Wrapping Presents For Siblings

Every year we have our kids draw names so they can give presents to each other. This is much easier and more fun now that we have such a big family. It's fun for the kids to choose a name and to look for presents for them. In past years it was only Sarah Kate and Ben who understood, but Hannah got it this year and really enjoyed picking a present out for Gracie. I got the opportunity to sit down with each of them on Christmas Eve while they wrapped their chosen present for their designated sibling. (Be warned there are more pictures than there probably needs to be.)

Gracie's version of 'helping' to wrap Sarah's present.

The finished present. She was so proud.

Hannah's turn. She's at the age where it's so much fun to just put tape all over the present, especially in places it's not needed. It's all about the tape.

The finished present. She did a great job.

Ben drew Daniel's name and he had a lot of fun choosing a toy and wrapping it. He's getting big enough that he can do a lot of the wrapping by himself. The sucker in the mouth definitely helps.

The finished present. He was just about as proud as Gracie was.

Sarah Kate drew Hannah's name and she took her time wrapping the present just right. She did most of it by herself but asked for my help a little.

The finished present. Sarah did an awesome job.

6 Months Old

Dan turned 6 months old on the 23rd. I can't believe he's that old. The time has just flown by. He's been a wonderful baby and we're so blessed to have him in our family. Before I go into pictures I'll talk a bit about our little monkey. He had his 6 month check up today and he's growing well. I'll admit he's not as big as I thought he was, but he's growing quickly and that's what's really important. He weighs 17 pounds 13 ounces(50th percentile) he's 27 1/2 inches (80th percentile) and his head is in the 40th percentile.

Daniel's big enough now that he's starting to get a personality. He's a watcher and loves to look at his brother and sisters. He's an overall happy baby and smiles often. He enjoys bouncing in his bouncer and sitting in his seat chewing on his toys. He still sleeps a lot, but he's awake more often which is very nice. He took awhile to start getting teeth (awhile for our kids anyway) but once he started (his first tooth came the day before Thanksgiving, Nov. 26th) he kept going. He now has 5 teeth with 2 more that are just about to break through. He has mastered rolling from his belly to his back, but still hasn't rolled from his back to his belly. Ironically he's getting close to sitting up on his own. I'm sure the rolling thing will come when he wants it to.

Now onto the party and pictures. Six months is a huge milestone for a baby and we've always treated it as such. For each of our kids we've thrown a little party. It's not much; one present and a very simple cake, but it's all a 6 month old needs.

The older kids helping Daniel open his present.

Dan showing his sitting up skills in back of his new toy. We tried to get him to smile, but he just wouldn't. Oh well!

His drum set is cool because you can turn them together and they roll. Just what a learning-to-crawl baby needs.

After opening Daniel's present we did some Christmas stuff (we didn't have his party until Christmas Eve.) After eating dinner, wrapping presents and finishing the gingerbread house (see other posts, when they're done) it was time for cake. Being that it was Christmas and we still weren't ready for it, I didn't have time to make a cake. Kenny bought one at Walmart and the kids thought it was great.

Daniel with his Santa cake.

After a short nap he was much more willing to smile.

The big kids helping him blow out his candle.

Time to eat the cake. Messy, messy faces.

Daniel wasn't too sure about eating his cake at first. He'd never had anything quite so sugary.

By the time he was done he seemed to feel different about it.

Happy 1/2 Birthday my little monkey man.

Singing At The School

The kids had another Christmas program this year. Last year the program was held at night, but this year the program was during school hours. Both kids were excited to sing their songs and they practiced at home for over a week. I loved hearing them sing, 'Must Be Santa' and 'Jingle Bells' to themselves while playing. Last year, the week before Sarah's Christmas program we had lent our video camera battery to my in-laws and by the time I remembered I didn't have time to charge a different battery. I was so sad I didn't get to film her and I vowed to do better next year. Surprise, it's "next year" and I did even worse. I didn't charge the video camera battery and we only had about 8 shot on the still camera which meant I didn't even get a picture of Sarah. Oh Well! The program was cute and I loved watching my kids sing.

