The Keene Family

We went to the library yesterday to get some news books and grabbed the materials for the summer reading program. Oh. My. I had no idea my kids would be so excited about this. The librarian did an awesome job talking to them about their new summer reading journals, and they came home ready to start using them. First, they wrote their names on them in Sharpie.  JT asked me to take a picture of this. He looks like a poster child for the library! Next they got to work. We talked about how they could write a few words about the book and draw a picture on the page, one page per book, all summer long. We will see how long this lasts, but we're off to a great start. Haley wrote "Tallulah Tutu" and drew a picture of Tallulah in her tutu. JT got going on a drawing of a police car from his new book. Later on, I was reading my Bible study outside in the sunshine. The kids went running into the house to get blankets, books, and their journals. JT practiced readi...

Both of our sports commitments ended in the past week. We already miss kickball and t-ball! Jiminy Kick-Its lost in tournament play in the semi-finals. Down two male players (my husband included) because they both couldn't get off work, the team of nine played well against other fully stocked teams and lost 3-4. Final game photo I will miss this little bunch-o-mine on Sundays (plus my buddy Brock, not pictured). The team manager posted on Facebook: " Season long MVP award goes to the hardest working member of our team, Becky Keene. Although never reaching first base she made this season possible for many of us as she successfully watched over our legion of young children." :) Very sweet. We followed up the last game with a Father's Day dinner at our house with friends. Then we had our end-of-the-season party for t-ball and JT got a trophy from his coach. I hope I never forget his beaming face. He wasn't expecting it, and I don't think I...

This weekend was hot and wonderful! We started with a trip to my parents' house to celebrate an early Father's Day. Grandpa had a surprise for the kids... he moved my old play house (that he built for me thirty years ago) to their house so they kids can play in it. It needs some TLC on the outside but the structure is solid, of course, and it just needs some new hinges and paint. The kids were so excited! Then, after a kickball double header, we went to frozen yogurt to celebrate June birthdays. Somehow we could not get all four to smile at once, so we settled for serious faces. I love how Gracie is trying so hard not to smile. :) We celebrated Carson's birthday (left, above) by hanging out at a nearby lake on a beautifully hot day. The kids and Jim all swam, and we enjoyed carrot cupcakes and pizza while getting wonderfully warm. Katie took this awesome photo of my muscle man helping Haley swim. Yesterday I took the kids shopping so JT could get some summ...

Yesterday my friend Katie and I took our kids to the Bike Safety school offered at a local school. We were among the first to arrive and there were hardly any other families for the first half hour or so, so we got to get the bikes checked by a professional and a tour of the fire truck all to ourselves. My buddy Brock, stuck in his stroller. Someday! Then we listened to Officer Hamren teach the kids about bicycle safety when out on the street, and the kids got to practice their skills in an obstacle course that included a working traffic light, stop signs, road obstacles like big fake rocks, and a crosswalk. Getting ready for the obstacle course Following Officer Hamren Walking the bikes on the crosswalk Finishing the obstacle course More crosswalk - Katie and I thought this was so cute. The kids had a great time (mostly the older boys, although Haley completed it once... but Carson was not his usual self and stayed very close to his momma the whole mor...

Today is my 700th blog post. Wow. How did that happen? I have almost 36,000 page views. I don't advertise anything on here, and it's really just for family and friends who live around the country to keep up with us. I felt like I should save something abundantly special for the 700th post. All week long I thought about what would be "blogworthy," which is the term I use to tag photos in PhotoShop that might make the cut. And then I realized that every day is worthy. I wake up by God's grace in a comfortable house with plenty of food and clothes, to an amazing husband and two wonderful children. And almost 36,000 times someone has thought "I wonder how the Keenes are doing?" and clicked on our blog. That's something special right there. So there is nothing out of the ordinary about this post. (I did, however, find a new gadget to post my top five most visited blog posts of all time, at left. Fascinating.) This past few weeks have been full of trans...