It's that time of year again....

Before I start I want it noted that these are not pics from my home I just grabbed them off the Internet. When we all start pulling out all of our Christmas decorations and putting up our tree. In our family we always get new ornaments each year. This was started by my mother and I have carried it on with my kids. When you get married you get to take your box of ornaments with you to put on your own tree. Now when I was a child my mother picked out our ornaments for us and brought it home and told us "here is your new ornament for this year" as a kid I always wanted to pick out my own ornament. Now that I am in charge I have always let my kids pick their own but as the years go by I can see why my mother always picked ours out for us. I will only pick on my boys because my girls seem to have their heads on straight for this whole process and my sons do not! Each year we go on family nite to pick out our ornaments the boys always seem to find the ugliest - most outragest ornaments they can find to put on my tree. This year is no exception I think that they have out done themselves this year they picked out a owl, a rat with clothes and a big hunk of bark with moss growing on it! I even took them to Tia Pan Trading thinking surly there was nothing there that would be that bad -boy was I wrong! I really think that the boys go out of their way to find these horrible ornaments. The girls could see last nite how frustrated I was with the boys choices and Shae said it all with I quote" Just be glad you have girls" and she is right I am so glad I have girls to balance out my outrageous boys!!! All I can say is I can't wait to see how they explain these ornaments to their future wives! LOL I try not to be so OCD about everything but I always am. When I do sit back and think about the boys and their ornaments it is quite funny the stuff they come up with - but I will never tell them that all I can say is I will be glad when I can turn over their box to them!
I do have to say that I love this time of year it is my favorite of all the holidays there is something magical about Christmas for me. I believe in Santa and wishes coming true and getting that one present that you think that is not going to be under the tree. I know that I get all of this from my mother who always made every Holiday special but she always made Christmas at our home the most magical time of year. I hope that my kids grow up and also have magical Christmas memories from me and that they can over look my OCD faults of how I think things should be.

IT'S GAME DAY!!!

Just incase you don't know this I live in a "HOUSE DIVIDED" but I want it known to all that Taylor and I bleed blue we are true blue through and through BYU FANS!!!
Not sure if "STODDARD" really likes Utah or if he likes them just to bug me!! All I can say if I hope my #1 Team wins today!!!!!

Twilight not sure what the big deal is

So I am not quite sure what the big deal is about this book and movie are but I do know lots of people who are crazy about it. I will be among the millions of people going to see the movie this weekend curiosity of Brittany Strong and her dentist. He rented out a movie theatre for his patients to see if for FREE each patient got so many tickets and Brittany threw me in the mix of her tickets. Taylor is going on Friday with one of her friends and their family who also rented out one of the theatres in Syracuse for this big opening and I think Trevor is going this weekend as well. I haven't taken the time to read any of the books but I do think all the hype that everyone makes of these books and the movie is pretty funny. To each their own! I am not making fun of these people don't get me wrong I just think it is funny to see grown girls act like teenagers over a book, and I don't think I have ever been so excited to see a movie that I went at the 12:01am. The only thing I would ever stay up the late to do would involve "Stoddard" if you get my drift. I am curious to see what all the hype is about but I will be seeing it at 5pm on Saturday with my best friend!

TEENAGERS!!!!

Can i just say that some days i really don't like teenagers! I know that i was one once but i find it hard to believe that i acted like one! LOL Here are a few things that are really on my nerves!

1-You spend time making a menu, go to the store to buy said items on menu, come home put items away, then get them out again on their day to make what is on your menu. Now let it be said that of course NO ONE gives you ideas for said menu- no you are on your own for that! So you come home spend time making dinner so that when the whole family arrives on your door step dinner is done! (At our home that is between 5:30-6:00pm) They come running in to only meet you in the kitchen just as you are serving up the last of your EIGHT! plates to either A- ask you what you are making cause it looks great! B-to ask you what you are making cause it looks GROSS! C- to tell you they are NOT EATING! cause what you made doesn't look good! D- to tell you that so in so in the family is not going to be home for dinner! or my personal favorite from Tony after he ate his dinner was E- This tasted a lot better than i thought it did!!!!!! You know what! make your own DAM dinner!!! and yes i swore!
if you haven't guessed that happened last nite and the dinner was HOMEMADE- chicken and wild rice soup! Of course they all wanted desert which was my pumpkin bars i made for homemaking and of course to top it all off the one that wasn't home came home so i had to heat it all up again and the one that wasn't eating decided that no one died from eating it so they would eat!! TEENAGERS!

2-Another personal favorite of mind is the water taker- this is the one in the house that has no sense that maybe some one else would like to have a hot shower! They get in and i am sure have a nice hot enjoyable shower with no regard that other people and by that i mean ME! would like to have HOT WATER! so they get in for 40 MINS! So when i get in i have barely warm to cold water- yep that is how i love to start my day!

