Life as a Stephens

Yes, we are back from romania...

2009-10-13T20:44:00.003-05:00

life has passed us by. way too fast. we are long home since romania, i may finish out those pictures later and post all that has happened since then. here is what has gone one since then.
1) we took a stephens family vaca to the beach in alabama. it was so much fun.
2) riley turned 4 and her party was so much fun.
3) riley started pre-k 4 at prestonwood christian academy and is absolutely loving it! her little uniforms are adorable.
4) we got an offer on our home about 2 weeks after we got back from romania and after a couple of hiccups and delays and more delays, we closed on sept. 30th! it was bittersweet. we are so happy it finally sold, but leaving the memories and our first home was a bit sad.
5) we are currently in a home in carrollton. 9 minutes from the church! 6 minutes if you drive like jarrett, but really, 9 minutes and no tolls. like everyone told us, it has transformed our lives! we are almost completely unpacked and getting settled.
all is well otherwise. will keep the updates coming.

Lo / Ro Mission Trip 2009...post 7

2009-08-18T22:06:00.004-05:00

Four hours from Bucharest was Braila and Galats. Don't check my spelling please. This is where we spent the bulk of the time in Romania. Our first outdoor concert was in this town square in Galats. It was packed. All songs were in English, except one the students learned in Romanian. And whenever someone spoke, a translator helped out.

Another view. This man who has his back to us picked the flowers (he was sitting on) and threw them and some kisses at one of the girls on the front row. It was interesting.

Jarrett (green) sharing the gospel and the translator helping (red).

The students are finished performing and waiting for Jarrett to finish so they can go pray and mingle with the people. See this pile of backpacks. I should have taken a picture of the whole pile. There were hundreds. The students that "had" to have them and didnt realize the dangers of walking around with a backpack left theirs in a big pile while the performed. And we had to form a human wall around them because people would walk or run by and try to take off with one. Crazy. We were close to a very very poor area (which I will blog about next) where the gypsys live. They do whatever it takes to survive. We met some great people with interesting gypsy stories.

One of my favorite pictures from the night. A group of our guys sat with a group of Romanian guys for such a long time (and without a translator). Side note: most of the younger generations are taught english, but over in this area most are not educated. They sat there and shared the gospel with them and laughed and tried to teach each other words for most of the night. It was a cool sight.

Lo / Ro Mission Trip 2009...post 6

2009-08-13T10:53:00.004-05:00

same day of touring with lydia.
drove by the arch d'triumph. alot like the one in france. in fact, a lot of the architecture (well, before that dictator bulldozed it all and built up the ghettos and housing blocks to control the people) resembled france.

visited this little outside museum. it was so cool. it had all these examples of homes and churches from all the different villages and areas throughout romania. obviously, most people do not live in these style homes anymore, but some very very remote villages still do.

one of the churches from the villages....

lydia and jarrett walking thru the villages....

left side, some area of romania had these blue homes. since everything back then was man made, my little imagination created the blue paint from blueberries. i love the little world i live in...

after the villages, we walked thru this amazing park.

me and j on the bridge.

i know its tough to see, but there were these huge statue heads all around this fountain. famous romanian men.

walking towards the exit of this park. this is where the skaters were (rollerblading was very very popular here). i dont know who all the statues were of that lined this walkway.

Lo / Ro Mission Trip 2009...post 5

2009-08-11T17:59:00.004-05:00

sorry for the delay in updating. the last 10 days has been hectic. i hope to finish posting this trip this week.
we arrived in bucharest and were taken around town by a new friend, lydia. first stop, the people's palace / house of the people. i don't have the whole history down. its the second largest building in the world. (first is the pentagon). over 300,000 square feet. it was built for and by the communist leader, Ceauşescu, who dominated romania and kicked all the people out of their homes and moved them into blocks, rationing food, clothing, you name it. they were under this communist rule for 50 years, receiving their freedom in the late 80's. we met a family (the stanciu's) and to hear the stories from michael and christina was depressing. their whole familly was expelled from romania for professing to be christians and teaching the bible.

Outside of the People's Palace. Not built for the people actually, but for that mean leader. Building it as he is stripping people of their homes, freedoms and dignity. He died before it was complete. Never got to enjoy it, now it houses all the government offices and 5% of it is open for touring...

Close up of the side entrance.

jarrett and i standing on the outside balcony that faces the main road in bucharest. this balcony (and view) is where dictators address the people (who gather in the streets). michael jackson famously addressed the people here..."hello buDapest..." uhhh. its bucharest.

Small examples of the extravagance (all while the people are losing their possessions). One of the ballrooms had a retractable glass ceiling so a helicopter could come pick up whats his name in case of attack.

These are considered "small chandeliers" in the palace. All goldplated with real crystal. Over 2,000 in the palace.

huge "gone with the wind" staircases and tapestries everywhere.

Marble floors throughout. This pattern was all over the place. We found out its actually a map of the whole palace so the workers would know how to get around. Its that big.

I loved the ceilings so here is another example.

Arched hallways with intricate ceilings throughout.

Handmade tapestries and all these bronze busts of all his communist buddies.

Lo / Ro Mission Trip 2009...post 4

2009-08-02T10:56:00.006-05:00

i cannot remember the area, nor read the sign on the street, but I do remember being told that the architect purposefully built the 2 buildings and the street to form a semi-circle. its really cool.

we took the train over to notting hill. it was so quaint and cool. very quiet, not quite as bustling as the movie portrays and although they did have a bookstore, it was not a travel book shop and there was no hugh grant, or julia. that was a great day just hanging out eating and of course scarfing down many many cupcakes from this great little cupcakery - hummingbird cupcakery.

as rachael ray would say - they were delish!

the streets of notting hill. they did have fruit stands and vendors to resemble the " life thru the seasons without anna scott (julia)" scene as he walks thru the market. playing my favorite song from the movie -"ain't no sunshine when she's gone". what is funny, we got back to our hotel room that night and the movie that was playing...notting hill. funny.

cute little sandwich shop/bakery. we walked by it 3 times thru the day and they had this adorable car in their storefront that featured the specials or the baked goods they offered. so clever and looked so yummy. would have eaten there, but cupcakes were our main source of sustenance that day. paid for it later!

this is what the trip was all about. i wish i could play a video of it for you. this was the hightlight of my trip. being around the students and watching them in action. their energy and passion for Christ was amazing. this was a show they did in london. their schedule was intense. they did have fun and see some sights, but they were serving or canvasing the area to get the word out for that night's show or practicing or performing. the adult "sponsors" are called family group leaders and there are 2-3 of them assigned to a group of about 14 kids for the entire trip. but the groups meet weekly months and months in advance to get to know each other, learn how to share their testimony and the gospel and to focus on their mission on the trip. they become super tight knit and then spend pretty much every waking moment together on the actual trip. the adults on this trip were the cream of the crop. amazing energy and amazing attitudes thru the 10 days - i don't know if i could have done what they did, but i have always wanted to.

London / Romania Mission Trip 2009...post 3

2009-07-24T19:03:00.005-05:00

Monday, July 6
dinner at this amazing and very fancy hotel- the regent, i think. it says it on the plate, but i can't read it. us, the seals, the grahams and todd bell (our music minister) and his son parker. todd also takes pictures of his plated food - if the meal is amazing. i know this looks like something from dr. seuss, but i had to try something local. holstein was my selection for the evening. at first i was scared, but honestly it was incredible. don't be scared off by the ingredients, it sounds like an accident and maybe thats how it started, but i thank whoever put together the weinerschnitzel, egg, capers and anchovies. yummy! don't judge me.

just a pic of the streets.

buckingham palace at night. this is on the to-do list for next time.

Tuesday, July 7
visited the tower of london. it was fascinating and massive. i didn't get my picture taken with a beefeater like i wanted, next time. this tour was worth it. lots of interesting facts and stories. this is the place where traitors of the crown were taken and held. then when their day came they were marched up the hill to another property to have their heads chopped off and then they hung the heads off the bridges so people going down the thames would know thats what happened to people who opposed the crown - the royal family.

another angle. you can see a bridge in the back, not the london bridge like everyone assumes (including me), i think its called the tower bridge.

this little round building is the tower of blood. i know there is a story of two little heirs to the throne that were murdered and buried on the property by their uncle so he could inherit the throne. this building had a torture exhibit, you know the regular rack, 4 corners and the ball techniques we have always seen. this building was packed with men and young boys - go figure.

this guy "guards" the building where the royal jewels are kept. his stomping/marching was echoing (due to his 2" soles on his shoes - no joke, look at them) all over the property, i guess so you know he is always there in case you have any ideas of lifting a crown or two. the royal jewels exhibit was amazing. and i am a diamond girl, lover, not necessarily a collector (yet??). all the crowns and silver used for their coronations and other very important ceremonies. i felt so proper and formal when we left the building...

changing of the guards. they had a girl guard who was yelling all the commands. cool. i did take a gander at their guns and they had very very scary knives on the ends. i don't think they were pretend. the canons, i am not sure about. across the street from the crowd is a building with a huge henry VIII exhibit. it was cool. although he was a large (and merciless) man, he loved armor, horses and jousting so there were tons of weapons, and outfits (thru all his sizes).

we also visited the imperial war museum. aka the churchill museum. it was amazing. i didnt get any pictures cause it was pouring down rain and jarrett also almost got smashed by a lady on a bicycle trying to hail a taxi and i was laughing so hard (in love). it really was tough crossing the street around there. thank goodness they have painted on most of the major intersections "look left" or "look right", regardless i still looked the wrong way first. i just made sure i triple checked every time. they are wild drivers.

here we are with a traditional guard. his hat is taller than his torso. i just wonder what kind of people they are like off duty. its not like you can turn the "ignore everything, but attack an intrusion" on and off at the drop of a hat. we are not at buckingham palace, but where charles and camilla live. i think its called st. andrews - but im not sure.

this is camilla and charles's pad. not too shabby.

