The Christmas Morning Madness

Santa Came!!!!

With 11 people in the house for Christmas Santa had to split the presents between two of the trees downstairs... The kids tree and Mommy's tree. The gold wrapped ones are from Santa.

The stockings (and gift bags) were hung by the stairs with care???

What fun it was to have so many together for Christmas - the garbage man is going to hate us!

Is it time???? Is it time??? The kids were SOOOO excited to come downstairs.

The waiting was just driving the kids nuts!!!! We wanted everyone to be awake and downstairs before they opened presents! The kids were all sporting their new Steelers PJ's from Nana too.

Big Girl!!!

I just look at this picture and the song from the commercial keeps ringing in my head..."I'm a big girl now!" The picture says it all... but now I think I better go since Reese just took one look at the picture and then ran off says - "I want to go make a mess again!!!!" she had a really sneaky smile too... better run to find her!

The 2009 Tree Hunt

So we have to tell first how this years crazy adventure started. We left home around 4:30pm thinking that we would get to Boone around 7pm just in time for some dinner and an evening at the hotel pool. After a long day - who couldn't use some time in the water to get all the wiggles out. Well - that was the PLAN... UNTIL... the highway was closed and had a detour. We started on the detour for about a 1/2 and hour and then the GPS system in the Yukon kept on giving us other options to follow. Feeling like we were following the blind on the detour, we thought we would just follow the GPS instead. WELL.. first lesson learned... what looks good may not be good. We turned on the road the GPS said and went for another 15 minutes or so and then it said we need to turn right on Sampson Road. Well... after about 5 miles, Sampson Road became dirt / gravel Sampson Road. For 30 miles.... and TWO ADDITIONAL HOURS we followed Sampson Road... which became a single lane, winding, twisting, turning road that literally went over the mountains. I have never prayed so much and so desperately in my life! I was terrified! One side would be a cliff drop off and the other a shear bank straight up plastered with ice from the runoff. Not a place to be with a family of seven.. when it's 19 DEGREES outside and it is not 9:30 at night. All I could think of was - why did I not think to bring extra snacks and water in the car this time and I REALLY hope that Mark paid the renewal fee on the On Star subscription. At least if we fell off the cliff, the On Star system would know and hopefully someone would find us before we froze to death. I know I'm such a worrier! When Sampson Road finally came to an end, it told us to turn onto another road which literally drove us straight into someones driveway!!!! Ha! And this is the most up to date CD in the GPS system. THIS IS CRAZY!!!!!! Well after much frustration and many wrong turns we found our way back to the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped along side the road. Brennan suggested we stop and say a prayer - what a great kid he is! Why didn't we stop a long time ago and do that! Well - our prayers were answered and we finally made our way down into the little town of Boone..at 10pm that night! After three different hotel rooms - the first had no heat - the second had swine flu I am sure... it smelled like throw up SO BAD... and finally the third we crashed in for the night! The kids swam the next morning and then we all bundled up and headed out for the real adventure of the trip!

The chosen one! - After much debate!

TIMBER!!!!

It was a little bit too cold for great smiles for the camera! The kids were soooo disappointed this year that it did not snow while we were there.

The whole family .. and still smiling after everyone had the perfect tree picked out. It's a little hard to choose the winner from seven completely different choices! ha ha! One of these years we will be able to vote in a civilized manner!

O.K. - We just had to show everyone exactly where our little tree farm is... yep... it's in MEAT CAMP, NC!!!! This is the sign right next to the farm for the the beautiful little white chapel that sits on the hillside next to the farm. We think this part of the country is absolutely beautiful, but I'm not sure that I can bring myself to live in a town called Meat Camp!

We are always thankful for the delicious hot chocolate, hot cider and cookies that Mrs. Clawson has for us when we are done. Oh and the heated building feels really nice too!

Keep growing little trees - we'll be back for one of you next year!

A Few Family Pictures...

Put on a happy face... no fighting allowed for this picture!

Mommy and her little princess! She loved the fact that her tights had a bear on the butt... she kept on saying.. see my "bear butt!"

Smile honey... the kids are all sitting still for one minute!

Ah... just the two of us! The kids were most likely rolling around in the mud at this point!