3-Another great thing about teenagers is they have no regard to that you might want to have i don't know YOUR OWN LIFE! they get real snippy if they think you might be gone enjoying yourself for to long what about dinner? or what if they need something? or what if you are not around to take them here or there on a moments notice?

4- And last but not least they have no regard to that you might want to sleep! There are two things involved in this one. A- hey i know it is like 10pm but i need like 3 different things washed and dried by 7:30am and they all are different and can't go in the same load so can you stay up half the nite and make sure it gets done! B- I need to be up by 6am (I know you stayed up half the nite for me BUT i need to be up by 6am) oh and by the way - i can't get up to my alarm so YOU have to get up to get me up and don't think i will get up the 1st time you come get me up! That is just plain SILLY! it will be like the 10000 time you come it which by then will be like 7am and now it is all your fault cause i wasn't up by 6am!

Yeah you've got to love TEENAGERS!

I've been TAGGED!!!

Tina Cook TAGGED me- and the topic is 7 random things that you didn't know about me!

1-I am very scared of heights and when I say VERY SCARED that is what i mean i was about 16 years old before i could step onto a escalator or be in a elevator (the ones that have windows like the one in Layton hills mall) without having a full blown panic attack with me crying uncontrollably until i was off of it. I was a mess if i even thought i might have to get on one. I still have lots of panic when i am at the mall or other places that have these but i have learned to control it and you wouldn't know that i am freaking out inside unless i told you! So now you know the rest of the story....at least on that subject!

2-I was sup post to grow up and be an actress i was involved in theatre my whole life until i went to college and in high school i was in a theatre company in Houston. I won best actress in 1987 in our theatre group. I also preformed at the Alley Theatre in Houston which is a huge theatre play house! Maybe in my next life i will fulfill all of those dreams! I grew up going to plays and such but not so much these days - could you see " STODDARD" at that stuff? I ask and talk about going but i am always given a look like "Please kill me now"!

3-I can't carry a tune to save my life! In fact my mother is a very good singer and would often do solos in church and she never would sit next to me in sacrament meeting because of that, she even hired a singing coach for me but no luck i was never able get the hang of being able to carry a tune.(i did sing in primary cause it was little kids and they won't judge me) so i admire people who can sing my other dream would be able to sing and come back as faith hill,Carrie Underwood or Taylor swift! So you may see me sing in church but most likely i am either mouthing the words or singing softly cause i am very embarrassed by the fact that i can't sing.

4-I am a huge planner so it stresses me out if my life is not planned out and i have to have refer to my planner and my calender on my frig for what we are doing if it is not on the calender then it is not happening. To go along with that i can't have anyone write on the calender but me! and it can only be in blue ink! that also stresses me out to have to write in black ink - i don't know why but it does and i can't remember when i started being like this -so i always carry a blue pen with me everywhere i go cause what if the checker at Walmart had a black pen? That would freak me out! i know i am weird!!! LOL

5-I have to wear my hair up at nite to sleep! I have always been like that since most of my life i have had long hair. I get to hot if my hair is down- it used to have to be in a pony tail but now that i am older-lol it is in a clippie but i can't go to sleep without it being up!

6-I am a huge reality TV buff (also i just am a huge TV watcher) I like them all-
mostly i watch what i call crap TV - right now my big shows are "rock of love charm school" "top chef" "the real housewives of Atlanta" "17 and counting" and "john &Kate plus 8" all of this drives "Stoddard" crazy so i recorded them when they come on at like 2 or 3 in the morning and try to watch them before he gets up in the morning or before he comes home!

7- I can't go to the movies without getting popcorn, candy and a drink (I don't ever share my drink or candy)- In fact i just won't go if that is not part of the deal and it doesn't count as a date unless you have bought me those things! We also have to sit in the same spot every time we go this stresses me out if i think we might not be the 1st in line so we can get our spot! Especially if it is a new movie that i think is going to be huge. I have been known to go 2 or 3 hours early and wait in line and have the rest of the family meet me there so we are 1st in line. I also have to buy my tickets early if i think it is going to be a huge movie. We go to the movies every Thanksgiving my whole life so i already picked out the movie months ago (it has to be a Christmas movie) and will most likely buy my tickets this weekend!

So now you know more than you ever wanted to about me!

I am tagging Taylor& Brittany

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!!!

This is Mine & Taylor's 1st offical picture taken together leaving the hospital!


This picture is of Taylor & Me on the 4th of July she was 8 months old!


This is Taylor at her 4th birthday party as you can see from her cake she was into Little Mermaid at the time!


This picture is of Taylor at her 6th birthday party!


This is Taylor at her 9th birthday party we can see by the cake is was all about cheerleaders that year!


