May Happenings

Life has been so busy these past couple of months.  I've had lots of intentions to keep our blog updated but it simply hasn't happened.  So I'll take it a month at a time.  May had us celebrating Gavin's 2nd birthday, our 15th wedding anniversary, the end of school, and much more.  Robert took Adam and Matt on the Father & Sons campout.  It was Matt's first time camping.  They said their favorite thing was poking the fire with sticks. 

Adam won a bike from the bank.  He already has a bike so he returned the new bike to Walmart and pocketed the $50.  A couple of weeks after this, he finally was motivated enough to learn how to ride a bike.  Now we often spend lots of FHE riding bikes around the church parking lot. 



 School got out on May 23rd.  The school had an awards assembly.  Both Adam and Matt received awards for earning straight A's all year.  They also placed in the running program.  Matt earned 3rd place, running 72 miles.  He received a medal and basketball.

Adam earned 1st place, for the 2nd year in a row, running 82 miles.  He received a medal and soccer ball.  We're really proud of both of them, for sticking with the program all semester and diligently running every lunch recess. 

To celebrate our anniversary, Robert and I will be traveling to Germany and Spain next month.  We are both ecstatic about the trip.  A few days before our anniversary I told Robert not to buy a gift since our trip was our gift.  Unbeknowst to each other, we gave one another a card and a German chocolate bar (to represent our trip).  We cracked up when we both pulled out a chocolate bar for each other. 



Living with our Two-Year Old

 YEAH, I'M 2 !!!

 Gavin turned 2 years old on May 10th.  His current stats are:

26 lbs.

33 in.

He's the exact same size Matthew was at this age.  Which could mean he'll be on the smaller side, like Matt.  Like most 2 year olds, his emotions change every two seconds.  And the tantrums have begun. 

Gavin loves to lay in our bed to watch TV or videos.  I think he learned that from Matt.  He also likes to run and wrestle with his brothers. 

Like all 2 year olds, he has discovered his nose and the "fun" he has from sticking his finger in it.  He counts consistently to 9, with great emphasis on 9, usually shouted.  He also consistently identifies red, blue and purple and a few letters.   

His favorite foods are strawberries, milk, Happy Meals (mainly for the apple juice), Capri-Suns, and gogurts.  He is a pickier eater now than a year ago. 

Gavin talks alot!  Half of what he says is understandable and the other half is not.  If he doesn't know a word or words he simply makes a shh-ing sound until he comes to the word in the sentence that he knows and then he says it.  He can speak well enough to tattle on his brothers.  He is often heard saying "Matthew did it" and commanding his brothers to "Obey!".  When asked to do something he doesn't want to do, like take a nap or eat a meal, he replies "not yet" in a sing-song voice. 

He is starting to recognize other children as friends and knows their names.  He loves Thomas the Train stuff and anything with wheels.  Things that go round and round, like ceiling fans, fascinate him.  He no longer uses a highchair, instead a booster.  He wants to try to do everything himself.  He says, "Gavin try".  If he can't do it, then he says, "Mommy try".  He gives lots of hugs and kisses, often on demand, and sweetly says, "Love you, Mama".   

Gavin's 2nd Birthday

Gavin turned 2 last week on the 10th.  Before then he didn't have any concept of birthdays.  When he woke up that morning and saw all of the decorations, especially the balloons, he became very excited.  All day he kept saying 'birthday'.  Initially I had no plans for any type of theme but since he's into trains right now, I decorated his cake with trains and had train paperware.   

He loves McDonalds so we had his birthday dinner there.  Afterwards we came home to open presents and have cake.  From us, he received a climbing slide, wooden puzzles, Thomas the Train block/lego set, KU basketball and bubble machine.  G&G Kennington gave him Thomas and Elmo pajamas and a Thomas telephone.  G&G Leonard gave him a German book with sound buttons (he loves the doorbell button).  Nanna crocheted him a small blanket with the colors of the rainbow and a book all about colors

Oh Matt--what's next?

Our Matthew is full of personality.  He's always doing something silly.  In public, though, he tends to act a bit timid.  But, this just means, at home he's 100% himself.  The other day he found a bag of googly-eyes and put them all over his face.  He walked into the bathroom while I was giving Gavin a bath.  We couldn't stop laughing when we saw him.  When I took this photo I asked him to smile but he mumbled through his lips that if he smiled the eyes on his mouth would fall off.  What a character!

His craziness gets him into trouble sometimes.  Like Sunday evening.  Again while  I bathing Gavin, Matt was riding his skateboard in the hall.  He slipped off and gashed his head on our built-in cabinets.  So, off he and I went to the ER.  The gash was an inch long and quite deep.  The doctor decided to staple it shut.  When Matt heard the word 'staple', he was concerned that they were paper staples. 

Family Photos and Outtakes

Every parent wants family photos. 

The kids think it's torture, but it's worse for the parents. 

We attempted family photos over Easter Break since we hadn't had one since Gavin was born. 

TORTURE!

We went to Ft. Leavenworth to what we call the 'gazebo' park--down the street from where I used to live. 

 This was the lone, semi-decent photo we took

.

 This is what most of the other photos looked like.

 A nice photo of Grandma & Grandpa Kennington (Chichi)

 Jamie & Mike Kennington with daughters, Hadley and Kieralyn.



 We then attempted a group shot.  Again, we got one semi-decent shot, and lots of goofy outtakes.

 (Back row--Eddie, Heidi, Gavin, Jim, Cristina, Hadley, & Jamie.

Front row--Matthew, Adam, Robert, Mike & Kieralyn.)

 Check out Adam and Matt.  They stuffed their mouths with grass.



Kansas City Temple Open House

While in Kansas City, we attended the temple open house.  We've been looking forward to this since the temple announcement in October 2008.  It is a beautiful building on the outskirts of Kansas City, near Liberty, Missouri.  I was really drawn to the windows--the number and color of the panes.  The boys still aren't mature enough or at an age to truly appreciate the experience of attending the open house, but I think it will be something they will always remember.  It really is a wonderful blessing for the members in the KC area.  During our tour I kept thinking about all of the early Saints and pioneers that had lived in that part of the country and all of the struggles and experiences they had.  What a joyful time it is probably for them too, to know that there is now a temple there.    

  

KU Visit

At least once a year we take the boys to the KU Hall of Sports at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.  So we went again over Easter break.  The kids enjoy the interactive exhibits.   

 Adam is comparing his wingspan to some of KU's greats.

 Gavin, with help from his cousins, Hadley and Kieralyn, tries to hit as many basketballs before the countdown runs out.

Matt is testing his vertical jump.