FiveZikes

Back yard photo shoot with the new dogs

2012-01-26T20:48:00.003-06:00

Kenz decided she wanted a backyard photo shoot with our two new dogs, Cooper and Prince, for her Christmas cards. I just let her run around and play while I snapped some fun action shots.

PND Dance Clinic

2012-01-26T20:43:00.001-06:00

Notre Dame dance team held a dance clinic one morning and then they performed the routine at a basketball game. Kenz and one of her friends attended and had a fun time.

November mass and Veteran's Day at school

2012-01-26T20:36:00.002-06:00

Kenz had two exciting events at school in November. First was doing a reading at the all school mass. She did a great job! Next was the Veteran's Day breakfast that the student council puts on every year. This year we invited Grandpa Bob & Grandma Vi. They did a great job at honoring all of the Veterans.

Gymnastics Fall 2011

2012-01-26T20:32:00.001-06:00

Red/Orange at Jump Start Gymnastics.

Six flags & Trunk or Treat

2012-01-26T20:29:00.000-06:00

Wildlife Prairie Park

2012-01-26T20:25:00.000-06:00

Holy Family Soccer 1st Grade

2012-01-26T20:23:00.000-06:00

Family time

2012-01-26T20:19:00.001-06:00

We headed to Mattoon in September to celebrate Adam & Sarah's marriage. Always a good time!

1st Day of First Grade

2012-01-26T20:16:00.000-06:00

Sassy much?

2012-01-26T19:57:00.004-06:00

The last birthday celebration was a girls weekend in Chicago with American girl, Navy Pier, and Lincoln Park Zoo on the agenda. First stop was a birthday lunch at American Girl.

Then we headed to Navy Pier for some rides and sightseeing.

After that we headed back to the hotel, went across the street to the "Rock & Roll" McDonalds. They thought that was super cool with the escalator inside. We got back in time to do a little bit of swimming and then get ready for bed.

The next morning we were up early to catch a cab to the zoo before we headed back home.

2012-01-26T19:50:00.002-06:00

The next party was our combined family party with cousin Caitlin. Since they share a birthday, sometimes they share a party too! This year we celebrated at Caitlins house. Kenzee got many great gifts as well as a trip to get her American Girl doll that Nan had promised her.

2012-01-26T19:39:00.002-06:00

Kenzees first party in August was a sleepover in a "Rock Star" theme. We invited a few girls from school to get hair, nails, & makeup done before seeing the Smurfs movie, swimming, doing cake and presents and then playing Smurf dance party. I thought they would sleep good after that. HA! I was wrong, they were up til almost 11. Needless to say, Mama needed a nap the next day.

2012-01-26T19:29:00.002-06:00

We took a weekend trip to Indianapolis in late July. Our friends, the Millers went with us and we stayed at a hotel with an indoor waterpark. We spent Saturday at the zoo and Sunday at the children's museum.

June

2011-08-23T20:50:00.004-05:00

Miss Serenity was baptized in June at Jo and Alonziea's church. They were so blessed to be surrounded by so many members of our family. It was a great day.

Kenz played T Ball for the park district but most of her teammates were also classmates from HF. She did a pretty good job but I think there is a little too much down time for her attention span. There may or may not have been many dirt mounds built when she was out in the field.

May.2 Dance recital, soccer, and Courts Grad

2011-08-22T21:28:00.004-05:00

Courts graduation from University of Illinois in May.

Kenz finishing up the park district soccer season in much nicer weather than what we started with.

Kenzee in her "Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" jazz performance.

Some posed pics from Kenzees jazz recital at the Civic Center

May.1

2011-08-22T21:09:00.006-05:00

Kenzee with her teacher, mrs Nester, her after care caretaker Jeannie, and Kenzee with her class at the prayer service on the last day of school.

Kenzee's bf Bryce's birthday party.

some pics of our new niece Serenity when we got to babysit her while mama celebrated her bday!

Kenz & Kya at the dance picture session.

Kenzee's class at the courthouse for Brown Bag It

April

2011-08-15T21:59:00.015-05:00

April was an exciting month for us. We welcomed Baby Serenity, celebrated Easter, played more soccer, had our school dance recital, and took advantage of some warm sunny days.

March 2011

2011-08-10T21:57:00.004-05:00

In March we started practice in the freezing cold for Park District soccer. The first game they were playing in sleet/snow but they did great! I am pretty sure the parents complained more than the kids did.

Kenz got to go out on the ice during a Rivermen game for being the top fundraiser for Jump Rope for Heart at her school. She of course thought that was very cool.

Took Kenz and Caitlin to Monkey Joe's shortly after they opened.

