School : ) Part 2

Today was Conner's first day of school. : )  I have somewhat been dreading this day because he is so attached to me and I didn't want him to be crying and holding onto me or anything like that.  Just let me tell you, that it is now August and he has been going to Primary for 8 months of this year and he just barely started going in alone and not crying.  Needless to say, he has separation issues.  

Conner seemed to be really excited to go to school, but I wasn't going to hold my breath that it was all going to go well.  I went downstairs this morning to wake the boys up and it started.  Crying and screaming because he said he was too tired to go to school.  I was thinking that it was going to be rough, but he finished his temper tantrum (over his socks not being comfortable in his shoes) and then came up and had breakfast, we brushed his teeth, and took some pictures and I walked him to school.  We got there and he put his backpack away and sat down at his desk and started working on the little project she had ready for them.  I asked him if it was okay for me to leave now and he said,"Yep" he gave me a kiss on the cheek and I walked out.  No drama, no nothing.  YIPEE!!  It was exactly what I was hoping for, minus the tantrum this morning.  Let's hope that his first day was a fabulous one and that he will want to go back everyday from here on out. 

Conner ready for School

 Ready to walk with his brothers.

 Miss Gervais.  She is even cuter in person and so very young!

 Just outside his classroom

 His desk area

 Conner at his desk waiting for everything to start

I LOVE this redheaded boy!  I am so glad that he is growing up and becoming independent!  Here's to hoping that he comes home today with a good report and excitement for going back tomorrow. : )

School : )

Just the sound of this word makes me smile.   I know that I must be the worst mom in the world because I dread when summer comes, but I love it when school comes around.  I just get really tired of hearing that the kids are bored and that we have no schedule whatsoever.  I love getting back into the swing of things and the kids are learning something. : )

This year Caitlin started 7th grade.  We went to the school a couple of times to work on opening her locker and getting used to her class schedule.  She had the toughest time with her locker.  She could open it once and then couldn't open it again for like 20 to 30 times.  I was really stressed.  She was really stressed and so there were some tears.  I was just really worried that she was going to have this awful experience and be lost and not know what to do.  The day before school actually started, they let all the 7th graders go for about 3 hours to learn the layout of the school and open lockers and such.  She did fantastic and it was probably because I wasn't there with her stressing her out. : )  Her first day was great and I hope she has a really good time in Jr. High.  I hated it myself.  I have tried to forget those awful years.

She was really happy to finally get the first day over with.

By the way, last year in 6th grade, she received the TERRIFIC kid award from the Kiwanis club.  They chose one boy and one girl from each 6th grade class and Caitlin was chosen from her class.  She really is a terrific kid and I will miss her because she is such a great help to me.

Collin started 4th grade, and football.  I am really excited about football.  I never was a fan of football until Collin started playing last year.  I have become somewhat of a competitive Mom which is annoying to me sometimes.  I know that Collin can do really great things in football, but sometimes he is lazy and doesn't try.  It frustrates me.  This year we decided to keep him in the 3/4 grade division instead of bumping him up to 5th grade with his team from last year.  I really thought that his coach last year was really good for him because he pushed really hard and got them to perform, which is why they went undefeated last year.  Coach was a huge yeller which bugged me, but we did see results.  So I thought that keeping him in the same division with a different coach was a huge mistake.  When I went to the first meeting the new coach told us that he wasn't going to do conditioning, running, push ups and very little contact.  I was floored!  Why wouldn't you do those things in tackle football?  The kids aren't going to learn anything and they are going to get killed by the other teams.  After much venting to Michael, we decided just to try it out and see how it goes.  I joked that the old coach spit fire and this new coach poops rainbows because the first practice was so happy and carefree.  I was like is this football or a dance camp?  The next practice was much better.  He is really teaching them the fundamentals (which Collin didn't really get last year because most of the team had already played a year and knew all of that stuff) and Collin is learning so much and having a ton of fun as well.  He never complains about going to practice and because he is basically the only one on the team that played last year he knows what he is doing and he gets a lot of play time.  Enough of that,  I just can't wait until games begin!

Collin with Mrs. Gregory.  She seems so nice and Collin really likes her so far.

Corbin is starting 2nd grade and is really growing into his own.  He still throws a temper every now and again and we even thought of starting him in football this year so that he can take his anger out onto the field, but he just isn't ready yet.  He has a real issue with winning and losing and when things don't go his way he just sits down where he is at and pouts.  I didn't want him doing that on the football field in front of his teammates and coaches.  So I told him that if he worked on good sportsman like behavior this year that he could play next year.  We are going to put him into basketball this fall though, he really needs something to do.  Corbin absolutely LOVES Colby.  He is so sad when Colby is not awake to say goodbye before he goes to school and runs in and kisses him when he gets home first thing.  What a great big brother he is!

Corbin with Mrs. Condie.  She really is cute as can be and he really likes her!

Conner starts Kindergarten next week and I will post about his first day then.  He is bored as can be without his brothers and doesn't know what to do with himself.  Which is weird because he has never had a problem with entertaining himself.  He is such a cute boy and I have been overly concerned with him going to Kindergarten because he never wants to be away from me.  When we went to meet his teacher he really thought she was nice and said he can't wait to go.  We will see.  I hope there will be no tears...

Just a cute picture of my redhead!  Love this boy!

Colby is still Colby.  That boy doesn't really grow fast.  We just took him in for his 9 month visit and he is 18 lbs in the 10% for weight still.  I feed him like crazy and he just doesn't put on the pounds.  He has a really fast burning metabolism.  He is 27 inches tall in the 75% for height so he is tall and skinny.  He is just about to walk.  He has taken a few steps without support but will sit down immediately when he realizes he has nothing to hold onto.  We are working on it.  No teeth yet either but he is a pro at gumming things down.  He brings a lot of spunk to our household.  He is really hyper sometimes and does the cutest things.  He loves to smile and play chase, and he loves to play with any type of ball.

 This picture is a little old, he is not as chunky anymore.  I have great pictures but they are all on my phone and as soon as I can figure out how to get them on here, this is all I've got.

Colby with his new baby cousin Kyson.  He was very cute with him.

Michael and I are doing great.  Some things might be changing in our lives soon, hopefully for the better.  I will keep you posted, hopefully.  I need to do better about this blogging thing. : )

Collin's Birthday Party

This year for Collin's birthday, I gave him a choice. I asked him if he wanted a friend party or a really great gift from us. He chose the great gift. Surprised by his answer I asked him why he didn't want a friend party to which he replied that he didn't really have any friends to invite. I was floored and saddened by his answer. Caitlin confirmed my fears because she said that he really didn't have friends. I started thinking about it and he never goes to anyone's house to play like Caitlin does nor does he get invited to go to a friends house. I really had a hard time believing all of this because Collin has always made friends wherever we have lived. He has a really great relaxed personality so he gets along with everyone.

After speaking with his teacher at school (only because parent teacher conference was the Thursday before his actual birthday, not because I was so freaked out) it turns out that in their classroom this year, they are all friends. Mrs. Cox said a lot of parents had mentioned the "friend" thing to her because no one is making "clicks". They all play together and are really nice to each other. I was happy with that because we all know how annoying clicks can be.

I talked with Collin and convinced him that he should try a party so that the boys in his class could get to know him outside of school. I was really worried that no one would show up and he would be left friendless at his own birthday party, so I told him to think of 16 boys from church and school and invite them with the reasoning that you usually get about half the amount. So we did. We invited 16 boys and as the days got closer to his party we were getting RSVP's from a lot of the kids. I was petrified that we were going to have all 16 show up and it would be a mad house, but I was going to be okay with it no matter what. Turns out that 13 kids showed up. 13! We played a get to know you game and then a bunch of minute to win it games. All these boys loved it! I was happy when it was over! It was so worth it. Just a couple of days after his birthday Collin brought home one of the kids from the party and played and then a couple of days after that Collin was invited to go over to another kids house that came to his party.
I asked Collin if he was happy with the choice that he had to be talked into : ) and he said that it was the best birthday he has ever had! Love that kid!

Collin with all the boys from the party


All of his loot

All I can say, is sometimes Mom's can be right!

Good Morning!

This is what I get to wake up to every morning. Colby determines what time morning is around here. Sometimes it's 1:30 and when I am extremely lucky sometimes it's 7:00. The latter has only happened to me once. Fluke?? I think yes. Anywho, I feel really blessed to wake up to this face no matter what time it is because he is such a cutie! Makes me fall in love with Michael all over again everyday because I think that they look a lot alike. Right now, I only function on Colby time, but I LOVE it!

Kennedy Happenings

Hello, all! I am such a slacker and I just get really overwhelmed at the thought of everything that I need to blog about that I just put it off until it has been 7 months since my last post and boy you better believe a lot has happened.
First off, we had our cute baby boy COLBY JAMES KENNEDY on Nov. 7th @ 3:23 pm. He came by C-section because of complications. Needless to say I am very happy to be alive and have a very healthy baby. I believe that Michael is happy with the outcome as well. I couldn't imagine him having to raise 5 kids on his own. : ) Colby was a complete peanut weighing in at only 6 lbs. 13 oz. I have never had a kid this small and it was quite foreign to me. No worries though, at his 2 month check in, he gained 5 pounds and now is 11 lbs. 11 oz. I love it! He is starting to get really chunky with fat rolls and all.
Colby James Kennedy

On to other news:
We had a great Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Time totally flew by. I feel like I am a new Mom all over again and I have forgotten what it feels like to have a newborn. The exhaustion has taken over and I feel like I am in robot mode. There is so much I want to get done everyday, but when I sit down to feed little Colby, I fall asleep and wake up feeling even more exhausted! I keep telling myself that someday it will get better and to just hang in there until then.

