12.31.2012

Monogram

I had a dream the other night, and after telling Lori about it, she told me I must share it with the blog so you all may enjoy it and laugh at our silliness - and a warning - in case you've forgotten, we have very active imaginations.

So I was asleep one night, enjoying a peaceful night of wonderful rest, when suddenly Lori decides to make a dramatic appearance in my dream. She brought Tate, Patrick, Brenna, Audrey and her parents along too. Lori burst into my dream to tell me that four month old Tate was about to be a big brother - to 8 babies. Octomom, much? She also, in standard Lori fashion, wasn't making us wait long to meet Tate's new siblings; the babies - all girls - were due, like, immediately.

We all gathered at Lori's house, in Tate's room, to meet the new tiny humans. They are all lined up in their cribs, which were tiny-sized, because all eight, plus Tate, were in one room. She introduced us to the babies one by one, and soon discovered she had a bit of a problem.

Picking up baby 1, she introduced us to Apple. Baby 2, she said, was Monogram, spelled mMm. When she picked up baby 3, she realized it was unnamed...and so was baby 4, baby 5, baby 6, baby 7 and baby 8! Being the problem solver she is, Lori formulated a plan.

Rocking back and forth on her toes, facing the poor, unnamed babies, she informed us all that we would be wearing sandwich boards and walking around Minco to accept bids on a names for the babies. Clearly that made bout as much sense as naming a child mMm (which in my dream was perfectly logical) so off we went, wearing sandwich boards with sharpies attached.

Unfortunately I woke up at this point so I can't reveal the names of babies 3-8, but I'm sure the citizens of Minco had good taste when naming them. One was probably even named Windmill.

12.30.2012

50 years

1962 was a pretty epic year.

In January, the United States Navy SEALS were established.
In February, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth with Friendship 7.
In March, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in an NBA game (take that, LBJ).
In April, the first official Panda Crossing was opened outside Waterloo Station in London.
In May, the Beatles signed their first contract with EMI Parlophone.
In June, three convicts used spoons to dig their way out of Alcatraz (dedication, folks).
In July, Warren Spahn set the HR record for a pitcher at 31.
In August, the Beach Boys released "Surfin' Safari."
In September, Maury Willis became the first to steal 100 bases.
In October, John Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature.
In November, baseball decided to revert to one all star game a year.
And on December 29, Jerry Lee Kennedy and Victoria Louise Riley were married.

In 50 years, they've built a marriage and a family founded in Christ. Today, our family and friends gathered to celebrate the milestone they've reached.

Happy anniversary, Grandma and Granddad!!!
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12.28.2012

Sometimes...

...your four day weekend starts at 3:00.
...you pick up this little girl at 4:00.
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...and you've missed her a whole bunch lately.
...she asks you five times before you are parked in the garage to paint her fingernails.
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and of course asks for extra sparkles

...so you just do it, regardless of what her daddy might say (sorry, Uncle Shawn!).

Happy weekend, my friends. Julie and I have to get our fancy nails on so we can celebrate my grandparents 50th anniversary Sunday and ring in the new year Monday night. Fancy girls mean fancy plans.

🎀💜

12.25.2012

Merry Christmas!

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Merry Christmas from the Kennedy fam!

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11 (NIV)

12.19.2012

Cameron & Kaden

Cameron & Kaden

Happiest of birthdays, Cameron Jayce.

Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13, NLT

12.18.2012

My first best friends

Ten years ago today, my Great Grandpa Sparks went to live with Jesus.
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He and Grandma Sparks were my "first best friends." As a little girl, there was nowhere I wanted to stay other than Grandma and Grandpa's, and even at their age (mid 70's at that time), they kept me. Grandpa owned "the station" in town - it was sold and changed to M&M's during my high school years, and torn town for the new city hall - and I remember "playing dominoes" and drinking Chocolate Soldiers. I remember him telling me the importance of knowing how to check the air in my tires (which I do know how to do, even if I'm not the best at car things) and I can still close my eyes, take a deep breath and remember the way he smelled. I remember Grandpa's hugs and curling up on his lap in his chair, and knowing not to, under any circumstances, touch his feet! I will never see striped overalls, tan button up shirts or those old-school glasses without thinking of my Grandpa. He lived a life full of adventure and I loved his stories - especially when they were told while sitting outside drinking Grandma's Sweet Tea.

