Prayer Time

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."- Proverbs 22:6

Lately, Ryker's prayers have gotten much more personal.  Robert and I always say the prayer at dinner time and we use a prayer bear at bedtime that says a prayer for you.  Ryker usually just says Amen! at the end.  He's been making us pray more often lately and saying his own prayers at bedtime.  A couple weeks ago we were over at Grandma and Grandpa's house and Ryker was bringing us coasters saying they were dinner.  When he had passed out all the coasters, he said, "Prayer, Mommy!" and clasped his hands together and bowed his head, then said, "Amen!"  It was so sweet.  Today, he made Robert and I bow our heads and pray.  He had his head bowed, but kept peeking up at us to make sure we were still bowing our heads.  I couldn't help but laugh.  He mumbled some stuff, then said, "Thank you God. Amen!"  We ended up saying about 5 prayers.  I finally got the camera out and caught one of them.  In case you're wondering, he was thanking God for my cousin Abby (who he just loves), raisins, and Grandma Sheepie (the camera cut him off at Grandma).  Of all the wonderful, exciting things Ryker does all the time, his growth in prayer thrills me to no end.  My one goal as a parent, above and beyond all else, is to raise my son to love the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, and all his strength.  (Matthew 22:37)  I just pray that he will continue to grow in his faith!

First Time at the Movies!

Ryker's been a touch sick over the past week and now has passed it on to Mom and Dad.  I woke up Friday with a sore throat and have been getting progressively worse since.  Robert is just a day behind me.  We hung out around the house all day and were lazy.  Somehow or another, Robert convinced me to go out to eat and take Ryker to a movie.  We went to O'Charley's (Ryker loves the rolls).  We headed out to Legacy Cinema in Greenfield to watch Despicable Me.  We got some popcorn and found great seats.  Ryker did great!  He loved it!  He did talk a few times, but nothing too bad.  He just kept saying, "Oh, no!" at certain times or asking what they were doing.  He loved the popcorn and was sad when the movie was over.  He kept saying he wanted more.  He wasn't in a mood for having his picture taken, so this was the best I could get!

Standing in front of the movie poster before seeing Despicable Me.

Ryker and Daddy after the movie was over...he was ready to go by the point.

Fish Fry

Nana and Papaw were heading to the Fish Fry in Wanamaker tonight and invited us to go along.  We met them there and enjoyed a fantastic meal of fish and fries.  Their hush puppies were really good too!  We ran in to some friends from church while we were there too, which was fun.  We went outside to listen to the music after we finished eating.  Ryker had a great time dancing!  Note: For some reason, when I take videos vertically, I can't rotate it after I download it on the computer.  So, you'll have to turn your head sideways to get a good look.  Sorry!

Showing off his dance moves.

I was trying to get a cute Daddy and Me pic, but....

He just kept making silly faces!

After the Fish Fry, we invited Nana and Papaw to come back here for a game of Farkle.  Ryker played very well while we played the game.  He got out a vibrating cow toy that his Nonno and Nonna gave him when he was about 5 months old.  He was quite funny imitating the vibrating noise it made.  He was making us crack up!

Cousin Fun

My cousin's wife, Jalyn, stopped by to pick up some Melaleuca products she ordered from me.  The kids played outside on the swing set and had a great time.  Jalyn and I had a nice time catching up.  I snapped a pic of the kids playing and wanted to post it!

Note: Carter did a bit better sitting sideways....haha

Cooking with Mommy

Ryker wanted to help me cook dinner tonight.  My mom is always telling me I need to relax and enjoy him more.  She says she wishes she could've been like that with us.  So, when Ryker wanted to help, I thought I'd give it a whirl.  We had less than desirable results...please see pictures!

Ryker all suited up in his apron...he wanted to be like Mommy!

Helping brown the meat

So, I took the meat off the burner, told Ryker approximately 10 times not to touch anything, turned my back to drain the meat and BAM! Ryker burns his fingers.  He put the tips of all his fingers on his right hand right on it!  I know the kid likes Curious George, but I think he's becoming him!  He just had to try it out!  I put some Melaleuca Oil on it.  It worked like a charm and took the sting right out.  I went ahead and gave him his Lightning McQueen ice pack and put on Cars for him while I finished dinner.

                               He bounced right back and really enjoyed his dinner (as you can tell!)

Visit with the Italian's

For those of you that don't know, Robert's mother is Italian.  All of her family still lives in Vicenza, Italy which is about an hour from Venice.  Robert and I visited in March 2007 and had a great trip.  Robert's cousin, Andrea, and two of his friends are on their first trip to the US.  They spent 5 days in New York, then came here for a couple days, then are going to finish up in Miami.  We met up with them at the State Fair Sunday afternoon.  They went to the Motor Speedway before meeting us.  We got free tickets to the Demolition Derby, so we checked that out.  It wasn't my cup of tea, but we did have a nice time with the Italians!

