Saturday, January 31, 2009
25 Random Things
Here's my 25 Random Things.
1. I sleep with a heating pad every night.
2. And 4 pillows.
3. I will celebrate 10 years of marriage to my high school sweetheart May 29th. We are still so in love. He is the cheese to my macaroni.
4. All 3 of my children were delivered in the same hospital, in the same room, by the same doctor. One in 2000, one in 2003 and one in 2006.
5. Although I love all of my children with all that is within me, I get sick to my stomach to think of being pregnant or having to deliver another one.
6. After not reading a book for at least 5 years, I have read 7 books since mid December. I'm turning over a new leaf and trying to use those long lost parts of my brain!
7. I have been trying to follow a "Read thru the bible in 1 year" guide for at least 6 years. I still carry the tattered old paper in my bible and check off the days as I complete them. I keep giving up. THIS is my year. I'm gonna do it.
8. I can play Wii bowling in my recliner with my feet propped up and still compete on the scoreboard!
9. I love to go camping. In our camper. I'm not so in love with tent camping. And I wouldn't be so in love with camper camping either if I wasn't married to Mr. Outdoors who takes care of pretty much everything. I do like to be in charge of the food and the clothes. This arangement works
very well for us!
10. I miss Berryville and all my friends very much,(and I think I always will) but I really don't miss living there. I really like living in the "big city". Maybe it's because (see #11)
11. Since 1997, my husband has had a commute of at least 1 hour-1 way every day (with a few exceptions here and there) for work (except for Aug 05-June 06) until this past August when we moved to Springdale. We have spent more time together in the past 6 months than we have in the whole almost 10 years we've been married. I never knew what it could be like to be married to a man who's actually home sometimes! :-) I love it!
12. I knew in my heart that my 3rd child would be a girl before I was even pregnant. God told me so. Jason didn't believe me and wasn't sure about having #3- he relented and gave in to "1 try". It worked! My little princess is 2 1/2 years old.
13. I love blogging. And reading other people's blogs. I'm almost addicted.
14. I do between 20 and 30 loads of laundry a week. Every week. I'm bitter. I hate it. I need to
quit griping about it, but I can't.
15. 2 1/2 years ago, my husband and I started our business on 100% credit/loans. (What 20-somethings couple with 3 children and no hand-outs has the cash to buy multiple trucks, machines, etc out of their pocket? Certainly not us.) There's nothing in this world that we hate more than debt. We have way too much of it. We are on a plan to be completely debt free in 4 years. It's gonna take discipline. And a miracle. If you ask us to dinner and we say no, don't be offended. The budget is strict.
16. If I were to win a large sum of money in a lottery/sweepstakes, I already have every dollar accounted for in my head. I know what I would do with all of it. I have a big, huge "pay it forward" scheme in my head. I think Oprah will want to have me on her show. And I already know what I would say to her. Too many nights when I can't sleep, you say? Yes, indeed.
17. I have a secret desire to home school my children. I could never do this as long as I have to work. There would be no time...
18. Since I started working from home almost 2 years aog, I enjoy being a loaner way too much. I have to be careful not to let myself stay locked in the house because I know it's not good for me. I sometimes get very nervous when I have to be social. But then once I get going, I remember that I enjoy talking to and spending time with grown ups.
19. My kids have never been on a real vacation. Only to visit family and short weekend trips. Those are fun, but I can't wait until I can take them on a fun adventure far from home. Future vacation plans are for snow skiiing in Colorado, Disney World and the beach.
20.I love my car. There's not another car on the road that I would rather have than my own. It has a lot of miles on it-- I hope it will last me a long time.
21. I LOVE to cook. But HATE to clean up the kitchen.
22. I'm a lazy couch potato by nature. I have to make a consicous effort to make myself get up and get things done, go work out, etc.
23. I love to watch almost all sports on tv. I love to watch Sportscenter. I get sad this time of year when I think about football season being over for several months!
24. I love bacon. I could eat it every single day and every single meal. It's a good thing I have some will power.
25. I have never regretted not finishing college. I honestly don't think I ever will.
You should make a list of your 25 Random Things about you. Maybe it'll help people get to know you a little better.
Back to the real world now!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Kids Are Funny!
