Halloween happenings

Our Halloween was a happy one. Filled with a

COSTUME CRAZY CUB SCOUT PACK MEETING,

and an ALWAYS FABULOUS WARD PARTY,

and a KINDERGARTEN EXTRAVAGANZA

like no other, and the SPECTACULAR SCHOOL PARADE,

and the HIGHLY ANTICIPATED TRICK OR TREATING WALLAPOOLOOZA!

Ahhhh, Arizona!

Where can you find a more wonderful place on Halloween night

to sit outside with friends and neighbors, share food, hand out treats and enjoy beautiful evening temps. And I dare say there are not many places where a five year child can be dressed up in NOTHING but a blue speedo, a swim cap with the American flag on it and the name Phelps across the side and nine 'gold' medals hung around his neck. I so wish I had a picture of that little boy.

In the words of my neighbor:

I think Halloween should be officially celebrated on the

last Friday of October every year.

How fun was that ~ not having to hurry them around the

trick or treating tour, trying to keep them from eating too

much candy and then throwing them in the shower, brushing

teeth and getting them to bed by 8 p.m. for school the next day!!

LOVED IT!!

Take a peek

Here is a video by East Valley Productions of Claire and Jane Nielson singing at the benefit concert this past Saturday. The song is called Golden Slumbers:

http://www.eastvalleyproductions.com/player.cfm?media=/movies/Nie/Glendhill

I absolutely love the way they are holding each others hands ~ so tight, never to let go. I wish I had a sister.

Enjoy!

Spongebob Peacemakerpants

Our ward Primary program was yesterday and Cooper absolutely refused to put on a white shirt and tie. This isn't new attire for him. He wears a white shirt and tie each week but OF COURSE he wanted nothing to do with it today. The only compromise came when Brent offered to let him choose the tie. And so he did.

I'm sure you are wondering where you can purchase a Spongebob Squarepants Employee of the Month tie for your own hunk of a husband, aren't you!!

I'm certain it was a gift from a co-worker. I absolutely would not spend my $3.99 on such shiny, absurdity.

But Cooper wore it with great enthusiasm and pride. And it was a source of great entertainment for him through the whole program.

Roll it up.

Tuck it under chin.

Let go.

Watch it roll down your tummy. Then

do it again.

and again.

and again.

Watching my own child and trying to catch his eye (he wisely avoided my gaze) I must have missed out on the Evans' shenanigans happening at the same time.

I think the message of the program was I Am A Child of God.

I'm thankful that the Lord looketh on the heart.

I was lucky enough to enjoy Davis sing Called To Serve just like a real missionary and thought it won't be long and he'll be singing that song with a nametag on his suit. Hopefully he'll refrain from rolling up his tie and tucking it under his chin in front of the mission president.

I went. . .

If you want to learn about this inspiring story, you can find a wonderful article here.

I'll apologize now for my pictures. My digital is just a simple throw in your purse, point and shoot kinda thing but I wanted to share these anyway.

I even had a front row seat just off center. I sat five chairs away from the family. My favorite part of the evening was watching them thoroughly enjoy the festivities.

I thought this concert might be quite sad and that tears would spill over.

And over.

And over.

But that was not the case. This evening was nothing short of a

JOYOUS CELEBRATION!



This was our host for the night.

Chup.

Which rhymes with 'hoop'
and not 'pup' like I thought.

He was funny and engaging.



Mindy Gledhill is a beautiful artist.
Her voice is easy and smooth.




She is an LDS artist and I assumed that would be evident in her music and lyrics. You know,
the sterotypical 'mormon rock' sound that sometimes is a bit too much. At least for me, hearing words sung of my Savior mixed with drums and heavy guitar riffs is really not my thing.

But I was surprised and listening was a pleasure.

Just beautiful music filled with fun, love, hope and happiness.


At one point she had the audience on their feet.
Clapping and dancing and singing at the top of their voices.
The family was so much fun to watch!

This is Courtney, better known to us out in blogland as

'c jane' and her little one, The Chief. A sister to the left

and Reachel Bagley, a dear friend, to her right. Claire and

Jane, Stephanie and Christian's oldest children, sat

with them the entire evening as well.

**thanks for the clarification Emily!

The most tender moment came when Mindy sang with

Claire and Jane.

They were so sweet.

Their voices were shy and hesitant but clearly filled with all the love that a child feels for their mom and dad. You could hear a pin drop in the auditorium while they sang their love to their parents.



I wish these pictures would have turned out better.


At the end of the evening, Mindy asked Courtney to come on stage and sing Smile with her.
It was a show stopper!

As darling as Courtney is, singing is not her strength but she clearly loves to put on a show. She even made the comment when she got on stage that nobody hated her singing more than Stephanie. If you want to see a portion of this performace during a practice run you can find it here.

Afterward I lingered just a bit to watch this family embrace each other and simply love each other. I noticed someone approach Courtney and introduce herself. She talked with Courtney and became quite emotional - wiping away tears and such. All the while Courtney smiled and nodded and listened. I thought, what a wonderful attribute, to listen to someone else's sadness while you have such sadness of your own.

I have friends like that. Thank you.

It was such a great way to spend my Saturday night.

Time well spent

We had a great trip!

Here are some highlights.

FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!!
We got to love and cuddle our newest addition to the family,
Sophie Joan (my mom's name). What a sweet, gorgeous angel.
Kami is a darling mom and I loved seeing my older brother gush

like a proud grandpa should. We also were able to enjoy Maeci.
She is one year old now and about as easy to fall in love with as
pumpkin pie! (That is if you love pumpkin pie like I do.
If not, substitute with any dessert you can't live without!)

In fact, both of my brothers were like putty around their grandaughters. The Stephens' genes are tough on the outside but total ooze on the inside.

This picture posted put of place, meaning that this is how the weather turned out by the end of of our visit. Perfect fall weather.
The beginning of the week we played in five inches of snow.

If we had a quarter for every time someone asks us if this baseball field is ours, we would be rich enough for it to ACTUALLY BE ours!

The kids got to see how their dad behaves when surrounded by thousands of other screaming BYU fans ~ just like any other totally excited screaming BYU fan! GREAT TIMES!!

And here is the snow that greeted us in my Dad's yard! Mind you, these pictures were taken immediately upon exiting the van. No time was wasted! LOVED IT!!

And I did see my mom.
We held each other's gaze.
She tried to smile.
It was a gift.

I'm going

I talked with Brent and tried to put into words why I want to go.

I want to be surrounded by this positive energy.

I want to look outside myself.

I want to let music do what it does for me.

Sooth my soul.

He's going with me.

Conversations with Cooper

I have some fun family photos to post of our Fall Break but I wanted to write this down before it fades away:

We have been talking a lot about being careful with our money lately. Kids are funny. They have selective listening. I can't blame them really, I do too. Cooper must have had his ear open to these money conversations. We were sharing some of his clothes that are too small with a friend and Cooper asked what they would do with them if the clothes didn't fit them either. I said that they could give them to the D.I. Cooper asked what that was.

Mom: It is a place where we can take our clothing that is too small, our shoes that we have outgrown, our toys and furniture and other things that we no longer use. Then the D.I. shares all of that stuff with those that don't have much money.

Cooper: So, like poor people?

Mom: Yes, most of the time it is with the poor.

Cooper (this time is wasn't in question form) : You mean like you and dad.

Mom: You got it kiddo!

Then at a very early morning hour (3:58 a.m. to be exact) I feel a tap, tap on my arm. It's Cooper. He doesn't pause to crawl into my bed and tells me that he had a nightmare. My rule is no kids in our bed EXCEPT when it comes to nightmares. Nobody should have to try to sooth themselves back to sleep after a nightmare. My mom never let me, even as a teenager, she would cuddle me until I was ready to make it through the night on my own. I replied to Cooper's declaration with 'Oh, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?' Cooper didn't flinch, he was already fast asleep. We slept cuddled together for a while and then I woke and whispered to him 'Can I help you back to your bed now?' 'No thanks' was his sleepily response. Such a polite boy even in the depths of slumber! He was three sheets to the wind as they say ~
but even so he took his arm and laid it across my neck and gave me a couple of tender pats.

Sigh. . .

Before I go. . .

