The Dream Club Presents:

A Variety Show!

The Highlight of the show was the Terrifyingly Entertaining Remake of the classic by The Weathergirls: "It's Raining Men."

The Dream Club took a Literal Interpretation Approach (this is not for the faint of heart!):
Believe me, we were all on the edge of our seats!
I would love to get our video of this uploaded... it's something to see!

Baby Stewart Stats

It's a boy.

100% chance he's a boy.

He left us no doubt of his gender.

I like that in a male.

He weighs 12 ounces.

Due to be personally introduced on January 10th. Let's hope for his sake that I make it to the due date this time. Isn't the week after Christmas the worst birthday time of the year? It is - just ask Adam!

Eli is excited to have someone to wrestle with. In Five years.

In the profile pictures, he has his left hand up near his forehead, in a kind of salute, like he's saying, "Hello, Parents, I'm doing fine in here. Please make sure Eli waits until I'm five years old to wrestle me."

We will, Rocket. We will.

Guesses?

I feel like it's a boy. We all want a boy. Well, except for Ivy, who wants a girl. We even have some boy names already picked out:

Root Beer

Rocket

Yoda

and if it's a girl, January.

(These were all brought to you courtesy of Lizzie, Eli, & Ivy)

We find out tomorrow. Anyone want to conjecture a speculation on the gender?

Music Weekend Overload! - this is not a joke!

Thursday - Opening Day for the CCC - what a project! 2 Choirs, 50 + kids, t-shirts, totes, music binders, rehearsal cds, uniforms, handbooks, rules & procedures...whew!

Saturday - All-day CCC Kickoff Retreat! Skits, games, music, sectionals, lunch & snacks, uniform measurements...whew!

Saturday afternoon - Voice lesson with Anne Kopta! French, English, Russian; preparing for Recital at the Assembly Hall in SLC with my mother on September 25th...whew!

Sunday morning - Primary Music! Made a game called "Songster" from the Spin Dial from "Twister" to sing all our review songs all different ways

Sunday evening - Rehearsed musical number for violin, piano & organ for next Saturday night's Conference session. Directed Stake Choir practice for Stake Conference next week.

No wonder I look like heck! And you should see my house...I'm choosing to blog instead...

Merry Christmas!

A group of kids from our choir did a recording this summer for Jerry Lawson. The kids really sounded great! It's a song called "Season's Greetings" and that pretty much defines my July and August - Christmas music Everywhere as I picked music for the CCC.

Almost inspiring...

This was taken this summer when my Dad wanted to record the kids singing this beloved song sweetly and sincerely to inspire his Sunday School class.

This was the third take, and the more serious we tried to get them to be, the worse it got.

Dad was about to delete this video from his iphone, when Mom and I declared it "family heirloom" status. Especially for Ivy. Please enjoy:

Eli's self-portrait

James, if you are checking this blog, I want you to know I hold you entirely responsible for this.

Tonight was Back-to-School Night. At the end of the long discussion about phonics and math manipulatives while all us parents were scrunched into First-Grade-sized chairs, we were told we could take home our child's self-portrait, which was taped to the back of the seat.

I noticed with pride the dual-toned hair. I noticed the neat coloring. Then I noticed the shape of the cut-out. Those weren't shorts our paper-Eli was sporting. I looked closer and noticed the belt was very purposefully colored, that the pattern was a colorful striped pattern - nay! It was plaid! Could it be? Did our First-Grade son request a girl-stlye cut-out so he could fashion himself a kilt?



We took home the curious artwork, and asked Eli, "What are you wearing?"

"A Kilt!" He was proudly exclaiming.

I'm glad Eli is proud of his Scottish heritage - just tell me - do you think we need to explain this to his teacher? :)

First Day!

Haircuts: Check.
Argyle: Check.
Notes from Mom in lunchbox: Check.

The Stewart kids are ready to start school!

The energy is palpable in the First Graders line...

Lizzie and Ashley play it cool in 4th grade...

Gonna be a great year!

Four States Down, 46 to go...

Hi!

