Stevens Family

I am so happy to have a break from homeschooling!!!!!!!! For Thanksgiving we got up and I went through BLACK FRIDAY ADS!!!!! YA!! Then we went over to my parents house for dinner with the family.....I believe there was about 30 of us! And of course it was our first official b&m school closure day due to all the snow we got so Liz did not have school on Wednesday!

For girlscouts......to earn their responsibility patch each girl is taking turns watching a monkey for two weeks.  They have to take pictures and journal about it.  The first picture is the real monkey at the airport.....then it goes all down hill.....we lost the monkey!!!!! How am I teaching my daughter responsibility.....I am a huge failure!!!!!  I have turned my house, my parents house, my car, and my parents car upside down!!!!!  The monkey is no where!!!!  I finally had to go out and buy another monkey......it's not the same color...can I sawI bleached it?   I have four kids how am I suppose to watch a monkey too?  And due to Thanksgivig week we have had the monkey for 4 weeks not 2!!!!!!

Emmie has been dying to lose a tooth she will be 7 this week and has not lost a tooth!  We went to the grocery store and she was hungry so I gave her a donut to eat......she took one bite and said there was something hard in her donut I looked and her mouth was bleeding!!!!!  NO.........do not do this to me!!!!!  I hate blood, I hate teeth falling out.....it's so gross.....but it happened......out came the tooth! So the tooth fairy and Brad the Elf came!

Dear Stevens Family,      It is great to be with you again!   Do you remember me……ELF BRAD!   Snow Flake and I are going to take turns visiting you.   You will know when I visit because I am a calm Elf.   Snowflake on the other hand loves to get into trouble!   You girls and Evan have been very good this year.   We can’t wait to spend the month before Christmas with you and enjoying what Christmas is really about.   Remember it is not about the gifts it is about the Spirit of Christmas, the birth of Christ.      This year Santa is trying to save time and will just put the Letter of your first names on gifts so you won’t know if they are from your parents, or Santa because remember it’s not about the gifts it’s about LOVE.   The letter “B” will be for Evan since he is the BOY!   To give you an example I left each of you a gift under the tree.      Snowflake and I love you lots and remember to be good and no fighting! Love, Brad the Elf    

I went to the airport tonight to pick up my older brother who I have not seen in a year....we have been texting each other back and forth about him coming and things we were going to do.  He lives in Washington.....weird thing was he would not give me his flight info but that did not set off any alarms.  So the kids and I made posters and went to the airport.  We were holding the signs and this guy turned the corner and I knew right away it was my baby brother who is in the Air Force and stationed in Belgium.  I have not seen him in 2 years.  I was so SURPRISED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have many wonderful friends in my life whom are supportive and loving.  i am thankful for everyone of them. I hope and pray that one day my daughters will consider each other their Besties.  I had to share this from Wednesday.... Early this morning I dropped my daughters off with my mom and headed to the children's  hospital.  My son already had to have ear surgery earlier this summer and now it looked like he would need surgery on another problem he had. I sat in the doctors room nervously waiting and there is my bestie texting me supportive Texts. Then the doctor came in and I knew right off the bat this was not going to go well....don't judge a book by the cover but I did and I was right!!!!! He looked maybe 22 years old, hair not combed......sticking up, wrinkled clothes, and clueless.  He examined my son and against my hopes and prayers he came to the same conclusion that I already in my gut knew, there was a problem larger then I had actually realized.  He left......tha

This weekend we went to a craft fair with my parents they had lots f crafts and fun activities for the kids.....and we got to eat at Big Boy

Emmie has been dying to get her ears pierced but her dads rule is age12......she has been bugging him for months.  So a few weeks ago daddy agreed that age 8 she can get her ears pierced, in 1 year.  But her older sister is 9 so she can get her ears pierced.  But her older sister did NOT want to get her ears pierced!  So that was that.  Then I picked up her older sister from school today and was ready to get the, pierced.....TODAY!  Emmie was super sad she still had a year to wait.  But she decided to write a note to her dad, have me write a note, and her sisters write a note to her dad trying to convince him.  Lizzie really wanted to get their ears pierced together. Two sisters same day ears pierced.  Well daddy finally agreed and we got 4 ears pierced!

I was going to use this week to get a lot of homeschooling done.....but then I got a pleasant surprise my brother was coming out Tuesday for the week from Washington....YA....so no homeschooling wed, Thursday, or Friday.  Thats ok family is way more important......but I would hit it hard Monday and Tuesday.  But then two friends stopped by this morning and then it was noon!  Thats ok I love friends!  But I needed to run to Joann's real fast and Applebee's ( Liz got her first B on her math test.....math is super hard for her......and Applebee's chip and dip is her favorite, so it is her treat for doing such a great job).  While at Joann's I was offered a job because I knew so much about all the education kids toys.  This customer told the manager my knowledge about looms was amazing....lol! So it's 2pm and still no homeschooling......maybe we will just take the week off!!!!!!

Really wanted underwear on...... He can hit the water button and get a free shower.....he also uses his toothbrush to do this trick!

You have to be from Ohio to know what this is, the State College in Ohio is the Buckeyes.....I believe a buckeye is a nut.  Well popular treats in Ohio are peanut butter balls rolled in chocolate which are called....yep, you got it.....Buckeyes! I had never made them before so we attempted who can go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter?  They were super good, our test grandma agreed (a sweet old lady who adopted us and we take sweets to her to test out.....not going to lie she always tells us it is good). Buckeye story of the week....My dad made these when we were living in Cali and my oldest daughter was about three years old.  He got tired of making the balls so they kept getting bigger and bigger.  He joked around saying they were REINDEER BALLS! So a few days later we went to the mall and they had a merry go round.  My daughter picked out a deer to sit on and while riding it yelled with glee.....REINDEER BALLS!!!!

