Each year our wonderfully friendly elf, named Buddy (yes, we got super creative) comes to visit us on December 1st. Buddy stays with us until the end of December when he must fly magically back to the North Pole. In reality, by this point we have completely given up on ideas each night of a new Buddy location or ingenious idea. Most nights after December 20th are pretty much just stick him somewhere different before we fall asleep. We are doing good if that's the case. Sometimes, the case is, I feel an urging to use the potty in the middle of the night and then remember, "Crap! Did I move that dumb elf?" Yep, that's usually how it goes:)
Buddy was with us this December when 3 out of 4 of us were struck with the stomach virus in a span of 2 weeks. Poor poor Buddy because he must have caught it too. One morning we spotted him in a bad way puking into a tupperware bowl. Will just walked by that morning, and said, "I feel ya Buddy. Hang in there."
We try to stay "in the know" and do new things each year for the boys and Buddy. Some years are better than others as far as that is concerned. I'm gonna go out and say that the first 2 1/2 weeks this year were pretty good. Mostly all new ideas, lots of laughs from the boys, and many times when he was so hidden that they took a long time to actually find him. Sneaky Buddy!
The time has now come for Buddy to leave us again until Dec 1, 2016. Each year the boys get really sad and ask to give him a hug before he flies away. Kids aren't supposed to touch Buddy because it can make him lose his magical powers. That is all still true in this house too. For 30 days the boys DO NOT DARE lay a finger on him. That last day, I bend the rules and I let them each hug him. Their only kids and they really do love him in a weird (only kids can understand) type of love. Who am I to stand in the way of love? And really, Buddy is just a $20 stuffed elf I bought from Target 3 years ago. There's no magic. All there is is childlike wonder and pure innocence still on their parts. I will NOT stand in the way of that. I know, all too shortly this stage will be forever gone. Until then...hug that elf boy. Love that elf. Long for that elf and for Dec 1st. Buddy loves you too!!!
This holiday week we went with part of my family and part of Steven's family to visit Branson. We rented a gorgeous 5 bed/4 bath home right in the Branson hills and 1/4 mile from Table Rock Lake. It was so pretty there. It made us all want to come back in the summer to visit the lake and to swim in the beach entry pool that was directly across from the home.
This whole week was a wonderful time to connect with family, to eat pretty much around the clock, to walk outside and explore the hills around this neighborhood (did I mention the first two days there it was 60 degrees)? We were outside sitting on the covered back patio playing dominoes on Dec 26th! We didn't even have to grab blankets or jackets for a good 45 min. Then, the storm blew in, with cold winds and we moved in for the night. The rest of our time in Branson was spent in pouring/freezing rain. Oh well, at least half our trip was gorgeous weather!
It was so great to spend some good quality time together as an extended family. God has blessed us beyond measure that not only do we get along with our in laws but they get along with each other as well. Steven and I have been together since the age of 18 so needless to say our parents have known each other for quite awhile too!
We celebrated Christmas Eve with a fajita dinner (made by us), Christmas Day was Italian food with garlic bread, bruschetta, spaghetti, and a squash casserole (my parents were in charge of this day). Each morning we were awoken by the great aroma's of bacon, eggs, casseroles, sausage, pancakes, or breakfast burrito's (Steven's parents did all the early morning cooking). I brought a Happy Birthday Jesus cake that was so yummy, I believe I ate on it every day while there. Needless to say, I feel like I or someone was in the kitchen almost around the clock this holiday season.
Hope everyone had a wonderful time with their friends and family. Thank you God for the birth of your Son!
Now...time to hit the gym!!!
This week has been relaxing. No school, no homework, no projects, little work, lots of family, late nights (but early mornings as one of these boys still never sleep in), holiday movies, and Christmas goodies and snacks galore. Yes, I'm going to have to hit the gym HARD once the boys go back to school but until then, yes, I will take another Christmas cookie and piece of fudge (thanks for asking)!
Our flip house is coming along nicely. In fact, we were supposed to be able to get in this week and clean it so the realtor could come take pictures. Thanks to some last second things that always happen, pictures weren't able to occur this week. Cleaning is scheduled for Monday afternoon and hopefully pictures and the house on the market will happen by Jan 1st. This house has been a total transformation on inside and out. I can't believe how different it looks. We've gotten really positive feedback on it through Facebook so hopefully that will equate to a buyer quick and fast!