I've been a blogging-nerd. Perhaps you might call it a blerd. Either way, I have been on overload, and have taken a break from the blogosphere for a while. I sincerely apologize to my devoted readers!

As a reward to anyone left out there who may still check in on us...

Lizzie was born in Utah,

Eli was born in Virginia,

Ivy was born in Connecticut, and when my then-Ob-Gyn asked me, "Are you trying to have a child in every state of the country?!" I got an idea...

Baby Stewart #4 will be born in Arizona in about 5 months.

There. How's that for a reward! Thanks for checking in! :)

My Beamish Boy

My son is Seven! "O Frabjous day! Callooh, Callay!" Seven years ago, a delightful soul was introduced into our family. We have been blessed by him ever since. Eli is uncommonly charismatic, invariably curious, surprisingly gregarious, shockingly adventerous, accutely sensitive, admirably energetic, unconditionally forgiving, supremely confident, wincingly courageous, intensely intelligent, and laugh-out-loud funny. He makes people smile around him, wherever he is.

Have I ever told you what his first word was? It was "Hi!"
Did you know that at 7 months old he decided he was going to start standing and he practiced and practiced until by the end of the evening, he stood up steadily? Then a month or so later, he took off running, with no thought of fear. That is how Eli is.

A Seven-Year-Old! When I look at him, I just want to say, "Come to my arms, my beamish boy!"

So, to celebrate, Eli decided he wanted a "Games Galore Attack" birthday party. We played a LOT of games: twister, apples to apples, charades, pin the nose on the clown, and had an airplane flying contest.

Too Hot to Cook

For the last week, the weather has been over 107 degrees every day, except for last Tuesday...ah, Tuesday! Yes, it was a nice chilly 104 that day...

Anyway, the past 3 and the next 6 days are forecasted to be over 110 degrees. It's just plain Too Hot to Cook.

I rebelled last week and refused to turn the oven on to cook dinner. Here's what I did:

Main Course: Hot Day Salad. (I named it that.) Recipe from my Aunt Jan.

Dressing:
3/4 cup light sour cream
3/4 cup light mayo
3 Tbs. Honey
2 Tbs. lemon or lime juice

This dressing makes a lot, so for a family of 5, I would halve the recipe for dressing. Unless you have to go to a party this month and bring a salad. Then it's perfect.

Then, all you do is add:

Chicken, Diced. Hello, Costco canned chicken! Nice to see you on this warm day!
Grapes
Pineapple (I used canned.)

You can serve this plain, or spoon it into wheat pita pockets, which is what we did. So cool and delicious!

Next, A Side Dish: Green Pepper Tomato Salad

I found this recipe a couple weeks ago when I was browsing allrecipes.com for ideas of what to do with all our green peppers growing in our garden. This one is a winner. A winner, winner, cold chicken dinner.

3 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped (um, what's wrong with the seeds? I kept 'em in. Waste of time taking them out!)
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 celery rib, thinly sliced (I used that the first time I made it, the next time I used cucumber, because we also have an overabundance of those in the garden too.)
1/2 cup chopped red onion (we are growing green onions, so that's what I used. It was GOOD.)

Here's the dressing:
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

I felt my internal temperature drop just by eating that fresh salad. Yummy.

Dessert: No Bake Cookies. Recipe from Sunny Doller

I'd never made them before! Can you believe it? They're so delicious and easy. And all that oatmeal takes a twinge of the guilt away.

Put these ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a rapid boil for one minute. One minute, I swear, that's all the heat you'll have to endure!

2 cups Sugar
3 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup milk
Pinch Salt

Then add:
3 cups Quick Oats
1/2 cup Peanut Butter and
1 tsp. Vanilla

Mix Well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper and let cool.

There was no way our cookies were going to get cool enough without sticking them in the fridge or freezer. So that's what we did. Cold, Cold, Cold!

And if you're really, really hot, and you simply can't bear to turn the stove on either, you can make this dessert: (This was Eli's birthday cake this year.)

Ice Cream Cake. Recipe from Tasha Busby.

