Saturday, November 20, 2010

Girl's Night

Dave went camping last night with the other men in our Bible Study group. Evidently, they ate a lot of meat, shot some guns, slept on the ground, and had a lot of fun. All that to say, the girls and I stayed here, and did girly stuff. I made a wonderful dinner for us, and then we watched Cinderella while eating ice cream. We also made those three videos in my previous post. I'd planned on painting our finger nails too, but we didn't get to that. I decided not to mention it as an option.

I got the girls down on time, and sat down to relax. I stayed up way to late doing nothing on the couch, and then Lydia woke up at 5:15a.m. I got her laid back down and re-quieted, and then Julia woke up in a state of panic because she had to go to the bathroom at 5:30. I laid her back down just wishing and hoping she would go back to sleep. I came down to bed, and tried to sleep myself, but Julia was in bed with me before I could reunite with the Mr. Sandman at 6:20. Lyd was down at 6:40. And then, our day began. I really don't understand why my girls won't sleep sometimes.

I got up and made myself some coffee and the girls breakfast. We went to some garage sales, and then came home to play awhile. The girls and I had lunch next. With their lunch, they had milk. With my lunch, I had coffee. Then I laid the girls down. They didn't go to sleep as quickly as I thought they would with such an early rise, but they were both conked out by 1:15. I was thinking they were going to sleep forever, that I would have to wake them up, because they were sleeping too long, or something like that. No dice. Julia took a little over an hour nap. Lydia's was longer, but not by much. I barely had time to catch up on my emails.

But, with all that being said, the girls and I really enjoyed each other's company. We had a great time. And by the way, I didn't coax them to sing for those videos at all. They kept asking if they could sing more. They're just my little divas! Dave finally arrived home at 4:30 and we all took a walk before dinner. The girls are in bed now, and I am thinking that going to bed soon is a good idea for me. Praise the Lord that his mercies are new every morning! Peace out. -Amber

P.S. I am so excited that we will have our first wave of family members arriving on Monday. All four of us Stewarts are so anxious and impatient to see you three Hazelet's!!! Yay!!

Friday, November 19, 2010

A Succession of Songs

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star


Jingle Bells




We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Happy little tunes, aren't they? -Amber

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Baking Day

With the holidays coming up, I wanted to get a head start on Christmas gifts and be prepared for last minute party needs. So, I figured it would be good to start some baking. If I bake a little on Saturdays during the girls' naps, I should have a bountiful supply of baked goods in our freezer for whatever may come up this holiday season. I hope my idea comes to pass. We shall see.

Anyway, I decided to make some pumpkin bread this afternoon. The girls were not quite asleep yet, so I was not able to devote my full attention to the project at hand. After coming back from yet another distraction, I realized that I had made this:

 I decided to take a picture of my "candy corn" in a bowl.
 Here's a top view....doesn't it look like it'll turn out to be delicious?
Above is the finished product. These loaves are fully cooled and just about to go into the freezer.

Ok, fine. Don't twist my arm. Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the following ingredients together:

2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
2/3 shortening (I used butter...it's what I had.)
1 lb can pumpkin
1/2 tsp allspice
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup nuts
1 cup chopped dates or raisins (optional)

Bake in 3 loaf pans (or two regular size and 3 mini loaf pans) for about 45 mins. (30 mins. for the minis) at 350 degrees.

Let me know if you decide to make some bread. I'd love to know how it turns out! Thanks for reading ya'll. -Amber

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

A Year Ago

Last year around this time, I wrote a blog about Daylight Savings Time. I had a lot more angst (not teenage) and aggression about my situation in life at that time. I am so thankful for how things can change in a year. Although things aren't perfect, they are great. I love my family, our church, my job, and our home. Thank God that His mercies are new every morning. I praise Him that a lot can change in a year.

