<32 Degrees Plus Fog Equals...

The last few days have been pretty foggy in the mornings here in Utah Valley. We keep waking up to all the trees frozen and it is so beautiful. It doesn't last long since it usually melts the minute the sun comes over the mountain.

Busted

I've been absent from the blog for awhile and I think I am getting the cyber-stink eye from some of you so I'll throw you a bone guys!  Here is what's been going on here:

1. Not much

2. Very little

3. Nothing

4. Zip

Now that Christmas is over and put away I've been taking some time to recover from this last year.  When I read thru the blog I really can't believe what we've been thru in the last 18 months.  It's hard to know what you can handle until you've done it.  You look back and think,"I did that?  HOW??"  

I've done a lot of writing the last few weeks and realized that we have a lot of things to work on still but that we have made tremendous progress.  Lowell and I are really happy, the kids are hanging in there and Hazel is improving.  She's in the hands of very qualified doctors who have her best interest and future at heart.  We are so blessed to have had so much help from all of you.  Thanks.  

Know that even when I don't comment, I'm still tuned in...keeping tabs on you.

Until next time...

Jen

Another Arctic Winter

Lowell is a great dad.  He talks our girls on all kinds of wonderful activities.  This was a snow hike they went on with Grampa Jim.

Piper is such a mini-me...

Julia:  all glamour, all the time

Chloe:  What can be said?  She runs us ragged and we love her like crazy!

Hazie in her Piggy jammies with her dad.

Today at a Glance...

1.  Snowed in...literally

2.  Re-runs on TBS

3.  Multiple showings of Wall.e

4.  Yummy left over Christmas snacks

5.  Snuggling with my little girls all day

Quote of the day:

Chloe: "Mom!! Get rid of my apple nuts!" 

me: "What??"

Chloe: "These...I hate these little things in my apple (seeds)."

My Own Personal Brownie

So you know what a Brownie is right?  It's a little male fairy that lives in the homes of humans and helps them with chores and fixing things.  They do all of this at night while the humans sleep and like to be rewarded with little bits of food.  It is also rumored that if you leave them proper ingredients they will make you lovely treats in the middle of the night. Yummmm!

ANYway-I really do have my own personal Brownie!  He doesn't live here but he does visit a few times a year and really makes my life a lot easier.  I wake up and the garbage is out, the dishwasher is empty, the laundry is folded and ready to be put away.  Everything stays more tidy when he's here and all kinds of little things around the house mysteriously get fixed.  He even does magical things like cleaning out my garage and organizing my junk room!  Really-it's pure heaven!  

So why don't I invite this fabulous helper to move in as a permanent part of the family? Well...he has more demanding work to be done in California where he lives with my mom!

Thanks Dad!

True Domestic Bliss

I only have 2 truly blissful domestic moments that I can think of. I wish they both happened everyday but then they might become less blissful if I saw them too often. One is the precious few minutes right after school and before dinner. If the stars are aligned and I've had a 'good' day this can be the best part of it. If I have dinner planned and ready to go. If the little girls are fed and have napped. If I have a nutritious and yet tempting after school snack ready and waiting then this is the best part of my day. The kids buzz in talking about their day and get started on their homework at the counter while they have a snack. Chloe will do her "homework" along side them (usually coloring or play dough) and Hazie sits on the counter with me while I do bits and pieces for dinner. The big girls quiz each other on math facts and spelling words and we hang art work on the fridge. Whoever finishes first starts their chores or helps with dinner and we all look like a big happy family when dad gets home.

Like I said...this is far from an every day occurance. Usually they run in from carpool fighting, barking and/or complaining and catch me napping with Hazel while Chloe scales the backyard rock wall with no shoes on. I groggily reach for my DP, wonder what I'm serving for dinner in 90 minutes and try to remember the last time I changed the baby. We sruggle thru homework, I make Top Ramen for dinner and then lock myself in my room the minute Lowell gets home.  A smidge less than "blissful" to say the least.

Anyway back to the bliss...my 2nd blissful time of the day is that heavenly moment when you turn off the lights in the kitchen. The kids are bathed and in bed. All the back packs and lunches are packed for morning. The dishes are done and the dishwasher is humming along  as it does chores for you. The place smells all bleachy and clean. You finally have a couple of quite hours to...do nothing if you want!  Total BLISS.

A Few More Firsts...

Chloe's first soccer game

Chloe's first daddy daughter date: practiced soccer and had an ice cream

Miss Jen's first ever home grown pumpkin harvest. See those pumpkins??? I grew them!

Hazie's first ever piggies! Love it!

Piper and Julia's first time as pop bottle creations...
they made these for the school fall festival.

3 'Firsts' & a 'Last'

First piece of toast

First day of PreschoolFirst Spaghetti! YUM!

Last BBQ of the season...here comes fall!

I'm Almost Back!

I spent Thursday-Sunday trying to get my house back together after being gone for a month and then having guests for 2 weeks.  (You know how it is, it's always more fun to gab and play with the visitors than do any housework...ooops!)  Anyway, needless to say the place was in pretty bad shape so I had to get crackin'.  

As of Monday morning we are scrubbed (including the carpet), organized, laundered and pretty much back to normal!  I'm so happy!  

Today I ventured out and took the kids ice skating. The 2 older girls brought a friend each so that brought the grand total up to 6 kids.  This is the first time I've had to get all my kids out the door with no help in quite a long time and I'm very sad to say it was a challenge.  I've been really spoiled with all my helpers this summer and being able to run out on an errand and leave Hazel and/or Chloe at home.  Anyway, we all survived the outing but I don't plan on doing it again anytime soon!

A Parting of The Ways...

We knew it would happen to someone. We all had our suspicions of who it would be and feared that it would be us! But it has finally happened to Jen and Lowell: the first of our peers are getting divorced.

You hear all the jokes about who gets the friends in the divorce but what if you really love both partners and want to keep them both? This is major new territory for Lowell and I. We don't have any divorced people in my family. I'm serious...all of my grandparents, aunts and uncles and siblings and parents are still together. Similar story for Lowell's side-all of his sibs are still married and parents too. I don't think I know anyone my age that's divorced...do I? Not anyone I know personally, just people I've know as acquaintances and even those are few and far between. Strange in a country that has a 2 to 1 divorce rate.

I think it scared Lowell and I. We've both been a lot more lovey and touchy the last few days-hoping to insulate ourselves a little bit. But the truth is that no one is immune. When a freind of mine's parents were in their 70's, his dad broke his hip and went to a rehab center for several weeks after his surgery. He met and fell in love with a woman who was also there for rehab. He divorced his wife and married her! Hmmmm, that tells me no one is off the hook!

I'm surprised at how deeply sad I am over this news. You always want the best for your friends and it's a sad realization that sometimes a parting of the ways is really the best way forward when a couple just isn't working. We wish them both well and hope the road ahead is smoother than the one they've traveled.

Wordless Wednesday: Photos from Gramma's Visit

My Mom

My mom has been here helping me dig myself out of the pit I was in with kids, house, doctor appointments and summer looming like a giant title wave just off the shore.  It's been great to have another adult around to absorb some the kids energy and needyness.  

She is getting me all set up for summer!   She found me a 'mothers helper' that is going to help with the big kids when Hazel has to go to all her appointments.  She got me to go to the doctor (my first real visit since Hazel was born!  yikes.), she took me to get my nails done and did my laundry.  She's been helping the big kids feel a little less neglected in the wake of Hazel's ordeals. She's letting Lowell and I go on our first real date in almost 8 months!  She took me on a fun girls night and I got to shop and buy a few clothes without an entourage!  It was the best Mother's Day ever having my mom here and all my girls!

Thanks mom!  There are still things that only a mom can fix!  Love you!

Noah & His Lemonade

Well....if you can believe it we had another flood! For those of you that don't know us well, we are almost professionals at flooding our own house. Last year in May we had the biggest and worst one yet where we had to replace almost all of the flooring on our main floor. That is a lot of flooring when you live in a rambler.

How is it possible that we had another flood, you may be asking yourself? It was a toilet again although a different one than the flood of '07. It was the malfunctioning inner-workings of the main hall bath toilet....what can I say? We're lame? We have bad luck? We need new toilets? We're going with answer #3 and have already ordered 3 brand new Toto Drake G-MAX 16 inch toilets. The best toilets around, made in Japan and recommended by plumbers. Can't wait to get those things installed and put the flood days behind us.

So here is a photo of the hall that they had to come rip out. We had fans and dryers and anti-microbial machines for days and needless to say I was pretty grumpy. Lowell almost blew a gasket--I seriously saw smoke coming out of his ears.


As a gesture of pure goodwill and friendship Traci gave me this 'cheer-up' gift and it totally made my day. The pitches says: "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade, then find someone who's life has given them vodka and have a party!"

