Mardi Gras 2015

Krewe of Eve Parade

We only went to the Krewe of Eve parade in Mandeville this year.  We really enjoy Mardi Gras, but our feeling is that once you've been to one parade you've been to them all.  Most Louisianans would disagree, but really you just get more beads and more junk with each parade; also, many of the parades recycle the same floats from the others.  I guess we lack the party animal spirit.  We did enjoy king cake, time off school/work and time together as a family at the parade!  

Adeline's favorite float (because of the Minnie Mouse factor)

Peter & Rigby's favorite float

One of the many uses of strollers!

Adeline was in heaven with the Minnie Mouse-like bow, the glowing ring and bead necklaces.  By the way, the rumor that you have to do naughty things for the beads, not true at all!  They just throw them from the floats.

Krewe of TTPS

Rigby was so excited to decorate his own float for preschool.  He colored this Mardi Gras girl and drew a King Frog for his float.

Rigby and Adeline had a blast throwing out beads and candy to the other little kids.

Peter's Penguin Float

 Peter wrote a report on Penguins and then made a "shoebox float."  Rigby, Reuben, Adeline and I were able to go to the "shoebox parade" at his school.

He was SO proud of this report.  He spend an entire Saturday writing it and typed most of it himself.  Love my smart boy!

Star of the Week: Rigby

Rigby got to be star of the week right before his birthday at Preschool.

I Love to See the Temple

     I have been gathering pictures of the temple for the past several months with the intention of doing a blog post about temples.  This last summer the kids and I were able to visit several temples and get our pictures in front of them.  Also, as a family we were able to stop at the Baton Rouge Temple in September.  Last, as an early Christmas present we got a kit to build the Salt Lake Temple out of building bricks.

     I want our children to know how important the temple is to Scott and I.  We do not get the opportunity to visit it very often, but when we do we enjoy the peaceful spirit there and are so glad that we have been sealed for time and all eternity as a family.  We hope that our children will gain a testimony of the temple and choose to go there someday!

Salt Lake City, Utah in building bricks

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Temple

Salt Lake City, Utah Temple

Provo City Center, Utah Temple

Payson, Utah Temple

Rexburg, Idaho Temple

Idaho Falls, Idaho Temple

Rigby's 5th Birthday

The Donut Cake

Rigby got an animal kit, a small Lego set, books and . . .

. . . a bike!

 
Rigby has been such a joy for these past 6 months.  He talks so much now-yeah!!  He can go on talking for a solid hour sometimes.  He tells everybody in the family that he loves them so much multiple times a day (except Adeline because they are arch nemesis siblings currently).  He knows most of his alphabet now and can write his name.  Rigby is very creative and can spend hours drawing pictures and building with Legos.  He likes to draw pictures of tree houses, his family, frogs, robots, monsters and Voltron.  He also loves Star Wars Legos in particular.  He also loves frogs and his favorite color is blue.  Rigby is very shy and very quiet around most people except his family.  We love you, Rigby!  Happy Birthday!   

A funny story about Rigby:  Rigby got a retro Voltron toy for his last birthday.  A few months later it got broken.  Scott promised him he would fix it but ran into some problem with replacement parts.  Rigby will talk about it for a couple of week and ask Scott multiple times a day to fix it.  Then, he will forget for a couple of weeks until he remembers again.  This has gone on for months.  He is SO patient about it and never gets upset, but just calmly reminds us (so much like his daddy in this way).  Voltron has also made it into his prayers; he will often say thank you for and bless Voltron.  

Rigby, Froggie, and Rigby's bed & blanket

Rigby's Birthday Celebration

(Mommy is the one with gray and green hair; the table has his gifts on it; Rigby is on the chair with balloons; the first balloon Rigby has written his name, the second balloon has a birthday candle, the third balloon has a smiley face on it, and the fourth balloon has Voltron on it)

Peter's 7th Birthday

The Cookie Cake

Peter got a solar system kit, a small lego set, books and . . .

. . . and a bike!

Since entering first grade this year Peter has figured out that school/life is a lot of work.  Despite this I think he really does enjoy it, even though he will not admit it.  He does well in all subjects, but he has a gift for math.  I will often find papers with numbers written on them counting by fives, tens, fifties, hundreds, etc.  He has to translate EVERYTHING in life to numbers: what is the date, how many days until this or that, what time is it, how many coins he has earned in a game, etc.  He LOVES the Ninjago TV series, Ninjago Legos, and Ninjago books.  He has a collection of about 10 Ninjago books that he takes to school every day and puts under his pillow every night.  He also has a numbered list of all the Ninjago books he wants to buy and their prices.  Yep, everything is numbers!  He is usually very helpful to Scott and I, but we are starting to run into a little more attitude lately.  He still gives us hugs and kisses and tells us all of the time how much he loves us (love that!).  He is a great example to his siblings and so loving towards them; he will not admit that though, he says he is too naughty (sounds like his mother, oh dear).  When he is upset/disciplined, he will talk to himself in his bedroom in order to process through his emotions-it is hilarious to listen to!  Peter is so friendly and gets along with most everyone.  We love you so much Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater!  Happy birthday!!!  

Reuben's 1st Birthday

The Monster Cake

He got a Noah's ark with animals that make noise, a book and a puppet.

He was so unsure of the entire birthday process (might have been because he was tired).


He would not eat the cake, so Scott shoved some into his mouth while he cried.

He decided it was okay and dug in.

The icing drove him crazy!  Here he is shaking his hands to get the darn stuff off.  Scott hates icing too, so he is his father's son in the regard.

This is how he drinks.  Only one hand and always off to the side.

Our baby is one!  We love having Reuben in our family.  All of the kids dote on him.  Peter always gives him hugs and kisses, Rigby loves to call him "the baby king of cuteness," and Adeline acts like his second little mother.  He is still crawling, but stands up balancing and cruises all of the time, so I imagine walking will happen any day now.  He will still not eat fruit and veggie finger foods or milk, but loves pasta, breads, and meat.  Reuben gets compliments about his piercing blue eyes all the time, and I just adore his dimples!  He is probably our most stubborn child yet-ahhhhhh!  He is full of energy and can be very rough sometimes.  The boy jabbers all of the time and imitates many different letter sounds; he already says mama (mommy), dada (daddy) and nienie (night, night - he hates this one cause he knows he gets put in jail/the crib).  Happy birthday, Mr. Reuben!  

Stewart Family Pictures - Christmas 2014

Overnight Date

While we were in Utah, we left the kids with my parents and went skiing, out to eat at the New Yorker, and then stayed overnight at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City.  It was so incredibly nice to have a break from the kids and to spend some quality, uninterrupted time with Scottie. Thank you so much for watching the kids mom and dad!!!  I have decided that skiing is not really my thing, but maybe I would change my mind if I went without still having a small fever and chills from the flu.  Despite the flu though, we both had a blast!

For the first couple of hour Scott brushed up on his skiing skills and took some pictures of the beautiful mountains while . . .

. . . I took ski lessons and fell on my face a couple of times.

Later we met up for some hot chocolate and then coasted VERY slowly (for my sake) down a run.

Here is a picture of the ski lodge at Brighton. When we left at about 6 pm, the temperature was -4 F.  Way too cold for me!

The Grand America Hotel was so nice that they had a fridge camouflaged in this buffet cabinet.  

The true test of how nice and clean a hotel room is, is to walk around without shoes and see how black your feet/socks get.  By the end of the night, my socks were still white, so I think it is safe to say their carpets are cleaner than my carpets at home!