Hot 'N Cold

This is from a few months ago... McKenna performed in her school's lip sync assembly. She and her two cute, girlfriends are angry bridesmaids. (McKenna is the one on the right with the serious hip shake.) Kyler makes a quick cameo as the indecisive groom and cousin Jaden plays the Preacher. Look out for the totally radical "Robot Dancing" dance break...

More quotes from Carson

Carson was sitting on the toilet the other day and yelled for me to come wipe him. After I quickly did the job, he said:

Carson: "Is it shut?"

Me: "Huh? Is what shut?"

Carson: "My bum... Is it shut?!?"

One of the male contestants on American Idol has long, curly red hair. The family was watching the show, and when this contestant (Brett) came on screen, Carson says:

"I hate that girl! She's got a beard!"

There's a cartoon called "Ed, Edd, & Eddy" that we don't like the kids to watch because it's a little crude. I caught the kids watching it the other day, and Carson says:

"Sometimes we watch it, but we don't do drugs."

At Fiesta Ole, Justin says to Carson:

Justin: "Carson, stop dropping your tator tots in your cup of ketchup."

Carson: "I'm not dropping them, Dad! I'm just setting them in and letting go."

Just today, Carson was drawing on a piece a paper and proceeded to draw an impressively symmetrical heart. I say:

Me: "Wow Carson! How'd you learn how to draw a heart?"

Carson: "T.V. and Elmo. You kinda showed me.... but Elmo teached me better."

You've Got Mail

You know times are changing when you no longer get messy, handwritten notes and drawings from your kids.

You get emails!

I knew Kyler was up to something when he was secretly working forever in the computer room the other night. He had that look in his eyes when he is really excited about something. He kept yelling questions to me, but panicked if I came even remotely near the door. He needed to know my favorite color, how to spell dozens of words, and how to move the cursor down a line... This small note took him at least an hour to type. I assumed lots of things, but I wasn't expecting this:

To ThePRETTIEST girl in my family

Five things that i love about you

#1 you take care of us and help us when we are hurt or in danger

#2 you take us to do FUN things

#3 you teach us how to do hard TALENTS

#4 you help us do the things that help us

#5 and suport us in special times

I LOVE YOU

KYLER

Sweet, huh? I miss the stick figures, but I do appreciate the spell check! (Some of their notes can be pretty tough to decipher!) I took the liberty of sizing down the capitalized words. (They were about 300 times bigger!) I was particularly touched by #3--since Kyler HATES piano lessons right now! I was also touched by something else... Though Kyler is literally the reincarnation of his father, he has yet one of my traits... He makes lists! Even if it's just this once, I'll take it as evidence that he does have a Luke gene somewhere in his body.

Today, I was reminded that I love being a Mom. (I forget sometimes.)

"Tressed" For Success

When it takes wire cutters, fake birds, and sprayable super glue to get your kids ready for school, you know it can mean only one thing...

IT'S CRAZY HAIR DAY!!

If you know our family very well, you know that we like this day... a lot. Crazy Hair Day is right up there with Christmas and Easter.

For McKenna's annual 'do,' we pick a theme each year. We had this spectacular idea that we'd been planning for weeks, but the night before the big day, we stopped in Michaels to pick up one last supply... and that's when she saw them: Fake Birds. Amongst all the Easter/Spring stuff on display, a pillar of light shone upon them. And that was that. She was in love. Thus, our new theme, was born. We call her look: "SPRING FEVER!!"

One thing you should know about McKenna is that her middle name is 'Competitive.' If she's in it, she's in it to win it... even Crazy Hair Day. She's won the last three years, but when the door opened and slammed shut at 2:50 p.m. today, I knew it had happened.

She lost.

It wasn't a pretty sight. She's not what you would call a 'Good Sport.' And to make matters worse, she loss by one point to the one girl in her class that she loathes!! (Funny side note: When I asked Kenna why she didn't like this girl, she replied, "She laughs like a clown with a rat in her throat!!" Ok...) Anyway, losing is always a good learning experience... especially for Miss McKenna Lyn.

