Oscar Stew

Hi there! It’s me, Eleanor Blair. I just came crashing into this world, so please forgive the dazed and confused look on my face. And those aren’t blemishes or bruises on my face; they’re speeding tickets. And quit it with that flash photography Daddy, Mommy hates that!

Hi Mama! They got me all measured, weighed and vaccinated. How are you feeling? Yeah, I kinda figured you might say that…

Check out my cute little dried out toes! Anybody got some lotion?

Are you still here?! Can’t you tell I’m tryin’ to take a nap here? Leave me alone and come back in an hour…that’s 7 a.m. Sharp!

My bro and biggest sis made some cool crafts to welcome me to the family. Aw, shucks!

I’m a squirmy little one. I managed to wriggle out of my swaddled blanket, slide my shirt up and take my hat off. And now I’m exhausted!

I’m outta here! No autographs please. My skin is taking on a yellow jaundice-y tone that is not very becoming.

This was the first time I met the sibs. Germy kids are not allowed at the hospital. Hey Drew, what’s the deal? Is that a raccoon on your head?

The deal was Drew got to have a mohawk for Crazy Hair Day at school. Then Mommy went into labor, so he ended up getting to keep his hawk for two days! Rock ‘n’ roll!

Rowan was super excited to meet me too. But, it seems the adrenalin wore off about 5 minutes too soon. Looks like I’m not the only one who falls asleep while eating. Well, we’re all pretty tired around here, but we’ll see ya again soon!

tic tac toe! We have three girls in a row!!

Forget what I said about this baby being slothful! Obviously she was just building up momentum. Amy woke at 3 a.m. to light infrequent contractions, only to be swept away an hour later in a tsunami of intense and constant contractions. We got to the hospital at 5:04 a.m. and had a new baby girl 7 minutes later! She came out strong, restless, and hungry at 8 pounds 6 ounces, 21½ inches long, and three days before her scheduled due date. She is the biggest baby we’ve ever had! Both mama and baby are doing great. Drew, Binnie, and Ro can’t wait to meet their new little sister. Now for a name…

I know you hoped for a post about the arrival of #4, but instead we are all left wanting. Amy is now more pregnant than she has ever been before. That’s a fun record to break! Although this baby isn’t due till the 8th it is officially late, considering all the other kids came at least a week early. Way to buck the trend #4; we could really do without all the slothfulness… Maybe clearing our conscience with a new post will induce labor. Here’s hoping!

It wasn’t so long ago that it was still 2009, when kids were kids and Amy still had ankles. On the Eve of Christmas Brinley and her wiggle racer got into a fight with a wall and the wall won. Needless to say she had an extra egg for making the fondue.

Drew had a very important lesson to teach all of us. The hardest part was keeping it under wraps.

All the fam gathered in the living room for the reveal, which was distributed machine-gun style.

So what was the message? The Christmas story of course, courtesy of Fisher Price.

Then the big day came. What did Santa bring? Well for starters, Santa observed that if Brinley crashed into walls on a slow, low center-of-gravity device, going even faster on something with a higher center-of-gravity would increase her safety…right. Drew gave her a helmet, just in case. 

Rowan & Santa both know that calculus, cold fusion and molecular biology are for the birds. On the other hand, shape recognition and text messaging are a tuffy! Check out that tongue action!

Drew is a decade too young to be getting his own car, and it may be tough for his friends to bum a ride until Drew can get some engine and body work done…

Mommy & Daddy must have been listening when the kids BEGGED them for Pillow Pets for Christmas. If we had this moment on video you’d know why we are deaf.

Rowan wouldn’t even let go of hers to open more presents. A little filler here: Rowan’s lovey is a zebra too, and anywhere she sees the slightest imitation of zebra print she is sure to let you know: BABA!

What? You mean you can talk on these things, not just text? Kids these days… 

We might be where the palm trees grow, but it didn’t take long for us to find a snowy slope to satisfy our powdery desires. Check out Amy in Brinley’s snowsuit. I mean Brinley in Amy’s…one in the same.

Daddy taught the kids proper sledding technique: Sit down, hold on, and scream like a wild man!

Brinley was even leaning into the turns!

Then Daddy tried to be a show-off stuntman. as usual…

We’ve adapted to this mild climate, so before long our less than adequate footwear had served us to its breaking point and it was time for a warm-up. There’s nothing like getting cozying up to the fire with a good book. Kids these days…

Sapatos en fuego!

Moving on, the kids called in the teleporter and had themselves dropped into a jungle infested with dangerous and deadly wild beasts. Good thing they each had a set of binoculars and a speaker that told them what might attack next!

Where did that bear get that speaker and those binoculars from? Oh, hi Drew. 

Rowan’s teleporter must have had some kind of glitch, as she ended up on a sheer rock face. Hold on Ro!

There was a “disagreement” about whose binoculars were whose, and somebody ended up being able to do without…

Eventually Rowan managed to get off the cliff unharmed and just in time to see more Baba! Hey Ro, you don’t happen to notice any problem with that zebra do you? Kids these days…

Mommy says it’s midnight somewhere! Happy New Year! And these things are good!

Ladies & gentlemen this is your captain speaking. I invite you to sit back, relax and enjoy your flight!  If you are not able to securely fasten your own seatbelt, please exit the aircraft immediately and crawl back under the rock from whence you came. Our in-flight movie, “The 3 Hooligans”, can be found on channel 5. Thanks again for choosing OscarStew Airways…

Even though we’re still in a holding pattern here in St. George, we’ve settled in to our routine and are making the best of our time with family & friends. The kids are doing well, Amy is deep into the uncomfortable third trimester, and I’ve mastered the two-flight commute to Denver. What we haven’t mastered is keeping this stew warm. Sorry, we’ll try to do better. On with the show!

