryan demands you play baseball with him, and Michael can entertain himself for hours, but when push comes to shove, they really are a team.
The cozy coupes have recently found new homes as the boys have gotten too big to fit inside them anymore. Here James and Ryan are showing off their teamwork skills.
James loves new clothes and dressing up. Here he is wearing his "work shirt" and Daddy's tie.
One of the best parts of November was a girls trip with Lainie and Anne to Orlando. Our first night in town, we went to Downtown Disney and had a nice time checking out all the stores looking for souvenirs for the kids. The following day, I convinced the girls to spend the day in Winter Park going to the Morse Museum to see the largest collection of Tiffany stained glass in the world (I absolutely LOVED it!). We also popped in to a turkish restaurant and ate ourselves silly, and I drank like I was an actual adult. We then decided to get pedicures at a random spa in Winter Park. Since I had imbibed a little more than normal, I somehow decided to pick electric blue as a polish color and spent weeks wondering whose toes I was sporting.
We also spent a day at Universal Islands of Adventure. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
Lainie and I posing in front of Captain America and the other Avengers. The boys were so impressed that I got to see those Avengers.
Wild women sporting Seussical hats.
Anne and I have always been ones to enjoy a good boob joke. We certainly couldn't pass up this prime opportunity.
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