Happy 4th Birthday Kennon and Happy First Recital Maddox

A couple of weekends ago we had two big celebrations. Kennon turned the big 4 and Maddox danced in her first ever ballet recital.  It was a fabulous weekend and we are thankful a lot of our family got to join us!   Thank you to all who traveled near and far to be with us and share in the kids' celebrations.

Saturday morning we got up and going for Maddox's recital. Her costume was a bumblebee and she danced to a song from Winnie the Pooh. She did such a fabulous job...I was so proud of her. She stayed right with the beat of the music, did all the correct steps,  and moved into her spots on the stage just perfectly. Everyone in the crowd seemed to love her routine too. Although the other routines in the morning show, which showcased the younger dancers, were quite adorable and entertaining. I am very happy with the The Family Museum Dance Company for the theatrical and emotional characteristics they add to their dances as well as the reserved/full coverage costumes! All the dance routines told a little story and each had absolutely adorable costumes.  In the afternoon the older girls did their performances. They danced to songs from The Lion King and The Little Mermaid. Maddox and I went back to the concert hall to watch the dances.   The costumes, choreography and music were absolutely amazing.  It was more like a Broadway show than a recital. The dancers were very theatrical in their routines and the costumes and music were stunning.  I was SUPER impressed. Much more of a production studio than the company I danced in all through high school.   Maddox was very impressed with the older girls' dances and loved the performances.  I think we'll be hanging with this company for quite some time.   She is signed up for another year of ballet which is a requirement at this company.  Then when she turns 7 she is allowed to branch out to other disciplines such as tap, jazz, hip hop etc.  She is excited to take tap as soon as she is allowed. 

After the dance recital we all came back to our house for lunch and bumblebee cupcakes.  These were so fun to make and the kids enjoyed licking the green grass frosting from the top of the cakes as well as popping the fondant bees in their mouths.  They were just right to help celebrate Maddox's special day. 

This little guy woke up sick the day before his big birthday weekend. He fought the virus off and on all weekend but managed to still be able to see his big sister's ballet debut and jump in the jumpy houses at his birthday party at Monkey Joe's.  Unfortunately he just wasn't himself all weekend. 

The finale of the young girls' recital. 

Some of the crew eating lunch after Maddox's recital.  Maddox posing with a big smile with Aunt Brooke. 

Some of the gorgeous flowers Maddox received from family after her recital. 

Sunday was Kennon's big day ( I'm quite certain we couldn't have packed anything else into the weekend.... I'm not blogging about our extended family trip to our new church Saturday night either...phew!..but thanks to all who joined us).  I had decided with all the recital festivities Saturday  that we'd go to a facility for Kennon's birthday party and he was on board with that!! What 4 year old doesn't want their birthday party at Monkey Joe's, an inflatable haven for little people! The kids all had a great time and were able to burn off some energy from the busy, hectic, weekend. 

At Monkey Joe's the honorary person gets to sit in a big inflatable chair during the party.  

 Kennon had told me a while back that he wanted a cake with all his Planes on it.  I had originally wanted to just construct him a Dusty the Plane cake but he really wanted all his planes actually on the cake. So I had to go with it. He got to pick which three sat a top my latest cake creation.  I was fairly happy with how it turned out but continue to learn little tricks of the trade.  The hangar is made of rice krispies which was fine but next time I need to find a better medium to cover the krispies....as well as fondant next time for the runway...not sugar sheets. All in all it was a fun cake to do....

 Kennon and his party goers doing the Hokey Pokey with Monkey Joe.

 'Ya put your wholeself in.......'  Kennon was a bit afraid of Monkey Joe ( I think that was the virus talking...he just wasn't himself that day) so he insisted on being atop Eric's shoulders for the dance. Eric was thrilled :)

 Cousin Reid,  best neighbor buddy Priya, Monkey Joe, Kennon, cousin Carter and Maddox..... oh wait we are missing a cousin.....

 Grandpa Jim was quick enough to grab the youngest cousin from the car seat carrier to get him in the picture... baby Cashin on the far left entered the frame just in time for the 'silly faces' picture :)

 So our party facilitator lit the candles and said a loud  '1, 2, 3....'  to get us all ready to sing the Happy Birthday Song. As soon as she said 1, 2, 3 Kennon bent down to blow the candles out and all of us yelled 'NO!!!'.... to tell him to stop because we hadn't sang yet.  This it the face that resulted after we abruptly kept him from blowing out his candles. Priceless.... I'm pretty sure he's thinking 'really guys??...did you have to sing??'