Kyler has a love/hate relationship with Crazy Hair Day... depending on his current mood. (Seriously, he's worse than a teenage girl.) For days, he insisted that he was NOT participating in Crazy Hair this year, but then at 9:00 p.m. the night before the big day, he was bawling that I hadn't bought anything for his hair!! That his how he ended up with his sister's tights on his head. Sometimes you gotta make do with what you have, ya know!? We call his look: "THE TIGHTY WHITEY!"

And... the last minute "Tighty Whitey" won him first place in his class! Being the sweet (and moody) soul that he is, he shared his candy winnings with his demoralized sister. With that single act of compassion, all was happy yet again in the Stevens home.
Though not yet a Rimrock Raptor, Carson was a rock star at preschool with his spiky, blue locks! We call his look: "THE AVATAR!" Look out up-coming Kindergartners! Carson's totally gonna rock Crazy Hair Day next year!
As for Ashton, he didn't get into the fun this year. He was slightly in shock at the sight of his bizarre looking siblings. But next year... he too will be getting CAH-RAZY!!

Happy Crazy Hair Day from the Stevens Family!

34 Days

34 Days.

That is the number of days since Kyler's Birthday party.

That is also the number of days that this purple balloon has been hanging out with my 2-story ceiling!

34 Days!!!

We've tried everything to get it down. ...Shooting it with Nerf bullets, throwing Ash's ball collection at it... we even put an extension on our central vacuum and tried sucking it down!

Us-0 Balloon-3

What is the moral of this story? Next time you buy a balloon bouquet at Zurcher's, DO NOT pay the extra .47 cents for 'High Float!'

P.S. The balloon mysteriously made it's way to Kyler's room this morning. He burst into our bedroom exclaiming, "I got it! It's finally down!" Thinking it was dying, he let go of it... and it floated all the way back up to it's original position! I'm starting to get scared of it now. Maybe 34 Days is just the beginning... tune in to see just how long this possessed balloon will torment the Stevens family.

An INCREDIBLE teacher!

For Teacher Appreciation week, I was asked to decorate Kyler's teacher's door. Mrs. Melander truly is a wonderful, sweet teacher, and I was happy to do something fun for her. I was a little worried that she would be embarrassed to see herself transformed into a volumptious Super Hero, but to my relief, she doubled over in laughter when she saw it! The best part of it, though, was that Kyler thought I was super cool for once. It takes a lot to get Kyler's "cool" approval... so I felt pretty incredible myself!

For the Love of Balls!

Ashton's vocabulary may only consist of a handful of words, but those few words enable him to get exactly what he wants 100% of the time. However, these few words do more than communicate the needs and wants of a stocky 21 month old. They reveal what this little boy truly cares about. Just take a look at Ash's first words, and the order in which they were learned:

First word: "Ba-ba" (Translation: Bottle. This kid loves food above all else!)

Second word: "Ma" (Translation: Mom)

So, what word do you think came next? "Da-da?" "No no!" "Mine?" .... Nope. His third word revealed, yet again, what his brain thinks about all day long... second only to food and Mommy.

Third word: "Bull" (Translation: Ball)

Seriously, the kid loves balls. Actually, 'love' is too weak of a word. The kid is OBSESSED with balls! And to Ashton, anything resembling a circle--is a "bull." Clocks, oranges, Christmas tree bulbs, balloons... even the moon to Ashton--is a ball! When he sees one, his face lights up with pure delight as he announces to everyone that we are in the presence of something truly extraordinary: A BALL!

Seeing this "ball" in the grocery store just about made him leap out of the cart with joy.

Here is his basket of toys that I keep in the Family Room. Cars, blocks, animals... they do nothing for him. Come on, you can't dunk a toy car!

Sadly, here is one of my decorative porcelain balls. It only lasted a week... it was a stupid purchase. Deep down, I knew it was doomed from the beginning.

The only problematic thing about having a kid obsessed with balls is that it's a little dangerous. Besides getting whacked in the head all day long by air borne balls, my house has become a mini Wipe-out zone. I'm constantly stumbling and tripping over those darn balls! I dare a robber to try to get through my house in the dark! He'd never survive!

On the bright side, perhaps Ashton's obsession is the foreshadowing of some incredible athletic talent! A future basketball star, quarter back... or linebacker. (Food is his first love after all!) Whichever sports star he becomes, I'm just sure he destined to be pictured on a Wheaties box! In the meantime, I'm perfecting my hook shot and trying to keep my tail bone in one piece.