So Facebook disabled my profile. They will only reactivate it if I provide documented proof that Rikki-Leigh Stevens is in fact a real person and not the alias of some creepo hacker. Why? So I think I'm done with Facebook for a while. The End.

Kellan's brilliant pumpkin carving skills!

Last Saturday I acquired 7 boxes of peaches.

That's 3 1/2 bushels.

We bottled all but about a box and half which we've eaten in various ways.

By about Monday night I wondered what the hell I'd gotten myself into.

Gratefully Sister Anderson took my kids for a few hours on Wed.

Gratefully Kellan helped me finish the last two batches last night.

We'll be grateful for yummy peaches in Feb. instead of nasty canned ones.

Now I need to go clean my house and feed my children something other than peaches.

On Sunday we finally had cake for Anne. She had requested a Strawberry Shorcake cake. So this is what we came up with. It was my first attempt at fondant. Not too shabby considering I really had no idea what I was doing. In all honesty, the pictures look so much better than the actual cake, but since the pictures are what we will remember what does that matter?

A few days before school started Anne dumped a bunch of folded up scribbled on papers and told me to put them in her backpack. When I asked what they were she told me they were invitations to her Birthday party to hand out to her kindergarten class.

I immediately started hyperventilating at the thought.

What can I say? I'm a party-pooper. Yes I am.

So I bribed her.

How about instead we go to Hogal Zoo and have a family party?

After some thought she took it and I breathed a sigh of relief because I bought myself another year before the mania of friend parties starts.

So we went and had a ball. All of the Stevens were able to come and Anne LOVED it.

With the cousins. SO glad the came!

Family pic with the Giraffe. A favorite.


Anne's absolute favorite- Elephants. I have half a dozen pictures like this one. Anne kept saying "Take one of the baby! Take one of the Mom! Now take one together! They're eating, get a picture!" We spent at least a half hour looking at them.

Anne carried her purse around all day. It was hilarious. She refused to put it down and was very picky about what had the honor of going into it. Sunglasses, no. 15 cents and a few crayons, yes.

Anne and Sara where in heaven.


Gramma brought sack lunches for everyone with Hostess cupcakes. I turned around and thought Libby had eaten hers really fast. Then I noticed Truman chowing down. Apparently she didn't want hers so she handed it over to a grateful Truman.


Gorilla with Uncle Mitch.


By the end of the day we were bushed but we loved it. We also played on the playground, rode the train and went to the bird show. The camera was not within reach for those events but we loved it all.

Today I'm grateful for this old ensign article I came across yesterday.
LDS.org - Ensign Article - When You Feel Inadequate as a Mother

I wish I could express what this woman's words meant to me. I hope if any of you are feeling discouraged about being a mom it will help you too.

It was such a relief to find someone else who has struggled with the same feelings I have about being a mom. I'm afraid I'm smack dab in the middle of the adolescent stage of motherhood, however, it good to know it's normal and I can do something about moving forward now.

Also, I've struggled with my personal prayers and scripture study. Especially scripture study. Why should I bother if I'm just going to be interrupted every single time? I realized as I read this that that isn't going to change, however, if I'm diligent in trying the Lord will give me the strength and answers I need in the time I do have (even if its only 5 min) as long as my heart is soft and willing to accept His answers.

I'm grateful that I can find answers to my prayers even when I'm surrounded by chaos if I'm willing to loose my attitude and listen.

Today I'm grateful for Kellan. Again.

Autumn. I love it. It's perfect. Every other season should be Autumn. The end.

Today I'm grateful we can sleep in our bed again.

We slept on the air matress in the front room all last week.

Truman is still in our room and the sleeping through the night thing just wasn't happening on a regular basis.

He's 10 months old.

It was time.

Gratefully he's now sleeping until at least 5:30 usually 6 or 6:30.

So we can sleep in our bed again.

Yay.

Today I'm grateful that our internet is working again, and that it was only a small matter of the modem getting turned off by some little person.

It only took us 2 days to figure out. We're technologically challenged. Can you tell?