And this is Taylor today SWEET 15!! She is a keeper! It seems like yesturday that she was born and i only turn around for 5 mintues and she is now 15! Her day started off this morning at 5:30am when her sister Shae came over and fixed her hair for her then she was off to school. What she didn't know at the time is that i left the house at 6am to go to Kents to pick up 36 donuts and juice for her 1st period seminary class. I had arranged with her teacher to drop off the donuts before school, i also droped off a huge ballon boquet(that is in this picture) i left it at her desk and i also left her a vase of roses(the girls in our family get roses from Tony and I on their birthday for what grade they are in so this year Taylor got 9 roses- see so when they are seniors they get a dozen! Taylor had no idea i had all this planned plus i tied 4 ballons on her locker! She told me she was in Shock when she got to 1st period! She also said that in everyclass they sang "Happy Birthday" to her! After school i told her Tony want to see her at his office she totally thought she was in trouble is was great! Tony is such a great dad he did a little birthday interview with her about her last year and things he wanted her to work on this next year. He told her how proud we are of her and that no matter what happens in her life we love her then he ended with telling her we where taking her to her favorite place to eat Tepanyaki!! We gave her only one of her presents today "Hero's second season" She is having a HUGE party on Friday just Taylor and her closest 22 friends! LOL the party starts at our house then Tony & I, Jeremy & Brittany and Taylor's grandpa are driving all the kids to "NIGHTMARE ON 13TH" in Salt Lake City it should be fun! (I hate hauted houses)Taylor is the 1st of 3 things that i did absoulty perfect - Taylor, Trevor and marrying Tony! I hope that this next year brings Taylor lots of fun new exciting things her way and that she enjoys the next few years to come. I will always be sad to see Taylor turn a year older cause it means that my little girl is getting older and has less time for me and more time for her friends which is how it is suppost to be but it still makes me a little sad. Gone are the days that i could fix anything in her life with a kiss and a treat and that her dolls, disney movies and playing with her friends where all she worried about.Taylor is all the best parts of me and i wouldn't change her one bit!Except i would like he to clean her room more often -but i guess that comes with age!! Be sure to check back i will post more photos of the big party! We spent tonight decorating our yard for Halloween tonite for her party! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR WE LOVE YOU!!

9.11 let's not ever forget that day!

I will never forget 9.11 ever! For me it was a mixture of a horrible day and a good day. 9.11 is the day i knew for sure that i would marry Tony. It started out as any day did for me i got up around 5am got Taylor and Trevor dressed for school and feed and out the door by 6am. I worked at the hospital so i need to be there by 6:30AM to start my shift. Taylor's 1st grade teacher always got to the school at 6am one of her doors to her classroom was on the outside of the building so it opened to the front of the school where parents dropped off their kids. (i hope that makes sense) anyway she would let parents who had to be to work early drop off their kids to her in the morning she would make sure they got school breakfast if they hadn't eaten and help them with homework or give them games to play with until it was time to got to class. I dropped them off to her and went on my way to work,i got to work and started my rounds i kept noticing lots of my coworkers gathered around the nurses station but i kept on my way and thought i would see what was going on later finally the curiosity got the better of me and i walked over and realized that they where all glued to the TV. Then someone clued me in on what was going on. I immediately felt a panic attack coming on and fear swept over me. I walked around for about an hour in a fog trying to go about my routine for the day but not consecrating on my work at all. Then they called me back to the nurses station and told me i had a phone call i thought maybe it was Doug -Taylor and Trevor's dad or maybe my mom or dad but when got on the phone it was Tony! he called to make sure i was OK and not freaking out and told me that everything would be OK and not to worry about anything and that he wanted to see as soon as he could. You have to know i lived in Lewiston Idaho at the time which is about 10 hours from here. Tony was the only person in my whole life that called me that day, i didn't hear from anyone in my family until later that nite and then it was only my mother. I knew from the moment i heard Tony's voice that i would marry him - we had not know each other for that long and he was the only one in my life that bothered to call me at work to make sure i was OK. When he talked to me that day a feeling of peace came over me that i had never felt and i knew that i should never be without him. That i would always be OK if he were around. Tony flew me to Salt Lake City the day they let planes back in the air and before i left he had asked me to marry him. So for me 9.11 has mixed feeling some good came out of that day for me cause it was the day i knew i would be with Tony forever and it was a day of fear and sadness for what happened. I don't think any of us will forget that day not even our kids. Taylor was only in 2ND grade and Trevor was in 1st and when i hear them talk about that day - they remember every detail of what happen to them that day even being so little. I hope that we as families and a nation can learn from what happen that awful day and become better because of it, and hope that nothing like that ever happens again.

It's Back to School Time!

