GROWING TOO FAST

The past two days Joshua has gone to a friends house to play, without me! Yes, I know. He is only 4. What is this all about? I mean, I did not know if I should wait for him outside the house (a block away), or go home and actually get things done. I thought this would start when he was in late elementary, not early pre-k. He had a blast and was very sad when I showed up to pick him up both days. I get him out of there by saying that he might be able to come back tomorrow, or maybe his friend, Trevor, can come to our house to play. He immediately responds, "NO! I like his toys." So, what do I have to look forward to now?

CHRISTMAS

What a great Christmas we had this year. Joshua is really understanding why we have and celebrate Christmas and Andrew enjoyed tearing up paper and playing with all the new toys, even if they did not belong to him.


We started our celebration with Christmas Eve Brunch at my mom's house in East Texas. We had egg casserole, bagels, many fruits, and cinnamon rolls. We celebrated with a number of people: Griggs (Mom and Randy); Kennedys (Jeff, Aubrey, Joshua, and Andrew); Wedekings (Karl, Teri, Kalab, Robin, Samanth, Leelan, Oliver, Chad (Karl's son), and Franci (Chad's wife)); and Jenkins (Patricia and Benjamin). It was a great day, but I have to say I really enjoyed receiving our Family Bible. I have been asking for one for many years and my Mom got me one this year. It is beautiful and has KENNEDY on the front. Thanks Mom!

Christmas day was great! We started the day with the boys sleeping in until about 8:30. We opened stockings and then headed to the tree. Santa did not get a chance to wrap gifts at our house, so the boys were greated with their gift from Santa, a putting green for Joshua and a tree swing for Andrew. After opening gifts we enjoyed snowman pancakes made by Jeff...I am serious! We got dressed and headed to Jeff's parents house. Once there we opened gifts, played with the gifts, headed to the park, and then enjoyed a nice dinner of chicken puff pastry, honey baked ham, and salad. Yummo! The Moats family made it from South Carolina (Les, Krisen, Morgan, and Jack). Traci was able to make it over, even though she has not been feeling well. Of course Dave and Lynda were there and I think enjoyed the day even more since all their children and grandchildren were together.

Each day Joshua said, "This is the BEST Christmas ever." multiple times throughout the day. He even mentioned it the days following Christmas. We asked him why he thought that. He said, "Because we got to celebrate Jesus' birthday." Gotta love him!
Thank you Jesus for such a blessed day!

WEEKEND OF TRAINS

A couple of weekends ago we spent both Saturday and Sunday enjoying trains.

Saturday, we went to North Pole Express presented by Grapevine Vintage Railroad. We got there early to get good seats and for the boys to play in the bounce houses. We met the Lockes, Braatens, and Hawkes...all boys excluding Miss Kenslea. The show started with singing and lots of audience participation. Although, Joshua only sang as long as noone was looking...he thought! Then we boarded the train and took about a 30 minute ride toward Dallas and back, while listening to "The Night Before Christmas", more singing, and a visit from Santa. Oh what fun!


Sunday, we met Joshua's neighborhood friend, Trevor, and his family at North Park Center to see The Trains at Northpark. The money raised goes to the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas. I think most normal people can walk in a straight line while viewing the trains. Not Joshua and Trevor. They kept going from one side to another trying to see everything they possibly could. I remember saying, "don't touch that" and "come on boys, let's let other people look" a lot. I also remember hearing, "Trevor look at this!", "Oh my goodness! Did you see that?" all with much enthusiasm. We went last year and I am sure we will go each year it is here.



Joshua is a train maniac at this point in his life. We are glad to experience it with him.

WHAT A MESS!

Andrew can climb the table chairs now. He started doing this yesterday, but I did not think too much about it. However, I will have to rethink that philosophy. I had left a bowl of black beans from lunch on the table...I wanted to eat them later. Well, Andrew decided he would eat them first. I found him at the table, bowl of beans pulled to him, and him a complete mess. He is such a big boy!

FIRST SNOW 2008

A friend of mine on Facebook had it right when talking about Dallas weather..."Who can figure out this Dallas Bipolar Weather?". I mean seriously. Is there another state/city that experiences weather like we have. It was nice and warm just two days before we had ice and snow and two days later it was warm again. Ugh! My body just does not know how to handle it.
With that said, I did enjoy watching the snow fall. Andrew and I were in the house nice and warm watching the snow fall steadily. It was beautiful. Joshua was at school enjoying his last day before Winter break.

HAVE YOU NOTICED?

Picasa automatically updated today. The new Picasa is awesome. I click red eye and it automatically takes care of the red eye. I no longer have to click each eye. I click crop and it automatically shows me three different cropping options...awesome! I can also collage with so many more options. I am so excited about it. I did make a number of mistakes, including changing the background to my computer without even realizing until it was too late. Oh well! I think the new Picasa is great and will cut some picture editing in time. Have you updated, or even noticed that it updated for you?