But, if you want to know the truth, I still hate daylight savings time. It screws up my life, and I hate that. I think most mother's of preschoolers feel the same way as I do. (At least, that's what I overheard in the bathroom at church on Sunday. I have no real proof...just hearsay.) Most moms in my situation have a little one who does anything but sleep extra during this time of year. For example, Lydia wakes up with the sun, and enjoys the act of promptly waking her sister up to tell her "good morning". (Disclaimer: this doesn't always happen. Sometimes Julia wakes up with the sun, and enjoys the act of promptly waking her sister up to tell her "good morning".) This little tradition can cause turmoil for our family. Like it did this morning. --Since Lydia was sleep deprived, she got over tired today at "school". (Plus she smacked her face on our backyard slide last night, and her big fat lip was probably soar. I hate it when she does that. It makes me cry and ache all over. Lydia is always making herself susceptible to fat lips, bruised cheeks and black eyes. She is fearless.) Lydia's teacher/daycare provider/babysitter called me this morning and told me she thought Lydia was sick, and that I needed to come get her. I picked Lydia up, and took her home to lay her down. She didn't want to stay in bed at first, but a promise of medicine and lunch kept my littlest quiet til I got back. When I did get back to administer her Tylenol, the poor little sweet heart was already mostly asleep. After Tylenol, Lydia slept for about two and a half hours. She woke up hungry, but pretty perky. All she needed was a snack, and then all was right with her world again. I'm glad she wasn't really sick....just in need of a good nap. (Dearest Lydia, I really wouldn't mind if you decided to sleep-in tomorrow morning; despite the 6:30 sunrise.)

But, speaking of sleep, I better start heading that direction myself. (I don't really have a lot of hope that either of my girls will be sleeping in too late.) I hope all of you are doing well, and enjoying your sun-shiny mornings and cool, dark evenings! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I love ya, Amber

Monday, November 1, 2010

Halloween Was a Scream

This weekend was a lot of fun. The girls had a great time dressing up two days in a row, and we were all very excited to see my parents (i.e. Mimi and Papa).

Mimi and Papa came for almost 24 hours. They didn't get to stay for long, but we are so glad they could come. They showed up for a late dinner on Friday evening, and then hung around with us on Saturday. They left from First Fest (Houston's First Baptist's Fall Festival). Below is a picture of my mom with the my little cupcake bakers. These little bakers were labeled as chefs, cookie makers, strawberry shortcakes, but mostly just cute.
We got these cute little costumes from Granny Ruth a while ago. I originally thought it would be fun to dress them up as little cowgirls, but then I remembered these outfits, and couldn't go back. I love the picture of them below. They look as sweet as can be.
 After we got to First Fest, the girls jumped, played, petted animals in the petting zoo, received candy, and had a grand ole' time. I only wish we would have made it there a little earlier. It was hard for us to decide when to go this year since the festival is during nap time, but we had a great time with the hour and a half we had.

 The group of four below is (from left to right) Kelly Matte as Olive Oyl, Amber Cessac as Kelly Matte, Joey Cessac as Gregg Matte, and Pastor Gregg Matte as Popeye. How fun!
 Lydia and Julia were very into the candy this year! Well, they still are very into the candy. And, admittedly, so are Dave and I. Dave and I both took some to work to help get rid of it a.s.a.p.
We were all sad that we only got to see my parents for such a short time, but the girls rallied their spirits tolerably when they realized there was another night of candy collecting awaiting them. Dave and I wanted to use Halloween as another opportunity to get to know our neighbors better. We got lawn chairs and sat outside chatting with them until we went door to door and asked for candy. It was a lot of fun to re-learn every one's names and get to know them better.
My mom told me she wasn't allowed to go trick-or-treating when she was growing up because her dad felt like it was begging. I was sorta' in agreement with Grandpa this year. At least we gave away candy as well. Below is a picture of my little candy-mongers.
 Below is a (blurry night-time) photo of Julia chatting it up with Cinderella.
And, I also took a picture of some of the candy. So many people encouraged the girls to "take as much as they want". It was sort of hard to politely turn down the offer as my children scooped handfuls of candy into their bags, but we did our best. (One of the ladies had full size candy bars. They let the girls take from her bowl more than once.)

The girls had a great time, and way too much candy. They got to stay up a little later than normal, but we did have to cut out a little early because the girls started school today. It is an at-home preschool that we are trying out. They had a great time this morning, so I am curious to find out what the rest of this week is like and how the following week goes.

I had a really fun time at work too. I got to sit in on instructional classes for realtors wanting to learn how to better use social networking for their businesses. I learned a lot! I really think I am going to enjoy my job, and I didn't even feel like I didn't get to see my girls. There were a few tears this morning when I dropped the girls at preschool. However, they didn't come from my independent, inquisitive daughters. Just me.

I am so excited about these next few months. We are already listening to Christmas music in the car, and I am looking forward to a cooler week. Lydia loves the "Tinkerbell song" which is actually the well-known nutcracker song. Julia asked me if we could take her to the ballet to see them dance to the nutcracker song today. Of course, I am just dieing to make this happen now. We'll see. Anyway, thanks for reading. You all are the best! -Amber