Caitlin got her ears pierced as one of her presents for Christmas. She was nervous and a little excited. I was going to wait until she was 12 but she had been talking about it for a few months so I caved and let her do it 6 months early. She has taken good care of her ears. We thought that they were infected at one point but she kept up on the antiseptic and pulled through. I know that you all think that I am crazy for waiting so long, but I wanted this to be her choice and I wanted her to be ready to take care of it herself.

Caitlin right before her ear piercing


After they were done and she still has a smile on her face. I was totally proud of her because she gets scared about everything and thought that maybe she was going to have a melt down at the mall but she didn't even shed one tear.
I love this girl! She is just about the sweetest thing and has totally matured over the past 2 years. She is such a great helper. Most of the time she just takes over for me with the baby when I have WAY too much stuff to do and she never complains.....ok sometimes she complains but it is way better than it used to be. She is just so grown up. It really does go by so fast!

We had some family pictures taken when we were in Mesquite over New years weekend. I am totally huge, but I have to remember that I just had a baby 2 months ago and I never get back into shape for at least a year. I hope that I can look better in about 6 months if I work really hard. Goodbye sugar, we had a nice run there for a while!

This one I think is somewhat the best
What a handsome group we are. I can't believe how big my boys are getting either! They are so much fun, I love them all to pieces!

I guess that is enough for now, because little Colby just woke up from his nap and he is NOT happy about it. I am really going to try to keep up on this blog, I know that I say that every 6 months but it is one of my new years resolutions so hopefully I won't let myself down. : )


Just one more of the newest cutie to join our family

We are just totally in LOVE with this little guy!

Holy Moly!

Yesterday was the day that I announced to the world that we are indeed having baby #5 and it is another boy. I was disappointed for all of 5 seconds that it was not a girl because a girl would have been really nice for Caitlin, but he is very healthy and we are very excited. I never wanted to be a mother of more than 4 kids. Mike would have at least 6 if not more and he has been trying to get me to have another ever since Conner was 1. I was bound and determined to not have anymore and was very clear to him that it was never going to happen. I guess that I should never say never.
About a year and a half ago, I was at Costco with Mike and there was a little tiny baby screaming in his mother's arms and for the first time ever in my life I wanted a baby, like baby hunger. Don't get me wrong, I wanted all of my kids, but I have never been baby hungry. Each child has come to us because it either made sense like spacing 2 years apart or like Corbin, comes unexpectedly. I told Michael how I felt and he got all giddy and said that we needed to have another one. To which I replied, "HECK NO". Only I think that I used a stronger word than that. I expressed to him that having another one didn't make sense. Conner was potty trained and we were free of babies forever and there was no looking back. Then I told him that my heart expressed a different feeling and I didn't understand it. Mike told me that when my heart and mind came together than we would know that we needed to add another child to our family. I just made up my mind that I would never tell him if that ever happened because I was done.
Fast forward to about 6 months ago.
Things really started to not make sense to me when the idea of having another baby was on my mind 24/7. I was constantly thinking about it and I was really upset. If I would be late and take a pregnancy test and it would turn out negative, I would feel really sad. Because of this, I decided it was time to pray about it. I got on my knees and asked if we should add another child to our family and I didn't get an answer. I think that it was because I already knew what the answer was, but I just didn't want to admit it to myself. I was looking for a "sign." A couple of weeks later I prayed about it again, but this time I prayed that I would have the courage to tell Mike that I wanted another baby. I knew that the second I told him we would instantly be pregnant and I really just wanted to discuss it with him and get some input. I finally gained the courage to tell him a couple of weeks later and to my surprise he told me that he was just getting used to the idea that we were not going to have any more and was considering a vasectomy. I told him that he needed to pray about it alone and that we should pray together. Then one night on his way home from work he called and told me that he felt like we should have another and the rest is history.
I have always had my life planned out. So far none of it has happened the way that I planned, but that is life right? I have no control. Heavenly Father knows me and the way things will turn out according to the choices that I make. Sure, I could have ignored all the feelings that I had had over the course of a year, but I could not deny them. They were too strong and I felt that if I did ignore them than I was making a big mistake. There is a reason and purpose for this baby. There is also a reason that he is a boy and not a girl. I may never know what the reason is, but I feel very satisfied that we have made the right decision.
I feel really old this time. I am turning 35 in September and I always wanted to be done with my child bearing years by 30. And I had Conner in April before my 31st birthday. Another plan gone not as planned but it's okay. We are really happy. Now we just need to come up with a name since I have about a million girl names but I have exhausted the boy name pool. It was a miracle that we both agreed on Conner's name. Holy Moly I am going to be a mother of 5 kids!:)

