Lizzie's 1st Gymnastics Meet!

Well, Saturday was Lizzie's very first real gymnastics meet! She is on the team at Gold Medal Gymnastics, Level 4, and they compete against girls at other gyms that are the same level and the same age on the bars, beam, floor and vault. Lizzie is brand-new on the team, and has only recently learned the beam and floor routines, so she was very very brave to do this! Her coach, Amanda Borden, was right there with her the whole time, cheering her on, and helping her remember when to salute the judges and things like that. The rest of the family was there, too, cheering her on and video-taping everything! WE ARE SO PROUD OF HER!!
Her best event was the vault - she scored a 7.8 (it's really good for her first time!), and we were impressed that she even did the beam because she just learned the routine last week. She had planned on "scratching" that event, but decided to go ahead and do it anyway. I wish you all could have seen the beautiful dismount she did off the beam - she held a handstand strong and firm, then jumped off and stuck her landing!
She'll have several more chances this fall to compete, and we're excited for her - especially now that we know how this all works!

It's Fresh Squeezed!

After church today, Lizzie decided that it was time we had ourselves some fresh-squeezed Orange Juice. So, for the next HOUR, Lizzie and Eli squeezed the juice out of 6 oranges - about a cup's worth of juice. We all enjoyed our 1/4 cup of fresh juice! (Luckily, Ivy was taking a nap!) It really was delicious!

Thanks, Mom!

Ivy loves her Groovy Girl! (She named her "Ivy") and she wore her purse to church today!

Thanks!

I (heart) Cardiologists!

Great News! Ivy is A-O.K.! Last week when we went in for her 2-year old check-up, the doctor said she heard a heart murmur and we needed to get it checked out. So, this morning was my appointment with the pediatric cardiologists, and after a very thorough exam, including an ultrasound of her heart, the Doctor declared her "just fine." It's an innocent heart murmur. I'm glad it wasn't a guilty one! heehee.
Thank heavens!

It Starts.

We have been so looking forward to Lizzie getting some real homework for so long that when she brought home the paper last week explaining about a project due next Wednesday, we were so excited! Lizzie's first real homework! Here's what it was: A project where she has to make a timeline of her life. Sounds simple enough - she's only 7. Well, lemme tell ya, folks, it was no picnic. We spent no less than 5 hours on this thing. Because, you know, it's Lizzie's homework and all, and she's supposed to do it, but I have to supervise, to make sure she isn't spelling incorrectly and why in the heck are all the good markers Permanent? There is no room for error, my friends, and the pressure is on. I stepped away for a second, and I came back to "Aunt Erin got merried, May 2003." But upon further thinking, I realized that both words worked equally well. So we left it.

So, please enjoy our joint effort masterpiece. Please note that she starts with her birth, and ended with what she learned in school today. We were nothing if we weren't thorough. Please also note the time of this post (I just put Lizzie to bed an hour ago).

I will admit, though, it was pretty sweet to look at everything she's done and everywhere she's been and everything she's learned in the last 7 1/2 years. Even she got teary at the end saying, "I wish I could go back in time! I've done so many things!" So I suppose the homework served its purpose.

I guess what I hadn't realized is that now I get "real" homework, too!

I'd like to thank...

I keep forgetting to thank Ward Andrews for the Waterskiing picture of Adam! That was a fantastic shot! Sorry I forgot to acknowledge your skills!

Primary Program

The Primary children presented their program in church today - my favorite meeting of the year! I was such a proud mother as I watched them singing and saying their little parts. The best of all had to be when Ivy sang with the rest of her nursery class "Jesus wants Me for a Sunbeam" It was the cutest. And she sang every word! Imagine that. She didn't get shy or throw a fit or anything! Well, she did turn around for half of it to look at all the other kids. (Also, you should know that she is wearing her famous black boots under that pretty yellow dress - she's a rocker chick under it all!)

Let's see, also, Eli left for the bathroom twice and was trying for a third - all during songs he didn't know as well. Very suspicious. He also sang "I Hope they Call me on a Mission" with 3 other kids up at the pulpit and sang the whole thing with his fists on either side of his face, propping up his head. Kinda hard to sing that way, but he sure looked cute!

Lizzie was so grown up - she sang all the words to all the songs, and delivered her part with confidence! After the program, she said her favorite part was the closing song, "I Know that My Redeemer Lives." On the last verse, the congregation joined in, along with the organ and violin (I got to play an obbligato part). She said the spirit was so strong and it almost made her cry and that she was singing as big as she could.

That's what it's all about!

An Anniversary

Today it is ONE year since we moved into this house! In some ways it seems like we just got here and in some ways it seems like we've been here forever. The sad news is that now I can't use "oh, we just moved here" as an excuse for everything. Drat.


We love this house, though. It fits us just right, we love the pool, and once we cleared out half our junk at a yard sale this summer, we were finally able to use our 3-car garage for both cars! We did lose our only tree last winter (a ficus), so in that respect, the front of the house looks worse for us having been here - but on the whole, I think we've made some positive changes!


What a great year it's been!

I Have GOT to Streamline!

On Thursday, I was trying to tell Adam what I had done yesterday, and I knew I had been incredibly busy and that I was exhausted, but I couldn't really tell him why. Well, then I started listing off the number of meals I had assembled or cooked, not including snacks. You can judge for yourself.

BREAKFAST

7 a.m.: made Lizzie a bagel with schmear
assembled Lizzie's lunch
Prepared Adam's breakfast toast
7:30: Eli and Ivy want bagels, so I schmear and serve
Eli also wants scrambled eggs
8:00 The eggs have finally cooled to tepid and Eli is willing to eat them.
8:30 Eli thought "the more salt, the merrier" and did 24 shakes onto his eggs, which are now completely inedible.
9:00 I eat some yogurt for breakfast and Eli finally goes to preschool.

LUNCH

11:15 Ivy eats lunch, because I know she's going to fall asleep when I pick up the preschool carpool, and I'm hoping she'll actually stay asleep for a nap. HA! I have a few bites of her chicken nuggets, but I'm really not that hungry yet.
11:45 We leave to pick up the carpool.
12:25 After dropping the kids off at their respective houses, we go directly to Paloma to pick Lizzie up. It's early day, and she had lunch at school, but Eli hasn't yet, and I'm starting to get cranky, because now I am hungry, too.
12:35 Ivy wakes up 7 seconds before Lizzie gets in the car.
12:45 I give Eli some lunch, Ivy and Lizzie a snack, and try to put Ivy down for her real nap.
1:30 I eat lunch.

DINNER
4:20 After homework and piano, Lizzie needs to eat an early dinner, since she has gymnastics tonight from 5-8. I assemble some random food.
4:53 After Lizzie changes, gets her hair done and we actually get all of us in the car with all our shoes on and seat belts clicked, we're late and racing to the gym. Eli and Ivy, who are hungry now, are trying to eat the corn dog that Lizzie is eating in the car. With ketchup. All three are ravaging a plastic baggie of sliced apples as I plead helplessly from the driver's seat to let Lizzie eat them and make promises of more food coming soon.
5:20 Now it's time to make dinner! Eli and Ivy have turned into adroit scavengers, sneaking bits and pieces of anything edible they can lay their hands on.
6:15 I've made a nice dinner of marinated chicken, corn on the cob, and salad with avocados and sauteed mushrooms. Adam's not home yet, but I'm starving, and the kids are eating the place mats.
6:30 By the time we officially start eating, the kids are not hungry anymore, so they each eat a half cob of corn (Eli was closely monitored with the salt this time) and call it good. Well, I take that back. Ivy also ate about 15 tomato slices and some baked beans. I'm not exaggerating about Eli.
6:40 Adam comes home, and he's the first person not to say "EW! Slimy!" when he sits down at the table to the avocados and mushrooms. We finish up dinner together, then put Eli and Ivy to bed.
8:15 Lizzie comes back from gymnastics and is justifiably hungry. We rustle up some (more) grub.
9:15 Adam asks what I did today. All I can say is that I fed the kids. He's just lucky I didn't FedEx the kids. Ha! You think I'm joking!! (i am, i think)

It's Raining Rain, Hallelujah!

Hooray!!! It rained today! First time, I think, since July. "It smells so fresh!" says Lizzie. The water that fell over the edge of the roof was muddy because there was so much dust and dirt accumulated on the roof! Gross! But, we all enjoyed the cooler, clean fresh air after a pretty good storm rolled through!

"Wake" Up People!!

This is Adam getting some "air-time" at the first Young Men's activity he planned. Serving in the church is so much work!!!!!!

Thinking inside the box.

Ivy turns 2!

2 balloons, 2 candles, 2 dozen cupcakes! We celebrated Ivy's 2nd birthday today! (Even though her actual b-day isn't till Monday.)

We went to Desert Breeze Park and rode the train (twice), and the carousel (twice).

Then the kids cooled off at the splash pad. (It was about 103 degrees today.)

After that, we came home to Par-Tay!

(I promise Ivy was excited - it seems that her hat and her face don't quite match!)

When she opened her presents, her favorite was a big doll house! She played with it for an hour solid and then cried when we pulled her away and put her to bed.

What a fun day!

Invisible Lemonade 4 Sale

Future Business Leaders of America, TAKE NOTE: Selling invisible products yields huge profit margins.

When I told Eli that we couldn't do a lemonade stand today because we didn't have any lemonade, he was sad for a second, then his eyes lit up and he said, "We'll sell invisible lemonade!" Which, I believe, in his mind, is even better than the real stuff. It still costs 25 cents, by the way. And when I purchased mine, he told me to take a gulp of air. "Doesn't it taste like brownies?" he said. I told him I thought it was supposed to taste like lemonade, but silly me. "No, it has the flavor of lemonade, but it tastes like brownies." Talk about turning lemons into lemonade! Ha! That's for sissies! He turned air into money-jingling, brownie-flavored lemonade! Yes, I think he'll do quite well in the business world.

I Know Someone Who Sleeps Alot

This was the log cabin we stayed in on our trip to the Grand Canyon. Notice how Ivy is sleeping with her favorite pink sparkle shoes on. And Eli. Well, what can I say? He fell asleep that way!

When I went to wake Lizzie up for school last Friday, she was already awake and eating breakfast. As I assembled her lunch, she recited three verses of a poem for me that she'd thought up that morning. She figured out some more on Saturday. She says she's not done yet, but here's what she's got so far! Here goes:

I know someone who sleeps alot,
his name is Barney Joe,
he kind of looks like Santa,
and always says "ho, ho."

I know someone who sleeps
alot, she likes to make weird faces,
her name is Petunia Wyent,
and she never ties her laces.

I know someone who sleeps alot
his name is Marty Wax
His favorite goblet's name
is Max.

I know someone who sleeps alot
her name is Penny Lumiest.
Even though she is the glumiest
I laugh, for she's the funniest.

I know someone who sleeps alot,
and she's a puppy wuppy,
her coat is made of fur,
and her real name is Uppy.

I know someone who sleeps alot,
his name is........I don't know.
Can you guess?
For we might have a
show.

(Show your guess here)
__________________

I know someone who sleeps alot,
and all his friends are married,
and since I had a baby
my baby I have carried.

All I can say is, sometimes I wish I knew three little kids who slept a
little bit more...

Ivy has a mole.

Yes, Ivy has discovered a new and exciting and nameable body part. It is a mole. You see, she has always been rather obsessed with the mole on my forehead. All the kids were, really. Eli once asked me why I was so "moldy." So, as Ivy was learning the different names to her her body parts, she would point to my nose and say "nose," my ears and say "ears" and my mole and say "mole." So one day I decided to point out that she had a mole too, on her upper arm. Well, she went berserk. She had never noticed it before! Now, she loves to play "hide-and-seek-Mole" where she says "Where's the mole? I don't know!" and then lifts up her sleeve, and there it is! Still there! You can always get her distracted from anything else she is doing by asking her where her mole is.

Ain't it Grand?

The Three Mugwumps at the Grand Canyon. Poor Grandpa Muir had to leave the vicinity while we took this snapshot. He was sure all three kids were going to plunge headfirst to the bottom of the Colorado River.

Sunset Crater

This was taken near Flagstaff, on our drive home from the Grand Canyon on Labor day. We took a pit stop at Sunset Crater National Monument and learned about the 600 volcanoes in the area! Wow! One just erupted less than 1000 yrs. ago, which Adam insists is like yesterday in the volcano world.

The Stewart Family Blog!

Hi Friends and Family!

We thought this would be a great way to keep in touch with all y'all! Now Sameth doesn't have to grumble about maneouvering through the Costco website to see our pictures!

We are well into the fall here, if not in temperature, then certainly with activities! Lizzie (7) is busy with 2nd Grade, piano, gymnastics (she's competing for the first time this fall!), Eli (5)is busy with piano, gymnastics, preschool and kindergarten prep, and Ivy's just a busybody. She'll be two next week!

Adam and I are loving our pool this time of year. It has been fabulous. Also, Adam has just been called as the Teacher's Quorum advisor, and for their first activity, they went wake-boarding all day today. I think he's gonna like this calling.

So, "Stewartopia" is now open for business! We'll do our best to update and post lots of pictures! It's the Best of the Stewarts!