. . . updating . . .

It is time. Time to update my blog. I have about 17 drafts that I need to write up and add pictures to and post. Life has been so crazy. And I have been living it. And not documenting it. It is coming :)

Quadruplet Craziness!

I have done some pretty difficult things in my life like running an actual marathon when I was 19, having multiple root canals and giving birth 5 times. . .

But nothing compares to the energy and stamina required to entertain 5 children under the age of 2!

Emily and I had the great honor of "experiencing" the intricate, behind-the-scenes workings of caring for multiples--quadruplets to be exact, in addition to a new born baby!

It was literally a 24 hour job with a few cat naps thrown in for good measure.

As a guest, I was grateful for the 10 pm to 6 am nights of dead sleep. Mom and Dad were not so lucky. They were both up several times during the night soothing, shushing, cuddling, and feeding the 5 "babies." How they have survived these past two years? Let me tell you . .. They are AMAZING parents, that's how!

We took the quads in the RV to the San Diego Wild Animal Zoo. The main attraction at the zoo were the quads! People couldn't get enough of them. I never noticed the heards of wild deer or the lion lazing on top of a safari jeep. I didn't hear the toucans or notice the monkeys. My eyes were focused on 4 sets of little feet and the paths they took those little wild bodies!

We thought the train would be a calm relaxing experience. They would all be contained of course. Not so! It was all the 4 of us big people could do to keep their sippy cups and gold fish crackers from being hurled out of the train car. It took great strength to keep them in their seats. It was musical chairs on steroids!

Amber left me alone with the quads while she ran a very short errand. I thought, no problem. I can handle 4 toddlers for 30 min on my own!

I started them out with Popsicles. It was the only photo of them all together I could get. Then I quickly herded them to the bedroom and closed us in. We were having a great time giggling and playing with the toys until I noticed little Michael had something in his hands. It was two handfulls of tampons!!! I confiscated them and found the source and as I was taking care of that, I heard a scream. I turned around and found Anthony taking a big bite out of poor little Jaileigh who had gotten stuck with him in the tunnel tube! As I was soothing and distracting them, Amber came home. Phew! We survived!

My favorite part was rocking and singing them to sleep! What beautiful and sweet little people they are.

Emily was able to stay and help Amber for an entire month. It was a good experience for her and it will look great on her babysitting resume ;)

We will miss the quaddies and little Annie so much (Mike and Amber too)! We hope to "experience" them again soon!

Swimming Lessons--Finally!

Swimming lessons in an outdoor pool in Idaho in June could be a little risky! Hypothermia, frost bite, chills. It has been known to snow in July.



The pool temp was turned up to 90 degrees to ease the bite of the breeze and the boys jumped in for their first swimming lessons.

Friends Katelyn, Damien, Hunter and Connor Hamming it up.

Hunter and Connor are natural fish in the water, and now they know some good techniques to go along with their doggy paddle and splish splashing.

We were late getting Hunter started in swimming lessons at 8 1/2, but he did great and easily advanced to the next level.

Connor at 6 1/2 did well too. I don't know if it's such a good idea having him in the same class with his brother and best friend, because each time the teacher would turn his head, Connor the shark would attack and try to dunk everyone! What a goof ball.

Now it's time to practice practice practice! Rigby Lake, here we come!

Chelsea's Shower

I am so happy for my friend, Chelsea and her beautiful little baby BOY, Gunner!

Chelsea did not know what she was going to have, and her favorite color is GREEN, so we threw her a spring green baby shower (secretly, I thought she would have a girl).
Just look at Grannie looking at Chelsea, priceless!
It wasn't the easiest thing for Chelsea to get this little fella. She went through a rough patch, so that made the shower even more exciting. People were so generous and the gifts were piled up on the lawn!

It was the easiest shower I have ever helped with! I was in charge of hosting and helping to decorate. Of course the wind was up to no good and kept blowing the decorations away!

The food was prepared by my friends. Easy for me!

