The Kenney News

January Recap

2012-01-27T00:39:00.000-06:00

~ We spent the last day in 2011 cheering on our Texas Aggies as they beat Northwestern University.

We enjoyed the game with my brother, Dean Jentes, and Uncle Jim Whitacker before driving back to Hurst, where we would ring in the New Year with those in New York's Time Square via the TV. :-)
~ We watched the last of the 2011/12 college football games, and we're ready for the 2012/13 season to begin.
~ Wes and I celebrated our 16th anniversary. Katherine & Sebastian brought us breakfast in bed (french toast & bacon), and they sang us a song they'd written just for us. We are so blessed and have the best kids EVER!!!!
~ The first week of 2012 the kids and I eased back into a school routine.
~ The kids and Wes got new bicycles, and we began riding together as a family.
~ Katherine began an 8 week art class at the Hurst Recreation Center on Wednesday mornings.
~ Katherine's 2nd semester of piano lessons began.
~ I attended the Lifeway Amazing Wonders Aviation 2012 VBS Preview Event in Fort Worth.
~ Katherine & Sebastian began an 8 week homeschool P.E. class at the Hurst Recreation Center on Mondays. Since attending these homeschool classes we've made new friends and found a local homeschool group that meets at the park on Mondays when the weather permits. :-)

~ We had a family photo taken for our church directory, and Sebastian wore his first full fledged suit. He wasn't as thrilled about it as the rest of us were.

~We were back at the American Airlines Center to cheer on the Dallas Stars as they played the Detroit Redwings.

~Wes and I were blessed to have a date night when some friends volunteered to have our kids over for a movie night at their house. :-)
~ Wes began his 2nd semester at SWBTS and is currently in Jacksonville, Florida, at a pastors conference, which is also three hours credit for this semester. :-)

Next month the kids begin children's choir at SWBTS. They will also each be participating in a different activity offered at SWBTS Recreation Activity Center (known as the RAC). Katherine will be in Ballet, and Sebastian is going to learn Tae Kwon Do. I'm looking forward to some reading time while they're in choir practice each week and a little personal exercise time while they're in Ballet & Tae Kwon Do.

This is all the news/updates I can come up with, so enjoy your last weekend in January 2012.

Writers Block

2012-01-12T19:00:00.000-06:00

It's twelve days into 2012 and our family is getting back into our normal routine, which is really anything but normal. ;-)

Katherine asked me the other day when I was going to post something new on here as she has this blog as her home page on her computer. My answer: "I don't know."

Each time I've sat down to write a post I find myself with writers block, so that's why nothing new has been up since Christmas.

I'll get back to it once I'm over writers block.

Give me a week or two, but stay tuned....

Kenney Christmas 2011

2011-12-31T23:59:00.002-06:00

Here are a few photos from our Christmas at church, at home, in Marietta, OK, and in Muskogee, OK. Enjoy.

Sebastian as a shepherd as the kids reenact the Christmas story as Dr. Bob Pearle reads from the Gospels.

Katherine as an angel on Christmas morning at Birchman Baptist Church as Dr. Bob Pearle reads the Christmas story from the gospels.

Katherine & Sebastian on Christmas morning at our home in Hurst, Texas.

Taylor, Wes, and Claudia Banks (Wes's Granny) in Marietta, OK.

Roy & Faye with Katherine & Sebastian at the Christmas celebration for Granny Banks (Claudia) at the nursing home in Marietta, OK, on December 23, 2011.


Granny Banks

Wes, Granny Banks, & Billy


Kyle Martich, Sebastian & Katherine. 3 of Granny's great-grandkids.

Roy, Faye, Katherine, & Sebastian

Billy, Taylor, Katherine, & Sebastian

Wes, Roy, Faye, Taylor, Billy, Debra, Sebastian & Katherine

Things we did in December

2011-12-31T17:00:00.001-06:00

~Celebrated the birth of Jesus
~Visited Pecan Manor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
~Attended a Keith & Kristen Getty concert on their Joy, An Irish Christmas tour
~Attended North Richland Hills Baptist Church's Christmas on the Boulevard
~Enjoyed a visit from friends from Oklahoma
~Celebrated the end of Wes' first semester in the Master of Divinity Program at SWBTS
~Attended Katherine's first Winter Piano Recital
~Celebrated Sebastian's 7th Birthday
~Attended the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas

Christmas on the Boulevard at North Richland Hills Baptist Church

2011-12-30T11:17:00.000-06:00

On Saturday evening, December 10th, the kids and I with some friends attended North Richland Hills Baptist Church's Christmas on the Boulevard.

Sebastian's 7th Birthday Celebrations

2011-12-30T09:45:00.013-06:00

Sebastian was blessed with the opportunity to celebrate this birthday with friends from Texas and Oklahoma. He partied at Chuck E Cheese with some dear friends of the family (here); another celebration involving pizza with friends from Oklahoma at CiCi's in Paris, Texas; and then a small party with cake at our house before being surprised with dinner at Medieval Times.

It was awesome to see Sebastian together with his friends, especially those he had not seen in several months. A special 'Thank You' to our Oklahoma friends who came to meet us and surprise Sebastian & Katherine.

Micah, Sebastian, & Ryan

RaeliJo & Katherine

Wes, Debra, Sebastian, Dean, & Katherine *

*copywrite 2000 Medieval Times

Enjoying Birchman Baptist Church

2011-12-19T12:57:00.004-06:00

*Also posted at The Ramblings of a little Debbie

Wes, Katherine, Sebastian and I are enjoying our Birchman church family. The kids have made friends and are involved in Sunday school, RA's (Royal Ambassadors) and GA's (Girls in Action). Sebastian is learning the RA Pledge and once he's memorized it he'll earn his vest. The first night he attended the class was building race cars. An older boy (who turned out to be in Katherine's Sunday school class) helped Sebastian build his race car. Sebastian was so excited when I picked him up that night. The next week his class raced their cars. He won his first race and lost the second, but he had a great time.

Katherine is enjoying her GA class too. In October they studied how God tells us to help the poor. She learned about the ministry of a WorldCrafts^SM artisan group in Southeast Asia. She also discovered how she can make a difference through WorldCrafts. Her GA class hosted a WorldCrafts party in December where ladies of the church were invited to come and learn about the WorldCrafts vision and purchase handcrafted, fair-trade products from artisans spanning the globe. The girls provided the snacks.

Wes and I love our respective Sunday school classes too. God has used the ladies in my class to teach me so much already. God is convicting, challenging, growing, and molding me. Some weeks it's hard to hear, but oh what a blessing when I receive it!

Last night was Christmas family night at Birchman and it was such a blessing to see our pastor & his wife, Dr. Bob & Mrs. Deborah Pearle, and our Minister of Worship/Music & his wife, Philip and Angela Griffin, host the children up on the platform where they sang Christmas carols; Deborah Pearle read We Believe in Christmas by Karen Kingsbury; and Dr. Pearle closed with having the children help him build the manger scene while telling them about Jesus' birth. It was evident that the Pearle's and Griffin's adored these children and once again gave me another reason to be thankful God brought us to Birchman.

Sebastian is the kid in the blue sitting in front of the monitor. Katherine is sitting next to him, but you can't see her. She's in front of the girl in the red.

Winter Recital

2011-12-19T00:05:00.002-06:00

Let the Celebration Begin!

2011-12-15T15:00:00.000-06:00

Sebastian got to have an early birthday celebration at Chuck E Cheese's this week with his friends Jim & Sara Barber.

That cute little boy will be 7 on December 21st.

Stationery card

2011-11-29T12:52:00.001-06:00

Vintage Snapshots Christmas Card

Send Christmas cards personalized with your favorite photos.

View the entire collection of cards.

Aggieland

2011-11-28T14:30:00.000-06:00

Soon after the 2011 Aggie football schedule was announced and tickets were available for purchase, Wes purchased four tickets for our family to attended the Texas A&M vs The University of Kansas football game as my birthday present this year. We'd been excited about our first trip to Aggieland as a family for months.

Wes having lived in southeast Kansas while in high school is a KU fan, and I'm an A&M fan. Neither of us attended either of these schools as we meet while attending a smaller private Christian University; however, we still hold true to our state schools of choice.

We arrived in College Station, Texas, on Thursday night, November 17, 2011. * We may have extended our trip by a couple hours after realizing about 60 miles down the road that the tickets for the game were still in Hurst. On Friday we took a campus walking tour and visited the campus bookstore where we purchased some more Aggie gear. Game day Saturday was an awesome experience even with arriving half way through the first quarter because we didn't double check the game time. Apparently it was moved from a 2:30 pm kickoff to an 11:00 am kickoff earlier in the week. Oops! We finished off our Aggieland visit on Sunday with a visit to the Bonfire Memorial then the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum.

As we headed north towards home the kids wanted to know when we'd be back to Aggieland, and I was already wishing we had tickets to the A&M vs Texas game on Thanksgivng. It turned out I was able to secure us four tickets for the game on Thanksgiving and so we left our home around 11:00 am headed to College Station and Aggieland! This time all four of us were decked out in our Aggie gear, and we arrived with plenty of time for all the fun pregame activities.

Here is a photo slideshow of our two visits to Aggieland. Enjoy!

October Field Trips

2011-11-02T14:21:00.001-05:00

The month of October provided the opportunity for our family to take several fun field trips. One day we visited the Fort Worth Zoo.

Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures.

Katherine taking advantage of a hands-on exhibit.

One trip that we always look forward to during fall is the Great State Fair of Texas. We eat lots of good (& really unhealthy) food, walk A LOT, see many different exhibits, ride fair amusement rides, spend ~~money~~ tickets, enjoy time together, and leave incredibly tired.

The kids enjoy the hands-on farm exhibit where they get to pretend to be farmers. They planted a garden.

Harvested the fruit & vegetables.

They fed the animals and milked the cows.

They sold their products.

After selling the products they spent their earned money at the local store.

I could be guessing, but I believe the reason the kids enjoy this exhibit so much is receiving the free snack they ~~purchase~~ receive at the end.

The whole family enjoys the feeding & petting some of the animals. There were a few of animals we didn't want to touch or feed!