Like my boots? Reese was fascinated with the zippers on her boots... She thought she was one styling chic in this outfit! We are SOOOO in trouble when she gets older!

Ah - those eyes!!!! This reminded me so much of her birth announcement picture... same little face and smile... just longer hair! (oh and notice the nice little goose egg on her noggin... it just wouldn't be picture day without someone having a bump on the head!)

Loving the bunch! Reese has her brothers wrapped around her little finger in a BIG way!!!

Brotherly love! ... the beginning of a wrestling match!

Can you believe we started all the madness 15 years ago???

Reese was not too sure about the camera at first.. why should I smile to someone I don't even know! The pictures still came out great though!

Our Favorite Kids!!!

Tanner - 13
Brennan - 11

Tate - 8

Brock - 6

Reese - 2

Many Things to be Thankful For...

Well obviously, blogging has not been at the top of my list lately of things to do. And with good reason... it's been a rocky few months around the Kenison household, but hopefully things are on the upswing. There is no doubt that soccer and football - though really FUN - were a huge commitment this fall... more than we expected! The boys all had a great time so were are glad that they had the chance to participate. We have definitely found Brock's niche in soccer and Tate was thrilled to have found a new sport that he enjoys too. Brennan loved every minute he had on the football field, but found himself a little nervous for most of the season after watching one of his friends get hauled off the field in an ambulance not once but twice with neck and back injuries. We are very thankful for an injury free season.

We have been blessed with a mostly healthy fall which is a welcome break from years past. It seemed like Reese was constantly sick the first 18 months of her life. I think the boys have finally tried to expose her to about it all. Teenage troubles have hit home with full force... and Tanner doesn't even turn 13 till next week! It's going to be a LONG 15 more years of teenagers at home with the way things are starting out. Heaven HELP us!!! We are thrilled with Tanner's lawn mowing job however.. what a great worker he is! He can cut, edge, weed whack and blow a lawn better than most professional companies twice his age! Work is picking up for Mark again - thank you investors for putting money back in the markets around the world. It's nice to see the numbers on the Dow and S&P on the rise. That certainly makes the stress ease a little around here too.

My health has not been the best, but we are very thankful for some recent test results that have ruled out more serious issues like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. I have had traveling / severe joint and tendon pain for many months now. It has made for some challenging and stressful times, but I am hopeful that things are possibly starting to get better in some of the joints. It started a few weeks after Mark got the shingles last spring - but the doctors say that he NO correlation. I'd like to think different, but whatever it is, we all hope that it goes away and gets better very soon. After a severe reaction to the anti-inflammatory medicine - I am back to Tylenol and Advil... hopefully we can find a drug that works without any more serious reactions or side effects. Little Miss Reese has been a joy to have around during these hard times - she never leaves my side and is always trying to help get things for me. She makes me laugh and MELTS my heart with the most sincere comments of her love for me and how much she likes her Mommy. Most touching has been her prayers for me... without fail and NO HELP... she includes me in any prayer that she is saying... morning, night, dinner, lunch, or just when she wants to. She asks Heavenly Father that he will make Mommy better and make her foot and back stop hurting. Oh the faith of the little children... to be two and have the faith that she has is incredible. She is truly one of Heavenly Father's choice daughters who was sent here to earth during these times when the strongest will need to be here to withstand the many temptations of the world. The boys have been so wonderful too at understanding the circumstances and helping out when they can. Their faith too has been amazing...they too have prayed for me on a daily basis. I am so blessed to have 5 children who love and care about me so much!!!

Most importantly has been Mark and his willingness to step in and take over many of the usual duties that I have not been able to do. He's been great at helping out around the house and with the kids... and trying to ease my pains. With much gratitude in our hearts we head into this season of Thanksgiving with a MUCH to be thankful for!!!!! I may not be 100%, but at least I feel like things are starting to improve. Things could be SOOO much worse, so I will take my aches and pains and not complain... but the teenager troubles... well I may complain a little about that! HA HA HA!!! Mark and I were NEVER like this as teens... snicker snicker snicker!!!

