7 days 'till Christmas

Yikes!!!!!!! Let me say that again...Y! I! K! E! S!!!!!!!!!!! I know I have been missing in the blogging world, I've been reminded of that by many, and don't think that I've been doing anything fantastic. The days have just been fading away and I'm not really any closer to being ready for Christmas than I was the day after Thanksgiving. So.....today on Good Things Utah, well actually just a few minutes ago a segment aired with cute little homemade (and I NEED more projects to add to the already unattainable list I already have going) items. I haven't had time to browse it all, but it does look interesting and had to share.....just in case any of you have people on your list and no ideas yet. I'm actually hoping to run across a cute "teacher" type present, since I have to have it completed by....TOMORROW!!!!!! Enough already...here's the link www.youcanmakethis.com
Let me know if you find anything really cute! Happy 7th day 'till Christmas!

7 random (and wierd) things about me

So Kayla tagged me to list 7 random things about myself. I always feel like these are a confession of all my idiosyncrasies and I have a lot of them.

1. I get overwhelmed VERY easy and then I just shut down. I don't know how many times the kitchen has just been trashed and I just can't figure out where to start. I can't tell you how many times Shawn has bailed me out of this one by just seeing my frustration and taking it upon himself to tidy things up. I have tried so hard lately to keep things under control in that area to keep it from getting out of hand. It's just that with 5 kids and all of them in school or preschool... with notes, newsletters, calendars, permission slips, book orders, homework, completed work, book reports, planners and the list could go on and on it is a CONSTANT BATTLE. And can I just mention that the second after the floor is cleaned there are crumbs, corners of wrappers, cereal and why is there ALWAYS a pencil on the floor? I don't get it. Enough....I'm getting overwhelmed. :)

2. I do not like shoes OR long pants and I rarely wear a coat. Yes, living in Utah that is a problem. There's some sort of suffocating feeling I get when I wear socks AND shoes, that's why I rarely do it. I don't like long pants either, I like having my ankles out. One time I stopped to wash the car and was wearing some sort of capri length pant, I did the self wash and you know the mist that comes from the wand, it was freezing on the skin on my ankles.....cold for sure. I hardly ever wear a coat, maybe only 3 or 4 times during the winter do I pull out the coat. It's not that I'm not cold because I am freezing, I just don't like coats. Shawn and I have a joke that if I DO pull out the coat, we make the comment "it must be damn cold." So some of my kids are just like me, neither Cole or Taylor have worn a pair of long pants to school yet. I bought Taylor a new pair of jeans, and thinking he needed more, I bought him another pair. That one didn't fit so great so I needed to return them, he told me to just get my money back on those because he didn't plan on EVER wearing long pants this year. So 8th grade.

3.Figuring out what to fix for dinner each night is probably the worst of all my duties. I dread it and fight it probably a little too much. I'm not an organizer or much of a planner and don't take time to write a menu or a grocery list and it just causes me daily grief. Dinner each night always requires a trip to the store and it's been driving me crazy. So something that just happened and now is becoming a regular thing is sandwich Mondays and breakfast Saturday nights. Then I usually make a chicken dish one night and one with hamburger another and a soup night. It's been nice for the kids to know what to plan on and they like it so there's less complaining. We can all do well with a little less complaining!!!!!This is definitely something I will be working harder on. It's always such a relief in the afternoon to already know what's for dinner.

4.I have a thing for ice. I always put ice in my milk, even for cereal. It just has to be SUPER cold. I always have an ice water on the counter and I am picky about what places have what ice. Taco time has the best. Our family is convinced that Bountiful/Centerville NEEDS a Sonic. They have the little ice and can we even talk about Happy Hour. Everyday between 2 and 4 all drinks are half price. Sometimes I plan my errands to Layton between those hours! A dream of mine is to have an ice machine that makes perfect little ice that is soft when you chew it. I know, kind of dumb and really bad for my teeth!

