Chili Night

I picked Matthew up from school on Friday, and after a quick stop at home, we headed to Seymour to meet Andrew and Haleigh for dinner. It was fun to have Matthew read some books to me on the way. A couple of them came from our Cheerios boxes, and some were his AR books from school.

Everyone remember AR books? Jon? Hello?

We got to Chili's first, and Matthew spent some time playing on my phone until his daddy and sister arrived.

He also let me get a shot of the space in his mouth since he lost his two front teeth. Hopefully he'll have teeth in there before corn on the cob season!

Sweet Haleigh was ready for some supper.

Matthew and Andrew looking cool.

We enjoyed some chips.

Can I have some, Daddy?

Such a happy girl,

and big enough to eat her own dinner.

Matthew wanted some dessert since it was still pretty close to his birthday. He chose the Molten Chocolate Cake, of course.

He was pretty sure he could eat it all by himself.

I would call this one of the Stewart Family favorite desserts. And while we don't mind sharing, it is definitely every man (or woman) for himself when the plate hits the table. Consider yourself warned.

Last night, however, was pretty calm, and Haleigh even scored a few bites for herself.

Matthew and Andrew digging in.

Yum. Yum.

I repeat, yum, yum.

And... all gone!

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Today is Matthew's seventh birthday. It's just appropriate that a SUPER kid should celebrate his birthday on SUPER Bowl Sunday. 

I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some pictures of our sweet little Matthew. 

Practicing his tractor driving skills.

Learning to Boiler Up!

One year old.

Two years old. Smile!

Three years old.

 

Four years old (almost).

"Pillow Man."

Five years old. What's up with that face?

That's better! 



Six years old, celebrating at El Reparo.

 

And of course, he won't forget this cake. And we won't forget the game. Who Dat!

And now he is seven.

Handsome,

smart,

 

sweet,

silly,

 

and

SUPER!

Happy Birthday Matthew!

I love you!



The Ice Storm Cometh

On Tuesday, as predicted, Indiana got hit with a major winter storm. While the northern part of the state got lots of snow, we were hit with ice. Schools here in Decatur County were closed, as were schools in most of the state from here northward. Even Purdue was closed. That doesn't happen very often. I think I heard it has only closed 4 (now 5, including today) times in the last 400 years. Or maybe it was 40 years. Something like that.

I take snow (or ice) days literally, so I didn't venture out too far. I couldn't even make it to the barn on two feet. I did take a couple pictures of the ice on the front porch.

By Tuesday evening, it was sleeting hard and the wind was blowing something fierce. There were reports of trees and power lines down all over the place. I filled the bathtub in case we lost power. I can add layers of clothing, but it's hard to give up the ability to flush. Especially with Jon in the house. And Jim.

We did lose water for a bit, and discovered that the electricity at Gilman's house was off. That's where our pump is located. Convenient, I know. We were crossing our fingers that our power would remain on long enough to watch the Purdue game. It did. Too bad the Boilers didn't stay in the game long enough to win it.

Our water was back on before bedtime, and the wind continued all night. This morning we woke to several big branches down in the yard. I took some of these pictures while it was still blowing pretty hard.

There are several shots of the same tree.

So, schools are closed here again tomorrow, and it's quite an icy mess out there. Oh the joy of an Indiana winter!

To make matters even worse, my sweet son David, currently a North Carolinian, sent this message to the whole family. So funny, David. Hysterical.

But we still love you.

Haleigh Days

Haleigh came to spend a couple days with us last week. We played, we ate, we laughed, we snuggled, and we were blessed. She is such a happy baby girl. She is walking all the time now, eats all kinds of food, drinks from a cup, loves the bath, and sleeps all night long.

We also got to share a sweet visit with Grandpa and Grandma Stewart.

1 year old Haleigh and almost 91 year old Grandma.

Great-Grandma to Haleigh.

My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:2-3