I don't know why it took me so long to come up with an idea after yesterday's debacle with Jackie at the egg hunt.  Wait... I know why.  It was because in the past, I let my anger  and hurt for my daughter get in the way.  You see, she struggled during egg hunts and would always come away nearly empty handed and in tears.  It broke my heart to see my little girl struggle.  For a couple of years, I didn't even bother to take my children to egg hunts and I would even hope and pray that they…

During my childhood, I used to say that I was never going to get married and I was never going to have children. The idea of either one actually frightened me. I did not have the best example of marriage and I was not sure if I could ever raise a child without abusing him/her. Even as young adult, my thoughts didn't change on marriage but, I began to think that perhaps I would adopt someday. My desire to adopt was given a boost when I went on a trip to Romania. I had the opportunity to visit…

http://thestewreport.blogspot.com/2012/04/adoption-another-passion-of-mine.html

This is a huge accomplishment for my little girl. And I am one proud mom.

Up until last year, Jackie didn't seem too interested in riding on 2 wheels. She was happy with her bike with training wheels and so was I. I just wasn't ready to risk her incurring more injuries even though she does wear a bike helmet. About a year and a half ago, T bought Jackie a Princess bike after she outgrew the toddler bike. The training wheels on this new bike were set so that she would get the hang of…

I'm becoming more than a little bit frustrated. It doesn't matter how often I have asked T to help me with parenting and discipline, it always got right back to the same old routine.

So tonight was a night from hell. Everything was fine until I came home from Target with a few essentials that we needed for the next day or two. It was already 8:15 and the kids were still nowhere near ready for bed. I immediately told Ben to get his pajamas on and brush his teeth. Well, he was determined…

www.thestewreport.blogspot.com/2012/04/adventures-er-misadventures-of-lucy.html

Lucy injured her ACL a few months ago. The vet recommended surgery to repair it. I did get a second opinion and that vet also recommended surgery. Since it was so close to our trip back home for Christmas, I put off the surgery since Lucy didn't seem to be in pain. But in the last month, Lucy started exhibiting signs that she was in pain so we decided to go forward with surgery. But whew, what an adventure it has been.

We scheduled the surgery for March 14th and this involved an…

It's not what you might think.  Read on: http://thestewreport.blogspot.com/2012/03/son-in-underwear-and-more.html

Sunday, February 26, 2012

I Will Honor Thy Father and Mother

Both of the kids have been very challenging lately.  Especially Jackie with her sassy attitude.  As most of my friends know (or perhaps not), Jackie has been the ultimate drama queen from the moment she was born.  So, it's no surprise that she is…

http://thestewreport.blogspot.com/2012/02/new-twist-on-baked-potatoes.html

http://www.thestewreport.blogspot.com/2012/02/family-update.html

http://www.thestewreport.blogspot.com/2012/02/im-special.html

Jackie never seizes to make me laugh and shake my head in amazement.  As much as she can drive me insane from her incessant whining, she can also be quite entertaining with her funny antics.

Read more... http://thestewreport.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-wise-funny-and-gullible-girl.html

http://thestewreport.blogspot.com/2012/01/cuteness.html

  I never thought I would ever blog about this topic. This past week, after telling a friend a story about my daughter, she said that I should write it down so I can share with Jackie when she's older. I immediately told her that I wouldn't do that because I didn't want Jackie to be upset with me later on. But after being inspired by a friend's story today that she relayed on Facebook, I thought that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad after all to tell the story, especially because it still makes…

I was recently asked to be a guest blogger for another website. What an exciting opportunity that is. Especially because it is a guest post about Zumba and how it helped to change my life. Here it is:

Until a few years ago, I never had a problem with my weight. I was always very thin, with no form, just skinny. After I got married, I put on a few pounds but I was still considered to be thin. After I gave birth to my daughter 7 years ago, I was able to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight…