2 Cuties.

Kennedy got a stool for Christmas so that she can help cook. She LOVES to help cook, no matter what is going on - I could be reading the mail and she will push her little stool over and say, "Mom, I help you? PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE?!" So, I let her help me read the mail. Her version of reading goes like this, "Once upon a time there was a big story. The end"......... here she is making cake; notice the little chocolate all over her face:)

Daddy went to Florida for the Orange Bowl, so we went to Papa and Grandma Julie's to watch. Kennedy loves to drink out of shot glasses. They are the perfect size for her little hands. She is so funny though and always says, "Don't worry, Mom. I be careful. 2 hands!" on this little tiny shot glass!!!!!

Lastly, we have Maggie in her Snuggie. Actually, it is Kennedy's Snuggie, but it was soooo cold in our house last week that I thought Maggie needed it. I think she may have been in some sort of disagreement about this because she didn't move from this spot until I took the Snuggie off:)

2010 HERE WE COME!!!

We went to see Dellis & Michelle's new house on New Years and there were so many kiddos there! We stayed until almost 11pm!! Here are Kennedy and Addie at the end of the night - not a bit tired, can't you tell?

Merry Happy Christmas!!!!

We began celebrating Christmas on Wed the 23rd; in the evening we went to Grandma Julie and Papa Brian's house. Kennedy immediately latched on to the items in the stocking (2 extra aqua doodle pens) and refused to participate in opening any of the gifts. She wanted those pens opened imediately! And then, once they were open, she demanded paper. I found the aqua doodle at the bottom of the present stack and basically forced her to open it - she immediately wanted it out of it's packaging so she could play with it. Next, she opened a drum set and between the 2, she was in heaven. She whistled away on her harmonica (which she insists is a "flute") and made everyone join in on the drum, tamborine & whistle. This is the only picture I got, as I had to open her presents for her....Then Santa came to our house on Christmas Eve. Here is the loot before she woke up.Kennedy is NOT a morning person. She needs her time and space. I woke her up at 7am and she was upset b/c the lights were on. She kept saying, "mom, it's too bright. I go back to sleep" I kept telling her to look at the presents that Santa brought and all she wanted was to sleep. Then I said, "I'm going to play with the chalkboard, then." That brought her alive, she said, "NO, I PLAY with the chalk!" and with that she hopped right up and started playing. Please disregard the lovely hair do; I said she was fast asleep!Her baseball glove and ball from Santa was a big hit! Not such a big hit= throwing a baseball in the house...Here she is in her apron, holding her fishing pole and microphone (which plays Under the Sea over and over and she LOVES it!) We celebrated Christmas Day at the Conner's and it was more of the same. Kennedy wanted her little cousin Austen's Tonka ride on immediately and wanted nothing of opening her own presents. She even walked up to him on the truck and said, "Get off!" and then she proceeded to pull him off. She also really liked the Elmo couch that she got FOR AUSTEN. Finally, we opened one of the coolest toys! Grandpa Ron got Kennedy this little fruit that comes w/ a knife and cutting board and it "cuts". There is velcro holding the fruit together and she loves it!I couldn't resist this photo. Even though she is wearing nothing but an apron; these days, she seems to be a nudist... and yes, we are using our new Emiril pan, Mom! (Thanks Grandma Fae!) and our new step stool from Grandma and Papa. Saturday, we trekked to Moulton, IA for the Pedrick Christmas. It was sooo great to see my cousins and family that I rarely see - and for Hailey, Sidney and Kennedy to get to play (they are all so close in age - it is starting to get fun to see them interact!!!) Kennedy thought they would need a microphone for their very own, so that is what we gave them, of course we did remember to bring our own, just so there would be no issues:)Sidney and Kennedy w/ their microphones. I am not sure where Hailey is, and I didn't get any usable pictures of her - my pictures were too blurry! I am blaming a dirty, fingerprinted lens:)This week I get to stay home with Kennedy! Day One already proved to be a winner! We started early, hit the Home Depot, visited Daddy at work, went to Walmart for groceries, then Daddy met us at Chuck E. Cheese for lunch! Boy, was that fun! We talked on the phone w/ Chuck E. Cheese, played some BBall, played some Skee Ball (notice, Kennedy couldn't get the hang of rolling the ball, she insisted it be thrown) and we even rode the galloping horse. That was interesting, good thing Daddy was there to hold her on - there wasn't a buckle on that horse!!!Tonight we got out the new paints and we painted. Kennedy LOVED this! I have a feeling we may have to paint every night. She even made Daddy come paint, too! And he loved it just as much:)

Wasserbahn. FUN!!!