I have been using these flour sack dishtowels for seventeen years. First of all, flour sack dishtowels are the absolute best. They get softer with time and absorb like a dream. Only those of mom's generation would understand that. Unless of course you are LUCKY like me and have had the delight to use them in this day and age of what manufactures THINK a dishtowel is.
My mom stitched them as a young woman and put them away in her hope chest. When I got married she pulled them out of safe keeping and gave them to me.

They are worn ~ well worn. Most of the thread is long gone and holes are beginning to pock the surface of the so soft fabric. You can now see the 'X' pattern that was originally stamped on the cloth. It makes me happy to think about her buying these, picking out the thread and then sitting to stitch the floss into a colorful design. She was the only girl in her family too. Just like me, just like Maddison. I will only use these for a short time more. I want to put them away for safe keeping. I don't want them used to the point that I can no longer see the stitches that were made by the hands of my mother. Do they match my paint? Do they match my decor? Nope. But I've never found anything more beautiful than my flour sack dishtowels.

I highly recommend all the cleaning, rearranging and tossing that comes from getting new carpet and other home improvement projects. I found these treasures ~ deep in a box up in the attic that has been moved from home to home during our four moves. These dishtowels came from my Grandma Stephens. Appliqued and given as a gift when I was married. I was so thrilled to find them. I will wash these over and over and soon they will be as soft and lovely as my mom's.

One of the first things I will do when I arrive home this weekend will be to sit beside my mom and hold her hands. I will use some of her favorite lotion and stroke and sooth her bent hands with all the gentleness she has always shown me. I will tell her about the flour sacks dish towels and I know she will be smiling inside.

fall colors and a songbook

We are leaving for Fall Break tomorrow

and I am filled with excitement.

Life has been set at a crazy pace lately and

I'm ready for a slowdown.

What better place to unwind than in the beauty of

the weather and the colors of fall in Utah.

These pictures were taken in Alpine.

I just might retire there.

I'm so looking forward to some cold, chilly weather.

And from the forecast, we won't be disappointed.

Possible rain, snow and 50 degree temps. BURRRRRR!

While I have been buzzing around getting things packed

and ready for the road trip, I decided to make up some

song books for Davis and Cooper.

I had forgotten about this website but I used it often

when I was the Primary chorister. Here is the link:

http://www.primarytogo.com/pages/music2008.php

I just clicked on the PDF version of a few of the songs,

printed them out, stapled them together like a book,

and then the boys can color on the road.

It will be a good way to review the program songs

while we travel. Pop in the CD, open their personalized

songbook with picture prompts and HURRAY!

An hour of good fun in the car!

Okay, reality is it will never go as pictured in your mind

but a mother can hope, can't she??

Printing out the pictures and creating your own

song books might be a good time passer for all you

moms that are looking for something to do during the break.

Have a wonderful week and I'll see you soon.

Can't pass it up pasta!

I've had a few people ask for this recipe so I thought I'd post it here. To make this a more hearty meal, add some shredded chicken. This one is so delicious!

Aunt Marilyn's Light Pasta Salad (My Kitchen Cafe)
1 pound angel hair pasta
1/2 cup olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese
2-3 fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced
handful of fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
1 4 oz. package pine nuts, lightly toasted (you can do this over medium-low heat in a non-stick skillet)
Coarse salt

Boil water for pasta. When water starts boiling, add a handful of rock salt (i.e. ice cream salt). Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 4 minutes. Drain pasta and place in serving bowl. While pasta is boiling, saute garlic in olive oil until sizzling and lightly browned (don't burn the garlic or it will taste bitter). Pour garlic and olive oil over warm pasta and toss. Sprinkle a teaspoon or so (to taste) of coarse salt over the noodles and add 1 cup of the parmesan cheese. Toss again. Let noodles cool slightly. Right before serving, top noodles with diced tomatoes, pine nuts, torn basil and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Very lightly toss, being careful not to let all the toppings go to the bottom.

Laid to rest

Brent helped his Bear den retire three old American flags

Monday afternoon. It was impressive, reverent and respectful.

A beautiful tribute to Old Glory.

And another thought.

A powerful presentation sponsored by the Catholics:

http://www.catholicvote.com/

A temple. . .