London / Romania Mission Trip 2009...post 2

2009-07-23T20:57:00.005-05:00

Sunday, July 5

After all the church services we met some of the high school choir crew (the service team) who help run the behind the scenes stuff along the trip. my definition. they were all nice and jet lagged from having just arrived, so we pepped them up by stuffing our faces with the traditional fish and chips. this was the cool place we went to and it was quite yummy. i couldnt help but sing (in my head because we were surrounded by people from our praise team at church) the little "fish and chips and vinegar" song that our choir teacher at heights elementary once taught us. admit - some of you (near my age) probably know the catchy tune. the actual meal was not too shabby, but one time was enough for me. people teased me so i did not take a picture of my plate at this meal. i think thats fun to do and i know i am not alone.

our friend andy, who knows all the cool spots like a local, found this little cupcakery, but it was closed. i couldnt get a good picture of the cupcakes, but i can best describe them in two words - willy wonka. these were the coolest most decked out cupcakes i had ever seen. the tops were enormous. it was like marshmallow and then fondant covering it with huge gumdrops and pretty candies. they looked fake. we realized that the stores in london kept "different" hours. this one closed at 7, but it was a sunday. bummer.

since we were fresh off the sudden passing away of michael jackson, these were everywhere. some may call them memorials, but this one was more like a shrine. people were singing the songs and weeping like it had happened that morning. they may have been the poor ticket holders to his upcoming concert that was to open in london on july 15th. now they are out many, many pounds and maybe this makes them feel better. i know those that grew up in the 80's especially have an affection for mj, but its different in london. some of the people at this shrine were near tearing their garb and placing ashes on their foreheads. to spare any embarrassment, i didnt take pictures of the ones crying so hard they were nearly dry heaving. im not that cruel. man in the mirror is the #1 mj song in london, out of all his hits i would think it would have been his duet with sir paul mc carthy - ebony and ivory! i was wrong.

this is the off the center of picadilly circus - the district we were staying in. it had a cool times square feel, but smaller....and with a gap in the middle.

stretch your neck to the right, im too lazy to flip the picture.

monday, july 6
we started off our day with a friend and business associates of scott and josh - richard. he is a trained tour guide. he drove us around and pointed out alot of the fascinating and not so famous sites in london as he took us to st. paul's cathedral.
if you look close, the pigeons are here at the feet of this statue waiting for mary poppins to come feed them. i know there is a song that goes with that scene and im too tired to dig in my brain for it.

here is the entrance into st. paul's. from left to right - richard, jarrett, scott (in the hat), julie, kaytie and josh. i neglected to read the sign right behind me that said no pictures inside the facility! oops. although tours are going on non stop, it is still a place of worship and prayer. take my word, if you have not been , it is absolutely stunning. the intricate detail in the ceiling - breathtaking.

we climbed all, all, all the way to the very top. i think josh said it was a total of 700 something steps. i could be off a little, but i know it felt like it. the view was amazing. this is one angle of the river thames. about an inch in from the left you can see the london eye (ferris wheel as we would call it). we didnt get the chance to do that, next time hopefully!

here is me and jarrett. it was really windy and you can see the multiple colors my colorist puts in my hair really well in this shot. there is kaytie sneaking in to the left of jarrett.

a view of downtown and a huge crane on the right.

another pic of the thames. if you see the big green tree about an inch in from the right, behind it is a famous theatre that has a real thatched roof. white building with a brown top right off the river. these roofs were tradtional to london prior to the 1666 fire that wiped out the city - due to the thatched roofs.

another angle from the top. i am looking down on the front of st. paul's. you can see the red double decker buses on the street - which i love, but didn't get to ride on.

still at the top. i want to say this is the modern art museum, but i can't remember. we didn't go - they don't have the censors and regulations we have and apparently have a big gore and naked (nakie as riley calls is) section that none of us were wanting to venture into. call it art, but yuck is yuck to me.

the front of st. paul's as we were leaving. im standing at the base of that statue with mary poppins' pigeons.

premier radio (the broadcast company that broadcasts pastor grahams messages in london) placed (i think) 19 pianos across the city that say "play me". they have little books of sheet music attached of popular british and karaoke type songs. they did it for promotion sake, but to also give the high school kids from our trip a little something to do when they were touring around. they could stop and play on the pianos and sing around and promote their concerts. it was cool. you would randomly hear a piano playing, but couldn't see the street it was on, but knew who placed them there and why. great idea. this little man was playing his heart out.

London / Romania Mission Trip 2009...post 1

2009-07-20T22:30:00.005-05:00

Here we go:
let me give you a little history on how we got on the trip. didn't want you to think we weren't good enough friends that you didnt know we were preparing for a trip like this. well, we didn't know we needed to. our pastor and his wife were slated to go but about 10 days prior their plans changed. jarrett was originally asked to go to romania (with me included - yippee!) from the 9th thru the 15th. then it expanded to two days earlier in london, then off to romania. and when the dust settled, we were booked on flights to london leaving dallas on 7/3 and heading to romania on 7/9 and then back to dallas on 7/15. luckily jarrett's family was available and more than willing to take on the girls and so it was a no brainer. i have been wanting to go on one of our high school mission trips since i first started attending prestonwood - over 10 years ago. and this gift was just given to us. it was more than i imagined. 2 solid weeks away from the girls was tough at times, but i knew they were having fun. i had to tap into some old wiring in my brain to the days when it was just me to feed, clothe and bathe....it was eerily quiet at times, no one's diaper to change, no one's spills to clean, no one to read stories to, no one to play dolls or tea party with. at times i felt lost. but the break from the girls was great.
we were with the high school choir a bunch, but were not sponsors or family group leaders. we criss crossed their schedule alot more in romania than in london. this was kind of tough. i absolutely love that age and to not hang out with and pour into a group of girls' lives, but be around them occasionally was hard. especially when i was missing my own girls to love on.
if you know me (and my family) we are picture takers on trips - mostly to an extreme. i didn't get to bring my "big girl" nikon camera that i got for christmas, but i brought my trusty point and click. this wasn't the type of trip where i was able to be too touristy. we had an absolute blast, but were there (especially in london) on business too. so i had to put some of my genetically given cheeseball travel tactics aside and take pictures when i had the opportunity.

went straight to our hotel le meridien piccadilly. located in picadilly circus area. i loved this district. felt like new york, but not as loud or fast and alot cleaner. great places to eat and shop and the theaters were right around the corner. right before we walked into our hotel, we noticed a parade going on. it was loud with some crazy techno music blaring and lots of whistles tweeting. it was 7/4 and i thought "cool, an independence day parade". so we walked to the edge of our block to see. nope. obviously they don't acknowledge this holiday in england. you can't tell by the picture, but its a double decker bus decorated for the pride parade. this parade went on forever and we could hear all the cool music from our room for at least 2 hours. there were more people in the parade than were watching it. i felt like i was on bourbon street around mardi gras, not that i know what that is like first hand. my first impression of london did not make a deep impression at all. i was looking forward for the parade being over so we could walk the streets.

harrod's department store. i was so overwhelmed by the place, i neglected to take pics inside. yes, we saw the diana and dodie statue and memorial. it was sad. all i know is that if someone wants to make a statue of me one day, please use that sculptor. their heads were theirs, but their bodies were of people in the cast of baywatch. it was confusing. here is me and jarrett at the ice cream shop down stairs. this is the last "skinny pic" of us. and in front of a huge dish of ice cream. we ate like absolute pigs in london because everyone kept telling us to stock up because we wouldn't have much selection or even a taste for the romanian foods - wrong....we ate like pigs in both countries.

here we are again, but this pic shows scott and julie seal to the left of jarrett. one of the couples we were with in london.

josh (black shirt)and kaytie (yellow shirt) graham were the other couple we were with in london. kaytie and i were the only ones who had never been to london (jarrett went when he was little - it counts even though he was too young to remember). josh was the natural tour guide and scheduler of the group and did a great job.
to the left of josh are our friends (also on staff at prestonwood), mark and starrla penick. mark was there taking a class, so we all hooked up that night.

ok. im too lazy to move this picture to its correct order. we had dinner at the hard rock cafe, before the ice cream at harrod's. this is the first hard rock cafe. same overrated food, but priceless atmosphere.

here is jarrett on sunday, 7/5. he preached at all 3 services at trinity baptist church. pastor kingsley is very well known in london and for his birthday he and his wife were invited to have tea with the queen that tuesday. i immediately became obsessed with his wife. i love the royal family and all their drama. lucky for us, we were seeing them again on tuesday night after the tea and could get the low down. can you imagine. tea with queen elizabeth? there are about 100 people who attend and not everyone gets to speak with her, only if she approaches you first. and everyone in london loved to remind us how michelle obama hugged the queen. not even her own children hug her. no cameras, but you can buy a video of the event. i was fascinated by it all. and they took it in stride. they were so humble, even afterward.

Hang tight!!!

2009-07-16T21:34:00.002-05:00

I promise. I will be updating the blog in the next few days. The London and Romania trip was absolutely amazing. Cannot wait to share the details. We had inconsistent access to the internet (especially in Romania) and I had concerns about revealing that we were out of town for 12 days. The day before we left I read in the paper about people who were tweeting about their vacation and arrived to a completely stripped home. Not willing to take any chances with our house being on the market. We arrived home yesterday to no air conditioning in our house, just picked up the girls and are trying to tough out the last adjustments to jet lag.

M J

2009-06-28T22:12:00.002-05:00

I know I am not the only one who is staying up till 2am watching all the Michael Jackson tributes. Can I get a witness? I am so sad and so sleepy because everyone is running tributes now. He completed the "trifecta" (you Ticket listeners know what I am talking about) for this week. First, Ed McMahon, then Farrah Fawcett and finally Michael Jackson. I have the best memories of the Victory Tour concert at Reunion Arena my cool Aunt Jonelle and Uncle Mac took me to when I was mucho younger. Sported the glove too. I still can't believe my parents let me go, but I am so grateful. Wish I had kept that concert t-shirt now. I can't really say Michael influenced my wardrobe (thank goodness), my life or was "with me thru all my ups and downs and I don't know what I will do without him" (yes, a quote from a lady on the news at the Dallas celebration of life services for MJ), but he did provide some great tunes to grow up to. I will be heading to bed on time tonight, I can't handle another Billy Jean video (with that terrible little red bowtie).