5. I like chocolate. DUH! Not so random right. I look forward to Easter and Christmas because my FAVORITE would be those little Cadbury eggs and Christmas balls with the crunchy coating. Yeah, you other chocolate lovers know what ones I'm talking about!! Fortunately or unfortunately the chocolate season is from right after Valentine's Day to Easter and right after Halloween to Christmas and some long months in between. Did you know that Wal-Mart doesn't carry those Cadbury candies? Silly Wal-mart (one more reason for me to not like that store) but TARGET does!!!! Yeah Target. Now if they would just quit asking me if they can help me find anything like 10 times while I am in the store. That drives me crazy and sometimes keeps me out of Target because I'm just not in the mood for that. (My life has been TOO stressful for TOO long now and that is one thing that can just push me over the edge!) But that is another post all together. I look forward to mellower days (if mellower is even a word, you know what I mean)

6. I have a thing for pens, colored pencils and markers. Each barrel of a pen feels different in the hand and am I in the mood for a fine point or one that draws a nice thick line? Black or blue...one that clicks or the lid comes off? Sharpies, don't even get me started. I love the black ones and stock up on them. I usually always have a couple of unopened packages on hand at all times. I love the fine point ones, and the minute I heard on a tv commercial that there was a new sharpie pen...I was obsessed about getting to the store to get one. (well...2 pack) I love colored markers and am always on the lookout for new sharpie colors. I always tell Shawn that I want that huge multi-pack of colored sharpies. I've learned that boys don't really care about things, and when I saw the twistable crayons, I kept badgering the boys asking them if they wanted some. They finally agreed, however they weren't nearly as excited about them as I was. Every year when the back to school supplies hit the stores and you can get a box of crayons for .24 or an 8 pack of crayola markers for .84 you literally have to keep me out of the school section. I love crayola markers in ALL the colors, fat ones, doodlers, love the pip squeaks, (they're so little and cute) and stampers. How much fun are those? Yeah, my kids are just about as thrilled as I'm sure you are. The pen lovers get it though! My sister is a pen lover.

and 7. I love bling!!! Pretty much everything I make has to have some kind of sparkle. If I print something that has an i.....I have to dot it with a little rhinestone. And glitter...love the sparkley. Pink sparkley...now we're talking. I love shiney too. You should see my purse! Pink patent...it is pretty FABULOUS!!! Too bad I don't have a daughter. She would have been glammed and glittered and sparkled to the max!!! Oh well, more for me.
Consider yourself tagged if you read this blog, I would love to hear all about your randomness!

More of what we did in October

This is a catch up post. The most recent events are first, moving down to the oldest. This is the order in which I WOULD have blogged about if I'd actually done the blogging. :)

***Halloween was nice and warm this year. The kids got too much candy as usual, I did my annual threatening...."if I see ANY candy wrappers on the floor, I'm going to......." which year after year means absolutely nothing to anyone. The joys of motherhood, right? Cole as the vampire was from the 6th grade spook ally. The kids and their friends before trick or treating. And for the last several years Taylor has been a Packer fan with Hunter joining him this year. It's an easy costume for us to throw together.

As usual at the Stephens house, kids wearing shorts the last day in October. Actually we have several pictures of the kids in the back yard building snowmen with shorts and snow boots. That would be Taylor, Cole and Hunter and of course me!

Our kids LOVE carving pumpkins. These are this years creations.




****mmm...Fall baking. I made pumpkin roll to take to a couple of ladies in my neighborhood. I love the smell of it baking, (so far it's the ONLY thing I have liked about fall..remember I'm a summer lovin' girl) The recipie is on the back of the Libby's pumpkin can or here it is. (super good comfort food)

LIBBY'S® Pumpkin Roll

Ingredients:

• CAKE
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
• FILLING
• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar (optional for decoration)

Directions:

FOR CAKE:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FOR FILLING:
BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

COOKING TIP:
Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

***More mod podge stars. My friend needed hers refurbished, I love the papers she chose, they are from Basic Grey and the Ambrosia line. I love the reds, oranges and greys.

****My friend Kayla kindly took us to Mueller Park to take some family photos for us. The kids were exploring around and found the river. Seeing that as a great photo opportunity, Kayla went down with them and was helping organize the group for a picture, all I could think of was...5 kids and water....somebody's goin' in. Well, of course you know what happened. As soon as I heard "grab Cade's hand and help him across" I knew that was it. He slipped on a mossy rock and went into the water getting his clothes all wet. It's October...it's cold! For the rest of the shoot, he was shivering. I just KNEW it would be Cade. We're grateful for Kayla and all the time she took with us, thanks to her we'll be getting a Christmas card out this year!