My little boy

For those of you who know my family, know of my sweet little Corbin. He is my third child and out of all of my kids has been my biggest struggle to date. I love him. He brings so much to the table everyday and can be the sweetest guy when he wants to be, but can also be the meanest guy when he wants to be. Two night and day differences in the same body, same personality. It's kind of like a Jekyll and Hyde thing that he has going on. I have never been embarrassed by my sweet boy when he is throwing a fit in the middle of the grocery store because I am not alone. Many mothers who go to the store have children that behave like my little guy sometimes. The other day I experienced a little embarrassment. We were at Maverik getting drinks for the boys. Caitlin was at a birthday party and we decided to go to Cabela's to do a little man shopping for Michael. The boys were thirsty, so on our way home we stopped to get drinks. Corbin has an issue that whatever he is thinking of in his mind that he wants and it is not available to him at that very instant, he throws a monster size tantrum. We usually ignore it but this time I watched a man getting a his own beverage stop and stare at Corbin's behavior. He had this look of disgust on his face and I wanted so much to go a smack that guy and tell him to mind his own business. I wanted to crawl in a hole because of the look that was on this guys face. Apparently if he has children they are "little angels" all the time.
Since then, we have been searching for a solution to this problem. My heart breaks because when he behaves this way he is truly unhappy and I don't want him to be unhappy. For years I have just chalked it up to him being "spoiled" because that is usually the case with my kids when the behave this way. We have tried several disciplinary tactics, but they have not been working. Michael and I have had several conversations on this subject and many nights in our couples prayer that we have prayed about what to do. Then on this past Saturday night after Collin's baptism day about 11:30 at night, Michael and I went to Wal Mart because we had forgotten some things we needed for Sunday and had a 1/2 hour to get it before the Sabbath. We decided on our drive that what we have been doing is not working and that we needed to do a complete 180* on how we treated our Corbin. We decided to shower him with love and affection and when he did outburst in anger that we would be very calm and talk to him in a manner that I struggle with because I am used to yelling or getting upset. This process is teaching me patience as well. The result for the week has been amazing. Corbin has been so happy. I mean beyond happy. He comes home from school just beaming and I can really see a change in his personality. He FEELS loved and I guess that he hasn't really felt that in a long time. Now I am not saying that I didn't show him love before our experiment this week. We have always shown him love, but we have mulitplied that by 100 now.
I was a little difficult for my mother as well. Shocking, I know. : ) The best advice she said that she ever got was to just love me and I will eventually feel that love and come out of it. I did. Corbin will too. Until that day when he can truly feel our love for him I will have to be patient and deal with the behavior til then. But like I said, it is getting better. I'm going to cross my fingers until then and keep praying for him because I know that I can never go wrong when I have Heavenly Father on my side. I am also very grateful for Michael for spearheading all of this. He was the first to put our plan into action and showed me that we can have the patience we need to do this. It is so true that each child has a different personality and we cannot treat them as if they are all the same. Corbin has special needs as well as Caitlin, Collin, and Conner and someday we will figure everything out....I hope.....Long post, but sometimes I need to vent. I will post about Collin's baptism soon.....we actually took pictures of this event.

HaLlOwEeN!

I decided that I should do a Halloween post just to let you know that we actually celebrated it this year. Honestly.....I am such a halloween bahhumbugger. I don't know what happened to me along the way in life. I used to like it, but now I just see it as a huge expense with 4 kids. Costumes, candy, decorations, it is just expensive and I don't really see the need for it. (Gasp!..did I just really admit that?? well, it's true so if you don't want to be my friend anymore I would totally understand. : ) )

Here is how we celebrated:

Caitlin was a cute witch. Collin was a construction worker. Corbin was a Doctor. Conner was Ironman. They were all dressed so cute and I went to grab my camera.....I actually remembered it this time....only to my dismay to find it broken by the kids. They had used it one night to have a "photo shoot" ....and I use that term loosely...and they somehow broke it and didn't say anything. I was mad, but what do you do? At least I have an excuse to go get a nicer more updated one. It will have to wait until Christmas.

We went to our ward trunk or treat only it was raining outside so we had it in the church cultural hall. It was very simple and we were in and out in under an hour. Then we traveled to Pleasant Grove to celebrate Halloween and my sister in law Sarah's birthday. We first went to my in laws ward trunk or treat only to be rained on some more and then hurried to their house for some soup and chili. The rain finally stopped and the kids went trick or treating in the neighborhood for about an hour. Let's just say they hauled the candy in! We will be eating halloween candy for a few months. (Since I am in confession.....I hate halloween candy as well. My kids do not need another excuse to eat candy, they get enough already. Needless to say, the candy is now hidden and won't be discovered for a very long time. I'm sure that I will forget about it and I will find it sometime next year.)