Last week, Gracie was still really sick the night the Miss America pageant came on. Jason had taken the boys to church that night and they came in just as the pageant was almost over.
Rhett sat down with me and watched the end. As they crowned the new Miss America, Rhett said very seriously and matter of factly,
"She needs to sew that up."
I was cracking up! Here's her dress, which is what he was referring to.

Maybe one day my little guy will appreciate modesty in girls. Ah, one can hope!
On to the Princess of our household. Gracie is always getting into things. She is at that age.... Curious. Wants to be more independent than she's capable of. Etc. When I'm working at my desk, I must admit, I let her get away with more than I should sometimes- as long as she's being quiet and allowing me to get my work done- so be it. To an extent, of course. And when I haven't heard from her in 5 minutes or so, I go check on her. So, as I checked on her yesterday, this is what I found. She had found Braden's non-washable markers in the boys' room and had done her make-up. Oh, she was so pretty! (I about died and then thanked the Lord that tomorrow wasn't church day so maybe it would wear off before I had to take her in public!) I had to make a video. She's starting to get to the sweetest age where she talks in her own little way.
My digital camera is dead- hopefully can be resurrected- as a new one or too many costly repairs is certainly not in the budget at this time- so I had to take the video with my Blackberry. Thus explaining the poor quality. You may not even be able to make out the "marker face", but this is still a glimpse of her little personality anyway. Her lips were completely blue. She actually did a pretty good job of putting on her "lipstick"!
Oh, and did I tell you? The doctor called this morning to check on Gracie. The results of the mono test that has been at the lab all week.... Positive. That's what's been making our Princess so miserable! She's got Mono! She hasn't run fever all week, but she still has a sore throat and her voice is all scratchy. And she is super fussy most of the time. Webmd tells me this is all normal symptoms. The sore throat and lethargy/body ache can last for a couple more weeks. Lord help her!
One good thing for her is that she won't have to worry about getting it as a teenager! (Supposedly, you can only get this once.) And I hear it's not as serious for little ones as it is for adolescents. So, in my glass-half-full optimism, that's the good side to all of this sickness we've been enduring!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Best and Laziest Day Ever
and the laziest of days!
I woke up at 7:30 this morning to Gracie screaming her head off in the bed between me and Jason. Since she slept with us when she was sick, we've yet to get her back into her own bed... we're going to try it tonight... I got her a bottle and brought it back to her to no avail. She wanted to get up. God Bless her sweet Daddy because he gladly got up with her and hung out with the kids while I SNOOZED. Until 10. Yes, that's right. 10:00. I woke up with a headache because I had laid down too long. Then, my sweet hubby brought me a big bowl of cornflakes in bed.
Then I got up and messed around on the computer ALL day. Reading blogs.
Totally a wasted day, but I really did need some down time. I feel so guilty for wasting time, but also so blessed. Every time Jason would walk by, I'd tell him thank you for letting me be lazy. And he'd just smile and say I deserved it and he was so glad I was getting to do nothing. And it made me feel so good that he talked about how he's NEVER seen me sit around and do nothing all day. He
I'm very thankful that he notices the hard work.
We have had power all day. So many still don't. Please pray for those with no electricity and especially for those with no heat.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Ice Ice Baby
The power went out 3 different times today for a few hours at a time. Thankfully, we have a gas fireplace that works even when the power is out and our city water works so we can still flush the toilet and run water. We just lit as many candles as we could find and we all snuggled in the living room. Braden told us he was bored about 10 minutes after the power went out each time...
We were so hoping that the power would come back on in time for us to watch our tv shows of the night... and they did! We were able to get our Idol and Duggar family fix. Yeah! There are certain priorities in life, you know!
Amazingly, the power is still on, although it has been flickering off and on for hours. It is 9:15pm, and we are getting ready to head for the bed. The earliest bedtime we've seen in many moons.
Jason took some pictures of the ice around the house, but I'm on the older laptop and I can't download the pictures on it. So, those will be coming. As of a few hours ago, there was about an inch of ice on the branches. Tonight it is supposed to get down to 9 degrees and we are expecting up to another inch of ice and possibly some snow.
