Kenney Christmas 2008

This year our family was blessed to be able to have my family (Homer, Dean, & Diane Jentes) all in our home. It had been four years since we were together at Christmas.

With everyone here on Christmas Eve, Katherine, Wes, and Sebastian made chocolate chip cookies to leave for Santa. (Sebastian lost interest before I thought to take a picture!) The cookies were very good and all gone by the 26th!

The kids had everyone up and opening gifts at 7 AM. I think we unwrapped the last two gifts just before 8 AM.

I love to watch the kids open their gifts and the excitement they exhibit. I was very proud that Katherine and Sebastian seemed to get excited over what the other one received as well.

Katherine read the Christmas story from The Jesus Storybook Bible on Christmas eve as we all sat together in our living room. After Katherine finished Wes read out of Luke 2 from the Bible. My dad then prayed, and it was wonderful time to reflect and focus on what we were really celebrating.



The rest of the day was spent being together as a family and truly enjoying each other.

By 6 PM it was just the four of us again.

Tomato Sawyer & Huckleberry Larry

Sunday night Katherine and Sebastian were given the Veggie Tales DVD Tomato Sawyer & Huckleberry Larry's Big River Rescue. Big Idea's Veggie Tales has always been a hit at our house. Wes and I listened to Veggie Music before we even had kids (and that's another story). Anyway, as with any DVD these days there are bonus features and there is a feature giving step by step instructions on how to draw some of the veggie characters.

This is what Katherine drew yesterday afternoon. Wes and I are so proud of her.

Sebastian's Celebration

On Saturday our family visited ChuckE.Cheese's to celebrate Sebastian's 4th birthday.




We had a great time, and Aunt Diane & Uncle Dean were able to join in the fun. After spending a good bit of time playing at ChuckE.Cheese the kids did some more playing at the mall. What a day!

My Birthday Boy

Yesterday, he was our newborn. Today, he's four. Time flies...

Party Time

As you can see it was all work on the last day of school in 2008!

"Home for Christmas" Swink Public School Christmas Program

Our angel

The Kenney's first Gingerbread House

Several weeks ago, while walking through Sams, Wes noticed a gingerbread house kit and mentioned it would be fun to do with Katherine this year. I agreed, but that day we didn't purchase the gingerbread kit. Just over a week ago I was in the store and saw another gingerbread house kit and decided I would pick one up for us to do as a nice family project. (Please take note of the word family...meaning Wes, Katherine, Sebastian, and myself.)

The kids had been waiting not so patiently for a week to make the gingerbread house, and so I decided Friday night would be the night. It started out so well. The kids and I put all the different candy in cups and sorted out the pieces for the house. The kids kneaded the icing and then it began! I had the wonderful job of icing each piece and getting the house together. I admit I had some trouble. I did manage to get the walls of the house and roof together just as Wes was walking in the door. Wes and I made the decision the house needed to set overnight before we tried adding the candy. (Notice where Wes enters this story.) Katherine and Sebastian were not happy with our decision, but we told them we were going to put up the Christmas tree and other decorations Saturday afternoon and would finish the gingerbread house then.

Saturday afternoon, after the boys took naps and the girls had the tree up, we began working once again on the gingerbread house. I had a much better grasp on using the icing and the kids were excited to decorate with the candy. (Wes was at the store.) Sebastian helped decorate the little gingerbread men with Katherine's oh so gentle instructions before deciding he'd had enough. Plus, he didn't enjoy getting icing on his hands unlike his sister who was definitely making a mess! Katherine and I were putting the finishing touches on when Wes arrived home from the store. Here is the finished project....

Now that this little project is complete I can say I did enjoy it. What I really enjoyed was spending the time with my kids.

*I should mention that Wes is the one who moved the gingerbread house from the middle of the kitchen and displayed it nicely in our dining room.

My little Man

This little man will be four one week from today.

First Tractor Ride

Up until a couple weeks ago Sebastian would not ride on the tractor. He was afraid. Katherine would ride, but Sebastian was not interested. Now, he loves it!

Sebastian is with his buddy, Nelson Camp.

Unusual Thanksgiving

Wes, the kids, and I planned on spending another Thanksgiving in Ardmore, Oklahoma, with the Banks family, but circumstances changed those plans. Instead my dad (Homer) and brother (Dean) fixed a very nice Thanksgiving meal for me and my family at our home. I was returning home from having had surgery, and they were helping take care of Katherine and Sebastian. They stayed through the weekend, and even though I was recovering we enjoyed a nice time of being together and watching some football.

Katherine was out of school the week of Thanksgiving, and she & Sebastian spent a couple days with some friends from church before my dad came. The kids had a wonderful time there.

On Monday, December 1st, Linda Kenney flew from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to spend a few days helping out with the kids and spending time with us. It was a blessing to have her as well.

There is always something or someone to be thankful for and this year I've been reminded of that over and over! I am truly blessed, and I hope you took time on Thanksgiving to praise God for all the things you have to be thankful for.

The Barbie Princess

Halloween Party

Here are some pictures I took at Katherine's 1st grade class Halloween party.