We had a great time with family and I am glad that it is over!! Next, Thanksgiving, and I totally LOVE that. I am not being sarcastic at all. I really do love Thanksgiving and Christmas. It just seems more family friendly. ; )

I hope that everyone had a fun Halloween.

Relief!

Those of you who have seen or spent anytime with me over the past 3 months can attest to the fact that I was really going crazy. Don't try to deny it, I have graciously accepted it and so should you. : ) We have just been on such a crazy ride. A good, but crazy ride. We are now moved to Spanish Fork and we are all together again. I feel like we have been led here. That probably sounds crazy as well, but I really don't care. Certain things have happened to us in the past 3 months and if we had not made the decisions that we made, I don't know where we would be. Heavenly Father has a plan for us. I have probably prayed more in the past few months than in the past 5 years. I was really hoping that Heavenly Father would answer my prayers, but I wasn't really expecting them to be answered. Let me explain....I am a firm believer that you make decisions and then pray about them to see if you get a good feeling like it was the right decision. We made the decision to take the job in Utah County and prayed about it and got good feelings, almost like duh, this is a no brainer decision. Ever since that answer came, everything has just been so laid out for us, almost too easy and I have been waiting for something bad to happen because nothing in my life has ever gone this smoothly. I am always expecting some significant answer. Some sort of epiphany that makes me understand "the plan" right then and there. Well, of course that never has happened to me and so I just figured that my prayers are not ever really answered....until now. I never had the epiphany, just had faith that we made the right decision and decided that I was just going to go with the flow and see how things unfolded. The blessings that I have seen have been amazing! I can't go into a lot of detail because this post would be 3 times longer than it is now. I have such a strong testimony of prayer! I was hoping that the whole families prayers were answered so that the kids could experience the love that our Father in Heaven has for each of us and they were! What a great teaching moment for me and the kids!

I am so grateful for my blessings. I especially want to thank ALL of my wonderful Mesquite friends and family. You were so key to helping me keep my life together. So much of an outpouring of love from you made the days better. I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! I will miss you all dearly and I will miss the wonderful Mesquite winter weather. I will however be so very grateful come summer. : ) I haven't met anyone here yet, but had a wonderful unexpected visit from Dave and Sharie Petersen last night. I was feeling a little down in the dumps yesterday and then was overcome with happiness when I saw Dave and Sharie standing outside the front door. Thank you for coming to say Hi. It was so good to see familiar and friendly faces. I know that this is where we are supposed to be and I have learned many lessons and I am still learning more. I am grateful for the tender mercies from my Father in Heaven. Now I get to continue the ride and see what else comes around the corner. Hopefully it will continue to be good. Thanks again and I love you all!!

What did we get ourselves into??

I am sitting here at my parents dining room table updating my blog at 7:50 in the morning because I am trying to keep busy to keep my mind off of what just happened. I just said my goodbye's to my hubby because he started his new job today and I have to travel home with the kids all by myself and try to find peace in being a single mom for a few months. For those of you who don't know, Michael accepted a job up here in Draper UT for Wadsworth construction. For a long time now, he has been working without getting paid on a regular basis. It has taken a toll on our bank account and we have been struggling to make ends meet. We prayed for a way for the situation to be changed and then one day this job fell into our laps. It was an answer to prayers. When we decided to accept the job we prayed about it and immediately things started to fall into place, and the trials began. How are we going to do this? Are we going to live here in dreaded northern Utah? (I hate living in Utah......no offense to my friends and family who live here, I just HATE the weather with a passion) What are we going to do with the house? Should we start the kids in school and then pull them out halfway through? I promised my boss that I would give him 3 months for me to train someone to take over my job, but after this morning, I don't know how long I am going to last. My heart is empty. I feel like the biggest part of me is missing and it has only been about an hour since we said goodbye. I keep thinking that if I stay busy than I won't think about it much, but I don't want to go home. I don't want to walk into our house and have Michael not be there with me. I want to blink my eyes and have it be October so that we can be together as a family again. Anyone that REALLY knows me, knows of my love for Michael. We have been joined at he hip since we were married 11 years ago. We have had many struggles along the 11 years, but he is the most important person to me. I constantly think about him everyday and he is all that is good in my life. Oh, I know that we will talk all the time and we will see each other every couple of weeks, but it is not the same. I keep thinking that I have to be strong for the kids and find my inner independence that I know is in me.......I just don't want to HAVE to. I don't know what the future holds for us. We are just taking it one day at a time. I am going to be spending a lot of time on my knees. I am truly grateful that Michael was able to get a good job and that life can move on for us.

Well, that was my little rant/meltdown. I just want to keep everyone updated on what is happening in our little family. Thank you to our families who have given us support, love, and help. I am most likely going to need a lot of that for the next few months. ; )

My Dad...