We are taking off for Branson on Christmas Eve and will be gone until Sunday. We are in charge of Christmas Eve dinner. I'm doing a fajita bar. Yummy! We also got a cake ordered from my uber talented friend, Dana Vacin. I wanted to take Jesus a birthday cake so we could all enjoy it while in Branson. I brought it home and Owen said, "But Jesus doesn't eat cake!" True true, BUT we eat cake and He would want us to eat it and sing to Him. Actually, he probably doesn't care but that's what is going to be going down anyways.
One last thing I did before leaving on our holiday was chop my hair off. I've been toying with the idea for a few months now and finally decided to just do it. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to be talked out of it. So, a new year and a new look. Goodbye to 8 inches! It feels great!
Hope everyone has a happy and healthy Christmas with their families. See you next week!
This week my mom, sister, and niece went to do some painting at a local paint and sip studio. We were merely sipping water, coffee, and hot chocolate but it was still so much fun.
Let me clarify that I have now done a painting place (such as this) 5, count them FIVE, times. This was the first time I actually stepped out and took my painting WITH ME. It felt good to do that just one time:)
It was a great time watching Ava paint as only a little 9 year old (almost 10) can do. She followed along really well, listened to instructions, and did her own little 10 year old thing when needed. We all agreed that her leopard scarf was way cuter than anything we painted.
It was a great time with family and 50 other people we didn't know:) Merry Christmas Eve everyone!
This year our company, thankfully, has grown so much that we decided to have a Christmas party to get together and celebrate all we have accomplished in 2015 and just take some time to have fun and relax.
We decided to have the party at a local Mexican restaurant called, Speedy Gonzales. I'm not picky when it comes to Mexican food (it's probably one of my favorites)but this place is super yummy. They have a special room that you can rent out that's connected to the restaurant.
The food was brought in, served to us, Margarita (yes, that was her name) was a great server and took care of all the kids soda needs and the adults chip needs. Maybe that was just me? I can put away some chips and salsa. Did I mention chips and salsa is probably Will's favorite snack? Yep, that child is mine!
We ordered some pinatas for the party. What good Christmas party doesn't come with pinatas? We got a swimming pool that was WAY larger than I thought it was going to be, and ordered a Minecraft Steve character. No one pinata was liked more than the other. The kids loved them both but were way more interested in what was inside them. I'm thankful I found some softer bats because otherwise some of these kids could have broken open the pinatas with 1-2 hits. Let's just say the floor was COVERED with pinata mess, candy, and balloons when we were done!
Steven and I are beyond thankful for all these men. Without them, our jobs would be exceedingly harder. Without them, we wouldn't own a pool company. God has been faithful and has brought just the perfect people for us with the skills and knowledge we needed to get this company off the ground. Last year, we were only about 1/2 this size. Mind you, this is the SLOW time of the year for us. Come spring and summer there will be a few more men brought into this fold (of this I am sure). We are thankful and blessed. We know it and aren't afraid to tell them whenever we can. Running a successful company and flipping houses (on the side) do not come without stress and problems. We wouldn't have it any other way because without those stresses we wouldn't have Gunite Pools of Tulsa.
Thank you Jesus for this man and thank you for what we (and all these men) have been able to do over the last few years. We are blessed beyond measure and our cup overflows. Amen.
As most moms will tell you, they love being moms. Moms are the best. You're always tired, often frazzled, sometimes feel like you're losing your mind, but you have oh so much love. You look at these little beings that God helped you create and your heart is filled with a love that you never thought possible. All those above things fall to the wayside when you look at your children. All the sleepless nights, all the taxi cab servicing, all the hustle and bustle of being a busy mom fades when you look into their eyes. When they are sick, you know. When they hurt, you know. When they are sad, you feel it. When they are scared, you want to erase it. When they are happy, you rejoice. When they cry, you often cry. Being a mom is amazing.
With that, I say a belated happy birthday to her in his blog. Her birthday was last week but she still deserves a shout out. She, as I now know, has felt and still feels all of the above descriptions. She now feels all of that with my sister and I but now ALSO she gets to be involved in our kids lives so much that she's doing all the emotions are feelings all over again for 6 grandchildren.
Thank you to my mom for the legacy she taught me and for the legacy she is continuing to implant in my life, Steven's life, and now our kids lives. Mom's are amazing and I am so blessed to call her MINE! Happy Birthday Momma!
Vin-tage. Oh my, I love that word. The Webster's Dictionary defines vintage as, "old, an enduring interest, importance, or quality. Dating from the past, outmoded, old-fashioned." I love everything about that definition.
This weekend I snagged a friend and we went to 2 Friends and Junk. This is just like another on my favorite shows called Vintage Market Days (next one is April 15-17th in Kellyville) for those who might have been wondering.
I had never been to a 2 Friends and Junk but had high hopes. Man oh man, Tanya and I found some jewels. We both loved all of our purchases. How cool to say I now own a 1937 tank gauge float from Cedar Rapids, IA. I did some research and this 78 year float comes from a company founded in 1898 and still in business today. The company is 117 years old and named Tokheim Co. How cool! I thrive on vintage history like that. This solid and sturdy piece of glass was once used to hold some type of fuel in this factory. Fast forward 78 years and it has found its way into our home as a vase. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
I was so thankful Tanya was able to go with me on short notice and uber pumped that we BOTH found so many cool treasures. We even stumbled upon a woodmaker based out of Kansas City. I talked with him about creating a special one of a kind statement piece for our future dining room. I know what I want, what I don't want, and where I want to put it. I just haven't found the right person to make it for me. I think we met him at this show. He's going to work with me to create that one of a kind piece I've been looking for and bring it with him to the next 2 Friends and Junk show in Joplin in February. Yes, that's right! Road trip to Joplin for Tanya and I is in order!
It was a great weekend filled with treasures. In my downtime I spent time with my boy treasures as well. It's so important to me to spend that time with friends and family both near and far. Relationships should be vintage! We should treat them as old fashioned, with importance, and with quality.
Hope everyone had a blessed weekend as well!
This weekend had the potential to be terrible. Let me explain....
Thursday night around 9pm I started puking. I'm talking full on, sleep on the bathroom floor ALL NIGHT LONG puking. I finally fell asleep at 7 the next morning after Steven was thankfully able to get the boys off to school. I slept 7 of the 8 hours the boys were gone and then still slept 11 hours that night.
Fast forward...now it is Saturday morning and no one (Praise Jesus) has gotten what I had. That's awesome and made for a good weekend that could have potentially been terrible for all of us. If anyone had to get it, I would rather it be me than anyone else. I wouldn't wish that on many people. It is, however, an excellent way to lose weight fast. I am NOT recommending this at all but man oh man, the weight comes off when you can't eat for 36 hours and are at the toilet half that time.
So, now it is Saturday afternoon and although extremely weak and tired from still not hardly eating we pulled off Will's birthday party. We had a great turn out (about 16 kids) for his football themed party. The kids played football, knockerball, and dodgeball for the better part of 2 1/2 hours. Talk about a party right up in Will's wheelhouse. This.was.it.
December is here and his birthday and all parties are over so we shuttled off to dinner at Andolini's (I hadn't eaten in forever so might as well make it count when I do) pizza. My favorite pizza EvEr!! After dinner we made the trek to Rhema. Chris had never been and didn't even realize the park was decorated with 2 million lights each year. I couldn't believe it, but then I had to remind myself that he's not from here. Why would he know about it? Along with tens of thousands of other BA/Tulsa residents we walked the campus and park. It was spectacular. What did the boys want to do the whole time? Eat cotton candy, request every food and drink stand known to man even though we had just pulled out of Andolini's parking lot, and roll around/tackle each other in the grass. Boys will be boys. And I love it.
Merry Christmas!
This sweet little 6 1/2 year old lost his first tooth today at Lowe's. He was eating a hot dog, while shopping (he's a good multi tasker) and all of a sudden told Steven, "Daddy! My tooth is gone!" We can only assume that tooth is now in this belly. Too bad for me because I love to save the first baby tooth that falls out for each of the boys. I guess with this child I will just have to make it the second tooth, call it the first tooth, and be good with that! The fairy will come tonight and collect nothing but at least she will still leave him something because the tooth fairy still has a heart:)
Our little boy is growing up, and BONUS, he learned today where he can find his tooth in a few days. Yes, I taught him a little science lesson. Let's just say...he's already been looking each time he visits the bathroom! Nasty.
I'll leave you with that....
Will Parker Kueny came into the world on Nov 27, 2006 at 6:31pm. Or maybe it was 5:31pm? Who's counting right, and I'm too lazy to go find the baby book to get the correct time.
I do remember, however, very clearly how he was 10 days late. It was Thanksgiving week and my doctor told me to "wait it out" and he would take Will on Monday if he hadn't come yet. Basically, he didn't want to work on Thanksgiving if he didn't HAVE to so he told me to go home. Suffice it to say, it was not a very comfortable holiday for me. I couldn't eat anything because I was so overdue and uncomfortable.
Monday morning came and I was finally able to have my baby as I began my 42nd week of pregnancy. It was freezing outside and there was an ice storm on the evening Will came into the world. That made for an interesting, tear induced, and stressful drive home 36 hours later.