IT'S BEGINNING TO....

...look a lot like Christmas, inside my house (outside it was 76 degrees...we wore short sleeves). We finally bought a tree and decorated it today, along with the rest of the house. We turned on some Christmas music, drank our hot cocoa (coffee and tea included) from Starbucks, and let the boys put ornaments on the tree (with some direction). It was great fun. I only captured the completed tree moment once the boys got into a pair of Christmas pajamas.
I did take more pictures, but the others did not turn out at all. Once I get a picture of the entire tree I will post.

CHRISTMAS IN THE SQUARE

We joined the Braatens and the Dubes Friday night in Frisco for Christmas in the Square.
We started the evening at Babe's Chicken Dinner House. It was the first time we had gone...it was really good. As you can tell from the pictures below, Andrew enjoyed the mashed potatoes. We were served mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, gracy, and biscuits (all with a ton of butter). Then each of us ordered a meat. We ordered Fried Catfish and Chicken Strips. Yummy!
After dinner we headed to the square. We got in line to ride the little train that goes around the square, about 5 minutes long. Meredith road with all the boys.
I did not get pictures of our next stop, but Andrew and Joshua jumped in the three bounce houses at the square. The Braaten's decided to take a look at the trains displayed in one of the buildings at this time...It started out a beautiful day and became VERY COLD when night came.
I would have to give our time an A+. I know the boys had fun and Jeff and I enjoyed seeing them smile. Plus, the lights and music were festive. Check it out if you can.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS...

...is two happy boys...in a box! The boys got ahold of this box and had a blast in it. I just don't know why we spend so much money on toys when they have so much fun playing with a box.
Excuse Andrew's messy face. He just finished a cookie.

FALL OR WINTER?

It is winter, right? Well, today in Texas it felt like fall. Here are some pictures of the boys playing in the backyard...leaves are still falling from our trees and it really was not so cold to have their heavy coats and hats on, but I wanted some pictures for our Christmas cards...none of these pictures made the final cut.

THEN AND NOW

The boys and I were outside playing and I wanted Joshua to show Andrew how to go down the slide. Joshua got the slide for his first birthday, so he is very familiar with it. He loved the slide...it was in our house when he was younger and there was not a day he would not be on it. Anyway, I snapped the picture on the right while he was sliding down the slide today, you cannot even see the red slide. The picture on the left is him the day he got his slide. He has grown so much in the last 3 years.

OUR FIRST TIME...ADOLPHUS CHILDREN'S PARADE

The boys and I went to the Adolphus Children's Parade this past Saturday. It was our first time to go. In fact, we were not even thinking about going until we were invited by a friend of Joshua's, Trevor. He is the little boy we meet at the park most every day around 4:00. They are the same age and seem to get along wonderfully. I finally met Trevor's parents (his nanny takes him and his sister to the park) and asked if they would like to join us at North Park Mall to see the trains, which I still have to setup, and they invited us to the parade. I digress...we got to the parade at about 9:45, it was set to start at 10:00. Well, we did not have a good view of the parade, see the pictures below. We settled for a spot, not in view of the parade, put the kids on our shoulders and took pictures, drank hot chocolate with marshmellows, ate cotton candy, and enjoyed some conversation with new friends. Thankfully another couple, besides Trevor's parents, joined us. They have one child and so at least one parent had free hands and held Andrew while I held Joshua.
Joshua's favorite part of the parade was Rudolph and Andrew's favorite part was the marching band (all of them...he loves music). In the future we will go early to get a good seat. Heck, we may even splurge for bleacher seats.


Our wonderful view...

The boys and I...Jeff would have been better to hold Joshua. He did not go because I was told that spouses might not go. I think he will go next year.

Trevor and Joshua making funny faces.

Joshua's first taste of cotton candy..."I like cotton candy. It is SWEET!"

CHEERFUL GIVERS

Our Sunday School class, Sacred Marriage, is full of married couples with young children. Some of the children are reaching, or have reached, the age in understanding servanthood/volunteering. In order to give the kids an opportunity to serve in a way they would understand and be capable of we stuffed stockings...a easy concept as well as easy for them to do.
The parents purchased items to go in the stockings (Blake Coleman used her own money to purchase what they brought). We gathered in our class room at the church and setup a table with all the items. The kids "shopped" around the table to fill the stockings. Once filled, the kids carried the stockings to "Hopes Chest", a box by the tree we picked the stockings up from.
Our hope for Joshua is that this is the start of what God intends us to do for others. We lead the boys by our example and Joshua, being the oldest, will lead his younger sibling(s) by example.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."


Blake Coleman putting travel shampoo and soaps in her stocking.

Joshua putting chocolate candy in his stocking.