Another day we visited the Dallas World Aquarium with other local homeschoolers.

Our last field trip of the month has probably been our favorite. We participated in the Dallas Stars Education Day.

We enjoyed watching the teams (Dallas Stars & LA Kings) practice and a two hour tour of the American Airlines Center (AAC), where we learned many facts about the AAC, hockey, and even some basketball.

When we arrived home we couldn't wait to share all the information we'd learned with Wes. Katherine completed the work page she'd received, and we spent the rest of the afternoon preparing to attend the game that night.

We had a great time and even made it on the big screen once! We've decided we'd love to attend another Stars game sometime in the future.

The attendance was a lower than normal as many of the metroplex sports fans where at home watching the Texas Rangers battle the St.Louis Cardinals in game six of World Series.

Unfortunately neither the Stars or the Texas Rangers came away with a win that night.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T23:23:00.000-05:00


NYC Shopper & Green Lantern

Vacation Recap

2011-10-31T22:33:00.001-05:00

Here is a picture of Katherine, Sebastian, and Wes in the cockpit of the FedEx plane at the Memphis Children's Museum.

As we drove through Indianapolis, IN, we decided to stop at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

We took a lap around the racetrack....

Sebastian came to a conclusion...

"Dad, this track is on Gran Turismo Five...I didn't know it was a real track!"

Finally in Michigan, our vacation destination, we met up with extended family for brunch at a beach house in Grand Haven overlooking Lake Michigan.

We walked along the beach, roasted marshmallows to make smores, and enjoyed reconnecting with family, some of which we hadn't seen in nine years.

We left Grand Haven to spend a few days in Lundington, MI.

After the four of us spent several days hangin' out in Lundington, we headed to Grand Rapids.

Wes and Verne enjoying a nice father/ son moment before dinner.

Before we headed home the kids and I visited the Grand Rapids Children's Museum.

Katherine & Sebastian love visiting children's museums, and I enjoy watching them use their imaginations.

This last picture is taken at a rest area where we stopped to let the kids run around and burn off some energy before another round of driving home to Texas.

Deb's Random iPhone Photos

2011-10-26T20:14:00.000-05:00

Katherine & Sebastian enjoying a special treat. Wes must have been out of town! :-)

One of my favorite summertime photos. Sebastian & his Grandpa Roy Banks.


What can I say? It's Toy Story Mania at the Kenney's!

Kenney Academy classroom clock

That is TOO HOT!

Wes's office at TBC before I packed it up

Pioneer Sebastian & Katherine

Enjoying the Northeast Texas Children's Museum in Commerce, Texas.


The DART bus that almost hit us that day

September Recap

2011-10-25T23:44:00.001-05:00

~ 3rd...Debra's 39th birthday.
~ 4th...Wes preached at First Baptist Church, Farmersville, Texas.
~ 5th...Labor Day was spent packing, packing, packing, and well, packing.
~ 6th is official move day...Loaded the UHAUL.
~ 7th...Unload in Hurst, TX.
~ 8th...Back in Valliant, OK, to paint.
~10th.... Back in Hurst, TX, to begin unpacking.
~13th... Visited the Northeast Texas Children's Museum in Commerce, TX, on our way back to Valliant to finish the cleaning of our old residence.
~14th.... Finished cleaning and picked up our dog (George) & cat (Bob) before heading to our new home in Hurst.
~15th...Unpacking Continues...
~19th... Kenney Academy is back in session.
~ Beginning to adjust to our new home and life.
~27th...Vacation begins... :-)

As you can see most of the month of September was spent packing, unpacking, and getting settled into our new home. Wes, the kids, and I are making friends, and we've begun visiting churches in the Fort Worth area to find a church home.

We spent the last week of September and first week of October on vacation and as soon as I get my pictures uploaded I'll post about our vacation adventures.

D6 Daddy Daughter Banquet

2011-09-01T15:52:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday night the D6 Home Educators of Southeast Oklahoma held a banquet honoring dads and daughters. The moms and sons hosted this event.

The banquet room was elegantly decorated for the honored guest. Each dad and daughter had their picture taken together soon after they arrived. They then had time to mingle with the other dads and daughters and find their places at the tables. A photo slideshow of our groups past events and activities played as the guests mingled and while dinner was being served.

The menu for the evening was

Chicken or Brisket
Pasta Salad
Ranch Potatoes
Green Beans
Bread
Individual Chocolate Heart-Shaped Cake or A Slice of Cocoanut Cake

After the wonderful desserts it was time to play some fun games. The first game involved the oldest girls and their dads. It was our version of The Newlywed Game to see how well the dads knew their daughters. The second game involved the other dads in which they each had a deck of cards and a plastic cup. They placed the deck of cards on top of the plastic cup and the goal was to blow all, but the last card off the top of the cup. Their third game was to place an oreo cookie on their forehead and move it into their mouth without using their hands. The finial game of the evening was to see who could empty a box of Kleenex the fastest.

It was a wonderful evening and a great way for us to end our time with the D6 Home Educators of Southeast Oklahoma.

Reflections

2011-08-22T10:16:00.000-05:00

It was in Valliant

~where Wes began his first pastorate.

~where our TBC family loved and supported us.

~where Katherine & Sebastian will most likely consider their first home as they were 3yrs & 9 months when we moved here.

~where Katherine at three years old sat in church on a Sunday night listening to her daddy preach about Jonah and whispered to me "How does my daddy know about Jonah?"

~where Sebastian began walking and talking.

~where Katherine & Sebastian raced down the driveway in their little tikes cars and later on tricycles & scooters.

~where Katherine and I made her first emergency room visit.

~where K & S began loosing their baby teeth.

~where K & S learned to swim.

~where God carried me (and my family) through a physically & spiritually difficult situation.

~where Katherine attended kindergarten & first grade at Swink Public Schools.

~where K & S were apart of TBC Christmas programs & Vacation Bible School.

~where I discovered my passion for VBS and for training VBS leaders.

~where God placed in us the desire and opportunity to homeschool our kids.

~where God provided the opportunity for Wes to finish his bachelor's degree.

~where my beautiful daughter, Katherine, stood before the church and confessed her need for a savior and her faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord and was baptized.

~where our family made many wonderful memories with the wonderful people of Trinity Baptist Church.

The End of a Season

2011-08-19T00:01:00.004-05:00

Since graduating from Liberty University this past spring, Wes knew God was leading him to attend seminary. The next step of his educational journey would be whether to attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) or New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. God led Wes to SWBTS.

At the beginning of this process we believed Wes would continue to serve as pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Valliant and commute one day a week to SWBTS in Fort Worth; however, God would ultimately lead us in a different direction. After much prayer and a variety of circumstances we saw God leading us to step out on faith and make a move to the Fort Worth area.

On Sunday Wes announced his resignation to Trinity Baptist Church in Valliant. He will continue to serve as pastor until the end of August taking his last week of vacation the first week of September. Our official last day in Valliant will be September 7, 2011.

We are saddened to leave the many friends God brought into our lives during the nearly six years here. We've learned a great deal and will always look back with fond memories of the friends we've made.

Thank you Trinity Baptist Church ~~members~~ friends for loving our family. We will miss you and continue to pray that God will use you to show his love to Valliant and the surrounding areas.

The Sleepover

2011-08-18T16:37:00.000-05:00

On Monday, August 8, 2011, Katherine invited several of her friends from our homeschool group over for her first ever birthday sleepover. Katherine decided she wanted a big city shopping themed party, so with that we were off. I brought part of the skyline decorations (paper covered boxes) used during this years New York themed vacation bible school to help transform the dinning room into a city full of places to shop! Wes took care of decorating the table complete with a personalized mug for each attendee with their first initial and a party chandelier above. Katherine was ready for her guest to arrive and the party began about 6:15pm that evening.

Katherine and her friends enjoyed a variety of activities over the next eighteen hours. The girls ate, laughed, swam, watched movies, danced, giggled, gave manicures & pedicures, made gift bags, played games including bible drill, and slept very little! They stayed awake until 2:30 AM, which was Katherine's time of birth nine years ago! All but one of the girls was awake and up by 8 AM. Sleep wasn't a high priority that night.

The first ever birthday party sleepover was a success!

Our family ended the day with Katherine's birthday dinner. Her favorite meal is steak especially steak grilled by her dad!

Happy Birthday Katherine Grace!

2011-08-09T00:16:00.000-05:00

June / July Recap

2011-08-05T15:48:00.001-05:00

~TBC, Valliant Vacation Bible School.
~Katherine decided to take piano lessons through the summer.
~June summer school schedule.
~Wes attended the Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix, Arizona.
~I began planning 2011/2012 school year.
~Kate & Sebastian attended other local bible schools with their friends.
~Sebastian decided to put his head under water in the swimming pool and now he's a little fish!
~Kate & I spent a couple days of girl time with my sister in Dallas.
~Kate, Sebastian, & I enjoyed time with my brother & sister.
~The four of us enjoyed spending July 4th at Wes's brother's house with our extended family & their friends.
~We visited the East Texas Oil Museum and Rangerette Museum in Kilgore, Texas.
~We're spending time with friends.
~I've tried to de-clutter around the house.
~Katherine attended kid's camp.
~Katherine survived her first kids camp experience & had a great time.
~Kate & I attended a Paper Doll Brunch at Trinity Baptist Church in Idabel to benefit the Oklahoma Baptist Home for Girls in Madill.
~We attended the Valliant Watermelon Festival.
~And there's a good bit of evening time spent in the pool! :-)

Kids Camp (Photos)

2011-07-29T08:15:00.000-05:00

Is She Really Old Enough for Camp? Um, yes!

2011-07-20T17:44:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I helped my precious first born, Katherine, pack her bags to attend her first Children's Camp at Lakeview Baptist Assembly in Lonestar, Texas! At around 11:15 AM Wes loaded Katherine's things into his car and the two of them headed to Trinity Baptist Church in Idabel, Oklahoma, where Katherine would join her friends and the rest of the group. When they arrived in the parking lot she was off to see her friends. It never occurred to her to get her bags out of the car, but thankfully her dad reminded her she was forgetting something!