January 2011

2011-08-01T20:15:00.004-05:00

Daisy meeting

Blizzard days

After picking Kenz up from school for a dentist appt, we decided to pick cousin KK up for some fun at Chuck e Cheese

Christmas Day

2011-08-01T20:07:00.002-05:00

Christmas night at Grandma Moni's

Christmas day at Nan's

Christmas morning at home

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-08-01T19:59:00.002-05:00

The girls opening up some Christmas eve Jammers and leaving out the snacks.

Christmas Eve with the Bushell side at Mike & Laurie's

2011-08-01T19:39:00.006-05:00

Kenz and Blake after dinner one night

New Sea World Barbie

BOwling date w/ Mommy and Sissy

Snuggled with Aunt Winnie

Christmas party at school

Kenzee giving Santa a hug at the Pancake breakfast at HF

Kenzee and her new Build a Puppy and the tree in her room

Kenzee and Lilly at Build a Bear

A girl and her puppy

where do i even begin?

2011-08-01T19:28:00.003-05:00

Some pics of KEnz when she had her tonsils out at the beginning of November. She had a pretty rough recovery as she is a little particular about food and wouldn't eat for weeks. Luckily we had Disney to bribe her with.

Day 5 - Hollywood Studios & Nick breakfast

2011-04-14T22:44:00.007-05:00

Kenz and I woke up bright and early to do the character buffet at our hotel. Kenz loved dancing and posing with the characters and she got to go up front for her birthday. So fun. We spent the rest of the day at Hollywood Studios watching shows and riding a few rides. The shows we watched included the Playhouse Disney show, a Muppet show, a stunt show (which I can't find pics of), and the Beauty & the Beast show. Kenz rode the Tower of Terror with Court and I and said it was her favorite! I couldn't believe it becuase it def terrified me! Court and I rode the super fast Aerosmith roller coaster. That's more my type of ride. Kenz also played on the Honey I shrunk the kids playground. Another fun day!

Day 4 - Back to Magic Kingdom

2011-04-13T21:23:00.008-05:00

Well, it looks like they uploaded backwards as usual. Day 4 was one of our longest days. We spent a great day at Magic Kingdom. Our day was full of the Buzz Lightyear ride, Monsters Inc show, parades, ice cream with Mickey sprinkles, visiting Mickey & Minnies houses, character meetings, and then we stayed late to watch the castle being lit up. It was quite a fun filled day! I think I'm already ready to go back! Join us tomorrow for the Nick character breakfast and Hollywood Studios.

Day 3 - Sea world shows

2011-02-01T14:22:00.002-06:00

The first show we did was the whale show. It was neat, Kenz was upset that we didnt get wet. I was ok with that, seeing as it had been drizzling all day.

Day 3 - Sea world rides

2011-02-01T14:06:00.004-06:00

ok, well apparently i only have two ride pics, and i was going to show you the funny ones, i will have to get those from court. so here are some other randoms from the day

Kenz loved the manatees, they are so ugly theyre cute! love em... its so sad to see all the scars all over them. all the ones at sea world are rescues, very cool.

Day 3 - Sea World

2011-02-01T13:54:00.003-06:00

Well, it was a cold dreary and drizzly day, but Im sure that kept the crowds awaY. They had it decorated reaaly neat for Christmas. We did the kiddy rides, the polar express ride, a couple of shows (by far my favorite part), and one coaster (Court had a headache so that was the end of that). Fun day!

Day 2 -Speedway tour

2011-02-01T13:42:00.003-06:00

Ummm, yeah we went on the speedway tour, and you all probably know what this stuff is more than i do, so..... here's the pics, I have no idea what anything is. I should have taken notes, ha!

Daytona Beach

2011-02-01T13:36:00.003-06:00

We walked around on the beach for awhile, Kenz loved it! It was actually her second time at the beach but the first time that she remembered. The water was pretty chilly and there were tons of jellyfish on the beach. Not sure if that is typical or not, but I was stressing she would step on one.

Day 2 Daytona BEach and Speedway

2011-02-01T13:28:00.003-06:00

On Saturday we headed to Daytona for the day. We stopped at the speedway, went to the beach, ate at 5 guys, then did the speedway tour on the way back. The weather was perfect that day. Im glad we didnt wait until Sunday, because it was cold and rainy that day!

Disney day 1

2011-01-04T21:50:00.005-06:00

Friday morning we hopped on the first shuttle to Disney, we were there for the opening which was such a neat experience to share with Kenz.

Getting settled in.....

