My life with the 3stephensboys is exciting, trying, fulfilling, entertaining, amazing, tiring, inspiring... what God made me for & what I love. Therefore, you may not see many pictures of Darrin or me, but you will get an eye full of my 3stephensboys in all of their glory, amazement and cuteness! Thanks for visiting! Enjoy!

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Christmas Review

I figured I had better post about Christmas before the new year begins!  So the following is a few snapshots of how we spent Christmas break!  Darrin has been able to be home with us since the Tuesday before Christmas!  Although I think he is ready to go back to work, it has been nice to have him around!

We stayed in College Station for the majority of the break except for a quick trip up to Fort Worth area to visit Darrin's sister and brother-in-law, Shelly and Dean.  We have really been quite lazy and it has been wonderful!!!!

We made cookies (tons of cookies) and took them to a few friends and then we went to Central Park to look at the lights!  We laid under the big "tree" and the boys spun around underneath it too!  Playing board games, working puzzles, going to a few movies and watching Christmas specials has occupied most of our time!




The boys opened their stockings on Christmas Eve after we had read the Christmas Story and reminded ourselves again what the real meaning of Christmas is.  We lit our final Advent candle and it looked so pretty!
We told the boys that they couldn't wake up before 7:00 a.m. and don't ya know that Dakota set his alarm and made sure that he woke up his brothers right at 7!

The only present Kru had asked for was a trampoline!  When I took him to the mall to sit on Santa's lap, that is all he asked for.  Santa asked, "What else do you want?"  and Kru said nothing, just a tampoleeen.  I wish you could hear him say it!  It's so cute!  So when the boys got up, they went directly to the back door to look in the yard to see if Kru got a trampoline!

Thanks to the grandparents, I think all 3 of them were shocked to see a trampoline in the backyard for real!!!  Kye kept saying, "Kru, you really did get a trampoline!"  Actually, it is for everyone and we all love it!  Darrin and I put it together in the dark on Christmas Eve!  A memory that will be etched in my mind forever!  Good times!! :)



The other fabulous and most excited about gift was the Wii, from Uncle and ShelShel!!!
Making their Miis
(YES!  I know this is sideways, but I don't have Photoshop on 
my computer anymore and blogger won't let you change your
pictures like facebook or other sites, so you will have to deal!)

We were all sore the next day from playing the Wii and jumping on the tramp!  Seriously, Darrin and I took Advil that night!!! :>)  We are so old!!!!

All in all it has been a great Christmas break!  Very laid back and relaxing.  Dakota had saved all of his birthday money from October and on Friday, we went shopping and he bought a bunch of stuff for the Wii!  I was excited because he got Guitar Hero with 2 guitars!  I LOVE THAT GAME!!! :)  I have enjoyed watching all 3 of my boys play together on the tramp and on the Wii, although Kru will take a while to really get that!  But it's great to see them all play together!  It makes me smile!

We hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas and we look forward to reading about your going ons in 2009!!!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

What to do when....

Kye can not seem to bring home his jackets from school.

So far this year he has lost a total of 5!

Almost everyday, since it has been cold here, he "loses" his jacket.

Yesterday, I went to school to check the lost and found!
YUK!

Can not tell you how many items there were on the stage and 
thankfully I found 2 out of the 5 there.

Kye also found another one there too, so we scored a total of 
3 out of 5 yesterday!

But then we begin again today with another one going to school!
So we will see how many I will have by tonight! :)

I have to check by Friday or our coats and jackets will be gone forever!

Oh my Kye-Kye!!!!
What will I do with him!?!?  :)

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

IT'S SNOWING!!!!!

YES!!!! It's TRUE!!!!
This is what we woke up to this morning!
A roof of snow and a little bit of white in the grass!
Darrin's truck had the most snow!
Kye told me this morning, that if we scraped all
the snow off of the all the roofs, we would
have enough to build a snowman!

It melted fairly quickly, and stopped by mid-morning,
but then this afternoon around 3:00,
it began again and even now as I type, it is still snowing!

