Loads of Summer Fun

Yogurt on a hot day...well a warmish day as we really haven't had any hot days!!   Both kids always want sprinkles and gummy bears which in my opinion don't stand up to my hot fudge with cocoa covered almonds :)  Who wants a frozen solid gummy bear...not me...!! but anyone under the age of 10 seems to love them :)   It is a special treat to get to go to the 'ice cream' store. 

This is the bakery that I will soon be working at....!! Yes you read that right.  One of my running friends opened this adorable vintage bakery, Oh So Sweet, in Davenport about a year ago. I"ve had my eye on possibly working there since she opened but the timing hasn't been quite right. But, with Maddox going to kindergarten in the fall and Kennon to preschool 5 mornings a week I felt like it was time to make a go of it. I"ll start the week of Labor Day just working a couple of hours a couple of times a week.  Tiphanie is the owner and she is a fabulous creative sole. She and I agreed to be open with each other and I assured her ( and myself and Eric) if it becomes too stressful for our family then I'd wait a couple of years and call her when BOTH kids are in school and I have little more time.  We high fived each other after that agreement.  I will be her task master...filling tarts, making ganache, making salted caramel, frosting cupcakes, doing dishes etc.  It sounds absolutely FUN to me and I can't wait to start.  I'm not quite certain how I'm going to juggle the VNA gig. I'm planning to keep up with the audits for sure but as for the training of new physical therapists they hire we'll have to see. 

This was her free sample table at her one year anniversary. She does wedding cakes too and she advised that on Saturdays she might have me be involved with setting up the dessert table/cake table actually at a wedding here and there!!! How FUN! 

Maddox adores the place and Miss Tiphanie....our favorite treats so far are her ginormous cinnamon rolls as well as her red velvet cheesecake cupcakes...well I suppose those rank up there with her salted caramel brownies!! YUMMY!! ( I"m going to have to keep up my running if I'm going to work there!! ) 

After Oh So Sweet's one year anniversary celebration we headed to the museum as a family of 4!! I take the kids to the museum weekly by myself but it is always nice to have Eric along with us.  This day they had just opened their new traveling exhibit for the summer...A Visit to the Rain forest. 

You get to pull yourself up in a tree through a pulley system. 

Despite the terribly cold, rainy spring we've had I've managed to get some of my flowers a bloomin'.  The beautiful pink rose is from Grandma Doris' garden. It's specific name is 'Tournament of Roses'. I have taken a liking to roses since this beauty started blooming and we'll be adding a couple more bushes to the two that Eric and his brother Bryan were able to save from her house last Fall.  They are gorgeous with ruffled light pink petals, a light yellow center and they have the most yummy aroma! 

The Saturday of Father's Day was the Quad City Triathlon. Eric continues to graciously devote his entire Saturday ( and the Thursday and Friday before) to setting up, tearing down, etc.  This is the first year I felt like Maddox and Kennon could come out to be a spectator. We set up shop along the run course ( near a potty and a park) with our Casey's donuts and water bottles,  so as to be able to cheer on a lot of my triathlon buddies and the rest of the participants. Eric is specifically in charge of the run course so the kids got to ride along with him in this gator! We all had a great time...and I got the TRI bug back again.  Resurrected the old light blue Cannondale, bike shoes, and helmet :)  

A couple of Fridays ago the kids didn't have any camps and we had just picked up Kennon's new big boy bike so I thought we should go for a ride!!  We asked Priya to join us. We ended up biking on what was a VERY hilly ride with the end result being a park and lunch. ...well the park and lunch was half way...we had to trek home after the break for calories!! There was a fair amount of whining, tired legs and one mild crash by the time we made it to the park so luckily Priya's mom was able to cut the trek a little short for Kennon and gave him a ride home.  Priya, Maddox and I made back it in one piece. Note to self...5 miles with rolling hills feels like a 100 mile mountain climb to a 4 and 5 year old!!  Although I will credit Priya ( who really just learned how to ride her big girl bike well this Spring)..was lightness and joy and did not complain one iota!!

ooops. out of order..Kennon getting his turn to climb the rain forest tree. 

Kennon took a bit of a spill last Sunday while on a bike ride with Eric and Maddox. Seems we have a little learning to do about keeping our distance from the rider in front of us...  But in reality both kids are doing really well on their bikes!!  They are getting better at bike safety and just keeping a little space between the two of them. It certainly helps that in the evening and weekends we can go bike over on the road in the new subdivision which has NO traffic and nice rock free pavement. 

Maddox and Priya attended Princess Dance Camp at the Museum this past week. They both enjoyed the activities which consisted of dancing to music from a specific princess Disney movie each day, making a cool craft and eating a really nice thoughtful sugar filled snack :)  This was the first day and it was Snow White day. Tuesday was Cinderella, Wednesday Tiana, Thursday Elsa and Anna and today ( Friday) Ariel came for a special visit.  Both girls seemed to really enjoy themselves. 

Kennon got in on this picture but he too had camp this week...but at Our Savior. He learned about the jungle and Peace.  He came home on Monday with this absolutely heart melting definition of Peace. 'Mom its like when you are just all calm inside and God is in your heart'.  Man buddy...so eloquently spoken. Thank you to the teachers at Our Savior for being in this young man's life. 

We don't have swim lessons this week but I am so pleased with how both kids have been perfecting their swimming skills in the last couple of weeks. Both have developed so much confidence it is really amazing.  Maddox is working on basic front crawl and Kennon is FINALLY comfortable with putting his face in the water and even working towards paddling towards the side.  This teacher that Kim found is just amazing with both of the kids.  We have a couple more lessons left but then there is talk of extending her time out with us through the end of the summer which I am all in favor of. 

Maddox and Kennon with Kennon's new bike.  This bike didn't come with a kickstand because it came with training wheels to hold it upright instead.  Kennon had the training wheels on for about 12 hours and then ditched them.  Eric took him last Saturday to have the bike shop put on a kickstand.  He was SO PROUD of the kickstand ( and really the bike still too) . Priya's grandpa was in town last week and Kennon yelled over to Grandpa John when they got back from the bike shop  'Hey....I got a new part for my bike!!' He did it with this adorable pride filled smile.  It was so cute. He is REALLY proud of his new bike. I am quite certain the neighbors are probably getting tired of him telling them that he got a new bike!!  He is just so excited about it. So cute!!  'Hey Miss Kim...I got a new bike'....I think I've heard that phrase at least 10 times!! But Miss Kim ( my good neighbor friend and the pool we go to for lessons) of course reacts just as excited each time!! A kind sole she is. 

With the often rainy weather we have been doing some indoor activities and what better way to get your energy out than with a dance party. Both kids enjoy it and it keeps them busy and me laughing for a fair amount of time.

It was two years on June 27th!! I can't believe it. Time really does fly.  Kennon and I visited the grave site last week and freshened up Mom's flowers and flag for the summer.  Kennon was practicing his American Ninja Warrior moves, climbing all over Grammy's box!! I'm sure she enjoyed watching him from above. He is super into ANW and there is talk of building a small course in the basement of The Planning Center.... if the thought came to your mind of 'what DON'T you all do in the basement of The Planning Center??'  you are right!! We'll see if that comes to fruition.

These pictures were taken by our great neighbor friends Lee and Lori, to the North of us.  Lee and Lori treat Maddox and Kennon just like their very own grand kids. They are empty-nester's but their children haven't married...YET....and so they LOVE to have Maddox and Kennon come visit and hang out a bit. Lee and Lori have a tomato garden and a little black dog named Jack and they let the kids have free reign over both!!  This particular day Lori had invited Maddox over to make cupcakes with her.  Of course Maddox had a ball and brought home  a huge plate to share with us.  She even got to bake with Lori's future daughter in law, Anna, who seems to like hanging out with Maddox as well.  Lee and Lori offered to watch the kids last Thursday so Eric and I could have a date night. We chose to run the Bix at 6 together instead of an actual dinner date night. It was great fun getting to run together as well as with some of our running buddies.  The kids cried gang busters when we arrived to take them back to our house...they didn't want to leave. I'm quite certain they get fairly spoiled when they go to Lori and Lee's...but that's ok!!

Maddox and Anna

A few more pictures from Princess camp. On the last day, Friday, they did a little performance for us and showed us all the things that they learned in their camp.  Maddox was beaming from ear to ear during the entire performance.  She really does a beautiful job.

This is a new friend Maddox made at princess camp...although sort of an old friend. Katlyn was in Maddox and Kennon's swim lessons at the Y in April. She is closer in age to Kennon and will actually join him this fall in a special literacy class that I managed to get him into at the museum ( no waiting in a line out in the cold but I've been on the wait list since mid January!!...always a debacle getting into programs for pre-school aged children around here) . She is a doll and I have come to be friends with her mama and grandma.

Maddox and 'Aeriel'

Maddox's Princess camp program 

Last night the Millage family invited us over to their pad for a pool and pizza party.  The kids quickly got in the water and started practicing some of their moves from swimming lessons!!  Perfect!!  Kim and Tim's pool is salt water and really beautiful with a diving board.  They also have a trampoline...just in case you get tired of swimming!! Quite the fun activities in the Millage backyard.  Hudson is their youngest and Maddox adores him...although he is 1 and on the move so he doesn't like to be snuggled much, to Maddox's dismay.   He is always a smiley guy but of course Maddox was holding him hostage to snap this shot so no grins for this one. There is something really special about the 4th child...he just toddles along right behind the big kids and gets right in the mix.  He chowed down a piece of pizza like he had eaten it 100 times before.  Observation of his older brothers and sister is how this little, big, guy keeps up. Before the night ended we had a raging game of kickball going.....Between the 6 Millages' and the 4 Kies' we had almost all the positions covered.  Great summer time fun!! Thank you to the Millage family!

We are gearing up for a big week in the Kies house. Maddox will attend Challenger Soccer Camp and Kennon will go to Barnyard Tot Lot  Camp ( in reading that....it sounds like poor Kennon got the short end of the stick...but have no fear Tot Lot is amazing fun and he LOVES it!!) The Challenger camp is a traveling British soccer skills camp that is run by coaches from England.  It is just a 90 minute skills class each day this week and happens to be down the road at one of our many parks.  The cool thing is that Eric and I, after much deliberating!!!, have decided to host one of the coaches. So tomorrow at 6pm I'll pick up Tom from Birmingham, England and he'll be staying with us until next Sunday!  Quite out of the box for the Kies family, or rather myself specifically, but I thought it would be a good lesson of generosity for Maddox and Kennon as well as for the kids to be exposed to someone other than a Bettendorfian!!  He doesn't like carrots, sprouts or baked beans and he is allergic to cats and has mild asthma...so I thought he'd fit right in to our family...HAH!!  He is 23 and has a large amount of experience coaching children in the UK on his Coach Profile.  ( We got to pick which one we wanted from a couple of profiles...I have to admit that I stalked them all on Facebook before deciding).  We have some activities planned to do with him in the evenings as he only is slated to work about 6 hours per day.  I'm hoping the kids will pick up a thing or two about England and more specifics about soccer.  Hoping it goes well! Stay tuned for pictures with Tom:) 

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