A lot on my mind...

Just a forewarning: This post is a little bit of me with a splash of some real-life transparency, and not the normal light-heartedness that is flowing in most of my posts. So, if you're not in the mood to read something other than the normal I understand! Ok, with that said, here it goes...
Well, normally I feel pretty excited to share with you some new photos - a cool story - something. But I have been dreading this moment, in a way, because it is making me share something with you that I feel I am just now getting over! This past weekend, we were invited to a bbq at some friend's house. They had the coolest backyard any kid would die for; in ground pool, huge play set, in ground trampoline - they had it all! So, of course the biggest attraction for our boys was indeed the pool, since they are practically fish babies we decided that swimming was going to be a must at this shindig. There were about 8 other couples there with little ones, so it was definitely a full house! Great food, great conversations, great setting - it really was all pretty great, until our little peanut fell into the pool - without anyone noticing. I was standing right at the edge of the pool, talking with a friend - husband was on a different side of the pool talking with the "guy group", and all of the sudden I see one of the other mom's running toward the edge of the pool - softball sliding on the ground, throwing her hands in the water, and next thing I know (I keep seeing this in slow motion in my mind ALOT!) she is pulling my little peanut out of the water! Talk about tramatization!! Probably more damage was done to my mind than our little one's mind/body, because he was fine - a little shaken up, but praise the Lord he was fine. What blows my mind, is how quickly something like that happens, and in an instant your life changes. You become more precautious, maybe even more protective, and for me I became fearful. For a good few days after words I couldn't stop playing the tape over and over in my mind - and thinking of how I messed up as a mom! I wasn't there for our little guy, and he could have drown in that lovely pool that day. This is one of 2 incidents in the Kinney Clan history with our boys that has confirmed in my heart that God has MANY guardian angels surrounding these little ones because he has something big planned for them! But, you know, hard as that experience was for all of us - it really brought back to my mind the simple phrase from a Beth Moore "Breaking Free" study I just did that asks the question; "is freedom in Christ a reality in your life?" I had finished the Bible study course, I had answered honestly all of the answers, but in an instant because of a accidental circumstance, I was dragged back into the pit of fear- where the only way out was the freeing truth that only Christ can give. Being out of control, especially when it comes to your kids is a scary feeling. Being out of control with your emotions can sometimes be even scarier! I really think husband was beside himself at knowing what to do with such a blubbering wife for a couple of days. But, through the fog I saw my savior. He was just standing there, ready to hold me and tell me that he has already been there, done that, and that he has already conquered the world - so why worry, or fret? So, in closing to this novel of a post, I am confident in saying that I have learned a few key things the past few days. (a) Never leave your eyes off of your child while at a pool party... (b) get our boys some swimming lessons asap! (c) allow Christ to use our hard experiences to help mold us into healthier, happier, more effective people living lives of abandonment to Him. I hope that someone found this post and has been able to apply it to their lives in some meaningful way! Otherwise, it felt really good to get that off of my chest :)

Rainy Day

So today was one of those days where you truly get a glimpse of the awesome force of God's hand. At 3:00 am I was snapped out of my usual crazy dream-like state, where I'm pretty sure I was at the grocery store and all of the sudden Julia Roberts showed up as my best friend (only in dreams!). Anyways, that's when round 1 of the thunder and lightening show started. I used to love the summer thunderstorms growing up - and there is still a mysteriousness .about them that makes my heart race a little...(maybe I'm just scared out of my mind that I might get electricuted, with permanent hair damage :) So after about 3-4 rounds of the thunder/lightening show I drifted back off to sleep. Little did I know that this was just the beginning of what soon followed as the "storm of all storms". Yes, it was so magnificent that I had to surround it with quotes. So, no kidding, when it started raining around 11:00 am today - I thought our house may just float away! A part of me wanted to just run outside and let the rain pour down on me - they always make that look so cool in movies :) But as I just looked out the window with my boys and stared at the rain, I thought about God's blessing and how much He wants to pour it out on us like the rain He had dumping out of the sky. I want that. I want to grab one of those huge theme park drink cups (with the extra long straw) and just say "keep the refills coming". How's that for rainy day philosophy? Not bad, eh? So, to go with the theme of "rainy days", I have a pretty good soup recipe for you to try sometime. As some of you know - I am a sucker for good soup recipes. So now you know what to make for dinner tomorrow night! This could be the best chicken tortilla soup I've had in a looong time! Let me know if you try it and what you rate it as!

torrential downpour!