Kye was so excited when he arrived home from school, that 
he went to work gathering snow!
He gleaned as much as he could from the side of the driveway,
and then a neighbor was nice and let him wipe it off of her car!

It's snow, Texas style, so it's not really going to 
be like we are building a snowman anytime soon,
BUT....
we are so thankful that we are seeing the white stuff!!!

Right now the flakes are big and falling gently and slowly!
Bizarre to have snow and a cold day here in College Station!!
BUT...
I LOVE IT!!!!
It makes me really feel as though it is Christmas time!
The boys just enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate
and I'm about the sip my coffee!!!

This is better than the teeny-tiny bit of snow we had last year!
I feel as though it is a blessed kiss & gift from Jesus
to us folk here in Texas!!!
Who cares if it isn't Christmas yet, 
we will take snow whenever!!!!
Dakota's math teacher today let them go
outside and play in the snow for a bit!

Who doesn't love to try to catch snowflakes in 
their mouths, seriously!!!


YAY, SNOW!!!!
Pictures from later that night!
The boys were hopeful for no school the next day, 
but no such luck!
The most snow we have seen in 3 years!!!

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Christmas Card Greetings 2008


Merry Christmas!!! December, 2008

*If you don't want to read the long version, scroll down to the highlights!!!*

As I was addressing our Christmas pictures to y'all, I said a little prayer for each and everyone of you as you were brought to mind.  We miss so many of you!  And then as I looked at my Christmas photo album of all the pictures sent throughout the years, I am amazed that many of you are at the same address, unlike we, Stephens, who move almost every 2 years!

But that is one "tradition" that we broke this year!  WE DIDN'T MOVE!!!  We are in the same house as last year and the same city, well into our 3rd year!  A first EVER for Darrin & I in our 14th year of marriage!  

Darrin continues to work for Texas A&M in the TEEX extension.  I am still teaching grammar and writing classes to homeschool children grades 3-high school once a week.  I attempted to sub at the beginning of the year, but with what they paid me, taxes, and then paying a sitter, I made $24... and the babysitter made $30... so I'm not subbing anymore! ;)

As I have posted on the blog about most of our mentioned highlights below, if you want to know more of the "whole stories"  just click on it!

We brought in 2008 at our church, Living Hope, worshipping and praying in the New Year!  It was a fabulous way to begin!!!  And in February, Darrin treated me to a mini-vacation out to DC to see Kory and Shelley for my birthday!  It was the first time I had been away from the kids for more than overnight in over 3 years!  They spoiled me and I enjoyed myself, and the "boys" back home survived alright! ;)

For Spring Break, we went to Galveston.  The boys loved the beach and we had a great time!  It was chilly, but it was a nice change from College Station.  I would like to go now to see how it is down there, things are still not back to normal after Ike.


April brought Easter and Kye's Birthday.  Granma, Pappy, Aunt Shelly, Dean and Stephen came down to help celebrate Kye's #6!!



Kye finished 1/2 day Kindergarten and Dakota 5th grade and we began swimming in May and continued to do so almost everyday all summer long!  Papa came down for a visit to help celebrate Kru's #3 and went swimming too! Vacation Bible School consumed a week of our life in June and we were all talking like pirates, "ARRRR!"




We celebrated July 4 out at George Bush Library again with friends!  Dakota went to summer camp for the first time and I tagged along too.



KidShine at church kicked off August and school began again!  Dakota 6th grade, last year in intermediate school, Cypress Grove, and Kye beginning all day Kindergarten at Forest Ridge.  


September was 1 year in  our house! And soccer began again for Dakota!  Our church was a shelter for Hurricane Ike evacuees and I spent many hours up at the church for a week.  God showed me many amazing things that week about who He is and what He can do and how He can work through His people!  Amazing!

Dakota turned 12 in October and we celebrated Halloween with friends from church!


November wrapped up soccer and we won the championship!  Darrin was gone to several conferences/classes and also participated in a Comic Convention where his first ever comic book was sold!  Kaeru-boy  BIG happenings around here!!!!  And for Thanksgiving we went to Iowa with a side trip to Arkansas to borrow Pappy's truck and Lincoln to visit friends!