In Rome, Italy!!

This was Davis' rendition of the new temple, complete

with the Angel Moroni.

Thanks to Rachel's idea of the Conference clay,

my boys kept busy and quiet.

Most of Cooper's creations were baseballs and bats.

Go figure.

Maddie kept herself busy with a YW's Value project.

She is working hard to complete this one before

our Young Women's Evening of Excellence.

And in addition. . .

Collette and I were talking about all the political

distress of our day. But she brought it all back into the

only perspective with this comment in regards to the

announcement of the temple in Rome:

"WE are going to see great things in our lifetime.

Our kids will see amazing things in their lifetime.

While the evil will get worse, the righteous will only get better.

It's going to be great!!"

I love her for so many reasons.

A fun distraction

To find out what part you play in the Cullen Clan, click on my side bar.
Although this answer doesn't surprise me. . .
I soooo wanted to be an Alice!




Brent played along, although a bit reluctantly, and revealed himself for all to see. Not that this one comes as a surprise either. Behind closed doors, you'd laugh yourself silly with some of Brent's antics but open the door and you get the protector, defender and I can take care of it by myself-er. I love both sides of him or maybe a better way to say that would be I love all of him.

Knowledge

Take a look at Cooper's very first circle map!

He did this at school without help from mom.

Look closely at the top right corner of the outermost circle.

This is the circle of influence or what things or people have

an affect on the subject in the center circle.

I love that he knows he is a child of God!

Just a moment ago when he was watching a cartoon while

I was fixing some lunch, he made this comment:

"These kids on this show aren't very smart."

I replied, "Well, they are young kids and just learning."

He then stated very seriously and with great emphasis on the word in caps:

"Yeah, I'm telling ya - in school I am SHOVING knowledge in my brain!"

Turn around

At Maddie's choir concert last night I had moment of total clarity.

She is going to leave me and I'm going to have to let her go.

The final choir sang Turn Around. You know the one ~ the one that rips your heart out with words like:

Where are you goin' my little one?

Where are you goin' my baby my own?

Turn around and you're two

Turn around and you're four

Turn around and you're a young girl

Going out of my door.

Music and lyrics are about my favorite things. They absolutely speak to my soul.

I probably sound like I'm jumping the gun or shooing her out the door. I realize it's not happening tomorrow or even next year but I watched her closely last night. I watched as she walked with beauty and maturity to the stage, I watched her sing with heart and enthusiasm and I watched as she laughed and talked and just enjoyed being with her friends.

She did turn around. . .

Once.

She waved and smiled.

So happy.

When she wasn't looking I couldn't help but wipe away a tear.

I pray that she keeps looking over her shoulder, not out of fear or embarrassment, but in the exact way she did last night. In that 'oh good! You're here!' kind of way.

An interview

Here is an interesting questionnaire I found on another blog. I interviewed my five year old Cooper:

1. What is something that Mom always says to you?
I love you

2. What makes Mom happy?
Me!!

3. What makes Mom sad?
When the kids aren’t home

4. How does Mom make you laugh?
When she says something funny

5. What was your Mom like as a child?
She was just like me

6. How old is your Mom?
13

7. How tall is your mom?
14

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Get on the computer

9. What does your mom like to do when you're not around?
Get on the computer

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Being a mom

11. What is your mom really good at?
Making me happy

12. What is your mom not so good at?
Making stuff out of wood

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Be a mom

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
He stops here and asks “does this just get hardor and hardor??”
And then he says with a giggle and a shrug of his shoulders “I guess salmon.”

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
That she loves me

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
The yellow girl on Backyardigans because she is funny and dances a lot

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Build legos

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We both love Daddy

19. How are you and your mom different?
Mom has longer hair than me

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because she is nice to me

Due to his response to question #8 and #9 I am getting off the computer! YIKES!!

Sung to the tune of. . .

'Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime?'

Oh what do you do on a Saturday

When your home is torn apart?

Do you engage in a war?

Or play on the floor

Of a garage so very dir-ty?

Is that what you do?

So do we!

Oh what do you do on a Saturday

When it's hot and very stick-y?

Do you plug in the fan?

Then attach a balloon

And gaze like you're hypnotized?