Today I'm grateful that Kellan is willing to put the kids to bed by himself so I can take an institute class once a week.

Tonight was the first night and it was such s relief to just sit and listen without interruptions for a whole hour and a half.

I know this will be really good for all of us. Not only will I get a much needed break, but also the things I'm learning are what I need to teach my family. I'm glad I finally decided to go, because I almost didn't.

FYI-

Kellan once upon a time loved and did a pretty good impersonation of Chris Farley.

Kellan's best friend Kenny gave me a DVD of Saturday Night Live's Best of Chris Farley for my 21st birthday.

Hence today's title.

I'm going to eat some cheese now.

The last few years Kellan has worked evenings/nights and weekends, so the weekend didn't mean much to us.

We looked forward to Sunday and that's about it.

Also, with no children in school, we didn't have to go anywhere or do anything unless we felt like it.

So basically the kids and I did our thing here while Kellan did school all day. Kellan would stop by around dinner time to grab something to eat and change and be off to work. I'd feed and put the kids to bed alone, then chill out by myself until Kellan came home around 1:00 am.

That's how it was everyday weekday or weekend minus Sunday.

Will you all think I'm crazy if I kind of miss it a little bit? Not the part where Kellan's gone all day and night. Not the part where I do dinner and bedtime by myself. Not the part where I have to drag my exhausted bottom to an empty bed every night.

I miss the part where I didn't have to be anywhere at any particular time of day.

With no bus, I have to drop off Anne at 11:50am and pick her up at 2:30pm every day. So far its been fine and eveything has worked out, but suddenly it feels like every 10 min of our life is scheduled.

After having no schedule for so long (execpt for bedtime) I feel like I have to check the clock every 5 minutes and make sure I'm utilizing every minute or dinner won't happen, or the house won't get clean, or Sara won't get her share of me time, or I'll be late to pick up Anne and she'll cry and not talk to me the rest of the day (she's since forgiven me). While I've managed to get it all done this week has been exhausting.

However, I realized today that its Friday and tomorrow is Saturday. For once in our life that means something. Its been such a relief to look forward to this evening and tomorrow.

So today I'm grateful for the weekend. Its nice to look forward to it again.

Today was Anne's first day of Kindergarten! AHHHH! I've been freaking out for the last 6 months. I've been on the brink of tears for the last week. I've hogged this girl to myself for almost 6 years now and I am not ready to share her with the world!

In spite of all that, it was so fun to see her so excited! And I haven't cried once today, maybe next week I'll have that melt down, but today was just bittersweet. So fun and so sad for me at the same time.

I don't know what's funnier- my brother Keith's doofy laugh, Kellan's giant finger, or Sara.

Oh Sara. Sara, Sara, Sara...

I'm grateful that-

-I'm home.
-Sara's puke made it in the bucket both times she threw up on the way home yesterday.
-Sara is no longer puking.
-I surrvived camping with 4 kids ages 9 months to almost 6. (Thanks to lots of help from the fam!)
-I'm clean again.
-I don't have to sleep on the air matress tonight.
-Kellan had an enitre week off with pay!
-Somehow the dishes got done today (laundry wasn't so lucky...)
-Libby has decided that sleeping and eating something other than high fructose corn syrup is a good idea.
-I chickened out at the last minute and chose afternoon kindergarten over morning.
-Kellan has another week before his classes start.
-I have ice cream in the freezer.
-Anne makes me read Calvin and Hobbes for bedtime stories and CACKLES her head off.
-Pioneer Woman's recipe for onion strings. Delish!!!

I'm grateful Kellan doesn't have school for a couple of weeks.

He comes home and is just home.

No more hours and hours of homework waiting.

At least for a couple of weeks.... We'll take it though.

Today I'm grateful for the gorgeous weather and my backyard.

There was a nice cool breeze, and the clouds were amazing.

Also, I love having my own back yard.

I have space issues.

I have no idea how I ever surrvived without my own back yard.

Me: "Do I look like a raggamuffin?"

Kellan (without hesitating): "Always."