Ben and the rest of the am Kindergartners singing 'Have a Holly Jolly Christmas' with Ms. England (his teacher) leading.

Ben playing the bells and singing 'Jingle Bells.' The 2 girls next to him are in our ward and in his kindergarten class. Haley Bigler in brown and our neighbor Aubrey Andrus in green.

When Ben got home from school I told him what a great job he did and said "Buddy, you didn't tell me you got to play the bells." He said, "That's because I didn't know mom!" Silly me! Only 4 kids got to play the bells during Jingle Bells and they didn't decided do use the bells until that morning. He did a good job especially because he hadn't practiced.

We had excellent seats on the side of the gym right by where Sarah Kate's class sat. Behind Sarah class was a 3rd grade class with two of our neighbor girls/Sarah's friends in it. Hannah and Gracie had a great time sitting on their laps during the program and the bigger girls thought it was cool to have little girls sit with them.

Gracie on Jenna's lap and Hannah on a friends lap. Abbey,our other neighbor, is in the red.

The picture of the girls was my last shot before the battery in the camera died. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't get any pictures of Sarah Kate, but she sang 'Must Be Santa' and did a great job. NEXT YEAR I'LL DO BETTER!!!!!

Letters To Santa

I love watching my kids write letters to Santa. It's so much fun to see what they want for Christmas and to see how excited they are to write a letter to Santa. So, here's their letters, complete with spelling and grammatical errors:

Sarah Kate

Dear Santa,

Thank you for giving us presents. I think yo

u should deserve one too. I would like a webkinz, a I-dog, make-up American dolls and a mp3 player, a big shiny pretty dress, some art stuff. a mini nutcracker. do you get a lot of presents on christmas?

from: Sarah Newbry

BenBen

Dear Santa,

Thank you for getting us presents every single year. I want a shark webkinz and a blue whale webkinz. I also want the radio transformer. I want Lego Indiana Jones 2 video game, nerf guns, some bakugons, and some candy. Have a Merry Christmas. How do you make toys? I've been a good boy so please don't forget me on Christmas. Love, Ben Newbry

Hannah Beth

Dear Santa,

Thank you for bringing us presents. I drew you a pretty picture. I hope you like it. Santa brings me presents and I open presents. I would like a doll and a game for Christmas. I would like a blanket and some clothes for my baby. I've been a very good girl. Merry Christmas!

Love, Hannah Beth

(Hannah also drew a pretty picture for Santa)

Gracie

Well, Gracie just drew a pretty picture for Santa.

Sarah Kate putting her letter on the door for Santa.

Hannah putting her letters on the door for Santa.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Most Valuable Kindergartener

Last week Ben got the opportunity to be the Most Valuable Kindergartner. This is something Ms. England does for all the kids. She gives each kid a week for the class to get to know them. They get to decorate a paper t-shirt that's all about them. Ben had a ton of fun finding pictures of the things he's done and things he likes. He took it to school and got to explain the t-shirt to everyone, then they put it on the wall. He gets to leave it up for more than the typical week because of Christmas break. He's very excited about that.


The things on his shirt:
It reads - Benjamin James Newbry
A map of the USA with Virginia colored red (that's where he was born)
A dinosaur (he likes dinosaurs)
His Jedi Training in Disneyland (this was such a highlight)
A picture in front of Old Faithful (we LOVE Yellowstone)
Our most recent family picture (family is really important)
Beef Jerky (I asked him what his favorite food is and he said beef jerky, OK)
A picture of him in his Tae Kwon Do uniform (he still likes that he did that)
Indiana Jones Lego Video game (of course)
A picture of baby Ben (this was fun for him to see and share with his class)
A picture with Travis (he had to have his favorite cousin on there)
Lego R2D2 (he loves Lego's and Star Wars, this one was a double)
A picture of the family on the Disney Cruise (this was an exciting trip and had to be included)
His favorite colors (Blue and Green)

So there you have my BenBen in a nutshell.