Throughout the day yesterday and today I've been praying for Katherine and all those present at Lakeview Baptist Assembly, but as I've been praying for them I've been reminded that I should be praying for Katherine everyday with the same passion I've been praying for her over the last twenty-four hours.*

I'm praying she'll come home with a deeper understanding of God, her relationship with Him, and desire to obey Him. I want to see her come home with a passion for her Lord and Savior. I want her to have a "mountain top experience" while at camp, and I want to hear what God has taught her at camp. I will listen with anticipation as she shares with me, and even though I can't experience that "mountain top experience" with her I can be excited with her about what God did in her life and encourage her.

I can't wait until noon on Friday to hear all about what God taught my baby girl during 3 days at camp, along with all the fun girly girl stories that go along with any camp experience! :-)

*(Please don't miss my point...I do pray daily for my daughter, but my intensity over the last twenty-four hours has been much stronger & that's the point I'm wanting to make here.)

Way to Go Katherine!

2011-07-14T14:52:00.001-05:00

I want to brag on my daughter, Katherine. She decided to continue her piano lessons through the summer this year, which she has NOT wanted to do the last two years she's been taking piano lessons.

She's been practicing on her own without me reminding her for awhile now, but she's practicing more than what her piano teacher is asking her to as well as looking ahead in her book. This week her piano teacher complemented her on how she could skip a few songs in her lesson book as she could already play them. She received compliments that she's doing excellent on learning the chromatic scale and how she just gets octaves and intervals.

I am exceptionally proud of her, her love for music, and her desire to worship God through music.

Video Delay

2011-07-13T16:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, well...um, yeah, I still haven't posted more video. I don't remember what happened the weekend I was planning on finishing it up, but it got crazy and it's been that way since. Not sure when I'll get back to the video editing, and I have several video projects to finish too!

Things ARE Coming...Stay Tuned!

2011-06-16T20:49:00.000-05:00

I hope to have a vbs highlight video up by the end of the weekend after I get a few dvd's made. For now I'm enjoying spending time with my kids and getting into a summer school routine. More to come next week.

Graduation

2011-05-22T14:40:00.000-05:00

The Board of Trustees, Chancellor

Provost and Faculty of

Liberty University

announce that

Glen Wesley Kenney

received the degree of

Bachelor of Science

with a major in

Religion

at the Commencement Exercise

Saturday morning

May fourteenth, Two Thousand Eleven

at ten o'clock

Williams Stadium

Liberty University

Lynchburg, Virginia

Congratulations Wes! We love you and couldn't be more proud for you!

Jerry Falwell Jr. speaking at Commencement.

The 2011 Graduates

Verne, Debra, & Wes

Debra & Wes

Linda, Verne, Debra, & Wes Kenney

School of Religion Ceremony

GLEN WESLEY KENNEY

Done!

I love you Wes!

~Deb~

The Camping Adventure

2011-05-22T12:34:00.000-05:00

While Wes and I flew to Lynchburg, Virginia, for Wes's graduation the kids stayed with my dad. My dad took the kids camping at Lake O'The Pines. Here is a slideshow of the pictures my dad took of their fun....

The End

2011-05-11T23:41:00.000-05:00

Tonight my husband, Wes Kenney, took his last college exam. The kids and I are very thrilled and excited for him to be finished, but no one could be more relieved (and happy) as he.

Tomorrow I will take the kids to stay with my dad so Wes and I can make the journey on Friday to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, for Wes's graduation on Saturday.

Wes,
We love you very much and are so very proud for you!
Debra, Katherine, & Sebastian

Mother's Day Baking

2011-05-09T15:30:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago we bought a Nutrimill grain mill so we could begin milling fresh flour to use when cooking & baking.

Yesterday Katherine and I decided we wanted to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies and homemade bread, so we pulled out the Nutrimill and grain.

In a few minutes we had fresh flour for our cookies and bread.

Katherine & I decided we'd make the cookies first, so we dumped all the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies into our mixer and in a minute or so we had cookie dough. Katherine placed balls of dough onto the baking sheets and I placed them into the oven.

After about 10 minutes in the oven I pulled out a pan of flat, but good tasting chocolate chip cookies.

If I'm involved in the cookie making process the cookies turn out flat. Not sure why, but we've made a family decision that Wes must be in the kitchen when cookies are being made!

It was time to redeem my baking ability and make bread.

Katherine measured out our 16 cups of flour while I made a mess getting all the other ingredients ready to pour into the mixer. (Yes, there is more to the story, but I'm not sharing as going through it once was enough for me. Let's just say I had a hard time holding onto things!)

After allowing the mixer to do it's work I dumped the dough onto the cutting board and divided it into five loaves. Now it was time to let it rise.

In the oven and ready to bake for 25 minutes.

The finished product! And oh it is so good!

Fun School Time Photos

2011-05-07T22:38:00.000-05:00

This week Katherine and Sebastian took a book and retold the story by putting on a puppet show. It was absolutely wonderful.

Several weeks ago Katherine and Sebastian practiced some math skills by playing the game Sorry during their free time.

Earlier this winter Sebastian reviewed matching capital letters with the corresponding lowercase letter.

Fun Easter Photos

2011-04-24T18:36:00.001-05:00

The hunt begins.

Who's going to get it first?

Sebastian Kenney: An irresistible little dude!

Katherine Kenney: Our Princess!

Time to watch where they walk! The dog likes this part of the yard.

Looks like she found one!

He's still on the hunt.

He's SO CUTE!

She's SO BEAUTIFUL!

Success!

SWEET SUCCESS!

(This would have been a perfect picture if I hadn't cut the top off, but it was a great moment!)

Still MIA

2011-04-23T15:42:00.000-05:00

Well, so much for the one blog post a week! As of tomorrow it will have been three weeks since my last post. Did I mention spring is a VERY BUSY time for us?

Here's a brief recap of what we've been up since April 3rd:
School break (April 4th-8th)
Boys only trip to the Dallas Auto Show (Wes & Sebastian)
Associational VBS clinic
Trying to get caught up around the house after neglecting cleaning & laundry for a week!
Back to school lessons & SCHEDULE!
Day trip to shop at Sam's Club
Kids Zone on Wednesday nights
Kate's piano lesson on Mondays
Kate's piano recital last Sunday (April 17th)
School Day trip to the Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas to watch the Frisco Roughriders.
Homeschool group on Friday mornings
Trip to Dallas to take cars to the shop! :-(

And tomorrow we'll celebrate Jesus' resurrection with our Trinity Baptist Church family!

MIA

2011-04-03T14:03:00.000-05:00

Sorry there hasn't been a basketball video or any other post recently. There is a lot of basketball footage for me to sort through, and I haven't had the time like I thought I would.

Here's a brief recap of what's keeping our family busy:

School lessons
Family field trips (OKC Zoo, Dallas Arboretum)
Homeschool group
Association WMU Banquet
Association & church VBS preparation
Cleaning out & Insulating the storage building
Cleaning & Organizing at the church
Video editing (Basketball; Homeshcool group; VBS; Special project)

Spring is a very busy time around our house. I am looking forward to the second week in June when it slows down around here.

Blogging goal during spring...Maybe one a week starting with this one! :-)

In the Process!

2011-03-08T13:26:00.000-06:00

This week I am working on editing video from Katherine's basketball games. I hope to have a short clip to post on here by the weekend. I stress the the word hope in the last sentence. No promises!

Texas Independence Day

2011-03-02T11:20:00.001-06:00

Today Texans celebrate the 175th anniversary of the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence, in which settlers of Mexican Texas declared their independence from Mexico and created the Republic of Texas.

Happy Independence Day fellow Texans!!!

Definitely Baptist!

2011-02-27T17:40:00.000-06:00

Check out what took place this morning during Sunday school snack time....

The boy's got moves!

New York 2011 Vacation

2011-02-22T21:18:00.000-06:00

Wes and I spent January 4th-11th, 2011 in New York City, where we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary on January 6th.

After arriving at LaGuardia Airport, Wes took a taxi over to Manhattan to check us into our apartment rental and get the keys. I waited on our luggage and my brother, who was traveling with us on another flight. After I met up with Dean and picked up our luggage, we took a taxi to the apartment where we met up with Wes.

It wasn't long after we unpacked before we were off to explore the area, and picked up a few necessities we realized we'd forgot to pack.

Each day we did different things, but we mostly enjoyed "living" there for a week. We bought groceries from the little Amish grocery store a couple blocks away. We rented a movie from the local Blockbuster store a few blocks up the street; however, we weren't able to watch the movie as the dvd player in the apartment was broke. :-(

We ate at the quaint French restaurant around the corner and a South African restaurant across the street. We purchased metro cards and rode the subway and city buses. We occasionally flagged a taxi. We walked a lot. We enjoyed the city life for week.

We did the touristy stuff too. We visited Liberty Island where we visited the Statue of Liberty and climbed the stairs to look out her crown. We rode the subway to Coney Island where we ate at Nathan's and walked on the boardwalk. We shopped at Macy's in Herald Square, enjoyed dinner twice at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in Times Square, and revisited The Carnegie Deli. We visited the American Museum of Natural History and many other New York sites.

There were a few specific things Wes and I wanted to accomplish during our vacation to New York City. One was to visit all five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. We did. Another on our list was to drive out to the tip of Long Island. Wes rented a car and drove he & I out to South Hampton. As we drove back to Queens Wes decided he wanted to drive in Manhattan, so he drove me back to the apartment. After dropping me off he drove back to Queens to return the car. Wow, what an experience for both us! Wes loved it and at the time I was nervous; however, I 'm glad we did it!

My all time favorite place in New York and where I could have spent every day is Central Park. Wes wasn't as enthralled as I with Central Park, but he did take me there several times through out the week. He knew I loved Central Park and the many bridges there. Pinebank Arch will always be my favorite bridge in Central Park, because during our September visit Wes (and the kids) stopped there to give me a new wedding ring set for my birthday. On Thursday, January 6, 2011, Wes brought me back to Pinebank Arch on our fifteenth anniversary and gave me the anniversary band to complete my wedding set. I LOVE HIM and he is the romantic one!

We closed out our anniversary by attending the Broadway show The Addams Family starring Nathan Lane & Bebe Neuwirth then a quiet dinner for two at Ruth's Chris Steak House. What else could I have asked for? Wes planned an awesome anniversary!

Enjoy a few of our photos!

Katherine's Baptism

2011-02-13T15:22:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, February 6, 2011, Katherine stood before the church and confessed her need for a savior and her faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord.

This morning, February 13, 2011, Katherine followed in believer's baptism.

Rescued

2011-02-10T11:25:00.000-06:00

Katherine had something amazing happen to her.

On Sunday, February 6, 2011, Katherine stood before the church and confessed her need for a savior and her faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. She will be baptized this Sunday.

As her parents, Wes and I have prayed for the time when she would take the knowledge she's possessed about Jesus and realize her need for a savior and desire a relationship with Him. We are thankful that God drew her to Him and she responded in repentance and faith.

Delayed

2011-02-09T12:21:00.000-06:00

Well, I did manage to upload the pictures from Dean's camera so I could begin putting together a post about our anniversary trip to New York, but it's taking a little longer to get this post together. Not that it will be a long one, but I've reduced the amount of time I'm spending on the computer this week so I haven't had the time to do put it together. Also, we've had a few other things going on around our house since the weekend, I'm going to delay the anniversary post a few more days!

This morning it has been snowing and it's beautiful. Tomorrow the snow will be gone, so our family is going to enjoy playing in the THIRD snowfall of the year! :-)

New Post & Pictures Soon!

2011-02-06T08:26:00.000-06:00

My brother is visiting and he brought his camera with the pictures I've been waiting on to do a post about our trip to New York last month. Look for something new on Monday!

2011 Starts busy!

2011-01-29T17:22:00.000-06:00

It is hard to believe January 2011 is almost over. This month has been full of activities for our family and I haven't had the time to blog about all the things we've been doing.

New Year's day started with my normal activities of cleaning and laundry. Later our family watched part of the Rose Parade and of course, we watched the college football bowl games. That evening I began putting together school lesson plans for the upcoming week and laminating our January calendar items. It was another normal Saturday with the exception that I was also preparing for Wes and I to be gone for a week while my dad stayed at our home with the kids.

My dad arrived on Monday, January 3rd, and I did my best to update him on the kids school schedule and a few other things. Later that afternoon Wes & I headed off to Dallas, where we would spend the night before flying out of DFW early Tuesday morning to New York for a week! (More to come about our trip in another post.)

After a wonderful week in New York I arrived home only to hit the ground running! Thankfully on the first day home the only thing (besides recuperating from the shock of seeing the state of my home) was our normal Wednesday night Kid Zone at church. The next day I was still in cleaning mode while trying to accomplish school lessons before taking Sebastian to the doctor for his well child check up. We left the doctor's office to go pick up our dog, who had been boarded while we were on vacation, and then a dog training lesson. Wes, the kids, and the dog headed for home after the lesson while I drove to Fort Worth to attend a VBS preview event for two days.

The next week I began to try to get back into our normal routine, even though I was still cleaning up from the week I had been gone. There were only two appointments during the week, and we were preparing for a busy weekend since our church had revival services scheduled staring on Friday night with Dr. Ergun Caner.

Friday morning the kids and I attended our homeschool group meeting before meeting up with Wes for lunch. We ran a few errands then finished a couple last minute details concerning our revival. The kids and I returned home for about 45 minutes before we were out the door again to Katherine's basketball practice. Upon returning from basketball practice Katherine & I got snacks ready to take to her girl scout troop meeting and dropped those off before getting ready to attend the church service.

On Saturday Katherine played her first upward basketball game. It was great. Her team is the Polar Bears and she is number 5. (More to come in another post all about basketball.) After the game we headed back home to rest and get ready for the evening service at church.

Sunday we enjoyed another service with Dr. Caner and then awonderful fellowship meal. The day concluded with the last evening service and a dessert fellowship. The weekend services were absolutely wonderful, and we were all tired by the end of the weekend! What a week followed by an awesome, but BUSY weekend!

This last week has been the slowest week of the month with only school, church, piano lesson, and basketball! Yay!

Well, today was a little busier as it started with Katherine participating in the Oklahoma Baptist Area Keyboard Festival held in Idabel at Trinity Baptist Church then a basketball game at 1pm in Broken Bow.

Yes, it's been an ACTIVE month for us, but I'm NOT complaining! Life is good, and we are extremely BLESSED!

Woody & Buzz Lightyear

2010-12-31T21:35:00.001-06:00

Also Known As Papa Verne & Sebastian Kenney

After Christmas Fun

2010-12-31T21:17:00.001-06:00

A Christmas Day (or day after Christmas) Tradition

Burning the Christmas tree

Uncle Scott was nice enough to hold his nephew all bundled up in blankets so Sebastian could watch as the tree burned.

Katherine, Aunt Julia, Sebastian, and Uncle Scott watch as our Christmas tree goes up in flames!

Uncle Scott, Aunt Julia, Sebastian, & Katherine pose for a nice family picture outside while Papa Verne stands in the background.

No more tree!

Katherine and Aunt Julia on the swings.

Playin' Scrabble!

(Katherine was practicing her math skills by keeping score!)

Christmas Day 2010

2010-12-31T20:03:00.000-06:00

This year it was the four of us on Christmas morning. The kids awoke with excitement to see what was under the tree. We opened gifts then sat together on the couch as Wes read to us the Christmas story from Luke out of his new ESV study bible.

Here is our day in pictures...

Our Tree

(after a visit from Santa)

Kids enjoying their gifts from Santa!

Katherine's Barbie dolls can now travel in style!

Sebastian can now enjoy reenacting Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back with his AT-AT (all terrain armored transport).

Katherine was excited to received Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale doll from Sebastian. Mom & Dad won points by giving her the movie too!

Katherine gave Sebastian a Hot Wheel helmet and steering wheel, which he thought was cool!

It seems Katherine & Sebastian are good at knowing what the other would have fun playing with.

I think they like their gifts!

Around eight o'clock we excitedly welcomed Papa Verne, Grandma Linda, Aunt Julia, and Uncle Scott to our home. This was Julia & Scott's first visit to our home. It didn't take long (just long enough for grandma to wrap the gifts) before we were opening gifts once again.

Scott & Julia opening their gifts

Now it's Papa Verne's turn

then Grandma Linda

& then together.

Katherine made a book for her grandparents telling them of the fun she had this summer at their house. It was fun watching them enjoy reading it together.

I'm not sure what was so funny, but I LOVE this picture!

Sibling Love...Gotta Love It!

Time to open more presents

Christmas Eve 2010

2010-12-31T16:53:00.000-06:00

Wes, Katherine, Sebastian, and I loaded up and headed north on Friday, December 24th to Grandpa & Grandma Banks house in Muskogee.

They were as excited to have us as we were to be with them. It is wonderful to live within a couple hours of family!

Uncle Billy & Taylor were there too!

After we enjoyed a terrific meal it was time to open gifts. Grandma & grandpa were first!

Grandma received a Dallas Cowboy Snuggie and grandpa got an Oklahoma Sooner hoodie sweatshirt.

Since Billy just bought a house in the country and happens to be a sooner fan, Wes thought he needed an OU tree face. Taylor decided she & Billy need an OSU cowboy face to go with Billy's OU face. (Taylor is an OSU cowboy fan, which we LOVE!)

Katherine and Sebastian were NOT lacking in the gift department that day!

Grandpa decided to take a nap....

while the rest of us decided to play! It was too cold to be outside, but thankfully grandma didn't mind if we played with the new outside toys inside! :-)

Gotta love grandparents!

Oh, and the uncle & future aunt too!

:-)

He's Six!

2010-12-30T00:01:00.000-06:00

Sebastian turned 6 on Tuesday, December 21, 2010. Wes, Katherine, Sebastian, and I met Grandpa Homer, Marie, Aunt Diane, and Jon Mason at Chuck E. Cheese's in Longview, Texas, to celebrate Sebastian's birthday. We had a terrific time playing games; eating pizza; playing more games; opening presents; playing games again; & collecting tickets. Oh, did I mention we had 160 game tokens to use, so yeah, we played A LOT of games. Wes, Diane, Jon, and I played a little skee-ball. There was a little competition, but unfortunately Wes came out the winner. I think Jon was second with Diane & I in a tie for last!

Papa Verne, Grandma Linda, Aunt Julia, and Uncle Scott arrived Christmas night and stayed until Tuesday, December 28th. On Monday night we celebrated Sebastian's birthday with them by having his birthday dinner, which is a tradition in Grandma Linda's family and something they did for Katherine this summer when we were in Michigan. Since it was Sebastian's birthday dinner that meant he picked what we had for dinner that night. His choice was....
hot dogs, cheetos, & cantaloupe. We enjoyed an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen for dessert.

Alive & Busy

2010-12-18T22:54:00.000-06:00

Here are a few of the things we've been up to:
~Katherine's piano lesson on Mondays
~Wednesday night Kids Zone at church
~Homeschool Group on Friday mornings
~Decorating for Christmas
~Mailing Christmas cards
~Baking a few Christmas goodies
~Receiving a few early Christmas presents
~Visiting the Northeast Texas Children's Museum
~Attending a Christmas party
~Volunteering at a blood drive
~Participating in the Valliant Christmas parade
~Finishing up the first semester of school (Wes & the kids)
~Counting down the days until Sebastian's 6th birthday along with days till Christmas
So yeah, we've been a little busy!

November Recap

2010-12-05T22:06:00.000-06:00

November was another busy month for our family. The kids and I had eye appointments in Muskogee, which meant we were able to see Grandpa & Grandma Banks and Uncle Billy & Taylor. We also traveled to Longview, Texas, to celebrate Margie Jentes's birthday and see Aunt Diane one last time before she moved to Columbia, South Carolina. The following week we traveled to Shawnee, Oklahoma, where we spent a couple days on the campus of Oklahoma Baptist University for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma's annual meeting. During our travels the kids were able to enjoy some pool time, which made the busyness of travel okay with them!

