Permalink | Leave a comment  »

On one of our regular “adventures” we ventured out toward Cumming, GA and decided to stop by the Poole’s Mill park on the way for some Subway and picnic.  Neat little park… playgrounds, covered bridge, and gently sloping exposed granite for the creek to run over.  The water was extra low, but that didn’t keep the kids from “accidentally” falling in the water.  Here are some pics and video of them having a blast, beating the summer heat, and generally being the enthusiastic, wild, and super-awesome children they are:

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Lyric has been taking ballet and tap this year at Hickory Flat Dance Academy. She loves dance class and getting to dress up in her “princess costumes”……she is such a little girl! Lyric had her dance recital this past weekend and it was precious!!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

We had a great time this year Easter celebrating and spending time with our family.  The kiddos loved all of the goodies in their baskets, listened intently and asked questions while Wendy and I told them about the real meaning of Easter, and had a blast running around, searching for eggs, and playing with all of their cousins.  From the odd silence coming from upstairs at 7:15, I think it is safe to say we have actually worn them out (no minor miracle itself!!)

Here are some pics and videos from our big, fun Easter 2011!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Here are some pics from our anniversary cruise to the Western Caribbean.  I’m not sure what is more amazing, the beautiful climate, water, and scenery or the fact that Wendy has put up with me for over 8 years!

The rest of the pics are posted here.

Key West

Grand Cayman

Jamaica

Onboard

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

First long vacation for Wendy and I without the kiddos. Here are a few picks from in transit and boarding the Carnival Freedom.  Pics and videos from assorted tropical locales to follow :)

Posted from WordPress for Windows Phone

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Wow – another year under our belts!  Mike finished up the video (with lots of help from Wendy, of course), pressed the DVDs, and we’ve shipped them out.  In an effort to go “all digital” and also to make sure we have online backup copies of all of our precious photos and videos, we have begun uploading the videos as well.  Here are the videos from December 2010:

[vimeo 17956490]

[vimeo 17957015]

[vimeo 17956785]

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

We were a little late getting to the portrait studio this time… These will have to do as Ryder’s one year photos!  The kids actually did a great job and we are really happy how they turned out.  Check them out here.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Wendy absolutely loves this even after watching it 10 times … don’t worry, even though it is a rap video, there is no mother father swearin’

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I am feeling a little guilty that it has been so long since Mike or I have posted updates! It has been three months of change and excitement for our family.

Mike started a new job in 2010 at Microsoft. What a wonderful opportunity for him and our family. There has been a great deal of travel for training and business and our family is still trying to adjust to the many changes. We do miss our daddy being home with us but are all so proud of him.

I finally got my diploma in the mail Saturday and now have my Specialist in Education!! I do not regret going back to school, but it has been a hard journey with 3 small children at home and a full time teaching job. I will be teaching at Little River Preschool Special Education next school year, which is the same location I taught at this year. It will be nice to be in the same location again.

Carter is such a big boy now. He turned 4 years old on March 31, 2010. He had a birthday party at the Bounce House with a Spider Man theme. Carter is writing his name, knows all his letters, counts to 100, spells short words, and is just too smart for his own good. My little boy is growing up! I look at him and wonder where the time has gone?!? It seems like just yesterday we were welcoming him into the world. Carter will start Pre-K in the fall and is registered. This was a huge step for me. He is ready, I am not! Carter is such a thoughtful and kind little boy.

Lyric is our little princess. She turned 3 years old on March 26, 2010. She had her birthday party with her brother at the Bounce House with a princess theme. Lyric is changing so fast and turning into such a girl. She loves all things that sparkle, are pink, and have any kind of princess on them. She is really starting to grow, learn, color, share, and is becoming interested in learning her letters and playing school. Lyric is still our “quiet one” and is still a little shy. She loves to help out in the kitchen, help cook, and help with the laundry. She is mommy’s little helper and a true love!

Ryder is no longer a baby! He turned 1 year old on March 6, 2010. He started taking a few steps on April 10th and then full out walking only a few days later. He climbs on everything, loves to play with his brother and sister, and will try anything. Ryder is a very sweet boy with a relaxed personality. He is always smiling and laughing. He will give out kisses on request and listen very well to the word “NO”. He uses sign language to ask for more, drink, eat, and all done. What a blessing he is to our family!

We love  you all!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

It snowed for a few days at the beginning of January. The kids, Mike, and I all had so much fun playing and having snowball fights. It wasn’t really more than about 1-2 inches of snow, but more than we have had here in a few years!

Ryder has started eating all real “people” food, pulling up on his own, and standing for a few seconds without help. He loves to crawl up the stairs, especially when he is not supposed to! I can’t believe how fast he is growing! I always forget how fast those baby days go.