We decided to take a trip down I80, just about 30 min from home to stay the night at the hotel that has Wasserbahn water park. It was so much fun - since we discovered how much K loved the pool this summer, we couldn't wait to take her to this water park! She had so much fun; she is a little fish.

This is the coolest thing at the all indoor water park - this gigantic bucket fills with water and when it is nearly full, a bell goes off signalling that the bucket is about to tip over and spill the water all over the place. We showed Kennedy how this worked and at first she was terrified of it. Then, she got used to it, but she still cringed when she heard the water drop... She loved the water slide. We went down together, but I am strageically hiding. We accidentally went down right when the bell was going off, so of course as we got to the bottom of the slide, the water fell all over us! She was a little scared of that, but we moved on...

December is here. YIPPPPPPEEEEE!!!

So, the other day after getting home from Lories, I was at the table looking at the ads and Kennedy said, "where's my paper?" So, I gave her the Kohl's ad. Then I was at the stove, with my back turned, and I hear, "my pillow, my blankie", thinking, oh, she sees a pillow and blanket in the ad. Actually, that is not what she was talking about at all. I turned around and this is what I saw!

I couldn't resist a pic of Kennedy wrestling w/ Maggie. I can't show many of the pics because that would give too much of the xmas card away. She was trying soooo hard to get Maggie to sit with her and take a picture. The problem: Maggie HATES the camera.

I didn't get many pics from Tgiving - my bad! But I did snap a few when Jon was out playing football with Mason and Nathan. Kennedy wanted sooo badly to play too. I even got out the chalk for her to play with and all she wanted was to catch the football. Hmmm.

Don't you love the pony on top of her head while sporting a purple headband? Trend setter. And she loves to drink out of her Hawkeye shot glass. She'll even give you a "cheers" with it:) Milk and cookies!!

Oops. That cookie is TOO BIG for the shot glass!

Kennedy has really started using her imagination. Just a couple of funny stories:

1- When we are in the car, she, out of nowhere, will shout "Oh, no! Diego's stuck! Hold on Diego! Alecia is stuck too! We have to help them. I know - a rope! Let's get a rope. Hold on Diego, hold on Alecia! I'll save you! Pull. Pull. Pull! We did it! We saved you!" Just straigt from the tv, right? Sometimes, baby jaguar gets thrown in. Or a puma. All of you Diego watchers will know what I am talking about.

2- so, this rope thing has caught on. One day, my mom used Kennedy's blankie as a rope to pull her back to safety :) Sometimes her babies will fall out of her lap in the car and she can't reach them. She says, "Oh, no! Baby's gone! Don't worry, I'll save you! I know, a rope!" So, she throws one end of her blankie out to save the babies. She says, "pull, pull, pull" Then, "it not working!" All I can do is laugh.

Bday party PROS!

We had 2 birthday parties today and they were SOOOOO much fun. We even forfeited our nap, which we have NEVER done, but, it was well worth it! Kennedy had a great time:)

First, at our little cousin, Austen's first birthday, we played with lots of kids and Sammy was there. Then we ate a delish ice cream cake. mmmmmmm...... and we are now very good at winking. As you can see!

Then we moved on to Miss Della's 2nd birthday party. We apologize for being a teensy bit crabby, but again, no nap. We still had a great time and thank you to Karlie for letting us hold your new baby furreal kitty. (Side note - if you don't know what a furreal kitty is, please look at them the next trip to Walmart. They are amazing. Kind of creepy scary, but Kennedy thinks they are real and she LOVES them!)

And - we ALL need a little carousel in our backyard! We could barely drag Kennedy away from this amazing thing! Della and Kennedy were having a good time dancing in the middle:)

Halloweeeeeennnnnnn!!!!!! Spooooooooky!!!!!!!!!

First things first. We waited until Halloween day to carve the pumpkins. Why? IDK, probably because I wasn't going to do it at all, but then realized that I had an entire Saturday, why not do it. K loved it, at first, then she got bored and needed to wash her hands. This turned in to playing with the water at the sink while Rach and I carved the pumpkins. These are the end result! It was fun, but harder than I thought!We went to our friend Addie's house to trick or treat! It was pretty cool! We only made it up and down one street before K was done, but she got just enough candy, I think. Here are the kiddos in their costumes. Kennedy didn't want her pic taken, so Jon had to hold her