Before we knew it the week of Thanksgiving was upon us. As we learned of how the Thanksgiving holiday came about we spent some time doing fun Thanksgiving themed puzzles & crafts mixed in with our normal school lessons.

I asked the kids to list some things they were thankful for & here is what they came up with:

Katherine's List
Jesus & God
Church
The Bible
Thanksgiving
Friends
Family
Police

Sebastian's List
Jesus
God
The Bible
Family
Jesus's Birthday
Thanksgiving   and    Friends

On Thanksgiving Day we drove to Ardmore, Oklahoma, where we spent most of the day with some of Wesley's family. Jim & Linda Renick hosted this wonderful gathering of the Banks family. We had a terrific time being with family and eating too much! Even though it was in the mid 30's some of them ventured outside to throw the football. The rest of us hung out inside where it was warm and watched football on the TV!

I was reminded once again how richly God has blessed us.
It was a great Thanksgiving!

The day after Thanksgiving we went to pick out our Christmas Tree. We were headed to Danville Farms in Kilgore, Texas, which is where I grew up going to pick out a tree, but as we were driving up Interstate 20 we saw Canton Christmas Tree Farm, and we decided to stop there instead. We were glad we did. This place not only sold Christmas trees, but there were awesome kid activities too! The first place the kids visited after we found our tree was the giant slide (pictured above). They also rode on the Ferris Wheel and Santa's Runaway Sleigh roller coaster. What a fun time we had before our 2 hour drive home!

Below is a short video of some of the fun we've had during the month of November. Enjoy!

October Recap

2010-11-29T00:24:00.000-06:00

Fall brings college football and rivalries. This year brought a little trash talkin' between Katherine & Wes.

This year for Halloween Sebastian was Peter Pan, and Katherine was Ariel from The Little Mermaid.

Peter Pan looked more like Robin Hood with the bow & arrow.

Our homeschool group had a pumpkin decorating contest, and Katherine & Sebastian entered a pumpkin. Katherine turned her pumpkin into a princess while Sebastian turned his into batman (aka: The Batkin). Their pumpkins turned out great and it was fun! Neither of them won, but they received a small pumpkin/ gourd for participation.

On Saturday, October 30th, Wes & I took the kids to the Halloween/Fall Festival Block Party at First Baptist Church, Valliant. We enjoyed fellowship with friends, hot dogs, and games.

And that's a wrap!

The Question?

2010-11-24T15:09:00.000-06:00

Have you quit blogging?

No, I haven't quit blogging, but I have been really busy with life. It usually takes me a while to decided what to post and a while for me to write it so I've neglected it altogether for the last month or longer. I've focused more on Twitter and checking Facebook. My apologies to those who check in here frequently.

I'm working on a post updating the last month with pictures to have up by the end of the week. Check back on Saturday.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!

The State Fair

2010-09-30T23:59:00.002-05:00

September began with a whirlwind trip to New York and ended with a trip to the State Fair of Texas.

Our family drove to Farmersville, Texas, where we met up with some friends. After loading all eight of us into our expedition we headed off to the fair. We spent several hours enjoying time with friends, eating unhealthy fried food, seeing & petting animals, riding all sorts of fair rides, and doing LOTS of WALKING. It was GREAT!

NYC Birthday Adventures

2010-09-09T15:58:00.004-05:00

Wes and I have wanted to visit New York City for a long time, and this year for my birthday we finally did! We made it a mini family trip. I say mini, because we flew out of DFW International Airport early Thursday morning, September 2nd, and flew back on Saturday, September 4th. We only had Thursday and Friday to do all our sightseeing, which kept us rather busy. Here is a summery of what we did.

We took a limo ride from LaGuardia Airport in Queens, NY, through the city to the Times Square area to our hotel. After checking into our hotel we immediately hopped in a taxi to make it to Battery Park by 2pm to catch the ferry over to Liberty Island, where we visited The Statue of Liberty. Along the way we drove past the World Trade Center Site, also known as Ground Zero, and saw the construction of the Freedom Tower and the future 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

After our visit to Liberty Island we returned to Battery Park, and we began walking towards Wall Street where we saw The New York Stock Exchange and the site where George Washington was sworn in as the First President of the United States of America. Along the walk we also saw Trinity Church located in the Wall Street District. By this time we were hot, sweaty, and tired so we decided to take the subway back to our hotel.

Back at the hotel I received birthday cards and beautiful pink roses from Wes, Katherine, & Sebastian. It was a little early since my birthday wasn't till the next day, but I didn't mind! :-)

We soon headed out again and this time we took a taxi to Columbus Circle and began walking through Central Park. As we stopped atop a bridge for me to admire the view, Wes and the kids decided this was the perfect spot for me to open my birthday gift...a new wedding ring set! (A picture will come later, but at the time we didn't take a photo & I can't take one now as the rings are being sized at the jewelers in Grapevine, TX!)

As our walk through Central Park continued Sebastian spotted Heckscher Playground, which is the oldest & largest playground in Central Park. We had an interesting time entering through the rock & maze-like water feature, but we finally made it! (And there was an easier entrance to the park that we found later as we were leaving!) The kids slid down the old metal slide, and we enjoyed swinging on the swings together as a family while enjoying the beautiful trees & city skyline around us.

It wasn't long before we decided to explore more of Central Park. I marveled at each bridge we saw and would have loved to seen all the park's 36 bridges & arches. It wasn't possible to see every bridge & arch, so as we walked under Driprock Arch I stopped for a picture. My family wasn't as impressed as I, and we continued our walk onto Wollman Rink. Victorian Gardens Amusement Park is the summer operation of Wollman Rink, and Wes was thankful the amusement park was closed. We did enjoy another beautiful NYC view and great photo opportunities!

By this point on Thursday it's getting dark, and we're getting hungry. We flagged down another taxi and headed to the corner of 5th AVE & 59th ST. We saw Pulitzer Fountain & The Plaza Hotel before going into the Apple Store on Fifth Ave. As we came out of the Apple Store we walked past F A O Schwarz on our way to dinner at Pop Burgers. Then it was back to our hotel for a few minutes before walking over to Times Square where our first stop was to the largest Toys 'R' Us store. While Sebastian and I walked around in the store Wes & Katherine rode the Ferris wheel inside the store. After the store closed we ventured around in Times Square before walking back to our hotel. We were exhausted and it was time for sleep.

On Friday, after Wes brought us breakfast from McDonald's and a caramel latte from Starbucks for me, we headed off for the Empire State Building. We walked past Herald Square on our way to the Empire State Building, and later we decided we need to walk back over there to do a little shopping at Macy's where we found some great deals. Everyone but me ended up with at least one new outfit from there! I figured it was their turn to be on the receiving end since I'd been the recipient of several gifts already on this little trip! :-)

There was still some more shopping to be done as Katherine and I entered American Girl Place while the boys took a walk up Fifth Ave. Once we were reunited we decided it was time for lunch. Wes and I watched a show on The History Channel about the the making of pastrami and the show featured Carnegie Deli of New York and their Pastrami Sandwich. Wes really wanted to eat there, and so we did. Our meal was delicious, and we left full. Thank you History Channel!

When we left Carnegie Deli we decided to walk over and see The Ed Sullivan Theater before flagging down a taxi to take us back over to Fifth Ave to finish off some shopping at F A O Schwarz. We began winding down our afternoon with a walk down Fifth Ave. We walked about ten blocks south before turning west to see Rockefeller Plaza. It was near Rockefeller we decided to flag another taxi and go back to our hotel.

We rested for about an hour in our hotel room before I realized we needed to eat dinner, so the kids and I walked around the corner to McDonald's for dinner. After our Mickey D's meal we went back to our hotel to get ready for our night at the theater.

We finished Friday by attending a theater production of Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theater. The production was incredible! We had a terrific time, and it left us longing to see more theater productions!

On Saturday morning it was time for us to say goodbye. New York has left us with a desire for more, so until next time New York...we'll miss ya!

*Enjoy the nearly eight minute slide show!

Kindergarten & 3rd Grade

2010-08-30T08:44:00.000-05:00

Last Monday was Sebastian's first day of Kindergarten and Katherine's first day of 3rd Grade. We had a blast! Our first week went great, and we're looking forward to another exciting week.

*Our homeschool morning calendar board came from Homeschool Creations and 1+1+1=1. Check these two great blogs for homeschool ideas.

Katherine's 8th Birthday

2010-08-29T22:05:00.001-05:00

It's kind of hard to believe that my precious first born is eight. This year she had the opportunity to celebrate her birthday early on several occasions. While at Disney World in June she celebrated by having dinner with Cinderella & Friends. She celebrated again a few days before her birthday while in Michigan with a birthday dinner with Papa Verne, Grandma, Uncle Scott, Aunt Julia, and the rest of us. On Monday, August 9th, our family was traveling to Muskogee where she was able to see Grandpa & Grandma Banks. Later that afternoon, after we were back home, she was thrilled to have Uncle Dean visit. She closed out her day with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.

Michigan Fun

2010-08-24T21:06:00.001-05:00

We had a terrific time in Michigan with Verne & Linda Kenney and Julia & Scott Peterson. We did a variety of activities, but most of all we enjoyed being with family.

We LOVED the cooler temperature and took advantage of being able to be outside to enjoy as much of it as we could. We shared as many meals outside as we could get in during our week's stay. It was a pleasant surprise to enjoy morning coffee and doughnuts on our first morning in Grand Rapids outside on the deck while over looking the river outback of Verne & Linda's home. Linda and the kids got up and brought Starbucks drinks and Krispy Kreme doughnuts to the house that morning while letting Wes & I sleep. A perfect way to start our week of vacation!

Later that same day Verne arrived home and he took us for ride in his boat on the river. The kids absolutely loved riding in the boat. Later in the day they rode in the boat with Uncle Scott driving, and the kids decided Uncle Scott was more fun (even though Scott had his shirt off & Sebastian thought that was weird). The highlight of the day for Katherine came that evening around dinner when Aunt Julia arrived. It had been at least two years since we'd seen Julia, and Katherine couldn't wait to see her Aunt Julia! The rest of us were happy to see her too, but no one was happier than Katherine.

