Happy Saturday!

Just for fun...

I enjoyed my quiet week, but this is better.

I drove to Montgomery and back yesterday to pick up the kids. They had a wonderful time in Florida, and Keith and I enjoyed our week alone, but it's really nice to have them back home. I think every summer we get a little taste of what it'll be like when the kids are all grown up and gone. It's kind of nice right now, because I know it's only a week, but I can't imagine it lasting longer! Anyway, they're home, and life is good. The fighting hasn't really started, but I'm sure they won't make me wait long to have to deal with that. :) Avery isn't taller than me yet. I wore my tennis shoes yesterday, just in case, (cuz' they make me a little taller)! I know the kids are going to be bored this week, after all the fun stuff they got to do last week! Brady has already asked to go to the pool today. He's the one voted "most likely to be bored." What this really means is that he wants to watch tv ALL day, and night. We won't be heading to the pool today though, because it's going to be raining on and off most of the day.
While the kids were gone, we did some work to their rooms. We painted Chloe's room, but I'm sure you can't guess what color?! She was very excited. We chose to paint her room first, because I thought it might be better if we picked out the color. She's told me before how she wants her walls painted, and it usually involves some elaborate mural! We're going to work on getting the boys rooms painted in the next couple of months as well. We thought they should have a little more say in the color. We moved Brady's room around, and took down his bunk bed. He's been asking to have it down for awhile. He was very excited too. I like it as well, because now I can actually see him in his bed. We checked on all the kids last night after they were asleep, and it was nice to see all their sleeping faces. It will also make it easier to wake him up, because before I couldn't reach him. I think the only thing he doesn't like about it is that he's going to have to start making his bed!
We didn't do anything to Avery's room just yet, but I found some clothes on sale for him at AE, so he was happy. I also bought him some new dress pants, finally! I bought him an 18, and found out that the others were 14! No wonder they were so short!! He's been in 16 for awhile now, and the 18 actually fit. I still remember when he outgrew the toddler sizes, and now he's almost in adult sizes. That's just crazy.
Well, hopefully I'll get some pictures on here soon, maybe some of their rooms, if they can keep them clean for long enough. :)

I'm blogging...nobody pass out or anything!

As I type this, I still don't know what this post is going to be about. (useless fact #1- Every time I write or say a sentence that ends with a preposition, I think of my brother. I think it's probably on his pet peeve list, and he used to tell me often. It obviously doesn't bother me, but at least I know it's bad grammar. All thanks to Lance!)
Anyway, a few nameless readers have complained that I haven't blogged lately. Well, they obviously don't know how incredibly busy I've been this summer. I mean, it's hard work going to the pool a couple times a week. Seriously. I've been so busy trying to make sure my kids have a fun summer that I've hardly been to the grocery store. I'm also pretty sure my house might fall apart around me. But, we're having a great summer. Of course, I'm not sure what my excuse is this week, because my kids aren't even here. They're in Florida having fun without me.
So, you wanted me to blog, and here it is. Aren't you so excited? I thought so. You want to know what I've really been wondering? I'm wondering if Avery is going to come home from Florida taller than me. He's less than an inch away, and he's grown an inch and a half since April. Between that and his hair cut, he's starting to look older. Every Sunday I comment on how short his dress pants are, and ask if that's all he has, and every Sunday he reminds me that I've already asked him that. I just keep telling him to wear them a little low, and he finally told me that they were already pulled down a little! Poor kid. I wonder what he would think if I just found some material and added it to the bottom of his pants leg?! Hehe. I'm tempted to do it, just to see his reaction. Cuz' I'm nice like that.
Are you regretting this post yet? I am...kinda, but not enough to stop rambling and delete it. Maybe the next one will be more interesting. Maybe. Maybe not. You just never know.

Alright, I'll leave you with this picture of Avery and I. Brady took it a few weeks ago. I wanted to get a picture before he outgrew me. :)

She's the reason...

She's the reason I'm not rushing this miserably hot summer. I'm not a summer person. At all. And as I hear person after person wonder when it's going to get cooler, or say they're ready for fall, I can't help but wish for time to slow down. It's not the first time I've wished that, and I'm positive it won't be the last. At the end of this summer, she goes to kindergarten. So, bring on those 100 degree weather. I'm not ready for summer to end.

Vanilla mousse cheesecake

All I have to say is...YUM! I can't believe I've never made a cheesecake before. Well, I've made one, but not one you bake. Anyway, now I can say I've made a cheesecake, and I'm guessing it won't be my last.
Keith marked this recipe in my Real Simple magazine, and I thought Father's Day would be the perfect opportunity to try it out. It really was delicious, if I do say so myself!! :) (and I don't usually like cheesecake. i think it was the top layer that made it for me. and the fresh berries.)

Here's the recipe...

Vanilla Mousse Cheesecake

40 Nilla wafers, crushed (about 1.5 cups)
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
4 pkg. (8oz. each) cream cheese, softened, divided
1 cup sugar, divided
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. vanilla, divided
3 eggs
1 tub (8oz.) cool whip, thawed

Heat oven to 350. Mix water crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

Beat 3 pkg. cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, and 1 Tbsp. vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake 50-55 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool completely in pan.

Beat remaining cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in cool whip; spread over cheesecake. Refrigerate 4 hours. Remove rim of pan before serving cheesecake. Garnish with fresh berries if desired.

Dolphins!

We spotted dolphins twice while we were in Florida over Memorial Day weekend. I was excited to get a picture both times. You can only see their backs, but at least I got some sort of picture. We saw them jumping high out of the water at the beach, but unfortunately I didn't get that. It doesn't matter though, because I was just thrilled at seeing them.
I still have lots to catch up on, but not much time to sit and blog these days. I'm trying though!

Finally, something new

Keith is tired of looking at the goofy picture of Avery's agenda, and honestly, so am I. So, here's something else to look at until I find the time to really blog. It's been a crazy busy week and a half, and my house looks like a tornado hit it, so I'm trying to focus on getting it somewhat clean. We'll see how that goes, because I'm also trying to find fun things for the kids to do.
Anyway, this is the latest Stokes family picture. We went to Keith's parents' house for a long Memorial Day weekend. We had a blast, and I have many more pictures to share, but I just don't have the time at the moment to upload them. So, for now you get to look at this motley crew!
I feel like summer is officially starting today, just because last week was so crazy. We had three baseball games, three days in a row. Brady's team played for the championship. They lost, but they played a great game, and had a fun year! I'm SO excited about cooking regularly again!! It's just so hard to do with baseball games two or three nights a week.
Other than that, we had two different things we were supposed to go to on Friday, that we had to miss because of baseball, and a party on Sat. that we did get to attend. Then on Sunday Chloe had her birthday party, and of course last week I was busy making her cake. Anyway, that's the happenings around here lately. I'll add pictures later in the week hopefully.
I hope you're all having a great summer!!