this & that & pictures

i know it's been awhile. my work schedule has been a bit mixed up in order to accomodate me taking the day off today so that i can go to the david gray concert tonight. (!) i also had sunday off this week and we spent it up in temecula with the whole stewart clan. i think it's kind of funny how there are so many people around, and yet the only photos we seem to take are of the kids. anyhow, we did have fun with EVERYONE there. it was nice to hang out with family and eat good food.

andy and cara and sarah will be here in ONE WEEK! i just got off the phone with my mom, who was telling me all of the cute things sarah is doing right now. i can hardly wait and am so excited about it that i get tears of anticipation in my eyes when i think about it, if that makes any sense.

something is seriously wrong with me. it started this morning when i was on the phone with my mom. my toes got really really itchy and kind of swelled up a little. now my legs and fingers are itchy too. all i've had today so far is peppermint tea. perhaps i'm allergic? i'd better add claritin to the shopping list today.

our plans for our trip to the uk in spring are coming right along. the flights are all booked and now we're looking at bed & breakfasts in the lake district for our day of travel from scotland to england. it really isn't so far away at all anymore, and i am getting so excited!

work is fine. it's getting a whole lot busier now that christams is coming. i'm looking forward to the christmas rush. it always make the work days go faster. right now i've been getting to the store 2 hours before we open just so that i can get all of the christmas boxes opened and the nativities and things set out. (i'm kind of ashamed to admit this, but i also play christmas music when i'm there alone!) it's kind of peaceful without any customers around and i really like it that i get home a couple of hours earlier than normal, which means i get to make actual real dinners for my husband (instead of cop-outs like grilled cheese or hot dogs). one thing i'm really bummed about work right now is the new dress code that will begin in 2 weeks. white blouse and black pants or skirt. i own exactly one white blouse. does this mean that i have to do laundry every day, or merely empty my savings account in order to buy myself a whole new wardrobe? i don't think it's fair at all. josh thinks i should write a letter to home office. does anyone else think that a one time clothing allowance should be provided for a change like this? i don't know if i'm just being a pain about it.

so, list of things to do today: pick up groceries, wash bathroom and kitchen floors, do laundry, make apple crisp (it feels like an apple crisp kind of day to me), and call my dear friend leah d. she called me a couple of nights ago when i was extremely grumpy and wasn't feeling well. i really do need to call her back. she's due in just one month! i always seem to be out of the country when leah has her babies. when she gave birth to olivia, i was in kenya. when she had ben, i was in england. and now with little no-name-boy, i'm in the usa. okay, i don't like the sound of no-name-boy. i think i'll just refer to him as tom right now until leah and fern come to an agreement on a name. (IF they ever come to an agreement!)

kaylee and i had a fun time together. she was excited to show me all of her socks. in order for me to see them better, she tossed them all around her room and told me if i was interested in any samples, that i should just go ahead and take one. i declined on the samples. 

when i told kaylee that it sure looked like she has a lot of socks, she smiled and said, "thank you!" 

what is to be done for a little girl with a bumped head (from jumping on the bed)? never fear, doctor stew is here! 

the wounded patient is declared "all better" after a very necessary shot in the elbow. 

after a super delicious lunch, we took the kids outside for a special dessert of caramel apples. (kaylee, i believe, ingested much more caramel than apple) 

here's john, taking his first ever bite of a caramel apple. 

john fell and cut his forehead a few weeks ago. you can see where he got stitches above his eyebrow. he's wearing the shirt that josh and i bought him for his birthday. 

just for the record, in case you haven't met her, this does not look AT ALL like my mother...not even before she's had her morning coffee. love you, mom ;) 

 

real, live RAIN!

yes folks, it's raining! it's been raining off and on for the past 2 days and i just LOVE it! driving home from work yesterday, i got this huge sense of nostalgia that nearly made me cry. it feels just like home.

so, what to do on a rainy day off? lets see, i've already finished my loads of laundry, gone grocery shopping, cried over a taped episode of "three wishes", disenfected and cleaned my kitchen sinks, and made a big pot of josh's favourite meal, red beans & rice, which is simmering on the stove. after reading some of my favourite blogs, i have decided to follow the instructions of platinum blonde. i googled my name, followed by the word "needs". according to the world wide web, here are the top 10 things i need.

Heidi Needs:

1.to know that every man she meets is drooling over her.

2.someone to warm her up a bit, she seems cold.

3.input from the membership to produce the newsletter.

4. her own site, filed under: in brief, grilled cheese.