Is that what you do?

So do I!

Oh what do you do on a Saturday

When your kitchen is all a mess?

Do you call it day,

Order out - HURRAY!

Then glory in work that is done?

Is that what you do?

That's what we did!

DISASTER!

Can this possibly be happening?? We finish up the second coat of paint in the playroom and move out to the hallway. We begin painting and I'm thinking - is this the right color?? It has to be. I mean come on. We handed the paint man at Home Depot the card with all the right numbers on it. It is a bit faded but I can read it. I do notice that he examines the card extra hard as he is plugging in the numbers. I think - should we double check those numbers so that what he is reading is what I am reading?? Nay. He's the paint man for heaven's sake! My first mistake was to ignore that prompting. But this is me ~ does Heavenly Father send promptings when the paint man is messing up your paint color?? Now I know that He does. We paint and paint and paint and finally we are done! Now we just move the entire contents of our home out to the garage, back porch, spare tile space, etc. and wait for the carpet. But wait, I am really thinking this isn't right. But I just tell myself it will dry and be just fine. Brent then says, "I don't think this is the right color." We pull out the old card and compare it to the new card that paint man mixed two days ago.

They are NOT the same numbers!!

Are you blank-ity, blank, blank kidding me!!

I am out of my mind crazy mad right now.

Don't stop by - I won't be nice.

Why not - while we're at it. . .

We finally made the decision to replace ALL the carpet.

They are coming on Saturday to transform the house.

We have been working since last Saturday to pack up everything

and clear each room of its entire contents. It is a TON of work

but it will be so worth it. So what do we decide to do while the

playroom/computer room is totally empty?? Paint!

And while we are at it, let's paint the hallway too.

Brent has worked tirelessly at taping and caulking. He said he

does it because I am so uptight about perfectly clean lines. I am.

But if you know my husband, he is too. So I'll take the blame

for the extra work that the taping and caulking take but I know

he wouldn't have done the job any less than perfect.

I'm a bit delirious - is it our crazy pace right or just the excess paint fumes??

At last!!

After 13 years of eating store bought grape jam (yeah, I know, ugh!) on her peanut butter toast and sandwiches, yesterday my daughter informed me she preferred the homemade strawberry jam.

Really?? How absolutely thrilling for this mom.

We were out of the store bought grape goo and her options for lunch were buy at school (I think she did this ONCE last year because standing in line highly infringes on the amount of time she gets with her friends outside at the lunch table), turkey or peanut butter with strawberry. With a sigh that only a teenager can produce, she consented to the strawberry jam.

She came home and reported that she liked her sandwich and did prefer the yummy red spread of love. Which it most certainly is - homemade love sandwiched between a couple slices of bread.

Now hopefully my boys will follow in her path and soon the grape goo will no longer have a place in our pantry.

More bright and beautiful!

In our family Christmas card of December 2001, I made the note:
The Star Spangled Banner ~ She waves more bright, more beautiful and more bold!

Take the time to drive down Cole today. You won't be disappointed. I still get shivers when I see our flag displayed so proudly.

Thanks to my Beehives and their dads (my daughter and hubby too) for getting up bright and early to post the flags. It was a perfect start to my day and I'm grateful to have shared it with you.

Red, white and blue

If you are ever looking for a fun and patriotic treat, this is super easy and yummy. Just dip your clean and dry strawberries part way into melted white chocolate and then dip the ends in blue sprinkles. Enjoy!

The PERKS!

So heading up the read-a-thon at our elementary has been quite exciting but I have to say that tonight I felt like a starstruck kid!



When the Phoenix Suns Gorilla wrapped his big hairy arms around me before his show I was a bit breathless. I seriously felt like I was meeting someone famous and that made me all giddy inside. Am I crazy??

Maybe it was the thrill of the TPing escapade that still has me all worked up. Regardless, tonight the PERKS of being in charge were pretty darn good!

Girls just wanna have fun

See what happens to those who choose not to disclose birthday information at the neighborhood BIRTHDAY celebration.

Check out these crazy pictures for evidence that 'old ladies' can and still do have fun!

Sleep ~ it does a Cooper good!

I just love these sleepy shots of Cooper.