It's over!

Can I just say that I am SOOOO glad that this weekend is over and DONE!

We started midweek last week with Tate and Brock both getting strep throat and things just snowballed from there. Tanner had his birthday party on Friday night with 5 boys coming along to go rock climbing and then have pizza and a sleepover. Let's just say that it was our first and LAST sleepover for boys who are 12 year old and above. This is an issue that Mark and I have debated for years. We both felt like we did not want to let our kids have sleepovers for various reasons, but finally thought that the boys were old enough to have one and we would see how things went. Tanner and Brennan have both been able to sleep over at neighbors houses a few times this past summer, but never in a group setting. Man am I glad that had not happen yet. Let's just say that by age 12, they are beyond the magic age for fun at a sleepover and the pre-teen monsters emerge with many tricks up their sleeves. Let's just leave it at this... Tanner had a GREAT time rock climbing (he's a natural like his father) and then from that point on the rest of the party was not the greatest. These are the times when we wish desperately that there were more guys at church Tanner's age... it makes such a HUGE difference when others have starkly different values that sometimes don't show until you are with a group of your peers for the evening. Life lessons learned for Mom, Dad and Tanner... sorry Brennan, Tate, Brock and Reese, but this is one family rule that just got changed!!!

The ward Progressive Dinner turned out well after a ton of running around and crazy last minute planning. I am thankful to have that assignment out of the way and now look forward to finishing the decorating around the house that normally takes me 3 days and now we are going on 2 1/2 weeks! UGH! Hopefully I'll get the Christmas cards done before New Years! And the chocolates... well.. I hope they don't become Valentine's day gifts!

Off to clean, decorate and make candy??!!??!! Then again... the couch is looking awfully cozy and the fire is nice and warm.

It's the BUSY time of the Year!!!

Well let's just say that blogging has taken back seat to many other things at the moment. But here's a quick update on life in the Kenison NUT house!

- Tanner had a birthday.. shout HOORAY! Tanner turned 12 on Nov. 23rd and we were able to have a wonderful celebration shared with Nana and Papa from Pittburgh. What a special day it was too because Tanner was able to receive the priesthood. He's growing up SO fast!
- Brock had a Thanksgiving feast at school - we all loved the turkey songs and even thought about Thanksgiving carolling in the neighborhood. It would have been hilarious but not everyone was on board for that adventure!

-Tanner is having his birthday party this Friday so we will have to add more after that evening is over. He is going to go rock climbing and then have all the boys back for pizza and sleepover. Wish us luck! UGH!!! Here he is giving Reese a ride on his new Power Wing... she has it SO good.
- Thanksgiving Day was wonderful... Reese is a new fan on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Yeah! I finally have a parade buddy! Dinner was yummy and we had way too many leftovers!!! What should I expect for having a 24 POUND bird and all the fixings and then making three pumpkin pies, pecan pie, chocolate cream pie, banana cream pie and apple cake!!! Thankfully we did invite two other families to share with us!
- Reese disappeared after Thanksgiving dinner... when we found her, she had climbed onto the dining room table and had devoured a piece of Chocolate Cream pie that Brock had not eaten... it covered her, and the table and her clean jammies... the picture says it all!!!

- BLACK FRIDAY - my favorite!!! Yup... it's the only day of the year that you will see me happily out of bed at 4:30am and on the road by 5:00am. I could never start a bakery! After six hours of shopping and the adventures of the bargaining hunting of black Friday, I returned home to find chaos and a mess... OH JOY!


Well some little munchkins need to get to bed... we heard the elves bells a little while ago and the boys are certain that the elves are here to report to Santa. 25 more days of one HUGE carrot to dangle in their faces!!!

A few minutes to myself!

Hooray for a GREAT show that Reese now LOVES to watch. She actually had an attention span of 15 minutes to watch and let me have just a couple of minutes to myself while she was actually AWAKE. This is a moment to celebrate for sure! Thanks Backyardigans! My new best friends!

Tree Farms in the Mountains???

Does anyone have any suggestions for a great tree farm in the mountains that we can go to cut our own Christmas tree??? The boys have been asking for years and this year maybe we will just plan ahead enough to actually be able to do it!!! PLEASE .... information ANYONE???

The Plane! The Plane!

