Happy 7th Birthday, Timothy!

How could my little Timothy possibly be 7?!!? He was able to spread his birthday celebrations over a few days. His birthday was Thursday and he chose to have "birthday" cereal for breakfast which means sugary, color-filled junk in a box. He chose Fruit Loops and Cocoa Puffs and everyone ate and ate. Little Winston seems to be a Cocoa Puff boy like Jacob and Josiah but everyone else liked the Fruit Loops. We decided to have his birthday celebration with family at lunch time before Karate. We had Fried Chicken, grapes and rolls shaped like turtles followed by Turtle Cupcakes.


Since his birthday fell on our busy Thursday he came with me to take the girls to dance and we had a fun dinner together out. The finale to his birthday came on Saturday when Mike took he and Elizabeth to the Denver Aquarium while Mary was at her dance competition! He saw clown fish, tiger sharks and was able to pet a sting ray. For some reason they had a live tiger there as well which is his favorite animal and he was thrilled to see one close up. He had a fantastic time! Elizabeth seemed to enjoy it as well but was pretty intimidated by the huge fish!

Happy 15th Birthday, Josiah!

Luke, Josiah, Malachi, Micah and Christian

Josiah's birthday was Wednesday. He went out to breakfast and ate a huge breakfast burrito, shopped at Barnes and Nobel using a birthday gift (he bought the Politically Incorrect Guide to the Crusades ... eye rolling Mom ...), had pizza for lunch and finished his day playing a new computer game, eating ribs and taking a "Death by Chocolate" Cake to Youth Group. Then on Friday he took a few friends to see the movie Monsters Vs. Aliens ... which they all loved. With teenage boys everything seems to revolve around food, music and video games so the drive to and from picking up the boys was noisy and entertaining to say the least.

Having a 15 year old is absolutely surreal. A Boy Scout leader we know told us that at 14 boys enter a trough where they wallow for a while and then emerge more cheerful, more helpful and less moody. Grandpa thinks this must be why his parents sent him to work at a ranch the summer he was 14 ... hehe. I can definitely say this is true. Josiah is suddenly a young man and it's fantastic. I read this verse a few weeks ago and thought about how excited I am to see God's plans for this fantastic young man ...

"And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6

I had a sibling in charge of photography and he had an eye for unusual photos ...

I'm working on posting a video that Micah Oswald Oswald took at Joe's party .... it's not working so far so I'll keep trying ....

Happy 2nd Birthday, Elizabeth!

Yesterday we celebrated Elizabeth's 2nd Birthday. She woke up early and we put her in bed between us where she fell asleep looking like a little doll. When she awoke we dressed her and took her out for a special breakfast and treat. She picked out a giant pink, Care Bear balloon which she tried to buckling into a car seat in the van ... she just has to "mother" everything. We played all day and had a special dinner with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle John, Aunt Joanie and Winston. It was a sweet day.

Pink, sparkly cupcakes with tiny baby dolls and bottles on top.


Cleaning up after cupcakes!


Playing with her new toys ... she loaded all of her gifts into her new play grocery cart and wheeled them around.


Stripped pajamas, purple rain boots and a baby doll make for a happy Lizzy.


Ending her day reading with Mary ... what a perfect end to a day.

Three Birthdays This Week!

Whew! We survived last week. A traveling Daddy, a broken dryer, a leaking roof, an over-flowing toilet, an overnight guest .... what a ridiculous week it was! But now Daddy's home, the dryers if fixed (by an amazingly handy husband), the roofer has been called, the toilet is off limits ... and we actually miss our little overnight guest!

This week we have three birthdays. On Tuesday Elizabeth will be 2, on Wednesday Josiah will be 15 and on Thursday Timothy will be 7. Making each day extra special will certainly be a challenge but we like challenges. Josiah would like to take a few friends to see a movie on Friday night for his "party" and Mike will be taking Timothy to the Aquarium in Denver on Saturday for his "party". Elizabeth is too little to really care about a party but the whole family will gather for food and fun on Tuesday night to shower her with love. I'll try to post pictures each day as it is so much fun! The age of each of these kids stuns me ... my baby is 2, my first-born is 15 and my Tiny Timmy Turtle is 7 ... how can this be?! How do I keep from crying all week as I remember how quickly time has flown? Thankfully I don't have much time to be nostalgic and am typically too practical to worry about the past ... but the mom in me misses my babies. I hate how quickly time flies and purpose to enjoy every second of my children before they are gone.

My clothes line looks nothing like this ...

I mean nothin'! Our dryer broke over the weekend so Mike strung a line throughout our garage. We have clothes draped over chairs, ladders, over bikes and on hooks. It looks more like a line in an alley in a third world slum than a picturesque line swaying against a blue sky. It also makes me think that we should all have one outfit we wear all the time only to be washed in dire emergencies! Or maybe disposable clothes. Hmmmmm. I won't post a picture to protect the innocent.

I have some good Easter pictures to post later. Egg dying and hunting but I didn't remember to get pictures of the kids all dressed up for church on Easter morning. It was one of those Sunday mornings where we were racing to get everyone ready. But for today I thought I'd post a few pics of my hardworking little boys and my very silly little girls.

Benjamin and Jacob weeding for me ...


Timothy grinding wheat for me. We got our grain order yesterday!


Anna and Rachel filling bins with Littlest Petshop creatures ... why is this fun?


And the finale ... Lizzy changing Jacob's Monk Monk's diaper ... I think I'll start some sort of montage of all the creatures Lizzy has changed ... including herself.

Elizabeth Changing GI Joe's Diaper ...

and so intent on doing so she didn't notice me taking the picture! Hehe!

Happy 13th Birthday, Mary!

THIRTEEN! Oh, how can this have happened. My little "contrary Mary" is thirteen and is really no longer contrary. Although when reminiscing about her childhood I remembered remarkable similarities between her behavior and Elizabeth's. We had a great day yesterday celebrating. We not only celebrated Mary's birthday but the younger kids also sang at church for Palm Sunday. Here are some pictures:

Being 13 seemed a bit beyond paper plates with ponies so I used clearance fabric that matches the apron she made at electives to decorate with flowers, streamers and balloons. Mike is a fantastic party decorator and amazes us every birthday with his streamers and balloons. I also got her dishes for her play house in the backyard where she plays pioneer with all the little kids.

Following in the footsteps of great Americans like Grandpa, Mary picked a butterscotch cake which was very tasty!

Josiah is always close by when cake is being served.

Anna and Rachel's group sang first ... I was worried my kids would have stage fright or be scared ... ha ... not these Stephens hams ... the smiled and sang so loudly we could hear them on the other side of the sanctuary!

Timothy, Jacob, Ben and Luke's group sang next. Luke being older was in the back so he's in the next photo.

Of all the kids singing Luke was the most nervous. He's at an awkward place where he's the oldest of the littles and youngest of the bigs so he feels like a giant at Sunday School but isn't quite old enough for Jr. High. By the end of summer that will all change.

So, that was our weekend. We have a quiet week (hehe) as we prepare for Easter. I need to go to our Spring/Summer bins and try to find Easter clothes for everyone. I also will be using the BSF Easter Lessons each day as we move towards Good Friday. We've had cold and snow lately after months of mild weather (March came in like a lamb and went out like a lion) so I haven't even begun to switch clothes yet. The girls are the trickiest. White shoes, dresses, tights ... whew. I love Easter and am so excited to remember Christ's life, death and resurrection this week. Mike is home this week which will be helpful but gone again next week. And so we begin ...