For co-op this week in science class the kids learned all about bridges.  Then in art class they had to paint their favorite bridge. MY daughter painted.....The Golden Gate Bridge.....a bridge they did not talk about.....I guess it shows she is a true California girl!

Any guesses?

We have lived in our home almost a year and I have not hung anything all the walls.....well except One Direction posters in my daughters room.  The reason you ask?  Because I wanted matching frames and I wanted a nice picture of Christ in the middle to show we are a Christ centered family......but the reality is we are on a tight budget with 4 small kids and 1 income and if I was waiting for extra money to fall in my lap for nice frames and an Expensive picture of Christ the kids will probably be in college....so I took what I had and hung thm up.   I have to say I LOVE IT!  Makes it feel more like home!  I guess it really doesn't matter if it is good enough for Martha Stewart!

I'll start off with a funny story hope it will not embarrass my brother I don't think he reads my blog...... We once got a letter from my brother and there was not a return address and the address took up the whole envelope and was not in the correct order the city and state was reversed.  We thought it was hilarious when we got it and surprised we even got it.  We still have the envelope somewhere.  I called my husband at work today and said, "Emmie is learning something my brother never learned" and he instantly said......"How to address a letter.".......then we laughed about it.  Sorry little brother I still love you! So she wrote a letter to grandpa and mailed it: Notice the box in the background?  It has been siting in my garage for years it is from my grandmother who passed away years ago it is a box full of papers but it has been calling my name, weird I know I keep having the feeling I need to look in the box but I have not been able to, well I took

We are studying President Washington and Emmie had to learn all about him then wear this Mask and tell us about him: He had lots of brothers and sisters He married a lady named Martha He was a great General He fought in wars He was the first President in the US

I was trying to do a deep clean but it was useless at one point I had the trash can full and on a chair so my boy could not play in it and he knocked it over and trash went all over the floor......then I was cleaning out the ball pit and found a BELL PEPPER......once I got the balls all cleaned up he dumped them out and 100 balls went in 100 dictions all over the room!  My deep clean was useless!

The dreaded family pictures it happens once a year usually in this month and I HATE them!  they are so expensive and worse of all I have no fashion sense so I have no clue what 6 people should wear!  We went to a friends daughters 2nd birthday a few weeks ago and she took this picture of us: Wow she did a great job so she offered to do our family pictures for free.....we went to a Christmas Tree lot and everyone wore black shirts and blue jeans.  It was perfect! Evan was practicing his smile and he kept doing this funny face with his eyes closed and mouth open....Maddie use to do the same thing....so funny!

Only people in Ohio call Soda.....POP.......I hate that!

she read the whole thing she was so proud!

6. King Solomon was considered a wise king because he: was able to solve difficult problems knew how to tell exciting stories could make good laws 7. The ancient Egyptians believed in many gods. The Israelites believed in: many gods one God a sun god and moon god 8. Nebuchadnezzar, a strong king of ancient Babylon, built one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was: the Pyramids at Giza the Ziggurat at Ur the Hanging Gardens of Babylon 9. Saul, David, and Solomon were: the first three kings of the Israelites three pharaohs of ancient Egypt ancient Mesopotamian warriors 10. Tell me the story of Goliath:

Ancient Kingdoms Rise and Fall Select the one best answer. Shade or color the bubble for the answer you choose.   1. To show their power and to make people remember them, pharaohs in ancient Egypt built huge pyramids and temples. true false   2. An Egyptian woman who became pharaoh was: Tutankhamen Ramses Hatshepsut   3. Pharaoh Ramses II is known best for: building temples and statues riding horses and camels writing hieroglyphics and cuneiform   4. The Israelite child placed in a basket, discovered by the pharaoh's daughter, and raised as an Egyptian was named: Joseph David Moses   5. The Israelites' long journey out of Egypt is called the Exodus Genesis Flight

I hate snow I am 100% California Girl!  My kids on the other hand love then snow!!!!!  My little man was so amazed by it and kept says....OOOOOOOO!  Kinda like he thought I made it snow just for fun and just for him, he wanted to play in it all day! This poor squirrel was starving so we fed him some nuts and when he ran out he came to the window and gave us sad eyes......

I love Veterans Day because it is my Grandmas Birthday!!!!  Happy Birthday Grandma I sure do miss you.  I also love Veterans Day because my grandfather, father, cousin, and my brother served in the military.  My brother is currently serving in Belgium.  I am thankful for our freedom.  My cousin Zack joined the Marines and leaves in a week so he had a going away Bonfire.....biggest Bonfire I have ever seen!

It's true little man loves to go get Emmie while she is trying to do her work....he wants her to do things like hold him up to the window or push him around in a baby stroller saying vroom vrom like its a race car!  Emmie loves her brother and oes it happily!

My daughter got two awards at b&m school for kid of character and good grades.  It was sad how they presented the awards....they stress on the kids for 9 weeks about doing a good job and getting good grades and then they have an awards assemble that goes like this: principle stands and says.....Liz academics, character, Ella academics, character, Jason academics, Cody character, Peter academics.......for all of third grade and fourth grade.....no clapping, no breath in between LAME!!!!!! We are PROUD of you though Liz!!!!!!!!

So Emmie decides after lunch yesterday to see how fast her little brother can spin in her desk chair.....result....so fast that he can fly off and hit the dresser....she was actually crying header then him because she felt so bad.