Ducks, Dogs and Rats

So. I have recently made a schedule for my real estate business. Maybe I will be able to work a little more efficiently instead of working non-stop. And, maybe, I will have time to write on this here blog again. Maybe.

Because I wait so long between posts, all I feel I can do right now is give you a monthly update on my family. So, with out further ado:

Saige LOVES ducks right now. She can spot them anywhere and quacks like a pro. (She also quacks at flamingos, crains, geese, and most other foul like birds. She does know the difference between a duck and a chicken.) A close second to ducks in Saige's heart are dogs. She barks at any dog she sees, and is rarely afraid when they come over to her to be petted. (This works out because we see dogs and ducks nearly everyday.) She has a picture book that just has a ton of pictures of animals. It is the book she currently "reads" the most often. Julia also loved this book when she was Saige's age. Perhaps they'll open their own vet clinic.

Saige is still very good-natured. She is usually smiley and sweet, and happy to go to mother's day out or her Sunday school class. She definitely shows some sass to me and her sisters, but to Dave and the rest of the world, she is usually friendly and happy.

Lydia still loves school! She comes home singing songs and sharing about fun things that happened I school. I hardly ever have to pry it out of her like I have to with Julia. Lydia is learning to read and has three sweet friends that she plays with almost every recess.

Dave has been helping me around the house a lot ever since I became a real estate agent. We still have a very hard time getting things done, but his help is so important to me! Sometimes, though he gets a little mixed up and puts Saige's clothes in the girls drawers. Tonight, I was at the church with Julia. Dave came home to lay Saige and Lydia down for a nap. When they came back to the church to get Julia and I, I noticed and was surprised that Lydia had on some pretty short shorts. It finally dawned on me that Lydia's shorts might be a bit small for her because they were the wrong size. I checked the size, and sure enough...my 5 year-old had on shorts that were size 12-18 months.

Julia is still quite a leader in our family. She doesn't particularly love school, but she is learning like crazy. She recently learned to write her last name, but sometimes gets the a and the r in our last name reversed. Have you ever thought about what happens to the word Stewart when you do that? That's right. We become Stew rats. Nice. :)

Julia also has had a very exciting thing happen! She has been chosen for the sweetest little part in our church's Christmas play. I can not share what part she has because I am sworn to secrecy, but, I am so very proud of her because this is a huge honor! Our church had 18,000 people attend their Christmas production last year. Is that crazy or what?

I'm a little sad that our church will be taking a one year hiatus from the Christmas celebration in 2014 because Lydia can't try out for a part, but rumor is Celebration 2015 is going to be awesome.

Here's to a great holiday season that is just around the corner!

Thanks so much!

Life with Saige!

Dave and I started going on Saturday morning dates. Isn't that wonderful? Last week we went to get the van washed, and then to Starbucks. This week we went jogging at Memorial Park and then sat down at a picnic table and did some paintings. It was really fun painting with Dave. I haven't painted in years, and I've never painted with Dave. I hope we do it again and again.

Dave also tells me he had a great birthday on Friday. He turned 34, and the girls and I celebrated by making him cookies. The big girls made him cards. Saige and I brought balloons and dr. pepper to him at his office. Saige mostly walked in circles around the office and got into everything. (As usual.) Then we took him out to lunch. Dave and I went on a date that night, and, as requested, we ate burgers and then watched a movie. It was a great day.

Because of Saige's new antics, I wanted to write this post mostly to brag on/talk about my Saige. She is so opinionated. It's hard to get her to eat anything except fruit, cereal and sweets. She loves her sisters. She says both of their names, but the difference in her pronunciation of their names are pretty much indistinguishable. Julia is "Dooda" and Lydia is "Diida". She can also say her own name. It sounds like "Sade". She is such a crazy character. She will shower you with kisses one minute, and refuse to give you a snuggle the next.

She still loves to have a blankie with her at all times, and she loves to suck her thumb. She often steals toothbrushes from Dave and I and walks around the house brushing her teeth and then leaving our toothbrushes on the floor. We are going through toothbrushes pretty rapidly these days. 

Saige is loving Mother's Day out. She doesn't cry when I drop her off on Tuesday an Thursday. She usually walks in and looks at or pats the babies there that are crying. She then walks over to the board books in the room. She loves to read. 

