Best Posts of 2008

Brooks' Big Boy Haircut
Brian's Kidney Stones
Kids Summer Pictures
Country Music Night
Country Music Night - Videos
Country Music Night - Video
Fun in Alberta
Kennedy kids baptism
Brent's wedding
Bare bottom
Reilly is gone
Playmates
Winter Retreat '08
Kenna is Two
Four "Kennedy" Couples
Lauryn's wedding
Lauryn's wedding dress
Gun lessons
Kenna singing to Grandpa K

Last Night

Brooks has been getting better and better at walking, but usually needs something in front of him to walk towards. Last night at Youth Group, I looked out of the youth room doors, and saw Brooks standing in the hallway heading towards...nothing! It's a big long hallway! He took about 7 steps before crawling again, but it was so cute to see him standing there like a big person, just walking down the hall. Note: this was after the service and no one was there except us, cleaning up, so he was not about to get trampled or anything.

Playing

These ones are per Janessa's request for a playing picture. It's harder than it might seem to catch them playing together, because as soon as I am spotted, one of them thinks they need to come see me.

Brooks, crawling to Mommy

Kenna, emptied all the balls on the floor

Ken-Ken doing the"shake, shake, shake" dance

If these are not what you need Ness, let me know I can keep trying!

Walking

Here is Brooks walking towards me last night at the "Net Night" Youth event. He still won't venture forward unless he has something really close to entice him. He also seems to do better when holding a toy...maybe he can pretend it's a table and it gives him confidence. Two steps is still his record, he's been doing it a lot, so I think the third one will be soon!

Big News: Steps and Kennp

Yesterday Brooks tried to take a step all by himself. He crashed and SCREAMED. This morning he successfully took 2 steps from the couch to the exersaucer! Won't be long until he's all over the place!

This morning I was writing cheques to pay bills on the coffee table, Kenna was watching me write and says "K-E-N-N-P", usually when I write for her I always write her name. I guess she (mostly) gets it!

I think we have an addict here...

Today for lunch I made pancakes, and for 'dessert' I added chocolate chips to the batter. Kenna managed to eat hers in an acceptable fashion. Brooks had his first taste of chocolate, and he devoured it! He had chocolate and pancakes caked all over him, there was nothing to do but have a bath.

Happy Valentines!

A Valentines treat from Auntie Noni, gone terribly wrong. Thanks Lauren, she loves it! :-/

Something Cool

I was playing with the camera this morning and discovered settings I never knew existed! I will have to have some fun with this in the future.

Headbanger

This morning Brooks fell playing in their room and hit his face on the rocking horse (I think). Even got a little blood there. He is doing very well with his walking though, he lets go and stands there, and will also walk along with his walker toy. Hasn't tried a step alone yet, that I have seen.

Kenna wanted in on the picture action. She has a hershey's kiss in her mouth from Valentines. She says "I liiike choco-lat"

Balancing Act

Last night at church Sam was holding Brooks up and lifting him to the ceiling and "waving" him all around, and Brooks was just loving it! He totally held his balance the whole time. I took this pic on my phone, hence the lighting is a bit off, I think it was set to "nighttime" since there was a little moon showing, but I didn't have the time to figure out how to change it.

Smothered Chicken - Recipe

This recipe is one of Brian's all time favourites, so I am going to make it for him for dinner tonight. It reminds me of something you might get at a restaurant like Applebee's or similar, but it's from the Betty Crocker Bridal Edition cookbook. I realize this might not be the cheapest recipe for some (especially in Canada), but I can get boneless skinless chicken everyday for $2/lb at Walmart, or for $1.79 on sale, so it's not that bad on our wallets! Here's the measurements...

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1t dried oregano
1/2t salt
1/2t garlic powder
1/4t pepper
1/4t cayenne pepper
1T butter or margarine
1 medium green pepper, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms (4 oz)
1/2C shredded mozzarella cheese (2 oz)
1/2C shredded cheddar cheese (2 oz)
serve with rice (I use chicken bullion in the water to give the rice a little extra flavor, since there is no 'sauce')

This is how it's written in the cook book. I personally only use 2 chicken breasts, but the same amount of spices. There is usually a small amount of spices mixture left over, and I add it to the veggies. This is my version of how to make it, the recipe book is a little wordy, and it's very simple.

1. Start making rice
2. Mix the spices together and sprinkle over all sides of chicken breast. Cook in a skillet until done (I actually grill them in my George Foreman Grill). Keep warm until ready to assemble.
3. Put butter in a skillet and cook the pepper, onion and mushrooms until crisp-tender.
4. On each plate serve rice, with chicken. Put veggies over the top, and sprinkle with cheese (I don't always use both, sometimes only mozz. unless I have white cheddar. I'm a weirdo I suppose, but I don't like the way the orange looks with it!) Everything on the plate is warm, so it melts the cheese. It's very tasty!!

You're My Cuppycake

I made lots of 'love'ly red velvet cupcakes for youth group tonight. This is a sample of my delicious creations. I tested one...they're great!

EDIT: Last night one of my friends told me something I never knew about red velvet cake...apparently in the World War II era, since there were sugar rations, the ladies used beet juice to sweeten their chocolate cakes, and it turned the cakes red! I thought that was kind of a neat little fact.

Books-a-bo-boy

This is what Kenna calls him 9 times out of 10. It totally cracks us up, and we call him that too! This is from the other day (2/8/08)...he needs a haircut again.

