Boots, Webkinz & Tupperware!

Curious how those three things are related? Read on....

Stephen has a boot. And no, cowboy boots aren't the only boots in Texas. Some of you will remember that back at the beginning of June he sprained his ankle REALLY BADLY! Then he proceeded to go on a 30 mile mountain biking high adventure with the young men. Well here it is mid-August and the sprain still isn't healed. He limps, it swells, it hurts, he can't run or exercise. So we went to a specialist who ordered an MRI....pulled ligaments and bruising on the bone. So that's why it's been hurting! The treatment: this lovely boot for the next 3 weeks! We're keeping our fingers crossed that it will do the trick.




Webkinz Mania has hit our home! (thanks Traci!) Meet: Sophie (black cat), Happy (blue hippo), and Lance (lion). My dear friend Traci and her family have a total of a bagillion (okay more like 30) of these adorable virtual pets called webkinz. She bought 2 of them for Kaitlyn almost a year ago. We played with them a bit but she was still a bit young. Lindsey was born and there went my spare time and my priorities did not include webkinz. I knew that their lifespan was only about a year and was willing to just let them go but this summer Kaitlyn saw a cousin playing with them we got hooked. She's no longer taking naps and so it's something we've gotten back into during quiet afternoons. Well our account was about to expire and we'd been having so much fun with Sophie and Happy.....enter Lance. Sam's lion. We bought him to renew our account and give us another glorious year of fun and games. We all share this HUGE house with so many ammenities it's great!


And what's funny is that Stephen and I are really into it too! Stephen (especailly!) is arranging the house, buying rooms and furniture and playing each game to test it's ability to win us more kinz-cash with which to buy more stuff for the pets. Awful isn't it? Consumerism being taught early... Kaitlyn is learning how to work a mouse and has caught on really fast where she has to go to feed, dress and care for her pets. We really enjoy spending time with our kids and letting them choose the activities we do. It gives Stephen something to do with our kids when I need them out of the kitchen or something. We all are having a lot of fun so, we're happy to report that we've fallen victim to this glorious world of webkinz!


Tupperware. WOW! Lindsey is growing up so quickly! She just started crawling and now she's pulling herself up to a standing position and is very excited about her newfound mobility. But this is what I am so unprepared for:

Isn't she a bit early to be doing this? I've seen a photo of myself doing this as an infant so I know it's in her genes but really. She's not even 10 months but I've caught her a couple times raiding my cupboard and having a ball! Doesn't she look happy?

A full circle moment

One of the BEST DECISIONS I've ever made was to serve a mission for my church. 18 months of selfless service spreading the gospel of my Savior Jesus Christ to the hispanic population of Houston Texas. I taught many people and was blessed so much by my experiences with them. But one thing I NEVER saw was a full circle conversion of someone, from beginning to "end".

This past weekend I participated in one. One of the most amazing people I've ever met is my good friend Arhely. Almost 2 years ago she started attending church with her husband Joe who was already a member. I was assigned to be her visiting teacher because she spoke only a little english. We made an immediate connection. We visited her monthly and during our visits she began to ask good questions about the gospel and we always shared the message and tried to teach basic gospel principles. She continued to attend church and before too long we noticed she wanted to read more and we gladly gave her the Liahona and got her her own subscription. After about 5 months or so of this I had a frank talk with her that it was time for her to become a member, to take the lessons from the missionaries (just a formality really because she had already learned the principles through attending church). She was baptized April 8, 2007.



She has continued to grow so much. She serves in Primary and is so good with the children. Our friendship has continued to grow and she is now my visiting teaching companion! She's demonstrated such faith and courage in this journey of hers, I am so proud of her!


This past Thursday and Saturday Arhely was able to go through the temple for the first time and I was able to be there with her. It was very emotional for me and her. She was sealed to her sweetheart of a husband Joe and now they can be a forever family!! She is glowing!! She is so happy and I am too! I feel on such a high! I have a forever friend. We decided that if we can choose our neighbors in heaven, we want to live next door to each other! I sure hope we can eat in heaven because I LOVE her cooking!! Felicitaciones mi amiga querdida!

Some Summer Fun!

Did you know that this past Thursday the 21st of August marked 50 years since Hawaii became part of the United States? And that this past Wednesday was Lemonade Day?

Neither did we but I have become bored of our normal hum drum days at home and decided to spice things up by finding some activities online to keep us busy. I found this great website, referred to me by my friend Alyson J, that had all these preschool type activities for every day of the year. So we've been having some fun.

On Lemonade Day I bought some lemons. We took the time to measure them, scratch off some of their skin and smell them, we assessed that they were smooth and round. Then we cut them open, we saw that they have triangle shaped sections. We licked them and WOW! That's what "sour" tastes like. Then we juiced them and used the rinds as boats in bowls of water on the back porch. We tried to see how many beads it would take to sink our "boats". Then we mixed ingredients to make homemade lemonade that we enjoyed with our dinner! It was fun!