 After cake the birthday boy got a special turn in the wind jammer.  The party facilitator gal fastened on a little pouch for Kennon to collect as many 'tickets' as he could while the fan was a blowin'.  Only the birthday boy got a turn and then he got to use his tickets to get prizes from the prize center.  I was able to capture a couple of great expressions on my phone. At one point Uncle Tyler yelled in to Kennon to just lean down and pick up the tickets that were all piled up at his feet!!! Kennon followed Uncle Tyler's directions, bent down picked up a load of tickets, shoved them in his pouch, looked up at the girl and said 'I'm done' with this great look of satisfaction on his face!

 'My time is up and my pouch is full!'

 Aunt Brooke, Uncle Tyler, Carter, Reid and Cashin got Kennon his very own Dusty flight crew suit.....

 ....and this fun tool kit that came in the mail on the day of his actual birthday....
Kennon received lots of nice gifts. Thank you to all who traveled near and far to share in his celebration.  It was a great time.

 Maddox and Kennon started swimming lessons last week.  We are lucky enough to be able to just walk, drive or ride our bikes down the street to take private lessons in one of my good friends' pool!!  She hired a private instructor who is really clicking well with Maddox and Kennon and they have improved leaps and bounds in only 4 lessons. I saw both of them put their faces actually in the water WILLINGLY multiple times today!!  These pictures/video were taken from last week. Today they did even better. Maddox did a few strokes of back stroke completely by herself staying afloat as well as sort of dog paddling to the side of the pool with her face actually IN the water!!  Kennon is starting to float on his back with much better form and technique ( despite being fearful of putting his bad ear in the water) and is getting more confident with getting his 'eyes wet' as he calls it!! I am so happy they are starting to get more confident in the pool!!

 Maddox doing her back float. She looks a little stiff here but today she looked great and was even able to pull off a few strokes on her own.

 Kennon and his back float.  There is one other student in their class, our neighbor friend Grace. She was having a bit of a rough time that day. Our class is at 3:10 in the afternoon which is normally high nap time for all three kids. I have to get them down for naps EARLY so we can make it to the lesson with smiles on our faces. It is not always easy and we have certainly been in Grace's state at least once or twice.

 Last Friday we drove out to Dewitt, Iowa to dig up some plants from a good friend of mines yard.  She was purging a bit so we took advantage and gathered up several different types of iris as well as some seedum.  I spent almost the entire weekend digging two new beds planting her flowers as well as few new ornamental grasses I found at the garden store.

 Both kiddos were actually great helpers!!  I love Maddox's hair...she actually picked out BOTH hair pieces that day and was insistent on wearing BOTH of them at the same time!  But it turned out adorable and she got lots of compliments from the neighbors :)

 Last Sunday afternoon, we drove out to Wilton, Iowa to visit with one of my best running buddys, John, and his wife Sue.  John faithfully drives in from Wilton every Sunday to run with our group....a 35 minute drive. He is great loyal friend!!  They have loads of grand kids but love to have Maddox and Kennon come visit.  This time around our main purpose was to see the kitties!! AND John's 'new' old Corvette...or rather the garage or rather gigantic building with heat and AC that he built to store his toy :)   The kids adored the kitties...and they really were adorable. John and Sue live in the county but Sue faithfully feeds the wild cats and so they are willing to bring their babies around.  Maddox couldn't get enough of them although surprisingly didn't ask to bring one home...just begged to go back for another visit the second we got back in the van to head home.  We are thankful to be able to take advantage of other peoples' pets as we will never have any in the Kies house:)  Thanks for the visit John and Sue! We had a great afternoon.

 This one Sue named Climber because it likes to climb up your pant legs...it also was the most social of the 4 kittens and was happy to keep coming back for more attention from the kids.

 The kids have been enjoying Bible school this week at Our Savior.  The theme is Mt. Everest and has an arctic sort of feel to all the activities, art, snacks, and songs.  Monday they were to wear their stocking caps...and Wednesday they were to wear their winter boots!! I can't imagine what the playground looked like with hoards of kids hobbling around in their snow boots on a 90 degree day!!  Hilarious!  Tomorrow is the last day unfortunately but then next week they are back at Our Savior for a Kindness camp...Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8:45-11:45! Perfect.

Taken today by Kim, Thursday, after swimming lessons. So Kim not only has a pool but a huge trampoline in her backyard. So the kids do their lesson first and then get to jump on the trampoline a bit before we head back down Judge Road....  it is a great afternoon for the kids to say the LEAST!! Thanks to the Millage family for sharing their fun with us!!