I’m not the only one doing the high flying these days. Case in point:

Tarzan & Jane swung from those vines until those 30 year-old vines could swing no more.

So, Grandpa J and I hauled the monkeys down to the hardware store and had them choose what color rope they wanted for their new swings. I made the choice easy: Lightning McQueen Red or Cinderella Blue? Works every time.

I didn’t even have the ladder down yet and this test pilot was already pushing the limits.

Once it was certified by Drew, Rowan wanted to take it for a spin with Aunt Kristy. Check out the tongue action! Air Rowan!

Hey Rowan, what’s the best treat at Grandma’s house?

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: Nothing beats an orange fresh from the tree. nothing.

Enough lounging around in the sun Ro-Dog, we got Christmas lights to hang. Layne & Shauna were great judges on proper light placement. Judgment may have been lacking on that sweater however…

Okay, so there’s a lot going on here. The green leaf-eating machine is doing its job while Grandpa does two jobs, the kids are doing their jobs, and the dog…well, who knows what he’s up to, but the shock collar is doing its job!

Alright kids Grandpa and I have made a big effort to put all the leaves in a nice neat pile in the corner of the yard. Now drive Grandpa nuts and make a huge mess…GO!

And we’re off to a great start!

Binnie the Leaf Witch is hiding in there somewhere. Be careful you don’t get too close!

You’ve heard of snownados, but the Leaf Witch can conjure up leafnados!

Or maybe she just didn’t like me calling her Leaf Witch. Ok Binnie you’re the Leaf Fairy! Is that better?!

Ok ok, the leaves are a big mess again. You kids go do something fast and risky. How about high-speed wiggle racing? Most excellent!

There have been a couple of days where the temperature has dipped into the low 40’s (give us a break, we left our parkas in Colorado!), so not all the fun happens outside. Things get crazy pretty quick inside the house, like when Grandpa unknowingly put Ro’s diaper on backwards…

…Or when this one dirties her high chair in more than one way.

Who would Drew and Brinley be if they didn’t exhaust a year’s supply of tape, glue and construction paper in just a few hours? Not my kids that’s for sure.

Alright…back outside. Hey Scoob, Daddy will now give you a rundown on proper leaf-diving technique…

Attempt #1: Plant the foot and launch!

Catastrophic failure! Brace for impact! Doh!

Attempt #2: Critical speed reached, prepare for liftoff!

Apparently Drew was just being nice to me. It seems he has already mastered levitation. Hummm…Hummm…

While raking the leaves back into the pile I found this rare beauty. Nice ’stache!

Once we got settled we immediately jumped on priority #1: Halloween Costumes! That frightful night was just around the corner and we didn’t have anything ready. We pulled the team together and got it done in no time.

Drew & Binnie both sewed their own candy bags…

Brinley made hers out of a very stretchy material for the heavy haul she was hoping for. Ohhh yeah!

In case there might have been confusion, the scholar made sure his bag was easily identifiable.

Kristy trained Rowan in the fine art of stabbing large orange vegetables.

Brinley’s pumpkin had to be scary. That may have been helped along with Daddy’s sound effects.

I see two scary pumpkins: An orange one, a red one, and Brinley.

 Which one is scarier, the one with all his teeth or the one without?

The Tres Caballeros ready for their night of spooking. Theme anyone?

The turtle got to show off his costume earlier at skoo during the parade. That boy has blended right into his new class.

The jellyfish. Look but don’t touch! (Her candy that is)

The octopus. Hey, I don’t have a bag! You guys get candy and all I get is a glow stick?!

Trunk or Treat is a fantastic idea: High yield from little effort. Drew skipped all the way to the church building.

Trick or Treat! Hmm…no answer. Maybe they’re scared of the glowing blue orb outside. wowowowowow…

Those bags are getting heavy, but no matter. Those sea creatures will call a tow truck if they have to. Grampa can you…?

We’re settled in and mostly unpacked now, and figured it might be time to open the valve on the backlog of photos that are piling up. An extremely big thank you goes out to all those who helped us jam almost all our stuff into that tiny storage unit! So, how did it go? It goes like this…

Dog of Destruction pauses for a drink during her WWE debut on Spike. Notice her jammies are still zipped and snapped up to the top. How she pulled her arm out of the sleeve and through the neck remains a mystery. 

The toys disappeared but this space ranger still provided plenty of entertainment.

The house is empty, I’m bored, hungry, and want to leave. That’s what the belly told me that the baby said.

Cheddar was thrilled about his upcoming 9-hour Rocky Mountain Tour.

Edgar really seemed to enjoy it. He was allowed out of his box, so that may have had something to do with it.

It wasn’t long into our adventure that Rowan was disappointed with the tour. She had seen all this scenery before, and the snack bar wasn’t really satisfying. She took Daddy’s snacks and stayed awake until the last 15 minutes of the drive. Woohoo!   

There was another lump of flesh in the back of the car, but it didn’t make a sound for hours.

And it came to pass that the youngest generation was a loud and stiff-necked people, who set their hearts upon the things of the world… 

I know what your thinking, Drew’s head is on backwards. That tends to happen when you have two first days of skoo in the same year.

Drew’s first day at his new school happened to be “backwards day.” Way to be on top of it Scoob!

New desk. New teach. New friends. New fun!

Same old reward for doing well. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!