Life is precious....

2009-06-17T20:02:00.002-05:00

Riley took a tumble down the stairs tonight (she is fine).
She slipped (literally) in her slippers about half way
down and went for a ride - like a rag doll. Of course,
I had a view of it from the dinner table and could only
get there in time to stop her about 3 steps shy of the
bottom. She had on these cute piggie pj's and it was
a sight of pigs over pigs over pigs. I mean to tell you.
That girl has had a rough two weeks. Lots of flipping.
These scares are tough on mommies. It reminded me
of the big reminder from last week. That our lives are
in the hands of Almighty God and that our lives are
precious to Him and should always be handled as precious
to us.
I will start off with a fun picture.

Jarrett had a birthday two Mondays ago. We made
his favorite meal, decorated the kitchen according to
Riley's direction, made brownies and loved on Daddy
alot. Little did we know 6 days later, the following
images would be burned on our minds. Always
reminding us how God is in full control.

Jarrett and Riley were heading down the tollway
to church and around a hill and small bend, he swerved
(at around 70 mph) to avoid something in his lane.
He overcompensated and the car flipped twice.
Landing here - two feet from the concrete wall.
My stomach tightens when I see one the one tire
mark develop into two. Just knowing they were
still flipping at this point.

Here is the car. The only damage being on the
drivers and back passenger side. Where my
husband and baby were. Riley's side is crushed.

Riley's side. Her seatbelt was properly installed
and the straps properly positioned. Also, the
centripetal forces must have pulled her chin to
her chest and it probably avoided alot of head
injuries she could have endured.

This was a tough site for Daddy.

We are not lucky. Not at all. I will never for a second believe that. It was a miracle and something God has used to gain my full attention and remind me of what a mighty God I serve and love. God allowed this in our lives and He allowed them to live and only walk away with a few scratches and bruises. I cannot thank God enough or praise Him enough. And He is not looking for any "works" of gratitude, but man, this really has opened my eyes to examine my time with Him in the mornings, how I am serving Him and living my life so He can use me for His glory and honor. Although this event was so unfortunate (losing the car and scaring the tar out of Jarrett and Riley). God is soooo cool and evident in the intricate details. His hand of protection is obvious, but His hand of provision was just as mighty in this event.
There were two cars that stopped to help. One of them was a very dear friend of mine (we have been in the same biblestudy for the last 3 years). Cricket stopped because that is who she is - little did she know it was Jarrett and Riley. She was able to hold and comfort Riley. It just gets me choked up thinking about it. And Cricket is no stranger to Riley, she knows her from the church and thinks her name is silly. So to know God put Cricket there to comfort my baby and then drive Jarrett and Riley (after the paramedics cleared them) to the hospital.
Jarrett did call me right after it happened (Kelsey and I were still at the house
getting it ready for a noon showing and then heading up to church). When I picked
the phone I had a very frazzled husband and could hear Riley in the background. Her cry was heartbreaking. It was a low moan - she was in shock. The only thing that prevented vomiting on this end was knowing Cricket was there comforting her. I couldnt get there fast enough. Jarrett's good friend Chris came up to the hospital and brought Riley some toys (from his car) to play with. Another level of provision. Riley loves "Kouba" and his little girls. So this made her happy.
So although its not fun for us to have to purchase another car, it could be so, so, so much worse. Thanks to everyone who prayed for my husband and Riley that morning and later that week when word leaked out.

splish... splash....

2009-06-14T20:25:00.005-05:00

we spent the afternoon at the dallas aquarium. this was kelsey's first trip, riley's second.
it was lots of fun with daddy.

some crazy bird was chasing riley around at
the beginning. that little thing would not leave
us alone....

riley looks like the crocodile hunter (may he rest
in peace) to me in this pic. with her foot up on the
rail explaining the stingrays to kelsey. you know,
i just now got the crocodile hunter and stingray
relationship, no offense.
she loved schooling kelsey on everything.

i love daddy!!!! and this cave is a little creepy,
don't let go please.

kelsey loved the aquarium. there was alot on
her level to see. they were wanting the fish to
give their hands smooches.

the shark tunnel. i know its kind of hard to tell
because of the reflection. and the fact that i
am running thru this tunnel taking the picture
as fast as i can. it gives me the creeps and im
trying not to let my children see it. mommy
is running for "exercise" girls.

gammy's flamingos....

riley's idol...

2009-06-14T20:13:00.003-05:00

about once a year riley's idol, miss patty cake, comes to prestonwood. this year (a while ago, but i am catching up) we had the opportunity to meet her.
riley was in hog heaven. she was actually speechless on the way home. she would tell everyone she met (the guy that greets and passes out stickers at wal mart) that she talked to and hugged miss patty cake.....
needless to say i did not have to "say cheese" for this picture.

did you miss me????

2009-06-12T20:19:00.006-05:00

people who still love us. please accept my apologies. i have not gone over to the facebook side (no offense to those that have). we are still alive and well. life has been crazy busy and i have had zero time to blog. but i have missed it. more than you have probably missed me. pass the word - we are back in action.
here has been our life since my last post (shamefully in march!!!):
1) our house is on the market. come and buy it. it is adorable. you will be sorry you didnt. the majority of my time has been keeping the house spotless for showings. and we have had a ton. if you provide us with the seller, i am officially offering you a finders fee ($$$$). take me up on it. we are not going anywhere too far, we are just needing to move closer to the church....because of #2
2) jarrett has been graciously given the saturday night service at prestonwood. he is preaching and jared wood is leading worship. it is awesome. this kicked off in mid may. service starts at 6 and the nursery is open. this is a great service for all ages and stages. come check it out!
needless to say, still having the honor of hanging out with the young singles, our lives are super busy and for the majority at pwood. moving closer (#1) would allow us more time with daddy and less $ on gas!
3) riley was accepted to pca for the fall. she will be in the pre-k 4, 2 day a week class. holly shivers and i went to the uniform sale together. i was glad i had a friend there to hold my hair back if i needed to throw up. it has made me so very emotional - and its only pre-k. i wept on the way to church and back. and school is 2 months away. i cant believe they make uniforms that small. lets move on because i am getting teary.
4) if you haven't heard, jarrett and riley were in a horrible car accident a week ago. the car flipped (yes, flipped) twice and they walked away. car is totaled but they were ok. its an absolute miracle. let me tell you something. if you don't know that our God is great and in control, call me. i will share all the intricate details of His protection and provision that morning. we are in awe and praise Him for allowing that in our lives. our eyes are on Him alone!
i have many many pictures to post (including our smooshed car), but jarrett needs the computer to work on his message for saturday so i am being kicked off.
thanks for hanging in there with us!
xxoo

Mamma Mia!

2009-03-19T20:52:00.003-05:00

Riley has become so interested in being a big helper. Especially in the kitchen. What an answered prayer. She loves to set the table, help get out ingredients and the pots and pans and clean up. Her most favorite thing right now is to make pizzas. A few weeks ago Gammy was in town and I thought it would be a fun "first" to share with her Gammy. I could kick myself (and I could considering I am not sore from bootcamp - haven't been able to attend in over a week due to Jarrett traveling) for not taking pictures of them creating their pizzas.
Here is Riley teaching Daddy (cause she is the pro) how to make a pizza.

Now Daddy, you put the crust here...

Spreading the sauce, first with fingers and then
with a spoon (once I got caught).

Cheese please!!!!

Meat circles (pepperoni) all over the place.

Ta Dah! 3 yummy pizzas and 1 cute chef!

No more chocolate...but pickles and ice cream are ok!

2009-03-03T20:18:00.004-06:00

This post has nothing to do with any cravings
driven by pregnancy, so don't flip out.

PDA at Lowe's. This affection lasted a good
15 minutes and the paint we were having mixed
took over 30 minutes to make. I opted not to
take pictures of the meltdown in the racing car
buggy. We made it thru every aisle in the store -
twice, until Daddy called to head to the car....
This car weighed a ton and was impossible to steer,
it was testing all my bootcamp strength.

For those of you who have not ventured out
to our house the front room/study was
chocolate brown. The goal 3 years ago was to
paint with a pale, dark olive. There was a mix
up with the paint and 1/2 thru the room we realized
the paint was not drying to olive, but chocolate brown.
I was so frustrated I referred to the shade of brown by a
word we are trying to prevent Riley from saying outside
of referring to a bodily function. I didn't want her to
read the blog in a few years and lecture me about using
this word, so its chocolate. Or was chocolate, my father-
in-law came over last week and Riley helped him paint
the room to a normal neutral shade. We are sprucing
up the house to put on the market. So if you know
anyone wanting to move to the prosper area - we have
an adorable house for them. minus the poo poo brown,
oops, chocolate room!

My mom uncovered a box of my favorite books
when I was growing up. The Sweet Pickles series.
All sorts of animals with funny stories about virtues
and making wise choices. Riley loves them, for
the pictures mainly (she can't read words yet).
Today on the way to school (its rodeo day in Riley's
class, didn't want you to worry about her garb
and her 10 gallon hat on the seat) she grabbed
2 books for the ride - Kelsey is pretending to read
too!! They just sit there and try to out babble each
other over the books...

I scream...you scream...Riley screams for ice
cream. And especially ice cream with Gammy.
Grace Fechner is one of Riley's favorite big
girls. She has handed down some of Riley's most
favorite things...the little table and chairs she is
sitting at and now this adorable set of bowls, plates,
spoons, banners and a little ice cream truck to use to have
dessert parties. Riley loves it. Gammy came in
town and we thought it would be fun to have a little
ice cream.
Riley is explaining all of the pieces to Gammy.

Daddy is serving the icecream. Kelsey and Samson
mosey on up to the table to see what the fuss is about.

Samson moved to Riley's side knowing she would
probably be the first to drop something. You can
see his little leg on Jarrett's left side. But where
is Miss Kelsey??????

