Birthday Week

I had a fan-tabulous birthday week with my family! My family came and went all last week. On my birthday, my dad, sister, nephew and the four of us were all here. The adults, except for me, made a wonderful (and high calorie) breakfast and dinner for my 29th birthday. It was a great day of hanging out, and enjoying one another. (One of the best presents: everyone went to HEB and left me alone to read while the 6 of them got groceries for dinner and a delicious chocolate HEB cake.) That evening, Dave and my dad put the girls to bed while Aubrey, Josiah and I went to church to practice for church on Sunday. (I really like our singing group, and didn't want to miss it, even on my birthday.)
On Thursday, my sis, Aubrey, my nephew, Josiah, and I got to shop all day while my girlies were in school and my dad stayed home to work on his sermon for Sunday. It was amazing! After we picked the littles up from school, we ran a few more errands and than came home. We had a nice dinner (I was back in the kitchen for this one) and then we hung around with one another. Nice.
On Thursday night, my mom and brother arrived. Friday night, my parents took us out for Indian food for my birthday and I got to open a few presents. Saturday morning, my dad went home in time to prepare for Sunday, and my mom and brother stayed until Sunday afternoon. It was nice to have most of my family come to church with us. (My sister even got to sing in choir with me.)
The only sad parts of the week: my mom, sister and nephew got sick from the yucky Houston air, my girls were crazy giddy and over-excited the whole week and acted slightly unruly, and my brother-in-law, Andy, couldn't make it to the "family reunion" for my birthday.
Overall, though, the week was delightful. --Pictures are to follow!!!-- Thanks for all of you who also wished me a happy birthday, Amber

Two Day Vaca

Last weekend, Dave and I took the girls on a whirl wind trip to visit San Antonio and the Guadalupe River State Park. We had a ton of fun and totally wore our kiddos out! It was nice that the girls slept for 2.5 hours in the car on the way home from the State Park, and then went down easily after we got home. The only problem was that Dave and I also wore ourselves out. I think we're still catching up! But, I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything (...well almost anything).

Day 1: San Antonio- The Alamo and the River Walk

I took this while Dave drove around down town San Antonio. He was looking for the cheapest parking available....we're used to this now.

The building behind the Alamo

Julia can not stand still lately! She just dances, and grooves to no music. (She does not get her constant movement from me!)



Me and my sweet Lyddie girl at the Alamo.

  The girls were pretty bored with the whole Alamo experience. They were sick of taking pics, but we made them take a few more than they wanted to.

Sweet Julia and Me.

My handsome husband and 2 of his 3 girlies.

San Antonio River Walk

The girls sleeping on the crib mattresses we brought. This an easy solution when only rooms with a king size bed is available.

Day 2: Guadalupe River State Park: Hiking and Picnicing 

Guadalupe River

 I was really shocked to see that the river's water is clear. We could really see the fish swimming. It was great! The water was so low though. I'd love to go back after we've had some rain in Texas.

Look at those roots! They were fun to climb on.

 Being under the trees on the river reminded me a lot of when I used to salmon fish with my dad in Anchorage. Of course it was twice as hot, and the trees weren't pine and aspen; but, the water was clear and I was there with my two pipsqueaks. --It just made me think of the time I spent at the riverbank when I was a pipsqueak myself.

Picnic on a blanket with a picnic basket- Julia's specific request

We saw two roadrunners at the Park. - So Cool!

The sky looks beautiful, doesn't it?

We hiked during what is usually the girls nap time. Poor Lydia was so tired, and it was so hot.

Here I am with Lydia almost half way through the 1.7 mile hike.

Here's Dave with the girls after my arms gave out. Dave let them talk him into this. I piggy backed Julia for a while about 2 minutes later.

One more pic of the sky. It doesn't look like it packs a 100 degree punch, but it does.

Well, there you have it folks--our family's fun times in San Anton and at the state park! We still need to make it to the beach and the pool a few more times before summer is officially over. I truly wish our neighborhood pools stayed open until October....because that's how long it'll be hot for. No long sleeves for us as we carve pumpkins and drink hot apple cider....(And poor Julia keeps asking me when it'll snow here. I told her we would try and visit a place that has snow....probably not gonna be seeing any snow in these parts....) Even so, we are loving life in Texas, and enjoying all we can. Hope your lovin' your life too, Amber.

Mommy Mind Lapse

A lot of the time, mostly when I'm tired, my brain goes into this wierd mom default. Have any of you ever experienced this? (Whether you are a mom or not, does your brain revert back to something?) Need some examples? Okay, so Lydia came down stairs whiney and out of sorts a few minutes ago. I took her back up to bed, thinking she would be fine. On my way back downstairs, Lydia started crying. My first thought: "Does she need her pacifier?" (She hasn't used one for about a year now.)
Another exmple: I was holding Lydia today, and I looked over and realized that she is much taller than my lap is.

......And there you go, people. I started this blog about 5 days ago and completely forgot about it. Ironic? I don't think so. My brain is gone. --I have NO idea where I was going with that second example....

(I promise I won't forget how much I love you all though!)

-Amber

Stewart Weekly - Funnies

Summer has been flying by for us! (It seems like it has been for everyone.) In the midst of the "organized" chaos, our girls have had some pretty hilarious things to say. Here are a few of the tidbits:

Me: "We're going to a birthday party today at a pool."
Julia: "Which pool is it, Mommy?"
Me: "Well, it's a pool in Greatwood."
Julia: "What? That sounds creepy!"
Me: "No, it's not creepy, it's just not in our neighborhood."

A few hours or so later we were at Target, getting a birthday present.

Julia to  Lydia: "Lydia, we're going to a birthday party at a pool in Sweet Cheese!"

Me, laughing: "What? No. It's called Greatwood."

We are working with Lydia and Julia on staying in bed after we put them there. (They prefer to sneak out of bed and play, get a drink, look at a book or what-have-you. ) So, while Dave was reinforcing the stay in bed rule a few nights ago, Lydia piped up, "Daddy, I promise I'll stay in bed."
Dave: "You do, Lydia? Thank you."
Lydia: "Daddy, I promise, my promise."
Dave: "Okay, good. Thank you...."

On our way to church on Sunday, We drove by a "No Parking sign". We drive by it every Sunday, so I don't really pay much attention anymore, but Julia did. She said, "Hey, why are there no P's allowed on that sign?"

I'm working with Lydia on pronouncing her R's correctly. So, today, when she was talking about her woom, I corrected her and said, "RRRRoom. Can you say that, Lydia"

"Puh, Puh, woom."

(Sometimes she gets the reason for my correction mixed up. She decided to add the random letter P to the beginning of the word.)

I explained it a little more to her, so she tried again: "Ewwwwoom!" Afterward, she smiled so big, knowing what a good job she'd done, so, of course, I congratulated her on a job well done.

Last Funny for tonight:

On our way home from the party tonight, Julia and Lydia were bombarding us with questions.

"Can I have some water?"

"Can I have some more peanuts?"

"Can you put the lid on my water?"

"Can you take this?"

"Can I have more to eat when I get home?"

"Can we listen to music?"

Dave and I decided to give it right back to them. After a few measley come back questions, Julia yelled over us. "Hey, we're the kids!" I guess in her mind, kids get ask for a billion things at once and parents get to role with the punches. Interesting.

Thanks for reading! Tata for now! -Amber

Dancing Divas

Last Thursday, after getting back from the grocery store, Julia and Lydia turned on their music while Dave and I brought in the groceries. They immediately started dancing, with their sunglasses on, inside, even though it was dark outside.  It made me laugh. So, I took these pictures:

Here's to dancing the night away! Love, Amber