Highlights

Well, since our one-week summer vacations are over, this blog is back to me reminiscing over the past week's nuances so that I can gladly share them with the you; my readers on the world wide web. :) Dave and I are getting back to working on the house. I got the little downstairs bathroom painted this week, and painted the daybed we bought at a garage sale a few months ago. Dave has almost finished putting together a playset we aquired and has carried the painted daybed up stairs and put it together. The girls are still up to their eyes in hilarious antics. I spend the majority of my time just trying to keep up with them.

The other day, the girls and I went outside in between rainstorms to clip our finger nails and get them painted a nice shade of pink. We enjoy girlie stuff like that. As we sat out there, a neighbor of ours, whom I am guessing is Middle Eastern, walked by and we said our hellos with polite smiles. I love to watch the girls greet adults because it usually puts a smile on the adults' face. Anyway, the man was polite as well and then kept on exercising. As he turned the bend of our culdesac, Julia said "Bye, bye. Grass-yas. Grass-yas!" I looked over to her and she was beeming from ear to ear. It was so not politically correct, but so cute. It also made me realize that when I ask her to tell our neighbors "Gracias" that she doesn't understand what it means. And, obviously, she also doesn't understand the difference in race and languages. But, that's what I enjoy about Houston, she will have the quite the opportunity to learn.

Besides running away from me at the most inconvenient times, Lydia is growing and learning and talking a lot too. She has started pointing out different colors, and just this week, she surprised me by indentifying pink, red, blue and orange all by herself. Older syblings really do help teach their younger syblings! I haven't worked with Lydia on colors all that much. And yet, she is learning them. Julia doesn't always teach Lydia in the nicest way, but, she is teaching her. Today, Julia was instructing Lydia on how to fetch all the black checkers for her. When Lydia touched a red checker, Julia would say, "No, the black checkers, Lydia." Lydia would respond by saying, "Oh, okay Sissy."

Lydia has started doing something else that makes me laugh. The other day, I was tickling her, and in the midst of it, I spurted on her stomach. In response, she giggled and said "Cuse me". We both laughed, and continued to play the "tooting game" a little longer. She is so hilarious.

We had a nice surprise this last week. Our neighbors are redoing their 9 year-old's bedroom, and in that, wanted to get rid of a bunch of dress-up clothes, toys, and games. So, our neighbor stopped by the other day and asked if we would like to have all that stuff. Woohoo! Christmas in July is so fun!!! The girls have been playing and reading and playing some more with their new-old things. We made some cookies this evening as a thank you to them. Thank you God for our neighbors!! Love it.

Thanks for reading!! See you soon! -Amber

I Might Have Some Bald Spots

Pulling out your hair is a completely natural side effect of motherhood, right?!? It's not just me, is it? And, why is it that when you pray for patience God, in all his Magnificence, doesn't just hand it over as a free gift? He knows it's good for us to work for it, doesn't He? Or, maybe it's the case that if I pray for patience, God just allows me to see all the times I am totally NOT patient, and then reminds me to "Watch it!". Oi vie. Either way, I have a lot to learn.

Aah! What a kooky day this has been!! My kids are so funny and trying and crazy and wonderful and frustrating! We had two places to go today: the library and the grocery store. My girls are usually excited to go to both of these places, believe it or not, so it's usually not a big deal to go back to back. But today, today was a different day. Lydia has been showing us more and more of her personality lately, and I love it. She is extremely comical...and mischievous. But, in the last few days she has started 1- antagonizing her sister (I guess it's payback time) and 2-running the opposite direction when I tell her to come to me.

The whole time we were in the grocery store, Lydia kept ripping Julia's head band off of her head, bringing bits of hair with it. Finally, I let Julia get out of the cart to be relieved from her sister. (I guess I didn't want Julia to have the same bald spots I am getting! Ha!)

And on top of that, twice today, I went running after a crazy little two-year-old who thinks that running away is hilarious. The first time was in the library. The second time was in the HEB parking lot!!!!
Picture it: "Lydia, sit right here by your sister for a minute." (We'd parked by a little grassy area.) Lydia sits for .4 seconds before getting up. Immediately after grabbing my coupons and my purse, Lydia started walking towards the street. "No, Lydia sit down!" I said. "LYDIA, LYDIA!" Lydia looks at me with a mischievous grin, turns around and bolts into the street. "LLYYYYDIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" I throw down my keys, my purse, and my coupons and run as fast as I can to catch her. Thank God there were no cars coming--she'd already made a pretty good distance!!! Needless to say, her hiney didn't leave the cart or her car seat until it was in bed for nap time. I am all for anything that straps her in! Oh, what's a mom to do? .....Seriously, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?