First Day of Mother's Day Out

Saige went to Mother's Day Out today. She was so good! She didn't even cry when I dropped her off. She was very excited about the books in the classroom, so I snuck out of her classroom with so much as a quivering lip! Doesn't she look cute for her Mother's Day out debut?

This girl loves her thumb!

Yay! She looked at me!

Look at her little curlies. Love them!

Saige says "Apoo" for yes, please and "ME" when she thinks she needs to have something. She is still a great eater and is very opinionated about what she eats. (And everything else for that matter.) She already has her molars and is getting her little eye teeth. She doesn't like for me to look in her mouth, but sometimes I can get a quick glimpse when I tickle her. She loves to be tickled!

Thanks for reading, Amber

First Day of School 2013-2014

The first day of school has already happened!

My Kindergartner and my first grader

She wrote the K herself.

Showing their excitement!

Julia and Lydia were so excited for their first day, that they woke up at 11:00 p.m. asking if it was morning time. Then when we came and got them in the wee morning hours, they jumped out of bed enthusiastically and hurried downstairs.

We actually had lunches and outfits altogether, so we had some time to spare this morning. Dave told the girls a story while we waited the 10 extra minutes until it was time to leave. I've already made their lunches for tomorrow. -- Let's see if we can keep the routine up!

I am excited about this year because Dave is going to be helping me get the girls ready for school because we live so much to closer to his office.

My girls LOVED their first day! They loved their teachers, and can't wait until school tomorrow. :)

Thanks for reading, Amber

Stewart Summer Camp

We have had a great summer! Family came to visit, friends had us over, Dave and I committed to co-teach a Sunday School Class, I sold some real estate, we went swimming in a pool and in the Galveston beach, we had a glamorous birthday party for a fabulous five-year-old, had some fabulous trips, and I knocked out some of Julia's front teeth (by accident). Here are some pics to share our summer.

Saigie enjoying Lyd's Birthday cake

Julia with her decorated graham cracker house

Lyd with her house

Cousin Mattisyn came to visit with Granny. I think she loved the craft as much as my girls did.

Glamoured Lydia at her Birthday party. (Hi Ruth- I see you back there.)

Julia-- Looking Glamorous!

All the party animals

 I have a picture just like this one, except everyone is looking at me. I would have posted it, but Saige had just lifted her dress and had started taking off her diaper. She made the photo completely unbloggable. I guess she was trying to express how completely bored she was with the whole sha-bang! (She spent the majority of the party time banging on the front door or emptying the shelves of merchandise.)

Lydia is posing so cute here! The girls loved walking the runway on the red carpet at the party.

Princess Ballerina Camp at Houston's First

The girls got to do all their favorite things this summer! (Whether they'd ever admit to that or not.) Dave and I know that we are all so blessed, and hopefully my girls will realize that someday too. 

One week from today, the girls start school. This weekend, I turn 31. (Woah! That year went fast!) Then after the girls start school, my sister and her two littles are going to come visit. Yay! September is almost here! I am so looking forward to all things fall...carving pumpkins, drinking apple cider and watching the temperature drop a few degrees, even if that's only slightly. But, before I start getting too excited about what's to come...here's a video of what happens to us just about everyday. Enjoy! Click here: Julia and Lydia playing. Sorry that my house is a mess, but now you'll know why I say I have my hands full.

Thanks for reading! Love, Amber

Life

I haven't had the chance to blog lately because life is so full! And, it's mostly full with great things!

First of all, Lydia Catherine turned FIVE!

We celebrated on her birthday with her usual favorites: mac and cheese, hot dogs and cake and ice cream. (Mom also made her eat some broccoli. Yes, even on her birthday.) She also got to choose what fun things we did that day and open presents from her grandparents and Dave and me.

Tomorrow, she will get to celebrate with her friends, her cousin, Mattisyn, and her Granny at a Glamour party at Snip-its. She's just a little bit excited.

I'm sure Julia will be all smiles at the party too. I mention her smile because it is missing another tooth. She is now missing her two front teeth. It is so cute! Although, this is the second tooth that I accidentally knocked out of my kids face. I am ashamed to admit that both of Julia's front teeth where bumped out by me while we were playing. Both incidents were completely unintentional, of course!

Anyway, that's the tip of the iceberg of what's happening with us. I hope all is well in your world! 

-Amber

Fourth of July

We had a wonderful Fourth of July! We went to a little festival/parade near our house. It had free food, lots of festivities and fans that blew water on you. It felt like a fun little hometown event. Loved it! 