I have been SUPER busy with work ( hence the reason for the delay on the blog). I've been training a new PT that started last week and I'll be training another new employee in a week or so. Plus I still have all the regular audits to do..!! So needless to say the time that the kids are at camps is filled with work for VNA which I enjoy....that long with sneaking in some garden time each day...my real love.  Eric has also been busy busy. They have been working on merging in two more financial planning companies, one in Chicago and another in Alaska!!  Go Planning Center Go!!  If it all goes down that will make Planning Centers numbers 4 and 5!! Luckily I have been able to secure a weekly date night baby sitter so we are able to keep up with each other's activities.

Just a few tidbits about Kennon on his 4th birthday!! Kennon is a comical kid.  He is extremely witty, funny and lovable although strong willed and not at all laid back! ( although what family member with the name 'Kies' behind it is???) He seems to be a bit of a mama's boy and loves his snuggle time with me at night AND in the morning. Speaking of morning...this kid does not SLEEP.  He struggles to go to bed at night ( even on the days when he doesn't have a nap) and is up at the crack of dawn and will still occasionally get up in the middle of the night. I just don't think he got his sister's Knowles/Maddox sleep genes...but that's ok buddy!!  Kennon is potty trained during the day but not at night.  I don't think his sensor works well enough at night to wake him up from his deep sleeps        ( when he is sleeping!!). Kennon loves to ride bikes outside and play with his Planes planes inside. He mastered ridding a big boy bike this past year!! He loves movies and playing Wii.  He is quite coordinated and strong and seems to be able to pick up most any sport although soccer and baseball are his love currently. He was quite the aggressive player on the soccer field this Spring..really going after the ball and even scoring a few goals!!  I will also throw in the kid can throw a frisbee like nobody's brother... where he picked that up I have no idea! He eats like a freight train  ( except when he's sick...that's our cue...he'll say 'mom I'm done can we save this till tomorrow??'....and the red flags go up...!!) and loves most all foods except meat...we struggle a tad with meat, but in general I would NOT label him as a picky eater!  He has become increasingly more of a bugger about the clothes he wears. He wants to pick out his own shirt EVERYday and he generally picks one of only two shirts...his Blade shirt or his Dusty shirt...!!  He must have inherited some of his Uncle Tyler's fashion genes.   He is REALLY in to cleaning up the neighborhood.  Eric will quite often take him out and around our neighborhood and down the main road and the kid is happy as a lark to pick up trash with his grabber and bring home a full bag to show me!!  Even when we are out and about shopping or driving around or at the park he is always spying garbage and requests to go pick it up.  Hmmmm...maybe an environmental worker in the future??? Despite fighting with his big sister on a daily basis, he begs for her to wake up in the morning on the days when he gets up early and she sleeps in! (which is almost daily)  I know they are going to grow up to be best buddies.  They have recently become very good at playing for long periods of time in the basement with all the toys...although generally I hear them playing house which is likely commissioned by big sis Maddox.  He seems to have an unusually good memory and does pay close attention to details. He is 'sort of' interested in school type activities.  He has gotten much better at holding his pencil and is able to write his name SIGNIFICANTLY better than a year ago!  I can't imagine life without my little bug.  He is a one-of-a kind kiddo and we are blessed that God chose us to raise him up. Happy 4th Birthday Kennon! We can't wait to see what you are going to accomplish the next year.

So I asked Kennon these questions on his 4th birthday...


1.  What do you want to be when you grow up? A PIRATE

2.  What is your favorite color?  BLUE and GREEN

3.  Who is your best friend?  'YOU Mama!' 

4.  What is your favorite food? Pepperoni Pizza ( although I have to disagree...he always requests black olive!!...but does enjoy pepperoni too)

5.  What is your favorite thing to play outside?  'My squirtgun'

6.  What do you like to play with inside?

7. What is your favorite movie? Regular Planes and Planes Fire Rescue

Last year's responses........

1.  What do you want to be when you grow up? A construction worker last week…but I asked him again yesterday and actually BOTH kids said fireman…'to help people during emergencies'

2.  What is your favorite color?  GREEN

3.  Who is your best friend?  …….  'uh, ALL my friends!' 

4. What is your favorite food?  Chicken Nuggets and Mac n Cheese and watermelon

5.  What is your favorite thing to play outside? Ride bikes and playing soccer in the garage with Maddox

6.  What is your favorite thing to play inside? Music….?? not sure where that came from.  He likes to play Hide N Seek with Eric!!  

7. What is your favorite movie?  Toy Story 1