Wednesday without Words

Out with the old

It is the end of an era at our house. The stove that has resided here for 15 years has been replaced. A much newer model now sits in it's esteemed place in our kitchen. While we have had some good times baking cookies and making meals for friends in need, the old girl had seen much better days. So here it is:

10 things I will not miss about the old Whirlpool

10. The mismatched knobs (hello, Frankenstein)

9. The ever present grease residue on the burner grates

8. The clock that has hands and doesn't work

7. The knob that sticks occasionally and clicks until you remove said knob and fix the tiny piece that moved just out of place (thus causing the clicking noise)

6. The timers that don't work

5. The "self clean" that doesn't even pretend to work and so should be called "get down on your hands and knees and scrub the daylights out of the blasted thing whilst smelling fumes that burn your nose hairs"

4. The thermostat that doesn't work and thusly causes me to stand by the stove and constantly check to make sure everything is cooking and/or not burning

3. The bent door handle (I think Brian did that)

2. The "rusty, nasty not-even-a-little-shiny anymore" oven racks

1. The tinfoil burnt to the bottom of the stove after the oven decided to heat up to 550* when I set it to 350*

So long old friend. Hello new friend!

Bright and Shiny. Digital. Self Cleaning. A light and a big window to see into the oven. Broiler inside. Storage drawer on the bottom. Gas. Heats up in 10 minutes as opposed to 25-30 minutes for the old one. Gray burners, the non-sticky type. Beeps when it's preheated. How ingenious is that? No tinfoil stuck to the bottom. Did I mention the microwave I got with it? I know I am one lucky gal. And I have the best husband ever for getting it for me!

Ah, the little things!

Wednesday without words...a day late :/

Token Orchard Pictures

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I pictured us doing lots of fun things on our 10th anniversary...

but this was not one of them. Yes, that's my husband of ten years. And yes, he is breaking into our house.

The story goes something like this. We left our mini van at my mom's house. She was watching the kids and it made sense. I left my keys for her to take the kids in the van wherever they needed to go. We took her Durango because we thought it would be fun to rent a car but the prices for renting a car made us gasp! The Durango was the next best thing.

Friday morning we left for our day of fun. We went to the Walker Art Center, the Sculpture Gardens and to the Stone Arch Bridge. We also visited Mill Ruins Park, the Guthrie (for a tour) and to Pracna on Main (for dinner)! We had an amazing time together. After this past year and Brian finally getting an amazing job, we felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from us and we truly felt like we connected and enjoyed each others company! It really was wonderful! We stopped at Byerly's for dessert...two "Death by Chocolates" and some movies later and we arrived home. As he stepped out of the Durango, it occurred to Brian that he hadn't brought a set of house keys. Although he knew the answer, he asked if I had my keys by any chance. We were locked out of our house. Luckily, the back door of the garage was open and we got a ladder out and borrowed a flashlight from our neighbors, the Elsen's. Prying the window open, pushing the screen into the house and me climbing through the living room window (in a skirt, mind you) was definitely priceless memories in the making!

at the stone arch bridge looking at the mississippi and ruins of an old flour mill

flour mill damaged in 1991 by fire

looking out of the ruins at the stone arch bridge

at the edge of the guthrie "bridge" looking down at the river and SAB

it's not the eiffel tower in the back but i'm sure gold medal flour is "hot" somewhere! well, maybe not.

In honor of 10 years of marriage...10 highlights of the past 10 years

10.when brian asked me to marry him (nov 21, 1997)

9.our honeymoon in duluth (oct 18, 1998)

8.finding out we were expecting #1 & birth of caleb thomas (oct 27, 2000)

7.moving to California (june 1, 2001)

6.finding out we were expecting #2 & birth of Zachariah Joel (march 3, 2002)

5.wow! expecting #3 in 2 years! and birth of Kalie Raenell (jul 17, 2003)

4.driving cross country from CA to MN (8 months preggo) (june 1, 2003)

3.buying our first home

2.everyday i get to be home with my children!