2011-01-04T21:31:00.007-06:00

our first day there we spent settling into our hotel and checking it all out. Being as it was Kenzee's birthday trip, we stayed at the Nickelodeon hotel. Kenz was in Heaven. There were characters everywhere. She of course insisted that we go swimming so we did that before it got much cooler. It was pretty warm in the pool but once you got out it was pretty uncomfortable. We changed into some clothes and then watched the nightly snow celebration with music and dancing and fake snow swirling around. After that we checked out the little game room and then sat in one of the game shows. Pretty fun night!

Ya'll ready for this?

2011-01-04T21:27:00.002-06:00

Might as well start at the beginning. This is going to take a lot of posts, should keep me busy for a while. We flew out of the B-N airport the Thursday before Thanksgiving. Here's Kenz getting ready for her second plane trip, the first that she actually remembers.

up next

2010-11-28T20:03:00.002-06:00

Thought I would catch up on October before I take on the huge task of sorting through all 1400 Florida pictures. Other than having Kenzee's tonsils out, that's all we really did in November. We'll see if I get them done in November, 2 days to go!

Kenz and CayCay

2010-11-28T19:59:00.004-06:00

We went to Family signing time to learn some halloween signs and met Molly, CAitlin, and Patrick there. I was able to snap one quick pic before the fun started!

Trick or Treat

2010-11-28T19:55:00.002-06:00

We always stick around our neighborhood for trick or treating, this year we had a couple friends call at the last minute to join us. The more the merrier!!

Trunk or Treat

2010-11-28T19:50:00.002-06:00

We went to Trunk or Treat at the school again this year. We have a group of friends from Kenzee's class that do things together so we all parked together.

Kindergarten Halloween Party

2010-11-28T19:21:00.003-06:00

I was able to sneak away from work to join the Kindergarteners at their Halloween party. Too cute!

October

2010-11-28T19:10:00.002-06:00

Here's some pics from our "Annual" fall party. I think this was our 3rd or 4th year to do this, it's always so much fun!

MS Walk & St Phils Fall Fest

2010-09-30T19:23:00.003-05:00

Two more things we always do that mark the beginning of fall for us are the MS Walk and the St Phils Fall Fest. We do the MS Walk to support our cousing Katie who is fighting this disease with hope and grace. Such a beautiful person inside and out.

Tanner's

2010-09-30T19:08:00.005-05:00

Oh yeah, this is a September post IN SEPTEMBER, can't believe it can you? We tried to make it to Tanner's to meet our cousins to play but that didn't work out. We invited some friends to join us for the fun though. It was a nasty morning but ended up being a beautiful afternoon, so the crowds weren't as bad as they usually are! Here is the overload of pics.....

2010-09-30T18:55:00.005-05:00

Kenzee enjoying her last time with her old swingset. She got a new bigger one for her birthday but was still sad to let this one go. She asked that we take pictures so she can remember it and wrote a note to the new kids that will be playing on it.

First day of KINDERGARTEN!! are you serious, what happened here??!!?!

Kenzee's first time on the Illinois River, on Grandpa Roger's boat with our personal DJ Joseph Matthew.

Kenzee and Tyson at the first annual American Cancer Society Walk & Roll. Thank you again to all that donated to this cause. It means so much.

Birthday Festivities

2010-09-30T18:35:00.005-05:00

Kenz was sick the week before her birthday but finally started feeling a little better on her actual birthday. We celebrated with her first mani/pedi with her sissy and friends Madi & Haylee. After that we went to Spotted Cow for lunch and headed home. She had her birthday party with friends from school on Saturday and a joint party with Caitlin for the family party. We were blessed with perfect weather for swimming and playing outside. Molly and I made the girls' cakes again this year per request.

Grant Farm and St Louis Zoo

2010-09-29T21:13:00.006-05:00

We also made a trip down to StL in July with the Millers. We had a great weekend but it was HOOOTTTTTT! It was like 100 degrees and there was a gorilla sleeping under the yellow blanket, too funny. The other 2 gorillas were playing and having a standoff. I love the giraffes, I could stand there and watch them all day!

4th of July

2010-09-29T21:07:00.003-05:00

We went downtown to watch the fireworks with the Miller's. The kids had a good time running around while we waited for the fireworks to start. The flag cake was Kenz's creation. She kept telling me she wanted to make a flag cake and I figured she had seen a commercial or an ad with a 9x13 cake with the strawberry and blueberry flag. Oh no, it needed a gold flag pole with a ball on top and icing stars and stripes. I had to convince her there was no way i could fit 50 stars on there. Pretty cute!

Softball

2010-09-29T20:52:00.004-05:00

June pretty much consisted of softball. Kenzee played for the LGSA which was a 4-7 year old coach pitch softball league. She was probably the youngest and definitely the smallest one there. She always surprises me with her natural athletic abilities, probably because I have none! She was a good hitter but the outfield was not her forte. It was pretty hot out there and she is not a fan of the heat. She would pretty much take a seat and not move. Oh my....

