The Case of the 4yr old Trespasser

Last night we put Jackie to bed early because she didn't take much of a nap. So by about 715pm, all was quiet at the Kennedy house. John and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and sit outside on the deck. We were having some nice conversation, when all the sudden I could hear Jackie just whaling from her bedroom window..which just happens to be right above the deck. I gave out a little "ugh" and John said he would go see what was up. He was gone for quite some time and when he returned, he was looking a bit baffled. Apparently, when he went into the house to check on Jackie he noticed the door from the kitchen to the garage was wide open. As he headed up the stairs, he noticed the door to Jackie's room was wide open. At first, he got a little sick feeling...thinking maybe there was a baby snatcher on the loose. When he got to her bedroom, there was no baby snatcher ...but our 4 yr old neighbor girl standing at Jackie's crib, while Jackie was screaming at the top of her lungs. Bless her little heart, the neighbor girl had brought some toys she wanted to give Jackie...and since we didn't answer the door and she knew we were home, she decided to help herself inside and give them to her, all by herself! You obviously can't get too upset with a 4yr old trying to give her toys away. Plus, I'm sure someday...Jackie (being the little social-bug she is with the neighbors), will be innocently helping herself inside other people's homes too!

Just thought I'd share this funny little story for your Friday!

Morning at the Farm

Jackie and I met some friends this morning at Deanna Rose Farmstead. The place never gets old, as we've probably been there a dozen times so far this year!!

Jackie decided to take her shoe off while relaxing on the swing

Jackie and Will bellying up...

Ringing the bells is always fun...love Jackie's expression here!


Can't resist a cute butt picture!

(You'll have to excuse the distorted pictures...the settings on my camera somehow got changed and I need to figure out how to change them back. When you click on the pictures to enlarge, they are very clear though!)

"Ding-Dong, Ditch"

Last night a few of our neighbor kids were playing what they called, "ding-dong, ditch." Now, I try to keep up with some of the slang and terminology of kids and maybe I'm just totally not up with the times, but I had never heard this one before. If you can't guess, it's when a person rings the doorbell and then hides...only for the person of the house to come to the door to find nobody there. I'm not sure what was more humorous...the kids being really bad at trying to act like they didn't ring the doorbell or hearing a 4 yr. old say "ding-dong, ditch?" The "ding-dong, ditch" game soon turned into the kids ringing doorbells to sing Christmas carols, instead of "ditching!" It's all about fun here on our cul de sac. Just thought I'd spread the word about this "ding-dong, ditch" game, in case you've never heard of it!!

Lake Weekend '09

This weekend was the annual Lake Weekend hosted by our friend's, Kati and Rooster, at Lake Viking! This is the 7th year(my 5th year) the lake weekend has occurred and every year we have a blast. The weather was perfect this year. We spent lots of time hanging on the dock, taking pontoon boat rides, and playing in the baby pool. Although I was more concerned with chasing around my toddler than taking pictures, I did get a few on the pontoon ride. Enjoy!

Thanks to Alex and Steve, Jackie had a nice wholesome diet of Cookie Crisps and cheese all weekend.

Tyler and Jackie hanging on the boat.

As you can tell, Jackie wasn't exactly thrilled about her life jacket...but she dealt with it.

Jackie getting her turn at driving the pontoon with Rooster.

Tyler and Jackie became pretty good buds this weekend!

Jack 'n' Jackie

This morning Jackie and I got to play with Jack! Jack is the son of some friend's/former co-workers of mine. His daycare was closed today and we were so excited to hang out with him. Jackie and Jack had a great time playing together and pretty much kept each other entertained for the entire time we were there!

Jack is cheesin' for the camera!

They even shared nicely

Jackie loved to read Jack this book


Jack loved to smile at the camera...Jackie was more interested in Jack, than the camera!

Iowa Girl at Heart

Being I was raised on a farm in Iowa, eating sweet corn was practically a rite of passage. This weekend we let Jackie take a stab at her own piece of sweet corn and she was pretty excited about it. She didn't get much off the cob, but the novelty of it was just as satisfying to her.

Daddy showing her how it works

Getting the hang of it

What to do, what to do....

Let's go to the zoo! I feel like summer is already winding down and there are still a few things I have left on my "things to do this summer" list. This week we hit a few of them. On Monday, we didn't have much going on so I decided to take Jackie to the zoo. We hit about half of it...(there's so much walking and we didn't see any of the good animals), but Jackie enjoyed sitting in the rocking chairs above, watching the sea lions(which she called "puppy dogs"), and she loved the golf carts the workers drove around! On Wednesday, we headed to the OP Farmer's Market and picked up an assortment of fresh veges. They also had a small Bluegrass band playing and it was like toddler haven. Jackie made some friend's when she so politely stole their sidewalk chalk...but she ended up playing with them nicely and had a blast. We also enjoyed a strawberry shaved ice, which part of it ended up on my lap. I pretty much knew that was going to happen before I even purchased it!

So that was part of our week in a nutshell. Oh yea, we hit the pool up twice this week too...figured I needed to take advantage of that more while it lasted! Happy Friday everyone!

Funny Pic

I just thought this was a funny picture. We had the Bumbo out about a month ago when John's sister and family came to visit, and I just have never returned it to its proper location. The other day I caught Jackie sitting in it; which is humorous, because she never really liked sitting in it as baby. She also likes to put her "babies" in it as well. She has been playing with these two "Dora" twins a lot lately. She loves to rock them, feed them, give them kisses, throw them on the floor and hang onto them by the hair. It pretty much resembles how we take care of her :)

"Summertime, Summertime, Sum Sum...Summertime"

Just for Laughs

If you remember, John went to a friend's wedding over Memorial Day weekend. There he was able to hang out with some high school friends, including the one and only, Beau Fey! I guess at the wedding they had a photo booth, where the guests could get their pictures taken. I thought these pictures were just hilarious! Enjoy!

P.S. click on the image to see a larger view

4th of July Weekend

We spent 4th of July weekend this year in John's hometown, Sioux City. Despite the not so desirable weather, we managed to fit a lot into the weekend....John fished with his brother and Dad, cook-out with family, I ran a 5k, and Saturday in the Park festivities with family and friends.

The picture above shows Jackie and me waiting for the start of the 5k. That's right, I have a blanket on! The conditions were actually nice for running, 60s and a light mist, but not so great for spectating. I must have done something right, as I finished with my best time ever! Luckily the weather shaped up a bit in the afternoon and we were able to sit in the park and enjoy the music from the Saturday in the Park festivities. The kids had the time of their lives rolling around on blankets, eating snacks and listening to the music...so fun to watch! Unfortunately, I wasn't a very good photographer this weekend, so you'll just have to trust me that a good time was had by all.

Hmmmmm....

I wonder where she got this from???? She always wants to be just like mommy...