Me: "Alright, let's go."

I'm grateful for the fresh green beans coming out of my garden.

Its the first year I've gotten more than 5 beans and they're my favorite! Yum!

I'm grateful for my vacuum.

I'm grateful Kellan brushed and flossed the girls teeth tonight.

Frankly, it grosses me out.

I'm grateful for Kellan's new work schedule.

He's only had to work one evening in the last week and a half.

Yay for dinner and bedtime!

I'm grateful Libby's last tooth finally broke through.

Its been a long year of teething.

It's so nice to have a happy little girl who will eat something other than soggy cereal finally!

Earlier this week I ordered a Bountiful Basket.

If you haven't heard of them. They're wonderful. I think the site is www1.bountfulbaskests.org.

When you order a basket, you choose a pick up time and place. Last week all that was left was a 1/2 hr away at 7:30am. So this time I scored a closer pick up at 8:45am. Then Kellan told me he had a work meeting at 8:00am. They usually go for an hour and a half. Groan. That meant me alone will 4 kids. Oh well, I thought, last week we just drove up, threw our produce in the van and were on our way. I'll be fine.

I arrived and parked a gazillion miles away since it looked like the only place left (Later I noticed there were much closer parking spaced behind the building). We made our way across the road at toddler speed. A nice van waited for us to cross. Libby lost her shoe half way and freaked out. The nice van contiued to wait as we retrieved the shoe, put on the shoe, and inched our way across the road. We were quite a scene.

We turned the corner to find a long line wrapping all the way around the building. Groan again. The kids were thankfully, really good in line. They stayed right next to me and Truman was happy hanging out in the car seat (Yes, he's a bit big for the portable. We're working on it.)

A half hour later though, it became clear that lugging a car seat with a 18 lb baby and pushing an apple box full of produce while herding 3 other chilluns was going to take a while to get back to the van a gazillion miles away. I had seen this coming as I waited in line, but had been unable to think of a plan to get all my kids and the produce back to the car. So there I was lugging and pushing and cursing and feeling very foolish.

Today I'm grateful for the nice man who had been behind us in line and returned after loading up his own basket to offer his help and carried my box to the van for us. If it weren't for his help, I might still be lugging and pushing and herding.

Today I'm grateful that Kellan had the day off.

I'm even more grateful that he has tomorrow off.

Happy Dance.

I'm grateful for the hilarious way my kids mispronounce certain words.

Anne- zizzors (scissors), ridikleeous (ridiculous), fravrit (favorite), binocleears (binoculars)

Sara- go-als (girls), stoa (store), scwiptshos (scriptures)

Anne tells me I'm being ridikleeous at least once a day. Usually in response to me telling her she better start obeying or else. It always cracks me up in an other wise frustrating situation.

My kids are pretty hilarious. Its probably the only reason I haven't gone completely nutters.

Kellan was supposed to have a 12 hr shift at work today. So he can learn the ropes of the new job. He left at 7:18 this morning.

But........

He's on his way home now! Happy Dance!

I'm grateful that sometimes its not as bad as I gear myself up for.

Sometimes.

Yesterday morning I threw a roast in the crock pot and rushed off to church. I forgot to plug it in though. My brother was here though and noticed. I'm grateful he pluged it in for me.

Every 4 months brings another end to yet another semester as we slowly but surely work our way toward Kellan's bachelor degree.

The last 2 weeks of a semester seem like the last mile of a marathon, or the last few reps of lifting weights, or the last 1/2 hr of labor.

Sorry to mention labor, but its really the only one in that list I can relate to. But I imagine running a marathon and lifting weights are difficult in a similar way.

This is where our lives are right now. Wondering what on earth we got ourselves into and why the heck we thought we could take on so much.

It doesn't get easier each semester either. You'd think I'd be a pro at managing stress and chaos by now, but I think I'm only getting worse.

The worst part is I know its coming and I try to prepare myself, but inevitably I have at least one nervous break down every other day. My kids are quick to pick up on this useful tool for managing the stress and the we-miss-Dad-and-are-bored-to-tears phase of the semester.