Happy Birthday Kenzee Girl!

2010-08-06T01:00:00.001-05:00

Five years ago this beautiful little girl made me a mommy. She has taught me so many things and filled my life with love. Today she turns 5, in 2 weeks she starts kindergarten, time flies! Five of my favorite things about Kenzee as she turns 5
~She is compassionate, the first one to comfort a crying classmate or friend, trying to make it better
~She is brilliant, I love watching her as she processes something or learns something new
~She is funny, she loves to laugh and to make people laugh
~She loves to dance and shake her booty, she can't wait to start jazz in the fall!
~She is soooo independent and confident, she knows exactly what she wants and how she wants it, and as much as that drives us crazy now, I think it will benefit her later in life.
Happy Birthday Kenzeroo, Mommy and Daddy love you!

May Days

2010-06-02T20:17:00.005-05:00

May was super busy but apparently I didn't do a very good job of documenting it! Our weekends were filled with soccer, softball, Mother's day, dance recitals, birthday parties, and a whole lot of cookouts to celebrate Memorial Day and the beginning of summer. Kenzee finished up soccer which she loved, started softball practice, which she is so-so about, and also finished up tap, which she has decided to take jazz next year. Anyone that knows her will know this will be a better fit for my little booty shaker! We also went to see Haylee in her jazz recital, they both did such a great job! and here is round 2 of the overload.....

Quarterly Update

2010-06-02T19:45:00.008-05:00

Ha, that's what these are becoming! I am trying to get better really! It looks like I need to go way back to April... so let's see in April we had easter egg hunts, easter, soccer started, and the school dance recital. Now prepare yourself for the picture overload.....

Little athlete

2010-03-24T22:17:00.002-05:00

Kenzee has been very anxious to start soccer, so I told her I would sign her up for a soccer class before her soccer season actually started. Well, apparently the class filled up REALLY fast, so I had to register her for the "All Star" class. This meant one sport a week, I thought it would be good to teach her the basics of all of them. She was not so excited. She is the only girl in the class, but loves going now. So far she has done baseball, basketball, and football. Unfortunately we were out of town for the soccer session. Anyway, here are some of the pics I've snapped of her in action.

March

2010-03-24T22:04:00.003-05:00

Haylee turned 6 this month! HOly SmoKes do i have a friend old enough to have a child that old? Does that make me old? woah..... Anyway Haylee had a swimming party for a few friends. Poor Madi got sick right before the party started and had to stay home! The girls had a great time swimming and eating cake.

February

2010-03-24T21:52:00.002-05:00

Most importantly our new little nephew, Patrick, was born! Here's Kenz meeting him for the first time....
Kenz also took in her first hockey (Rivermen) game. It wasn't quite as exciting as I remembered, but she had a great time! They had a few activities set up for the kiddos before hand, so that was great!
And here's a shot of her with her giant tire ear phones at the Monster Truck Jam! too funny.....

Little Colton was baptised this month also. We almost missed out on this as we went to the wrong church and had to fly up to the right one to get there for the baptism! Oh well, we made it!

where do i even start?

2010-03-24T21:46:00.003-05:00

do i attempt to start where i left off? well here goes........
We took advantage of a long weekend and headed to Chicago for the weekend. We went to the Shedd aquarium first, checked into our hotel, had a fun dinner at Ed Debevic's, then woke up the next morning and checked out "Blue Man Group". We all had a great time on our mini vacation. That's all I really remember now....

It's just what I've been wishing for....

2009-12-30T23:00:00.002-06:00

so one of Kenz's big requests this Christmas was a pink kids Snuggie. I passed this on to Mike & Molly and they came through. With matching pink non slip socks. Whe was so excited when she opened it and said, It's just what I have been wishing for! Too funny....

1st Gingerbread house

2009-12-30T22:37:00.002-06:00

Kenz and I did our first ever gingerbread house. I iced, she decorated. She decided she did not like the taste of the gingerbread.

Breakfast with Santa

2009-12-30T22:31:00.002-06:00

The Boy Scouts at Kenzee's school put on a breakfast with Santa every year. We went for the first time this year and had a good time. We met up with Lilly again but saw many other kids from her class as well as Ty with his grandparents and my second cousin Felicia with her son Ty. The kids had a fun time running around after breakfast.

Festival of Lights parade

2009-12-30T22:16:00.003-06:00

We have always gone to the Festival of Lights parade, but this year we had great accomodations. We were invited to go with a friend of Kenzee's to one of the banks on the parade route to watch the parade. Great parking, food, a place to potty, and a place to warm up. We had a great time with Kathy, Kevin, & Lilly! These are some of the floats I found funny, Santa on a treadmill, Frosty looked like he was uh, smoking his pipe, and the energizer bunny........

Christmas program

2009-12-30T22:12:00.002-06:00

Kenzee's Christmas program this year was Christmas around the world.
Her class sang It's a small world and He's got the whole world in his hands. Each child wore a different hat representative of different countries. The pictures weren't that great as you can't use a flash. Maybe next year I will have a better camera. ;*)

Catch up

2009-12-30T22:02:00.002-06:00

Well the first thing I have pictures of is tea with the queen. Chad's aunt Jackie throws the greatest little party's. Everything is always to a T and this time was no exception. She invited young girls in the family as well as from her church to have tea with the queen the day after Thanksgiving. After tea and lunch came what I think was the girls' favorite part, the fashion show. There was a little runway set up that the girls walked down after many wardrobe changes. The girls had a great time, Thanks Jackie!

Love you Betty

2009-11-04T13:02:00.002-06:00

Elizabeth Lynn Recar Vorrath went home to meet the Lord at 11:30 last night. She was surrounded by her friends and family that loved and cared for her so much.
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
John 11:25-26

halloween

2009-11-01T19:33:00.003-06:00

Kenz was Tinkerbell for halloween, and there was no changin her mind. Guess those days are over. She picked out a pattern for her jack o lantern that looked like Little Monster from Dora. Court and Charlie helped her gut it and cut it. Looks like they had fun.

Pics

2009-11-01T19:16:00.006-06:00

Well Kenz wasn't quite in a cooperative mood, but we got a lot of cute pics.

Fall fun

2009-10-18T21:05:00.008-05:00

We had a little get together on Saturday with friends, new and old. We had a great time and thank goodness we had a photographer on hand cause I failed to even get my camera out. Way too much goin on, my ADD was in full effect. The kids did "bobbing for donuts" which they loved, but we had a blast watching them too!

some other cute party guests....
ok, blogger is bein a pain and i am losing patience for the night....

It's official

2009-10-05T21:15:00.002-05:00

She's a big girl! We moved Kenzee to a big girl bed yesterday, she looks so tiny in it!

Bowling and a party

2009-10-05T21:13:00.003-05:00

Just a couple pics from Kenz's first time bowling and a party we went to this weekend.

Helpin a friend out

2009-10-05T21:05:00.002-05:00

Anybody reading knows the story of Beth and her family. Also, many of you have donated in some way to her. I am excited to tell you that last week Beth, Ron, Ty, and Mary (her mom) were able to take a week long trip to Florida. They were able to go to the beach, Disney, Magic Kingdom, and many more places. I am also very excited that we were able to help them in yet another way! While they were gone we did a "home makeover" for them. The number of people that worked together for that week was amazing! So many people love this girl and her family! We painted, cleaned, organized, cooked, ripped awnings off, did yardwork, decorated, and so many other things! This has allowed Beth to relax and spend time being with her family. Thanks to everyone involved!

St Phils Fall Fest

2009-10-05T20:51:00.003-05:00

Every year Kenzee and I go to the St Phils fall fest. She rode her first rides here when she was one! This year Kenz woke up with a fever of 104 on the day we were to go. She continued with the fever and no other symptoms, I took her to the Dr Friday and they gave us some antibiotics. Saturday night I thought she was feeling better and it was the last night of the festival, which i kept promising her we would go to. So we headed out that night for a quick round of games and rides. 2 more days of fever and coughing and we headed back to the dr and then on to the hospital for a round of tests. It ended up she had pneumonia and they switched her antibiotics and she is now on the mend! Anyway here are the ride pics~

We can't forget

2009-10-05T20:48:00.003-05:00

Court's 21st birthday! Chad and I met Court and her friends at PI for her first (legal) drink. From there, they were off for the night downtown.

Walking with hope for Katie!

2009-10-05T20:45:00.003-05:00

The next day Kenzee and I joined Brian, Gina, Katie and family, Beth and family, Grandma Moni, Grandpa Chuck and Mathew for the MS walk. It could not have been a more perfect day.

Really?

2009-10-05T20:37:00.002-05:00

It's October already? This has been one crazy month already. It looks like i have to go all the way back to September to catch up. We'll see what I remember. I believe it was 3 or 4 weeks ago that Court was home as well as Katie, Beth, and their families. It's not often that we get all of our families together at the same time, so this was a great opportunity for all of us to catch up. We went to Tanner's on a perfect Saturday morning for some good play time, snacking, and of course apples too!Even CayCay was able to join in the fun.

Back to School....

2009-08-23T15:25:00.003-05:00

Wow, this summer flew by. Kenzee finished up her summer tumbling class at Jump Start and officially is back in school now! We are going to try an actual dance class this fall and see how that goes, so for now she said good bye to Miss Thecla.

Next party

2009-08-23T15:19:00.002-05:00

Kenzee's next party was the next day at the Children's Discovery Museum in Normal. We shared this party with Jack & Lilly from her class at Holy Family. About ten of their preschool (pre-K now) friends were able to come and have a good time with them. My friend made the super cute cakes for each of them which we never even cut into beacuse of the cupcakes! The kids all had a blast and nobody wanted to leave of course!

more pics

2009-08-23T15:16:00.001-05:00

this is gonna be a long one

2009-08-23T15:07:00.002-05:00

August was a REALLY busy month. Kenzee turned 4 on the 6th along with a WHole BUnCh of other people. Kenzee shares her birthday with her cousin Caitlin, her FaVorITe teacher ever Mrs Pauli, and 2 other kids from her class. This year we decided to double up on our parties and do them together. First we had Caitlin and Kenzees party at Caitlins house. It was a pretty gloomy day outside but did clear up in time for a little pinata action. That was the only thing that Kenzee asked for every time I asked what she wanted for her birthday party. Other than that she went back and forth between princess, dora, and something else. We had a great time with all of our familys and lots of food and presents....

Fireworks

2009-07-13T19:28:00.002-05:00

Court and I took Kenz to the Glen Oak fireworks on Friday night which is always a good time. Then Kenz and I got up Saturday morning and went to the West Peoria parade as is our tradition. We are so dedicated we sat there in the pouring rain for over an hour, cuddled up with a blanket around us and an umbrella overhead. We just had to see Lindsay and Mckenna as well as Grammy and Sheila. The rest of the day stayed the same, wet and cold. Which made for a pretty miserable fireworks experience on the riverfront. They were cool, but we were freezin. Yeah, that was cheesy.... So without further adieu

Checking in....

2009-07-13T19:23:00.002-05:00

for the month of June. Where does the time go..... Amy and I took the girls to a Chiefs game, Kenzee's first, and it was HAWT! We had great seats and a great time. The girls got up and danced on the dug out and Kenzee ran right up to Homer for a big hug. We actually stuck it out for most of the game.

Overload....

2009-06-08T22:22:00.002-05:00

Court and I took Kenz to Heritage Days on the first night when it was a little cool and had been sprinkling. Good plan, no lines, got in and out. She also got to see her beloved Mrs Pauli and give her a big hug! In other HD news, court won a 32" flat screen playing (or having her friends play) darts. That happened right after I left from my raffle booth shift. The other pics are an example of one of the many getups that Kenz will put on in a day. She cracks me up. Some I let her wear, others not so much.

School's out for summer

2009-06-08T22:14:00.002-05:00

Kenzee and I made books with gift cards in them for her teachers on the last day of school. I am kicking myself for forgetting to take pics of them, they were so cute. Of course I waited til the last minute to even think about a teacher's gift. These were seriously the best teacher's I think Kenz will ever have. They both cared so much about each student and really worked to know each one's personality. So here is Kenz giving them their gifts. Not the greatest pics, but the teachers and I all started crying so that was the end of that. Haylee also had her preschool grad and Madi was thoroughly enjoying her cupcake afterwards.

mother's day tea

2009-06-08T22:05:00.002-05:00

I received a special invitation to have tea with Kenz the Thursday before Mother's Day. We were instructed to wear our fancy clothes and that we did. Kenz was soooo excited to escort me to my seat at the fancy table. They had decorated with flowers and doilies and gave us beautiful corsages to wear for the festivities. We first had pink lemonade, mini cupcakes, mints, and fruit kabobs. After we ate we were treated to a couple of books and then it was time to perform. (I was even shushed by my rule stickler daughter during the performance. I swear it wasn't me talking!!)
After this we were presented with bracelets that they made and picked out our favorite color for the middle "jewel". hmmm need to hunt that down and take a pic. Then we went outside to play for a little while.

summer is in full swing

2009-06-08T21:56:00.003-05:00

In true summer fashion i have faithfully neglected my blogging duties. and my friends and family have been so kind to let me know. In the nicest way of course. so I will look back and see what happened in may. i am sure this will take more than one post. just be warned. and this will be in no particular order. backwards at best.
Race for the Cure for Mrs Maroon. I am sure most of you know, because you so kindly donated, Mrs Maroon is ( was :( )Kenz's beloved preschool teacher's aide. She was diagnosed with breast cancer near the end of the year and the school and class have done so many things to help. This one was quite the tear jerker, most of the kids joined a race for the cure team in her honor and had shirts made that say Mrs Maroons little angels. they were so stinkin cute that day.
The pics are of the 3 amigos, and at the end of the race kenz found her best amigo aka haylee. like they hadn't seen each other in years...

