Dreary Weekend = Adorable Pictures

"Mommy, I'm so tired, can we just snuggle for a while?"

"Hey Daddy, you're missing the best part! Come and read the Mine-O-Saur book with us!"





"Gettin' lost in my big brown eyes?....Thought so..."



















"Gotcha!"

Lunch-time Napper

Yesterday we had a lunch-time napper at the table. She does this quite often.

Courage

Today, my team and I, along with our 150 students went to a Courage Retreat put on by Youth Frontiers. It started off with lots of games and icebreakers and stories and then evolved into small group talks and large group stories from the facilitators. It ended with a time for the students to write about an act of courage that they are going to commit to, then it was open to anyone who wanted to share....All I can say is: "Wow." I'm amazed at how open minded our kids were. I'm amazed at how many are brave enough to share their fears with everyone. I'm amazed at the courage that some of these young people have. It also astounds me at the "stuff" that these young people carry.

I read a book called, "The Things They Carried." It's a story about soldiers and their journeys through their tour of duty and it literally talks about the physical things they carried, but more so about what they carried emotionally. I read the book several times because it just touched my heart and hit home in so many ways. Today I thought of many of my students and thought about the things that THEY carry everyday; the things that I probably never had to worry about.

So, for my act of courage, I want to show more empathy toward others. I grew up in a family where we didn't show much emotion, we had the occasional hugs or "I love you's" but not like what I WANT to have and so I feel like I am a very 'tough-love' type of person (with both students and family). I want to show others the empathy that I feel. (Maybe I can beat the odds and change my empathy score...)

Safe Or Not?

How do you tell if a website is legit? Josh received an email from SCSU, (which I thought had a filter on the emails it sent out) about a website through which we found some info on doing typing work from home. Needing extra money, and the attraction of the flexibility of this type of job appeals to both of us, but it just makes us nervous with all of those people out there who may be running a scam...

Any suggestions?

Lucky #13

Sara and I ran the Earth Day Half Marathon Relay together this morning and came in 13th place with a time of 1:56:56! I'd say we did pretty darn good! She had the amazing start and we high-fived at the 6 mile marker; I was on my way. I actually shaved a few minutes off my normal run time so I was pleased with myself, especially since I had quite a few hills in the race. If I would have run 5 minutes faster we would have placed 5th! That's how close most of the times were for the relay.

I just love the race atmosphere! I love that excited, butterflies in the stomach, adrenaline pumping, want-to-push-yourself-harder feeling that only a race can give you. I love the spectators; cheering for thousands of strangers. I love the volunteers; they clean up after us and keep us on the right track. I love the other runners; they make me want to keep going when I'd rather stop. They motivate me to run faster, run harder. Running is like a huge, strange family...I think its something everyone has to experience for themselves to understand.

(That's me in the white on the left.)

Even though my joints and feet are a little stiff right now, my stomach hurt after (I had to go...a lot) and I have a hint of a blister on my left pinky toe, I am already excited for my next race; I don't know when or where it will be, but I know it will be great.

Spring Update

Hi there...I'm just peeking out from under my pail to give you a little update on what's been happening at the Stewart house this spring...

Well, for starters, my sister and I are getting really big and we are doing all kinds of cute things. I am jibber-jabbering and I like to play peek-a-boo with my pail. I love to feed myself snacks like crackers, dried apple bites, or little puffy snacks. I have two teeth on bottom so I am working on chewing with them...they sure are sharp!


Also, as you will see, my sister likes to help out with lots of stuff...I like it when she helps mommy feed me because she is silly and says, "Ahhhhhhh...." to get me to smile and open up for the yummies...

Joslynn is talking constantly, unless we go somewhere with new people, then she is shy for a while. She likes to say "no" a lot and "otay" which really means, 'okay'...she's workin' on it.

We are getting a sandbox and Nana and Papa Stewart got us some great sandbox toys for Easter, so we are really excited to try them out.

We've been out in the 'green machine' a few times; that was fun! Oh, I almost forgot, that's the stroller that both Joslynn and I can ride in.



Here I am again, being cute...it's just so easy for me, so I make it my full time job. My part-time job is drooling.

Mommy has been busy at work with planning all sorts of stuff for her students. She is also raising money for a Parkinson's Walk for my Papa Czech, so if you give her a dollar, she will walk or run a mile for it. (I think she has her work cut out for her since she has gotten quite a few dollars already.) But that is great news since I really want those scientist people to help find a cure for Parkinson's so maybe they can help my Papa Czech feel better.

Mommy is also having a toy party on April 22nd...Joslynn and I are SOOOO excited for this! We're hoping that maybe mommy and daddy will buy us some new fun things; we're getting kind of bored with the toys that we have now.

This is a picture of Joslynn in her "tent." It's really just a space between the couch and chair that mommy and daddy throw a blanket over, and she calls it a tent. Its one of her favorite spots. She's feeding her dolly right now...




Mommy made this yummy looking pizza, with Joslynn's help. She likes to help in the kitchen and see what is cooking on the stove or in the oven. I think that's why she wants a play kitchen for her birthday, and some play dishes...so she can make play pizza and feed it to her dolly.

They said that I'm too little to have pizza yet...I was really bummed. It smelled so good.

Daddy has been busy finishing up his Master's paper. We are so proud of him. He's going to be graduating on May 8th, (his birthday) so we are excited for his special day! He has also been wearing this blue and white string that holds up his arm because he has a big ouchie. Mommy wasn't sure if she would scare people with the picture of his scar, so she didn't put it on here.



So...that's what we've been up to here at the Stewart house. We're excited about spring being here and being able to go outside and play. I'm still working on that 'crawling' business...its tough work! We wish you all a very Hoppy Easter!

Little Rascal

Joslynn's newest saying reminds me of Buckwheat from "The Little Rascals".

"Do you want some grapes?"

"Oh-tay..."

"Do you want to play outside?"

"Oh-tay..."

No matter what I ask..."Oh-tay..."

She sounds just like those little rascals. It's so cute.