It's that LOVELY time of the year again!!! So last Friday, Mark heard on the radio that their was a real run on the flu shots here in town so we decided we better go and fight the crowds so that we all got one before they run out this year. Thank goodness for CVS Minute Clinic.. they had shots for all of us. ( Our family practice Dr. and the Pediatrician were out till the following week!) After three different trips ( why are the schools around here on such different schedules?) to the clinic and over three hours of waiting - we all are finally covered. I Hope!!! Tate had a fever from the shot on Friday night and on Sunday Reese starting getting sick. It hasn't been that bad, but she is still sick 5 days later. I'm not sure whether she got the Flu from the shot or more likely, she got the flu from germs in the clinic while we waited to get the darn flu shot! Thankfully... I am sure she is on the mend and hopefully will be feeling much better soon. In the meantime, we hope that we do not get the regular Flu until these shots kick into our systems. It takes a few weeks.. oh joy. And then there's swine flu - oh that's another story!!!! It's all over the place here!!!! Many, many kids at the school have it! I guess in the end - the best coverage does not come from any shot - but from the many blessings that our Heavenly Father gives each one of us on a daily basis. I pray every day that we will stay healthy and protected from the many viruses that are around right now... I have faith.. and a whole lot of antibacterial soap and hand sanitizer!!!

S*O*C*C*E*R!!!!

Tate and Brock have taken up a new sport this fall and are absolutely LOVING soccer!!! Brock would not even stop for a picture the day I had my camera at the games. He would be the one on the ground above - he plays so HARD!!! He goes all out and is FAST!!!!

Our number 4!!! GO BROCK!!!

You never miss Tate's team on the fields with their bright orange uniforms and socks!!! Only sports can get kids to wear these crazy colors!!!

Tate was kind enough to give me a nice smile after the game! It's making for a very busy and chaotic fall with three kids in sports... but all is well!!! Everyone is having FUN and that's what counts!!!

Butterfly Release with Mrs. Baum

A few months ago, one of Mark's clients... Mr. Baum passed away. He and his wife never had any children and had no family to speak of. Mrs. Baum asked if Mark and our family would join her and a friend at a special Butterfly Release that was being done by Hospice. We were delighted to spend the afternoon with her and remember Mr. Baum in this unique way.

The sight of literally hundreds of Monarch butterflies in the sky is an amazing sight to say the least!!!

This shot does not even come close to portraying the sky that was literally FULL of butterflies. A total of 300 were released all at once... in memory of those that have passed on, and the loved ones that we left behind.

Reese was mesmerized by the surprise of little butterflies coming out of the boxes. She held a few of the boxes before the release and those poor little wings were just twittering away inside. They wanted out soooo bad!!!

LOVE IT!!! (oh.. and she had to wear the butterfly dress in honor of the occasion!)

Mrs. Baum and her friend.. it was a beautiful day! This is a friend of hers from high school that she has staying in contact with all these years.

Our handsome and beautiful little crew!!! These kids were SOOOO good that day!!!! It was a Sunday afternoon... hot... and they had to be quiet and dressed up. They were amazing! Thanks kids for being so good!

PINKALICIOUS!!!!!

Reese has taken a great liking to the book...Pinkalicious. In the book, the little girl eats SOOO many pink cupcakes, that she actually turns pink! Well, one day when Reese was sick with a bad cold, I promised her that I would make pink cupcakes for her. As you can see from her face... she loved the whole idea of any food that was pink. Especially cake! She couldn't wait for the cupcakes to be done and had to have... of course...pink milk to go with it! Sorry - they didn't stick around long enough to get any after shots... her brothers ate them faster than she did. I guess they hadn't read the book... what if they turned pink? ha ha ha!

Wendy

Garden Bounty

As I have gotten to the end of my garden, we went out last night to start clearing things off and this was all pulled out in the process!!!

We had so many tomatoes in a web of vines that it was becoming impossible to get to the ripe fruit. With many of them so heavy that they were tipping over the tomato cages, I decided it was time to rip out half of them. Looks like we will be making spaghetti sauce tonight... and maybe some fried green tomatoes!

Thanks to seed potatoes from my friend Oralee... we got all these little guys!

Jalapeno poppers anyone??? Maybe jalapeno jelly... something HOT is for sure in the future with all of these!!!

Surprise find... Mark planted carrots in the spring, but they never came up. Or so we thought!!! In removing the tomatoes from our top bed, Mark found these beauties! What a joy it is to have a garden... if only we could get out kids to eat what comes out of the garden!