Secret Life of Kendra

The busy month of July

2010-08-09T13:38:00.008-05:00

Busy, busy, busy July...I don't think we stopped much to relax and breathe!!

Here are some highlights of our month ~ enjoy...

Joel at the Francis Park in Kewanee on the 4th of July

With that, here is Marilyn and her traditional 4th of July activity: pedal tractor pulling

And, of course, she won again. This year did not have the competition that she is used to. Maybe they heard she was coming :-)

Here softball team won 3rd place in the final tournament of the year. Her team wasn't the best, but she did a great job again as pitcher. MVP of the team.

Joel was on a traveling basketball team again this summer. The final tournament (Nationals) were in Bloomington. They won 1st place in their single elimination tournament bracket this year, by a very, very close game. My heart is just now starting to get back into the right rhythm!!

On our way to St. Louis, we stopped at Jeff and Kelli's and had time for a quick swim. This is Marilyn with her cousin, Daniel.

City Museum, St. Louis MO. It is an old abandoned 10-story (plus roof) factory converted into a kids, hands-on museum. Nothing quite like it in the world. Yes, that is a school bus and ferris wheel on the roof!

We arrived right when it opened and headed to the roof (followed the advice given to us). There were no people up there yet. It was great! And, not too hot yet.

roof slide

Me and the twins on the ferris wheel. We were the 1st to board that day :)

climbing/crawling through just one of the many, many tunnels throughout the museum.

hamster wheel ~ don't get dizzy!

Next day was the St. Louis Zoo ~ still the best bargain on the planet! Free to get it and if you can park on the street, it is also free! Took snacks in with us so we didn't have to pay for the overpriced food items. It rain on us at the start for about 1 hour, then it cleared off and got really muggy.

Marilyn thought this was hiliarious ~ I like her facial expression!

Joel's favorite of favorites ~ PENGUINS!

I'll spare you all of our animal pictures and move onto Six Flags, the next day.

Noah (on right), Joel (on left), and Marilyn (facing the boys), riding Tony Hawk the spin ride. Not me ~ anything "spin" would make me revisit my lunch. NO THANKS! I loved the Mr Freeze ride though ~ it is awesome. It is also Marilyn's favorite.

Still have the classic log ride. Joel and I didn't want to get wet and we were trying to get rid of headaches and took a break.

Victory! The Batman cape was all it took to make Joel happy and forget about his headache :)

After our family trip to St. Louis, I went on a girl's only trip to Galena, IL with some dear friends: Marilyn's BFF, Bekah, and her mom (and my good friend) Mary had some much needed away-time. Mary invited us on this trip. It was the "bomb". Highly recommend spending some time away with girlfriends!!

mini-golf at the ski resort in Galena

Spent most of the day riding the alpine slide. What a blast!

Marilyn

Bekah

Marilyn and Bekah getting ready to race each other down the mountain, about 2500 feet down the side.

Mary

Me

Here I go!!!

Alpine slide lift back up the mountain.

My best friend from high school was in town the last part of July and I was able to visit with her at my parents farm. You know who your best friends are when you can pick up right where you left off, and don't miss a beat ~ this is Cindy, like my 2nd sister. Love her!!

Marilyn taking her for a spin around on the go-cart.

Yep, Noah turned 14 while I was blinking... We had a small, lunch get-together to celebrate. Where has the time gone?!

Whew, I'm glad July is OVER...

But, with that, so is most of the summer and school will be starting up soon. Our family will have a big adjustment with that this year. That is another story for another blog! I'll try to update that sooner.

Stay cool,
Kendra

Easter 2010

2010-04-04T18:37:00.004-05:00

Yes, I know...It has been 3 months since my last post.

I'm so sorry...but honestly, facebook is SO addicting.

OK, well anyway, here are the highlights of our Easter this year. Enjoy!

The Showalter kids ~ minus Daniel

My family

Easter Dinner

Patiently waiting for the countdown...

Rihanna got stalled out by a few eggs right at the start. She is adorable!!!!

Rihanna and Marilyn are BFFs :)

Mom laughing hysterically. She would not be happy if she knew I posted this picture. Shhhh....

Brian and Grandpa in a deep conversation...

Grandma Ruth...97 years old!

97...And she still has it!!!

Happy Easter!!!

Kendra

Snow, snow, snow......

2010-01-07T14:07:00.001-06:00

To all my warm weather friends: Do these pictures make you jealous or glad you live where you do? Enjoy......

this is what 6 inches of snow on top of 3 inches looks like, prior to any wind or blizzard conditions.

I guess I am not grilling tonight.

Our patio table is under that mound of snow. Maybe we will eat inside tonight :)

Stay warm!
Kendra

Christmastime!!

2009-12-21T13:13:00.002-06:00

"When we consider the frailty of the manger, let us not forget the power of the Cross."

A friend of mine posted this on her facebook status. Wow ~ it is so true and convicting.

We all tend to forget the real meaning of things, especially Christmas, but do we think about the nature of the stable in which Jesus was born. Dirty, unsanitary, smelly ~ not a place for our future King.

My hope is that you don't forget the simple way in which Jesus came into the earth, the ugly way in which he gave up His life for us, and the easy way into which you can spend eternity with Him.

I hope you have a very blessed Christmas!

Kendra

Busy, busy, busy...and vacation is almost over...

2009-10-29T20:40:00.008-05:00

What a whirlwind of a vacation! It has been great; we have seen lots of "history".

Yes, Yes, I know it has been a few days since my last update. Hope these pics gets you caught up.

Enjoy!

Walking the Freedom Trail in Boston.

For some reason, I love this picture. Taken on the Freedom Trail.

For all my baseball fan friends, we took a tour of Fenway Park. It was a bit pricey, but we all loved it.

Sitting in the "Green Monster" seats. These tickets can only be purchased through a lottery system with the Red Sox. If you are one of the "lucky" ones to earn the right to purchase, you buy 4 of them at $160 each. I must say, they are great seats.

Plymouth Rock...yeah, "big deal"...it actually is kinda small.

Marilyn at Plimoth Plantation outside of Plymouth, MA. We also toured the Mayflower.

Cool looking flowers that look like a cabbage plant. We saw some of these also on the Freedom Trail in downtown Boston. Anyone know what they are???

We stay in Plymouth at the John Carver Inn. The pool had a Mayflower slide and a Plymouth Rock hot tub. I liked the hot tub. The kids LOVED the pool and slide.

Two years ago, my family and I walked over this bridge. Do you know which one it is? Hint: we were here on a missions trip through our church.

Yes, it is the Brooklyn Bridge. We decided to drive through NYC on my birthday. We drove through the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. It took us about 2 1/2 hours on a Sunday afternoon.

And we left through the Holland Tunnel. It took about 25 minutes to enter and drive through it. It was very busy.

We went to Hershey, PA on Monday. The kids did a little packaging of kisses at a mock assembly line.

In the gift shop. Marilyn now likes to try on hats, too.

Our next and final destination is Washington, DC. We went to Mt. Vernon, but didn't take the walking tour. This was taken at the Visitors Center.

The White House. We left our hotel at 6:00 AM to make it to our 7:15 lineup for our tour. Yes, parking is INSANE in DC. But we are too cheap to pay for the metro (subway) every day. The parking is not too expensive, once you get by all the traffic and find a parking deck that takes daily parking.

Washington Monument taken from the tower at the Old Post Office building.

