Wordless Wednesday

Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Mike Came to Visit

Last weekend we had a football game on Friday night, swim meet on Saturday, swim meet Sunday morning, and football game Sunday afternoon. My parents decided to come down because they would get to see the kids do a lot over the weekend. Some how the boys successfully dodge any picture with my parents last weekend. Note to self.....that will not happen again.



Who is the cutest baby in Bartlett?

Bella! My mom gave Bella a bath every night she was here. What a treat for mom and Bella!

When I was a little girl my dad did this with me.....one for the money....two for the show.....three to get ready......and four to GOOOOOOOO! I loved it and now so does Bella. I am so happy my parents are healthy enough to still do stuff like this with my kids.

Bella begs papa to do it 100 times in a row. Of course my dad does!

Grandpa helping Bella with her batting stance. Notice she has high heal princess shoes on. Oh, please do not become a girly girl!

Swing and a........miss:(

Following Grandpa to the back yard so they could play more. Bella and I were playing pirates on the play piece and my dad asked if I ever worry what the neighbors think of me? Nope, I worry more about letting opportunities go to play with the kids. He agreed that was best:)

Mommy and Bella taking a rest.

My Little Phelps Not My Little Manning

Zak is not our aggressive one. He played football the last 2 years, but he just was not that into it. I was disappointed this summer when he told us he did not want to play and I tried to to talk him into. However when it came down to it, only he could make the decision not to play. I gave him the option of playing golf or soccer, running cross country, or swimming and he chose swimming. I was really happy with his decision because I felt he would excel at this sport. He started mid August and was ready to swim his first meet last weekend. He was really nervous, but he did great! His coach tells us he is a natural. He needs to perfect his strokes and gain some endurance, but we think Zak has found his sport too! We were really proud of him last weekend and we are looking forward to the rest of his meets!

Right before his first event.

He was so nervous. Poor guy!

And, he is off! He needs some work on entry and turns.

Go...Go....Go

Heading into the last bit of the race.

Ready for event #2 for the day!

Looking good in the 200 backstroke.

Football in the Morning, Football in the Evening, Football......Football.....Football.....all the Time

Fall is a very busy time for any parent. School starts which means homework. Extras such as football and swim start which means moms get our taxi lights out and run the kids here there are everywhere. And, lastly bedtimes become very important again, so we feel like we are racing against the clock all the time.
The Kennedy's are no exception to this scenario. We have been running crazy since the first of Aug, but in all honesty I enjoy it. There are times I am really tired, and need a day to recharge but I like running the boys to their activities. I like to watch the football team mature on the field and I like to watch Zak beat his times in swimming at meets. So, the fact that in a week football will be over, I am a tad sad to see it go. It is fun to see your kids friends parents' nightly and chat with them. I feel like I am in this game of parenting with lots of other people. This year I have learned to depend on other moms to help me out. This season has been fun. Enjoy the photos of proof!



Walk through the day before a game.

Warm up

Nik is the one in the gray shorts

Sprints.......

The Colts lil cheerleader!

Down.....Set....Hut

Hit him!

Nik is about to turn, he is the point of the triangle of the three in blue

Nik is in the middle of this photo

Good game buddy! Does he not look mature in this photo?

Tired kiddo!

Good game boys! We lost 6-0.

Coach giving the boys a pep talk after their loss.

Labor Day

Cousins. About 57 photos later, here are the best two I snapped.

Bella was being a poop and would not smile for anything!

Dinner party on the deck at my parent's house.

They looked like they were on a date. They are soooo cute!

Bella at the lake.

Bella asked me to take a picture of my Reef's and hers.

Brennan wake boarding and putting on a show for Bella! Poor kid was so tired after we took Bella in the boat to see him.

My desperate attempt to catch him doing a flip.

Does my face not tell you how much I love being on the boat? It was cool that night, so I made Bella wear a light weight jacket. She wanted to wear her swim suit cover up as her cape.

I love love love riding in the boat!

This is possibly one of the sweetest young men I know. He is 21 and look at his face as he is allowing Bella to drive the boat. He was all about playing around with her. He is a very well raised young man despite the bandanna on his head and the long hair:) His momma was riding him hard for those two things. I reminded her that he and his roommate were at the lake with her and her husband over the long weekend instead of being at school parting. I think the long hair and bandanna can be over looked. What do you think?

Brinna and Anitta. We were at the lake showering Brinna and Rick.

A house divided. Momma is a Cards fan:( and daddy's a Cub fan! Guess what I will be getting lil Ricky for Christmas?

Look at those sad brown eyes. My poor lil gal.

July 2000 I brought this sweet baby girl home to
my parent's house. My roommate Sara and I

thought we could take care of her. Well, things did not work out like we hoped for, so I ended up taking her to my mom and dad so she could be given up for adoption. She was adopted by the best mom and dad ever. She is getting up there in age and is starting to have some health issues. When I was home she had just had a number of kidney stones removed for the second time in 18 months. I was pretty sure I would never see her alive after I left on Labor Day. However, once again, our lil trooper proved me wrong and rallied back! She is doing great mom and dad say!

I tried to do all my photos like the above one, but it is too much work. Back to the old ways.

Since August 13, 2010 We.........

Have spent a day on the lake I grew up going to. This shot reminds me of so many Saturday afternoons I spent sitting on the dock with my Mom waiting for my Dad and Michelle to make a trip down the main channel before we would take off in the boat for the day.

My Dad and the boys launching the boat.

I remember growing up, being behind the boat as a kid and wishing I was better. I always thought it would be soooo cool to be a skier at Sea World Orlando.

My Dad and Nik. Nik is Grandpa's best buddy.

Zak riding the tube. Me wishing we made it to the lake more often so he could learn to ride a ski or a board.

Ditto for Nik.

After a long day at the lake we had a family dinner. This is Bella's first time with sweet corn. She loved it!

Yummy! We made her cry when we took the finished piece away from her. However, the tears dried up quickly when we gave her a new ear.

My family gathered around my parent's dinning room table. I remember as a child dusting this thing and wondering why we had it. We NEVER ate at it, so what was the point. I guess my parent's saw ahead better than I did.

The other end of the table. I told my sister I was taking photos, so her goofy expression is her own fault:)

Potty trained the princess. I told her if she would go poop on the big girl potty I would take her to Chuckie Cheese. By the way at the time she had no idea what CC was. Places like CC make me very nervous. Poor kid has never been in a play piece at a McDonalds or some where like it. I was desperate though. Well, three weeks ago this Friday she finally pooped on the potty! So, I had to make good on my promise!

Cheers Mommy! I am a big girl now!

She loved the "rides" and the games were just ok.

Mommy showing Bella her mad skeeball skills!

We had a visit from the Hayes'. Bella loved playing with Liam. She still asks when "that boy Yiam" is coming over to her house.

Enjoying some water time on a really really hot day!

No hot summer day of water play at home is complete without some watermelon!

The little ones loving their snack!

Bella right before I had 3 inches of her hair cut off. I would have posted an after shot, but she would not participate in the photo shoot the day of the hair cut, and since then I have forgotten about it.

Memphis had a three week spell of super hot weather. Here Bella is riding the "foresy" at the mall.

And, finally we started back to MOPS! This year there ended up being a job opening at St. Ann. I was really sad when I was past up for the position, but once school got started and Bella and I got to start spending some time together just us, I felt a lot better about not working full time!

I am looking forward to seeing our photo at Christmas and at the end of the year to see how much my monkey has changed.