Play by Play

Wake up at 6 a.m.
Give Reagan a bottle and rock her back to sleep.
Feel wonderful.
Consider having a cup of coffee.
Opt for a can of fresca instead.
Healthy living at its best.
Take shower.
Make peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Pack preschool bags.
Find special Thomas the Train underpants.
Set out clothes.
Hear Sam call out.
Get Sam out of bed.
Hugs and kisses.
Breakfast burritos.
Hear Sam wake up Reagan after I told him specifically NOT to go into her room.
Get everyone dressed and out the door.
Feel sense of accomplishment that I remembered both children and their stuff.
Feel even greater sense of accomplishment that I brushed my teeth.
Drop kids off at daycare and head to work.
Six clients and one no show. Thank God for no shows before Thanksgiving.
Tears, smiles, tears, smiles, tears, smiles.
2:00 Phone call from husband. Good work news. Great work news. Excitement. Decide screaming in my office might alert the psychiatrists. Refrain. Again feel sense of accomplishment.
Return to clients.
Look at clock and realize its 4:30.
Pick up kids.
Head home.
Husband is home already.
This isn't a good day...this is a GREAT day!
Realize that husband has been doing things at the house all day. Fence is stained...new lighting installed...french drain put in...feel amazed.
Think to self...life is going great. What a great day.
Dinner out to celebrate good work news.
Home to put up Christmas tree. (I know...I know....)
Husband heads out to find camera.
Hear loud crash.
Very loud crash.
Realize perfect day may be over.
See that husband has literally ripped off the back of my expedition and the garage door is hanging on for dear life to its frame.
Samuel starts crying.
I think about crying.

What a CRAZY day!!!! Thank God for insurance. For the record when you put an expedition in a fight with a garage door both lose and the tickets to watch the show are probably very expensive. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

Where are you?

I have blogs floating around inside my head. Memories that I want to remember.

Last week I was at the educational resource store with Sam and Reagan. Just a quick trip to pick up something for the play room. We go into the store and make the purchase. Things are going perfectly. I have perfect children. I am a wonderful mom. Things went like this for about two seconds. And then...

As I am putting Reagan in her car seat I call out to Samuel. I wanted to make sure he was still standing by the truck.

And then it happened.

I turned.

And saw my son.

My perfect son.

Peeing on the tire of my truck.

In the parking lot.

There were people walking by us.

I should have scolded him.

I should have had a moment of correction.

I mean...we can't just pee in parking lots on the tires of cars.

We should have standards.

But...I didn't.

I started laughing so hard I couldn't stop.

Later I did tell Samuel that it was inappropriate to pee on the tire of mommy's truck when she puts Reagan in the car seat.

The things we end up saying as parents!!!!

Thankfulness

It's the month for thankfulness. I love it.

Psalm 147:7
7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp.

Here are the words to my song of thanksgiving today.

Recognition of my need for a Savior,

Grateful that Jesus called me to Him when I was young,

Thankful that He walks this life with me,

Security in knowing that there is more than this life,

Being married to the person I still want to talk to more than anyone else in the world,

Seeing my love for him walk around our home,

Watching Reagan learn what she likes and doesn't like,

Samuel's ability to learn,

A peaceful home where there are calm conversations,

Remembering this time last year talking about a bad economy and making plans for business adventures,

Realizing that this has been a great year,

Knowing, again, that God holds all things in hand,

All things....the good and the bad,

Being ok with that,

And thankful for being ok with that,

Loving cool mornings and warm afternoons,

Seeing people who were once so overcome with hurt that they couldn't see past the moment,

Hearing them laugh in my office,

Knowing that this love for the romantic was birthed in my heart as a child,

Thankful that years of life haven't stolen it

Being thankful is good. Thanks, November for the reminder!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday Daddy! Today is Scott's 31st birthday. It's official. He's old.

We're celebrating him today in the Kenley Casa. There are a million reasons to love him, but Sam, Reagan and I narrowed it down to our top 31....in no particular order. You might be able to tell who contributed each one!

