Thank Heavens for Little Girls

I love that Ginny can go from a cute little, pink and purple, tutu and magic wand girl:

To this chicken-soup making, royal tea party, mud pie making and eating, mud covered, swinging little girl in just 4 hours! She played outside with a friend in the sandbox. They were making "chicken soup" and mud pies and eating

them as well. Gotta love being a child!

Bowling Time

On Monday night we went bowling together as a family at our local bowling alley. We hadn't been in a while. I am not going to post the scores. We focused more on having family bonding time than actually getting a high score. : >

The bowling alley had these cool ramps for kids to use. You line it up, put the ball on the top, then the child pushes it really hard down the lane. It didn't always go straight, but G didn't seem to care. She did care about having her Daddy help her. I was not allowed to help her, although she relented a bit at the end to let me help her. But she's so independent she insisted on carrying the ball herself.

Roberto Remembers

I just came across this link from an article that Matt and I wrote a long time ago for the children's magazine, The Friend. Just thought I'd share it. Here's the link: http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=647055c49e0eb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

We also wrote another story called "Gooood" that was published in Oct 1998 Friend. Here's a link to that. http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=d37e6934b34bb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

I had actually forgotten about these stories. It was fun to write them with Matt. We need to do it again. I'll have to print these out and read them to Ginny, too.

Matt's introduction

Here is Matt's introduction that he gave at the Mother of the Year luncheon. It was so nice to have him say all these great things about me. I felt very loved.

If you want to see what kind of mother Danielle Kennington is, you only need to watch our daughter at play. Ginny is nearly four now, and yesterday was her first experience driving a car. Her bed was her car, and Danielle was her passenger. And once she had made sure that her mommy had put on her seat belt, the first place Ginny drove to was…the library.

It is no coincidence that the places and activities and things Ginny is learning to love are the same things her mother loves.

Danielle would rather go to the library than anywhere else, except maybe Grandma’s house (which was the second place Ginny drove). Our house is strewn with books, “upstairs, downstairs and in the lady’s chamber.” Danielle has loved books as long as I’ve known her; many of our dates were trips to the BYU library when we were undergraduates. Reading in the car doesn’t make Danielle sick—a fact that has made every road trip enjoyable, especially the long ones.

But it’s not just the love of reading, it’s also the way Danielle reads that Ginny’s picking up. Danielle is a born teacher and is always finding ways to help children learn. I can see the million little things Ginny picks up from her. Just this morning when I asked Ginny to read me a story, she turned directly to the table of contents, ran her finger down the page and said, “This story is on page thirty-pix.”

Sometimes Ginny will sit in the big chair with a pile of books, just like her mommy does when she volunteers as a story-time reader at the library. One by one Ginny will open the books, turn them so Mommy can see the pictures, and improvise a story.

Improvisation, by the way, is another skill she learns from her mommy—especially when it comes to song lyrics. Danielle knows a lot of songs, but she doesn’t know all the words to those songs, and that doesn’t stop her. So I had to laugh in church when Ginny picked up a hymnal (upside down), opened to a carefully selected page, and joined the congregation with her own version of the song. Something about monkeys and Hebbly Fadder.

Because of my wife, Ginny loves to dance. She loves to swim. She loves to sing made-up songs and tell made-up stories. She loves food (but I credit myself with that one). She loves cracking eggs and stirring things in a bowl. She loves to create things and share them with someone. She does not love going to bed, she’d rather stay up and read one more story, one more, one more…

Danielle is a master teacher, not because of her degrees or the years she spent in a classroom, but because she has an inexhaustible supply [of love] ( I can’t remember how he ended it. This is as much as he wrote. He just made up the ending on the spot.)

I am My Mother's Garden

Here's a copy of my speech that I gave at the luncheon. I will also give this speech at the National Convention in April. This is the topic that was assigned to me.

