Hotel Transylvania Review

We had a FREE digital kit provided by Crowdtap and had an all out Hotel Transylvania Bash!  The kids had a wonderful time! 
We started off at the house with fun times using the digital kit provided by Crowdtap.  The kit was actually really fun.  It had all kinds of coloring sheets and activities that the kids really enjoyed.  They loved the mazes and crossword, word search, and especially the Tic Pack Toe game!




We had Mexican Mash for food because we knew we would be going to the movie and we would need some "real food" before the show!  The kids loved helping!  We piled around the table and everyone enjoyed the dinner.  We watched the preview to the movie online and let the kids have fun playing "dress up" in all the Halloween costumes!

We also had a pumpkin carving contest!  The big kids helped the little kids and everyone got to carve a pumpkin!  Then, we had a decorate your own monster dessert.  We chose to use brownies, so it was fun to see how creative the kids were with their monster treats!  


When we finally finished the party, we headed out to the movie theater to actually watch the movie!  This was the perfect ending to a perfectly fun event!  Thanks, Crowdtap and Hotel Transylvania for the opportunity to host a Monster Bash with the free digital kit!

The movie itself was great!  It was so nice to finally a see a Halloween themed movie that wasn't dark and creepy!  The movie was light and comical.  Adam Sandler as Dracula was probably the favorite character of the movie for the kids.  There is a line in the movie where he keeps saying, "I do not say bleh, bleh, bleh!"  The girls thought that was hilarious and they keep repeating that line!  In fact, I couldn't get them to quit giggling about it when I put them to bed that night.  
 
We had such a good time at the show!  It was fun and entertaining and I am very glad we got a chance to see it.  The digital kit helped get the kids excited about the show before hand.    If you haven't see it yet, I would definitely recommend it.  It's worth it!

An Evening with Russell Brand- Review

Well, I'm not even sure where to begin.  Russell Brand...what a crazy dude!  I have to say, I wasn't all that familiar with Russell Brand before this party kit, but now I feel like I have a much better understanding of him.  The only thing I knew about Russell Brand was from seeing him in Bedtime Stories.  It was a very cute children's movie.  His character was hilarious and I really enjoyed him.  I received a free digital party kit from Crowdtap that advertised the premiere of his show for the season.  The show is BrandX with Russell Brand.  Here are my honest thoughts on the show...

1.  It is NOT a kids' show.  He spent the first several minutes all on sexual material.  I skipped ahead and went on to the next part.

2.  He is quirky and wacky!  He was sitting in people's laps, making everyone laugh, and has a crazy, fun accent!
 
3.  He knows how to relate to people and make them feel comfortable even when he does crazy things like sit on their laps!!   He had Ryan Hurst on his show and it was actually a decent interview.  The best part was when they figured out his dad is Cletus Hogg from The Dukes of Hazard!

4.  He can make people do things.  There was a man on the show that he kept picking on  and at the end he made the man pick up another man and carry him off of the show.  It was pretty funny and both the guys were good sports.

5.  He's NOT the guy I knew on Bedtime Stories.

If the show had started off as well as it ended, it would probably be a different type of show.  It started so crude and inappropriate and ended with just silly, fun, humor.  I would like it much better if they left out the crudeness and just kept the fun!  

I can't honestly say it's going to be a show I watch all the time.  It was too crude for my liking.  If he toned it down a little and just kept to the fun, cleaner humor, I'd be more of a fan! 

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Stephens Fam 9?!?

Have you ever had one of those weeks that rocked your world and one of those days that changed your life?  Well, I've had mine... all at once.  I'll try to give you the short version, but the Stephens Fam 8 is now the Stephens Fam 9!!

No, I'm not pregnant.  No, I didn't have another baby, and no I didn't adopt another kid.  How is this possible you ask?  We'll I've been given temporary custody of an amazing young man that will now be part of the Stephens Fam!  It may be a few months or it may be longer... Only God knows the long term outlook.

I'm amazed at how he puts things together for HIS glory!  We have been thinking and praying about helping this young man out for a few weeks.  In fact, we asked our Sunday School class to pray for us on Sunday about it.  We thought we would have to get an attorney and spend some money in legal fees for it to be official and for us to get power of attorney or guardianship or something.  I spoke with an attorney friend of mine for advice and we were waiting to proceed.  Well, that was all on Sunday and Monday. 

Yesterday evening, this young man came home from school and told us he was supposed to go to court tomorrow (meaning this morning) with his mom.  Long story short... she is not able to take care of him and asked if we would be willing to.  The judge ordered him into our custody, no questions asked!!  No attorney fees, no looking for a lawyer, no waiting months for papers to get signed.   It's over and done!!  Months before we even knew about this situation, God had worked out every single detail in order for this happen without a problem at all!!

So, we are excited to have a new member of the Stephens Fam.  You'll all get to meet him soon if you haven't already.  We're always excited about the adventures that God gives us and the life he has for us.  We've always considered reaching out to children in need as part of our family ministry.  I never dreamed I would be raising 7 children.  I'm not sure how I do it.  Only God gives me the strength, wisdom, and patience to persevere.  

We are asking for prayer for our house to sell quickly!  If you remember it at any time, please say a special prayer that God would send a buyer our way.  When we moved into this house, I had one precious baby girl.  Now, 6 years later, I have 6 more kids!!  And they are all big!!  We have outgrown this space.  We have a house in mind to buy, but need to sell ours first.  Any prayers would be appreciated.  I thought I'd give you the details before you start wondering who that big kid is with us all the time!  I love you all and thanks for sharing in our excitement with us!

God Bless!!