We broke in the new fire pit with a post bath time s'more roast! What fun! Daddy was in his element collecting wood and building the fire.
Madeline couldn't get her hands on one of these fast enough!
What a great evening!
Showing posts with label New Home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Home. Show all posts
Saturday, June 02, 2012
First S'more Roast
Thursday, December 01, 2011
We Feel Festive!
This post is mainly for Nana, so that she can see our new living room furniture! It arrived the day before Thanksgiving, and we couldn't be more pleased with our front living room. Now, of course, we are ready for a rug, lamps, wall hangings, etc., but baby steps! We went for sophisticated which is Stewart code for comfy, but fancier than the den.
This nativity scene was always in my house growing up, so I'm happy my mom passed it onto me. It also happens to be sitting on a piece of furniture that belonged to my mother's parents. I love that I can mix antiques with my own style.
This Santa was a huge hit with the girls. He shakes his booty to the tune of "Jingle Bell Rock". When I was a kid, my Dad always took me Christmas shopping for my Mom. This was one of her presents from me, and now I have it in my house for my girls to enjoy. Love it!
A new tradition for our family this year --- Advent Calendar. I spent an afternoon exploring blogs for ideas when I couldn't come up with anymore of my own. We have a mixture of simple to more involved, and not all of them are set in stone, so I have flexibility to change them around before Madeline pulls the tag out depending on our schedule for that day. The activities are mainly for Madeline since Amelia is so young. Really, this will be the only year that she'll have it all to herself, so I don't mind making her feel like a "big girl" this time around. When I had it all fixed up after Madeline's nap the other day, she was stoked up about the concept. Hopefully her excitement will continue with each day's activities. I know I am excited about doing this with her, and it gives us a chance to be together doing something fun in the afternoons.
Every activity is probably not "blog worthy", but for memory's sake, I'll most likely update our progress on the Advent Calendar.
This post is mainly for Nana, so that she can see our new living room furniture! It arrived the day before Thanksgiving, and we couldn't be more pleased with our front living room. Now, of course, we are ready for a rug, lamps, wall hangings, etc., but baby steps! We went for sophisticated which is Stewart code for comfy, but fancier than the den.
This nativity scene was always in my house growing up, so I'm happy my mom passed it onto me. It also happens to be sitting on a piece of furniture that belonged to my mother's parents. I love that I can mix antiques with my own style.
This Santa was a huge hit with the girls. He shakes his booty to the tune of "Jingle Bell Rock". When I was a kid, my Dad always took me Christmas shopping for my Mom. This was one of her presents from me, and now I have it in my house for my girls to enjoy. Love it!
A new tradition for our family this year --- Advent Calendar. I spent an afternoon exploring blogs for ideas when I couldn't come up with anymore of my own. We have a mixture of simple to more involved, and not all of them are set in stone, so I have flexibility to change them around before Madeline pulls the tag out depending on our schedule for that day. The activities are mainly for Madeline since Amelia is so young. Really, this will be the only year that she'll have it all to herself, so I don't mind making her feel like a "big girl" this time around. When I had it all fixed up after Madeline's nap the other day, she was stoked up about the concept. Hopefully her excitement will continue with each day's activities. I know I am excited about doing this with her, and it gives us a chance to be together doing something fun in the afternoons. 
Every activity is probably not "blog worthy", but for memory's sake, I'll most likely update our progress on the Advent Calendar. The Stewart household is decorated, listening to Christmas music regularly, and enjoying the season!
Friday, November 25, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving, 2011
Eric and I hosted our very first Thanksgiving in our 7 years of marriage, and it was a success! I was able to use my china & silver for the first time, and it was fun to pull it all out for our family. I had such fun shopping for table cloths, napkins, and napkin rings since our dining room is new to us as well. We wanted to be a simple, inviting host & hostess yet with a little flair. I feel like we achieved that!
Before I continue about our actual Thanksgiving day, Madeline and I created this feather of thankfulness for her class. I was the slack Mom that didn't attend her Thanksgiving feast because I was super crunched for time, and I had to run my miles. However, she didn't seem to miss me (according to some of my friends), and we had fun putting her feather together. I totally dig all of these little projects especially when they depict my child to a tee!
Moving onto our Thanksgiving Day, Madeline was very excited that her McCarthy family would be joining us for "a great feast"! Yes, those were Madeline's exact words with arms outstretched! She enjoyed the "fancy table" with "beautiful pink flowers" (again, her exact words)! I was looking for more of a fall flower arrangement, but Miss Pinkalicious had other ideas. She insisted that the pink bouquet was "perfect"! Notice my super star in the background!
Madeline is the hostess with the mostess. She loves a good party, and her Daddy & I love to entertain, so it's a win-win!