She realized everyone was distracted and snuck
over to Riley's (off limits to Kelsey) Dora box full
of beads. Needless to say she was ok with Riley
having seconds.

Good ol' Samson. Always willing to be the
clean up crew. Thanks for your help buddy!

shades of pink...and green!

2009-02-17T20:29:00.005-06:00

yes, i can barely type this due to bootcamp. still loving it. my knee and elbow are not however. im not quite to the worried stage. i think all sorts of parts are in shock due to working out, but im going to be super careful with these 2 spots.
valentine's day went by very fast. riley's candy is still lingering and this is one reason i need to stay in bootcamp.... the girls had matching valentines t-shirts and tights that they wore to their parties at clc. we made a little valentine's mailbox and riley and her daddy exchanged little notes daily. it was sweet.
here is some sister love to spread...

i love meeeee!

and i love my little sister.....

nope, we are not finger painting...its fun dip
that got a wee bit out of hand (literally). you
can see riley's "stash" on the table. it was so
fun to clean out of the tiny crevices in the table
and took a good bath to clean riley..

and a few brushings of the teeth too...

kelsey doesn't eat sugar so she made her best
attempt at a big green mess with broccoli!

TOOT....TOOT!!!!

2009-02-11T22:17:00.001-06:00

nope, i am not referring to a train. i am tooting my own horn - not really (just yet) but i thought that would be a funny title. at the moment i don't think i could lift a horn to my mouth to toot right now. i started going to a fitness bootcamp this week. jay johnson's bootcamp to promote specifically. it kind of came up - i overheard some friends on saturday night and unrealistically and without thinking expressed interest and they took me up on it. like a "double-dog dare you" kind of invite. i can't pass up the double dog so i talked it over with jarrett, took a look at our budget and our schedule and the proximity to the house and (unfortunately?) it fit.
so i have made it for both workouts...5:30AM monday and 5:30AM on wednesday. the workout: brutal. exhausting. brink of puking, yet fun. my body: sore. exhausted. angry at coach matt. my knee is holding up. its actually fun and super challenging. i haven't done anything like this and anything close to it, i have not done in years, since 2000 to be exact. needless to say, there are all sorts of "new" muscles, the old ones have been hibernating for the last four years during pregnancies.
i have no pictures for this post and won't for future posts on this topic. that would probably be against blogspot rules to post such a site. this bootcamp is only for four weeks. so you can hold me accountable to the 3 days a week workouts for the next month. and you can give me a big hug or high 5 when its over - if you even recognize me!

Big girl chairs....

2009-01-31T21:10:00.003-06:00

One of Kelsey's gifts was this cute chair with her
name on it. She got it from her aunts and uncles
and loves it. Big sister has a big pink chair and
they can sit together and share a snack - yeah right!

Yippee my new chair!!!

Oh the woes of being a little sister, I didn't have
to learn to share, I was born into it! Even though
Riley has her own chair, this is her favorite.....grrr.

Ahhhhh.....finally. This is the life. A drink, a snack,
no pants, and the chair to myself!

Sob...Kelsey...sob sob...turned...one! Sob...sob...sob

2009-01-29T21:49:00.007-06:00

Kelsey's birthday morning. My baby girl turned one. One year old. Wow. It flew. Riley's first year - a 747. Kelsey's first year - a jet! I woke up early. Got my grieving and reminiscing over with and then we got the party hats, pancakes and eggs ready (this is our birthday tradition now) and went to get Riley up 1st. She could not wait to put on the hat and sing to Kelsey - as you can see below.

Not sure if she is unhappy about aging. Join the
club. Or maybe it was us barging in and singing
happy birthday. It was after 8am. We are not
that mean.

Morning Daddy and Riley!

Morning pretty mommy and birthday girl!

After dinner, it was time to introduce sugar.

Yum... cupcakes from Elizabeth's Cakes.
What a great "1st". Not many crumbs were left
when she was done. The icing left stains far
into the next day (when we had to see a Dr. -
see below).

"My birthday, my hat now!"

The night of her birthday, Kelsey had an ear infection which was not diagnosed until the next morning. Mother's intuition told me it was her little ear - I was right for the first time. We were at the ER instead of church. I am not a happy camper when I miss church, but I knew I couldn't bring my fever-y cutie to the nursery... It would have been a nice, lazy morning except she was very uncomfortable and super duper fussy!
So, her original birthday party was to be on the Monday after her actual birthday. The night before literally 5 out of 8 familes bowed out due to illness and one to injury. The next morning another family dropped out, I wept. I was just bummed. Knowing this would crush Kelsey. More like my pride. We pushed it back one week.
We had her party at the Wiggly Play Center. I highly recommend it - if the kids attending are 2 yrs. and above.... They have a baby play room with great, low, soft things for them to crawl on, except that morning (MLK holiday) it was packed with a few babies and all their older siblings. Not appealing. And its tough to monitor more than one of your own kiddos. Kelsey tried to drive the car (you will see Anna Kate in it below) but she kept sliding out and running over herself. Funny to all but her, each time. It wound up being a great party. Both grandparents were able to make it (and one aunt). I heard it helped stage some great naps that afternoon too. I didn't have to lift a finger. The "party attendant" set up, served, and cleaned up. We were in the Dorothy room - she is a pink dinosaur or octopus - I feel bad, but we never watch the show. It comes on at 6am. That I don't feel bad about.

Birthday girl and her Papa!

Beep beep. Anna Kate's behind the wheel.
Thank goodness she drives like her
Mama!

Gammy and birthday girl!

Ava and Riley riding the simulated roller
coaster. Riley - hands up and yelling.
Ava - look at her sweet face.

Panning the table to see all our friends
pigging out on pizza and juice.

"Who are these silly men on my
cake?"

"Wiggles cake - not so bad, but I prefer Elizabeth's
Cakes' cupcakes".... Kelsey is dainty and
delicate and chose not to smother herself
with the cake, but picked at the icing
and morsels...

Riley has hit the "silly faces" stage.
Thank goodness it was after Christmas
pics were taken!

"Don't let go of me, Riley doesn't know
how to drive this horse!"

Christmas catchin' up.....

2009-01-19T20:43:00.004-06:00

To keep you on your toes, this entry is written backward (chronologically). So scroll to the bottom and read up.... I wanted to spice things up, plus I downloaded the pics forgetting about the order and didnt want to spend an hour rearranging them.

Riley (being into princesses and dress up) got
a purple renaissance-ish gown she affectionately
refers to as Princess Jasmine. My offer of Princess
Grape was not an option she said. She also got this
pink car to drive at Gammy and Papa's. They have
this super long driveway (like my grandparents did)
that is perfect for lots of long drives and strolls.

New Year's was a blast. We were at Jarrett's
parents all week. The only family member not present
was Samson. Riley had her first experience
with firecrackers and loved them. Aunt Michelle and
Riley playing with sparklers in the backyard.

Kelsey and Jacob battling over a lion push toy.
Jacob was chivalrous and allowed her to steal
it every time.

Jarrett with Riley and Jacob (our nephew).

Snow White got a princess tricycle and absolutely loves it.

Daddy and his girlies. Kelsey is riding on her new
Zebra toy that "whinnies" and makes horsey noises. I haven't
spent much time around zebras, but aren't they fairly
silent?

One of Riley's gifts was the Snow White outfit. It
came out of the box, went on her body until we went
to Nana and Grandad's hours later. It likes to make
daily appearances now. Needless to say, she is in the
"Disney princess" stage. Kelsey got this little play
table that keeps her pre-occupiedfor hours. She is
our dancer. The table has brought her rhythm out
and it is hysterical. Snow White joined her at
the table to make a quick call.

One day I will remind sweet Riley how excited she
used to get over princess jammies - ahhh the simpler times.

A little breakfast before church (Sunday before
Christmas so they were sporting their matching
Santa dresses)

Kelsey loves shoes (we went with the black pair
to match mommy and sister)

The numbers of November

2008-12-20T21:49:00.004-06:00

So sorry to all 3 very loyal viewers that it has been so very long since a post. Life has been a bit crazy to say the least. Not terrible, but just busy. November was a tough month. Lots of challenges and "adventures" (that's what I choose to call them). And to keep it catchy and interesting they all rotate around fun little numbers.
To start off, Jarrett and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. My sister-in-law came in to stay with the girls so we could get away for a day. Started off well but by the middle of the night Jarrett was in the E.R. with a terrible migraine....
Three days later I was sick and thought I had a little flu bug and the morning after that I woke up unable to swallow - strep throat. Luckily, the girls didn't come down with anything and Jarrett got antibiotics in time.
Samson went to the vet and had 3 teeth pulled, I won't share the price, it was painful!
My birthday rolled around as it usually does that month. It was the 5th anniversary of my 30th, 1/2 way point of my third decade of life. Wow. Its not old at all, but for a minute, when its your birthday, you can't help but dwell on it - but just for a minute. I did do quite a bit of grateful reflecting on all that God has done in my life and allowed in my life. So overwhelmed.
That afternoon Jarrett left for a mission trip to the Amazon with about 40 something singles from our church. Gone 10 days. Even though I had the whole bed to myself and no one was snoring (Samson is little so he doesn't really count), I didn't sleep well at all. I woke up multiple times and always earlier than my alarm - every night. Very odd for me. It was a long, long 10 days for me and the girls. 5 days solo and 5 with family over to help out.
We combined families for the 1st holiday ever. Much to everyone's relief I only cooked my breakfast casserole the day after. My mother-in-law is the master at the rest. This was also the first Thanksgiving that I did not take a huge nap before the cowboy game. I also noticed I didn't have that great of an appetite either.
Went shopping on black Friday for the 1st time ever. And I was not feeling too great all morning. The next day I woke up - Round two of strep! Could not believe it. And this was the day before Jarrett was returning so he was welcomed at the airport with a big hug and a high five!
I think this summarizes our November. I was so glad December arrived.
Kelsey and Riley are doing swell. Kelsey started clapping, doing "so big" and walking behind any toy she can push....