Today, we had a personal escort to tour the US Capitol Building. This is Emily from our congressman's (Aaron Schock!!) office. She was great and was able to take us into the exclusive parts of the Capitol and House of Representatives.

Here we are in the Capitol.

We really had a great day here. It was action packed and we got to see Aaron vote on a bill from the House Gallery, too.

Our time is fleeting.....

Kendra

The many hats of Joel

2009-10-24T20:07:00.002-05:00

Joel loves his hats. Here are a few that we have found in gift shops along our vacation.

OK, yeah, I know this is not Joel, but it is his hat. We let him buy this one. It was only $2.95 (most of the others were well over $10 each) and it is a seaman Navy hat that was bought at the USS Constitution Visitor Center. (Shout out to my niece April ~ Huzza!!) The tour of "Old Ironsides" was very cool. Highly encourage you to tour it if you are in the Boston area.

Heading on our way ~ only 1 week left!

Kendra

The regulars are out! The regulars are out!!

2009-10-21T20:46:00.006-05:00

New England is just beautiful! I wonder if the people here really appreciate it...hmm....

We drove to Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor (pronounced Baa Haabaa by the locals) in Maine yesterday. It was fairly busy with tourists considering that it is the end of their tourist season. Over 1/2 of the hotels/b&b's/inns are already closed for the season. It definitely is an area that heavily relies on the tourism industry. The day we were there, the Caribbean Princess cruise boat was docked out in the harbor. So, the streets and sidewalks in downtown Bar Harbor were packed with tourists. And, many of them were quite rude, according to my children, and they would know :) But, I digress.

Marilyn at the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia NP. It was cold up there. Cadillac Mountain is the highest point along all of the American eastern shore line.

The boys having "fun" at the restaurant. Can you tell Noah is feeling better? Yep, my dilemma: when he is sick, he is more subdued; but when he is healthy, well, you know Noah... Looks like Joel is taking lessons from him. Yikes!

Marilyn actually found this very, very small sand dollar at Sand Beach in Acadia.

Joel found snails, mussels, and this crab claw. He wanted to take it home. NO!! I said. Could you not just imagine the smell in 2 weeks!!!

Yea, I'm not even going to explain this pic. I think my blog will get a PG rating now. However, I have to say, this is such a beautiful pond. We have hiked here now 3 times... Go figure.

Backstory on this pic: Brian and I went to Acadia on our honeymoon and on our 10 yr anniversary. We have gone on this same hike each time. 15 years ago, we took a picture of these 2 unusual trees, wrapped around each other, growing oddly. 5 years ago, those same trees are still there, only much larger. Well, of course, we had to go visit "our trees". It appears the base of the left one (by Brian) is choked out by the center "wrapping" and does not have any trunk left above it. We think that both tree bases are now feeding the one top.

Today, we traveled into Massachusetts and the Boston area. We spent most of our day at the Minuteman National Historic Park. Everyone remembers Paul Revere. But did you know that Mr. Revere was only 1 of 40+ riders that night. He and William Dawes started out from Boston, taking different paths, and as they traveled toward Lexington and Concord, other horsemen followed suit. And, their cry was NOT "The British are coming"; it was "The Regulars are out". Just a history lesson for all of you. :)

My boys near the Old North Bridge. It is possible that this tree was a sapling when the scurmish took place back in 1775.

Minuteman statue at Lexington Green, site of the most casualities on that fateful day. "The Birthplace of American Freedom"!!!

Yes, the colors are really this beautiful here!

Our adventures continue,
Kendra

Day 3 and 4 of our trip

2009-10-19T21:49:00.003-05:00

What fun ~ a nor'easter in New England! Actually, we didn't see the worst of it. It only rained where we were. Some places saw inches of snowfall. The kids actually thought that would have been "cool" (sorry for the pun) :)

This is the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. (Notice the weather!) It was nice, but we again think that they charge way too much on admission for what is there. Nonetheless, it was pretty neat inside.

Joel shooting at the peach basket hoop. Noah was (and still is) sick, so he didn't do much there. You know he wasn't faking it because he was very much looking forward to the stop on our trip.

In South Deerfield, MA is where the Yankee Candle company is headquartered. And, I "demanded" that we stop at their factory store. You would never believe this place unless you have been there. Brian estimates the size of this shop at around 100,000 sq. feet. Everything you can imagine is at this place. It reminded me of the Longaberger homestead, only bigger, and yet different. I got out of there with some great 2nds and just a small hit on my wallet. :)

When you go to Vermont, you HAVE to go to Ben & Jerry's. It is required! The tour is short, but you get a free sample. Need I say more.

About 1 mile up the road from B & J's, is a place similar to Tanner's Orchard. However, at this place, you actually get to watch them make the cider. It is an interesting process. Good thing I like apple cider, because the apple "puree/mush" they use to make it does not look appetizing at all.

Moose sighting! Moose sighting!! Saw him and a couple other moose just off the interstate/parkway in New Hampshire. The kids were extremely excited ~ well, Joel was anyway.

Marilyn and Joel at a natural pool spot called the Basin. Notice Joel with his moose. He has named it "Puddyoneshoe". Tomorrow he plans to call it "Puddytwoshoes". Where does he come up with these things????

Most of the colors are gone, but not all of them. It is so beautiful here.

Wish you were here to enjoy this with us!
Kendra

Finally, a new post!

2009-10-17T20:45:00.004-05:00

Sorry to my faithful followers (my sister, etc.) that I have not update my blog for about 2 months. You know, I would have been more diligent in posting, but my children demanded my attention (i.e. schooling!)

OK, OK, here is my newest post. And as time allows, and if I have internet access, I will try to update at least every other day. I promise!! so check back often!!

At the border, waiting to get into Canada. It took about 15 minutes to get through this.

We made it!!

Niagara Falls at night. They light it up every night. I was told, "You have to see it lit up at night." True.

This picture is a bit blurry because it is at night, but I love it!

Horseshoe falls.

We took this tour "Journey Behind the Falls". It was pretty cool, however, it cost way too much money. In fact, EVERYTHING on the Canadian side of the falls costs WAY TOO MUCH!! The falls are beautiful, but it really has become a tourist trap.

This doesn't even look like me! Brian picked up some lady and pretended it was me. HaHaHa!! Some movie star with shades :)

Until my next post,
Kendra

2009 version of the home movie

2009-08-13T22:46:00.006-05:00

Do you remember having to go over to the relatives to watch their home movies, or look at their pictures that they took on vacation? Boring, right? Well, not mine!! ;-}

At least I hope I don't put you to sleep. I tried to pick out some of the fun ones out of the over 600 we took. Digital technology is the best! I'm probably going to delete well over 1/2 them eventually. Duplicates, blurry images, and such, you know.

Anyway, to start, here is a picture of my sister and mother on the pier at Seal Beach. Notice the heavy outwear and blankets. The beach is always cool with the breeze, but this year has been exceptionally cooler than normal. It actually warmed up after the sun went down. Weird... And, I could have used a more embarrassing photo, Susan. Just remember that!

Seal Beach IS named for the seals. Who would have known! This is the 1st seal that my sister and brother-in-law has ever seen there in their many travels to the pier. This guy was loving our bait that we threw down at him. So, he kept coming back.

Marilyn (self photo) at sunset

I caught the biggest fish of the night. I was so proud of myself!! My brother-in-law was a bit jealous. Just a bit. It is a croaker, of the perch family. Never heard of it. Wonder how it tastes?? Maybe like a frog??!!!

Joel caught a couple too. We didn't have a lot of bites that night, though.

Next night: Orange County Fair ~ bigger than the State Fair. Amazing amount of people!!

Here is Noah and my nephew, Brandon. These 2 were inseparable during our trip. They got along better than they ever had!! They are also so much alike it is scary.
I like this picture because it looks like "gangsta" Noah is wearing an ear of corn on his head. If he only knew it was there!

The race on the slide ~ from left to right ~ Joel, Adrian with Audrie, and Marilyn.

Ok, this was such a "wicked" ride, I had to publish it. In this picture, it looks like Marilyn is praying. Let's just say it wouldn't surprise me if she really was.

Here it is in action: Three arms, lifted high in the sky, rotating on both the main "arm" and their individual "arms". They thought they were going to fall out because the seat belt felt loose! Like I said before ~ Wicked!!

On to a more serene ride. A surrey in the park. What a beautiful day!!

Dodger Game. Joel isn't really a Dodgers fan so much as he is a foam finger fan. I think this makes 4 in his collection of foam fingers.

We sat in left field, 2 rows up. It was so fun! I'm a Cardinal fan, but I was actually rooting for the Dodgers that night: they were playing the Milwaukee Brewers who are in the same division as my beloved Cardinals. Noah just wanted to see Manny Ramirez. Manny could have won the game for them in the 9th, but he popped out. Still, it was more fun than I ever thought it would be.

Brian and the twins spent the last day in CA at the beach. Check out the wave action. And this was down from what it was a few days earlier.

Joel on the boogie board.

Marilyn's turn on the board.

Goodbye palm tree ~ Hello corn fields.

Hope you enjoyed our trip too!!

Kendra

First day in California

2009-07-31T13:46:00.002-05:00

Just a few pictures from our 1st day in California.

My niece, April, and nephew, Nathan, eating a skillet cookie.

My nephew, Adrian, also eating a skillet cookie. Must be the toddler way to do it. Learned this from the dogs!

Group shot from the restaurant.

Brian, Noah, Joel, and nephew Brandon went to the X Games at the Staples Center. This is taken from their seats.

If you look closely, you can see the guy on a skateboard. Vertical jump ended up being over 20 feet. Wickedly insane!!

Check back for more updates,
Kendra

Random pictures

2009-07-16T00:58:00.004-05:00

Took Marilyn and Joel to see Up 3-D on their 1/2 birthday. They are now 10 AND 1/2.

From my 96 year old grandma's house: The cement block foundation is cracking and buckling out. We have had ALOT of rain this year and it has caused this. My parents hired someone to come and fix it. These are pictures of the basement walls. As you can see in the pictures, some of the walls only required reinforced carbon metal strips. One wall required new steel beams to hold up the rafters.

We spent July 4th on the farm. And it rained. Kids had a ball! Jumping on a wet trampoline is apparently the best ever.

And they rode the go-cart. In wet grass. Marilyn tried the blanket technique to keep all the grass off her.

Didn't work.

Joel's turn. WHY did he have to wear a church shirt??

It is all about looking cool, even if you are covered with dirt and grass clippings.

The hose off.

We went to the HOI fair this year. It had been 16+ years since I had been. We went on a date there before we were married. It was fun, but alot has changed over the years. For one thing, it is alot smaller. The Marilyn and Joel participated in the kiddie pedal tractor pull. Marilyn is pretty good at it, and Joel is OK too.

Marilyn on the pedal tractor.

Joel on the pedal tractor.

They both won 2nd place! There was a boys AND girls division, otherwise Joel would not have participated because he hates losing to Marilyn. I'm so glad they "tied".

And, there was an adult class. Here is my mother-in-law. No way you would get me on that thing. It nearly "killed" her!!

And my adorable husband. He came in the top 5. (I think he ended up with 4th place, but we didn't find out. One guy broke the tractor in one of the pull offs, so we don't know who won.)

Enjoy your summer!! We are.

Kendra

For all you softball fans out there (and Aunt Susie!)

2009-07-01T14:01:00.007-05:00

Here are a couple of videos of my daughter playing softball. If I knew how to do it, I would have made just one. One of these days I will figure it out.

This one is of her pitching only.

This one has pitching and hitting.

I love watching her pitch. She is like a machine! (That is also a quote from the umpire!!)

She handles the "pressure" very well. Very calm and cool. The only games her team have lost was when she wasn't pitching. But, I know, she can't win them all.

Enjoy!

Kendra

Everything is bigger in . . . Indiana??

2009-06-23T09:08:00.004-05:00

This past weekend, Joel's traveling basketball team was in a Super Regional AYBT tournament in West Lafayette, IN. I had never been to the Purdue campus before, so I was a bit excited.

The campus itself is nice enough. The roads are a bit confusing and they were having way too much construction going on. Especially around Mackey Arena. I hope they have that ready by winter!

Anyway, Joel's team was completely outmatched in all of their games. All of the teams, except one, appeared to have the human growth hormone prescription: Most of their players (5th and 6th graders mind you) were as tall as Brian! Yep, we played the steriod teams :-}

Notice how tall the kid in black is compared to Joel! Yikes!!

Despite that, the boys had alot of fun. It is not about winning ~ it is about having the right character and a love for the game. They took that lesson on the chin there. This all reminds me of Romans 5:3-4: Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

In the big picture, this really wasn't suffering. But the boys handled themselves wonderfully! It was a great character builder. As a mom, I loved it!! (But it would have been nice to have 1 close game!)

The boys having fun!

The team with Coach Randle. He is a assistant pastor at a church in Peoria. This team he puts together are all made up of Christian kids. They are all super nice kids!!

Joel getting ready to block out the free throw shooter. Again, look at the size of these kids. And this team was the shortest we played. There must be something in the water in Indiana!!

We promised Joel a blooming onion from Outback Steakhouse. Loved it!!

Next tournament is Nationals ~ hope we get taller between now and then!

Kendra

My future Tiger Woods x 3

2009-06-07T16:54:00.003-05:00

I'm ready to retire. Granted, I don't know what I would be retiring from, but yesterday I saw my progeny aspiring to be the next, best golfers.

Not really. But I can dream, can't I.

We went to the local park district golf learning center for the 1st time ever. It is actually a great place for novices to learn and practice their skills. They were very excited to go.

17 years ago Brian asked me to go golfing (real golfing!) on a date. I had never golfed before, but my boyfriend wanted to go. I didn't want to embarrass myself. We were dating, you see. So, I bought some clubs (used), took 8 weeks of lessons, went on our golfing dates, and never beat him on the links (guys like to win, you know, egos!). Maybe that is why he married me!! After we were engaged, I don't think we ever went on a date to the links again. In fact, I haven't been golfing since ~ well, now since yesterday, that is.

Brian teaching the boys how to correctly stand and swing.

I taught Marilyn. Keep that back leg down, girl!!

Joel looking very good. Had a little trouble keeping his hips straight.

Noah hitting one out of the practice bunker.

Marilyn in the bunker.

My boys ~ putting together. Ah!

Marilyn enjoyed the ball cleaner the most. She cleaned all our balls.

After the driving range and putting greens, we went on the 9 hole, pitch-and-putt course. Brian scored a 32 (all 3's and 4's for him), Noah and I had 48s, Joel a 49, and Marilyn, well, we don't know her score. She had a few really good holes, but she didn't care to keep track of her hits. Like I said, she enjoyed the ball cleaner the most. She had fun, though. I think she is going to stick with being a softball pitcher.

3 hours later, with our clubs in tow, we are heading to our van. A little tired and sunburnt, but anxious to try it again.

It was a really good family activity and it didn't cost too much. We would have spent more at a movie theater! That is sad. And, it was exercise too ~ Bonus!

Just call me "Mrs. triple-bogey",
Kendra

Field trip and luncheon

2009-05-21T13:50:00.005-05:00

Just trying to catch up on a few pictures. I've been very busy lately with the summer sports season starting, plus trying to wrap up school for the year. I'm just a bit behind in my posts. So, this post covers a couple of the things I've missed over the past month.

The homeschool group from church took a tour of a local radio station. The tour wasn't too long, but the employees there were wonderful!!

Noah doesn't look too thrilled here. But when does he when "school" is involved!

This is Donovan. He was absolutely SUPER with the kids. He even had them sign up to do spots on the air. Marilyn and Joel were already taped and were on over the Mother's Day weekend. They hope they can do it again. After Donovan taped them, he spent his break playing football with my kids. He has to be the 2nd most eligible bachelor in the Peoria area.

Group pic!

Now, here are pictures from the Ladies Luncheon at church. I was one of the ladies on the committee who planned this.

This one is from the set-up.

Marilyn: My consummate helper

We had around 75 ladies join us for this annual luncheon.

Our theme verse for the luncheon was Luke 12:48b:

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

I'm not an elegant writer and I have a hard time putting my thoughts into words, but this verse really challenges me to be more than I am. I feel very blessed indeed with my family, friends, church, health, etc. God expects me to use everything he has given to me to use for Him. Many times I feel like Moses when God used him to bring his people out of Egypt. Moses also did not know what to say. But he let God work through him. God calls us just to be willing. Let Him do the work!! I hope I never lose sight of this.

Hope you have a great holiday weekend!

Kendra

Just another typical day!

2009-05-09T22:02:00.012-05:00

My day:

7:10: Woke up to the smell of something cooking in the kitchen.

Marilyn even picked some lilacs for me. :-}

7:36: Served breakfast in bed.

7:40: Cat joins me in bed. She gets nothing!!

8:38: Leave home to go watch 30 minutes of my niece's soccer game. (See past post for pic of niece at a previous game.)

9:30: Leave soccer game (early, of course) to head to homeschool field trip of new church construction.

10:00ish: Arrive at construction site and begin tour.

~ walking into area of the sanctuary

~ the west wing (Sanctuary and Adult class rooms)

~ Pastor Lyall was our tour guide. We had around 50 dads, moms, and kids come.

~ the new gym area: it is 2x the size of our current one.

~ chatting with a couple of the guys "in charge" of the construction project.

~ It was also graffiti day, when you get to write one of your favorite bible verses on the steel beams. The only time you can write on anything in the church!!

~ I wrote down just one verse: "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul", Psalm 19:7. This tells me that if what man says contradicts the Bible, then it is wrong, because God's Law (the Bible) is PERFECT! And, its words will strenghten and renew you!!

~ Also one of my favorite verses

~ Marilyn writing down her verse.

11:15: Leave construction site and head toward Auto Zone, where Joel's traveling basketball team has a car wash fundraiser.

11:30: We drop off Brian, Joel, and Marilyn to help at the car wash.

11:50: Arrive at home. Let dog out and grab the mail. Noah changes clothes

12:01: Leave to take Noah to baseball practice.

12:04: Drop Noah off at practice (4 minutes late, oh the horror, according to Noah!) and head to run errands for Mother's Day (yes, dear sister, I was able to get another of what I said I would!)

2:00: Noah is done with practice. Head home to eat lunch. Yes, lunch at 2:15! I had a really good breakfast, remember :-}

2:42: Leave to go pick up Brian, Marilyn, and Joel from car wash

3:00 Arrive back to car wash. Get behind 2 cars (Pastor Lyall was in front of me!!) to have van washed.

3:20: My van is spotless! Great job, even armorall'ed the tires!

4:30: The last car is finally done and we can leave.

4:55: Arrive at home to quick change clothes and head out for supper with Brian's mom, brother, niece, and cousin.

5:15: Leave home to head to Logan's Steakhouse. 9 people at 1 table? On Mother's Day Eve??

5:30: Arrive at steakhouse, and they are already seated at a table!! WooHoo!!

Too tired to take any more pictures!! Sorry. But the food was great and the waitresses did their "Yee Haa" for my mother-in-law's birthday.

7:00: Leave Logan's to go visit at my mother-in-law's home. It was relaxing and wonderful.

9:20: Leave for home.

9:30: Arrive at home, do some dishes, and start cleaning for tomorrow. Kids take their "weekly" Saturday night showers ~ boy, did they need it after today :-}

10:00: PJ's: check; Brush teeth: check; Look at email: check;

Start posting my blog: CHECK!!!

Happy Mother's Day Eve!!
Kendra

P.S.: Sorry I'm really, really behind in my blogs ~ I will catch up this week, I promise!

Spring piano recital

2009-04-28T19:15:00.004-05:00

Here is just another way in which I torture my children, or so they think.

Some day they will thank me!! You think??

For some unknown reason, the sound on Noah's is really low. Turn your volume way up to hear it.

Hope you enjoyed this more than my kids enjoy playing. I'm such a mean mom :-}

Kendra

Weekend Joy

2009-04-21T22:50:00.005-05:00

I feel like I am so behind in my blogging. I was going to publish earlier, but I have come down with another SPRING cold. I outlasted all of winter, but spring is killing me!!

Here are a few pictures of events from last weekend that I thought you might enjoy.

Saturday morning, the local park district's ball leagues had their annual pitch/hit/run contest. Marilyn also had a softball pitching clinic which Brian took her to. She was not able to do the contest because of her clinic.

The contest was to start at 8:30, but didn't get started until 9:20. We predicted that though ~ they were not too organized with the event. However, it went very well. The boys were in different age groups: Noah in 11/12 and Joel in 9/10.

Joel won 3rd all-around in his division.

Noah won (in his division) 1st place all-around, 1st place pitching, and 1st place hitting. Notice in this picture how far the coach is looking out into the field. Nice hitting, Noah!

Here he is accepting his awards. He now has qualified to attend the regional event, which we don't know where and when that is. We might be going, but it will depend on when it is held.

We finally got done with the pitch/hit/run competition at 11:15, and we headed over to a local soccer field to watch my niece Anne (Brian's brother's daughter) play soccer. She is #13 in the field. No goals or assists today. I'm just glad we saw some of the 2nd game!!

Afterward, we headed to Steak 'n Shake for lunch. They have these cute 50's/60's cars for the kids ~ keeps them entertained while waiting for food. The wait for food is usually very quick, though. This is Anne's sister, Ashley (our other niece), with Marilyn. The hamster in the car is Ashley's ~ it is NOT real!!

Sunday was Rihanna's 1st birthday!! Yea!! We are still very prayerful that Jim and Angie will be able to permanently adopt her. Quick details are that her biological father is not willing to give up custody (the mother already has), however the state child welfare office would like to close the case and precede with terminating his custody. Sounds like a horrible legal battle. The "dad" has personal issues that we hope the judge considers this when it all comes to court in June. Anyway, here are pictures from her BIG 1!!

Here are my 3 with their "cousin-to-be??"

This week is very busy, like most. Watch for more updates! Hopefully I will have time!!

In His GRACE,
Kendra

The largest "garage" sale you have ever seen!