I know, lots of table shots, but I was so excited to pull out my dishes for the first time!
At my mother's request, we gathered for a family picture, and amazingly, everyone stifled the giggles & cooperated! Lucky Grandma! She already has her Christmas card photo!
My family tends to snack and visit for the day, and our turkey dinner takes place about 7 PM. I wish I could take all the credit for our delicious meal, but I can't. Luckily, my mom lives close to us, and she walked me through the preparations of the meal. My mom and I cook well together, so it's nice for us to spend that time together. I've decided that I'm not going to ever completely relinquish her of her cooking duties. :) We were all quite fat and happy after our meal.
Obviously, I didn't spend much time behind the camera since I was visiting, relaxing, and cooking, and I'm okay with that. Our Thanksgiving was warm, fun, and exactly what everyone needed --- a nice day with those that matter the most! I am most definitely blessed to be surrounded by my husband & children, my parents, and my brothers & their families at the holidays.
Eric and I hosted our very first Thanksgiving in our 7 years of marriage, and it was a success! I was able to use my china & silver for the first time, and it was fun to pull it all out for our family. I had such fun shopping for table cloths, napkins, and napkin rings since our dining room is new to us as well. We wanted to be a simple, inviting host & hostess yet with a little flair. I feel like we achieved that!
Before I continue about our actual Thanksgiving day, Madeline and I created this feather of thankfulness for her class. I was the slack Mom that didn't attend her Thanksgiving feast because I was super crunched for time, and I had to run my miles. However, she didn't seem to miss me (according to some of my friends), and we had fun putting her feather together. I totally dig all of these little projects especially when they depict my child to a tee!
Moving onto our Thanksgiving Day, Madeline was very excited that her McCarthy family would be joining us for "a great feast"! Yes, those were Madeline's exact words with arms outstretched! She enjoyed the "fancy table" with "beautiful pink flowers" (again, her exact words)! I was looking for more of a fall flower arrangement, but Miss Pinkalicious had other ideas. She insisted that the pink bouquet was "perfect"! Notice my super star in the background!
Madeline is the hostess with the mostess. She loves a good party, and her Daddy & I love to entertain, so it's a win-win!
I know, lots of table shots, but I was so excited to pull out my dishes for the first time!
At my mother's request, we gathered for a family picture, and amazingly, everyone stifled the giggles & cooperated! Lucky Grandma! She already has her Christmas card photo!
My family tends to snack and visit for the day, and our turkey dinner takes place about 7 PM. I wish I could take all the credit for our delicious meal, but I can't. Luckily, my mom lives close to us, and she walked me through the preparations of the meal. My mom and I cook well together, so it's nice for us to spend that time together. I've decided that I'm not going to ever completely relinquish her of her cooking duties. :) We were all quite fat and happy after our meal.
Obviously, I didn't spend much time behind the camera since I was visiting, relaxing, and cooking, and I'm okay with that. Our Thanksgiving was warm, fun, and exactly what everyone needed --- a nice day with those that matter the most! I am most definitely blessed to be surrounded by my husband & children, my parents, and my brothers & their families at the holidays. Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Football Party
As I have mentioned in previous posts, we have formed some really great friendships with some of our neighbors, so Eric and I decided to throw a little football party this past Saturday. We had a blast.
Eric and I completed our last backyard project of this season when we planted fragrant tea olives along the back of our grass line to make a nice transition to the wooded area. Our back porch and backyard is one of our favorite areas in our house especially in the fall and spring.
We set up a cornhole area and had lots of yard toys for all the kids.
I kept the food simple --- meatball (homemade using my Italian uncle's recipe!) sub sandwiches, chips, and snackies.
The porch was all set up with a screen & projector for the "big games" (the Clemson game, Eric's Wolfpack game, and the Bama game.) We had two other TVs going with other games to accommodate all of our guests and their loyalties.
At the end of the night, all the big kids were cuddled up with their technologies. Of course, the beauty of hosting the party is that our children were able to go to bed at their regular times! :) Madeline and Amelia are by far the youngest in the crowd, and they just can't hang with the big kids yet.
Eric was loving his big screen TV on the porch, the fall coolness, football, and being surrounded by his buddies.
By the end of the night, some of the Dad's were having fun with the projector & the screen:
Of course, the gals were chatting it up.
And, last but not least, my nearest and dearest friend of 25 years was able to join us for the fun. I was extra happy about my Clemson Tigers and their WIN!
Eric and I are pretty sure the Stewart Football Extravaganza will be an annual event!
As I have mentioned in previous posts, we have formed some really great friendships with some of our neighbors, so Eric and I decided to throw a little football party this past Saturday. We had a blast.
Eric and I completed our last backyard project of this season when we planted fragrant tea olives along the back of our grass line to make a nice transition to the wooded area. Our back porch and backyard is one of our favorite areas in our house especially in the fall and spring.