All the children participants, Joshua, Elizabeth Williams, Barrett Starr, and Blake Coleman.

Two of the three younger children there...Andrew and Emma Coleman were fighting over who would eat the last cheddar whale.
Kyle Starr was there as well, but he was busy turning in circles.

COOKIE EXCHANGE...

Picture of all the goods...yes, we still have some left after 2 days.


This was my cookie display. It was meant to look like a Christmas tree with gifts. The cookies were shaped like Christmas trees with sprinkles. I got the recipe from Jeff's mom, Lynda. Ice Box Ginger Snaps.

My mom's group that meets every Tuesday did a cookie exchange today. It was a lot of fun! I enjoyed seeing all the great displays. I also liked hearing why everyone chose the cookie they were going to make. Some of the recipes were passed down from parents or grandparents, while others were just picked from a website. After we shared why we chose the cookie we made we voted for, Best Looking Cookie, Most Unique Cookie, and Neatest Presentation.
The winners were....

Best Looking Cookie...Kori Ledbetter for Penny's Buttercream Cookie

Most Unique...Jessica Starr for Snowballs

Neatest Presentation...Stephanie Locke for Thumbprint Cookie

GOING HOME

Mom and I originally planned to head home Sunday. However, I received a text from a friend that lives in Nashville. I text her back and arranged for us to stay the night with her, if we decided to leave Saturday. After many undecisive conversations between Mom and myself we finally decided we would leave Saturday morning (decided Friday just before dinner).
During dinner on Friday Audra and Joshua were both filling ill. We did not think too much about it until I pulled into the drive and Audra said she was going to throwup. I hurried her into the house and she went straight to the bathroom. She did not get sick right away...I think we all thought she had gas and that Joshua was just feeling sympathy pains. WE WERE WRONG! Audra did get sick...she was pretty neat about it (those with young kids will appreciate the neatness when they are older). Then Cadance got sick, not neat at all. After Cadance came Joshua. Cadance, Joshua, and Audra all got sick again before Christopher got sick. It was crazy and a MESS! The kids were so upset and in pain. We just could not figure out why this was going on. Andrew was not getting sick and the adults were feeling fine. Was it something they ate?
I was keeping Jeff up to speed via e-mail and then at about 10:00 p.m. He called and told me he was sick. Jennifer and Mom followed him by getting sick in the middle of the night. So, it was nothing they ate, but a virus. Needless to say we were all up until the wee hours of the morning, if anyone actually got any sleep.
Mom, the boys, and I still ended up leaving Saturday morning, about an hour later than we wanted to. Mom drove us all the way to Nashville (Mi, OH, KY, TN). She ended up going straight to bed and the boys and I went with my friend, DBLA, to dinner. The next morning we got up early and finished our drive, 10 hours, to Texas (TN, AK, TX). The boys did really well both days. Andrew is not as good sitting for that long as Joshua, but he is not interested in the DVD player as much as Joshua. I cannot complain...
Andrew and I never got sick and Joshua was good on Saturday and after Mom slept, she felt much better. Jeff still has a few stomach issues. Jennifer and the kids are feeling better, but a few of them took a few days to recover.
I am thankful we were able to take the trip to see family and ended by seeing a good friend. If you ever get a chance to take a trip, do it. The kids and you will survive and there is a lot to see out there on the roads. I imagine as the boys get older it will be even better...I see many road games in our future, especially to CO.


Andrew after a chocolate donut...he was hungry and it is all I had.

Joshua passed out on Saturday.

IT'S COLD, WHAT DO WE DO?

So, it is COLD in MI. We had good snow the day after we got there and light snow the following days, so playing outside was done in spurts. Thankfully my brother's family has a lot of toys and Jennifer bought a few crafts for the kids to do since they were going to be couped up inside the house.
The first day the kids dissolved little tablets in hot water and out popped dinosaurs. Audra, Joshua, and Cadance really enjoyed playing with their dino's...Andrew tried to eat his.
The next day the kids tried to put together animals made from little puffy balls. However, we did not have the glue. We bought the glue the following evening. Audra, Cadance, and Joshua were the only kiddos to participate. Audra made a white horse. Cadance made a pink gorilla. Joshua made a blue seal. Audra did hers by herself and it turned out very nice. I helped Cadance and Joshua...I think Audra should have helped them in order for them to come out nice.
The last craft was all Audra and Mom. They took clay and made a giraffe, fish, cat, bird, and turkey leg with gravy...Audra is very creative.
Other than the crafts the kids played really well together. Well, Audra, Joshua, and Cadance played well together and Christopher and Andrew played by themselves.


Audra (7), Joshua (4), and Cadance (4)

Audra, Cadance, Joshua

Fish (Mom), Cat (Audra), Turkey and gravy (Audra), Bird (Audra), Giraffe (Mom and Audra)