Many Things to be Thankful For...

Well obviously, blogging has not been at the top of my list lately of things to do. And with good reason... it's been a rocky few months around the Kenison household, but hopefully things are on the upswing. There is no doubt that soccer and football - though really FUN - were a huge commitment this fall... more than we expected! The boys all had a great time so were are glad that they had the chance to participate. We have definitely found Brock's niche in soccer and Tate was thrilled to have found a new sport that he enjoys too. Brennan loved every minute he had on the football field, but found himself a little nervous for most of the season after watching one of his friends get hauled off the field in an ambulance not once but twice with neck and back injuries. We are very thankful for an injury free season.

We have been blessed with a mostly healthy fall which is a welcome break from years past. It seemed like Reese was constantly sick the first 18 months of her life. I think the boys have finally tried to expose her to about it all. Teenage troubles have hit home with full force... and Tanner doesn't even turn 13 till next week! It's going to be a LONG 15 more years of teenagers at home with the way things are starting out. Heaven HELP us!!! We are thrilled with Tanner's lawn mowing job however.. what a great worker he is! He can cut, edge, weed whack and blow a lawn better than most professional companies twice his age! Work is picking up for Mark again - thank you investors for putting money back in the markets around the world. It's nice to see the numbers on the Dow and S&P on the rise. That certainly makes the stress ease a little around here too.

My health has not been the best, but we are very thankful for some recent test results that have ruled out more serious issues like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. I have had traveling / severe joint and tendon pain for many months now. It has made for some challenging and stressful times, but I am hopeful that things are possibly starting to get better in some of the joints. It started a few weeks after Mark got the shingles last spring - but the doctors say that he NO correlation. I'd like to think different, but whatever it is, we all hope that it goes away and gets better very soon. After a severe reaction to the anti-inflammatory medicine - I am back to Tylenol and Advil... hopefully we can find a drug that works without any more serious reactions or side effects. Little Miss Reese has been a joy to have around during these hard times - she never leaves my side and is always trying to help get things for me. She makes me laugh and MELTS my heart with the most sincere comments of her love for me and how much she likes her Mommy. Most touching has been her prayers for me... without fail and NO HELP... she includes me in any prayer that she is saying... morning, night, dinner, lunch, or just when she wants to. She asks Heavenly Father that he will make Mommy better and make her foot and back stop hurting. Oh the faith of the little children... to be two and have the faith that she has is incredible. She is truly one of Heavenly Father's choice daughters who was sent here to earth during these times when the strongest will need to be here to withstand the many temptations of the world. The boys have been so wonderful too at understanding the circumstances and helping out when they can. Their faith too has been amazing...they too have prayed for me on a daily basis. I am so blessed to have 5 children who love and care about me so much!!!

Most importantly has been Mark and his willingness to step in and take over many of the usual duties that I have not been able to do. He's been great at helping out around the house and with the kids... and trying to ease my pains. With much gratitude in our hearts we head into this season of Thanksgiving with a MUCH to be thankful for!!!!! I may not be 100%, but at least I feel like things are starting to improve. Things could be SOOO much worse, so I will take my aches and pains and not complain... but the teenager troubles... well I may complain a little about that! HA HA HA!!! Mark and I were NEVER like this as teens... snicker snicker snicker!!!

It's that LOVELY time of the year again!!! So last Friday, Mark heard on the radio that their was a real run on the flu shots here in town so we decided we better go and fight the crowds so that we all got one before they run out this year. Thank goodness for CVS Minute Clinic.. they had shots for all of us. ( Our family practice Dr. and the Pediatrician were out till the following week!) After three different trips ( why are the schools around here on such different schedules?) to the clinic and over three hours of waiting - we all are finally covered. I Hope!!! Tate had a fever from the shot on Friday night and on Sunday Reese starting getting sick. It hasn't been that bad, but she is still sick 5 days later. I'm not sure whether she got the Flu from the shot or more likely, she got the flu from germs in the clinic while we waited to get the darn flu shot! Thankfully... I am sure she is on the mend and hopefully will be feeling much better soon. In the meantime, we hope that we do not get the regular Flu until these shots kick into our systems. It takes a few weeks.. oh joy. And then there's swine flu - oh that's another story!!!! It's all over the place here!!!! Many, many kids at the school have it! I guess in the end - the best coverage does not come from any shot - but from the many blessings that our Heavenly Father gives each one of us on a daily basis. I pray every day that we will stay healthy and protected from the many viruses that are around right now... I have faith.. and a whole lot of antibacterial soap and hand sanitizer!!!