Here is me and Riley having cupcakes for my birthday - they are turkeys (from Celebrity bakery). Very large turkeys made of icing sitting on yummy chocolate cupcakes. Can you guess who picked them out?

Fall Festival and Pumpkin Patch 2008

2008-11-03T20:22:00.005-06:00

Here we are at the Fall Festival at our church. Riley as Tinkerbell and Kelsey as a peacock. Riley could not wait. Pridefully, I upgraded her wings. The ones that came with the costume were nice, but too small for my super Tinkerbell. It was hard for Riley to walk thru doorways, but she sure stood out from the other 150 Tinkerbells there that night. We had to hide her costume until that afternoon....I am hoping others with toddlers can chime in that they get that wound up about their costume. It is the Monday after and Tinkerbell has been worn in our house twice since. Sometimes over clothes. Kelsey wasn't too fired up about having things on her head or feet, so I started building up her tolerance a few days before. And as long as she had her paci or some puffs to eat she didnt care who or what was on her head!

And they're off!!! 1st stop, food - of course!

Daddy, I want one of these for Christmas! Why
does it smell so funny? (note: these are the smaller,
original wings - we were afraid the big ones
would freak out the livestock)

Tink loves her Daddy!

On the train with Taylor. Hard to see, but they
are in the middle...

Giddy up cowgirl Taylor! We just love that they
hold hands on their own. So cute.

Puffs please or costume off. Kelsey did relatively
well. She never cried or pulled anything but her
right footie off every 20 minutes. She was a
trooper and a darn cute peacock.

Wheeeee! Tink down the elephant slide.

Daddy and Tink in the bounce house.

Note to self, take family picture at the beginning.
We were all pooped, but had a wonderful time!

A few days before Halloween I took the girls to a little pumpkin patch in Richardson - where Riley had her first pumpking pictures taken. For some reason we just didn't make it over to my favorite patch in Frisco where we have gone for the last 2 years and taken some great pictures with Riley in her costume. I wanted this to be a tradition. Oops.

Oh my goodness, look at all these little pumpkins!

I turned my back for 2 seconds after this picture
and Riley had filled the wagon with little pumpkins.
Man, she is fast.

Sweet Kelsey was so tuckered out, she slept
in her carrier the whole time. She didn't like
the pumpkins at the Arborteum, so she could just
be playing possum to get out of pictures!

Riley's reactions are priceless. She found this
wheel barrow with the tiniest pumpkins in it.
They were just Kelsey's size.

Arboretum with the girls....

2008-10-24T21:12:00.005-05:00

The girls and I and my mom ventured off to the Dallas Arboretum after biblestudy a few weeks ago. I had always heard it was beautiful with all the pumpkins. I cannot believe I had never been in the fall and I grew up less than 30 minutes away from it. I have decided there is never a bad season to visit the Arboretum. It was amazing. So many pumpkins and flowers, even a house made of pumpkins. Riley had a blast. I took my dad's camera just to get the chance to take pictures with an super fancy, high-tech camera. The camera was awesome, but it was super tough for me to learn so not as many pictures came out (with my children) in focus as I would have wanted.

On the way to the pumpkin house...

This is the one Riley wanted to take home....

Hey, let's go this way to the pumpkin house!

Riley is standing inside at the window,
but is too short to peek out.

Follow me thru the maze...

Can you still see me by these pumpkins?

Kelsey was not a big fan of the hay, grass or
pumpkins...this is the only picture where she
is not crying...still cute though

Look who we found by the pumpkin house,
our buddy Jarrett!!! Riley and Jarrett are so
cute and shy around each other.

2008 State Fair with the Stephenses

2008-10-10T21:46:00.004-05:00

We LOVE the State Fair! At the end of the summer when we are a little sad cause its over, we cheer ourselves up with the thought that the fair is right around the corner. We did miss going with our fair buddies this year (Nick, Meredith and Reese Floyd) our schedules didn't line up. So we flew solo - it was not the same. We missed you Floyds!

Off with a bang. Jarrett couldnt have been more excited to be there. He dragged Riley around in her monkey backpack/kid leash. The best invention ever when bringing toddlers to the fair.

It's hard to tell in this pic. But Riley is watching Big Tex speak. Big Tex is a big deal in our house. Last year after the fair, Riley's sillyness started coming thru when she would repeat anything she heard him say and imitate his voice for all other sentences for days at a time. She loved Big Tex. But this year, we learned lots of things she liked last year, not so much this year. Jarrett is talking to a friend of ours who happens to be a police officer patrolling the fair. You can see the markings of his uniform behind Jarrett's back. Didn't want you to think we were in trouble with the law!

Here is our family fair pic (Riley refused to stand at the base of Big Tex for a picture). Jarrett is getting really good at the one arm picture taker for our family. We are awaiting Riley's favorite event - the dog show. She goes nuts for this show. This is the one thing she liked last year and this year. We took her thru the petting zoo before this picture thinking it would be super fun and we would take lots of fun pictures. Think again. I have never seen someone run so fast thru the petting zoo. No pictures were taken. Not even with the mama pig and her babies - Riley, were you really afraid of the mama pig or just acting like a 3 year old? The latter.

Riley and daddy watching the dogs run off the deck into the water - her favorite event!

This was Riley's favorite "ride" at the fair. She had the best view.

This was Mommy's view for the majority of the day.

Here is something sad I noticed about the Midway. No, not the attire of the younger generations hanging out there. If you grew up in Dallas and have gone to the fair almost every year of your existance, like myself, you will remember this. There is one ride called the "Magnum" named after Magnum P.I.. I don't know what the ride is, but I know where it is because it is near where the fried oreos are sold. Picture the Magnum ride. Remember the spray painted mural as the backdrop, where a young Tom Selleck has a big blue (Dodgers or Detroit tigers - I can't tell the difference) baseball hat sitting atop his very, very puffy hair....jog your memory. Can you see it now? IT'S GONE!!! They kept the name, but repainted the backdrop to some terrible, terrible "lady pictures". I was so upset. You know that picture has been the backdrop for at least 30 years. Not to show my age. I was soooo upset. Jarrett just thought it was the sugar high wearing off, but I am truly sad Tom is gone. Is this something we can write to someone about. Who will start the petition to bring Tom back?

Riley was tall enough to go on the kids rides, but she wasn't interested in any of them except "The Monkey Maze". So she and Daddy went together. Here they are walking thru the "glass maze". I couldn't hear a thing, but every once in a while Jarrett would have to stop and dry her tears because she would literally run full speed ahead into a glass panel. It was hard not to giggle at - in love of course. Thank goodness she had her monkey hat on to protect her snout!

Waving from the top deck!

We made it! And when we couldnt go thru again because mommy and daddy wouldnt go buy 12 more tickets, the meltdown started. It was 1:15ish and we knew she was wearing down from our 2+ hours of walking and eating. But it was crying and some kicking (specifically when we did not purchase the Dora balloon that we walked by). So no cotton candy for the road.

Not even 10 minutes after we buckled her in. She was out, snoring, drooling and all. Now that's the sign of a good day at the fair.

The Stephens's 2008 State Fair Food Review....

2008-10-10T21:05:00.004-05:00

Gluttons maybe, but we like to see ourselves as Fair Foodies. We love to eat at the State Fair. This year was a bit of a challenge since we have been eating much healthier over the last 3 or so months. Jarrett somehow has lost all my baby weight from Kelsey and then some. So its working out great for him. Believe it or not, we did not eat as much as we have in the past. But i believe we ate back all of the fat and calories we had been shaving off!

Here is our 2008 menu
1) The traditional corny dog (with mustard). This is always our first stop, no matter where we park. Don't even tell us you went to the fair if you did not have a corny dog. To watch my calorie intake, I shared 4 toddler sized bites of my corny dog with Riley. Washed it down with a lemonade. Dogs were great this year. We always seem to burn the tar out of our mouths because they are too hot to eat and we just can't wait to inhale them, but this year the temperature was perfect. Thank you Fletcher's!!!

2) Fried grilled cheese. Where is the picture you ask? We ate it so fast, it was gone before I could break out the camera. It was that good. This was our fair favorite this year. It was awesome. The cheese could have been of a richer quality, but this is the state fair. It also came with 3 perfect surprises - a pickle, shoestring fries and a side of tomato (soup) dipping sauce. We think this may have been one of the top winners in the "crazy fried food inventions for the fair" contest they have listed in the newspaper every year. It was our winner for sure!

3) Tornado taters. Jarrett gets them every year. But this will be our last. It is basically a peeled up potato that is fried (yummy) and then covered in cheese (room temp. liquid-y velveeta - not so great). Don't think we let a crumb go to waste, we are the Stephens family. But we just feel we could have spent our tickets better by getting something else.

4) Roasted corn. Add a little butter sauce and a sprinkle of Tony Cachere's and it perfection. We are a true corn family, creamed, on the cob, off the cob, white, yellow - we don't care. Always a crowd pleaser. Bring dental floss unless you are on your way out the door, its messy.

5) Fried oreos. Debbie's favorite. That's right, #5. The three little pigs had 5 things to eat and were there for 2.5 hours. Would have had cotton candy on our way out, but all the sugar turned our child into a terror and it was time for naps! Back to the oreos. They are the ultimate comfort food for me. I crave them all year round. They don't sound good, but trust me on this. They come out piping hot. So let them cool and don't inhale when you eat them - they are coated in powder sugar and you will choke and blow out powder sugar smoke. Notice that Jarrett is holding his hand out for Riley to give him back his oreo. Sorry, charlie. Didnt happen.

All in all it was a good eating day for us. We do wish we had tried the fried peanut butter, jelly and banana sandwiches. There is always next year!

Riley - 5, Daddy - 1 (bite)

2008-10-07T22:05:00.003-05:00

Dad, Come to my Donuts with Daddy breakfast...I made this invitation just for you. Pretty please with sugar on top (just like my favorite donut!)...

Riley had 4 donut holes, 1 full donut and Daddy had one bite of donut. Shouldn't it be the other way around, best of luck to Riley's teachers that day...

