Grand Canyon Trip

Last week, we took the family to the Grand Canyon. It’s an amazing sight to behold, and the kids loved it!

They mostly loved that there was snow on the ground. I think they’d have been happy if that’s all they saw.

But, the looks on these faces prove that they had a great time…

We also took Eric’s coworker who is visiting from India for a month. He’s a young single guy with no children, so I was a little worried that the 4 hour drive… each way… with 4 kids, would drive him to the edge. I’m happy to report that he handled it very well. I think he actually enjoyed their company.

All in all, it was another successful adventure for the Stewart Family.

Veteran’s Day Celebration 2010

Today was the Veteran’s Day Celebration at the school. They always do such a great job with the celebration. As in other years, we turned in my Uncle Keith’s name to be honored in the Flag Garden honoring those who died in their service. This always means a lot to the kids to see him honored there. Keith Strong was my Uncle, but I never got to meet him. His plane went down, and was never recovered. My sweet Aunt JoAnn lost him when they were young with 2 very young children. Our kids have always felt a connection to him, and respect for what he and his family sacrificed for our freedoms.

The kids were all involved in the celebration in one way or another. Chandler (5th grade) made a paper quilt to honor the Veteran’s. His quilt square was really creative. He’s become very artistic…

Shelby (4th grade) was in the chorus. Because of her height, she is always in the front row. She doesn’t like being the center of attention, so it’s kind of hard for her to be front and center. She has been SO brave! I’m so proud of how well she did, standing there in front. She knew every word, and did a GREAT job!…

Harley (1st grade) had a small speaking part that she practiced, and had down perfectly—“…While we are far apart.” She did great, and looked adorable with her big yellow ribbon…

Tatum sang a song with the other Kindergarteners. She knew every word and had a great time participating in her first Veteran’s Day Celebration…

I’m glad I got to be there for another great celebration.

Smooth Sailing

My life just got a whole lot easier… At the beginning of November I instituted monthly chores. Each child has 2 chores that they have to do every day for a month, and 2 chores they have to do once a week for a month. I realized that I was asking the kids to help with things, but asking them to help and having them respond is much different than handing the responsibility (and consequences, if needed) over to them to give them some ownership.

I made up 2 charts, so there couldn’t be any confusion. I’m especially pleased with my charts (I know they’re not very cutesy, but they get the job done!)…

I laminated them, and put Velcro on each section so that I can rotate the chores/month when we change to a new month…

Since starting this, my life has been a whole lot easier… and more productive. I’m able to get to the things that have been sitting around waiting for me, and I don’t feel overwhelmed by the mundane tasks of everyday living. The kids are really doing a great job of governing themselves, and our mornings are MUCH more pleasant. They know that if they don’t get their chores (along with their regular stuff like cleaning their rooms, brushing teeth, practicing piano, etc.) done before heading off to school, they don’t get any electronics after school. (I sound a little like a slave driver.)

So, long story—short… Mom is a happy lady when they all head off to school and I am left with a tidy home.

LOVE these ladies…

Last week, I had kind of a rough night… just “fighting dragons”, as we call it around here. A couple of YW noticed at mutual that I was a little distracted and down. So the next day, they came to my house and created a masterpiece that I LOVED!!!

I opened my door to find this (I call them pop-tarts a lot, so they left me a plate of pop-tarts.)…

It made me feel so awesome to know that those sweet YW would take their afternoon to come and lift me. What an amazing service they did… Just what I needed!

I love these Lindsay 2nd Ward YW, and I hope they understand just how much they mean to me. I consider myself EXTREMELY blessed to have a small part in their spiritual grow and progression. It’s a significant amount of pressure and responsibility, but I think it’s worth it and I’m sure I’m learning more from them than they ever will learn from me. They’re AMAZING!!!

Happy Halloween 2010!

Eric and I aren’t huge fans of Halloween, but the kids enjoy it, so we always participate. I admit we were a little relieved that it fell on a Sunday this year because it meant that we didn’t have to make a huge deal out of it. On Monday, we painted pumpkins for FHE. That was really fun…

We did get to go to the ward Trunk-r-Treat on Friday night. It’s always fun tot hang with ward members. We have the greatest ward. Here are all the kids in their costumes. (Chandler had a mask, but he wasn’t wearing it that night.)

The boys… (Budget Ninja, and Clone Trooper)

The girls… (Cleopatra, Ghost, and bunny)

Hope you all had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Disneyland, baby!

A few months back, we participated in a pretty cool program called “Give A Day, Get A Day.” We did one day of service, and for that, they gave us each a free ticket to Disneyland. So for Fall Break, we took the family to Disneyland. It was a whirlwind of a trip—drive in Sunday, Disneyland Monday, drive home Tuesday. As always, it was a blast!

Here are the kids waiting to go…

Getting ready to ride the Matterhorn…

The girls got to meet Tinkerbell…

Chandler piloted the blue Dumbo. Tatum and I rode in a yellow one.

Mr. Toad ride was a blast…

Eric and I even had a great time, in spite of the crowds …

On Tuesday, before heading home, we had to stop at In-N-Out Burger. Always a good time…

Our kids are the greatest! We had a GREAT trip!