Mom and Dad have been out of power since 6:30 this morning. Russ and Aggie have been out of power too. Aggie took the kids to stay at the hotel in Eureka where she works because they had power. Russ got called in to work to help Carroll Electric in Jasper. I guess they got it really bad down there and he may be down there for several days. Dad got called this evening and he has to work in Bentonville tomorrow- also helping Carroll Electric. They don't know if he's going to be able to come home at the end of the day or not. Depends on what they get in to. All I know is that there are lots of people without power. I'm thankful that ours has been on and off today and that it is on now.
Good night to all. I better go get lots of clothes on in case we lose power in the night!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Gracie update
She hasn't had any Tylenol or Motrin since Friday night at bedtime. She ran a little bit of fever on Saturday, but not high.
The new antibiotic they gave her on Friday seems to be doing the trick. Since it's easier to take on an empty tummy, she has been able to keep it all down.
She is still very sleepy and just lays around most of the time, but I'm sure that's because she's so weak from not having eaten much of anything in 7 days.
She is eating a little. Mostly snacking. She will pick something out and take a bite and then cry and want something else.
I'm sure her little appetite and taste buds will be back to normal sometime this week.
In the meantime, I relented and gave her bottle back to her because it's the only thing she will drink out of. And, we've not worked on the potty training at all because she just hasn't felt good. Yesterday, she would come to us and tell us she was wet and she needed a new diaper (which was hilarious!) so I know deep down inside she's ready to get on with the big girl potty!
Hopefully this week I can gradually get her sleeping in her own bed again, get the bottle back from her, and begin working on the potty training again.
Thanks for praying for Gracie when she was sick!!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Very Sick Little Girl
Ball Playa
Last year, he was 1 of only 2 1st graders asked to play on the Carroll County All Star baseball team.
He played his 2nd ever season of soccer this year and was excellent. He played U8 and was one of a few asked to play in some U10 games with the older kids. Right now, he is best at goalie/punting. He can punt the ball from his goal to the other teams goal without much problem...
It just comes natural for him. He's just like his dad. He's good at every single sport he tries.
He's played golf and tennis a few times each. Awesome at both since he was 4 years old.
We go bowling- almost out bowls me.
Aunt Jill and Uncle Bruce from Pennsylvania brought the boys Lacrosse sticks and balls (I have no idea if that's the correct terminology since that's not a sport we rednecks play... :-) last summer and they were just messing around with them in the yard. He was catching and throwing that little ball in that little net within a few minutes.
He can't wait to play football competitively. That'll be this coming fall. He can punt the ball a mile. He can throw a perfect spiral and can also catch very well from far distances.
I'm not bragging, just stating the facts. The child is good at everything he tries. And he loves it. He's just ate up with all things sports and athletic.
He played Upward Basketball in Bville as a kindergartener and did very well. We skipped in 1st grade because we just had too much going on with other sports, etc. This year, in 2nd grade, he definately wanted to sign up to play again.
He is doing SO great! He has played games the past 2 weeks. Tomorrow is his 3rd game. He has received the best defender title each game so far. He is so agressive. In Upwards, they are matched up with a player on the other team of like size and ability and they get matching arm bands to wear. They plan man to man defense against their matching colored opponent. He gets in trouble for guarding everyone on the other team... If they've got the ball, he's all over them. He's getting better about remembering that he has to just do what he's told and if another guy scores, he's not responsible for it... :-)
Anyway, I say all that to lead into this little video I took last week at the game. My camera broke shortly after this, so this is the only one I was able to take. It's a clip of his stealing the ball and passing it to Braden to go down the court for the fast break. He happened to miss this particular shot. It was the first couple plays of the game and it was his first shot. For the record, I think he scored around 10 points this game by the time it was over. He is #14 in the white jersey- on defense for the first part of the clip.
We are so proud of him and mostly so glad he has so much fun!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
I've been Tagged!
So here we go:
1. Choose the 4th folder where I store my pictures on the computer.
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 people to do the same.
5. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc.)
This picture was actually taken by "Unca Bruce" as the kids call him, which is Jason's dad's brother. A mighty cool guy! He took this at a rest stop along the way from his home in Pennsylvania and Berryville sometime this past summer when he came for a visit.