And of course they had to sit by Grant (yellow shirt). He and Riley are big buddies.

Riley had to "fill out" a fact sheet about Daddy for the teacher to introduce him with. See Jarrett's facts below this picture.

My daddy's name: Daddy
My daddy works at: church
My daddy's eyes are: blue
My daddy's favorite sport: nothing....(its better she remember him this way than knowing that he is obsessed with college football...this is one of those "truths" she is just better off not knowing about her father).

What we love to do now...

2008-10-07T21:49:00.003-05:00

Here is a slew of pics just to show what the girls are up to or into.....
Kelsey is almost 9 months and Riley is 3 years and 2 months.

Kelsey looooove's her carrier. She will wander around the living room trying to get to it and into it...its like her little throne. She is so proud of herself when she gets all settled in.

Wild hair women. Yes, this is with a little product. Kelsey's fell a little flat early.

Here is our army-crawler who is already pulling up to a stand and trying to climb. Is it mean or wrong to swipe her legs out from under her - didnt think so.....

Princess of the leaves. She was "line leader" that day in school. Don't worry, we were at a red light when I took this picture.

Climbing Mt. Daddy. He is their favorite mountain to climb on.....

Cubbies...cue the music

2008-10-07T21:30:00.002-05:00

For those of you with little ones in Awanas - you know the tune. Jarrett found the "Cubbie theme song" on the internet and it gets played anytime his computer is open. Or you can hear Riley's rendition for the other 23 hours of the day.....
When I was growing up we had G.A.'s and R.A.'s. Still just a great Wednesday night program (at our church) where they are memorizing Bible verses, singing songs and learning all sorts of great things. Now they have Awanas. When you begin at 3 years old - you are a Cubbie. I had no idea that Riley would love it as much as she does. Unfortunately we are only able to attend every other week due to where we live, how late we get out, maintaining my grasp on sanity and our schedule. A few weeks ago we were in the car driving home from church on a Wednesday night and Riley said, "Mommy, I need a Cubbie coat and a Cubbie bag and of course the Cubbie book." I had no idea what she was talking about. So I discovered that after so many weeks of attendance and verses memorized, they are eligible to purchase these items. The more verses the learn, they earn patches - which my mom will be sewing on. We got all of the Cubbie equipment Riley needed/wanted really.... and had I not forced her to change she would still have it on. We have to hang all of it in a closet and its off limits until we get to the church on Wednesday nights.... otherwise it would never come off. Before we recognized the proud obsession, she walked proudly around the house all day with her vest on (coat to Riley) and bag on her shoulder - singing the Cubbie song. Even while using the bathroom. Needless to say that Riley is a proud Cubbie and we are so very proud of her......

Samson has boo boos

2008-09-13T19:39:00.002-05:00

Our poor little Samson was attacked by another dog last weekend while my parents were dog sitting. My poor parents, the whole thing happened at their feet and they never saw the other dog coming. Everyone (including Samson) is very, very lucky. After the initial shock set in (and it did take a little while for me) we had to figure out how to tell Riley. Not the gruesome details, but just how to be honest with her so that neither Riley nor Samson would get hurt. We put the emphasis on the fact that he has boo boos that need to heal and that we can't touch him or make loud noises or sudden movements for a while around him. So far, so good.
We went to pick him up at my parent's house the day after it happened and my little heart broke. He looked like Frankenstein (on his back). There is a big rectangle shaved out in between his shoulder blades with tons and tons of stitches. And a few more on his right ribs. Poor little guy. He is still pretty. We are lucky it wasn't worse.
Riley wanted to give him band-aids (cause she is obsessed with them) so we made him a "hope your boo boos heal soon" card and put her band-aids on the card instead. It hangs above his bed so he will know they care.
Samson is back to his old self. Although we aren't sure how he will do on a walk when another dog walks by - I will let Jarrett test that one out with him. But he is healing and happy and home. All we care about.

School for two!

2008-09-13T19:27:00.003-05:00

Oh boy, how we love CLC (Prestonwood's Mother's Day Out). It makes me not sad at all that summer is over. I so miss the girls during the day, but am grateful for the 10 hours a week of a little quiet and capacity to run errands, go to appointments and meet for discipleship, a lunch or just read...
Here are our pictures of the Stephens girls's first day.

I haven't even been to school yet, but I am so excited!

Riley dressing herself on our stairs...

One more hug before we leave!

One of the girls...

2008-08-14T20:04:00.003-05:00

I just have to brag on my sweet husband. Not just because he has been very patient with me lately and trying to help and serve me as much as possible. But because I love him dearly. I love the way he loves our girls. I am so excited for them and so grateful for his heart and how he is raising them. Riley is big into dress up, fixing hair and having tea parties lately and Jarrett has perfect attendance to every tea party and picnic and is by far the best dressed and coiffed daddy! Somehow the camera got "lost" during some of the events listed above, but I at least got this great picture. It melts my heart and also makes me laugh. If memory serves (and it doesnt always) Riley kept asking for her "princess" cowboy hat back...Daddy kept it on a little too long!!!

Sharing buckets and tubs

2008-08-14T19:40:00.004-05:00

Riley is 3 and Kelsey is 7 months. Sharing has begun. Not that either want to, but we are learning. Riley is generous, most of the time and Kelsey wants to play with anything near Riley, all of the time. Here are 2 of their sharing favorites:

Riley played with these little buckets when she was itty bitty and she and her daddy have the same posed picture. Its so cute. Now Riley likes to play "buckethead" with Kelsey... Kelsey doesnt mind most of the time...

Kesley wasnt really keen on playing during her bath until I started putting both of them in the tub. She goes nuts splashing and eating her washcloth and laughing at the funniest person in the world to her - her Riley.

Here is Kelsey getting ready for bathtime.

Notice who jumped into the bottom of the picture. How does he know?

The Big "3"

2008-08-08T21:43:00.004-05:00

Well, it happened. Riley turned 3. I tried to slow it down by making Sunday action packed and long, but it happened anyway. 3 just sounds so much further away from baby. She will always be my baby, but we are loving her as our big girl too.
She was so worn out from Sunday that she slept late (past 7:30 is late for her). Daddy went and got her some chocolate milk and a chocolate covered donut with sprinkles - thanks Daddy for loading her up with tons of sugar and then leaving for work. We woke her up with said donut and milk and let her eat them at her play table. Not one drop, sprinkle or sugar granule went to waste. We let her open her "on your real birthday" presents - a Boz book, gigantic Dora coloring book and a toddler Candy Land game. We received lots of phone calls from family and I made sure the bank teller and the 3 workers at Walmart that we saw knew it was her big day. She loved it.

Ummmm birthday breakfast is yummy!

Sprinkles all over....and the sugar is flowing!

Top o' the mornin' Kelsey! Mom let me take
my first picture with her camera.

Riley's Birthday Party!

2008-08-06T21:41:00.003-05:00

Riley's 3rd birthday party was Friday at our pool. Barely. The party was at 10 and it was pouring rain from 7-9. I wasn't worried, I knew God had a plan for her party. I was afraid Riley would be disappointed. News flash mom, she is 3. If I am excited about her party being in our trash can, she will be too. So I did what any good mom would do, I went to take my shower and wept like a baby for 5 minutes where no one could see or hear.
It all worked out and it was awesome. You know that overwhelming feeling of gratefulness when others honor and love on your kids. It is amazing. Even if half of her friends came just cause we have a great pool. We don't care what motives our, all the kids had fun and that is what mattered. Thanks to everyone who could make it!

Birthday tradition - down the slide with Daddy!

Celebrate me - its my party!!!!

The Floyds, Lovells and Shivers families

Riley's cupcake cake, equipped with icing that stains teeth!

Cue the music...Happy Birthday to Riley!!

Hey Taylor, is your tongue blue like mine (cause your lips are!)?

Training wheels, not pants!

2008-08-06T21:25:00.004-05:00

Riley spent the week at Gammy and Papa's house while Jarrett and I were at Camp Fuego (outside of Shreveport). We went to pick her up and picked up a whole new child. She demonstrated her bike skills on the driveway. I almost cried. Not because I was so worried she would fall and get hurt (although it crossed my mind and 5 seconds later, she fell - thank goodness for helmets and training wheels!), but because she is just doing such big kid things....She was speeding up and down that driveway and didnt want Daddy's help at all. My in-laws have a driveway like my grandparents did. So when I see Riley riding up and down it, the greatest memories came to me.
Also, my little one is wearing "big girl panties". Tinkerbell, Dora and any of the Disney princesses are her favorites. That week I happened to devote almost all my free time to reading books on toddlers and potty training. We were going to bootcamp it so she would be hopefully trained before her birthday party. Wish I had been reading fun books. She was returned to us in big girl panties. No more pullups! I dont miss them.

And I'm off!

This is one for her rehearsal dinner slideshow!

Fourths and Firsts

2008-07-15T21:38:00.004-05:00

Note the much shorter hair in all the pictures - see earlier post.
Fourth: Here is Riley and Kelsey in their red, white and blue getups to celebrate the 4th. The Floyds came over and after dinner we went swimming. Then off to the Morrises for some dessert and Mexican dominoes. It was seriously the first time in a long, long time that losing a board game didnt spoil my mood for the remainder of the night. This was probably because Riley was present. I barely lost anyway!

Firsts:
Kelsey is now eating babyfood and has a blast at every encounter. This is actually a pretty clean Kelsey midway thru the jar.

This is Kelsey's "What you talkin' about Willis" look...love it. I know you know what I am talking about.

Another first:
First thing in the morning Kelsey and Riley like to chill together in the big chair. Usually watching Winnie the Pooh or Mickey Mouse. Kelsey is in love with Riley. And Riley is just so sweet and big sisterly with Kelsey. I love it. Everytime I catch them in one of their moments that makes me want to cry I wonder if thats how my sister and I were at this stage in life.

Snip...snip....