The boys were thrilled to stumble upon a local air show on their way home from a primary program practice last Saturday. Mark let them watch for a little while but then they had to get home. Being a sucker sometimes, I decided we would drive by the airport on Sunday after church to see if any planes were still flying. Well.. they were flying alright. I pulled the Yukon over and parked in a field at the end of the runway and we watched for a little while again. It was so impressive, I told the kids I thought it would be o.k. if we went home and changed and came back with Mark after his meetings. Here are some pictures from the afternoon. It was about the most quiet and peaceful Sunday afternoon we've had in a LONG time!!! The boys all sat in awe on top of the Yukon and watched all the planes fly just above our heads. Reese was not as happy with the roar of the engines as they flew over, but soon got used to the noise.
Mark was as happy as the boys!!! He loves planes and would love it if I would ever let him take flight instruction lessons. Hmmm... maybe when he's 90???
Little Miss Nervous was not so sure about all the planes buzzing overhead!
This was a shot of one of our favorites... not sure what model this is, but he was great! All the planes were old wartime planes... no F16's or fancy planes at this show.
Another favorite! He was REALLY loud!!!
Reenactment of the bombing of Pearl Harbor called...Tora, Tora, Tora. This was a very impressive show done by a national group that goes around to air shows to perform. There were about 15 planes in the air all flying crazy everywhere. They would swoop down to drop the bombs and then huge red and orange clouds of flames would shoot into the air. They had amazing explosions and bomb droppings - dead bombs of course! But REAL fire!!! I am sure it would have been an amazing sight inside the airport where you could really see what was going on .
The kids thought it was awesome when the planes would spray the smoke!
O.K.... so the free seats on the roof of the car at the end of the runway had a little fence blocking issue, but this explosion was HUGE!!!

So much for the Flu shot!

Well... little Reese has got a fever AGAIN.... and it's not her ears... not strep... and they say it's not the flu. Hmmmm... it's either a result of the shot or our short one hour stay in nursery on Sunday to visit and get used to the idea of going to play with the other kids. HA!!! It's going to be a trip sending her to nursery next month... that is... IF we can avoid the sickness that always looms in nursery. Why don't people ever keep their sick kids OUT of nursery. PLEASE - let this be short lived and heaven help us that she doesn't catch something else!!!

Caught!

Another funny moment from Reese... Last week as I was cooking dinner for Mark's birthday, I hear her saying " Tank Ou... tank ou... tank ou (thank you)!" I turned around to see that she had gone into the pantry... found a wheat bucket to push up to the counter and was helping herself to the birthday cupcakes! CAUGHT in the act! She is very resourceful when it comes to getting what she wants. She truly takes after her mischievous brothers!

FLU SHOTS... Ouch!

Can I just say that taking five kids to a flu shot clinic is NOT a fun experience!!! Let's hope it is worth it and we avoid the CRUD this winter!

Happy Birthday MARK!!!

November 6th was Mark's birthday! Hooray to the birthday boy! We had a quiet evening at home for his birthday and had Tapioca Pudding for his "cake" and then cupcakes for the kids. I think this is the ONLY time we make tapioca pudding all year. Mark and Brennan are the only ones who like it and the rest of us... well let's just say we prefer the chocolate!

My Turn...

So I just knew this was going to come at some point or another. Now the title of sickest family member falls on Mom's head. UGH! It's been 10 days now that I've been sick and it's SLOWLY improving. I have had strep tests, Mono tests and two antibiotics and we are still battling this. I think that after the crazy month of October and non-stop excitement and adventures, my body finally said... "ENOUGH! Get some REST and then we'll start over!" I'm not sure if I can remember the last time I have been this sick. With a huge blessing from Father in Heaven, so far no one else in the family has gotten what I have and hopefully it will stay that way. I am thinking that we will head to get our flu shots today and try to stop at least a few germs from getting to the Kenison Family this winter. At least I am getting this out of the way before all the business of Thanksgiving and Christmas begins... it's right around the corner!

TOMORROW'S the BIG Day!!!

Time to get some good sleep tonight and be prepared to stand in VERY LOOOONNGG lines tomorrow to VOTE!!! Mark was able to get to the polls the other day to do early voting but he had to wait in line for over an hour and I was not able to make it back before the polls closed. Looks like I am going to try and brave the early hours and try to get in line at 5:30 AM... Am I crazy??? The only day of the year that I even think about those hours is the day after Thanksgiving to go shopping. I LOVE the thrill of the hunt on those days to grab all the great deals that are out there, but I am not so sure about standing in line in the rain for hours to wait and VOTE... However, I WOULD NOT MISS IT... even if I am still really sick right now... but I have to admit, I'm a little nervous about the whole outcome of the many different votes that will be placed tomorrow. Mainly.. President and Prop. 8 in California. We all need to pray HARD tonight!