Sunday, June 5, 2011

Approach with confidence...

Today was one of those days I know I will never forget.

It was an amazing message from our pastor that started
things off for me - here's a little introspection...

He talked about having "rest" or "peace." His portion of
scripture that he drew from was Hebrews 4. My pastor
said something so profound, he said "our circumstances
should not affect whether we have rest." Our foundation
is secure - so when the winds and waves of life happen -
we should not be moved - we should not be shaken.

We should remain at peace in the midst of it all... This
reminds me of the passage of scripture when Jesus is in
the boat w/the disciples, and there is a huge storm. The
disciples are freaking out - and honestly just losing it.
All the while, the creator of the universe is sleeping
soundly at the back of the boat - not a care in the
world. He's not worried!!! The disciples wake him
up and say:
“Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”He replied,
“You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”
Then he got up and rebuked the winds and
the waves, and it was completely calm." (Matthew 8:24-25)

I want that kind of peace - that kind of rest. The kind
that when my circumstances are raging around me -
I can sleep through the night knowing that I serve the
God of the universe and there is nothing that He can't
do! And there's nothing that I could do that would
make him love me less...

**Here's the part that will stick in my memory forever...**

In our Sunday School class - right after church service - we
continued on with our discussion of our Pastor's sermon on
rest and peace.

Across the room from me was a married couple,
the husband wheelchair bound, living his last
days of this life - dying from Parkinson's Disease.
His only daughter is getting married in 5 weeks, and
he is literally "hanging on" to this life so that he can
be there to walk her down the aisle. When asked
"how can we be praying for you two?" they looked at
each other and said "we're actually doing really good!"
His wife said, "you know he is digressing quite a bit..."
and he interrupted her saying

"no, I'm not digressing... I'm progressing!"

Wheelchair bound, soon to have a feeding tube put in,
not able to sleep at night because of the complications
of his disease, and here was this man - giving glory to his
God for the joy that he has each day to live out the end
of his life looking forward to what lies ahead.

This hit me between the eyes.

What a testament of faith.

Looking into my heart - my circumstances - my trials -
my "boat moments" in the midst of life's raging storms...
I hope that from now on I will be able to say, with joy
overflowing, "I am not digressing in this life - I am
progressing or running to the finish line with arms open
wide to my sweet Savior."

Where are you with peace? Where are you with His rest?
Are you able to look at all that surrounds you and say that
He is your peace? That He is giving you rest? You know the
really cool thing? He's OK with you crying out to him
to calm the winds and the waves that threaten to over
take you! At the end of the chapter of Hebrews 4, verse
16 it says:
"Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find
grace to help us in our time of need."

My need is never too great that he doesn't either already
know it - or hasn't already answered it. I hope that you are
encouraged in your faith today - no matter what your
circumstances - God is able to give you "rest" and "peace"
in Him today.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Big Boy turns 6!

That's right folks - we officially have a 6 year old!
Doesn't he look SO old? Sheesh! Seriously!
When did this happen?
The whole family got to go to Big Boy's class and watch
him read his Birthday Book - and then answer questions
from all the kids in his class about his favorite things... :)
Cupcake icecream cones! Let's just say I had high hopes
and I will probably NEVER make them again :( I'll
explain later...

Had to put in a pick of our Girly Girl & her baby doll :)
Ok... Here's the skinny on these adorably aweful cupcakes!
They're really pretty simple... One box of cake mix -
24 - 26 icecream cones -
and a couple of cans of frosting...
Fill the cones 1/2 full with the batter - place in oven -
and voilĂ !
You'll pretty them up, and be super excited, and
BAM - they fall over like dominos. BOO.
Good thing Kindergarteners really don't care WHAT they
look like - they just see sugar. Plain ol' yummy sugar.
They'll eat just about everything!

And in other exciting news...

I have officially become a licensed hunter in the good
old state of Idaho :) Much to the delight of
my husband and Father-in-law who are
both avid hunters...

Oh boy.

All I know is that I scored a SWEET hat :)


Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Oh how they grow!

Today was Big Boy's 1st concert put
on by his school's Kindergarten program.

Exciting stuff!!!

He has been practicing his line FOR WEEKS!
It was so much fun to see him up there - no
hesitation - loving the spotlight!!

We may have a famous thespian on our hands!

I also came across another video of Big Boy
just a few short years ago - that I'm sure we'll
lovingly show on the Today show, or Regis
and Kelly when he's older and well established
in the film industry :) Or maybe just to his
girlfriends when they come over, and I become
"that mom" that can't stop talking about her
kids and all the silly things I kept of theirs when
they were little like their first tooth and their
little underoos...

No - I would never do that...

Enjoy!
What a cutie pie!! I love this kid :)



"Big Boy is the one that says 'Out came the sun, and melted all but 4..."

a much younger Big Boy

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter 2011

Howdy folks!

Happy Easter to you all!

What a wonderful Easter weekend - full of remembrance of
what my Savior did so long ago for me! For us!! Our church
put on an amazing Good Friday service, that our sweet little
girl decided she wanted to be wiggly THE WHOLE TIME in
so we spent most of the service in the way back, while
Hubs held up the fort w/the boys all the way in the front
of the church... (where I found out later - that they too
had a bad case of the wiggles... hmmm... must be the Kinney
way!)