We set up a cornhole area and had lots of yard toys for all the kids.
I kept the food simple --- meatball (homemade using my Italian uncle's recipe!) sub sandwiches, chips, and snackies.
The porch was all set up with a screen & projector for the "big games" (the Clemson game, Eric's Wolfpack game, and the Bama game.) We had two other TVs going with other games to accommodate all of our guests and their loyalties.
At the end of the night, all the big kids were cuddled up with their technologies. Of course, the beauty of hosting the party is that our children were able to go to bed at their regular times! :) Madeline and Amelia are by far the youngest in the crowd, and they just can't hang with the big kids yet.
Eric was loving his big screen TV on the porch, the fall coolness, football, and being surrounded by his buddies.
By the end of the night, some of the Dad's were having fun with the projector & the screen:
Of course, the gals were chatting it up.
And, last but not least, my nearest and dearest friend of 25 years was able to join us for the fun. I was extra happy about my Clemson Tigers and their WIN!
Eric and I are pretty sure the Stewart Football Extravaganza will be an annual event!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Deserving a Blog Post of Its Own
A few posts ago, I shared the frustrations of our summer and how our summer 2011 just wasn't what we had hoped it would be. I also mentioned a few blessings that reminded me just how lucky we are regardless of our frustrating day-to-day circumstances. One of those blessings that deserves its own post is our relationship with our neighbors.
One of the unknowns when moving into a new house is who your neighbors will be. In our old house, we had a fun couple next door, but other than that, everyone did their own thing. One of our hopes when moving into this house and neighborhood was to forge some real friendships with our neighbors. We have been very fortunate to have done that over the course of this summer. Yet another blessing to our rocky summer.
Throughout the summer, we have become good friends with three different families on our street. In two of the families, the husbands are hunting buddies of Eric's, and we've been able to get our families together. It's fun to pack up the kiddos and walk down the street to grill out. Their kids are older than ours, but all of these kids are really sweet to our girls. It's rare that you find a couple in which both husband and wife genuinely enjoy the other husband and wife. We have that with these two families, and Madeline really likes being around these older kids.
And, of course, these two porches have it goin' on with impromptu summer porch parties!!
A few posts ago, I shared the frustrations of our summer and how our summer 2011 just wasn't what we had hoped it would be. I also mentioned a few blessings that reminded me just how lucky we are regardless of our frustrating day-to-day circumstances. One of those blessings that deserves its own post is our relationship with our neighbors.
One of the unknowns when moving into a new house is who your neighbors will be. In our old house, we had a fun couple next door, but other than that, everyone did their own thing. One of our hopes when moving into this house and neighborhood was to forge some real friendships with our neighbors. We have been very fortunate to have done that over the course of this summer. Yet another blessing to our rocky summer.
Throughout the summer, we have become good friends with three different families on our street. In two of the families, the husbands are hunting buddies of Eric's, and we've been able to get our families together. It's fun to pack up the kiddos and walk down the street to grill out. Their kids are older than ours, but all of these kids are really sweet to our girls. It's rare that you find a couple in which both husband and wife genuinely enjoy the other husband and wife. We have that with these two families, and Madeline really likes being around these older kids.
And, of course, these two porches have it goin' on with impromptu summer porch parties!!
Above: Our porch
That porch (above) belongs to our immediate next door neighbors, Ty & Sasha. [Yes, we have basically the same house! Great minds think alike! :)] Over the course of the last eight months or so, we have become good friends with this family. Their children, again, are older than ours, but they are very sweet to our girls. We click with them, and again, it goes back to Eric and I both really liking Ty and Sasha as individuals as well as a couple. It's refreshing to hang out with another family without having to worry, "Is my house clean enough?" or "Is my cooking okay?" or "Can I discipline my child in front of them without making anyone uncomfortable?" While we have planned cook-outs with them, we've also had some impromptu get togethers on one of our porches after all the kids are in the bed just to chat, vent, complain, laugh, joke around, and be adults with adult conversation. Eric and I feel very blessed that we ended up having Ty and Sasha as our neighbors because we have become more than the friendly hello while getting the mail or "can I borrow a cup of sugar?" kind of neighbor. Sasha and I have shared some late afternoon "what a day!" cocktails on one of our porches, and I really appreciate that since I am holding down the fort solo many days out of the week. It's comforting to Eric and I to know that when he is out of town I do have people right next door to help me if, God forbid, something major happens. Eric and I look forward to continuing our relationship with Ty & Sasha and their children over the years.