I tag:
and Rachel
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Academic Achievement
Here's Rhett standing (in the white sweater) after his name was called, waiting to get one of his awards. Doesn't he look big?! What a big boy!
Braden
Rhett
And certainly, Gracie wasn't going to be left out! When we were at the school watching the assembly, she was pretty upset that she didn't get a ribbon. So, when the boys came home and were taking their ribbbons out of their backpacks and posing for pictures, she went and got her backpack. Swiped one of the ribbons when the boys weren't looking, put it in her backpack and wanted her picture taken too.
She kept saying, "This my one from kool too."
Friday, January 16, 2009
Why I'm Weary
This is the pile of clean clothes on my bedroom floor. There are somewhere between 12 and 15 loads here. I know, the picture does not do it justice. I have not folded or put away a single item of clothing since Monday.
This is a picture of the boys room. I swear to you that this room was spotless less than 48 hrs ago. And they're not even home from 8-3 each day. And last night we were gone to basketball practice and the gym from 5:00-8:00. How in the world does this happen?! You can't see the huge pile of dirty laundry that they've stashed in the bottom of their closet from this picture. That's the first thing they'll be doing when they get home from school this afternoon. I'm going to be a popular mom in a few hours, you can count on that... Yeah right.
And just for visual effect, here is a pile of bedding from the boys bed. One or both of them has wet the bed every single night this week. Starting on Sunday night. Monday night, after one of them wet their bed, they came and crawled in our bed and then one of them wet our bed. So, I have washed 2-4 loads of bedding and re-made beds every day this week. I'm not good at cutting off the liquids at 7, or whatever else it is they tell you to keep them from wetting the bed. I know what it feels like to be thirsty and have that cotton-mouth feeling when you're trying to go to sleep. It's horrible! But, something's gotta give here. I've got to figure out a way to stop this from happening so often!
So, the truth is that I mainly posted this for me. I know I will miss my kids and lots of things about them being little as they grow older. But, I assure you, there can be no possible way on earth that I will EVER miss doing all this laundry when they're grown and gone. If I do, I will pay you all $100. Mark my words. I will NEVER miss it as long as I live!
Did I tell you I started making my own laundry detergent? I made a 5 gallon bucket of it for around $1. And when you use it to fill up your empty detergent container, you only use 1/2 detergent and 1/2 liquid. There's an estimated 300 loads of laundry that will be done on this $1 worth of ingredients. It took me about 40 minutes to make the batch. This will save me at least $250 per year. I've almost finished my first bottle and so far, I can't complain. The clothes are coming out looking and smelling clean! The recipe came from the Duggar family. Anytime I think about my household duties in a negative manner (which is regrettably about every 10 seconds), I think about them and that they could keep a family of 3 children clean and fed, etc with their eyes clothes and their hands tied behind their backs. My mantra: It could always be worse.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Get down wit ya bad self
Gracie loves to dance! Me and Jas were laughing so hard that we had to video this and post it! You go, little girl!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Report Cards
First 9 weeks, Braden had all S's. Stands for Satisfactory, or at grade level. He was very close to having E's in most subjects.
2nd 9 weeks, he had all S's except for an E in Reading. E is the highest grade you can get- above grade level.
Also, his teacher sent home a note today that said he was selected as a Kiwanis Terrific Kid! He was chosen for this honor last year at his old school as well. I am so proud! He gets his award at 2:15 tomorrow and I am so thankful to get to be there.
Rhett got 2 E's and the rest S's on the first 9 weeks, which was incredible for a Kindergartener. (Says alot for the First Assembly Pre-school!! There couldn't have been better preparation for him!!) But, on that first report card, there were 4 behavior areas that were checked that needed to be worked on.
2nd 9 weeks, he got S's in everything! AND no checks on the behavior issues. He has improved to a satisfactory level in all of them. His teacher said she is very proud of him! And we are too!
We really have some good little boys. We are SO BLESSED!!!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Still going for it
I had to quit working out with my trainer after the first 5 week session. I literally cried when I realized I wouldn't be able to work out with him anymore. He is just the coolest Christian guy and I was seeing results like I had never imagined.