And now we are home getting ready for Christmas.  We will be decorating the tree tonight!  2008 is wrapping to a close and I wonder what 2009 holds for us.  My prayer is that it will be a year that brings us closer to each other and closer to the Lord.  He has been teaching me more and more about how BIG He is lately and that nothing is impossible for Him!   And that we need to Love, love, love and love!

We hope you have a blessed 2009 and look forward hearing from all of you!!!
Love, 
Darrin, Kari, Dakota, Kye and Kru

Dakota's Highlights:
Sports - Spring and Fall Soccer - won the championship in Nov'!
Winter Basketball with Upwards - went undefeated
School -  Favorite Class - Science
Drama Club & Runner's Club
Events -  Turned 12 in October
Officially a pre-teen
In 6th grade (advanced classes)
Activities -  Reading, playing video games, fantasy football

Kye's Highlights:
School -  Favorite Center - Animal Sorting
Favorite CAMPP - Computer
Events -  Turned 6 in April
Attends all-day Kindergarten
Activities -  playing with animals


Kru's Highlights:
Events -  Turned 3 in June
Potty trained :)
Sleeping in big boy bed!
Stitches in forehead 
Activities -  Going to Bible Study with Mom
Playing with friends
Jumping off of the diving board by himself



Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Our Thanksgiving Break!!! - 6 States in 8 Days!!!

Yes, we drove ALOT over Thanksgiving Break, but it was well worth it!!!!
We began by driving to Hot Springs, Arkansas to borrow Pappy's truck to get our stuff from Lincoln.  So the 1st day wasn't too bad, just 8 hours!!!

We arrived in Hot Springs early to have a nice visit with Granma and Pappy and then it was off to Nebraska the next morning, the long day!!!  It took around 11 hours to get to Lincoln, that was a rough day!!
In the truck
So little space!!!  But thankfully we had DVD players!

We stayed in Lincoln a few days to see our friends and Darrin loaded up the rest of our stuff that had been there for 3 years!  Thanks to Brian and Tricia Herbel for storing it for us!  We found things we didn't even know we had! :)  We ate at Taco Inn and Amigos, of course, and ran out of time before we could hit all of our other favorites!  We didn't get to see everyone, but we did visit with a few of our friends!  

Visiting at the Stewarts
Kye, Elijah, Kru, Ms. Kirsten and Sam

Visiting the Herbels
Kru & LillyAnne
Visiting with the Rectors too!

Kye, Kru, Elijah, Madalyne, Lilly, Ms. Tricia, Ben, Dakota and Kelsen

Then it was off to Iowa!  That day wasn't too bad, only 6 hours!
We arrived in Bettendorf a day earlier than Papa, Uncle and ShelShel.
It was wonderful seeing Great Granma and Granpa again!  We only get to see them once a year!

YAY!!! Card Games!!!!
and other games!!!
Everyone loves to draw!
Playing with Granpa in his chair.
Getting great advice from wise Granpa!
Freezing in the cold!
Darrin, ShelShel and Uncle
Me and Granpa & Granma
The boys with their auntie and uncle
The Furnes
Boys with Granma and Granpa

We stayed until Saturday!  Playing card games, laughing, eating too much and just enjoying the company of family was fabulous!  We didn't get any snow, which I was disappointed, but Darrin not so much as he would have to drive in it!

So we left for Arkansas and traveled through Illinois and almost touched Tennessee.  Saturday was a LONG DAY!!! It felt as though it would never end and after 13 hours, we made it back to Hot Springs!  We exchanged truck for van and came home on Sunday.  Traffic was really busy on Sunday, everyone going back home before the work/school week began again!  The day again felt it would never end!  You know what they say about the trip coming home... the trip going somewhere there is excitement and anticipation, BUT the trip coming home seems endless as their isn't excitement!!!

We finally made it home!!  Like I said, it was worth it, but we were thankful to get out of the truck/van!!!  So, I'm already looking forward to Thanksgiving '09 so I can see my Iowa family again!