1. He works hard for our family. His day begins at 4:45 on most mornings and he never complains.

2. He finds time to be with us every day.

3. He gives Reagan her morning bottle so Mommy can sleep until 6:30.

4. He watches hunting shows with Sam and pretends to shoot ducks in the living room.

5. He prays with us. He loves Jesus in a real and authentic way.

6. He is quick to give compliments out. He reminds us that he loves us.

7. He makes great homemade pico.

8. He can fix anything.

9. He makes great coffee and knows just how much creamer to put in it.

10. He will let Sam play with play-doh.

11. He is kind.

12. He is a good listener. He gives solid advice.

13. He does silly faces that make us laugh.

14. He loves to listen to Christian music.

15. His favorite ice cream is homemade vanilla by Blue Bell.

16. He lets us stay up late to watch encore western movies.

17. He loves to go to stock shows and festivals.

18. He helps with household chores...he always takes the kitchen.

19. He remembers important events.

20. He gives great hugs.

21. Mom loves how he holds her hand when he's driving.

22. He is good at seeing the big picture. He brings calm to stressful situations.

23. He loves to watch football.

24. He snores when he naps on Sunday afternoon.

25. He can speak Spanish.

26. He is willing to try almost anything once.

27. His dream job would be riding a tractor in the middle of a field ready for harvest. (Mom is glad he doesn't work his dream job!!!)

28. He loves Ducks Unlimited and duck hunting.

29. He is a great cuddler.

30. He loves to talk at night in front of the outdoor fire pit with a good glass of wine.

31. He is a dreamer and he helps us dream big dreams!

Happy Birthday, love. We're glad we get to call you Daddy! Today we celebrate you and how much you mean to us!

Hidden in the Heart

These words I whisper in Samuel's ear when he pauses long enough in his play to land in my lap.

"God has put a song in your heart...you just have to learn how to sing it."

Hello November

I'm so thankful that it's November. I love this time of year. The weather is AMAZING here in Texas and we are looking forward to the fun the next few months will bring.

We've made a committment to SLOW DOWN. October got way too busy and we all felt the stress around the Kenley Casa. So, we've been saying 'no' a lot more, but we're feeling much better. Well, Mama Kenley is feeling much better and that seems to be affecting every one else in good ways.

Lot's of things to blog about, but I'll start with our family photo session. We did some shots a few weeks ago and got the pictures this week.

Scott and I will be married 5 years in April. It doesn't seem possible that it's been that long or that we now have two kids that look just like us at our feet all the time! I'm so thankful for this family of mine. This time of year is always full of reflection...and lately I reflect a lot on how grateful I am to be Scott's wife and Sam and Reagan's mom. Life is good...real good.

Because of...

Because of September 11, 1959
May 28, 1977 happened.
Because of May 28, 1977
March 21, 1979 happened.

Because of all this, we celebrated this weekend.

Did you follow all that?

This weekend I met my mom in Dallas to celebrate her 50th birthday.
We had so much fun that we only took two pictures. That's right, two. She has them. Maybe they will make the blog. Maybe not. But the memory should.

Fun moments....
Getting lost.
Finding each other.
Discovering that you can not go the wrong way down a one way street.
Finding each other again.
Eating avocado rolls and portabello mushroom sandwiches on the Cheesecake Factory patio.
Watching Texans wear fur lined coats when it's 55 degrees outside.
Laughing.
Learning that my mom twitters.
Learning that my mom knows more about facebook than I do.
Realizing she has more facebook friends than I do.
Laughing, again.
Finding the hotel.
Checking in.
Hearing my mom ask me for the 4th time what time our conference started on Saturday.
We got a business rate.
Mom's a bad actress.
Laughing some more.
Realizing that my mom packs a small apartment up every time she travels.
Being thankful for this when I forgot my toothpaste.
And my razor.
And my shower cap.
Knowing that you never stop being a mom.
Feeling thankful.
Staying up too late.
Sleeping in too late.
Watching a Barbara Streisand movie together.
Talking about the changing role of women through the ages.
Learning that my mom was the BWU president at one point.
Remembering when she was going to start a pie making business.
Realizing that life is all about stages.
Wondering what 50 feels like.
Watching my mom feel comfortable in her own skin.
Loving that look.
Laughing.
Shopping, shopping, shopping.
Talking, talking, talking.
Having a snack in toys r us.
I just opened the bag and ate.
Mom tried to pay for hers.
We were starving.
Finding the Melting Pot.
Confusing the Garmin.
Taking 45 minutes to make a 2 minute trip.
Laughing.
Dressing in the parking lot.
Putting on trench coats to cover up shopping outfits.
Dinner at the Melting Pot.
Eating for 2 1/2 hours.
Feeling thankful for valet parking.
Falling asleep.
Waking up.
Talking.
Talking.
Talking.
Crying.
Laughing.
Being grateful.
Not wanting the trip to end.
Lunch at La Madeline's.
Wishing we had not eaten so much dinner.
Making plans to go the Melting Pot again.
Planning another trip.
Wishing time would stop.
Realizing that time would not stop.
Saying goodbye.
Loving.

Happy Birthday, Mama. Some things are even better without pictures.