Eric and I don't try to "keep up with the Jones'", and we are fortunate that we've found friendships in neighbors that are just normal people raising kids just like us this summer of 2011. So, as I said before, as I pray for patience, I should also say a prayer of thanks for having the best neighbors ever. Because truly, The Stewart Family is blessed.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Backyard Makeover Part II
Our backyard project continues! The playset has been set up, and needless to say, Madeline LOVES it! It's perfect for her now, and there are certainly features on it that she will enjoy as she gets older. The wooded area is coming along nicely. We still have lots of work to do, but in the end, it will be exactly what we've envisioned!
Two men put this up for us in a matter of a few hours! We are so glad we had someone assemble it for us!
Madeline's favorite part --- the swings!
Daddy is creating a sandbox for the area too. Madeline probably enjoys playing in the sand just as much as she does swinging!
Our backyard project continues! The playset has been set up, and needless to say, Madeline LOVES it! It's perfect for her now, and there are certainly features on it that she will enjoy as she gets older. The wooded area is coming along nicely. We still have lots of work to do, but in the end, it will be exactly what we've envisioned!
Two men put this up for us in a matter of a few hours! We are so glad we had someone assemble it for us!
Madeline's favorite part --- the swings!
Daddy is creating a sandbox for the area too. Madeline probably enjoys playing in the sand just as much as she does swinging!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Backyard Makeover
When we moved into our home almost a year and a half ago, we loved the fact that our backyard was large and backed up to the woods. We had visions of a manicured backyard and clearing out the woods area for a play area for our kids. This summer, we are making that happen. Well, we are working on the manicured part, but that will come in due time, we hope. After much researching, talking about money, thinking about our kids' young ages, & considering how much we entertain at our house, we decided on a simple Rainbow system for our playset. It's a tad pricey, but we really wanted our backyard and woods area to be inviting, nice, and fun. So the work has begun to get the playset area ready for the installation of the playset.
When we moved into our home almost a year and a half ago, we loved the fact that our backyard was large and backed up to the woods. We had visions of a manicured backyard and clearing out the woods area for a play area for our kids. This summer, we are making that happen. Well, we are working on the manicured part, but that will come in due time, we hope. After much researching, talking about money, thinking about our kids' young ages, & considering how much we entertain at our house, we decided on a simple Rainbow system for our playset. It's a tad pricey, but we really wanted our backyard and woods area to be inviting, nice, and fun. So the work has begun to get the playset area ready for the installation of the playset.
Before:
I was a big help in the initial clearing out. As it turns out, I am a mean one with the big rake, & I even swung the ax a time or two to chop out some underbrush. I was pumped about the bonus cardio and ab workout I received that day! :) Anyway after the intial clearing out, it was all up to Eric to saw down some larger trees, and luckily we have a wonderful neighbor with a chainsaw, a four wheeler, and a wench who helped us cut the trees down so they landed in just the right spot (ie not on our house nor our neighbors' houses) and pull out a ridiculously large cedar tree stump. The backyard slopes down into the wooded area, so Eric has the the master plan of creating a step down complete with a retaining wall and a "Daddy-made sandbox" with landscape timbers.
Once it's all set up and done, my job is then to watch the sun all summer long, so my mom and I can figure out what types of bushes and such to plant in the surrounding beds NEXT summer based on the sun's intensity over the course of the day. Yes, we really did mean "manicured", but it's fun stuff to plan, work hard, and see the end result.
We want a fun, safe playspace for our kids and their friends while still maintaining a yard that looks like adults live here too. I think we're off to a great start, and I'll be posting progress pictures as they come!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Baby Girl's Nursery
Just a little snapshot of our newest addition's room. I reused Madeline's bedding, color scheme, and fabric, but I also wanted it to be "different" since Baby Girl is her own person. I used the same fabric with different window treatments (Thank Goodness for my friend, Farrah's sewing talent!) Our last minute, new chair matched perfectly and is super cozy.
The rest of the room...the picture below was in my room as a baby & child, so that's kind of sentimental & sweet. I have something special to go over the changing table, but it's not done yet. That's all that is left as far as "decor" goes, and I think that will be okay if Baby Girl's wall is blank for her homecoming.
We are excited. The room came together nicely in a "different" way like I wanted, and it's ready for our baby sister's homecoming!
Just a little snapshot of our newest addition's room. I reused Madeline's bedding, color scheme, and fabric, but I also wanted it to be "different" since Baby Girl is her own person. I used the same fabric with different window treatments (Thank Goodness for my friend, Farrah's sewing talent!) Our last minute, new chair matched perfectly and is super cozy.
The rest of the room...the picture below was in my room as a baby & child, so that's kind of sentimental & sweet. I have something special to go over the changing table, but it's not done yet. That's all that is left as far as "decor" goes, and I think that will be okay if Baby Girl's wall is blank for her homecoming.
We are excited. The room came together nicely in a "different" way like I wanted, and it's ready for our baby sister's homecoming!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)