Dave really tried to get a pic with me and the girlies...but, they weren't really interested in taking pictures after this.

 Free watermelon before the parade. Genius!

Traditional start to a fun parade

Everybody dance!

Puppy Love

Tiger Tot

After the festival, we came home, rested and then got started on our good eats. We had a wonderful, festive and fresh dinner. Just in case you were curious....we had grilled chicken with chimichurri sauce,  beef hotdogs, homemade hummus with veggies, and homemade potato salad. We finished it all off with homemade shortcake, vanilla yogurt and fresh berries. We also had sparkling juice to drink. The girls thought this was a really special treat!

We headed to the fireworks show next. We ended up at the citycentre. It was so crowded! But, we enjoyed the show. Dave and I are absolutely positive it wasn't anywhere near as crowded as the downtown Houston show was. Plus, we got to the show and back in the same amount of time it would've taken us just to get downtown.

I am so very thankful for our country. I love America! God bless the U.S.A., and God bless you!
-Amber

The Maine Thing

Most of my posts are mainly about my kids. But this post is MAINEly about Dave and my vacation last month. I took tons of pictures! So, here they are:

Our Heavenly Bed and Breakfast

 The Bed and Breakfast we stayed at had a most romantic feel to it. Every morning we enjoyed a delicious, fresh breakfast of baked goods and entree choice. The eggs Benedict were awesome.

This was about 3 blocks from our bed and breakfast.

 I loved sitting in the grass, feeling the warm sun and watching the boats come in and out. The grass was so lush and wonderful!

Handsome Hubby

Almost asleep

Beautiful backyard!

Acadia National Park

Sand Beach at Acadia

This Deer was about 10 feet from our car. It's definitely used to humans.

Hiking views. A-maze-ing!

 We hiked for about 3.5 hours on the day we saw these views. Acadia was beautiful and awe-inspiring. Creation is a wonderful thing!

 There were huge bull frog tadpoles in this little pond. They were fun to watch. Some of them even had their little legs already.

Lobstering

 See the buoys? See the traps? Go Lobstermen!

The biggest lobster at the pound. We didn't eat him.

Our lobsters

Kayaking on the ocean

 The beach we parked our kayaks on is actually a private one that belongs to the Rockefellers. They are gracious enough to allow people to stop and take a rest, however. Isn't that cool?

Lobster Stew at Jordan's Pond in Acadia. Yum!

Minke Whale 

We saw two different types of whales on our whale watching tour. We saw finback whales, minke whales and seals on our tour. It was great!

Sunset on Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park

Another shot of the Sunset on Cadillac

Lighthouse at Owl's Head, Maine

At the top

Dave and I had an aMAINEzing time in Maine. We can't wait to do it again sometime!

If any of you ever want to go to Maine, here are few tips I've compiled:

-If you think you've packed enough sweaters to bring to Maine in the Summer, go ahead and throw a jacket in the mix...just in case

-Expect to FREEZE if you go whale watching. Bring a hat. and gloves. and a down jacket.

-If you have any motion sickness issues at all and want to go whale watching, watch out! I didn't actually use a sickness bag, but there were definitely some used by other passengers. The only thing that kept me from losing my lunch were the complimentary crackers and the ginger ale. It was touch and go for a while there.

-Stay in Bar Harbor. Don't bother driving North to try and see a moose or other wildlife. Bar Harbor is where it's at.

-Do not miss the opportunity to go to the restaurant in Acadia National Park called Jordan's Pond.

-If you eat at a lobster pound where the locals are said to eat, don't put on a cute, lightweight dress. Wear sweats, a t-shirt and a jacket. That's what everyone else will be wearing, and you don't want to freeze while eating lobster.

-Don't plan to wear cute shoes. Nice sandals or tennis shoes are the way to go.

-Bring a backpack for hiking with essentials like: a camera, sunscreen, snacks and water for shopping or hiking. You never know when you'll see something amazing.

-It's totally natural to check out real estate prices and try to figure out a way to move to Maine once you are there. Maybe just a summer home like Martha Stewart. Ha! (That is normal, right? Because I'm still strategizing on the best way to get myself up there more often.)

-Last but not least; Houston's weather will feel even hotter when you return from your wonderful vacation up North!

Thanks for taking a peek at my blog! Love, Amber