Ryker and Uncle Dave...Dave got a nice string of slobber on his head right after this was taken :)

Robert, David, Ryker, and Michelle

Ryker sharing his snacks with Nonno

Robert and his cousin, Andrea, enjoying their turkey legs

 

Some of the action at the Demolition Derby

All the Brown men watching the action

Playing with Uncle Dave

"Ryker ride Daddy's shoulders!"

Steve and Angie's Wedding

My cousin, Steve got married this Saturday to a wonderful addition to the family, Angie.  She brings the total number of Kennedy family members to a nice round 40!  It was a great evening.  Ryker loved playing with all his cousins and Robert and I enjoyed visiting with everyone.  My favorite part of the evening was when Grandma and Grandpa "won" the anniversary dance.  57 years of marriage!  They are an inspiration to all of us!

Ryker playing with Nana and "Gant" (He loves Grant!)

Ryker and Grandma Sheepie

Garyn (the ring bearer), Ryker, Ashlyn, Gianna, and the flower girl dancing

Papaw, Nana, and Ryker

Me and my honey...so cute!

Jalyn, Carter, Natalie, Gianna, Mom, and Ryker dancing

Ashlyn getting her groove on!

Gigi's turn!

Ryker LOVES his Daddy!

Abby and I-so blessed to have a great cousin like her!

Baby Bentley

My cousin, Collin's son was born today! Bentley Wayne Kennedy arrived at 9:29 AM. He weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. and was 21 inches long. He is adorable and we can't wait to officially meet him! He is a welcome addition to the Kennedy Clan.

Sucking on his fingers

He's got a good head of hair!

So sweet!

Zoo Trip

Today, Ryker and I met some friends at the zoo.  Dainah Craft and I worked together at ITT back in 2006 and hit it off from the start.  After I left ITT, I helped her get hired on at Elwood Staffing in early 2007.  We both worked there until we had our kids.  Dainah has a little girl, Izabela, that is less than 3 months older than Ryker.  Ryker was super excited to see Bela and for some reason, the hyenas!  I'm guessing the hyenas had something to do with Goodnight, Gorilla! which we read all the time.  He's very curious about the hyena in that book and I think he wanted to see one in person.  We got there first thing in the morning and had a great time!

Ryker and Bela checking out the rhinos.

This was the first time we saw the cheetahs...they were pretty active.

This one kept walking right by the glass...it was so close! If you notice, Ryker kept knocking on the glass saying, "Hi, cheetah!"

This one was locked in on something...sorta creepy when there is just a sheet of glass between you and the cheetah!

The elephants

Ryker and Bela playing after snack time

Neither of them were too interested in getting a picture taken...haha

Ryker jumping off the ledge in the penguin area..he was having a blast!

Coming in for a landing.

All that jumping requires a break!

Waiting for the water to spray out.

Getting ready to head back home...Ryker loves to drink from my water bottle...it just tastes better when it comes from someone else!

Bela was over it, but Ryker was cheesing it!

Workin' at the Car Wash

Yesterday Ryker and I headed to Fitness in Motion for Pilates. I have been taking classes there for a couple weeks and have loved it. They are right around the corner from the house and you can take as many classes as you want for only $20 a month which is a great deal! Plus, they have free childcare and Ryker loves Miss Kathy who watches the kids. This was my first Pilates class and I loved it! It was a good workout for toning and yet so relaxing at the same time! After class, Ryker and I came back and cleaned out and washed the car. After transporting Tucker to my parent's house over the weekend, the car was covered in Tucker hair!

Spraying down the tires for me

After getting soaked...helping Mommy clean the dashboard

Driving and knocking on the window...too bad I had to reclean the glass after that!  :)

Honking the horn...he loves to "dive"

Such a happy boy!

Sheep Shearing Contest

Aunt Karen, Ryker, and I headed back down to the State Fair tonight to watch the sheep shearing contest.  My uncle Matt and cousins Grant and Steve were competing.  We went early to watch the draft horses in action.  Ryker loves the horses and so do I!  They are so beautiful and fun to watch!  Grant won the Junior division of the competition and Uncle Matt won the Best Pin award.  Ryker also got to spend some time with his cousins.  All five of the kids were there and had a great time together.

Aunt Karen and Ryker watching the Percherons

Some of the horses...so beautiful!

All the kids eating a snack while watching the sheep shearing contest. Carter, Garyn, Gianna, Ashlyn, and Ryker.

Ryker and Ashlyn...notice his arm around her back...so cute!

The girls gotta stick together!  Ashlyn and Gianna

Ryker trying to get a better look while Carter peeks through the fence.

Grant shearing

Steve shearing

Uncle Matt's turn.