2009-04-13T21:55:00.005-05:00

As a member of the local twins club, one of the perks is being able to buy and sell at the semi-annual sales.

We just had our spring sale. Our club has grown alot in the last 10+ years that I have been a member.

These sales in the past were quite small in comparison to the current ones. We had 54 sellers this past weekend, compared to maybe 20 when I joined the club. It would have been good to have 20 back then!!

We set up at a local health club and use all of their big gym room. It is an area that can have 3 basketball courts set up in it.

All the strollers!! We had a lot this sale.

All the toys!! OH MY!!

This is Wendy L., one of my twin mom friends, and also follows my blog! Yea!! Friday night during the "members only" buying, all the big equipment and big toy items are sold in a fair manner. If you want to buy an item, you put your name on it. If you are the only one, you get to buy it. However, if someone else wants it too, then they draw a name to see who "won" it. Wendy "won" the riding horse. Congrats on the horse, Wendy! :-}

See, Wendy, I told you I would post you!!

Tammy M. is another one of my twin mom friends. She is also my Creative Memories consultant. I don't have enough time in my day to do everything I would like to do. This is especially true of my scrapbooks. Someday. . .

It is amazing that I have time to blog. But if you notice, I usually post after the kids are in bed.

These ladies are friends of mine from church. And they scored the biggest seats in the house on Saturday morning (when the sale goes public). THEY WERE 1ST IN LINE!! When I walked out to check out the line, (and take pictures for my blog!!), I was blown over to see them FIRST!! They arrived over 2 hours before we opened the doors at 8:00 AM. Look how happy they are! And this is before 8:00 in the morning. Way to go, Mary, Ruth, and Ruth's mom!!!

Mary is the mom of a precious little girl and 2 precious little boys who simply love my Marilyn. Marilyn can't wait for her babysitting days!!

Here is the line. Notice the laundry baskets. That's right ~ the experienced people know to bring them for their haul.

Here is the line out into the foyer, wrapped around a few times. Over 500 people through the door for our sale.

I like doing the sale, but I am exhausted afterwards. Yes, I think I am getting too old for it. It is alot of work!!

But it is FUN!!

Let the garage sale season begin!!!

Kendra

Timing is everything

2009-04-07T22:45:00.005-05:00

I was sick last week.

Yes, all week long. Friday and Saturday were the worst days. Spent them doing nothing but laying in bed feeling sorry for myself. I was truly pathetic!

I missed Marilyn and Joel's final indoor soccer game Friday night. Apparently, it was one of the best all year. Joel usually is in the goal all of the game, but since this was the last one, he got to "come out of goal" for the last 10 minutes.

And he scored 2 goals!

One of them was a reverse kick for GOOOOOOAAAAALLLL!!

And they won by 2 goals!!!

And Marilyn played the last 40 seconds of the game as goalie!!!!

And they had a ice cream party afterward!!!!!

Here are a couple pictures Brian took of the team.

Self pity is a horrible thing, isn't it.

Well, I am feeling better now. PTL ~ I am too busy this week to be sick. The kids are doing their annual standardized testing today and tomorrow. We are watching a baby on Thursday for family. Friday and Saturday is the bi-annual Mothers of Twins sale. Sunday is RESURRECTION DAY (or Easter if you prefer) and I am in charge of the nursery at church. I would also like to squeeze in watching Tiger Woods at the Masters this weekend :)
Busy? Absolutely. I hope all this does not sound like complaining, because I'm not.

But, things happen in life that remind you family should always be your #1 priority. My 96 yr. old Grandma Ruth is in the hospital. She was admitted late Sunday night. Tomorrow night after Brian gets off work we will travel 1 1/2 hours to visit her. I hope the doctors will be able to help her, but I am not convinced. Only God knows how much longer she has left on this earth. What I can pray for is that her last days here will be comfortable, however much longer that might be.

My schedule, however busy it is, will change according to my priorities.

And my priorities are, and will always be, my family.

If I am healthy, that is!

Kendra

Friends and snow

2009-04-01T12:21:00.004-05:00

Running behind in my posts, but not in my thoughts.

I keep thinking I need to update the blog ~ so much happened over the weekend ~ but I have this job being my kids' teacher that takes priority. I have to admit though that we all have that spring itch. It is hard to do school work on beautiful days. Remember Ferris Beuller? Well, imagine that here in our house daily in the spring!

My last post included a couple of Marilyn's BFF's. This time I will highlight Joel.

Peoria Christian School had their spring break last week. Caleb H., who goes to school there, is one of Joel's good friends and we invited him to spend a night and day. Two peas in a pod. And they dress alike. What is that all about? I thought only girls did that!! If we cut Joel's hair short like Caleb's, they could pass for twins. I'm thinking Joel does need a haircut. . .

Like the muscles?? They have quite a pair of "guns"!!

It snowed about 6 inches between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Is it spring yet? Outside our kitchen window Sunday morning was a fox looking for his next meal. I'm glad Gretchen and Tracker weren't out there. The snow was beautiful. Thankfully, it didn't last long.

After church, we went to Olive Garden for lunch to meet with a good friend of mine from college who lives in Chicagoland ~ Laura D. It was like no time had past. I have seen Laura a number of times since graduation, but it is just not the same as it was back then. Yet, we always seem to pick up right where we left off. She is just a bundle of joy!! Full of the Spirit. Love her!! She also is on FB now, so we chat and play more often now. What a great friend.

Spring has sprung!!
Kendra

My Wednesday nights = AWANA

2009-03-26T10:44:00.005-05:00

8 years ago, Dianna F., Marli M., and Angie D. (all twin moms) introduced me to Bethany Baptist Church through a program/ministry called AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed). Noah was in Kindergarten and I wanted to get him involved at a church with a Wednesday night program. The church we were attending at the time did not have anything for kids on Wednesday night, and this ministry @ Bethany sounded great.

I trusted my friends. Praise the Lord I did!! A few years later, after much prayer, God led us to leave our old church and become members at Bethany. It was a top 5 decision in our lives. One of the best we have ever made. The impact on us from the teaching there is indescribable. And the friendships we have made are life long.

So, ever since, Wednesday nights during the school year are spent serving Him in the AWANA program there. I had my camera last night and I am glad I did. It was a special night for the older kids: they earned a pizza party by reaching their quota in donating to the local mission.

Here are some of the highlights.

Kevin is the human tree. Dianna F.'s twins and one of Angie D.'s twins are three of these "leaves". Kevin is probably the nicest, sweetest single boy in town. It is amazing he has not been snatched up yet!

Janelle is our Sparks director. I used to call her "boss", but she hated that. Maybe I will try coach next. She is so organized and great with the kids! Her friendship is such a blessing to me.

Here are our Sparks during story time. For some reason, alot of the kids were absent last night.

Here is Marli M.!! Together we are the secretaries for the Sparks program in AWANA. Sparks are the K-2 group. We have around 90 total in those 3 grades (if they all show up). Marli is my right hand girl. She helps me with about everything.

This is Angie D. and Joellyn D. I could write a whole blog on Angie. She has appeared in my blog before on my "cooking day" a month ago. We just had our latest "cooking day" on Tuesday. This time we made 14 meals, each one cost $1.37 per serving! Love it!!

Pizza Party!!
Here is Marilyn with Becky D. (left) and Bekah S. (right). Bekah is Marilyn's best friend. Becky D. is Angie's other twin. Angie's twins are boy/girl twins like Marilyn and Joel. So, yes, 2 of Marilyn's best friends have very similar names. It can be a bit confusing at times.

Thanks Dianna, Marli, and Angie! My family and I are indebted to you!!

Only by the grace of God,
Kendra

I am this dull?

2009-03-23T00:08:00.004-05:00

It has been a whole week since I've updated my blog. Sorry to my faithful followers. I'm hoping to have some exciting news soon, so you will have to keep watching for big news.

As I look back upon my week, I realize that my life is pretty mundane. But, that is OK. School, kids activities, and church work are the highlights. I was able to watch alot of basketball though. This time of year is the best! The NCAA tournament started on Thursday and the boys high school tournament also finished this weekend. My Fighting Illini was supposed to play on Thursday night, but they chose not to show up!

My family is doing a bracket for the tournament and Joel is in the lead. It is amazing ~ the kid has no clue as to who should win, yet he has the best bracket so far. And Marilyn is a very close 2nd. She also has no clue. I am in 4th place, and I think I have a clue (key word: THINK).

School is plugging right along. I hope the kids will be wrapped up for the year by mid-May. We have testing during the 1st week in April, but otherwise, we are not taking any breaks until we are done. That's right ~ no Spring Break for my kids. If you see them and wonder why they seem unhappy, that could be the reason! Well, probably not. They don't get the fake holidays either. You know the fake holidays: President's Day, Veteran's Day, Count Pulaski Day (an IL holiday ~ I'm not kidding!), Arbor Day, etc. What they are really looking forward to is when they get a break from piano. Oh, the horror of practicing every day. I'm such a cruel mom.

Thursday night I spent the night at the twins club meeting. Here are a couple of pictures from it. Marsie is our President. She is alot of fun and has great energy!

These girls were at my table. Also alot of fun, as you can tell. I told them I was going to blog them ~ see, Sue, I am not a liar! :-}

Friday morning we helped in the Moppets ministry at church. This is a construction project by Joel. Maybe he will be an architect or an engineer. Pretty creative for 10 yrs. old.

Happy Spring!
Kendra

Let the Madness begin!

2009-03-16T22:42:00.005-05:00

My family is obsessed with March Madness. It is not just me, it is my whole family. Maybe I have brainwashed them?! We are all filling out a bracket for the NCAA tournament. Noah is the 1st one to get done. I hope to get mine started tonight. Noah and I are also doing the NIT bracket. Obsessed? Yeah, but it could be worse.

Every year for the past 15 years, Peoria has hosted the IHSA boys basketball championships at the Civic Center. This year we decided to volunteer at their Madness Experience. For those unfamiliar with it, the Civic Center exhibit hall is transformed into a basketball play-yard/heaven. Here are a few pics from it: ~

Marilyn and I were assigned to the "around the world" game. There are 5 spots on the floor from which you are to make a shot. There are various ways to play this game. I chose one in which all the kids shot around, whether they made every shot or not.

There was ALWAYS a line during my 3 hour shift. We didn't get a break, but that just made it go by very fast.

Noah won this by shooting 9 "pop-a-shots" in a row, and then 7 in a row. He was supposed to shoot 10 in a row, but the guy let him have the towel anyway.

To start our shift, Marilyn and I worked together and Noah and Joel worked together at a different game. Then, Marilyn traded with Joel 1/2 way through. At home, she is the BEST helper there is, but at this game, she was bored and not much of a help. Joel was a Godsend for me. He is a good rebounder, which is what you need to do for this game.

Here I am after my shift. I'm ready for a break!! It was alot of fun ~ I would do it again. Maybe next year.

Until the next tip-off,

Kendra

Tumble kids

2009-03-12T01:04:00.000-05:00

I'm trying out something new. I hope it works!! (fingers are crossed :-}) I haven't uploaded videos from our DVD discs to the computer since last summer. I forgot how to do it, and I just wasted 3 hours relearning what I did back then. If it works, I will try to send out more video for your viewing entertainment.

Here is a video of the kids tumbling on March 10th, my grandma's 96th birthday.

See you on the flip side,

Kendra

Lazy, quiet weekend

2009-03-09T01:16:00.000-05:00

2009 has been very busy, so far. But this past weekend, aside from 1 soccer game Friday night, was quiet. Yeah!

Joel in the goal ~ his favorite position.

I was able to do some much needed cleaning around the house. I probably should have tried to get more done, as the family calendar is now full, every weekend into May. There is at least 1 thing planned every weekend, and some have more. Maybe we need to slow down a bit!! My parents believe I need to anyway.

Our homeschooling is going well this year, too. The kids are ahead in their lessons from where we usually are at the start of March. Maybe we will actually finish by the middle of May this year, and complete all of their lessons, too!! That would be great, and a 1st.

I am working at this post very late (or very early, however you want to view it) because I am a night owl and also because my body still needs to adjust to daylight savings :-}

Short post = lazy, quiet weekend!!

Off to bed,
Kendra

Our own wildlife park

2009-03-03T22:09:00.000-06:00

Monday morning I had to take Brian into work because the brakes on his car didn't work. "Of course I will take you to work, honey!! We don't want you crashing into something!!"

I usually do not get up with him because he is out the door around 6:30. However, maybe I should. It was at this time that the deer congregated in our backyard. We see them almost on a daily basis, one or two at a time. Sometimes 3. But on Monday morning there was a HERD of them, at least ten.

Brian had to get out the camera. Thanks, honey, for the blog material!! He also fixed the car Monday night, so I didn't have to drive him to work on Tuesday. Yeah! Sleep in!

Tuesday started out as a nice, quiet day here at home ~ until the evening. Our own wildlife (i.e. kids) were wound up for some reason. Very loud and not very helpful. I think they are getting cabin fever bad. And, I lost something that was VERY important. Now I'm loud (to be honest: yelling) and looking frantically for it. Never found it and I am mad at myself. Top that off with a church issue that I am dealing with ~ I'm ready to give up!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer 29:11

I have hope that tomorrow will be a great day! And, God will take care of it all. Yeah! I don't have to worry about a thing :-}

Good night!
Kendra

Meals for a month!

2009-02-27T22:38:00.001-06:00

I was just invited to be in a "make your meals for a month" club. Well, not really a club. It is just me and 2 other friends. And, it is not enough for a whole month, but it helps.

They have been doing it for a couple months, and their 3rd member dropped out and they asked me to join them. Yea!

Here is the deal: Before the day you schedule to get together and prepare the food, you have to organize a menu and shopping list and go out and purchase everything you need. Then, on the big day you prepare all the meals and freeze them for use later. I was fortunate this month (since I was the Freshman), because I had no prep work ~ I just showed up and helped. It only took us about 5 hours to put together 11 meals for 3 families.

This is the prep area. I spent most of my cooking/preparing here.

Angie was in charge of buying this time and prepping most of the meat.

Sarah was our sauce girl. Just call her "saucy"!

The finished work.

Because we make everything in bulk, the cost this time per each meal averaged at $7.07 meal, $1.23 per serving. I love the cost savings for my family!

I had a GREAT TIME! And I can't wait until next month!! This time though I don't get off so easy ~ I have prep work to do. But, I don't mind. It is actually fun.

Bon Appetite!
Kendra

Happy Tuesday!

2009-02-24T23:21:00.000-06:00

I really wish I knew how to download pictures off my camera phone!