Growing up as a child was very happy for me. I had 2 wonderful parents that provided so much for me. I was pretty happy and well adjusted. The only thing that I wished for was that my Dad didn't work so much. I recognized this at a very young age and as the years passed I created my list of what I wanted in a husband and I wanted a husband that would provide for his family, but not a work-a-holic like my Dad.
Many thoughts have been flooding through my mind these days because my Dad is going through a most trying time in his life. He had a bowel obstruction and when they went in to fix it they perforated his bowel in 2 places and didn't catch it until he went into septic shock. He is fighting for his life. I went to see him at the hospital this past weekend and he is looking okay but he has a really long road to recovery. I had a chance to visit with him and he seems in good spirits despite the agonizing pain that he is in. That very same day my cute little brother decided to take us out on his boat for a day of fun. I felt really guilty as we were in the hospital room with my Dad and how he begged us to go boating and have lots of fun while he was stuck in that bed. He told us to go and have fun and report it all the next day when we came to visit. We went and had a tremendous amount of fun but not without some sadness, see, when I was a kid we had a boat and it was so fun for my Dad to take us out on that boat every Saturday during the summer. We had great traditions of pita sandwiches that we would eat for a picnic on the lake. We made sure that we followed the same traditions that we had when I was a kid and let me tell you the pita sandwiches and sour cream and onion pringles never tasted so good! I felt like a kid again.
I love my Dad. He has always been a beacon of light in my life because he has always been there to offer advice and support. He may have been working a lot, but I always knew that my Dad loved/loves me. : )
We came back to see him the next day which happened to be the day that I had to leave and come back to Mesquite, and shared our experience and pictures with him. He smiled from ear to ear because of the happy faces of my kids. He loves them very much. Of course I didn't bring my camera or cell phone to document the fun that was had, but my brother did and I will have to get a copy of those pictures from him to post on here.
I somehow feel that because of the hard work of my Dad, that somehow my life was a little slighted because of his absence in my life at times. In all of this struggle he has finally realized that family is super important and he has decided to retire, as well as my mom, and move here to Mesquite. I now will have the opportunity to enjoy him as much as I can and that we can make up for anytime lost. Please pray for my Dad that his recovery will be swift and that he can get back to his normal self. Thank you so much for reading, and please give your Dad's a big squeeze the next time you see them because life can be so short.

It's Official!

Conner is officially potty trained! WAHOO! It was just so easy, a little too easy, I kept thinking that he is just one day going to give up and want to go back to diapers. I always call it official when the child goes to the bathroom by himself and does his business, all of his business, when he is in there.
Last night Conner pooped a little in his underwear and was freaking out, and then I had him go sit on the potty and he pooped some more and so I am calling him officially potty trained. He does not want us to help him, he just will go in the bathroom and go all by himself. We don't have to remind him and he sleeps all night with no accidents. What a relief! He made it before he turned 3. This has to be the fastest potty training that has ever occurred in our home. He decided that he wanted to wear underwear on Wednesday night and is completely done by Tuesday.
Thank heavens that we no longer have to deal with diapers!!

Potty Training

I am going to shock you with doing 2 posts in the same week!! How great is that, I am even amazed myself.
Little Conner said to me last night after his bath that he didn't want to wear a diaper anymore, he wanted to wear underwear like Kiler....his cousin 4 months older than him who has been potty trained for quite some time now........I was amazed and shocked! The last time that we tried to put underwear on him he threw the biggest fit and kept trying to rip them off his body. So I thought that I would humor him and see if he really meant what he said. I put underwear on him and he went in the potty twice last night.....he slept in his underwear all night long and woke up dry.... and went in the potty this morning....had one accident before we took him over to grandmas, but what can I expect, he can't be perfect coming straight out of the gate....he went potty at grandmas before I left to go to work and no word yet on how he is doing. I am really kind of nervous to call and find out. We left Grandma with 3 outfits to change into and 5 pairs of underwear and 1 diaper. Keep your fingers crossed that all this will work out. We are just about out of diapers and I don't want to have to buy more! Wouldn't it just be so nice if he would be potty trained before his 3rd birthday, which is in 17 days???!!!

I'm Tired.......

I am so tired these days. Work is so busy and life is just handing us way too much for the moment. I don't have any pictures to post because it takes time to take pictures and as sad as it is to say.......I don't have to time to take pictures. We have done a lot since the last time I posted, but of course we would have done a lot because I haven't posted since August of last year. Wow, can you say slacker??

After blogstalking all of my friends for months now, I had an epiphany today when I was looking at all these blogs and one of my friends has not updated in like a year and it frustrated me.......then I realized I am as much at fault with my own blog. How sad is that?! Well it prompted me to write something, so that's good. Update on our little family:

Caitlin is as much of a teenager as ever.....the rolling of the eyes and the deep disgust in her voice when she is told to do something that she doesn't want to do.......attitude all over the place. I love her dearly, because when she is not in a mood swing and her life is going like she wants it to she is just the sweetest thing. She wrote a little note on a post it last night and left it on our dresser and it said, "Mom and Dad I love you so much and I want to do something nice for you, Love Caitlin" to which I replied thank you very much could you please fold the laundry that is on my bed? I got a good roll of the eyes and a bright smile all at the same time. She is so much like me and I just adore her!

Collin has glasses now and I need to take a picture and post it on here so you can all see how different he looks. It is taking me some time to get used to it. It really changes his face and I'm not sure that I like it....but I tell him how dashing he looks with his glasses. I think that we need to try a few other types of frames with him to find the best one for the shape of his face and head. I just went for the cheapest at that moment that we got them.

Corbin is still a huge handful but we are cracking down on him and not letting him get away with so much anymore. It has been really hard on me to discipline him because I am such a softy with him......I don't quite know why.........it could be that he is the middle child and I don't want him to feel left out all the time. Crazy, I know. He is doing great in preschool and I think that kindergarten might be an easy transition. I am so glad we put him in preschool this year to get him ready for this fall.

Conner rules our lives. What a fiery red head that one is!!! He is so full of life and he is driving Corbin crazy with following him around all the time. Corbin will scream at him to stop it and I just let him know that was how Collin felt at this age with you. It's funny to see these little boys interact with each other. They have such a strength with each other and they are all such good friends. Poor Caitlin.......all these boys and then her.........

I am doing okay these days. Not great, but okay. I miss all of my friends and going to the park during the day and riding my bike to school with the kids and just being Mom. I miss it, but I am also very grateful that I have a job and that we have some income coming in and that we have medical and dental insurance. I am hanging in there. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me and this little family. He provided a job for me because he knew that times were about to get worse............Michael lost his job yesterday. I don't know what we are going to do. He is looking for work anywhere so if you hear of any jobs available please let me know. We are putting our lives in Heavenly Father's care and I am trying not to be scared but I just can't help it. Please if you hear of any construction opportunity let us know. If anyone needs some home improvements Michael is really fantastic at handy man work. He can just about do anything. I know that tax returns are in for lots of people so if you want concrete done at your house, or whatever, Michael is your man!! : ) We are willing to go to wherever there is a job. Thank you to everyone who has been there for us. We appreciate it. We love you all very much. The next time I update, I hope that I will have more happy news.

Our Summer

So I decided that I have slacked enough this summer and I have had a few complaints that I never update my blog.......I won't name names...........I agree that I neglect lots of things in my life. It's all about priorities and since I started this blog so that I could journal, I realize that I need to do that. Here is our summer kind of in a nutshell and sorry in advance about the overload of information.

To kick off the summer, we always start with Caitlin's birthday. Since I can't seem to understand my blog, and how to post things right, I will just explain things and then add the pictures.

She is growing up so fast I just can't believe it.

And she is still not too old to play with barbies. I hope that she is not going to kill me by posting this. Well, you know, it's my job as a mother to embarass my kids.

We added a new addition to our family this summer. He is adorable and wonderful and I know that a lot of you are going to be scratching your heads over this one, but I love him and the kids love to torture him (only with love) Meet Chester......The newest Kennedy family member.
I know what you are thinking, but we tried a dog and Mike's allergies were totally out of control and we just didn't have the room for her either. A cat suits us much better even though Mike wasn't too keen on the idea in the beginning. He does love Chester and he will tell you otherwise, but don't believe him for one second.

I do just have to show you just how far behind I am because this is what Chester looks like today.


Big difference I know. Time flies when you are super busy!

In July we took our family vacation up to Fish Lake to spend a few days camping and fishing and having lots of fun with family. Of course amoung all the chaos of getting things together I forgot to bring the camera. We didn't get any pictures and I feel so bad about it. I am just not a picture taker and it didn't surprise me at all when I forgot the camera. I will continue to work on that. The best part about our whole camping experience was it hailed on us so hard that it looked like it was snowing outside. The cold air felt so good. Such a needed break from the hot, hot summer weather in Mesquite.

When we got back back from our vacation Caitlin and Collin were both in the community theatre play "The Jungle Book". They were both monkeys ( they didn't have to work very hard to get into character with that one) and cute as can be. They did a fantastic job!


Aren't they just adorable? I could have done without the noses. We could hardly tell who they were when they were on stage. I had to look at the shoes they were wearing so I could tell who was who.

Caitlin and Collin without the noses and monkey ears. Notice the makeup on Collin. He had to wear it and surprisingly enough he didn't mind it so much. Should I be scared?



Not a very good picture I know, but this is them posing on the stage after the play was over. I was just so proud of them for sticking in there and doing their best!