The thing I am most thankful for about his life on earth is his salvation. I remember as a little girl that Grandma told me he wasn't a Christian. Well, determined little me was going to join Grandma in praying every day for him. I was so over the moon excited when he accepted Christ (I get to tell that story about two of my grandpas - what faithfulness God has that at no matter what age, you're never too old to know the love of Christ for the first time!!).

So while yes, I miss him (and Grandma) every single day - especially when I catch an episode of The Price is Right, find a Chocolate Soldier in a store, when the tire air checker light in my jeep comes on, and especially on days where I have something I want to share with one of them - I am so thankful to celebrate his life today!

My first best friends taught me so much about life and love. They raised a big, incredible family together, and even now that they're gone, we are still a very close and pretty awesome group. The biggest blessing they left each of us was definitely each other, and I am thankful for that daily.

PS - I love you all, my sweet family - but don't think for a moment I won't fight you for the good presents Monday night! :)

12.15.2012

Oh, hi, there.

I really have been meaning to blog lately. Like for real. I'll be like "oh that would be great to blog about!" or I will sit at my computer and actually open Wordpress to blog (as opposed to doing it from my iPad or iPhone) and I've gotten distracted (Pinterest and online shopping...oops). I mean yeah, I've been busy, but really, that's a terrible excuse and I am trying not to use it. So, instead of promises not to neglect this little blog of mine any longer, I'm just going to give you a life dump since I last blogged and promise to hopefully be back to faithfully blogging soon. :) In the meantime, you can always get minute-by-minute updates from me on Twitter, and see my silly antics over on Instagram.

 



I bought bows from Brenna. And I love them a lot. And I've worn one almost every day since.


I've played with Baby Tate. A whole lot. Oh, and I've spent lots of time with his Mommy too. :)


I've done a lot of online shopping. I'm almost done with Christmas shopping though!! (and no, I'm not giving away any presents by showing this picture) :)


I've read some great words.


I celebrated my Little's birthday with her!


I went shopping with my dad and brothers, where my daddy learned that he still is incapable of saying no to his 23-year-old daughter. We walked out of the store with an Elf on the Shelf, Chester (follow along on Instagram to see his fun!).


And, because all this awesome would be incomplete without a celebrity spotting, I met Desmond Mason at work one day!!

For you non-OSU basketball fans (do you even exist?), he was a great ball player at OSU. He is also an artist who lives in the OKC area. Very cool guy...and everyone who sees this picture feels obligated to tell me how short I am, just in case I could have possibly forgotten.

What about you, friends? I've been blog creeping (reading, not commenting) so I'm kinda up to date. How are you filling your Saturdays without college football? Are you winning your fantasy football teams (I'm not)? Is your NBA team on a great winning streak (mine is, at time of writing)? Did you graduate college this weekend? Are you finished Christmas shopping? Have you worn tacky Christmas sweaters? Have you taken Christmas pictures, decorated cookies and spent time with family? I certainly hope so. Assuming our family pictures get taken soon (read: today) I will share our Christmas card...you know, assuming it gets sent out! :)

Love you, miss you, see you soon(ish. hopefully).
shaeken

11.25.2012

Merry Christmas!

Guys, Thanksgiving is so last week. Don't get me wrong, I will continue to be very thankful (even if I did skip a thanksgiving post...oops), but it's now time for one of my top three (along with Fourth of July & Homecoming) favorite holidays: Christmas.

Of course, as you know, I like receiving presents (ahem, mom). But that is most definitely not even close to the reason I love Christmas so much.

First and foremost, it is the celebration of the birth of Christ! We all know how much I love birthdays, and celebrating the birthday of my Savior is just too great for words.

Second, I love all things glittery and sparkly. Every year until now, I've had a white & hot pink tree. This year, I went a little more traditional with a green pre-lit tree, and I still need to get a few more ornaments, but I just love the twinkle of the lights. I might probably definitely even sleep with it on because I love it so much!