On Saturday Wes and his dad, Verne, played a round of golf together. They were able to do this several times during our stay, and I was very excited for them to have such an opportunity to be together.

Before we traveled north to the condo in Ludington, we visited the Grand Rapids Children's Museum where we had a blast playing (yes, the adults too). After leaving the museum we said our goodbyes to Uncle Scott & Aunt Julia, as they were not coming to the condo with us and headed north to Ludington. We spent several days in Ludington and enjoyed watching the Badger come in and out of port every day. The kids would race to the balcony when they heard the S.S. Badger's horn blow. We played at the city park right outside the condo at least once everyday , and enjoyed our lunch & dinners out on the balcony. We walked around town and had ice cream at the House of Flavors. We spent an afternoon at the beach and swam in Lake Michigan. Wes and I were even able to have a couple hours alone together one day and enjoy some time shopping in Pentwater, Michigan, while we were staying in Ludington. On the last day in Ludington Wes and the kids visited the the Sandcastle Children's Museum and had a great time while I cleaned the condo.

We headed back to Grand Rapids on Wednesday where we celebrated Katherine's 8th birthday, and to our surprise Aunt Julia was able to get off work and be there with us. It was a wonderful celebration with Papa Verne, Grandma, Aunt Julia, & Uncle Scott.

On Thursday we spent the afternoon at the Grand Rapids County Club swimming pool visiting with great grandparents, John & Donna Klein, and two of their other grandkids, Bella & Sophia. Later that evening Grandma watched the kids so Wes & I were able to go out on a dinner date on our last night in Grand Rapids. It was sweet!

We started our last day on vacation much like our first day of vacation with Krispy Kreme doughnuts before heading back to the house to get our things packed for our flight home that evening.

We said our goodbyes to Uncle Scott & Grandma and drove off to the airport. Wes dropped the kids and I off at the terminal while he went to return the rental car and it was at that point I noticed that my phone was still at his parents house! (I thought it was time for our trip to have a little drama!) As soon as Wes met up with us (and I could use his phone) I called Linda and she was able to bring us my phone! Whew! We made it on the plane and all was good. We arrived at DFW at 11pm, and we were all so tired we thought it best to spend the night in a hotel instead of making the three hour drive home. All was good until breakfast the next morning when Katherine decided to add her show of coming home excitement by getting sick. Well, we were officially NOT on vacation anymore, but that was okay.

Our trip was awesome and we had a blast being together as a family. Thank you Verne, Linda, Scott, Julia, John, Donna, Bella, and Sophia for making our vacation so incredible! We love all of you and are looking forward to time with you on our next visit!

Here are some of our highlights....Enjoy!

A Work In Progress

2010-08-24T11:28:00.000-05:00

As you can see I am working on the blog, so please be patient with me as I decide what will look and work best for this blog. Thanks.

Random Pictures

2010-08-19T23:25:00.003-05:00

For the last year & a half I have wanted an elliptical. I used one at the physical therapist clinic and loved it. Well, I finally ordered myself one, and it arrived while we were on vacation in Michigan. Thankfully I was called before it arrived at my home and was able to tell the man delivering it where to leave it since I wasn't home. Anyway, my wonderful husband put it together for me the day we arrived home. He's awesome and it wasn't an easy task.

I've used that thing three times since coming home from vacation, and I love the work out I get. I haven't made it the full 30 minutes yet, but I'll get there.

Katherine and Sebastian enjoying their Dr Peppers while we wait for Wes to finish our shopping at Central Market.

At the end of January our family added a golden retriever puppy to our family. Unfortunately that puppy had health issues, and we had to put it to sleep. At that time we already knew we would be receiving another puppy later in the summer. Well, last Sunday night we welcomed this adorable puppy to our home...

I couldn't help but close out this very random post without another picture of my two favorite kiddo's. Wes took this earlier tonight after they had fallen asleep.

Don't you just want to kiss those precious checks?
Oh how Wes and I love them so!!!!!

Coming Up for Air

2010-08-12T19:23:00.002-05:00

I wanted to check in to let everyone know we're back home, but we've ALL been sick since getting home. Katherine was the first one to get sick and since then someone else has been sick, even my brother, Dean, who came up Monday for Katherine's birthday. Thankfully Monday was the only day no one felt ill.

Once we're all back to normal I'll write more about our vacation and Katherine's birthday.

Later.

Blogging Break!

2010-07-29T09:00:00.001-05:00

The Kenney's are on our way to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to spend a week with family. We are extremely excited to have this opportunity, as it has been two years since we've been to Michigan.

I have decided I will blog about our adventures when we return. Look for a new post sometime after August 10th!

See ya then!

Changes Are Coming!

2010-07-28T11:56:00.002-05:00

There are changes coming to the The Kenney News. Don't worry, there will still be pictures and video of Katherine & Sebastian, but over the next several weeks I am looking into changing the template and format. As you have noticed my video's are a too big for the current 2 column template and I need something wider for the text & videos.

Another change I will make in September is to start another blog where I write for myself. I am not a writer, as you know from reading even one post on here, but I want a place where I can share about me. A place where I write about my struggles, what God is teaching me, and other areas of my life.

So there. That's what will be in the works during the month of August along with all the other craziness August brings our way!

Great Grandpa & Grammy Kenney's

2010-07-27T15:30:00.002-05:00

One of our favorite times so far this summer was the opportunity to visit Verne Sr. & Joanne Kenney (aka great grandpa & grammy). It had been eight years since Wes and I had been to their house in Naples, Florida, and they had never had the opportunity to meet Katherine & Sebastian. We were extremely excited to be able to take extra time and see them while in Florida.

We arrived at their home on Thursday, June 17th, and that evening great grandpa took the kids out after a wonderful dinner for a ride in the golf cart around the golf course. On Friday morning Wes & his grandfather played a round of golf while Grammy & I took the kids to the beach. The kids LOVED playing in the water. Wes was a little disappointed that he wasn't with the kids the first time they went to the beach, but he was happy they enjoyed it so much. We did go back with him later.

Grammy and a friend of hers received two free tickets each to the Naples Zoo for donating blood so on Saturday morning Wes, Katherine, Sebastian, and I visited the zoo. It was hot, but we had a good time! After the zoo we met up with my college roommate, Lori Edwards, and her three kids. Lori and I chatted as Wes watched the kids color & get to know each other. By the time we ordered yogurt the kids were all friends and everyone was having a blast. By then it was getting late in the afternoon and time for us to head back so Wes & I could get cleaned up for our dinner date! The kids enjoyed alone time with grandpa & grammy while Wes & I enjoyed our night out. Grandpa let us take his Chrysler Crossfire roadster, and it was nice enough to have the top down! A great way for us to end our fun filled day!

On Sunday morning we attended First Baptist Church of Naples, FL, with the grandparents. When we were checking the kids into the kid's area at church we saw Lori and her family. We were able to met her husband briefly. Seeing them there was a nice surprise, and Lori was very helpful in helping us locate the kids after the service too. After church we enjoyed a wonderful family brunch together, and relaxing afternoon at the house. The kids (& grandparents too) took a nap, Wes studied, and I did laundry. Later in the evening Wes, the kids, and I went back to the beach where we were surprised to see large groups of stingray swimming near us.

It was time for our visit to come to an end with great grandpa & grammy on Monday morning, June 21st, as we were headed back to Orlando to Disney World, but as fun as Disney World turned out to be it couldn't compare to the wonderful time we had visiting Grandpa & Grammy Kenney!

Jentes Reunion & Adventures

2010-07-27T00:01:00.002-05:00

The kids and I enjoyed our visit to Ohio last month. The purpose of our trip was to attend the Jentes family reunion. My dad's family holds this reunion every two years on the farm where my dad & his two brothers were raised. The dairy farm is now owned and operated by one of my dad's cousins who have been gracious enough to hold this event for the last 12 years. My dad, brother, sister, and I attended the first reunion together back in 1998, but we hadn't all been back until this year. Two years ago the kids & I flew up with my dad, and I blogged about it here.

Katherine & Sebastian were once again treated to a plane ride with their great Uncle Chuck, and the next day they had an opportunity to ride a horse. I took them to play at the elementary school and the Smithville park before they spent some more time with their grandpa Homer. I was able to reconnect with some of my cousins, and even had some time with my brother & sister. I was so blessed to be able to have this time with family.

Here is a short video of our fun.

Father & Daughter

2010-07-26T12:50:00.004-05:00

These were taken at the wedding reception for Glen & Angela Posthuma.

I had to add this one too. I love Sebastian's expression as he looks on while I snap the picture in the foyer of the church where the wedding was held!

Creation Museum Pictures & Video

2010-07-25T17:51:00.008-05:00

The following video is three short clips taken at the Creation Museum.

We hope to go back when we have Wes with us. It was VERY interesting. A great place to visit!

Reading Material

2010-07-21T21:30:00.000-05:00

Over the last couple months I've pick up a few books I've wanted to read for awhile. Now if I can only find the time to read!

Here's my list:

I Will Carry You by Angie Smith * currently reading this one & I'm half way through!

5 Conversations You Must Have with Your Daughter by Vicki Courtney

Your Girl by Vicki Courtney

Your Boy by Vicki Courtney

Making Brothers & Sisters Best Friends by Sara, Stephen, & Grace Mally

When You Rise Up by R.C. Sproul Jr.

The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer & Jessie Wise

If you have read one of these books, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts.

Disney Vacation

2010-07-20T12:20:00.008-05:00

It's been a BUSY summer of traveling. When we arrived home from Florida I had so much to tell, but not enough time to blog about all our adventures. As you know I wasn't even home long enough to get caught up on laundry and household chores much less blog!

It has taken me a while to sort through pictures and decide how best to blog about our vacation adventures in Florida. After uploading 35+ pictures for one post about Disney I decided a slideshow might be easier, and give you a greater opportunity to share in our memories. I only took 174 photos between our trip to Naples and the trip to Disney in Orlando! Then there was the Disney PhotoPass CD with 74 photos. No wonder this post has been in the making for several weeks!