We had a great turn out and a great time, and now Chelsea has a GREAT baby!

Congrats Chelsea, you deserve it!

Hannah's BIG Haircut

When your teenager comes to you a little before midnight begging you to cut her hair (after much agonizing debate with herself), you jump on the opportunity. . . especially if said teenager doesn't normally ask you for your help.

You may even consider it a bonding opportunity.

Just be cautious that in the middle of cutting her hair, she may change her mind and have a melt down, and when you get half way through you realize you are in way over your head and that the easy loooking style on youtube isn't quite as easy as it seems.

And if that happens, just have everyone take a deep breath and calm down and realize that there are no beauticians open at that hour in Rural Idaho and you will just have to make do.


Then once you REGROUP, you can finish the job to the best of your ability, and then everyone will be all smiles and you can go to bed!

Hannah really looks adorable with her new cut! She has donated her hair twice in the past to locks of love and is holding on to this lock for a little while until she decides what to do with it.

Hunter's 2nd Grade Play

Hunter was a very cute bumble bee at his 2nd grade play. He buzzed around the room acting more like a rabid bee than anything else :) Since Connor only went to kindergarted Tues, Thurs, and every other Friday, he was available to go to the play with me. I'll miss my little buddy next year when he will be gone all day every day.
Silly Brothers!

The Wonderful Mrs. Stewart and the Amazing Hunter Bee

Ah, my darling boy, how I love you so!

Hunter had a great year. He had a wonderful teacher who encouraged and helped him to soar!

Mother's Day 2010

It is a privilege and honor to be a mother to these 5 vibrant and amazing children!

Connor

Alex




Emily

Hannah

Hunter

Our New Baby Girl

Our family just didn't feel complete. We were missing something. We never knew what it was

until we adopted . . .

our new 3 year old Pomeranian--Pug; Baby Girl!

She came into our home and melted our hearts.

I watch the kids kiss her and let her lick their feet. They giggle and tell her that they love her. She crawls to the bottom of their covers and cuddles up with them for the night.

Like a puzzle piece, Baby Girl fit in perfectly with our family.

We never knew that being dog owners would bring us so much joy. James and I seriously did not think we would like it. Even James has a soft spot for her. He got caught today sharing a bit of his snow cone with her.

And well, everyone knows who Baby Girl loves best!

Men and Mother's Day Frames

The best gifts are gifts of love, and the guys that James works with know all about that!

I was invited to be a guest teacher for a brown bag forum for Mother's Day at James' office. I thought long and hard about the project the men would be creating and presenting to their wives on that delicate holiday. The project would need to be simple yet sophisticated and most importantly, fool proof and of course, cheap.

The plan was almost perfect . . . until I asked the men to pick an accent color for the flowers. I was hoping they would pick a color their wives would love such as a color found in the accents in their homes, or even their favorite color.
James warned me to limit them to a few good choices. But I had faith in the men. After the men came up with 25 different color choices including; peach, tan, sea green, mauve, 4 shades of blue, etc, I knew I should have listened to James. I mean, who wants TAN flowers? They were told to choose a color found in their homes. I guess they were looking at the walls or something! Silly Men!

Some of the men were very ambitious and made more than one frame. I was very impressed with how well they did. So were their wives! Way to impress, men!

A Good Deed Unpunished?

Today I am shocked and amazed!

A good deed went unpunished (see previous posts).

I rescued a play cast member's costume and sacrificed making dinner for my family.

I took tickets to the show to a friend.

She asked me if I had eaten. I hadn't.

She asked me if my family had eaten. I said no, and like a baby, a lump formed in my throat. I swallowed it because I didn't want her to think I was pathetic. We do have peanut butter in our cupboards for just such an occasion (and many others), after all.

But I was off to a girl's camp meeting and knew I wouldn't even have time for peanut butter.

Her house smelled like heaven and my stomach grumbled. She wants to own a restaurant someday.

She said she made way too much and would I please take some of it home.
I beamed.

I let myself cry on the way home. Then it hit me. . . A good deed went unpunished. And I thanked the Guy Upstairs.

Tomorrow I will have a new attitude :)

My Son, the Star

I never imagined how wonderful it would be to have a high schooler.

(Beauty and the Beast RHS--The set and costumes were A-mazing!)

I never imagined that seeing my son in a school play would thrill me so.

(Alex was a giant spoon, the book seller, a wolf, and a towns person)

I never imagined that watching a bunch of teenagers act out a play could give me goose bumps, make my eyes sting and cause a lump to form in my throat.

(and he was a goof ball who perfected the dry ice effect)

Alex was a bright, shining star on stage tonight, and my heart is swelled to twice its normal size.

Not even Broadway could have done Beauty and The Beast better (Proud Mom's are allowed to be a little biased).

I sat on the front row and for a moment remembered what it was like to have been on stage myself when I was his age, singing and acting my lungs out.

Tonight, for a moment, I relived high school.

And it was awesome.

(I was also told by Chip's character that I looked way too young to be Alex's mom!)

Icing!

How Can I Despair?

I woke up to snow this morning . . . but how can I despair when I see such a miraculous shade of green peeping up through the white?

Nothing can stop spring from making her triumphant entry. Not even a little snow.

So, Yesterday at Dinner . . .

Hannah said "Mom's remedies for everything: If you're hungry--drink water; if you have a sore throat--gargle with salt water; if you don't feel well, take a shower."

I laughed a little, but then had a strange feeling that that's what they are going to say about me after I''m dead . . . dear old mom used to always say . . .

My Text to James Today . . .

My text to James today:

still have headache. took more drugs. sipping tea and nibbling crackers.




reading blogs in bed.

made 3 tier cardboard cake with Connor.



Connor left with Damien.

back to bed.

debating getting up to tidy.

deciding to stay in bed.



know where camera is?

March 25, Pinewood Derby

There is nothing cuter in this world than a little 8 year old cub scout and his pinewood derby car!

Hunter helped his daddy build this green car with the sparkly golden eagle embossed on the hood for speed!



Thankfully the race was not about speed because the "Green Machine" was a tad on the slow side.

Hunter's two biggest fans: James and Connor


Hunter getting "the Green Machine" award.

Alex's Antics PI Day March 14

It's 11 PM and Alex announces that tomorrow is PI day so he needs to bake a PIE.
Somewhat exasperated I tell him that it has to bake for an hour. Of course he doesn't mind. What's sleep when you get to eat pie the next day? I give him the directions and he heads to the kitchen to look for my tattered recipe for Betty Crocker's famous pie crust.

After about 20 minutes I want to smack myself in the head. I have a light bulb moment; I could be spending precious time with my son teaching him one of the few things I actually do well. I wonder why I am sometimes slow to get these important instant messages from above?

I jump up and head to the kitchen to find Alex handling a giant flour and shortening LUMP.
The lump immediately goes into the trash can and we start over making the thinnest, most tender crust possible. We fill the soft crust with home made pie filling from our very own trees, bottled in the past fall.


(I'm not a fan of my son being shirtless with his underwear showing, buy hey, it's nearly midnight!)

Then Alex goes to work carving pi into the pie.


The class pigged out on about 20 pies to celebrate "PI Day" 3-14 (March 14).

Onto other antics. . .

Alex Loves to eat gummies. Gummy worms, gummy bears, gummy pizza, you name it! He'd probably eat gummy ice cream if there were such a thing. So why not make your own?

You can find tutorials on anything on the internet. I know this because Alex lives for tutorials!


Improvised double broiler

Check out Alex posing in the background. What a goof ball!

They kept burning each other. I was laughing!


Gummy sheet layers?

The finished product. Very strange. Somewhat like jello jigglers, and somewhat like gummies.



Sadly, Alex didn't like them very much and so the rest of us had to eat them all!

End of story.