Billy's birthday!

William hit his big 4 years on Friday!  And ever since he has been informing me that he is a BIG BOY now!  He is... it's happening oh so fast.
We had a blast celebrating his birthday!  Together we made a Jake and the Neverland Pirates boat cake (I feel so awesome about myself!)  He was pretty proud of it too!  After we made it, he kept checking on it in the fridge.  He would let me know as we were making it that he was please ('oh, you are doing great Mama!').
So we went to Mama Sue's house and did a pirate treasure hunt!  Pretending to be Jake and the Neverland Pirates... Auntie Kitty was a good sport and played the part of the parrot... ha ha.  Opened presents... Then we swam with his new floating pirate boat and crocodile that he got from Mama Sue.

He seriously had the BEST birthday!

The time has come, the Walrus said.

Being February I thought it important to acknowledge Dad's birthday MONTH. Since I seem to have procrastinated until the last hours of this unusually short month I'd like to reshare old memories of Dad with a few pictures. 

THE JOHN KENNEYS

Christmas Caroling.

Papa the Pony. 

Twins. Can't you tell?

The Jokester. 

"You mean, you don't like my pom pom?!" 

And yes Dad, I think you might have to wait until your next birthday month to watch the final episode of the cosmos movie... or whatever its called. 

XOXOXO

KITTY. 

February Funnies

This month I have truly enjoyed my little family.  Even though each day is basically the same (kids thrive on routine right?) there are bright moments of hilariousness that I relish in.
I'm calling them the funnies:
Night time funnies with Thomas:   "Thomas, Kenney's awake, go get him!"... "What?"... "Kenney's awake!"... Thomas sits up looks around and says "What did you say?".... "Kenney's awake, go get him."... "Okay"  Thomas promptly lays back down.  "THOMAS!"  Thomas shoots up, "What?!" .... "Ugh, never mind, just go back to bed."... "Okay" Thomas lays back down and I get the babes... poor guy is totally worn out after 6 months of getting up several times each night with Kenney and getting up at 4 am each morning to work out.

Next funny:  I go to bed at 9 pm which is one hour later than Thomas who went to bed at 8 pm.  I lay down and Thomas rolls over gives me a kiss and says, "ha mum from dum soma num num" ... "What?!".... "ha mum from dum soma num num"...  "WHAT?!"...  "ha mum from dum soma num num"... "Honey, I love you, go to sleep."  At this point Thomas sits up and says very seriously, "Am I not making any sense?"... "Nope"... "Okay"  Thomas lays down and is immediately sound asleep. Lol

More bedtime funnies:  The first night the boys slept together we laid Kenney down in his crib at 6:45 and left him to fall asleep while we finished getting William ready for bed.  By 7:00 William is ready and we hear no sound coming from the bedroom.  We tell him to sneak in quietly so we don't wake Kenney up.  But being only 3 years old, his version of quiet means whispering loudly and jumping on his bed.  Kenney wakes up, hears his brother and starts laughing and squealing like he's the happiest baby in the world.  We tucked William and left both of them to try and fall asleep together.  "This will be interesting..."  I think to myself.  William begins singing and talking to himself to help himself fall asleep (he usually does this every night) only this time Kenney is laughing and squealing at him.  This continues for about 10 minutes and then William says to him, "STOP IT BABY KENNEY!  You are waking me up!!!"  Hilarious, right?!  'Do I intervene now?'  I wonder to myself.  I decide to let them keep at it.  10 minutes later they are both sound asleep.  WOW!  I have good boys.

Every day funnies:
William: "Hey, Mimz!"
Me: "What did you just call me?"
William: "Mimz.  That's your name... or Melanie"
Me: "Hmmm... you are right.  I  have lots of names.  Bubbles, Mi mi, Mimz, Melanie.  But to you I'm Mommy"
William:  "Okay Mommy"

Willliam:  "Will you come upstairs with me to go potty"
Me: "I'll stay down here and read my scriptures while I wait for you."
William:  "Okay, you are a good girl, Mommy"

William: "My tummy wants to go to Mama Sue's house."
Me:  "Really?  Well, tell your tummy it will have to wait until Sunday to go to Mama Sue's"
William:  "Okay, I will tell my tummy"

Me:  "Give me some lovins'!"
Kenney:  Face plants into my chest and says "AAAAWWWHHH"
Me:  "What a nice baby!  I just love your lovins!"

Just a Little Memory...