Lyric is starting to really act like a little girl. She loves any princess, playing with dress-up, helping mommy cook in the kitchen, and playing with her brothers. She is even starting to get herself dressed and undressed in the mornings and at night. What a big girl!

Carter is so independent! He has so many ideas that he wants to talk about and questions he wants answered immediately. He thinks about things that I never imagined an “almost 4-year old” would think about. Carter is very thoughtful and wants to be just like his daddy!

January was fast and very BUSY! Will keep you all posted on what’s to come with the Stevens family!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Our (low-traffic, self indulgent, and narcissistic family) site is so 3008, your site is so 2000 and late… – Boom Boom Pow, The Black Eyed Peas

I updated the site this morning – overhauled the look and feel (using a WordPress theme from Woo Themes named Mortar) and added a bunch of new stuff.

Check out the new video gallery (using TubePress plugin).  All of our uploaded videos from YouTube are gathered there and will play in a “lightbox” when you click on their thumbnails.  Unfortunately, Wendy is a little behind on updating the video clips on YouTube…but I guess she has been busy with other, more pressing issues ;)

I also added some “About Us” pages to be updated soon.  I installed and configured the Wordpress/PHP plugin named Lifestream. I am very impressed so far, it allows you to gather all of your feeds (NetFlix, Picasa, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and displays them on a nicely formatted timeline.

No real reason for the update – just felt like changing things up a little bit!

OLD SITE:

NEW SITE:

Here is a silly poll for you to let us know what you think of the new site:

[poll id="2"]

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

After our unexpected stop in Alabama on Thursday night, we rented a van to take us the rest of the way to Fort Walton Beach so we could enjoy our vacation. After a few days relaxing on the beach and at the pool, we began to feel a little better.

Our family went to the beach with Nana and Pop (Wendy's parents). The condo we stayed at this year was amazing! It had 2 large pools, a kids pool, and a lazy river. The kids really enjoyed the slide at the pool and floating in circles at the lazy river.

We set up our tent and Nana and Pop's tent on the beach and were able to have a little shade to sit under. Carter and Lyric played with their dump trucks and made "Happy Birthdays" or sand castles. They really likes the sand and swimming in the ocean as long as you went our past where the waves break. Ryder sat in his swing and even swam a few times. He is such a happy baby and was always smiling. The water in the ocean was very clear the first few days and we were able to swim out and still be able to see the bottom.

Mike and Pop went deep sea fishing and caught us fish for dinner one night. We also went on a dolphin cruise one morning and saw many dolphins swimming in the ocean and fed the seagulls.

We had a great time at the beach this year and it was so fun to watch the kids play and explore. Precious memories were made!! To see our photos click HERE

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

We were on our way to the beach Thursday July 9th and only had about 1 1/2 hours to go, and BAM a car pulled right out in front of us. Mike had a green light and I have to guess that the 2 kids just thought they could make it across in front of us. They did not!!

We are thankful that we are all safe and only had a few seat belt burns. The kids were scared and did not understand what happened, but at least they were not hurt. We are so thankful that God protected our family and kept us all safe!

The kids really miss their "black van" that is still sitting at a wrecker service in Alabama! We will see what happens with that (probably not very quickly!)

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

We had a very busy and fun 4th of July weekend here at the Stevens house. On Friday we spent some time at the lake with good friends. Carter and Lyric had a great time fishing, throwing rocks, and playing outside. On Saturday Mike ran the Peachtree Road race early in the morning. Carter and I saw some runners on TV and he thinks he saw daddy, we are proud of him!! We then went to a cookout at friends house and Carter and Lyric had a blast on the inflatable. I guess I could say that mommy had fun jumping too since Lyric would not jump without me. After the cookout, we all headed to Canton to have a picnic and wait for fireworks. Nana, Pop, Clint, and Ashley met us in Canton for the firework show. We enjoyed playing football, racing, eating homemade ice-cream, and spending time with family. The fireworks show was great and the kids loves naming all the shapes and colors. Ryder slept through the fireworks, but I think he still had a great time. On Sunday, we had another cookout at our house with Grandma and Grandpa Stevens, Dan and Machelle Stevens, Matt, Amanda, and Parker. We really enjoyed the visit and being able to see family that we don't get to see often. We had a great 4th of July weekend!

See photos HERE

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Mike celebrated his 3rd Father's day this year. We hung out at our house in the morning with the kids, then the Satterfield family came over for a cookout at lunch so we could also celebrate with Pop.

Mike grilled some fantastic steaks for our Father's Day lunch. After lunch the boys watched the Braves game and then since the weather was so hot (98+ degrees), we decided to head to the pool. The kids really had fun spending the day with their daddy and playing.

We ordered a card for Mike and traced the kids hands on the envelope. they thought that was so cool and were so excited to give it to him.

I am so thankful to have such an amazing husband and father for our 3 children. He works so hard and takes care of our family! We love our daddy (Mike) so very much!!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »