Balloon Fun

This weekend the family went to a BX (business exchange) fair. Steven is a member of the local BX trade group and twice a year they have a trade fair where people can come and buy items from other members using their BX points. Imagine a huge room, with tons of people, tons of crap, and stuff everywhere and that is the BX fair:) The only thing the boys were interested in were the giant python and cobra that Safari Joe had set up and the balloon man. Seriously, every second we turned around Owen was headed or already at the Safari Joe booth. That child loves ALL ANIMALS!

We did end up purchasing a few items but the highlight of the day to a 2 and 5 year old was the balloon man. He wasn't making any money shaping balloons there...he was just there providing a service and to let all the parents know he did birthday's. Well, it worked on the Kueny boys. They both want the balloon man at their next party. Fantastic! The balloon man, I am sure he has a real name but I didn't ask, made 2 balloons for the boys. Will got a giraffe and Owen got a snowman. The cutest balloon snowman I have ever seen!

That was about it for this blog. Seriously, how many more things can I think to write about for balloons and a big garage sale. Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!

Brotherly Love Part 2

I have written before in my blog about Will and Owen's brotherly love. I know this blog is mostly dedicated to the boys anyway, but usually I don't sit down and actually write about specific times when they show brotherly love. It's pretty much every day, not all the time, but every day. They love each other so very much and I count my blessings that they are not fighters. I know that will probably change when they become teenagers, but for right now there is no one they would rather play with, run with, throw with, swing with, wrestle with than each other. That warms this Momma's heart!

Of course, Will being the oldest you would think he would be the leader. God didn't create my little Will to be the leader. As strange as that sounds for a male, firstborn...he is just not. Owen is my leader. Owen is my fearless one. Owen is the instigator for many things. Will follows. Will observes. Will copies (unless Owen is doing something bad and then Will finds it imperative that he tells me!).

Two of the activities that the boys love to enjoy together are chalk time outside and the trampoline. I am so glad that we actually made the investment of the trampoline. Even on cold days the trampoline is good to bundle up for a few moments and go jump just to release some energy from being stuck inside the house. Just when they are freezing they run back in from jumping and can easily stay a few more hours inside before getting stir crazy again:) My cousin Kasey took this picture of the boys showing their brotherly love on the trampoline. They were probably wresting and trying to tackle one another in reality, but from my perspective it just looks like they are hugging and loving on one another!

Chalk time outside is always fun because they can get as messy as two little boys would like to get and I don't care at all. The only thing I really do care about when it comes to chalk is when they start "coloring" the house and windows. That's usually where I draw the line (no pun intended). I believe Owen was mostly naked in this picture because he was drawing shapes on his belly and then proudly showing them off to anyone that would look. I am sure right after this picture was taken Will promptly took off his shirt too and began to draw on his belly. He is the follower, remember???

Will and Owen are my life. One of the biggest things I try to teach them in life is to love and love everyone unconditionally. I am not sure, to be honest, on how to teach those things all the time to a 2 and 5 year old but the only thing I know to do is to show love, compassion, and honesty to those all around me at all times. The most important person being their Daddy. They know I love Steven with an unconditional love and that nothing will ever change that. Showing that to them simply teaches them how to love too. Lesson learned from my parents and lesson being passed down to my children!

Rhema 2011

Last night we took advantage of the last "nice" night we will have for awhile and went to Rhema. I think most of Broken Arrow city limits was thinking the same thing. It was almost as packed as most weekends when we usually go. The boys just find this time at Rhema as time to run freely and wildly while glancing at the lights for about 2 seconds before running onto something else. They had a fun time but trying to catch these boys standing front side is rather hard. It is easier to catch glimpses of them like this....

After I ran into my good friend, Jennifer, and all of her family we moved onto the flag pose. Anyone that has been to Rhema knows of the American flag light display. I got Will and Owen to stand beside it for 2 milliseconds and the shot turned out so so.

My favorite thing at Rhema is climbing inside the trees (that they allow you to do) and taking pictures. I have pictures every year of the boys in this same tree. Baby, baby sleeping in stroller, baby sitting in stroller, toddler, little boy...and hopefully I will continue this tradition. This year it was Will I snagged for the Kueny Tree Picture.


Happy holidays and Rhema nights to everyone!!!

Will Turns Five!

Thanksgiving usually means food and family for most people. It does for us too in the Kueny household but it also means Will's birthday. Just five short years ago I was so OVERDUE and it was Thanksgiving and I could hardly force anything down because I had almost a 9 pound baby inside of me that did not want to join the outside world! Just a few days later, and Will finally arrived 10 days late. Now, he turned 5 today and I just can't believe it:(

We started the day out with some breakfast pancakes. I stole the idea from my friend Amanda, and had Daddy whip up some pancakes shaped in the number 5. Will ate that up, literally! Not to be outdone by brother, Owen demanded his pancake also be a fun shape. Daddy made O a number 2 naturally:) Sorry Owen's is a little blurry. Seeing as how the child does not ever stop moving it makes it hard to snap a good picture. His name should have been Owen In Motion Kueny.

After breakfast and dishes we moved to the living room for Will to open up some presents. He first opened cousin Ava's present which was a Toy Story 3 game for his new Nintendo DS Daddy and I got him. He thought it was the movie since he had not opened our gift yet. Next up, he finally opened his DS. He loves it! He calls it his new "phone" since he sees Daddy and I on our phones all the time. Joined with Ava's gift, he now has Toy Story 3, Rio, Team Umizoomi, Cars 2, and Mario. I think that should hold him for a good long time!!!


It was finally time for Momma to take a shower. Not to worry, Will just played his new Nintendo the whole time while Owen ran around and destroyed more of my house. Okay, Momma's showered and sort of put together so let's go to lunch! Will gets to choose today so he told me he wanted salad. Oh, my 5 year old vegetarian! Off to Wendy's because they have AWESOME salad. He got his very own salad and a baked potato. All food he requested. Will ate and enjoyed his food...Owen stuffed his mouth and ran around the place talking and bothering other people. No lie. I couldn't stuff my salad down my throat fast enough so we could leave and allow all the other people to enjoy the rest of their lunch in semi-peace.

After Wendy's (I am getting tired now but the kids are still going strong) it was time to head to Bass Pro. Today was all about Will and Will loves him some Bass Pro. The boys got to eat some popcorn by the fire, drink a sugary carbonated beverage, and talk to some creepy grandpa on the couch that wouldn't stop staring at me. Let's be frank...it was only Owen talking to the creepy grandpa. Will never said one word to him. Here is Will showing off his Bass Pro ornament that YES I HUNG ON MY TREE! Both boys are captivated by the lights, sounds, animals, and people of Bass Pro as evident in this picture I took of Owen. I couldn't get him to look at the camera for the life of me because he was too caught up in the deer. Couldn't and wouldn't stop looking at them. Precious!

Daddy and Will rented "Rio" to watch while Owen took a short 45 minute nap to recharge his batteries. 45 minutes was not enough time for Momma to recharge but that only means early to bed for both the boys tonight, which I totally am fine with!

Dinner was all that was left for the day (Thank You Lord!). For dinner we went for pizza with Nini and Pappy and Aunt Kasey. Man, did he eat! I can't believe with all the special "treats" today how well he ate. Gotta love pizza. Nini and Pappy got Will a Cars 2 track to race some of the million matchbox cars he has, a Cars 2 game for his Nintendo (do you see a pattern here?), and a Dinosaur Train Color Wonder set. To all you Momma's out there that don't know about Color Wonder...it is amazing! The markers ONLY color on that special paper. Not floors, walls, clothes, etc. Worth the money for sure!

The night would not have been complete without another form of dessert. Nini to the rescue! She brought Will and Owen a special treat of QT donuts. Neither child ate more than 3 bites of the dessert so I guess they really were full for the day:) Not to worry...they can be another special treat for tomorrow!

Will had such an amazing and fun filled day. I am so incredibly thankful to have him in my life and that God allowed me to be his Momma. He fills my heart with joy on a daily basis and I wouldn't change one thing about him because that is the way God made him and I wouldn't have it any other way. Momma loves you Will Parker!

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we went to Norman to spend the holiday with Steven's side of the family. There are a lot of people, a lot of noise, and a lot of chaos...but isn't that what the holidays are all about? I wouldn't have it any other way. Will and Owen have so much fun playing with all their cousins. One of their most favorite things to do with their cousins is go to the neighborhood pond. There is a huge, and I mean HUGE, snapping turtle that live in this pond. Eli and Steven (the other child) built a bamboo spear thingamchig to catch the turtle. To no avail, the turtle never made an appearance. They had to settle for just feeding the gigantic coy fish some leftover bread. Oh well, the kids had fun!

Going to Norman also meant that I got to see my two little new nephews. They are now about 8 weeks old and cute as all get out. They are hard to snap a picture unless you want them sleeping, getting their diapers changed, or nursing (I don't think Rachel would want me to take that picture). That is pretty much all they do. I tried to take one before a feeding, they were squirming some, hence the not totally clear picture. Look how Oliver and Anderson are growing:)

Thanksgiving came and went. The next day was our families celebration for all the week of Thanksgiving birthday's. Crazy as it sounds, we have 3 kiddos that have birthdays that week. Lola turned 3, Will turned 5, and Nathan turned 7 (all within days of each other). Friday night we all had a mini party for the 3 kids. They had a blast opening up their presents and Will was super pumped about his new Spiderman Electronic Toothbrush (just like Daddy's but not Spiderman). Needless to say, I might have to buy Owen one now even though he is much too small for one because he thought it was fabulous too but couldn't use it and that DID NOT GO OVER WELL!

Another Friday activity, that was right up Will's alley (no pun intended), was bowling. Will was super stoked to be doing this activity. He did pretty well with no ramp. Towards the end of the time at the alley he started to use the ramp because I think his little arms were getting tired:) Everyone played and shouted and clapped and cheered. They all loved it! Happy birthday to all the kids and Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We all have so much to be thankful for and I am so very blessed every day of my life. Thank you Jesus!

The Next Buddy Valastro

Yes, I do realize he is not Italian. Not even in the least...but the child loves to bake. I think this is hilarious and must be a cruel joke being played on me by God because I DO NOT ENJOY baking. Yes, I do enjoy the benefits of baking and will taste every creation just baked, but for actually doing the work...I leave that up to other people. So, as luck would have it I birthed a child, a boy child at that, who loves to bake. He talks about all the things he could and would help me make in the kitchen. It really is quite cute and it keeps him busy for hours. Today I thought for a "celebration bake" (for Thanksgiving holiday) we would make some gingerbread cookies. He's only been asking me every day for about a week to make them:)

Last night I went and bought all the ingredients since I knew today was going to be a wet, cold, car-less (mine's in the shop getting a few things touched up) type of day. Perfect day for creating our own gingerbread creations. First came the mixing, then the rolling, then the cutting of the men, then the baking. I tried, without success, to get Will to help in the cleaning up process while the cookies were baking. That didn't work. He spent his time playing "football" with the Candyland Men. Yes, you heard that correctly. He has his own sort of game going with the blue, green, yellow, and red men of Candyland. Everything can be turned, and usually is, into sports in this house! After 4 touchdowns scored by the blue man (shocker), it was time to get the cookies out of the oven and begin to ice them. He got more icing on his clothes than the actual cookies, but he did pretty well for not being Buddy Valestro.

We both enjoyed the finished product and Will couldn't have been more proud to pose by his new creations. Don't ask me what type of stance he is doing in this picture. I have no clue. I can only guess he is attempting to make himself skinnier from just eating 1 cookie and probably many more as the night wears on:)

Halloween 2011

Happy Halloween! Last night we went out for the annual candy/sugar high night! Owen was Thomas the Train and Will was a football player. Owen didn't want to wear his hat most of the night but I was able to capture him wearing it for about 2 seconds before we took off for trick or treating.


Neither one of the boys were scared of any of the ghosts, witches, or zombies. I was proud of them. Last year Will was scared of people jumping out and scaring them. This time Will wouldn't even go to those houses but Owen walked right up and grabbed the candy and left. No fear. That is my Owen. The night was finished up without incident, Owen's bucket was way less than Will's due to his candy sampling throughout the night. Fun times!