But, when we found out about the expensive-to-fix furnace problem at the Berryville house and found out that Gracie needs thousands of dollars of dental work and realized we were going into about 2 months of S-L-O-W time at work. It just didn't make sense to have that unnecessary expense.
So, I've been going at it on my own since the first part of November. I've mangaged to get to the gym 2 days a week most weeks and sometimes 3. 3 days per week is always the goal, but work and family obligations sometimes get too much of my time and there's none left for working out.
So, I lost another 2 lbs total since then. Not great, I know. But, considering I went through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years and still managed to lose 2 lbs. I was still very proud of myself. I'm back on the wagon now. I'm still watching my portion sizes, but I slacked a little on the holiday goodies. So, I'm back in the saddle and ready to work hard!
Jason is now working out too. The original deal was that he would start when I got up to 20 lbs lost, but I took a little longer to get there than I thought (I'm up to 15 lbs now), so he decided to get started. Withonly a little prompting from me...
Tuesday, he started Brandon's (my trainer) Bootcamp class at the gym. And he is SOOO sore! Poor thing. I know what he feels like, so I feel sorry for him, but it is kind of funny to make fun of him! :-) He will be going to the class 3 days per week for 1 hour in the evenings. Him and 3 other women. Ha! There's supposed to be some men in there too, but they weren't there, at least on the first class. Part of the class is that they have to study a passage of scripture that Brandon gives to them on Tuesday and talk about it for 30 seconds at Friday's class. Isn't that cool?! Jason gets very uncomfortable talking in front of people, so he isn't too stoked about that part. But it will be good for him and I'm sure it'll get easier by the end of the 5 weeks. I was hoping we could do the class together, but Braden has basketball practice on Thursday nights, so we couldn't both be there on that night....
So, that's what's up with us! Wish us luck!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Life as we know it
I ushered in this last day of no structure in style... Jason had to take one of the trucks to the shop, so he's home while he waits on it to be done....and I didn't wake up until 9:30!!!! I'm a lucky girl! Although, now, I have a headache- surely from too much sleep!
I have so enjoyed the boys being home. And Jason has managed to spend a little more time at home over the holidays too. It has just been the best. In the past, I didn't fully enjoy the interruption in the routine, all the little bodies running around 24 hrs a day. But this time, I'm actually sad for them to have to go back.
Maybe it's that they are all getting older and it's much easier than it used to be to manage their needs and the office and the house too. Maybe it's that I'm more laid back than I used to be?
Whatever it is, I'm thankful and it's been so fun!
Here's to a swift semester...so we can get on to summer vacation and hopefully lots of camping!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!
2008 was a big ole' roller coaster ride for us Kennetts. We went through lots of valleys, but we got to spend some time on mountain tops too.
Jason and I barely kept our eyelids open long enough to ring in the new year, but the one thing we reflected on was that last year when we rang in 2008 on our couch in our home in Berryville, we NEVER thought we would ring in 2009 on our couch in Springdale.
God sure has brought us to and through alot in the past year. We are so excited about what this new year holds for us.
Who knows what all will take place... but one thing is for sure... we know God will be with us no matter where He leads us. And we know that we can have the faith to trust Him enough to follow. We've learned that lesson first hand in the past year. What an awesome experience to help us look forward to the future with hope!
We will never be too far from His love and provision! Hallelujah!!!!!
I resolve to take things 1 day at a time. Trust God in every little detail of life. Asking Him to help me make every decision big and small... How I should spend each dollar, or spend each hour for example. I'm FINALLY realizing that life is just way too short to waste either!
Something that has stuck out in my mind as I look forward to the new year is having a new resolve to say "God is enough". Our friend Landry spoke on this in his "talk" at the fall Higher Ground women's weekend. I have not been able to get that out of my head. I hear it bouncing around in there constantly. No matter what happens, no matter what the circumstances, I want to be able to say "God is enough." I'm finding that to say this and truly mean it is harder than you'd think. But everyday, I'm getting closer to really meaning it when I say it. Thank you Landry for sharing this piece of wisdom that God wanted me to have in my heart and mind.
I pray that each of you who reads this blog post will have a very blessed 2009!!!
And a BIG Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Aggie today!! I hope this birthday and this year are your best yet! :-)