2008-07-15T21:19:00.005-05:00

well, i am sure some of you will be relieved to hear i took the girls to get their hair cut (#2 for riley). kelsey is just shy of 6 months and already needs a trim. thank you for being kind and not leaving any comments about my cute little shaggies needing a cut in all the florida posts. it was getting bad. poor kelsey couldnt see half the time cause her bangs were soooo long and riley was well on her way to a mullet. kids hair grows so crazy and is wild in the morning. i do see it as a blessing that my girls were born with beautiful hair.

kelsey sat in my lap while michelle (anderson) started the trim. big sister is supervising at the base of the chair. you can see her cute curls are still there after her trim.

"i'm not sure what's going on, but i am such a happy girl i smile at anything!"

still cute, but doesn't like to sit still

"hey, you better take my picture too mister."

Kelsey's Tribute to Kid Rock

2008-07-08T22:26:00.008-05:00

"I WANNA BE A COWBOY ... BABY"

Or should I say baby cowboy.

Grrr....this thing is so heavy.

Ta-dah!!! I know I am so cutie!

And the Oscar for best costume design goes to: Riley Stephens for accessorizing her sister before church.

NOLA...holla

2008-07-08T22:08:00.004-05:00

Oops. I forgot to keep up the day count on our trip. Day 7 and 8.
We went to New Orleans to see Eric (Jarrett's big brother), Claire and Jacob (our nephew).
Lots more firsts in New Orleans - none on Bourbon street.

Here is the Stephens cousins pic in Jacobs bed. It was the only place we could think of where Kelsey and Jacob would not fall over.
Kelsey and Riley's first matching dresses (courtesy of Michelle). I think they are so cute and makes them look like little Lifesaver rolls.

Riley's first hotdog. She did have that "what's in these things?" moment.

Riley's first beignet. Trying not to inhale the powder sugar.

After a full day at Eric's, we headed back to Dallas. All in all, the roadtrip was quite a success. Only one major meltdown with the girls. The Benadryl wore off in Tyler and coming from New Orleans, this was our longest day on the road. Kelsey was teething, Riley was tired of watching that Miss Patty Cake video for the millionth time and Jarrett and I were itchin to get home and out of the Caravan. We were grateful God allowed us a safe trip to see alot of family and make alot of memories - and no speeding tickets...Didn't even get pulled over once. Now that's a Stephens first.

F is for Florida and firsts....

2008-07-07T22:06:00.005-05:00

Florida was full of lots of firsts for the Stephens family (mainly Riley). Here is a quick review.

Gammy's chocolate chip cookies eaten in the car (rental of course). Yummmmm.

Toenails painted by Aunt Michelle.

Not sure about the beach Dad...especially the pretty green water.

That's my Tigger kite Dad.

Love my Dora sand castle building equipment...at least for the first 10 minutes.

Kelsey and Riley in matching sparkle-y leopard swimsuits hanging out under Kelsey's cabana.

I'm trying to lay out here people.

Partial family pic (Kelsey was snoozing in her cabana).
Riley enjoying her Dora shovel "sharing" sand with Daddy.

2008-07-06T19:16:00.004-05:00

Still day 2.
We made it to Mawmaw and Pawpaw's house (Jarrett's grandparents on his dad's side). We drive down Shelby Stephens Road (Pawpaw's name) to get to their house. How awesome is that to have a street named after you? There is a Huffhines (my mom's maiden name) street off Greenville Ave. in downtown Richardson - my mom's side were the the founders of the city, waaay back in the day.
We were so excited to see them and for the girls to spend time with them. I was loving it. Like I said earlier, I was very close to my grandparents and they have been gone for about 10 years now. So I crave TLC time with this generation. My great grandmother, Mo (short for Modena - don't you love those names!) had the best stories. She was great. I loved to sit at my Nana's house and just listen about swimming holes and riding horses all around. She lived well beyond 100. I think thats cool too.
Uncle Big Shot (Jarrett's dad's baby brother) was there. He is living with Mawmaw and Pawpaw and taking great care of them. We are so grateful he is there, plus he redecorated their house and it looks awesome. Big Shot is quite the entertainer and cook. He is super talented on the piano. I didnt have my camera with me, but Riley and Big Shot had a wonderful time on the piano that night. We ate like absolute pigs the almost 24 hours we were there. Michelle and Ryan (Jarrett's baby sister and her husband) arrived in time for dinner (how convenient). We ate, played with the dogs, watched the NBA finals and went to bed.

Jarrett and Pawpaw having some guy time - probably saying nothing, like boys do when the bond.

Riley is hanging out on the porch watching all the dogs. I think there were 3 0r 4 adults and one litter of about 8 cutie pups. It was Riley's first experience with puppies. She had quite the animal filled day!

You should have no doubt that we, the Stephenses, love to eat. I think that was the true test of whether or not I was worthy to be a Stephens - could I put away some food or not. Lucky for Jarrett, I can and was quickly accepted in the family.
Thanks to Big Shot for the spread that night! It was like Thanksgiving in June.

Big Shot is in the top pic (Kelsey is in her Bumbo seat on the counter behind him). The pic on the bottom is the whole family, minus me (taking picture) and Big Shot (probably preparing more food).

Mawmaw with her great grandbabies, the "sweetest thangs" to her.

E-I-E-I-OOO

2008-07-04T23:31:00.008-05:00

You will have to read my entries backwards for our trip to unfold - sorry.
Day 2 : Prentiss, Mississippi
We dropped by Jarrett's Aunt Delaine and Uncle Frankie's house on our way to Mawmaw and Pawpaw's. They live about 10 minutes away from them and own a chicken farm, horses and cows. And we got to see it all upclose and personal. It was like walking into an episode of Sesame Street on the farm or the latest version of Charlotte's Web (with Julia Roberts as Charlotte and Oprah as Gussy the goose), except none of the animals near us talked. It was awesome. Jarrett used to spend his entire summers here growing up (smart parents!). He has a zillion funny stories and great memories.
Here we are in the chicken house. They opened the door and little Cameron took off running (without shoes) thru hundreds and hundreds of chickens. No fear. Me- some fear.

Here is Riley's preferred place at the chicken house - by me at the door. She was curious but a little scared. It was super loud and stinky. We stood there with the door open for at least 10 minutes. They would come up to the doorway, peck around and strut away.....you would think they would bust out and run for freedom, but I guess they are too dumb, or smart enough to realize they get yummy food here all the time.

Next stop, Riley rode in the back of a truck with boys to a forest where a little horse family lived. We climbed out and walked into the trees (watching what we stepped in) and standing there a few feet away were all the horses - including a month old baby. So adorable. It was an amazing scene. It was cool and quiet in the trees and the horses just stood around us.

Then we ended our journey with a visit to the cows. Never been so close. And I like cows. But they are much cuter from far away. We all piled back into the truck, chatted a while and headed for Mawmaw's and Pawpaw's house. What a great little adventure. I just wish the girls were old enough to remember it.

Two Flies and a Whistle

2008-07-02T16:16:00.004-05:00

And we are back....Sorry I am slow in posting, but we get back from Florida and had the busiest week of our summer. Now that it is over, you have my full attention.
We took our first family roadtrip to Florida and it was not flawless, nor was it flyless (hence the title). Let me back up. Jarrett was invited to speak at Istrouma (Baton Rouge) and Heights (Richardson)'s student camp in Panama City, Florida. We jumped on the chance. And knowing we were bringing the girls we began to pray for a nanny/manny to take with us. That following weekend, Jarrett's sister Michelle came to Dallas to see newborn Kelsey - we knew we had our nanny and her husband Ryan (our manny) was coming too. We were so excited. We reserved a Suburban (Ryan is waaaay tall) and packed up.
The day we were to leave, the rental company's largest available vehicle was a Dodge Caravan minivan. My goal and strongest prayer for this trip was not to panic and stress about things. Thanks for the test up front, Lord. I wondered (my term for a mild panic) where all our gear would go and where my sweet brother-in-law would sit - he is 6' lots". The Caravan has cool stow and go storage under all the seats and a ton of stuff fit in there. Luggage fit in the back. So off we went.
We had Jarrett behind the wheel (yikes), Riley all the way in the back and Kelsey and I in the middle row. We were set!
Departure: Saturday 1pm.
First stop, Bossier City. We wanted to start our trip seeing Gammy and Papa. 10 miles into the trip and this awful whistling noise was coming from the windshield/dashboard area. It wasn't shrill, but was loud enough to be annoying. It was like when you were a kid and held a piece of grass between your palms and blew on it - whistling.... It eventually subsided, but we thought it would be the catalyst for insanity. Then we realized we had 2 huge, uninvited guests buzzing around the car. Flies. Everytime we opened a window to shoo them out on the highway, more bugs would come in or paper would fly around. Eventually we got them, but it was a tense first 30 minutes. Made it to Bossier and spent the night.
Sunday, 10am.
We left Bossier and headed towards Prentiss, Mississippi. Jarrett's Mawmaw and Pawpaw live there. And his Uncle Bigshot. We havent seen those 3 since after right after Riley was born. We couldnt get there fast enough. I was very, very close to my grandparents and miss them dearly. I love that generation. It is bittersweet for me. I am grateful I married into two sweet grandparents. A must on this leg of the trip is boiled peanuts. Don't knock them until you try them, but know in advance what you are getting yourself into. Jarrett is obsessed with them and inhaled probably over a pound! Here he is at the roadside market making his selection. Don't worry, the pics get better as the trip goes along.

2008 is the year of the 3

2008-06-11T20:25:00.003-05:00

My sweet Jarrett just turned 30 and Riley will
be 3 in August. But we are not talking about the
latter, it makes me sad to see her grow so fast.
But YEAH for Jarrett. He has finally entered my
decade. I am so excited for him. It has been so
cool to see the growth, changes and excitement
of his 20's, so I can't wait to see what his 30's hold.

I threw a little surprise party for him and it
was great. I thought for sure he knew, but he
had no clue. In fact, he worried that I may be
stressed about making it a big deal, so he called
and requested no parties, no group gatherings,
no gifts, no hoopla, just recognition and some
love from his 3 girls would make him happy.
Of course I wept because this was 2 days before
his party. It was a great time and thank you to
all who showed up.