This afternoon, Brian and I went to our church for a marriage checkup. This year we have been married for 15 years! Some days I wonder what happened to all those years. Then I look at my kids!! Yikes, these are mine and they are old :-}

After our marriage checkup, we ran some errands and went out to eat ~ A DATE!! Very exciting for me, as I didn't have to cook. Have you ever noticed that food tastes so much better when someone else cooks it? What is that??

Anyway, we went to a new restaurant in Peoria called Kaiserhof. This restaurant used to be in Bradford, IL and has moved to Peoria. I suppose to gain more business. It has a German menu and tonight they happened to be celebrating Mardi Gras. Go figure. The place was packed by 5:30! They had a yodeling contest, costume contest, and a give away for a trip to Munich. We didn't stay around for the prizes, but the entertainment was so worth the price of the food. Oh, the food, was so yummy!!

We were so flustered leaving from the spectacle of it all that we forgot our take home boxes. I am so bummed that I might just have to go back!!! I really wish I had my camera, it was hilarious. (For those blog watchers: I promise to have my camera with me more often, right Kevin?) Here is a pic that Kevin posted on his blog. I will make sure he doesn't 1up me again! Joel was having fun making a family on his fingers (look close for the faces) last week and Kev caught it. Thanks, Kevin.

Anyway, back to my night: after eats we did a little more shopping, had a dessert together, then came home. We had a great day and have strengthened our marriage for another 15+ years.

Have a great night. I did!
Kendra

The latest list on Facebook

2009-02-19T21:43:00.000-06:00

In case you haven't heard, I am addicted to Facebook. Here is the newest list to come from there. I know it is starting to hit emails too because someone sent it to me as an email. So, I guess the best way for me to do it is on my blog again so my non-FB friends can see it.

Anyway, this quiz is alot like Scattergories, one of my favorite games. I really feel sorry for the people who have X and Z for their initial!

Subject: Quiz

Rules: Its harder than it looks! Copy to your own notes, erase my answers, enter yours, and tag 10 people. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real...nothing made up! If the person before you has the same first initial you must use different answers. You cannot use any answer twice and you cannot use your own name for boy/girl name questions.

Have fun!

1) What is your name: Kendra
2) A four letter word: kite
3) A boy's name: Kenneth
4) A girl's name: Kathy
5) An occupation: kiniesiologist (someone who focuses on human movement, like a therapist)
6) A color: kelly green
7) Something you wear: khakis
8) A food: key lime pie
9) Something found in the bathroom: kleenex
10) A place: Krygyzstan (in Asia)
11) A reason for being late: kids
12) Something you shout: Keep out!
13) A movie title: K-9
14) Something you drink: kool-aid
15) A musical group: Kutless
16) An animal: kangaroo
17) A street name: Kennedy
18) A type of car: Kia
19) A song title: Knowing Me, Knowing You by ABBA
20) A verb: kept

Have a great day!
Kendra

My Special Valentine!

2009-02-17T23:19:00.000-06:00

We are trying to save money everywhere in our budget (gotta pay for that new van, and etc.). So this year we decided not to give each other anything for Valentine's Day. The only thing we did to "celebrate" was to go to the Valentine's banquet at our church Friday night and a mini-conference the next day on the "Basics to a Great Marriage" with Dr. Stuart Scott. He was entertaining and encouraging. One point he made: embrace and cherish your differences, for these are some of the reasons why you love your spouse. We are all uniquely made by God, and compatibility is overrated. Amen!!

The fellowship at the table Friday night was a blast! We got to sit with Paul and Cheryl D. They just won the WCIC radio contest for a "Weekend to Remember" trip. It was a remarkable come from behind victory! Also at our table was Terry and Karye S., which we just found out are friends with our next door neighbors ~ SMALL world!

Later this year, Brian and I celebrate 15 years of marriage. Woohoo! Our church does something wonderful by offering marriage checkups for those "special" years (5th, 10th, 15th, and so on). We have scheduled ours next week. Brian has taken the day off, and we are making it a date all day long. Kinda like another Valentine's Day! Check the blog later next week for the details!

After Valentine's weekend, Brian has come down with a stomach illness. My funny valentine is recovering, but he is not 100% yet. I'm praying I won't come down with it!

Aren't we adorable??!!! Well, he is anyway!

Love and blessings,
Kendra

WARNING: I'm on my soapbox today!!

2009-02-12T15:06:00.000-06:00

Today is the 200th anniversary of one of our greatest Presidents ever. Happy 200th, Abe! Ironically, he happens to share the exact same birthday as a man who has single handedly destroyed the Christian faith more than anyone in history. This man was Charles Darwin, author of Origin of Species (which is subtitled The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, in case you didn't know!). Was he a racist? Absolutely! Do people know that? Probably not. Darwin’s view of dark-skinned people like the slaves was different from that of Lincoln. Most people idolize Abraham Lincoln. Unfortunately, many people do as well for Darwin. Today we should honor a man who saw all people as God’s creation, not a man whose ideas spurred and justified the devaluing of human life.

One of the coolest things about where my family lives is that we are in the flight path of the airport. Air Force One flew over my house today!!

I would post the video, but I haven't figured how to do that yet. It is so cool to see and hear it. I don't agree with the agenda of our current President, especially his view of abortions and the sanctity of life. Am I a racist for not liking him? Some would say yes. What I believe is that there is only 1 race: the human race!

We are all created by God, not through evolution. We are made in His image, not evolved from the muck. Biology textbooks will try to teach you otherwise - molecules to man theory, but the most reliable and accurate textbook teaches us this:

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Gen 1:27

Hope you have a great 200th birthday party ~ for ABE!!

Kendra

Church work day, Schaffkopf, and Chinese food

2009-02-09T09:07:00.000-06:00

Saturday was such a beautiful day. The high temperature was in the 60's ~ it felt like spring! Brian, Noah, and Joel spent the morning helping to work at our church's new construction getting ice off of the concrete floor. At 60 degrees, you would think it would be melted, but Brian had to explain to me that it was very thick and it was inside the building, not outside, so no sun could reach it and melt it. OK, I kinda understand ~ but how does ice/water get inside to begin with?? Apparently, the roof is new. Ah-ha!

Here is Joel scooping some ice.

My men hard at work :-)

In the afternoon, my parents came down from the farm to visit. It has been such a cold winter, that it had been over a month since they had come to visit. We went shopping at Kohl's before we went out to eat to celebrate a couple of birthdays: Brian's 44th (January 15th) and my dad's 72nd (February 15th)

After supper, we came home to play the German card game, Schaffkopf. I would be surprised and impressed if you know how to play this game. It is a game from my heritage that has been handed down through the generations. The closest thing that matches it in our country is a game called sheepshead, which is the literal translation of schaffkopf. It takes a bit to master and can be confusing. Simply put, it uses 24 cards (9 to ace) and 12 of them are trumps. If you want to learn it or play, let me know! Growing up, I loved the game, but my sister disliked it. Tonight, I got a sample of why she disliked it so much. I remember almost always winning this game. I don't believe in luck, but I always got good hands and she didn't. I was lucky. Well, my son Joel is reminding me of my life 30 years ago ~ he is lucky!

And, in case you are wondering, yes, we use chips, but never exchange them for real money.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Kendra

Seriously, is this really necessary?

2009-02-05T16:23:00.000-06:00

Did you know that there are at least 6 different kinds of pronouns?

Well, there are. Not different ones, but types of pronouns. I imagine that 95% of the population could not name more than 2. Quiz for the day: Can you, with some of their examples name them? I didn't think so. The answers? They are as follows: personal (I, me, she, etc.); interrogative (who, what, etc.); demonstrative (this, that, etc.); indefinite (each, either, one, etc.); compound (myself, yourself, etc.); and relative (the same as interrogative, but used differently in the sentence, not as a question, but as a dependant clause (what?!) ).