24 Ice Cream Sandwiches. Yes, I'm serious. 24. You'll need them all. Go get them.
2 Caramel ice cream syrup bottles. 2.
1 (8-oz.) ctn whipped topping, thawed.
6 Heath candy bars, crushed. 6, Adam, not 3. I saw you trying to skimp on the Heath bars last Saturday! Saving some for later??

Okay, now comes the hard part. Unwrap all the ice cream sandwiches. Luckily, I had Ivy with me to help on this, and she is an expert. You might need to borrow a three-year-old for this if you don't already have one at home.

Then, layer the sandwiches in a 9 x 13 pan. This should be about 12 sandwiches. If there's a half sandwich left over, I won't tell anyone if you give it to the three-year-old.

Next, pour the entire bottle of caramel over the ice cream sandwiches. Scoop out every drop, you'll be glad you did later.

Then, the next 12 ice cream sandwiches come in this layer. Then, the 2nd bottle of Caramel.

Next layer, cool whip. Spread it on.

Finally, after you've made sure your husband has crushed ALL SIX of the Heath Bars, you can spread that on the top.

Finally, cover with foil and freeze!

(We added the Kit-Kats for convenience at the party)


Did you see anywhere where a stove, microwave, or (perish the thought) an OVEN was mentioned? Yeah, me neither.

I share because I love.
Go forth and feed your families.

Eli's Lucky Number 7

Some people are luckier than others. Take Eli for example. He's just lucky. So, when you get a naturally lucky kid on his Seventh Birthday, (which incidently, is 7-11,) watch out. The planets have aligned, and there's just no stopping him!

Exhibit A: BACKSTROKE
We woke up early on Saturday for Lizzie and Eli's first ever Swim Meet. They've been holding meets all summer, but this is the first one we've been able to come to.

For whatever reason, Eli's heat was just him and one other boy. Lucky. He was either going to get 1st or 2nd place! (Eli's the one in the far lane.)

A blue ribbon his first race! Lucky!
Exhibit B: Breaststroke. He's against only 2 other boys. Lucky again!


He was a winner! 2 Blue Ribbons, 2 more races to go!
No pictures of the Butterfly - but guess what? He won 1st place again! Here he is setting up for the last race - Freestyle. Now, he's in a heat with 7 other boys his age! I was very worried he would be disappointed... ...especially after this "graceful" dive into the water - Yikes!
Check out the second lane in. That's Eli. Yep, he won again!
The lucky swimmer went away from his first meet with 4 Blue Ribbons! We couldn't believe it! What a great way to celebrate your Seventh Birthday!

Lizzie did really great, too. As you can imagine, it wasn't super fun for her to have her little brother keep getting so lucky, but she was a really good sport. She got two 3rd places, a 4th place and a 7th place! Great swimming!!

Need a magical pet? wand? robe? broomstick?

These are Lizzie's own creations: The Sightseer 1000 lets you "see what is going on with Aliens' brains from slo-mo to fast-forward;" the Future Frail glasses "let you see the future...not bad before Christmas!" and "Quen" sells quills and ink.Magical pets for sale: cats, bats, owls, spiders, and the gerbil
Never knew my old broom could look so snazzy!

Harry Potter

Lizzie is a little obsessed...

Frivolities on the Fourth

Couple things I forgot. This one probably because I blocked it out of my memory:

Adam.

Driving in Edinburgh's rainy weather.

On the Left Side of the Road.

With a Stick Shift!!!!!


TERRIFYING!!! Believe me, the first day, it really was.

Here's a day's harvest from our garden! There is something amazingly satisfying about planting, growing and eating your own food. We felt very self-sufficient that day. Yum.


Oh, and Ivy had a Princess Musical Theater Summer Camp this month. The performance was last Tuesday. She was in Princess HEAVEN.



Eli, two weeks away from his Seventh Birthday, FINALLY lost his first tooth. This picture was taken almost two months ago. He's had two rows of teeth for quite a while now. The dentist said to start saving our money for his braces, too. Yeesh. We really wanted him to get it out while we were in Scotland. But then it prompted a whole discussion on the Tooth Fairy's currency exchange rates, so it was probably for the best that he lost it in the USA.