Tortilla Soup Recipe
by Eddie Shipman
1 hour | 10 min prep
SERVES 8
1 cup carrot, diced
1 cup celery
1 cup onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, diced or 1 fresh garlic clove, diced
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons corn oil
4 (15 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 can black beans drained
1 (15 ounce) can tomatoes, diced (optional)
1 (10 ounce) can Rotel tomatoes & chilies, diced
1 (1.25-1 1/2 ounce) packet taco seasoning, I use McCormicks
8 corn tortillas (broken or cut into small pieces)
12 ounces chicken meat, poached, diced
1 cup milk
12 ounces monterey jack cheese or Mexican blend cheese, shredded
corn tortilla chips, broken into small pieces
Saute carrots, onions, celery in corn oil, garlic, salt and pepper until tender.
Add chicken broth and bring to boil.
Add tomatoes, Rotel, taco seasoning, and chicken.
Cut Tortillas into small pieces and add to broth mixture.
Let boil for 20 minutes or until tortillas are thoroughly incorporated into soup stirring
occasionally to keep from sticking. Reduce heat and add 8 oz. cheese. Simmer for
additional 10 minutes. Add milk and simmer for additional 10 minutes.
If thicker soup is desired, add more diced tortillas and let incorporate into soup.
Garnish with shredded cheese and broken tortilla chips.

Weekend Fun

This weekend was so full of fun times, that I think this may be the most pictures I've posted EVER! I was a little camera happy - but don't you just love it when there are so many fun things to try to capture? I especially loved getting to capture the little cousins playing together. It just seems like they don't do that very often, and when they do get together they have already grown so much! We got to watch my little niece "Big Mak" this weekend while her parents got a much needed date night - and I just laughed and loved watching our boys with her. They seem to know to be more gentle and sweet to her than they are with each other. Saturday morning we went over to a friend's garage sale, where the boys instantly connected with two shiny red fire trucks that they had to have... Needless to say, that could have been the best $1 purchase I've ever made! And Saturday night, husband mentioned wanting to make s'mores on our newly aquired bbq pit from a house remodel job husband just finished....So, talk about cheap date night for the Kinneys, we "borrowed" some scrap lumber from a build-job next door for our camp fire; husband cut down some branches from our bamboo tree for our roasting sticks, and off we went! We tried to pretend we were out in the forest somewhere cool (literally!) and not in our 90+ degree backyard. Ahhh, I love summer!
Cousins!
Could our boys look any more "cheesy?"

Husband working hard making the s'more sticks
Yum!
Mr. Messy face!
Waiting for mom and dad...What a cuddle-bug!

Now Open - the Kinney Blog Cafe

Hey Ya'll,

So, some of you may have noticed a bit of changing around the Kinney Clan blog site lately, and well - we're done trying to stay out of the "public eye"... So, no more logging in to see what's new - whew! And, some name changes have happened, but I'm sure you'll be able to figure out who's who in this family :) Anyways, feel free to stop by anytime - leave a quick note - or sit back, drinking your $4 iced coffee (boy that sounds good right now!) and getting the scoop on our crazy/fun/memorable lives!

Here's a quick 5 second update:

-Husband is working like crazy, all the while trying out a new side business venture to keep us afloat...more to come on this!

-I'm still praying, trying to figure out which direction I'm supposed to be heading in my professional life, and so far nothing is getting more obvious out of my 9 different business ventures I have right now! Ok, maybe more like 2. But I'm feeling the need to "KISS"-aka, Keep It Simple Stupid (a term used in my design collage classes alot) and simplify things around this brain of mine before I lose a bolt and my whole head falls off :(

-The boys are growing like weeds, and Peanut has now begun the dreaded toddler "no to everything" stage in which his no's mean yes, but most of the time they mean NO, NO, NO!!! I'm not really sure why the Lord had to keep this stage of life in His planning of all creation - but I'm going with it, I don't really have a choice do I?

-And last but not least...I have decided to once again undergo self-inflicted punishment and start training for yet again another 1/2 marathon! My deadline is October 5th, the race is the City of Trees (same one I did last year) and yes, my brother is punishing me again by forcing me to run it with him...He likes to run really fast, and try to make me pass out before we even reach the first mile...anyways this is yet again another motivation to lose that darn weight that won't go away!

Happy Summer!

The weekend of the 4th

Well, after a weekend full of lots of excitement, adventure, and of course fireworks, I have finally started to sort out some pictures to share! Our normal tradition for the 4th is to go up to McCall with my folks, but this year we decided to stay home. We were invited to our very cool friends "the Chans" house for the 4th-which was a great time of good food, fellowship and fireworks! And we had the safety of knowing if any of the boys decided to try to blow anything up, we had "fireman Chan" right there at our aid! Earlier in the day we decided to take the boys to their very first big screen movie! It was so much fun :) They both looked so little in their seats, and peanut's seat actually kept folding up on him because it was twice the size of the little guy! I just can't get over how quick they are growing up! Anyways, sob, sob....Ok, I'm back. I also had the chance to hang out with two of my favorite people, Heidi, and Candice. These two ladies have been there for me so many times-and it is rare that we are all in the same town at the same time, because Heidi and her family now live and work in South Korea at a private school. It is so neat to see how God's hand works in each of our lives! Ok, that's it for now, but stay tuned for more fun with the Kinneys!
one of our lovely firework displays at the Chans
Heidi, Candice (and Nolan), and I at our get-together
The boys at their first big-screen venture! Wall-e was a definite hit :)