Have I bored you yet?

I would also venture to say that very few people know what appositives are, but they use them every day! But I'm just guessing. Noah, my oldest son, struggles with language arts. (by the way, in the last sentence, son is your appositive, in case you didn't already know!) Pretty typical of boys, I'm told. Today was a tough day of school for him. He really frets over quizzes and tests, even though I'm his teacher and I don't punish him with "No PE class for you!!". I just want him to get the concept or principle down. That is it. He does pretty well in math and history, but language/grammar has always been hard for him. And, unless he becomes a sports writer, I don't see him ever having to put his pronoun knowledge to use outside our classroom.

I want my kids to enjoy learning. Not "school", but learning. I want them to succeed in life, but does that mean straight A's? I don't think so.

Now, how far do I go without a meltdown? Mine or my kids? HaHa!! I mean, seriously, is knowing the 3 cases to personal pronouns really necessary? I don't think that will be a question that we get in heaven.

Have a great night!
Kendra

I'm done. Are you??

2009-01-31T11:20:00.000-06:00

Barring any unknown and unexpected 1099's, I have our taxes done for 2008. That is right. I'm done!! I like to get them done early, so our refund is in our hands, not the governments. As we saw last week, our tax dollars (again) are going to be used by those who do not believe in the sanctity of life. It saddens me to think of all the innocent lives lost due to the selfishness in the hearts of many.

I was reminded at church last Sunday, that there is no such thing as an unwanted child. There are so many families who want kids, but are unable to for many reasons. Case and point: Jim and Angie, our cousins (Brian's side of the family). They are fostering Rihanna right now, with the strong potential of being able to adopt her. Many years of heartache were endured before they were able to welcome her into their home, if only for a short time. Angie got the call when Rihanna was just a few hours old. Instant parenting is what I like to call it and what a blessing she is!!! My kids, especially Marilyn, love playing and taking care of her. Yesterday, Angie watched my kids while I went to a couple of doctor's appointments. I love visiting with them and seeing how God has worked in their lives. Please pray for them and little Rihanna. We would love to permanantly have her in our family!

I was going through the blogs of a couple of friends today, watching videos of them bringing home a little girl from Guatemala. I was crying watching the process all unfold, all part of God's plan in their lives. What a loving story, from the initial visit to one year later. Just beautiful.

There are many stories like this in our church family right now. Families that have adopted "unwanted" children, from the states and internationally. All this makes me wonder if we should look into adopting or fostering a child. That is something that my family needs to seriously bring before the Lord. Please pray for us!!

Blessings,
Kendra

2009-01-29T13:57:00.000-06:00

Right now on Facebook there is a request going around asking for 25 random things about yourself, and I've been tagged by a few.

This "survey", I imagine, is that you are supposed to contribute things that are unusual about yourself, things that many don't know about you, potentially silly or embassassing things, and the like. So in my blog today I have decided to attempt to think of 25 things that I am willing to share. I am somewhat of a private, shy person so you can rest assured that I will not put anything down that is incriminating.

Here are the details from the post:
25 Random Things about me....
Rules:
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

Here it goes:

1. I have traveled to 49 of the 50 states in America. The only one I need to go to is Alaska.
2. I have been in 38 of the state capitals across the country.
3. I graduated with an Accounting degree from the University of Illinois. Go Illini!!
4. I love watching sports on TV, but get REALLY nervous watching my favorite teams and I usually have to go to a different room or shut it off when the game is close.
5. I grew up on a dairy/pig/grain/etc. farm near Kewanee, IL.
6. I used to feed the pigs when I was little and I fell into their pen once. I guess I scared a few people at the time, and as the story goes, a mother sow was charging for me.
7. I lived in a 10'x50' trailer until I was 12 years old and shared a 8'x10' room with my sis. Wasn't it great, Susie?!!
8. I was the valedictorian of my class.
9. My graduating class had 12 people in it. I guess that "valedictorian in my class" statement doesn't carry much weight anymore!!
10. I had a congenital heart defect fixed in 2000, but because of complications, I have a pacemaker now.
11. I have been on Christian mission trips to Savannah, GA; New Orleans, LA; and New York City.
12. What I hate most about laundry is the sorting and folding of socks.
13. I played basketball in junior high and high school. Because of my basketball "career", have now have a metal pin in my left knee.
14. Growing up, my favorite musical group was The Police. Now it is the Newsboys.
15. I love playing cards and board games. My favorite card game is a German game called Schaffkopf. I also love Sudoku.
16. I am a night owl.
17. I played the flute growing up, but wanted to play the piano.
18. I still own my Hello Kitty stuffed animal that I got in the early '80s. She is still in amazing shape after being repeatedly dropped-kicked by many of my "friends".
19. I had my appendix taken out while in college on my sister's birthday. 5 days later, I was at a U2 concert jumping up and down with my friend Carolyn (shout out to Carolyn!). I'm glad I didn't pop a stitch. Boy, I have had alot of medical issues!!
20. I sleepwalk. And, apparently, I also talk in my sleep.
21. I like to play with my hair by twirling it, etc. It drives people crazy.
22. I was in 4-H growing up.
23. I don't understand the fascination with NASCAR racing, but I love NHRA drag racing.
24. I know my true home is not here on earth, but it awaits me in heaven only because Jesus Christ is my Savior. My goal in life is to not say anything stupid and in everything honor God.
25. I really have no extra time in my life right now. My kids are in alot of sports plus with homeschooling, I can't believe I completed this. But I'm glad I did. Hope you learned something new!!

Smiles,
Kendra

Happy Tuesday!

2009-01-27T19:05:00.000-06:00

Today was an unusual day. My kids have piano lessons every Tuesday. Even as their mom, I have to say it is brutal to listen. And I know they could do better if they put their whole heart into it. That is just frustrating.

Anyway, today I had a doctor's appointment, so my husband's aunt took them to their lessons. YIPPEE!! She also kept them all afternoon, so I had a "free" afternoon today. It was great. I was able to get a few things done that I wanted and have a break from schooling.

The "big" thing that I finished was to put up a new curtain and rod in Marilyn's room. I'm pretty proud of that because I got to use power tools!! Brian never lets me do it when he is around. hehehe. We have been redecorating her room for a year now, trying to get the nursery look out and young lady in. Last year we picked out new purple carpet (Aunt Susie is SO JEALOUS). And, just last week, Marilyn and I sponge painted the area stained by the old nursery wall border. It really looks like a young girls room now, and not a baby's.

Tonight we are having a family movie night. Fireproof just came out on DVD and we are going to watch it with the kids.

A friend of mine once said that a blog is boring if there are no pictures. I will try my best to send pictures with every post, but I won't guarantee it. Also, I don't know how often I will post. We will have to wait and see how busy my life is. One of the main reasons for this blog is to keep in contact with my family, so that IS my motivation.

Hope you enjoy your evening,
Kendra

Day One: I'm now blogging!

2009-01-26T00:35:00.001-06:00

I'm new to this blogging, so be patient. I'm not sure how to do it yet, so we will see how this goes. I'm just trying to figure out all the template stuff. Yikes!! What I really need to do is go to bed. Tomorrow is a school day!

Do I really have time for this? NO ~ but it is fun. Hope you enjoy just a little bit of my life.