Well it has been a crazy couple weeks around my house getting 6 kids ready to head back to school. This year in the Stoddard Home we have 1 in highschool, 4 in jr high, and 1 left in elementary school. All the kids seemed to have a good 1st day back getting to see all their friends and such. Teran went into 7th grade this year so that meant that he needed to be at the jr high @ 8am this morning and the rest of the kids Taylor, Austin & Trevor didn't need to show up to school till 10am this morning. Taylor left home around 8:15am to go to her friend Jamie's House cause they where having "Back to School Breakfast" with all of their friends! There where 7 girls in all that came when they got there, by the plates where name cards with each girls name on them and on their plate was a folder, notebook, pencils and posts (all that matched each other of course) They had waffles and fruit for breakfast! What a great way to start the school year! Thanks Jamie ! I made Austin and Trevor breakfast and then took them to school! Well we have had a great summmer but I for one am gald to be back in a routine. Mariah started school on August 11th so today was just another school day for her. Shae said that her 1st day was not so great cause in every class she had was an ex-boyfriend or the best friend of a ex-boyfriend -- all i can say to that is that is how it goes--good luck with all that Shae! To celebrate today we took the kids to Rita's Pizza for dinner we had loads of fun listen to all the days events!

We are Back to School in the Stoddard Home!

Stone Castle Fire

FIRE AT STONECASTLE

Most of you know that we own a recycling business called "STONE CASTLE RECYCLING" anyway on Saturday July 13, 2008 it caught on fire. The fire burned everything we had in the yard plus it destroyed 4 of our work trucks, 2 of our box trucks and 2 service trucks. The fire was stopped before it got to our building so that is a good thing and no one was hurt and no business next to us were damaged. I just thought i would post some pictures that i took on Monday. I just want to thanks to the StrongS, Rhoades, Walls and the Mckays who have helped us during all of this. On Sunday after church Tony went by the shop to check it again and the fire had started up again the fire department was there again and he came home to grab some hoses and sprinklers like the fire department told him to and Jeremy, Jason, Brandon and our boys went back up there with him to help keep the fire out. Tige Rhoades came by on Sunday and told Tony he could borrow his bobcat and no charge and he even delivered it to him on Monday morning plus he called and got a dumpster delivered for us to help with the clean up! Jeremy Strong told us on Sunday nite that he was taking two days off work to help us with the clean up. Thanks so much to all of our friends for being that just GREAT FRIENDS! thanks again!

WE ARE ON OUR WAY TO DISNEYLAND!!!

Well today is the day!!! The Strong's headed out bright and early this morning and we will be leaving around 12pm or 1pm this afternoon! This is our 3rd family trip to Disneyland and i can't be more excited!! We will be driving to Vegas today and meeting up with Brittany and Jerem. Then tom. we will drive the rest of the way into Disneyland along the way Brittany and I hope to be able to check out a few scrapbook stores and we are going to go to the beach. Tom., nite we will be eating dinner at Medieval Times and then Thursday is the big "D" DAY!! DISNEYLAND!!! we will be at Disneyland Thursday, Friday & Saturday and will come home on Sunday! We just want to say takes to our Dad Tony who made it possible for us to go we know this is not his favorite place to go on vacation but we appreciate how hard he works for us so we can go have fun as a family!! We love you!! Thanks in advance for a awesome vacation to "THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH!" The picture with the kids on the Toon Towne Car is from our 1st Disneyland trip summer 2002 (look how little the kids look!) and the picture on the stairs is from our 2nd Disneyland trip summer 2005!

family photo

We are the Stoddard Family established in 2001 front in center is me Kimber (the mom) to my left is HannahMonTaylor (just kidding) it is Taylor her friends call her that cause she looks like Miley Cyrus then to her right is the littlest member Mariah to her right is our oldest son Austin behind him and next in line is Trevor and to his right is our oldest girl and Child in this Clan Shae on the other side of Trevor is our #1 Dad (Tony) we all love him the most he is the best!! to his left is our last son in our family is Teran. This is the break down of our family Kimber and Tony meet feel in love and both brought kids to the union, Kimber brought in Taylor and Trevor and Tony brought in Shae, Austin,Teran and Mariah. So as far as who is the oldest to youngest it goes Shae, Taylor & Austin (same age 1 month apart), Trevor, Teran & Mariah. This is our Family photo that was taken around Christmas. The thing about our pictures is we take them every year at the same time every year and we always have to match this is due to the fact my OCD kicks in , also on the whole OCD thing is that we always have to be in the same pose. I think this sometimes drives my family crazy but oh well! They survive the process every year. I love this picture so far the best because everyone looks so good! Thanks for looking and i hope you got to learn a little bit about our family!

Work in Progress

So this is day one on getting our family blog up and running! hopefully i have time tonite to upload some photos and get more things added! I have seen lots of friends have blogs and they look fun to look at so i thought i would start my own!