This past week began normally and the nervous break-downs commenced. But this time Kellan decided to handle the stress a little differently.

Thursday morning Anne and Sara presented Dad with an invitation they had made him. It was an invitation to a Daddy-daughter date. Complete with a picture of everything they wanted to do with him- Go to movies, get popcorn, etc.

It pretty much ripped the poor guy's heart out to tell them he wouldn't be around again to take them. It's a been a while since their last date. It was a rough day for everyone.

Friday morning came with a five page paper due and Kellan had hardly had time to start it. But this time he decided to tackle it another way.

He didn't do it. Instead he wrote an email to the teacher requesting an incomplete and took the girls on a picnic to 2nd dam.

The girls were ecstatic.

They had great time, and now Kellan might be able to use the remainder of the semester to pass his other 2 classes and handle his new job promotion.

Have I mentioned he got a promotion?

He did. He is now the new HR guy for Macey's and is really excited to do what he loves- payroll, interview, hire, train, who knows what else? I don't get it, but he loves it and is really good at it. We're really excited for the great opportunity it is for him.

The new job means he'll have experience and a degree eventually and then, hopefully, all of the end of semester crunches will be worth it!

I'm grateful for Kellan and his amazing incite into how to cure melt downs and that he's so passionate about his job, school, and family. He pours his heart into everything he does. Really, I think I could do my grateful post on him every day.

Today I'm grateful that I can finally run up that darn hill on 12th east without wishing for death.

This kid's army crawl is hilarious. He's so fast at it, I'm not sure he'll even bother with regular crawling. He's already mastering climbing as well.

He just gets cuter and cuter. I want to yell "Stop growing baby!" and "Yay!" at the same time everytime he masters something new. I want newborn Truman and big baby Truman at the same time. Is that so much to ask?

I just love to look at him. (Name that movie)

That's all for now folks.

Did I just post 3 times in 2 days?

Ahh!

I think I'm becoming one of "them".

This is my little boy.

Before we found out he was a boy I was sure I wanted another girl. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was all the condolences we got with our third girl (Condolences! Really?) that made me want yet another one, to prove to the world that a third or fourth girl can be just as loved as any boy. I have a terrible streak of spitefulness forever getting in my way.

I think mostly though, I honestly just didn't know what to do with a boy. What do you do with a boy after three girlies?

Here's what you do:
1) Kiss his adorable fatso cheeks every chance you get!
2) Put a flat cap on him. He's so adorable in it I can hardly stand it. Yes, I'm a pretty vain mother. I can't help it. I have cute kids.
3) Kiss those squishy cheeks some more.

This morning I discovered these gems in my garden!

I think I may have been dancing around my tomato plants as I picked them, but I'm not sure, I was too delirious with glee to care what a fool I must have looked like.

Sara and I promptly gobbled them up. Delish!

We just got back from Magna where we spent the weekend with Kellan's family, so you can understand the delay in posts.

I'm grateful to have such great in-laws.

Thanks for letting us take over your beds, your food, your house, and for taking us all to see Toy Story 3. We had an awesome weekend!

This is our wild little Libby.

Let's just say she marches to the beat of her own drum, and that's saying something in this family.

I'm grateful for her sweetness and her great sense of fashion.

It makes us smile.

Today I'm grateful I didn't have anywhere to go or anything that had to get done. Finding the wizard for Sara and Anne in the new Where's Waldo? book, and pushing Libby in the swing for who knows how long was way more important than getting out of our pajamas today.

I started reading A Wrinkle in Time (why can't I figure out how to underline?) today. Why have I never heard of this book before? I'm love, love, loving it! Thank you Tee for bringing it over for me!

I'm grateful for good books. They take the monotony out of the continual cycle of housework. Plus, its good motivation to get things done for instance: do a sink full of dishes- read a chapter. Of course sometimes I just keep reading and ignore my house and chilluns and then I have to ground myself for a few hours. Anyway, I'm going to get back to it now.

Today I'm grateful we were on time for our 9:00 church, because its been a while.