Fast forward 9 years and here we are. I almost can't believe it. Time sure does fly and I know before long I will blink and it will be his 19th birthday we are celebrating. He had his good friend, Owen, over to spend the night. His birthday was filled with his favorite foods, his family, his friends, and a sleepover with the holiday classic "Home Alone". It was a birthday I hope he remembers for a long time.
Happy birthday to my sweet, soft spoken, studious, obedient, mathematical, and loving 9 year old. We love you more and more each day!
This Thanksgiving we made the 2 hour drive to Norman to celebrate the holiday with the Kueny side of the family. One Kueny sibling lives in Hawaii and another Kueny sibling lives in Germany so only 3 out of 5 were present but we still made the best of it.
Cousin Nathan turned 11 on Wednesday and Will turned 9 TODAY on Black Friday. We woke up on Friday to Nana having made waffles, bacon, and sausage and candles in the boys' meals for a birthday sing off. We had a little family party, games were played, and gifts were exchanged. It was the perfect ending to a very wet and cold Thanksgiving gathering.
This morning we woke to a wind chill of 19 (crazy since the day before I ran the campus in 65 degrees). So, we had 19 degree wind chills and that's when the Kueny heater decided to stop working:) Thankfully, Poppa is an all around handy guy and was able to get it back up and running before we all had birthday snot running down our noses!
I hope and pray everyone had a safe and happy holiday with their friends and family. It was different this year without Rachel and her family. It was a BIT more quiet without the addition of 5 more children to add to the blessed noise. Hopefully the years will fly by quickly and then we can all enjoy the holidays with all the family back together again.
Now, we are home again and I am scrambling to unpack, unload Thanksgiving dishes and food, BLOG, and make another birthday meal for Will for 11 people. His choices: Pepper steak, fried rice, steamed broccoli, baked squash, and strawberry cake. Some of those picks might seem odd to some people that a 9 year old would pick those things, but not to me. This child loves to eat most of anything (not sushi though, and that upsets me).
Happy birthday to Nathan and Will and look for another birthday blog soon to come for our celebration tonight with my family.
Happy Thanksgiving All!
This other picture was just a random survey I found at the Kueny's house this week that made me LOL:)
I am not normally a, "Hey, look at that cool sculpture!" type of girl. BUT...this "Bean" sculpture in Millennium Park is incredible. I don't know how it works, I don't know why it works or why it's shaped like a bean. All I know is that it is Uber cool and a MUST SEE whenever you are in Chicago. My favorite picture of the whole trip is probably the one of all 6 of us standing in front of the bean. I love so much that when you scroll in closer on the pic you can see our reflection from behind on the bean. Coolness.
Another cool thing we did while in Chi Town was visit the Hancock Tower. This tower stands 1500 feet off the ground. We took the elevator to floor 94 and had some drinks at a tower restaurant. This was a pretty awesome view if you ask me. You had Lake Michigan on one side of the tower and part of the Chicago skyline on the other. Another interesting fact about this trip...remember when I said 2 days later it snowed 8 inches? Well, 2 days later a fire started on floor 50 of the Hancock Tower and the whole building had to be evacuated into the freezing cold snow storm that was outside. No one was injured or killed (that's the good news) but more good news is that we were, once again, gone during this not so fun Chicago experience!
If and when you might visit this town (we highly recommend it), I would suggest doing these things. In no particular order:
Navy Pier
Hancock Tower (use the women's bathroom on the 94th floor. Pretty cool)
Willis Tower Glass Walk out (this will have to be our next trip as we ran out of time)
Magnificent Mile (yes yes and yes)
Millennium Park
ANY local Chicago Pizzeria
Rock Bottom Restaurant on Grand Ave
Garrett's Popcorn (all over downtown)
Wrigley Field
I am sure I am forgetting things but pretty much anywhere we ate or went we all loved it. I loved how Chicago had the NYC feel but on a much smaller, doable, more walkable feel. I loved downtown and the hustle and bustle. I loved it all and I KNOW we will be making a return trip. It was so worth it.
Bonus: We also really enjoyed our 1/2 day trip to Notre Dame. All of us were kind of shocked that the campus wasn't bigger than it was. I think we all were expecting something huge. It's not. It's pretty and old but not nearly as pretty and old as Duke's campus was in North Carolina. Still, we were happy we did it and saw it but that will be it for me and Notre Dame. Been there, done that (and yes, I bought the T shirt).
It is now Thanksgiving week and I hope everyone has a great holiday spent with family, friends, and loved ones. Someone in the Kueny house has a very special bday this week on Friday. Happy early birthday to our oldest, Will, who turns the big NINE on Black Friday. How is that even possible?! Happy Turkey Day everyone! Bless those Pilgrims!