Anyways, we had an amazing - yet very somber Good Friday
service, then on to the Eggstravaganza that took place Sat
morning. It was a huge turnout of around 1000 people!
There was the egg hunt (of course!), 10 million bouncy-
houses, pony rides, train rides, and of course the DUNK TANK!!!

Hubs got volunteered for the dunk tank by our pastor -
and received the pleasure of being one of the early "dunkers"-
which meant the water was a wee bit chilly :) As you'll see
in the pic below - Big Boy had no problem takin' his pops DOWN!!
It was so fun! He was seriously dunked, no kidding, 20 times in
his 15 minute shift! BBRRRRR!!!!

We then did the typical hang out - paint Easter eggs - eat candy day
to gear up for Easter Sunday!

Easter Sunday was again an amazing service - and celebration of our
Risen Lord! And such a huge reminder for me that my chains are
gone! I've been set free by the love of my Jesus dying on the cross
for me!!! I am so humbled by that truth - and so undeserving...

Needless to say - we had an awesome Easter weekend! The weather
even cooperated for us, and it was so beautiful! Even for Idaho!!
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this crazy sunshine means spring
is finally here :)

P.S... Check out the link below of Carrie Underwood & Vince Gill singing
one of my favorite hymns. You will not be able to watch w/o crying!!!

God Bless!

The kiddos right before the big "hunt!"
Hubs and I striking a pose :)
Hubs right before Big Boy "dunked" him!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Big girl shoes

Our baby girl is finally walking! So fun...


Wait.

WHAT did I just say?

Fun - but T R O U B L E!!! She's also shown us
that she has something called "rhythm" a very
scary technique that Kinney's have not had in
perhaps GENERATIONS... That comes in the
form of a booty-shake/shoulder shake that
cracks me up EVERY TIME.

In other BIG news, our Big Boy is on to losing
his THIRD tooth in a matter of weeks... Actually
I'm considering pulling the silly thing out while
he sleeps because it is majorly crooked and hanging
on by a thread... Hubs and I have decided between
all 3 kids - we're going to need to sock away some
SERIOUS cashola for their orthodontist bill we'll
have in a matter of years... The Kinneys (aka Hubs
and I) have some pretty gigantic teeth - so our
kiddos really don't stand a chance... :)

Today was our kids first lesson in earning and spending
their money! I so wished I had thrown my camera in
my HUGE mom bag to capture the moment, it was
seriously the CUTEST thing! And seeing what both
boys decided was worth their hard earned money was
interesting too. I'm so proud of Hubs in his ability to
already be thinking of teaching them responsibility in
handling money - setting aside 10% for tithe, and 10%
for savings...

WHAT?

I think I'm still learning those lessons - so hopefully
our kids follow their father's path of business savy,
smart-minded thinking when it comes to money! I
definitely fall into the "retail therapy" or "spontaneous
shopper" category far too many times!

That's it for now!

Happy Saturday :)


Wednesday, February 23, 2011

What the hay?


So - I've debated for quite some time giving up the whole "blog" thing...

This may be obvious since my last post was August...
But, "what the hay?" AKA, "why not?" So - for all of
you holding your breath for the next Kinney Clan post
- HERE IT IS!!! So worth waiting for!!

Here's a rundown of the past 6 months - and what's
been keeping us so busy:

-Our show in Chicago was a success, or enough of a
success to proceed in getting ready for the January
Craft & Hobby Association show in LA... We had to
spend the last 6 months creating new product, figuring
out logistics, blah, blah, blah... See the pics below of
our booth! Travis and Wende came down with us for a
whirlwind trip!

-Our Big Girl just turned 1! Seriously - how did this
happen? She has been such a funny girl to watch! She is
going to have no problem bossing everyone around
(especially the boys!). I had no idea how different girls
would be from boys. NIGHT & DAY!

-Big Boy started Kindergarten this year... KINDERGARTEN!!
Seriously - I've had many mini-meltdowns at the thought of
my kids getting to0 old too fast! That has been a real joy to
watch him totally blossom in that environment. He doesn't
even notice that I stay and watch him until he disappears from
sight each day when I drop him off... He's just getting so big :( Sob!

-Our little peanut is not so little anymore too! He's doing
awesome in preschool and starting to read now - and get all
mature on me! He has also been such a blessing to watch grow
and see how God is going to do mighty things with this boy!
With all our kids! I often have to pinch myself... How did I get
so lucky?

-And last but not least, we recently got to go to DISNEYLAND!
I had forgotten what a magical place that is! It's only been 20
years since I've been there :) But, we went w/my folks and the
kids right after our show (since we were in the area) and had 3 full
days at the Magic Kingdom - and it was actually relaxing! So fun -
and the kids are at that age where they get into it completely, and
love every aspect of it, so you have no choice but to follow in the
magical footsteps of Disney...

Well - that about wraps it up for now! I've posted lots of pics below,
and will try most definitely to post again real soon!

Trav, Wende & Hubs setting up the booth...
Our Booth!
Skully & the Fam...
Big Girl schmoozin' at the camera :)
Practicing her Miss America wave!
The boys practicing w/the Incredibles!
Big Boy showing off his strength training :)

Goofy!
Peanut was a little star struck w/Handy Manny :)