April Happenings

2009-05-03T14:40:00.005-05:00

So I have to look back at the pictures to see what we did in April.
It looks like we finally taught Kenzee how to bowl on the Wii and she almost beat me. (Anyone that has ever seen me at any sport won't find this too hard to believe.) Or did she beat me?
And most importantly the cast came off last Friday. The Dr said he was surprised that she walked on it right away.(with some bribing of course) He also said she would probably walk funny on it for up to a month and if it lasted any longer than that to give htem a call, otherwise, no need to see her back.

The next morning we headed off to Matton for a quick visit with the aunts and to haul some of CorCor's stuff home for the summer! Kenz is so excited to see her sissy in just a couple more weeks! Kenzee had a great time in Mattoon even though her "cousins" weren't able to come play this time. We managed to keep her entertained somehow.

Now get ready for the overload of pics from her dance recital at school last week. Too stinkin cute~ They were sure tired by the second day of it though. They had rehearsal at school on Wed which I went in and helped out with. Talk about chaos, getting 18 3 year old's in costumes and multiple pics taken and dress rehearsal. Then they performed that night and the next, made for one tired Kenz.

~!@Frustrated)(%

2009-04-13T21:41:00.003-05:00

Sooooo Kenzee hurt her leg on Thursday jumping on a trampoline. I am not upset that she got hurt, things happen. The events that have happened since then have me a TAD bit frustrated. First we head to the ER and sit and sit and sit, we were finally called to a triage room where they did vitals and took some info. and we go back to another room, wait, take x rays, wait, talk to doctor, wait, get discharged. Kenzee was only complaining about her knee but they took x rays of her whole leg. Everything looks fine, probably just some deep bruising, heat, ice, blah blah blah. 4 hours later, headed home. Friday morning, Kenzee is kicking her legs, fully bending knee, so we convince her to try to stand on it. Kenzee falls to ground screaming. Fri afternoon, ER calls please come back, radiologist saw something, we will splint it for the weekend and make an appt for an ortho on Monday. Go to ER, tell us about her "buckle", could be a break or a sprain, bone is bent, yadda yadda... Spend weekend at zoo, birthday party, and easter egg hunt, with 40 lb child strapped to my neck.... Monday morning, ortho, Nurse "looks fine, not sure what they saw" PA "well looks like it was sprained, prob healed by now" Dr "how do you work this computer, kenzee try to walk, yeah it is broken, cast it for 10 days and try to get her to walk". This is where the story gets good. Mom to school "kenzee broke her leg and is in a cast, she isn't walking on it yet, but the dr's want her to. would you like me to bring in her stroller or a wheelchair to make it easier to move her around?" School to mom "um, the principal is on vacation and the teacher's aide can't lift anything right now, please keep her at home until she goes to the dr again" MOm "??????!!!!!!!******" WTHeck are you KiddING ME?! I feel better, how bout you?

Mrs. Maroon

2009-04-01T20:44:00.003-05:00

Many of you received an email from me, but I thought I would put it here also! One of Mckenzee's teachers was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She has already had her first surgery and is scheduled for the second one over spring break. All of the kids just love "Mrs Mawoon" and can't stand it when she is gone. Lucky for everybody, she gets back to the kids just as soon as she can! Mrs. Pauli, the brave soul, has asked all 18 of the preschoolers to walk a mile in the Race for the Cure in May. We have Kenz all signed up, now we just need to raise a little money! If anyone has a couple dollars to donate, you can either go online to www.komenpeoria.org and search for Mrs. Maroon's Little Angels or contact me and I will make the donation for you! Thanks for your help! (It seems to be fundraising season, sorry if I have hit anyone up a lot lately!)

Happy St Patty's Day

2009-03-17T21:15:00.001-05:00

from the little leprechauns

At a glance.....

2009-03-11T22:12:00.003-05:00

Well, it seems February flew by, and unfortunately my camera and I were separated for most of it. Here is what I have to show for the month. Beth's 30th birthday kicked off the month, and kicked my booty too! Just ask Chad..... He is happy to tell the story. We have also started back up with tumbling, Kenzee really likes it, I wasn't sure how it would be taking 3 months off, but it's been good. Kenzee is doing good with her tubes, just a couple little colds since then, nothing like she had before. Grammy went to Mexico, so I took that Monday off, took Kenzee to the ear dr, and headed to Chuck's with the Amy and the girls. We were supposed to go to the museum but found out at the last minute that they are closed on Mondays. Oh well! Ok, enough blabbing, here is what you are waiting for......

Thanks

2009-02-06T17:34:00.001-06:00

to everyone that called, wrote, sent flowers or just thought of Kylie yesterday! I will post pics of all of the flowers later!

Joining the club

2009-01-25T15:43:00.004-06:00

The tubes club......
Well, Kenzee has had an ear infection pretty much since school started. She had been through six rounds of antibiotics before she was referred to the ENT. They tested her hearing and said she was definitely not hearing like she should but the nerve didn't have any damage yet. With the hearing loss and multiple antibiotics she was a candidate for the surgery. Kenzee was very excited to go to the M hospital (Methodist) and get her tubes in so she could hear. (She told everyone she saw) Chad, Grammy, and I took her in Tuesday morning and waited and waited and waited. They finally took her back, gave her Versed (?), and watched her for an hour. Then they took her off to surgery. It only took about 10 minutes and we met her in a recovery room. Unfortunately she was not happy. She tore her scrubs off and refused to put any clothes on. She was screaming and kicking the glass doors trying to get out. About an hour and 3 nurses later, we got some clothes on her and were on our way. Here's a couple pics from the day

HB Chad

2009-01-04T22:17:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Chad
Happy Birthday to you!
We had a pretty low key celebration for Chad's birthday today. We just made a cake at home and hung around here.

Is it really January?

2009-01-04T21:26:00.004-06:00

Wow... So the holidays were a whirlwind. Chad came down with the flu on Christmas eve so that put a big damper on things for all of us. Court and I scurried around to get everything accomplished, but we managed. Then it was back to work on Friday. So here's the review in pics.......

Ornament swap

2008-12-18T15:52:00.002-06:00

I did an ornament swap recently and was lucky enough to be "peared" with Erin of PlumPearApple designs. She makes the most ADorAbLE capes for kids, and she carried that style on to the most wonderful ornament that she MADE for me! I love it!

Fun at Grammy's

2008-12-08T20:25:00.002-06:00

Every Monday Grammy & Papa keep all 3 of their granddaughters for the day. I think they are pretty worn out by the end of the day, but the girls will have some great memories of the times they spent with their Grammy and Papa!

Stuff

2008-12-08T20:14:00.003-06:00

We've been busy around here but nothing too exciting...
Last weekend Kenz and I decorated and then headed to the mall to ride the rocking horse. We walked around a bit, took some pics with Santa & Mrs Claus, and she rode the horse a couple of times. We were in Borders picking out a Christmas book and she said she was gonna "fro up a little bit" Well she made it home before she did. Anyway that's how we spent the rest of the weekend......
This weekend we did some baking, shopping, and then I went with Mom, Grandma Moni, & my aunt Gina to the Selah concert. (AWESOME!)
Sunday-church, baking, and Madi's birthday party.

There's a turkey on the loose....

2008-11-25T20:39:00.001-06:00

Hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

christmas pics

2008-11-22T20:03:00.000-06:00

Well, it's that time of year again where we try to capture some pics of our precious ones. Which one do you think I should use. Hmmmm, there's so many good ones, what a hard choice.

FREEEEE stuff

2008-11-13T15:42:00.002-06:00

Okay, I am retarded and don't know how to insert links but go to another funny chica on my sidebar to get the link for a FREE SNAPFISH PHOTO BOOK!!!! You have to visit the link by midnight friday and create the book by midnight Sunday, so get goin....
I LovE FREE!

Christmas

2008-11-10T16:31:00.002-06:00

Not to solicit presents, but this time of year, people start asking for ideas for Kenz for Christmas. Here is a list of some books and movies that she would enjoy. She has also been asking for one of the "fancy" leotards they have at Jump Start. The only other thing I can think of is some games for her vsmile.

Check it------------->

2008-11-08T09:19:00.002-06:00

Just added a button from Angie's blog ( www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com ). If you have never read her blog, you should. She is a wonderful Christian with a gift for writing. She has also experienced the loss of a baby earlier this year and has helped so many others in similar situations. Anyway, the button explains 7 days of prayer over your children 7 times a day.

early bird special

2008-11-04T14:22:00.003-06:00

I just found the CuTEsT Christmas photo cards for Cheap Cheap. They are on an early bird special through Nov 13th. jerilynphoto.com Don't be stealing mine though...

Yee Haw

2008-10-31T20:43:00.000-05:00

Just a quick glimpse of our halloween for those of you anxious to see the costume. Grammy whipped up this cute little vest and skirt. She was so cute because she had her script down perfect. Knock Knock, Trick or Treat, Happy Halloween, Yee Haw! It was a BEauTifUl night, don't remember the last time we trick or treated in short sleeves! Can't wait to see everyone else's pics! Happy Halloween!