So, then after we got home, Julia decided she would "help" me bring in groceries. I gave her light bags and a cereal box to bring in, and she did a great job. I was so glad, though, that she was out of harms way when a jar of spaghetti sauce broke through the bag and onto the garage floor, crashing it's entire contents onto the cement floor and breaking the glass into a thousand pieces. Needless to say, glass and red sauce went flying everywhere!! I cleaned up the mess a few hours ago, but it wasn't until a few seconds ago when I sat down on the couch that I realized I hadn't wiped down my legs and that they were sprayed red as well. Good thing it didn't get on the couch!

Oh well...I am currently rewarding myself for making it through the morning by drinking chocolate milk and relaxing. And so, on a happier note, I will share some fun things my girls have been doing lately. After Lydia's birthday party Saturday, I asked Julia to help me clean some stuff up around the house. Julia's response to my request: "You got it, girl!" So cute! And Lydia is constantly asking us to "read me" (translation: read to her). Her current book of choice? "Toe Wipe"...(a.k.a. Snow White).

Like I said, they are funny and trying and crazy and wonderful and frustrating.....
I hope my hair grows back. Love, Amber

Party Central

Lydia turned 2 this last week, and we partied in her honor. She had a "Fun in the Sun" themed party that (I'm hoping) she loved. I know Julia loved it even though it wasn't her big day. Thank you to everyone who could make it to the party and for all the wonderful presents we received. It was such fun!























One item on the party menu:

Another item on the party menu















We also had chips, pasta salad, watermelon, iced tea and cherry lemonade. I got the cherry lemonade recipe from my friend, Annalee's, blog. Thanks, for posting the recipe, Annalee. It was yummy!


Some of our partying friends and family:






Papa and Lydia with her Ariel doll.















Marlee was a big helper. :)

Caleb really liked the scattered balloons. He was so cute to watch.

Julia did most of the blowing out of these candles. She was too much of a big helper!

Amanda is greasing Patrick up before he takes off for a few sprints through the sprinkler.

I wish I had thought of giving more of the kids balloons as they left. Sheila was doing the distributing here. There are balloons to be popped all over my house!

Thanks again for everyone who could make it!! We appreciate all of you, and are so privileged to get to know each and everyone of you!! Love, the Stewart's

Family Fun and Then Some

We got to visit family and friends in Bartlesville, Branson, and the Vinita-area last week. We had a great time, and (once again) I am going to use my pictures to tell you the story.

Saturday, we got to play games and stay up late with our friends Jared and Lela. It was so good to see them and their new home. I only wish we could have seen them longer!

On the Fourth, before heading out to see fireworks, Dave, the girls and I headed to the church we used to attend in Bartlesville; First Wesleyan Church. I was absolutely giddy after we arrived. It felt so great to be seeing so many friends! I miss them all so much! I got a few pictures of the girls in their festive outfits after church because I thought they looked so darn cute!!!

Then, after a quick lunch and nap, Granny Ruth, Dave, the girls and I loaded into the minivan to go to Tulsa for food, fun and fireworks. (During the girls' nap Dave and I got to go to the golfing range with our friends, Amelia and Jeremy. It was a lot of fun!) We wanted to eat traditional American food, so we ate tex-mex for dinner. :) It was delish! We had some time to spare, but we thought it would be fun to kill time while letting the girls jump in the bounce houses located near where we would be enjoying the fireworks show. Unfortunately though, the bounce houses couldn't stay up very long...evidently they are not conducive to rain. So we lounged on our blankets in the drizzle. However what started with a sprinkle, gradually grew harder, forcing us to stay-put under umbrellas. We were pretty soaked by the end of the evening. So, when it was only sprinkling during the fireworks show, we braved the precipitation, and removed our umbrellas to see the show without alteration. The girls squealed and clapped and oooooohhhed and aaahhed the whole time. It was great!

Then, the next day, we had a family get together for Lydia's 2nd birthday party. I can't believe my little Lydia is 2!

We had a great time, and I wish I would have gotten more pictures of the festivities!!! Lydia got a tricycle from her Granny and PapaDon (picture below), some great toys from her Aunt Krista and some adorable clothes from her Aunt Kim. The girls had a great time seeing everyone, but they especially enjoyed their cousins Mattisyn and Emily.Then on Wednesday a bunch of my friends from FWC planned a playdate! It was so wonderful, and so hard for me to leave. Look at all these cutie girls! The little brunette on the far right, and the little blondie by Lydia (the one without the icecream) are sisters. Their mom, Sabrina, is one of my dearest friends. She found out just the day before this fun event that she is having triplet boys!!!!! Oh, I am so excited for her!

In the picture below is Julia, and her sweet friend Adrianne. Can you believe that this sweet little girl is a month younger than Julia? My kids are shrimps!

Just look at the picture below....more proof of the shrimpiness.

Thanks to everyone who came to see us!! I wish I could have seen you longer and really caught up with each and everyone of you. I love and miss you all and your kiddos.

That evening we traveled to Branson to visit Dave's dad, Dan, and his step-mom, Christie. Dave's Dad prefers to be called "Favorite Granpda Dan" but for this post, I plan on abbreviating that! Below is a picture of Julia with the new love her life, "Little Bit". We got to spend the whole day Thursday relaxing and visiting with Dan, and then, that evening, we got to see Christie.

After exploring the outdoors, finding a turtle, eating pizza, and putting the kiddos to bed, the adults stayed up late and played cards. Good times were had by all...but, just so that it is forever written in stone, the LADIES WON both games!!! Yeehaw! I wasn't sure it would ever happen.

The below pics are of us enjoying the back deck:

And then, the next morning, we went on our way to one of the best places on earth: Silver Dollar City!!! But, before we could make it, Lydia fell and hit her nose on a chair. It was so sad. Lydia is so prone to bumps and bruises!

Her purple nose:

The greatest city ever:
Dan and Christie were kind enough to let Dave and I run around and jump on a few roller coasters while the kids played on the toddler-sized rides and had a water balloon fight. The pictures that Dan and Christie took are below:

I really missed experiencing the rides with my kiddos, but I was so glad to have some time with my honey.

Before Dave and I left though, we hung around and got to watch candy being made, a dog show, and the girls pet the animals in the petting zoo. It was great fun! Below are some snapshots surrounding those events:

Then, after going home and taking a nap, Christie, Dave, the girls and I went to White Water. (This day sounds exhausting, doesn't it? It was! But, it was also so much fun!) We floated on the lazy river, played on the splash pad, and went on some water slides. This, too, was time passed much too quickly.

(The picture above is on Silver Dollar City's facebook page. I think that's so fun! Good photography, Christie!)

The last day was spent on the lake with our Aunts, Uncles, and cousins on the Stewart's side. I must have been too tuckered out by the end of the week to capture a single candid shot because I don't have any pictures of our fun time there. We got to ride on the boat, visit, and play all day. What great memories we will always have!

Thank you family for hosting us, and showing us your sweet hospitality. We are all still recovering from our back-to-back vacationing, but we are so glad we got to see each and everyone of you. We love you all!! -the Stewarts

Back-up blog: Amelia and Lydia's Visit

I have to do a little back-up blogging. We've been very busy, with a ton of fun stuff, and I don't want to miss archiving any of the things we did in the last few weeks.
Amelia and Lydia came a week ago Thursday, and left the following Monday. It was a whirlwind of a good time.

Amelia is a craft-loving, go-getter type of a gal, and I love it. She encouraged and helped us paint our dining room one of the days she was here. (Before and After pics are coming.) In order to get the girls out of the house while Amelia and I painted, Dave took the girls for a walk.

Isn't this a sight to behold? : You'll have to excuse the foggy picture. It's so stinkin' muggy in Houston that my camera clouds up from time to time.

The following pictures are of us hanging out with little Lydia. My girls practically mauled her on a daily basis. Poor thing! They loved her so much!!

On Saturday, we visited the beach. It was a fun day. Amelia was a little freaked out by all the sea creatures, but I think she and her little Lydia had a good time overall. I must say that there was a curiously large amount of sea schools swimming along the shore that day.

Like usual, Julia was in LOVE with the whole experience, and (my) Lydia was hesitant to even touch the water. But they, too, had a great time. Dave and I enjoyed ourselves as well. Julia and I were not quite ready to go as soon as everyone else, but that is usually the case as well.

We also found out that you can catch small crabs and shrimp by shaking a small bunch of seaweed over a container. I bet this little guy grows up to be delicious.Everyone took turns resting their skin under the shade of an extra-large umbrella. Below is an adorable picture of baby Lydia and Julia doing just that.After a lot of partying and playing, baby Lydia was too tired to fall asleep, so we all took turns holding and lulling her. I made Dave take a picture of me to prove my success in getting her to "sleep like a baby".
And, the last day, Amelia had the great idea to take a picture of her and I together. Thanks, Amelia! I don't always think of those type of things on my own.
Amelia, and Baby Lydia, thank you for coming. We love you so much!!! Love, the Stewart's