I had a lot of family staying with us over the summer and helping out by doing a lot of babysitting. Thank you so much to Aniesha, Sitara, and Robby. You are such a blessing to our little family. I don't have any pictures of this either but the kids had the time of their life with you guys. I did get a couple of pictures with Sitara when we took a trip down to St. Thomas to see the old city that is now exposed because Lake Mead has receded so much.


This was the very beginning of the trail and everyone was happy and having fun. No one was roasting yet and Caitlin hadn't started freaking out yet either. It wouldn't be a family outing if Caitlin didn't freak out. I don't know about that girl sometimes. The drama that she creates is definatley an adventure. I love her so much and she does bring a lot of excitement to our family.




This is one of the house foundations that is along the trail of St. Thomas.



I don't know if you can see this very well, but this was a well that had an inscription in the concrete. It said Mary, May 26th, 1911. Caitlin was so proud of this because that is her birthdate and I was so freaked out because it reminded me too much of "The Ring".




This was a snake on top of a log in another well. The boys were so excited about this. They thought it was so cool. Me on the other hand thought it was gross. I guess that's the difference between Moms and little boys. : )


We did little things here and there and one of them of them that Michael is very proud of but will die when he sees it on here is he put together a giant puzzle in about a day and a half. It sat on our kitchen table for 3 or 4 days after that because I didn't have the heart to take it apart. After not eating together as a family on the table for that amount of time I told him to take a picture for proof and then we dismantled it.



It is a 1000 piece puzzle of the Salt Lake Valley if you can't see it very well. We all pitched in but Mike did almost all of it.


And now for the best part of the summer..........THE END. The kids went back to school today and I regret saying this just a tiny bit, but I am so HAPPY. The house is so quiet today and Corbin and Conner are just playing and having fun and there is no fighting. It's glorious. I hope that the kids have a fantastic school year and make lots of new friends.


Collin so very excited to start 1st grade this year. At 6:30 last night he asked if he could go to bed early so that the school day could come faster. He might change his tune in a few months.




Caitlin wasn't as excited as Collin but she has a lot of friends in her class including her best friend which she sits almost directly behind her. I hope that she has a good year. 4th grade!! Can you believe it? I can't! Life is just so fast paced right now. I don't really want it to slow down because I enjoy watching everyone get older and more independent.



This is the last picture and was too cute not to add. Corbin didn't really want to take the kids to school this morning, I don't know if it was because he was sad or just his normal defiant self, but I let him have the camera and he took this picture of himself. Too cute!

Well, I know that this was a blog overload, but I am glad that I have finally posted something after 4 months of doing nothing. Hopefully it won't be another 4 months until my next post! We are all happy and healthy and blessed abundantly! I love this family of mine!

( On a side note, I finally figured out his whole blog thing and boy do I feel stupid! How hard is it to cut and paste? Hello, Becky! Oh well, we live and learn.)

What did I tell you? Here I had made my post and then I was putting pictures on after I had posted something and it did it all backwards! AHHHHHHHHHH! I am ready to pull my hair out. I didn't get to put any cute sayings with the pictures or anything. I AM FRUSTRATED!


Well, isn't Conner just a cutie? I can't believe that he is 2 years old already. He was a little surprised by the candles blowing out. I don't think he expected that to happen. I just love him so much. I have never had such a happy kid. When I go in to wake him up in the morning I start to sing a little song to him to wake him up and he will have his eyes closed and a huge grin on his face. He wakes up happy and continues to be that way for most of the day. I am just not used to it, but I totally LOVE it. I however think that he will be the shrimp of the family. All the other kids were at least 3 feet by the time they were 2 and Conner was shy by 2 inches. Oh well, he makes up for it in personality! What a blessing he is in our family.

And then the Easter pictures.......Um I thought that I had more than that. Anyway they had a fun time with the egg hunt and mostly eating all the candy out of their baskets. We are just so happy these days and besides the fact that I can't stand to post on my blog, I am glad that I did and got that off my plate. Really, if anyone wants to teach me to use my blog in an efficient manner I am willing to learn. I never thought of myself as dumb, but tonight I sure feel it! Have a great day!

Easter and Conner's 2nd Birthday

I just can't get a hang of this blogging thing. I think that the reason I never post anything is because I am a little intimidated by my blog. Let me explain. This is the second time that I am posting the exact same thing, because the first time I couldn't figure out how to get what I wanted on here, on here. Do you get me? It is so frustrating to have to keep doing it twice or even more than that. Is there anyone out there that would be willing to give me lessons on blogging? I know that I am pathetic but really I just dread having to post anything on here. It takes me so freakin' long!! I guess that if I posted more, than I would eventually get the hang of it, who knows. Anyway I hope that it works this time. Here are some pictures of the kids at Easter and Conner's 2nd Birthday.