***Shawn and his friend Jim flew to Cincinnati to a Steelers game. Jim is the Steelers fan, and Shawn is of course a Green Bay Packers fan but will go anywhere, anytime for an NFL game especially for the exceptional seats they had for this game! This is the actual photo from their 3RD ROW SEATS! (I can't believe Shawn actually brought a Bengals football home to the Packers house)

***We went to the zoo again. It is really a lot of fun to go with a good friend and only a couple of children. It was on one of the last warm sunny days where we soaked up some of the last sunshine of the season.

AWWWWW, Summer is really over!

I always postpone getting ready for winter by pulling out my summer flowers. It's hard for me to admit that temperatures are dipping down and several times now the flowers have frozen overnight. The zinnias that used to be beautiful orange and pink are now crusty and brown, so I got to it and on Saturday cleaned out the flower beds. It always kills me to throw all these flowers away. Did you know that if you dig up your geraniums before they freeze you can save them until next year. We have been doing this for several years and in the spring you have an enormous blooming geranium. Last weekend before I left on Friday, I heard it was going to freeze and so I dug them up, each with a pretty large root ball of dirt and placed them in a shallow rubbermaid tub, I squished them all together. I put them in the garage, it's best to put them on an inside wall to your house (it's warmer), water them every once in awhile throughout the winter, and in the spring they will re-bloom into gorgeous plants!
I have a hard time with empty pots, so in the window box after I pulled all the summer flowers out, I planted some pansies that will go from fall to spring.
I was busy in the yard for a big part of the day, cleaning the beds, mowing the lawn, moving things inside to prepare for colder temperatures. The kids had friends over which is great, they played outside and inside on the game cube or wii. However, this is the thing that killed me. Around noon I went to Costco and got a few things, one being the !!!4 lb !!! container of grapes. Around 6 when I came inside, this is all that was left. I'm not really mad or anything, at least they're grapes instead of candy right? I just can never get over how quickly things disappear from our kitchen. Having 5 kids, boys nonetheless, food vanishes. And if I ask who ate it................well, nobody did it....it wasn't me. I guess it's something I won't ever get used to. And, really it's going to get worse as they get older. At our house a box of 6 something is a single serving and if everyone has one sandwich, a loaf of bread is lunch with not much else to spare. I have YEARS to deal with this. Really though, I wouldn't have it any other way!

Fun day at the zoo!

Today the kids were out of school so we joined thousands of others and went to the zoo. It was a beautiful 70 degree day!

The younger kids rode the carousel (Taylor would not like anyone to assume that HE rode it).

Tiffany(my niece), Kapree(her little girl), Taylor, Hunter, Noah, Cade and Cole.

Kapree blowing kisses!

The train ride is essential, fortunately I got to skip it and take a couple of pictures. You can be sure that I have taken my share of rides in the past.

Here's the highlight (for Cole anyway)...the penguins. He was looking for them the moment we got there. I have to admit, I also love them, first of all they are my favorite colors..I love black and white, and the way they waddle around....well...they're just CUTE!

And this picture just sums up the day! FUN AND FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of many projects!

I have a lot of projects in the near future, too many actually, and I get very overwhelmed if I really think about what I need to get accomplished! I will post them as they happen, but this is a quick thank you gift that I made up today and wanted to share.I was having a hard time getting a picture without glare. Obviously it does say "HOT Chocolate". Today my niece helped me out with the vinyl lettering and I love the way it turned out! THANKS TIFFANY!!!!!! This is a fairly large glass container filled with our family's favorite homemade hot chocolate mix. (Thanks to my sister) We love to share the recipe.

HOMEMADE HOT CHOCOLATE
1 - 16 oz. Nesquick
1 - 16 oz. powdered sugar
1 - 16 oz. dry non dairy creamer
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 - 8 QT. instant powdered milk
Mix all ingredients together.
To make hot chocolate:
Fill cup 1/3 full of chocolate mix. Add hot water.
(If you buy the ingredients in larger containers from Costco like I did, 16 oz. is 2 cups of powder)

Enjoy this on the colder days that are sure to come. Of course you would want to make a delicious cookie or have some chocolate to accompany this.....maybe with a good movie! :)

It's a first!