Anyway, we had an absolute blast at Disney World! After we checked into the Disney Polynesian Resort we took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. We strolled down Main Street and headed straight for Cinderella's Castle. Katherine was beaming and Sebastian was too! We continued through the castle and made the decision that the first ride must be 'it's a small world'. We rode in Winni-the-Pooh's honey pot through the Hundred Acre Wood storybook. We helped Buzz defeat the Emperor Zurg on Buzz Lightyear Space Spin Ranger, and visited Jack Sparrow and the Pirates of the Caribbean. We enjoyed some overpriced water and ice cream snacks! We walked through several souvenir shops to visit the air conditioning & attempt to cool off. We walked through Mickey & Minnie's houses and met both of them; however, I hadn't purchased the kids autograph books yet, so we didn't get their autographs at that time.

We stayed for the Electrical Parade that night, and that was where some of our best memories where made! We stood along the extremely crowded main street. Sebastian sat on Wes's shoulders and I was able to get Katherine right up front as the parade started where she could see. Both kids had birthday buttons on as we were celebrating Sebastian's half birthday that day and Katherine's (yes, a little early) on this trip. As Snow White walked by during the parade she wished Katherine happy birthday. Katherine had the biggest smile ever at that moment, and when Tinkerbell rode by Sebastian yelled " Tinkerbell...Tinkerbell... HEY TINK, IS THAT YOU?!?" It was priceless!

Our second day was a little more relaxed. Wes took off to play golf at one of the resort golf courses while the kids and I took the monorail back over to the Magic Kingdom. First stop was to the souvenir shop to buy autograph books! It wasn't long after we left the souvenir shop that we saw Ariel and Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid, so it was a VERY good thing we had our autograph books in hand! Katherine's favorite Disney Princess is Ariel, so she was floating on a cloud at that moment. Sebastian had a special moment with Ariel as she kissed him! Yes, it was another one of those precious & priceless memories! Oh, I almost forgot...per Sebastian.. I'm not supposed to tell that Ariel kissed him...oops! :-)

The kids and I rode on Aladdin's magic carpet and walked through the Swiss Family Robinson's Tree House before we decided it was hot and we'd rather go back to our room and spend a little time swimming in the really cool pool. We swam and played in the water until Wes got back from playing golf, at which time he joined us for a little pool fun.

Later that evening we headed over to Epcot where we rode The Seas with Nemo & Friends & Soarin' before getting autographs from Mickey, Minnie, Daffy Duck, Pluto, & Goofy. By then it was almost mid-night and we were tired. It was time to go to bed!

Day three was spent at Hollywood studio's where we met many more of Katherine & Sebastian's favorite characters. We saw Muppet Vision 3-D & Voyage of The Little Mermaid, rode Toy Story Mania & The Great Movie Ride, as well as enjoyed playing games & eating at Pizza Planet. After leaving Hollywood Studios we headed back to our room to freshen up for a very special dinner. Wes had made us a reservation at the Grand Floridian where we dined at Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Park Fare and were greeted by Cinderella, Prince Charming, and Cinderella's step mother & sisters. We finished off the night by watching the fireworks from the beach and swimming in the pool.

As we wrapped up our last day at Disney we went back to the Magic Kingdom and finished with a few rides and shows we missed before. We rode Splash Mountain, Peter Pan's flight, Buzz Lightyear's Space Spin Ranger (again), and saw Mickey's Philharmagic.

We had a wonderful time at Disney World and are looking forward to going back in the future. And now let us share our memories in a 6 minute slide show:

COSI

2010-07-06T21:58:00.008-05:00

*Update: Added short video at the end.

Katherine, Sebastian, and I visited the Center of Science & Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio, where we had a fabulous time! The first thing we did after purchasing our tickets was to tour the Titanic exhibit, where I was not allowed to take pictures. Sorry; however, the exhibit was totally awesome! The kids got a little bored during parts of the Titanic exhibit, but I enjoyed every minute. We each received a boarding pass with the name of an actual passenger. Mine and Katherine's boarding pass was from first class passengers while Sebastian's was a second class passenger. By the time we reached the end we didn't look up whether or not we survived, but Katherine and I decided we would look that information up as a school project once we're home.

Once we finished with the Titanic exhibit it was time to hit the Atomic Cafe' for some food. Sebastian and I enjoyed some pizza while Katherine devoured some chicken nuggets. Their dessert of choice was the chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream. I sampled a bite and it was good!

After we had been refueled we did our best to see the rest of the center. Below are just a few of the pictures from the day.

He's going down into a submarine...

Just in case you wondered. And here he is using his superman strength to roll the ball.

The cutest news anchors EVER!!!!!!

Katherine, Sebastian, and a VW bug, What could be better?

Yes, it was a FABULOUS day! Thank you Aunt Elaine for telling us about it!!!!!!

Checking In

2010-07-05T21:50:00.004-05:00

The kids and I have been on another little trip. We left Thursday, July 1st, for Wooster, Ohio, to attend the Jentes family reunion, which is held every two years. I drove from Valliant, OK, to Franklin, TN, on Thursday, and then drove onto Wooster, OH, on Friday.

We are currently on our journey home, but we'll be taking our time and visiting a couple museums along the way. We are currently in Columbus, OH, and are planning on stopping by the Center of Science and Industry tomorrow before heading to Petersburg, KY, where we will stop at the Creation Museum.

The kids and I will make it home at some point, but we're really not sure when and aren't in a hurry. We're enjoying ourselves!

Southern Baptist Convention Wrap-Up

2010-06-30T20:00:00.001-05:00

(This is going to be a very general wrap-up of what our family enjoyed outside the business of the convention.)

One of my favorite things to do is get to know others in the ministry and their families. This year we had several of our ministry friends staying in the same hotel where we could hang out together. Two of the families had their kids with them and so the kids had hang out time too. It was a wonderful time!

Katherine and Sebastian enjoyed their time at the kids camp provided by the SBC. Every time we picked them up we heard about Dexter, the puppet, and what they learned from Dexter. Katherine & Sebastian had a blast at kid's camp, and I was very thankful to those who made kid's camp possible. What a great thing for the kids and parents too!

We enjoyed our time with friends and having the opportunity to represent Trinity Baptist Church of Valliant, Oklahoma, at the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting.

National Corvette Museum Pictures

2010-06-30T11:08:00.003-05:00

This next one was for Uncle Dean & Grandpa Homer!

Katherine's always ready to pose for a picture. I LOVE that girl!

This one is my favorite. He's too cute!

Home

2010-06-27T13:56:00.005-05:00

We made it back to our home after being gone for 17 days! We had a blast and I promise to get some pictures and video up this week of our many adventures; however, this quick update & photo will have to do for now.

Thanks for your patience.

Quick Rundown

2010-06-14T08:18:00.003-05:00

If you follow me on twitter or facebook then you already know our family is in Orlando, Florida. We began our drive about 10 PM Wednesday, June 9th. We made it all the way to Little Rock, Arkansas, before we stopped to sleep. When we woke Thursday we thought we would drive all the way to our hotel in Muncie, Indiana, but when we called to check on an adding a night to our reservation we discovered all hotels in that area were booked. At that point we decided not to be in a hurry and ended up spending the night in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where the National Corvette Museum just happens to be. And you guessed it, we visited the museum on Friday morning before we started our drive to Anderson/Muncie, Indiana.

Friday night was the rehearsal and dinner, which went really well and was fun. There was a family celebration/party after the dinner, but we opted out and headed back to our hotel. On Saturday the day was filled with getting ready for and enjoying the wedding. All went very smoothly.

We were back on the road after attending part of the dinner reception. We drove out of Muncie, Indiana, at 6:18PM headed to Orlando. Wes drove all night while the kids and I slept. I drove some on Sunday before Wes took over again and drove us into Orlando around 2:30PM.

We met up with some friends at our hotel and went over to the convention center around 6PM. I checked the kids into the kids program where they enjoyed several activities including a HUGE jump house while Wes and I attended part of the evening pastor's conference. Later we enjoyed a nice, but late dinner at Cattlemen's.

Well, that's a run down of what we've done so far. Katherine did take a few pictures at the Corvette Museum and I'll try to get those up later this evening. Currently I must get ready and head over to the convention center, so my kids can enjoy the kids camp activities again. They can't wait!

And so it begins...

2010-06-09T22:00:00.000-05:00

Our family is headed to Anderson, Indiana, where we will attend the wedding of Angela Neal to Glen Posthuma. We are excited to see Glen, Wes's cousin, and Angela unite in marriage and spend some time celebrating with family.

After the wedding we will load back into our Ford Expedition and drive to Orlando, Florida, for the Southern Baptist Convention. We are looking forward to arriving in Orlando and spending several days sharing in the business of the convention, while reconnecting with friends who minister all over the country.

On Thursday, June 17th, our family will drive to Naples, Florida, to spend the weekend with Wes's grandparents, Verne & Joanne Kenney. We haven't seen them in 8 years and we're really excited for this opportunity.

As you can see our family will be traveling a LOT over the next two weeks, and we would appreciate your prayers for safe travel and nice vacation. I hope to blog some while we're gone, but if I don't please understand I'll have plenty of fun stories and pictures when I get back.

Why?

2010-06-09T11:30:00.000-05:00

(I began this post last week and left it in the editing folder, because I wasn't sure I wanted to share it. After talking with a friend I decided to go ahead and share my thoughts with you.)

*Why do we Christians shy away from praying aloud when in a group?
*Why do we Christians go running to the Lord in prayer when something bad happens, and when all is going fairly well a prayer is never offered?
*Why do we Christians look for feel good sermons or music rather than biblical theology?
* Why don't we Christians pour out our problems to our Heavenly Father instead of our friends?
* Why don't we Christians open our bibles and share from the Word of God when a friend, coworker, or family member begins to share what's happening in their life & wants our advice?
*Why do I blog about spiritual concepts instead of sharing scripture?

Could the answers to several of these questions be:
We Christians (I) do not spend enough time in the Word of God and are still spiritual children or young adults? Yes, I think that's the answer.

Will we (I) be willing to change and begin maturing?
Yes, I desire to be constantly growing. I don't want to be stagnant in my walk with the Lord. I desire to know my Lord and Savior better everyday, and I desire for my family, friends, and strangers to see Christ in my life.

