Thursday, January 30, 2014

Ferrero Rocher

Today on the way to pick up Saige from mother's day out, I remembered that I had some Forrero Rochers in my purse. The soup I had for lunch hadn't stuck with me like I'd wanted. That's what me think of the Forreros. I don't usually keep them on me because I love them, and because they are a bit deceiving. They're light, hazelnutty texture makes you believe that they aren't really all that bad for you. Although, I don't really see how that can be true. (They are so delicious!)....But, I digress....I have had these delicious treats in my purse for about 2 weeks now because my sweet little one-year-old snatched them from the candy aisle while sitting in one of those little cars that are at the front of the cart in the grocery store. The cashier noticed before I did that she had swiped them, and that she gnawing on the plastic. (I've caught her doing this at home too. She just eats right through the plastic.)

So, since the cashier saw it all go down, I had to buy the little boogers. I didn't want to give them to Saige or she might think that the next time we go to a store, she can start chomping on any candy that suits her fancy. So, I've just been carrying them around as a sweet reminder as I go through out the day of my stinker Saige. However, two out of the three of those ferreros don't live in my purse anymore. They live in my stomach. I laughed as I pulled the aluminum wrapping away from shards of hazelnut and chocolate and nibbled the crumbs up. I felt so sneaky. I guess as a mom, if you are eating sweets, you feel like you should be sharing or else it's some sort of huge secret. And since it's a not a secret, I decide to share with you all on this here good ole' blog.

On a completely different note, I am excited and scared to say that I think my older girlies will be donating some hair to locks of love in the very near future. Here is a picture of their clean, beautiful locks today:

Lydia's locks

Julia's locks
Stay tuned for what it will look like soon....I guess they can both spare 10 inches. (Please don't tell Julia that her hair is a little shorter than her sisters'. She won't believe you anyway.)

Thanks for reading! You are the best. :)

Love to all of you who read my blog,

Amber

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Christmas Letter 2013

I finally got my Christmas letter out a few weeks ago. I hope I got one to everyone! If I missed you, please let me know!! If you were interested in reading the Christmas letter that went with the card, here it is:

Obviously the hustle and bustle of life got in the way of us ordering and getting our Christmas cards out in a timely manner. I apologize. However, just because I didn’t get them out, doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking of all my wonderful friends and relatives on Christmas.

I hope that you all had a wonderful year. Our 2013 was crazy, great, and interesting with all the ups and downs a year can bring. We continue to try and maintain simplicity in the rat race of a Houston lifestyle. So….here are some details:

Dave loves his new job and EMAS. He works so close to home, and it is a huge blessing! He’s had the opportunity to be so much more involved in getting the older girls off to school and has been able to attend a lot of school programs. He even came with me to have lunch with Julia on her birthday. Yay!

He and I began co-teaching a Sunday school class at our church, and we both love it. It is a huge challenge and a huge blessing…kinda like raising kids. We are asking the Lord to grow our class and allow it to be a blessing to others!

I am continuing my venture in Real Estate. I am so thankful to be done with my first year, as I hope it was an obligatory hurdle that once accomplished will be a launching pad for years to come. It was a rewarding and laborious first year. I love my job, and do my best to maintain a positive work-life balance. The girls and Dave bless me by being proud of me and my real estate endeavors.

Julia did amazing things this year. She keeps losing teeth, is in 1st grade, and seems huge and beautiful to us. She had an outstanding role in our church Christmas Show, playing Cindy Lou Who in the Grinch scene, and a dancer in the Polar Express scene. She had six performances and three dress rehearsals, (and exhausted parents) and we could not have been more proud of her.

Lydia has had an amazing year as well! Her starting Kindergarten and loving school has been so fun for Dave and me to watch. She has many sweet friends, and a wonderful teacher. She got to sing a solo at church the first Sunday in December, and got to be the “star” of an in-house commercial and Dave’s office. She was so cute wearing a suit and bun and looking professional! I can’t wait to see her beautiful face on the clip!

Saige is a busy-body with as much spunk and pizzaz as her sisters. She is well versed in the words “No” and “Stop!” She is a cuddle bug, opinionated and so darn cute. She gets to go to mother’s-day-out two days a week and also spends time with her sweet babysitter who usually comes on Mondays and Wednesdays. She calls her babysitter (Miss Rebekah) “Keka”, and Lydia “Aya”. Julia is “Juju”, dogs are “woof-woofs” and ducks are “quack-quacks”. She loves to take her toddler-size stroller and walk to visit the pond in our neighborhood because she gets to see many dogs and ducks along the way…but getting her to walk back home afterwards usually involves a lot of crying on her part and a lot of persuasion and coaxing on ours.

We know that our family has been moving quite often, and we apologize if you’ve had to scratch up your address books in order to keep our address correct. It certainly has not been our desire to move every year! We also don’t plan to stay were we are for super long because we’d like to have a house with a yard again soon. However, we are also hoping our next home is one we stay in for a while. Here’s hoping anyway!

I guess that wraps things up for us! I hope that all of you had the best year imaginable and that 2014 is even better! Blessings to you all and praises to God in 2014. Merry Christmas and Happy New year!!


Love, Dave, Amber, Julia, Lydia and Saige Stewart