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.

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!!!

Sometimes...

...your four day weekend starts at 3:00.
...you pick up this little girl at 4:00.


...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.

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.

🎀💜

Merry Christmas!

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)

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

My first best friends

Ten years ago today, my Great Grandpa Sparks went to live with Jesus.

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! :)

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