Something Strange

Have you ever seen milk like this? It's a complete rectangle, aside from the handle cutout. It's a little harder to pour, but Brian said maybe the new design is for stacking purposes? I went to buy milk this week was like "gasp?" What did they do to it??

Side Note: Can you tell I am less busy now? Or back to normal I should say...more blog posts and pictures! Being busy and or sick is just really not that fun:-)

Boo-a-full

"I boo-a-full Mommy!" This morning while doing my makeup, she was watching, then quickly managed to get the lid off my lip liner. She knows where it goes!

Playmates

This morning Brooks wanted to do everything Kenna did. He followed her around and copied her every move. She loves to tell him things and talk to him, and when he doesn't respond she says "He not talkin', Ma!"

All Cleaned Up

The post bath cuddle time on Mommy's bed

Ok, I knew about the duplo...but I have no idea why she has a shoe. I didn't notice it during reading! Weird!

Because of her cold, I have to tie her hair back before bed, otherwise it's all stuck to her face in the morning, and she needs another bath

Clean Me, Please!

Lovely after dinner pose. Snot mixed with food...yummy!

I'm a mess! It's bath time!

While I was taking Kenna's picture, she thought Brooks was in the shot too, and kept saying "c'mon Booksie, 'mile!", so I thought I should get one of them together for her sake

I'm going to GET YOU!

Utensils

My drawer for kitchen utensils etc was needing some attention. It feels like the only thing I ever use in there is the can opener and scissors, so I really thought maybe I could get rid of a lot of stuff I didn't need. As it turns out though, most of it is a not often used, yet legitimate kitchen item. Of course there were a few batteries, and broken items that I tossed...and I found a pair of scissors I thought was lost!
Before

After

Flower Girl Dress

After my upgrades! Remember how it looked before? I never liked the leaves showing, and it was just missing something, so after a trip to Michaels I was able to fix it up the way I like it, by adding a few things. Also, I am thinking of seeing how the shoulder bows will look on her, thought they might add a little more something to the dress. They are (obviously) removable, so it can go either way. Kenna is napping so I'll have to wait for another time to try out my handiwork!

CS Lewis

I really like this quote from CS Lewis', The Horse and His Boy. Shasta was complaining that he was the most unfortunate boy to ever live, and Aslan, a picture of God in this allegory, is explaining to him how he has been very very fortunate after all. I like this quote because it's simple but profound and it helps me in a fun way to remember the bigger picture. "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to his purpose for them." Rom 8:28
Aslan, speaking to Shasta: "I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight to receive you."
Shasta: "Then it was you who wounded Aravis?"
Aslan: "It was I."
Shasta: "But what for?"
Aslan: "Child, I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own."

Bed Time

Getting ready for bed, Brooks was in a really giggly mood. He thought the 'hat' was very funny. I thought that adding his new sunglasses to the outfit would be cute. He was not having it though, as he prefers to eat them at this point (so opposite of Kenna at that age, she loved wearing them). So, Kenna decided to display the new glasses for a picture:-)

More Winter Retreat

This is everyone!

A cool thing they do with cups. They do all these tricky maneuvers and it makes an awesome rhythm

During a session

Avalon Hills Winter Retreat

Josh Rieke pranking Brian...there was a lot of pranking Brian this weekend, since he is the new youth pastor they had to initiate him I guess. Brian was to hit Josh on the head with a spoon in his mouth as hard as he could...not very hard. Then Josh did it to Brian, only someone was behind Bri and whacked him really hard! It was hilarious.

A game of basketball during free time

Frozen underwear that said "Go Rangers"

Another prank. Get the underwear out of the ice and put them on in record time.

The leaders doing some weird quad sit-up or something

Donna crawled underneath them and knocked them all down!

Drew and his pants. Don't ask.

Josh and Sarah Rieke, youth leaders

The bus ride to Williamsburg!

Hanging out right before leaving. We had such a great time!

Still Sick

This morning Kenna woke up with a high fever, and kept telling me "ear hurts" so it was off to the doctors this morning. She has an ear infection, and on top of that her cold seems to be worse now too. She is pretty miserable.

Brian was home today doing the lights in the livingroom. Half of the room is done, as you can see, and the other side is almost there...he needs to pick something up at Home Depot on the way to church tonight so he can finish tonight. We're close!

Big Hill!

My mom sent me this picture..."Thought this would bring back memories of your childhood! The imagination, the work and the playtime of yesterday." Haha. We used to sled down the back steps in our yard to get a little more speed...though, as I recall, it was slightly more slopey than this!

Winter Retreat - Video

Ok so, we had the annual winter retreat this past weekend. It involved staying up until 2 am the first night, and most everyone staying up until almost 5 the second night. Yikes! We had our friend Andy Lewis come in from WI to do the speaking, we had 4 sessions on Christianity: A Who not a What, I think was the title, we focused on the person and ministry of Jesus, His holiness, and His friendship. This video will be shown tonight at Youth Group. I guess nothing makes an impression like exploding things. When I get my video camera back I will post some of the other fun/funny things that happened.

Superbowl

We are back from the Winter Retreat! I will post pics once I have some, it was tons of fun, but not a lot of sleeping involved. Then last night Brooks started throwing up. Joy. There is no end!
Here are some pics of our little last minute Superbowl party. Brian is a big time Pats fan, so the game was so interesting to the last second!

Kenna with her best friend, Josh