Then our Hawaii Holiday! We started the morning by reading a couple story books with a Hawaii theme. Then we turned on some Hawaii Luau music and just danced around. Later we created "grass skirts" by combining newspaper with slits cut and crepe paper over them. Sam was not amused and wouldn't wear his, but Kaitlyn did and loved dancing. I showed her my best immitation of a hula and she mimicked me. If I can figure out how to turn the video image I'll upload it, but for the time being this is a still shot of it (the video is much cuter!)

For ideas for some of your own activities check out "Learning through the days of the year" on www.universalpreschool.com

A Gymnastic Champion

Well our area has done it again. There must be something in the water. 4 years ago Carly Patterson put our town of Allen, Texas on the map with her Olympic Gold Medal in Women's Gymnastics. Last night Parker,Texas which borders Allen and is less than a mile up the road produced Gold Medal Winner #2, Nastia Liukin. She was spectacular!

The competition was wonderful to watch but went a bit late for me. So I was catching up on the part I missed this afternoon with Kaitlyn by my side. In a matter of minutes she was tumbling (attempting to) off the couch and rolling around. After she got bored with that, she laid out blankets and started her floor routine. Then that graduated into getting the proper attire of her ballerina leotard (because every girl must look her best) and she got out pillows to jump on and just had a ball! I told Stephen we should have already enrolled her in Gymnastics prior to last night because all the gyms in the area just raised their rates!

A Rain Dance

It has been SOOOOO HOT this summer and very little has cooled us off. So imagine our delight when last night a line of rain storms rolled through. It was still raining steadily this morning so after breakfast I suggested we get on our swimming suits and dance outside in the rain and splash in the puddles! Oh the joys! Kaitlyn was way into it. She LOVED being allowed to splash in the puddles. It was such a learning experience for her as she exclaimed, "It's like being in the shower Mom!" We then went down to the street where there was a small stream running through the gutters. Sam, not into it so much, didn't like all the water dripping on his head but it was a great thing for him to learn about too! Here they are all bundled up drying off.

We LOVE books

I think my MOST Favorite thing to do with my kids is read books. We have a very worn Library card and our own growing library of childrens books. I love that my children love to read. They learn so much and I feel so close to them when we have reading time--it's true quality time! So I really appreciate that every summer our local library has a summer reading program for children aged 2 and up. We completed reading our 25 books and we went today to collect our prizes. Here are Kaitlyn and Sam sitting on the statue bench of the boy and his dog. They have their reading logs.

For our treats we got:

A free ice cream treat at Chick-fil-a which was really yummy!

And a free book. Kaitlyn chose Clifford and Sam chose Daisy the Firecow.

While these prizes are fun for them, the real treat was all the time and snuggles and moments we shared while reading! Can't wait until next summer!

Guess who can get around?

Lindsey is doing so many new things! She waves, claps and even says "Hi-ee" in a high pitched sigh type voice. And when she combines the "Hi" with a wave, it's quite precious! Oh, yeah and she's crawling--or just starting to. Catch this video!

POOR GUY!

Here's a shout out for some boy dress-up clothes! We need some, ya think? Poor kid doesn't have much to choose from. This was his choice this week for dancing! I love the bracelet just above his elbow. Maybe he's a future polynesian dancer!

Remembering Grandma Betty Day

Monday July 21st we got a call that Stephen's grandmother, Betty Day, had been found unconscious in her apartment at her retirement community. She'd had a massive stroke and there wasn't a lot of brain activity but they were sustaining life until her children could gather. She was really gone then, gone as gracefully and peacefully as she lived her life. But her strong heart and body took until Thursday afternoon to finally rest and go to be with her wonderful husband and sweetheart Joe.

Stephen took the time on Thursday afternoon to go and visit her in the hospital, she was close at that point, struggling to breathe, we had just arrived back in Allen when we got the call that she'd passed.

Funeral services were this past Monday. It was a simple service and one that I hope she would have liked. A woman who believed in Christ and shared her testimony with all who would listen, she studied the Bible as a hobby, she was a great listener and a wonderful friend. We will miss her.

Sam looked studly in his dudds! He didn't want to wear the tie or vest, we bribed him with being able to play with his monkey figurines, they were perfect!

Sweet baby Lindsey and her adorable Aunt Rachel!

Kaitlyn and Stephen's cousin Mary. They were wonderful with the kids and were such a big help caring for them all weekend! Thanks guys!

All the McKneely Grandkids! Sam, Shelly, Kaitlyn, Lindsey and Ashlyn!

A Family Outing

Uncle Joey is visiting from Zurich, Switzerland where he's working for a few years. We've been wanting to take the kids to the Dallas Children's Museum and so we decided to make a memory with Uncle Joey and have a family outing! It was great! We got there relatively early and got a couple of hours of fun in before it got too busy and overwhelming. Here are some photos to show how much fun we had:

Here we are at the entrance where there were these chairs shaped like hands.