It's embarrassing for me to admit, but until last weekend, I have NEVER been away from my family. Well, that's not entirely true I guess, but I don't really count it because the 5 times I have been away has been in the hospital having another baby. And then it was only for 24 hours or less. No, Shawn and I have never even been away together for even a night! Pathetic I know! We just don't have anyone to watch the kids. Shawn has actually been away lots for business travel, but me, heck no! UNTIL.........last weekend. We went to my friend Wendy's parents cabin. Once I was gone, it was HEAVEN! I love my family, but I really didn't miss them! Friday to Sunday isn't too terribly long anyway............NOT LONG ENOUGH, that's for sure! The others would agree I think, (well, probably not Kayla!) Anyway, it did me good, recharged me a little, we had a lot of fun, and I just have to ask, "when can we do it again?
And for sure I have Shawn to thank for supporting me and taking GREAT care of the kids while I was gone. He is the best dad ever! He even tried to take the kids to the new Chuck E. Cheese in Layton.....voluntarily!! He gets an award for that for sure, that's one of those painful places you only agree to go because it's some small child's birthday! You never just GO...unless you're Shawn I guess!Wendy and Penny.
Kayla... she was getting the car loaded (she was the one most anxious to get home)
Me and Penny again. Penny got all dressed up to get home to her Big Rig. (had to be there!)
And this is the beautiful new cabin of Wendy's generous parents we stayed in. Lots of laughter, girl movies, good food, and chit chat that will last me until the next time we are lucky enough to do it again!

Lovin Jason Mraz' version of this song..thanks Wendy for posting it first

I was reading his blog today and the October 2nd post is worth reading.
http://freshnessfactorfivethousand.blogspot.com/

I heart DIY

This month one of our preview channels is DIY network. Is there anyone else besides me that can be mesmerized by this channel? One show that hooks me right from the beginning and no matter what , I cannot get up and stop watching it is The New Yankee Workshop. Biscuit Joint, Countersink, Compound Miter, Dado, Mortise, Tenon, Adhesive, Band Saw, Tongue and Groove, he makes beautiful furniture with these words...and he makes it look so easy! This is actually one of the only home shows that Shawn will watch with me. Here's another one, remember this guy...
Bob Ross the painter.....(happy little clouds and happy trees) we could be caught watching him on PBS back in the day.
Shawn will watch, but he's no handyman! It's me who is asking for a nail gun for christmas. (I have some moulding I want to change out) I'm always tearing into something, then with my ADHD tendancies I get bored and move to something different. I have a whole mess of projects that I need to complete. It's a little overwhelming, but little by little I swear I will get them done. That's my big project for the winter months.

In memory of...

MOLLY Jan 1, 1992 to Sept 15, 2007
Wow, I can't believe it's been a year already since we lost our little Molly. Last year I remember saying "things couldn't get worse" and then they did... the day she died. She was actually 15 years old and I knew it was inevitable, I had been seeing her get thinner, greyer, pickier, quieter, her eyes more cloudy, sleeping a lot more. But I was NOT ready to let her go...we never are though.
I would always say she was my first born. We babied her so much...taking her to grandpa's to be babysat while we went out, because we had been at work all day and didn't want her left alone too long. She was our child before we had children.
I remember how when I would come in the door I would yell, "mommy's home" and she'd come tearing through the house to greet me. I'd pick her up and she'd snuggle in my neck and lick me and get so excited.
She was not a kid dog though. She loved us, but she didn't love the kids as they came along. It wasn't until she started losing her sight that the kids could pick her up and snuggle her. She wasn't friendly to strangers either. But you love them anyway. She was a part of our lives for a very long time she actually slept with us every night.
I'll never forget the last few days, it was Thursday and she stopped eating and drinking, I panicked and kept trying to coax her to eat. I went to the store and bought all kinds of dog food hoping she'd find one that was appetizing so she'd eat. Friday was the same and early on Saturday I finally realized that it was ending and I'd have to take her to the vet on Monday. That day (Sat) we needed to shop for some things and were going to be gone for a few hours. At the last minute we decided to run to Ross which is close by and found what we were looking for so we were only gone for a very short time. When we got home I was sitting near her and felt an urgency to pick her up. I took her in the bathroom and was trying to coax her to drink something, pleading with her not to die on me and then I felt her take a big breath and nothing. I yelled for Shawn and we cried together, he took her and wrapped her in a blanket and put her in a box. We told the kids, we cried, we had a little viewing, we cried, we burried her, we cried. It was the worst day! I am so glad that at least I was there, if we had gone with our original plan we wouldn't have been around. I am grateful that it happened naturally and I didn't have to have the vet do it, that would have been harder for ME. We haven't adopted a new puppy yet, we'll be ready soon I think. Until then, we love you Molly and miss everything about you!