I Am My Mother’s Garden
My mother’s garden is right outside the back door. On summer days, she would send me out to snip fresh herbs to add to the salad, lemonade, herb rolls, or any of the delicious dishes she was making. I love to see the roses and smell the lavender. It is beautiful and orderly but with a bit of class, just like my mom.
Every year I try to replicate that garden, but never seem to succeed or have the right touch. But I keep trying, having an image in my mind of what a garden should be.
My mother and other women in my life have planted the seeds of motherhood. I have learned what a mother should be through their example. I am their garden.
I would not have the privilege of being a mother without my daughter’s incredible selfless birthmother, Ashlee. Thanks to her amazing sacrifice and love, we adopted our beautiful daughter almost 4 years ago. We hope to be able to adopt another one soon.
My dear step mother, Jill, became an instant mother to three scared and needy children at the age of 28 when she married my Dad. I am so grateful for her love and patience as she taught me how to do chores, took time to cook with me, and taught me the importance of serving others. She loved me and assured me she wouldn’t give up on me. Through all this, she didn’t realize she was also teaching me how to be a wife and a mother.
I think of her patience with me when my three year old pulls up a stool and wants to “help” as I cook dinner. She is an enthusiastic, but not necessarily neat, helper. Jill continues to support, love and encourage me through my motherhood journey.
During my teenage years, Joye taught me that being a mother is fun. Joye is an optimistic, cheerful person with an infectious laugh. She is aptly named. You can’t help but be happy when you are around her.
She was my friend as well as my church leader. She taught me that I am a daughter of God. During the week, she would give me hugs, or show up with cookies and say she was just thinking of me. When her oldest daughter turned 13, Joye said she didn’t understand what all the fuss was about over having a teenager. She said it was so much fun! She seemed to love being a mother.
Joye’s example reminds me to put down the laundry that I’m trying to fold, and dance and twirl with my ballerina daughter. I am reminded how I lucky I am to be a mother.
My best friend Melody and I have been friends since 2nd grade. I am always amazed that despite the turmoil of having 6 children, she is always laughing. When her 6-year old put his ice cream under the bed to save, and she found it 3 days later, she showed it to me and laughed. When her 3 year old put his new pair of glasses in the trash and she had just watched the garbage truck pick up the trash, she laughed. When I mentioned that to her, she pointed out that she could laugh or cry, and she’d rather just laugh.
When my daughter has a tea party with her dolls and spills water and food all over her bedroom floor, I think of Melody and have to laugh as I help her clean it up.
All these women have planted the seeds of mothering in me. I feel so blessed and privileged to be surrounded by amazing examples of motherhood. I am constantly being nourished by their example. I have a lot to learn as a mother, but I am enjoying the journey. Thank you to all the women in my life who cultivate my garden.

Here are my parents with Ginny. They were a great help and support. Thanks for all they do for me!

Utah Young Mother of the Year

I was named Utah Young Mother of the Year for 2009 at a luncheon on Saturday. It's quite an honor. I feel like my job is to represent Utah mothers. I want to encourage them and let them know they are doing a very important job. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I'm supposed to do. I know I will be going to the National convention in Portland at the end of April. From the 50 Young Mothers of the Year from each state, they will choose one National Young Mother of the Year.

Matt and I at our table before the luncheon.

A happy family? Ginny did such a great job of sitting still for such a long time. She was not very happy by the end of it all. She didn't see to care about my recent honors. She just wanted to go home. : >

It was a great day and I felt very loved and appreciated. I wish every mother could have such a special day. Maybe that will be my "platform" for my "tenure"- improving Mother's Day. Make it mandatory that they get to go to a special luncheon where people give speeches about what a wonderful mother you are. I don't think we should make the mothers give a speech of their own, though. That's too stressful.

Family Home Evening Idea

Ginny and I discovered the new website of the Children's Friend. They have fun interactive activities. Our favorite was the puzzle of gospel pictures where you clicked and dragged the pieces into place to make the picture. They played a song from the Children's Songbook that went with the picture. So for FHE, I printed off a picture from the Gospel Art Kit and cut it up into pieces to make a puzzle. We had fun putting it back together as a family. Then we told the story from the picture, messed it up, and put it back together again. My 3 year old thought it was great fun!

Scripture Power

The last few days my daughter has been asking me to tell her stories of Jesus (as opposed to stories about Little Bunny Fufu and Little Bunny Ginny that she usually likes to hear). I have been telling her stories, and she keeps asking for more. Yesterday I got out my Gospel Art Picture Kit that has pictures of scripture stories with the story written on the back. I pulled out several of them and just read them to her.

Today she was asking me again for stories about Jesus (she really likes stories of when He died and was resurrected). I started telling her about it, then got out my scriptures and read parts of 3 Nephi 10 and 3 Nephi 11 from the Book of Mormon. This tells about when Christ visited the Americas after he was resurrected. We read the part where it was dark for 3 days after Christ died in Jerusalem. Then we read the part where Christ appeared to the Nephites. She got so excited when we read that Christ invited "the multitude" (she asked what that meant) to come forward, and one by one, touch his hands, side and feet and witness that he is Jesus Christ.

My 3 year old sat entranced as I read out of the sciptures! Every time I would stop and think her attention was gone, she'd ask me to read more. I tried to read with expression like I do when I'm reading her stories. We were both riveted!

I'm thankful for this reminder of reading the scriptures. One of my New Year's resolutions is to read the scriptures every day. Thank you, Ginny, for helping me do that and reminding me of what is important.