I was doing my pregnancy squats when out of no where this song popped into my head.  It must be due to my increasing tummy size and the added awkwardness to my movement.  Later, at home, I pulled it up on youtube and could not help giggling like I was a little girl again. Anyone else remember watching these sing alongs while mom did our hair and got us all cute everyday?

Dear Old Dad

Birthday interview with Daddy!  He is 55 this year.

1.  What is your full name? Why did you parents select this name for you?
      John Doran Kenney.  Doran is my father's middle name and is also his childhood name that he went by in his home growing up.  Because his father's name was Benjamin and his name was Ben.  So everybody called him Doran from his parents to all his relatives to everyone who knew him.  My mom didn't call him Doran so I don't know what he went by... (Kikz) she calls him Ben Doran...  ya.  (Mimz) what about the John part?...  John?  Well our ancestor that joined the church, his name was John Kenney.  He's my great great great... great grandfather.  But... that's not why they named me John.  I think there's a closer relative named John, but I think he went by Jack.  (Mimz) Did you have a nickname?  At home?  No.  
2.  When and where were you born?

3.   How did your family come to live there?

4.  Were there other family members in the area?  Who?

5.  What was the house like?  How many rooms?  Bathrooms?  Did it have electricity?  Indoor plumbing?  Telephones?

6.  What is your earliest childhood memory?



Just an insert.  Dad is the best because he is kind, caring, and very wise.  He has always loved and taken care of us.  From making sure we knew how to read (oh yes, I had those phonograms memorized better than any other 1st grader in the state!), reading us bedtime books, to helping with math all the way through our Senior years of highschool.  He always supports us in developing our talents and has (and is as we speak) put us through college and made sure we had all the best in life.  I also love Daddy's love for movies and his proficiency at Disney quotes.  Some of my favorite memories of Dad are:
         Growing up he always went around singing ho hum, the tune is dumb...  
         Uppies
         Reading Harry Potter and Treasure Island together (I thinking we started and restarted that book at least 5 times before we actually finished it)
         Dad always trying to explain to me something about space, math or science...  I learned a lot,  but I also didn't understand a lot... ha ha
        Tickle fights.  They always ended by Dad grabbing ALL of our hands (including mom's             sometimes) and holding them tight in one of his massive bear paws so that we couldn't get them out and keep tickling him, ha ha.
        Daddy's speeches, family night lessons and admonitions on getting enough SLEEP!  Now that  I'm a parent, I finally understand... ha ha
        "This is NEPHI!"
        Dad sporting mom's sunglasses when driving her car, and even walking into the Doctor's office with them.
       Daddy's awesome and inspiring emails each week while on my mission
     

So many wonderful memories...   We love our Dear Old Dad!

GO TEAM KENNEY! That's what's up!

Really, Melanie said it all! Here are just a few memories to add, because really words are not good enough!

Kenney girls...

are determined 

 are sometimes a little goofy

 love the gospel and love to serve our Savior

 are patriotic 

 Love to play dress up

 Know how to work hard

 Can be flexible 

like bonus room sleep overs

 Love Family Sundays

 Love and admire their Mommy

 Love and respect their Daddy

are Orem Tigers

 Have the best road trips together

 Have the most dazzling smiles (Thanks Mom and Dad)

Love yellow bugs

are best Sisters Forever

Lovin from the South

Dear family,
I love and miss you so much! After such a wonderful Christmas break with all of my adorable family I have felt so sad being all alone in Mississippi.  Here is a small update on what's going on in my life.

This month we have enjoyed:
Watching for deals on baby gear
Playing with our new games
Cooking adventurous foods: butternut squash ravioli, delicious gnocchi soup, spicy chipotle chicken rub, honey wheat pizza crust, delicious fresh blue berry syrup...just to name a few.
Going to the gym
Walking
Having missionaries over for dinner
Dressing up on Sundays

Zachie likes:
Reading about the Dodgers (Wait! Isn't it their off season?)
Driving pilots back and forth
Buying Janessa a new reclining rocking chair
Fixing the cracked ipad screen
Teaching the 8-10 year old primary class

Janessa likes:
Yoga
Long Walks
Using my new bosh
Playing the piano
Pinterest
Dressing up in my cute Christmas clothing
Pushing baby Benjamin's feet out of her ribs
Tracking steps with the fitbit

Notable January News:
Zach's UPT start date changed to April 24th
Baby Benjamin's cysts in his brain are gone!!!

I love you all! I miss your lovins!
Love,
Janessa girl and Zachie boy

 Making Saturday night pizza crust

 Sunday Pictures, Snap! Zach had already taken his tie off

Yummy yummy gnocchi dinner for two and a half!