And let's not forget the giving of gifts. One of my favorite things to do, any time of year, is find something that I think will make someone important to me happy and give it to them. It could be as silly as a funny picture to text them or as random as something I know they've been wanting or as exciting as tickets to a game or as delicious as their favorite foods. It doesn't matter to me what I give, I just love selecting and giving things to bring happiness.

Let me tell you a little secret: I'm terrible (clearly) at keeping secrets though. Which is a reason I immediately have to give people presents when I buy them! Christmas presents are definitely difficult for me to keep quiet about, no matter if they are silly or awesome. In fact, one of the presents under my tree is my mom's and she already knows exactly what it is because I was bragging to her about everything I bought and she called me on buying this present. But you, blog friends, I am determined not to tell you what this present is, even though I almost typed it three times. I will keep every other present a secret from the receiver. I hope. Haha.

Anyway, as I type this, I sit right next to my tree, surrounded by ribbon and bows (which, in my opinion, no Christmas present is complete without), tape and wrapping paper. I was just so excited that I HAD to stop what I was doing (wrapping more presents from day 1 of my shopping adventures) and share with you immediately.

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What is your favorite part of the holiday? I'm quite sure I'll share more of my favorite things about Christmas time as the month goes on (but no present secrets!).

11.22.2012

Hairy Bear

My cousin JerBear is "home" from school for the weekend and mentioned he needed a haircut this evening. Being adventurous, I offered to do it for him. He quickly accepted, not realizing I've only given "haircuts" to show lambs. It turned out okay though, and now I'm basically a professional. Who's next?

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11.21.2012

Just pretend this is as awesome as last year's party.

Last year, I wanted to make sure my parents knew exactly how much I love them. I (with a little help) threw them a fantastic party to celebrate 25 years of marriage. All I have to say for my weak display of party pants this year is "I still love you but I need to save a few more years to throw another party like that. Here's a gift card to the Dollar Menu." 😊 Of course, I'm mostly kidding, but I do want to take a second to celebrate the 26th anniversary of the day they said "I do."
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As I said, last year, with the help of my grandparents and aunt, Kaden, Kale and I got to invite my parents friends and family to celebrate with us at Remington Park. I learned I'm terrible at keeping big secrets (mom might have known about it a little early), but I think they had a good time celebrating anyway.
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I love you, Daddy and Momma. I am so thankful for your faithfulness to each other, our family and the Lord. I hope to one day have a marriage filled with as much overflowing love and happiness as the example you have shown. Happy 26th anniversary!!!

And Daddy, one more thing:
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11.19.2012

Happy 3 year liviversary to me!

I have a feeling most of you might not know what a "liviversary" is, so I'll let you in on it: a living anniversary.

Exactly three years ago, at 8:46 a.m. on Thursday, November 19, 2009, my life was changed drastically. While crossing Duck at Miller walking to Shelly Sitton's 9:00 a.m. class, I was hit from behind by a girl driving a pickup truck. Do the math, I shouldn't be alive; typically when a big truck hits a little girl she doesn't walk away. But I am, therefore I am thankful. Every day since the accident, and especially on the day of my liviversary, when I look at the scars on my wrist and knee, I am reminded once again of the life God has blessed me with. Through it all, God was faithful. This is the first year I've also been able to celebrate being 100 percent pain-free, so that is yet another reason for joy! For background, read my one year post or my old blog.

Guys, one thing I learned from the accident is to live, hence me calling it my liviversary.

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My advice: Live fully. Take chances. Love deeply. Enjoy the little things. Find your passion. Thank God daily. Smile through the pain, no matter what, because if you are breathing, you are alive. God has a purpose for you. Seek Him and find that purpose. Make a difference in this world. You are a beautiful creation. Just live.
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11.15.2012

Another week of things I'm thankful for.

This week, I thought I'd share a few more things I'm thankful for. Hopefully you are a little understanding in my silliness...it's Thursday, y'all.