1.the next ten years

A Minnesota Fall

The leaves are quickly changing and with it the weather. Crisp fall days are on their way. Now that the kids are back in school there are less spontaneous opportunities to go to the Orchard or rake leaves and jump into them. We cherish family dinners because we are all sitting together (not too many things on the calendar yet) sharing "our favorite part of the day". But as we were sitting at dinner last night I just had to run out to the back yard with my camera. The way the sunset was hitting our trees was incredible. But the most amazing part was our bright orange tree nestled in with trees that were still green. I'm not a very skilled photographer and I think the beauty was only slightly captured. Just thought I would share it with you anyway!

It truly was a beautiful sight created by our Creator! It reminded me of an old Catholic Hymn that I loved.

CANTICLE OF THE SUN
Refrain
The heavens are telling the glory of God,
and all creation is shouting for joy.
Come, dance in the forest,
come, play in the field,
and sing, sing to the glory of the Lord.
1. Praise for the sun, the bringer of the day,
he carries the light of the Lord in his rays;
the moon and the stars who light up the way
unto your throne.
2. Praise for the wind that blows through the trees,
the sea’s mighty storms, the gentlest breeze;
they blow where they will, they blow where they please
to please the Lord.
3. Praise for the rain that waters our field,
and blesses our crops so all the earth yields;
from death unto life her myst’ry revealed
springs forth in joy.
4. Praise for the fire who gives us his light,
the warmth of the sun to brighten our night;
he dances with joy, his spirit so bright,
he sings of you.
5. Praise for the earth who makes life to grow,
the creatures you made to let your life show;
the flowers and trees that help us to know
the heart of love.
6. Praise for our death that makes our life real,
the knowledge of loss that helps us to feel;
the gift of yourself, your presence revealed
to lead us home

It has been soooo long! I am sorry that it seems like I forgot about my trusty followers. Life has been crazy here at the Stewart house. Here are the updates:

• Brian got a job!!! Praise God. Last Thursday he was offered the position of Adult Ministries Pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Brooklyn Park. We are happy to say that this was the job he REALLY wanted. It's a little out of his comfort zone since he has worked with Junior High and Senior HIgh students for 15 years(!) but he is going to be amazing at this job. I am a lot sad to leave Woodridge. It has been my home for 5 1/2 years and I love the people there and I love seeing friendly smiling faces. It was very hard for me to walk into Grace last Sunday and not see one person I knew. I sat in my seat and sniffled through the service. On a good note, Grace is a lot like WR. Both churches are Baptist General Conference, are growing and reaching people and showing people the love of God. Both have amazing pastors, in fact the pastors at both churches are great friends. I think it will be a hard change but a very good one.

• The kids are great. Adjusting to school and homework *gulp*. The thought makes my stomach squirm. They are tired of visiting "new" churches and are glad that we have finally "settled". Caleb is enrolled in the Delano DI (Destination ImagiNation) team and is really excited for it to start. I think Kalie is going to be a Daisy girl Scout, though I haven't told her this yet. So don't buy your cookies from anyone else. Now I just need to find something wonderful for Zachariah!

• I have been busy making stuff of all kinds. Bags, more aprons, I bought stuff to make jammie bottoms for the kids (not started yet), I might try my hand at ballet flat slippers, I also made a 4 tiered skirt for my cousins little girl. You know the usual. I never find a project I don't need to try. I'm keeping busy and my house is paying for it. It's a mess right now so today is House Beautification day (just as soon as I'm done blogging, of course!) I also joined the Army of Women. It's an organization that needs healthy women to do research for breast cancer. I heard NBC Nightly News put out a call to action and I felt compelled to join. Please check it out.

• Just in case you were wondering, Froggy (as I guess he has been named) is doing really well. After the cricket incident, I have not bought any more food for him and we have just been collecting bugs from outside. It's crazy what that little guy will eat. I am amazed that he has lasted this long and I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do this winter to feed him. He may need to be released into the wild.

Well, that's all the news I know for now!

WIshing you a weekend full of wonder!