The "men" pondering on if the Kimbo Slice
flight was real or not...hmmm.

Riley enjoying some of Daddy's yummy cake
and her bud Taylor watching.....

Jarrett is proud, but my child is holding a sawed-
off shotgun and pretending to play this hunting game.
I feel like all my 2-1/2 years of child training has
gone down the toilet. Sweet Riley holding a gun -
what's next?

If you want to be a pirate say ARRGH!!!!

2008-06-04T22:08:00.006-05:00

For those fans of the Backyardigans, you know the song..... Riley loves the Backyardigans. Jarrett was watching the girls for a few hours so I could go to a Starbucks and read. When I came home, sweet Kelsey had fallen asleep on her hippo mat. So I ran to get the camera and Riley thought it would be funny to make her a pirate. And she told her, "Kelsey, if you want to be a pirate say "Arrgh"". Kelsey was not too happy. Nor did she say "Arrgh". Love my girls.

memorial day at the pool

2008-06-04T21:30:00.004-05:00

So I know Memorial Day was like a month ago, but we had a very fun day and pics must be posted. Our neighborhood has an amazing pool (two actually, but we tend to go to this particular one because of the slides and the toddler friendly pools and sand box). The Coles, Koubas and Rylanders mooched off of us, I mean came over to swim and play before lunch. Our total count was 8 adults, 5 toddlers, 1 nine month old and 3 babies.....and we were the first ones at the pool. All the kids had a blast and the dads took the bigger ones down the slide. Riley loved the Rylander's potato shoe string snacks and was stalking them for some all morning. The three little ones pooped out early and took their naps in their carriers. Kelsey and Cole are up on the table and McKenzie is in a chair next to them. They were all so cute in their tiny suits. Naps were huge that afternoon. We had such a great time - they can mooch off our pool anyday.

Girl talk

2008-06-02T21:15:00.005-05:00

I have so many pictures to post, but I want to spread it all out so you will keep coming back for more....
Riley's friend Reese turned one. Her parents are Nick and Meredith, our very good friends. Reese had a playground party in her neighborhood. And Riley was dying to be the first one there. You can bribe Miss Riley to do just about anything by saying "playground" (or Dora sticker or marshmallow). Needless to say, she helped clean the house and was in the car waiting for us to go at about 9am and we still had an hour to go until the party started....
Once we got there Riley was all over the playground, but when the pizza arrived (us Stephens always stop what we are doing to eat!) it was time to share some pizza with her buddy Taylor (her parents Ryan and Amy are also our good friends). I couldn't wait to take their picture eating together but as I got closer I could hear them having a conversation. It was hysterical. Dialogue from 2 year olds about the zoo. They were comparing notes about their own trips to the zoo. They were asking and answering questions from each other. It is so amazing to see them be little adults and chat about boo-boos and hippos at the zoo. Its so cute to see their social skills budding.
After the zoo chat, Riley was off to the playground again and then topped the day off with a cupcake and her first pop-ice popsicle. She loved it! Needless to say she had a huge nap after the party. Happy birthday Reese and thanks for inviting us!

Our pup...

2008-06-02T20:44:00.004-05:00

This is our little man, Samson. He is about 7 years old. We "inherited" him from some friends. We dog sat for them when they had their baby. We fell in love with him and the rest is history. He was fixed and potty trained and new some tricks so it was an easy transition. I did want to change his name to "Cowboy" cause his coloring makes him look like he is wearing tan boots, but it never stuck. And I am in to clever pet names. Our first pet when we got married was Uno, a hamster. That little sucker bit me all the time. But he loved to play in his exercise ball and roll around the apartment. Uno passed on suddenly and it was tragic to me....Don't ever bring up Uno to Jarrett, I assure you the only reason he allowed me to get him was that we were in the newlywed stage of life.
Samson is a miniature pinscher. Contrary to popular belief, the miniature pinscher came first and then they bred up to the bigger doberman pinscher. At least thats what I was told. I had never seen one before Samson. I grew up with mini dachshunds. They are awesome. "Min pins" are like a dachshund on stilts, same peanut body shape, paws and cute little faces. He is about a foot tall and weighs around 12 lbs. I love that his ears are not cropped and one folds over and the other stands tall. Min pins are super duper smart and therefore have tons of energy and tend to bark a bit. So that can get on your nerves after a while. Samson loves Riley, especially at meal time. He is the perfect vacuum and mop. He is a cuddler too and will fight tooth and nail to get under a blanket with you. Every so often I will catch him laying next to Kelsey during her tummy time.... Samson loves to be in pictures. So you may see his ear or the top of his head in the corner of some of pictures....

Tea for Me

2008-05-22T20:56:00.004-05:00

I had one of those moments... Riley's class had a Mother's Day Tea for us. The look on Riley's face when I walked in her class. (She is the one standing up at her table - kind of in the middle of the picture.) She was so proud of her presents and so proud I was her mom. She couldn't wait for me to sit by her and lets be honest, to share my plate of food and sweet tea with her too. She made me a plate, a frame with her picture in it and a place mat. I love them all. She was adorable. She held my hand and laced her fingers in mine. It was so funny to see her with the other kiddos. Their little inside jokes, I didn't get any of them, but they were very funny to a two year old. I'm so proud of my little girl - she is growing up so fast. Boy, I love her. She makes me want to be a stronger, more obedient Christian and a better wife, mom and friend - just for her. She is watching and learning from me. I have such a great privilege and responsibility and want to raise my girls to be amazing and dynamic and most important, godly women who make a difference. I want to guide them and shape them to be exactly who God created them to be and to have integrity, dignity, grace and other amazing qualities that alot of the women God has placed in my life exhibit. You can't model what you don't genuinely live. I see so many areas in my life where I need to step it up. They see it all!

Another Jarrett in her life....

2008-05-21T22:00:00.004-05:00

Yes people, there is more than one Jarrett on this planet. Can you believe it? Spelled the same way and all. He is adorable (not as cute as my Jarrett though) and "doesn't hit" - so Riley likes him. He is in Riley's CLC class and in the same room on Sundays too. So we hear alot about Jarrett. It was confusing at first. We thought Riley was just trying to be funny by calling her daddy by his first name...she thinks its funny to call me Deborah too. Here are some pics from Riley's school...

Big as Elmo...

2008-05-19T21:48:00.004-05:00

Sweet little Kelsey is just over 4 months old. Why does it seem like your first baby is a baby for a alot longer than the next one....Kelsey had a major "length" growth spurt. As you can see she is as long as Elmo now. And is big enough for the bumbo seat. She loves to sit (safely) up on the counter and watch Mommy wash all 800 of her bottles every day. She and Kelsey are to busy watching Dora to look at the camera.

Baby Dedication

2008-05-19T21:37:00.003-05:00

We dedicated Kelsey at church. It was great. Jarrett and I were so proud. We have a bunch of friends who have had babies this year, so it made it even more fun to share the ceremony with them. Jarrett's parents came in town. Cheryl and Glynn. Affectionately known as Gammy and Papa to our girls. Don't mess with Gammy, she and Riley are BFFs!

Meet the Stephens...

2008-05-10T20:42:00.015-05:00

Finally, we are on board with blogging! I think we are the last of all of our friends, but here we are. Over the past month I would check out everyone else's blogs and have blogger envy. I thought - we are fun, have two cute kids and a dog, we should have a blog too. Then I got intimidated, not knowing even how to download pictures on to the computer....but with some great teachers here we are. I think I have rewritten this post 3 times. There is already a pressure - to be clever, funny, interesting, etc. Hope I make the cut. Bear with me as I figure everything out and enjoy the ride....
Alot has gone on over the last few months so here is a little review since January...

On January 10, Kelsey arrived making Riley a big sister. Wow! How our lives have changed - I can't even remember what it was like before these little monkeys came along....Maybe thats cause I still have baby brain or pregnancy brain - whatever you want to call it. I will claim to have that for the next few years to cover up age related memory issues. Kelsey Michelle (Michelle after Jarrett's sister) and Riley Catherine (Catherine after my sister) are of course the cutest. People want to know who looks like who. Well, you take a look. At birth, they both looked exactly like my sister - beautiful dark hair and porcelain skin. I don't even look like my sister. Then as she got older everyone said Riley looked like Jarrett until Kelsey came along. Kelsey is his mini-me....blue eyes and all. And yes, that is her real hair - its awesome!!

I love them and think they are the most beautiful girls in the world, but for the love of anything, is anyone going to look like me? They look like Jarrett and I'm ok with that cause I think he is kind of cute. Bit of advice to those that are not yet married - marry a pretty man, your daughters will look like him!
Riley will be 3 in August. Her favorite things are going to the playground after dinner with daddy, reading books, singing, being a big sister, torturing Samson, doing "art" at CLC, stickers and anything Dora. She is awesome.

Here we are at my parents for Easter lunch. Couldn't hunt for eggs cause it was too cold. This pic was right before a double meltdown - the girls, not me and Jarrett. This was our first Sunday morning at church - getting all 4 of us there in one car before 9am. Not to shabby looking for a hectic morning. The stress of it didnt bother me, I knew I would be eating Riley's easter candy later that day! Below is my sister Cathy (see I told you the girls look like her early on) holding Kelsey. Not even bunny ears would wake her. She is our champion sleeper.

And here is the infamous Texas snow pic....Riley made her first snowman "Gussy". Everything is named Gussy nowadays. Don't know why. Gussy is the goose (that Oprah plays) on Charlotte's Web. Gussy's eyes are Tagalong cookies that I sacrificed for the sake of a happy Riley. The next day when Gussy was melting, we noticed Samson (our doggie - pics to come) had visited. Gussy had a yellow stripe at the bottom and was "blind"!!

And here is me and my main squeeze, Jarrett Lynn. I love this man. He is a great friend and husband and is the best daddy to our girls. For the record, while we are outside playing in the snow, Kelsey was right inside the house (the monitor is in my pocket before you call CPS) snoozing thru it all! So sleepy...until next time...xxoo