I thankful for Oklahoma. I really love this place. It is beautiful and the sunsets can't be beat. Aside from the crazy weather, there's nothing I would change. I mean, hello, we have the Thunder.
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You know what is awesome? Rice Krispy treats. You know why? they are super easy to make and I've never, to my knowledge, ruined a batch of rice Krispy treats.
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Another thing I am thankful for today, or rather, a person I am thankful for today, is my twin. We share a brain, a love for glitter, and a background in sheep showing. I love her for a million reasons, including her support, advice, and of course, her tiny human. She knows all the good and bad, and yet she still sticks right my my side.
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As most of you know, I am an injury waiting to happen. I fact, as I told a friend earlier this week, I considered renaming my blog "the injury report" due to the number of injuries my family and I seem to accumulate. So another thing I'm thankful for: doctors, band aids, knee/ankle/wrist braces, crutches, Tylenol and all the other things that allow us to carry on with life as usual at the Kennedy house.
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If you follow me on twitter or know me in real life, you know I have a serious thing with germs. The twitter people probably have gathered by this point that everyone I work with has been sick lately and I have been avoiding catching their sick germs...to the point I bought Lysol, Clorox, hand sani and emergen-c. I am thankful for hand sani, especially the kind with aloe, because it helps prevent spreading germs...and that aloe comes in handy when you use hand sani as frequently as I do!
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My favorite accessory, is definitely a smile. Coming in at a close second is definitely nail polish. There is just something about having my nails look cheerful that just puts me in a good mood. Essie nail polish is definitely my favorite, as I've told you several times before. So, though I miss Le and the awesome job he did on my nails, I am very glad Essie is so reliably awesome.
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Guys, as much as I love my job, I also love staying up late on a Friday and sleeping in on a Saturday. I also enjoy weekend things, like football and sweats. This is sounding really lazy, but I work hard during the week and I don't mind admitting that occasionally on a weekend I would like to wear pajamas and drink hot chocolate all day. That's not happening this weekend - it's a Cowboy football weekend, yet another great thing that comes after Friday. So today, I am very thankful tomorrow is Friday. :)
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all images via Pinterest

11.08.2012

Thankful

It's November, meaning Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and many Facebookers and Tweeters have taken up posting something they are thankful for every day. Well, as you know, daily posting isn't always my thing (except on Twitter...). Instead, I thought I would share a few things here 😊

First and foremost, I am thankful for salvation. I would be nothing without the love and forgiveness of Christ.
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Along with salvation comes prayer. How amazing is it to have an open line of communication with the creator of all things, 24/7?
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My dear family, as nutty as you all are, I am thankful for each of you. :)
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You might think you have the best friends on earth, but you're wrong. Sorry, I've claimed those people along the way. 😊
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I am thankful for the work ethic instilled in me growing up, and for the opportunity to be involved in agriculture.
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Speaking of work, I really enjoy social media - yes, it helps me stay connected to people, but it also is a very gigantic part of my job, and everyone loving it so much keeps me employed every day.
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And speaking of my job, I am so thankful I've have a job that allows me to make a difference in the lives of my fellow Oklahomans every day.
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What are some things you're most thankful for?

all images via pinterest

11.03.2012

Go AmPo!

Friday evening was the big night - Kaden's first basketball game on the varsity team. I've been counting down for the last couple of weeks because I was so excited about it! He's going to have our family busy this season - two nights of junior high basketball a week and two nights of varsity basketball - plus Kale's team still has a few more games to go. Welcome to the busiest (and best) time of the year.

Before the game, he looked a little nervous, and very ready to just get the show on the road :) It was a little strange to see his name up on the board - when did he get old enough for that?
Kaden before his first HS Basketball game Kaden's name on the board

He played so well, ending up with two rebounds and a foul. Mom was doing the clock and I was keeping stats on the iPad, so thankfully my friend Megan came along to help document with pictures!
Playing great defense Block out!

AmPo came from behind to defeat Calumet 47-45, holding Calumet to only 5 points in the last quarter. The girls team also won 69-27. Thanks to everyone who voted YES for AmPo kids earlier this year, this is planned to be the last season opener in the current gym! What a way to mark it. The Panthers demonstrated excellent teamwork and they all played awesome! I was one proud sister :)
Kaden Kennedy after the AmPo Panthers defeated Calumet 47-45 on 11-2-12

#GoAmPo