More Saddle Ridge Ranch

2010-06-07T20:47:00.001-05:00

Saddle Ridge Ranch

2010-06-06T08:42:00.002-05:00

It was a one day vacation bible school on Saturday, June 5th. There were 28 kids and 15 adults who enjoyed a HOT, but fun filled day of Roundin' Up Questions & Drivin' Home Answers on Saddle Ridge Ranch!

Check out some of the highlights...

Still, My Soul Be Still (video)

2010-06-01T21:01:00.002-05:00

Tonight the song "Still, My Soul Be Still" by the Getty's is on weighing heavy on my mind.

Still my soul be still
And do not fear
Though winds of change may rage tomorrow
God is at your side
No longer dread
The fires of unexpected sorrow

God You are my God
And I will trust in You and not be shaken
Lord of peace renew
A steadfast spirit with me
To rest in You alone

Still my soul be still
Do not be moved
By lesser lights and fleeting shadows
Hold onto His ways
With shield of faith
Against temptations flaming arrows

Still my soul be still
Do not forsake
The Truth you learned in the beginning
Wait upon the Lord

And hope will rise As stars appear when day is dimming

(My original post from January on this song is here.)

June, Already?

2010-06-01T11:14:00.002-05:00

The month of June is always a busy month for our family.
Here is a list of some of the events we have going on this month...

* Vacation Bible School at Trinity Baptist Church of Valliant, OK, on Friday & Saturday June 4-5.

* Wedding of Angela Neal & Glen Posthuma on June 12th in Anderson, Indiana.

* Pastor's Conference & Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando, Florida, June 13th-16th.

*Vacation at Verne Sr. & Joanne Kenney's in Naples, Florida, for several days after the convention.

That list doesn't include all the preparations that must be done before any of those events either. Yes, June is a VERY busy month for our family, but I'm just thankful we have the opportunity to do each one of these things.

Oh, and it looks like we'll be traveling again in July, but that's a whole different post! :-)

Katherine, Sebastian, & Corn Pt. 2

2010-05-30T21:00:00.001-05:00

These were taken today. I'd say the corn is growing at a much faster rate, but that's good. I don't want those cute kids growing up ANY faster than they already are.

Backyard Project #3...99% complete

2010-05-30T12:21:00.002-05:00

It's all up! There's still a few finishing touches & clean up to do before it's totally complete.

Next up...cleaning up the flower bed & mowing.
Yuck! :-(
Maybe we'll get the pool up first. Hmm; maybe.
Trying to get everything finished before our trips in June.

Backyard Project #3...A work in progress

2010-05-27T09:02:00.004-05:00

Summer Time Fun

2010-05-23T14:00:00.000-05:00

Enjoying a Sunday afternoon!

Interesting Observation

2010-05-22T22:20:00.004-05:00

Last fall I had a garage sale where I began getting rid of the baby items I had been keeping in the storage building behind our house. Wes was so thrilled for me to finally part with the kids crib, toddler bed, and ten or so plastic totes full of kids clothes. I ended up having a successful garage sale last fall, but only because a friend (who was also having a garage sale that day in Valliant) sent people out my way. Sometimes living outside the city limits is nice, but it makes things a little challenging if you're trying to have a garage/yard sale.

This weekend a friend, who lives in Idabel, was having a garage sale and offered to let me bring a few things (i.e.: the infant carrier/car seat & stroller I didn't want to part with last fall) over to her sale. I loaded up my truck with the rest of the baby items, clothes, and some household nick knacks that had been packed in plastic totes since our move from Wynnewood to Valliant four and a half years ago. There were several small decorative items from early in mine & Wes' marriage and a few ceramic bears & things that had been my mom's. None of the items had any sentimental value anymore and it was time to get rid of them.

Today when I began helping my friend pack up the items that did not sell at her garage sale I noticed something very interesting. My decorative nick knack items sold EXCEPT those that were my mom's. This stands out to me, because last Thursday, May 20th, was the 13th anniversary of my mom's death. Last Thursday was also the day I priced all the items I would be trying to sell. I don't believe in superstitions or signs, but I do find this very interesting. And, I will be keeping those little ceramic bears for a while longer. :-)

Katherine, Sebastian, & Corn

2010-05-20T11:26:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday Katherine and Sebastian spent the day visiting the Camp family. I'm still not sure who enjoys it more the kids or the Camp's. Anyway, Virginia was nice enough to send me this picture of the kids in the corn patch. I think the goal is to take a picture every time the kids visit to see whether the corn outgrows the kids. I think the corn will win the growth contest. What do you think? It will be fun to see the progress over the weeks to come. Thanks Nelson & Virginia!

My Tongue Equals Trouble

2010-05-20T09:08:00.004-05:00

Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world... Philippians 2:14-15

My tongue gets me into all sorts of trouble! I have a habit of grumbling, questioning, & complaining.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:29-32

There are many times corrupting talk comes out of my mouth. More negative words flow from my mouth than positive words. I do not build up others as much as I am called to do. My words and actions more often than not grieve the Holy Spirit. Yes, I struggle with bitterness and anger, which I am called to "put away from me". God calls me to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving to others like He is to me. There are some days I can do this very well, but too many days when I fail miserably.

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. James 1:19-21

I am not quick to hear, slow to speak, or slow to anger. What does that say about me? Scripture tells me "for the anger of a man (me) does not produce the righteousness of God".

I said somethings yesterday with an attitude not of Christ. The above scriptures are what God brought to my mind this morning followed by repentance & forgiveness.

Bookcases

2010-05-16T16:23:00.004-05:00

Several weeks ago Wes put together the new bookcases for the living room. I'm slowly putting all our books and things on them, but here's a couple pictures.

Here's the rest of the living room. It hasn't really changed.

Backyard Project #2

2010-05-11T16:20:00.000-05:00

We expanded our back porch!

As you can see, it was only a small expansion. Not! It is now large enough for our pool to sit on during the summer, and plenty of other outside items the rest of the year. We LOVE it already!

Backyard Project #1

2010-05-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

Phase 1: Unloading the heavy railroad ties.

(and NO I wasn't lifting only holding it steady for Wes to reposition it to get it off)

Phase 2: Laying the ground work for the pea gravel.

Phase 3: Spreading out the pea gravel.
The longest & hardest part of this project!

Little helpers.

Working hard.

Taking a break for a picture.

Phase 4: The finished project!

Woohoo! Not sure who is more excited Wes & I or the kids to have this project completed.

Katherine's Puppet Show

2010-05-05T10:53:00.001-05:00

Spring Changes

2010-04-28T08:59:00.003-05:00

Wow! Spring is flying past, and it's been crazy around the Kenney house. Maybe I should say busy rather than crazy, but crazy is how I feel. Anywho, we have been making some changes around our house which we've wanted to do for awhile, but were unable until now. Instead of starting and finishing one thing at a time, we jumped head first into several projects, which is why I feel our lives have gone crazy.

On Monday I had LASIK surgery on both my eyes to correct my vision. I've worn glasses or contacts since I was three, and absolutely love that when I wake up now I can see across the room without having to reach for my glasses first. I am excited to see! Wes commented this morning how weird it was to see me reading email using my phone without glasses. It's awesome!

(Deb on Monday afternoon after surgery.)

Last week we finally upgraded our internet at our house. When Wes and I began to play with our iChat video, we discovered my computer's microphone wasn't working. Bummer, but the video feed was great! My computer has been at the Apple Store at Stonebriar Center in Frisco, Texas, since Friday, and I'm looking forward to getting to it back Thursday. Thankfully we have a laptop I can use until then.

After leaving the computer at the Apple Store Wes, the kids, and I decided we would stop at Ikea. Wes and I had decided several months ago we wanted several bookcases to make a unit in our living room. I've want bookcases for storage for a while, so we decided to get them since we were there. We also picked up a storage unit for Sebastian's toys. Needless to say Wes spent the rest of the weekend putting together bookcases.

We are also making some changes in our backyard, but I'll get to those in another post. My eyes need a break. I'll add more pictures once I get my computer back.

Trinity Baptist Church Egg Hunt 2010

2010-04-21T00:01:00.001-05:00

Katherine's 2nd Piano Recital

2010-04-20T10:47:00.003-05:00

Speed Zone & Ikea

2010-04-19T14:30:00.000-05:00

Wes and I had a meeting in Dallas a couple weeks ago, and we took the kids with us. After our meeting we took the kids to Speed Zone, where we rode go carts. The kids played a few video games before we headed over to Ikea.

Enjoying some chocolate cake with milk at Ikea in Frisco, Texas.

Hmmm, it was GOOD!

It was a fun day!

Outside Fun (Pictures)

2010-04-16T09:04:00.003-05:00

A couple weeks ago Katherine, Sebastian, and I visited a couple of friends at their school for lunch. The kids were invited to play with their friends class for recess.

Katherine, Sebastian, & Ryan spinning.

These next couple pictures are taken at the park in Hugo, OK.

We're really enjoying the wonderful spring weather!

Red River Museum Field Trip

2010-04-16T09:00:00.001-05:00

*Update: Added video

In February our homeschooling group took a field trip to the Red River Museum in Idabel, Oklahoma. After the museum tour the kids had the opportunity to make a clay pinch pot in the activity room. Sebastian wasn't interested, but Katherine did choose to participate. She enjoyed making her clay pinch pot.

Katherine let her pot harden for a couple days at home then she painted it. She now has a cute little earring holder for her dresser.

Spring Break or Blogging Break?

2010-04-14T12:44:00.005-05:00

I've been taking a bit of a blogging break this spring, and I'm not sure how long this break might last.

Even though there has been a lot going on in our lives these last couple months it has not been blog worthy. Keep checking in if only to read my twitter updates!

Thanks.

DEB
:-)

Happy Resurrection Day!!!!

2010-04-04T00:01:00.000-05:00

Today I received an email update from a family serving in Asia on the mission field that said Happy Easter was translated Happy Resurrection Day. I love it!

Our family is worshiping our risen Savior, and we pray you are doing the same with your family.

So, HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY!!!!

Wes, Debra, Katherine, & Sebastian