Kaitlyn, weather woman extroidenaire! Here's a hint, it's Texas, it's July....it's just FLAMING HOT!

Sam and KP to the Rescue, don't worry, Uncle Joey will make sure they get there safetly!
Guess who staged this picture? Yup, good ol' Stephen is always staging the funny shots!

And some nice shots too, isn't this a sweet one? My future star!

Hey! Who gave that kid a hammer?

And so there was a water table, that Kaitlyn got way into but Sam didn't want to put on a smock, there was a fossil dig in the dirt that suprisingly overwhelmed Sam. I think it was the sand. A pretend backyard, a farm where you planted seeds and then picked and sorted food and could even milk a cow! So you get the picture, it was a wonderful place and we'll have to come back sometime soon! Anyone want to come?

Then following this we went to Freebirds for Lunch! Horray for Freebirds--Yummy! Then off to spend the rest of the day and evening with Stephen's aunt and uncle in Grapevine....reason noted in another blog. We swam, and ate and hung out. It was definately a memorable, wonderful family day!

Caught you! Stephen was about to go swimming with the kids and decided to dress up in their floaties and goggles, he was a good sport to let me snap this shot...and yes I got permission to post it for your comic relief!

Resting Time

Here's a shout out to Stephen's favorite pasttime---RESTING TIME. It's not an uncommon sight to find him accompanied by a blanket and pillow sprawled out on the floor somewhere with kids playing around him. I really respect his ability to take those moments to relax and make it a priority in his life. I truly wish I was more like him, I'm the busy bee that can't ever sit down and won't relax until all my "chores" are done....which is never. So thanks hunny for all the things you are that I ought to be.

So here is a precious shot of Sam having "resting time". He wanted Lindsey to join him because---he "LOVES Lindsey....So Much Mom!"

Sacrament Meeting Follow-up

Okay, so we're braving the whole sacrament meeting thing okay. It definately is more than I can handle alone and I've come to grips with that and I'm allowing others to be blessed for their service to me.

So for Family Home Evening the Monday before he first sits on the stand we actually went to the church. Showed the kiddos where Dad was going to sit (he even demonstrated like a good sport) and where we were going to sit. We explained that while he wasn't going to sit with us anymore, he could still see us and we could see him. We further explained that he would be watching to see how we behaved and to just keep an eye out in case I had to take a mad dash out and leave a couple on the pew. It worked AMAZINGLY well! The first Sunday, we're sitting on our row and Stephen comes out from a meeting into the chapel, and Sam in his regular sacrament meeting voice (LOUD) says, "Hi dad, hi-ee, Dad, sit up there!" And is pointing to the stand. They got it!

A few funny stories:

• I think it was the second week, but a family a few rows behind us with 2 boys about the ages of Kaitlyn and Sam had their younger one start acting up. (Hey we're not always the most entertaining row to watch, but we're always in the top 3!)He was making some noise and so the Dad got up to take him out. Sam looked at me and says, "Mom, there's Jacob....Jacob crying Mom!....Jacob needs to be quiet in church!" I explained to him that his Daddy was trying to help him learn to be reverent just like I am trying to teach my kids. Hey while we don't always follow through, at least he get's the concept of what he SHOULD be doing.
• A couple weeks ago I tried putting a couple cars into the church bag to see how well it kept Sam's attention. Well I didn't choose the right ones because I chose Doc and Lightning McQueen but I thought 2 was plenty and left Mater at home. BIG Mistake! He kept asking, in a not so quiet voice, "Mom, where's Mater?", repeatedly! I guess he was hoping the answer would change.....so now I let my kids decide their own figurines as I pack the church bag.
• That same Sunday (was an exciting one) Sam was really anxious to go to Nursery class. He was asking, "Almost time to go Mom?" from the time they played the sacrament hymn. The kind family in front of us saves us often during church. (Their Dad admits that us moving to sit behind them since Stephen's calling has made him actually look forward to church again because of all the free entertainment!) So Sam was sitting with them (and they're on thef front row). During the practice hymn following the closing prayer, I finally answered his question the way he wanted me to and he got so excited that he escaped the hands of the Jacobson's and ran to the base of the stand and yelled up to where Stephen was sitting, "Daaaad, Almost time ta Gooooo! You couldn't help but smile!
• Then just today I swear Sam talked the enire meeting in his normal voice. I kept demonstrating a quiet hushed voice and asking him to use it, nothin doin. He's not behaving badly, it's just he's not quiet at all and can't seem to be. I can't hear a THING being said and it's likely that neither can those around us. In Relief Society a good friend of mine comes up and says, "I've been meaning to ask you how it is you keep your children so reverent during church." I was SHOCKED to say the least, I asked her if we were talking about the same children. But it just goes to show you what I am so sure everyone is watching and taking note of they really arent.

All in all, I think we're taking it in stride. Some weeks are better than others, I realize that my church attendance isn't really for me right now because I get next to nothing out of the meetings. Right now I am helping my children develop habits of reverent sabbath behavior. Someday it will be my turn again!