5. some stuff submitted

6. to understand that the majority of the folks in that state DO NOT agree with her.

7. clothing!

8. feeding, bathing & dressing

9. to get an equipment list to debra

10 (my favourite) to tone down her foul language.

there you have it. try it out and comment to let me know what YOU seem to need the most.

later-

Aslan

"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.

"Safe?...Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good."
-C.S. Lewis

~ after all these years, still one of the best lines i've ever read.

hooray! hello is working again. this gardenia plant was the very first wedding gift we received. my mom bought it for us and was so tiny. up until recently, only a few blossoms have opened at a time, but lately it has been bursting everywhere! the scent of them hits you as soon as you walk out the front door. 

oliver, peering at me from inside, begging me to let him out. i finally consented. 

i was so proud of the tomatoes i picked this morning that i had to take a picture. 

walking for shae

okay, so my hello program decided to stop working half way through the list of pictures i wanted to post. i tried to add this one to the end of this post, but here shae sits right at the front! i may as well introduce him then...shae just turned 7 a few days ago. he got a ton of cool stuff for his birthday. his favourites include: an ant farm, a lighted globe that reflects star constellations onto his ceiling at night, and a pop up book about dinosaurs. later on in the day, after this picture was taken, shae's other front tooth wiggled it's way out of his mouth and was traded by the tooth fairy for a two dollar bill. shae was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was really young. he has been such a trooper through all of the needles and tests and being told what to eat and when. it is because of shae that we all went walking on sunday morning...

so, on sunday the JDRF (juvenile diabetes research foundation) walk went really well. a lot of people showed up and just with our walking team alone, we raised over $2600!! it was only a 5km walk, but it felt really good and we had a great time. we went out for lunch afterwards, then promptly came home and vegged on the couch until the evening church service.

i saw a hummingbird right close to the window this morning when i was talking to my mom on the phone (we have regular tuesday morning "dates"). it was bright green and had a red head. later, i brought oliver out onto the front deck to explore for the first time while i watered and picked tomatoes and deadheaded my flowers. oliver nearly got ahold of a little lizard scampering up the wall. i wonder what he would have done with it? when i brought him back inside he cried by the front door for a long time! oops, maybe showing him what's all out there wasn't such a good idea. we don't want to let him out because there are so many coyotes out there, not to mention the flea factor.

again, i feel really quite boring, not much else interesting going on. josh still talks in his sleep on occasion, and i would share, but don't want to pick on him for lack of anything else to write. oh, but you must check out leah r's blog. she is back in the blogging world, now living in thailand. her most recent blog is far from boring.

i'll stop yammering now so that you can all click on her link.

getting everyone together to start walking. that's dena on the left, then me holding sidney, and sara holding ryan. our walking team was called the "santa fe" named by shae, an avid train fan. 

walking right along the ocean in carlsbad. it was a gorgeous day and the scenery was great! 

sidney and hannah take a short break... 

...while sara's mom sue, tests shae. 

on our way back, sidney walked with josh and me. 

cat drool

my cat is sitting on the desk next to the computer and snoring. i'm surprised the volume of his snores hasn't woken him up yet. the other thing my cat does, which i find unusual, is he drools. he drools when i rub his neck a certain way. he only drools on me, never on josh. i find it gross and disgusting. poor little guy, he is always being tossed off of the couch for being overly affectionate and not allowing us our personal space. we have an extremely needy cat.

i am happy this morning because it was looking, for awhile, that andy and cara's vist may have to be delayed until january. however, this morning i had a brand new email from my brother letting us know that the first weekend in november works for them!! hooray, that's less than one month away! my goal, for the few days they are here, is to teach sarah how to say "heidi" or some version of that word.

girl's night on monday was lovely and delicious. i have decided that i need more girl's nights in my life, so will do my best to plan one a month. tomorrow night we are going to the movies with jay and dena. on sunday josh and i are walking to raise money for juvenile diabetes research. mike and sara's 6 year old, shae has diabetes. if anyone would like to sponsor me, let me know and i'll tell you how.

i am feeling extremely boring right now, but can only think of one amusing thing to write and i fear my husband's wrath if i do write it. of course, now that i've mentioned it, i MUST share, right?

the other night, in the middle of the night, i woke up because josh was talking. he said, "mom"? i kind of patted his arm and said, "no honey, it's heidi." he said, "i know. i was just looking through your makeup bag and it reminded me of my mom."

i will let you know of any broken bones i have aquired after josh discovers what i have written.