The funniest part of this (besides the fact that neither of us drink) is that in Utah you have to go to the state liquor store to get vodka so Traci went in there with all the riff-raff to get this and was quite the spectical trying to 'fit in'! I love it! Fun and funny!

Perhaps I should spend a bit
more time watching the children???

Happy Happy Birthday Piper Dear!

Julia, Owen, Connor, Piper, Aynslee, Mitrian, Chloe and Zach

Piper turned 9 this week and we've kinda had a week of celebrating even though we've had a few other things going on! She had a party with her school friends on Saturday and that was really fun. It was nice to meet all the girls that she talks about all the time and spends so much time with. We were hoping to get together with some cousins and family friends too but...we'll see what happens.

Since Lowell and Hazel were still camped out at Primary's we decided to have the party over there. We brought up the presents and the cake and had a 'special' dinner at the cafeteria.

I really went all out and made the bunny cake! I remember my mom
(or maybe it was Gramma Jo) making me a cake like this when my
birthday fell near Easter one year. I'm pretty sure the one I got as a
kid was cooler than this, at least I remember it being cooler!
This is about as crafty as it gets for me with the cooking.

News Update: Explosion in Provo

Click here for explosion story 

This happened last night and it was so loud and shook our house so hard I thought something had landed on our roof.   I'm serious.  I realize the limitations of what could have possibly 'landed' on our roof but that's what I thought due to how loud it was.  Scary!

In other interesting Sunday Night news, Hazel's PICC line failed and the poor home heath nurse had to come out at midnight and take it out.  I'm not sure why they wanted it out so quickly (I'm guessing infection, but who knows) but out it came.  Anyway, Hazel seemed happy to be rid of it.  We'll see the doctor Tuesday and see where we go from here. I'm hoping the answer to that is:  back to normal!

Smart Habit Saturday: Hazel's Daily Stuff

I'm new to SHS but I'm here to tell you I need it bad!  Our world was turned upside down about 5 months ago when we added a new baby to our family--she is darling and amazing, however she has some major health issues that have added several things to my daily to-do list (extensive physical therapy, giving her meds, and skin care).  For some reason these things are really overwhelming me and I'm finding it hard to get them in consistently. My usual tactic of attaching a new habit to some existing habit isn't working that well so I think I am going to have to enlist the help of the whole family.  This week I am going to try doing all of her daily 'stuff' right after dinner while the rest of the family does the dishes!  This is a time that she is usually awake, pretty happy and we eat dinner everyday right??  Shouldn't be too hard.  OK the hard part will be getting the rest of the family to happily do the dishes!  We'll see how it goes...

If you want to join SHS or just find out more about what it is check out one of my favorite sites: The Lazy Organizer.

In Memory of Pumpkin, Pokey, Olive, Patch & Midnight jr.

Patch and Pumpkin 2004

Well, we've done it again...another cat has passed on!  Lowell came home last night to find that Pumpkin had died in his box on the stoop-hopefully in his sleep.  If you don't know our history with cats it won't mean much when I say that we had him for over 3 years!  

Over the last few years we have tried to keep cats, usually 2 so they can keep each other company and whatnot but we have now lost 5 cats!  You must be thinking that we are bad pet owners but I swear only one death was pet owner related!  I ran over Midnight long, long ago and it was very sad! Pokey, Patch and Olive all mysteriously disappeared.  We live up in the foothills-- just one street off the full blown wildlife of the mountain so we don't know if a predator was getting to them or what.  Anyway-then Pumpkin died yesterday of what Lowell has diagnosed as heart failure.

Pokey 2005

So I think we are done with cats (and for that matter acquiring new pets in general) for the time being.  We still have Opal, our black cat, but she's not the brightest bulb in the box and I don't know how long she'll survive without good 'ole Pumpkin.  Anyway-farewell to our favorite feline!

Opal:  the lone survivor 2008

December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas from the Stewarts!  We have really enjoyed this season.  With the Hazel situation we have been forced to slow down and it has been so wonderful!  Here are a few pictures of our little crew on Hazel's first day at church.  She was really good and we lucked out because our ward only had sacrament meeting today.

This is the first picture of her with a smile, baby smiles are hard to catch on film!

Here is some text

Elves and Scrooges

OK, this is really funny...at least we think it is.  It might take a while to load, the server is really busy!

Elf girls  &  Elf boys

Scrooge