S*O*C*C*E*R!!!!

Tate and Brock have taken up a new sport this fall and are absolutely LOVING soccer!!! Brock would not even stop for a picture the day I had my camera at the games. He would be the one on the ground above - he plays so HARD!!! He goes all out and is FAST!!!!

Our number 4!!! GO BROCK!!!

You never miss Tate's team on the fields with their bright orange uniforms and socks!!! Only sports can get kids to wear these crazy colors!!!

Tate was kind enough to give me a nice smile after the game! It's making for a very busy and chaotic fall with three kids in sports... but all is well!!! Everyone is having FUN and that's what counts!!!

Butterfly Release with Mrs. Baum

A few months ago, one of Mark's clients... Mr. Baum passed away. He and his wife never had any children and had no family to speak of. Mrs. Baum asked if Mark and our family would join her and a friend at a special Butterfly Release that was being done by Hospice. We were delighted to spend the afternoon with her and remember Mr. Baum in this unique way.

The sight of literally hundreds of Monarch butterflies in the sky is an amazing sight to say the least!!!

This shot does not even come close to portraying the sky that was literally FULL of butterflies. A total of 300 were released all at once... in memory of those that have passed on, and the loved ones that we left behind.

Reese was mesmerized by the surprise of little butterflies coming out of the boxes. She held a few of the boxes before the release and those poor little wings were just twittering away inside. They wanted out soooo bad!!!

LOVE IT!!! (oh.. and she had to wear the butterfly dress in honor of the occasion!)

Mrs. Baum and her friend.. it was a beautiful day! This is a friend of hers from high school that she has staying in contact with all these years.

Our handsome and beautiful little crew!!! These kids were SOOOO good that day!!!! It was a Sunday afternoon... hot... and they had to be quiet and dressed up. They were amazing! Thanks kids for being so good!

PINKALICIOUS!!!!!

Reese has taken a great liking to the book...Pinkalicious. In the book, the little girl eats SOOO many pink cupcakes, that she actually turns pink! Well, one day when Reese was sick with a bad cold, I promised her that I would make pink cupcakes for her. As you can see from her face... she loved the whole idea of any food that was pink. Especially cake! She couldn't wait for the cupcakes to be done and had to have... of course...pink milk to go with it! Sorry - they didn't stick around long enough to get any after shots... her brothers ate them faster than she did. I guess they hadn't read the book... what if they turned pink? ha ha ha!

Wendy

Garden Bounty

As I have gotten to the end of my garden, we went out last night to start clearing things off and this was all pulled out in the process!!!

We had so many tomatoes in a web of vines that it was becoming impossible to get to the ripe fruit. With many of them so heavy that they were tipping over the tomato cages, I decided it was time to rip out half of them. Looks like we will be making spaghetti sauce tonight... and maybe some fried green tomatoes!

Thanks to seed potatoes from my friend Oralee... we got all these little guys!

Jalapeno poppers anyone??? Maybe jalapeno jelly... something HOT is for sure in the future with all of these!!!

Surprise find... Mark planted carrots in the spring, but they never came up. Or so we thought!!! In removing the tomatoes from our top bed, Mark found these beauties! What a joy it is to have a garden... if only we could get out kids to eat what comes out of the garden!

Can I just say how much we love this handsome kid!!! Tanner is definitely going through the teenage years in full force, but all of that aside what a blessing he is to our family! I just have to share his accomplishments this summer... as most of you may have heard, Tanner has been running quite the lawn mowing business this spring and summer. After his trip to Utah last spring, he came home determined to rebuild his bank account. He decided that he was going to start a lawn mowing business.. and that day he made fliers, delivered them to the entire neighborhood and had his first two customers by the end of the day. Tanner then spent the majority of the summer mowing lawns everyday... 10 customers on a weekly basis to be exact! He has raked in a load of cash and has been able to save a LOT. With a financial planner as a dad.. you can guarantee that savings was a must!!! He also was able to buy a few items for his business including an old John Deere riding mower and a backpack blower.... and still had a little left over to purchase some fun things too. We are so proud of Tanner and his hard work ethic. He has had several comments from customers that he was giving them a much better service than the professional companies that they had hired in the past... and for a much more reasonable price! Way to go Tanner!!! Keep up the good WORK!!! We are proud of you!!!

Happy Birthday Brennan... #11!!!

Brennan had the joy of spending his birthday on the football field in full uniform for the first time. Pop Warner had the Jamboree that day, which meant, he played four games against other teams in a short 20 minute game of 10 minutes offense and 10 minutes defense. He was THRILLED to have a shirt with his name on the back! Ah the little things that kids get excited about!

Love that Birthday smile!!! It was so hot that day!

A shot of the action...

Brennan's prized birthday present... a cell phone! HELLO!!!! I think that we as parents are nuts... but after having several miscommunications with his coach as to what time practice was over, we decided since he was in middle school too that it was time to get him his own phone. With five kids .. three of them having sports practices at the same time, we are not the typical sporting parents. We just cannot physically sit at all the 2 1/2 hour practices and wait like other parents can. Now at least Brennan can call us when they are done and we can come and get him! He has certainly found the benefits of texting all his friends too!

FIESTA!!! After a long day, I was not ready to make a huge birthday dinner for Brennan that evening... so we went out for his next best thing... MEXICAN! Complete with the sombrero and singing waitors. It was a fun night! Happy Birthday Brennan ... we are so lucky to have you in our family!!!

Brennan's Birthday Present... with a Twist!

Brennan - Getting ready for the big game... totally unaware of the security guard in the background that he soon would become familiar with!

Hmmm..."Dad - do you think they just saw me throw that paper airplane?" I hope not!

Ah - I think I'm in the clear!!! This is my birthday present for my 11th birthday and my first time to an NFL game. ( Brennan was SOOOO excited to go with Mark to the game!)

Well - more details now and the real story... Finally safe and sound back in their seats after being detained in the security / police department. It seems that the security guards were walking around carrying a very heavy stick that evening. Brennan, not knowing that it would be against the rules, threw a paper airplane out into the stadium. It seems that the security guards felt this was something that they should be automatically ejected from the game for. However, when they got down to the police department in the bottom of the stadium, the police thought it was the funniest thing ever!!! They said "Are you kidding? ... a paper airplane? and your 11? " They immediately called the head of security and were escorted back to their seats. Now the security department is trying to find a way to make it up to Brennan since he missed a lot of the game and was scared half out of his whits being treated like a full on criminal!!! We'll have to see how the end turns out, but they were very happy to see the Steelers win against the hometown crowd! The jury is still out on whether or not the Steelers apparel got them kicked out or let back in.

OCD ??? I hope NOT!!!

This girl LOVES to wash her hands... a LOT! Several times a day ... soaking her self in the process each time.

Maybe it's the YUMMY smelling soap... or the fact that it comes out as a really fun foam...

but this is always the result! Soap everywhere and a little girl who needs help to get it all off. We even tried hiding the soap for a day, but that's not a good idea with four boys who struggle to wash their hands as it is! So for now... Reese will still have soap to play in.... and Mommy will have a lot of soggy, soapy clothes to wash. Maybe we'll save money on the laundry soap bill!

Back to School 2009

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Let's Get Ready for Some FOOTBALL!!!

Brennan is in all of his glory this year to be finally able to play football. He has begged for the past few years, but this is the first year that Mom finally gave her consent! All dressed in his gear for the first time... but just for practice. He can't WAIT for his real jersey and uniform.

Heisman Trophy Winner in the making... scrimmage night.

"Do I look like a dork with this red hat on my helmet?" It really was quite humorous! Tomorrow is the Jamboree where he will play several different teams all afternoon and then real games will begin next Saturday. Fall is definitely here!