What a great kid

Saturday, September 6th Hunter was baptized. We had the support of our family and friends and it was a great day! Thanks everyone! We are so grateful for the good boy that he is, his desire to be baptized and his commitment to do what is right. We love you Hunt!

Little kids zoo day

Having the big kids go to school leaves just Noah and I. Precious moments for sure. To celebrate back to school, a bunch of moms and preschoolers from my neighborhood went to the zoo and we enjoyed a BEAUTIFUL day! The sad part was....the only picture I took was of this..........
nothing of the fun group we went with or our kids on the train or carousel ....all I could think of was COLE LIKES PENGUINS.

First Day of School

Made it through the summer and breathing a sigh of relief that the kids are all settled back in school. It's a good thing.
Taylor started 8th grade at Milcreek Jr. High
Cole is in 6th grade and Hunter in 3rd grade at Centerville Elementary

And Cade is in 1st grade at Taylor Elementary.
Many schools and lots of carpooling, but they are doing well and seem happy to be where they are. Very Grateful for wonderful school teachers! They are my heroes!

Oh Happy Day!

School started today!
This is my HAPPY DANCE!

http://www.procreo.jp/labo/flower_garden.swf
Go here, hold down your mouse for a fireworks show, or click all over for a mass of happiness!

Our weekend was nice, the kids were actually really good, not too much arguing and fighting. Noah kept saying, "it's taking a long time to get there". Of course it helps to have runts, push pops, milk duds, blow pops, and diet coke to survive the ride.

We stayed in a nice, large condo in Mesquite. Plenty of room for everyone to spread out, the kids mostly enjoyed that there were 3 T V s and that meant having a room to themselves and watching what they wanted. We didn't sit around and watch tv all that much (although with the Olympics on, we watched more than we planned). We swam several times, and I caught a few precious rays on Saturday morning.

We spent the afternoon and evening in Las Vegas. We found it VERY crowded, we knew that though, but it always surprises me. With 5 kids (who are professional whiners, and a 3 year old...without the stroller) I was leary to really set out on foot.
So we drove here and there and then finally settled on and around New York New York.

Taylor had to hit the ESPN Zone (he really is the biggest sports head ever!) He got a new "awesome" (if you could only hear how he really says that...funny) football. He collects them you know. Why wouldn't he really! Then we went to the M& M world. You know you can kill a few hours in a place like that. I love how everyone has to get something, even if it's crap, just to get something. All the kids had to make their smashed penny. We seem to have started collecting them awhile back. I love that just because you can customize certain colors, m&m's cost $11.99 a pound there! No thank you, I can wait for my chocolate when I can get a bag for $3 somewhere else. I'm pretty sure it tastes the same.
Funny how you're always glad to be back home though. Most importantly though, we had fun being together, and isn't that what matters the most! Now for the final week before school starts, mixed emotions on that still, but we do look forward to some routine back...I think it's time. Cade actually goes to first grade this year. (having a hard time with that one) and Noah is in preschool 2 times a week. For the first time in over 13 years, I will be alone for 4 hours a week. Wow!

so... I need to work on my tan

We're heading out for a long weekend getaway to Mesquite, NV and on Saturday will probably venture to Las Vegas. School starts soon and we haven't really been anywhere fun. We're hooked up with a nice condo and will enjoy the pool (because I need to work on my tan...obviously), eat out (because don't kids just love to not have "home dinner") and just go somewhere else and spend some time having fun together. It's been way too long for us. So, enjoy the weekend! We plan to!

This is our little hometown band, "the pajama players". Can I just say that I hate Rock Band? Because after our boys play, they have to invite their friends over for a turn.....and that turns into HOURS of non-stop Rock Banditude (that's what the teenager calls it).

These are my new friends! So pretty much everyone has tried dippin dots. Who can resist them when you're at a sporting event or amusement park, right? On the home front they weren't available, then along came molly coolz, good, but pricy. Recently at Smith's, Popsicle delighted me with these! They come in cookie dough or cookies and cream, you can't go wrong with either, except that I prefer the cookie dough. Of course we tried them both, they were buy one get one free. Still $5, but after a day of listening to the band...........PRICELESS!!!!!!!