Kendrick Family Life and Adventures

Hello All, We have been a little busy over here but I just wanted to stop in and say hello. My thoughts of the day are on kindness. Many times in our lives we come across people that for whatever reason feel the need to tear one down. They come in many forms: friends, family, strangers, any one. But we also come across those that are so kind they let off a kind of glow. I strive to be that person, I strive to raise my children to be those people. You never know who that person you tear down could have been or will be...but they will remember the way you treat them and make them feel. It is hard especially when those you consider family or friends are the ones that are negative or always have something mean to say to your positiveness or happiness. What do you do in a situation like that? Continue to treat them with kindness! That does not mean let them walk all over you, you may even have to distance yourself from them but never disrespect them or treat them any other way ...

Hello All, It has been awhile since I have updated about my fitness journey. In the blog sphere that usually means that one has fallen off the wagon. Well, for about 2 weeks I did. I did not do any working out but I maintained good eating habits. I did not gain any weight but I did not lose either... I am in a plateau. However about 3 weeks ago I had a gift cheque to Lane Bryant and I bought a couple of sweaters. I purposely bought them in 1 & 2 sizes smaller than I was at the time to force myself to get back into losing weight to fit into them. Well, I had reason to wear a sweater Friday night and out of curiosity I tried on one of the sweaters. It fit PERFECTLY! Whoo hoo...so excited! I went from a 22/24 to and 18/20 in 3 weeks. I am excited. I am back into walking and working out at home and even contemplating a zumba class...so hopefully I will have more good news in the future. I am still working on my mini goal of getting under 300 but it is very close and I am anxi...

 Hello All, This was a quick 4 day week and I hope you all enjoyed it! Here is the movie release list for movies coming out to theatre as well as the list for Sheppard AFB movie theatre this weekend: In Theatres: - The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (NY) - Beware the Gonzo (limited) - The Black Power Mixtape 1967 - 1975 (NY, LA) - Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star  - Burke & Hare (limited) - Contagion (conventional theaters and IMAX) - Creature (limited) - Echotone (NY) - Grave Encounters (NY, limited) - Inside Out (limited) - Laugh at My Pain (limited) - Love in Space (limited) - Main Street (limited) - Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (limited) - One Fall (LA; NY release: Sep. 16) - Shaolin (limited) - Tanner Hall (limited) - Warrior  - We Were Here (NY; LA release: Sept. 16) - The ...

 Hope you all had a great Labor Day Weekend!!!! Here is the DVD list for this week: - A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song (Comedy, Family, Romance) - A Horrible Way to Die (Thriller) - Airwolf: The Movie (Action, Adventure)  - Assassination Games (Action, Thriller)  - Babar: The Classic Series - Best Friends Forever (Animation, Family)  - Babar: The Classic Series - School Days (Animation, Family)  - Care Bears: Share Bear Shines Movie (Adventure, Animation, Family, Fantasy) - Carmel (Drama) - Children of the Corn (Midnight Madness Series) (Horror, Thriller)  - Chuck: The Complete Fourth Season (Action, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi, TV)  - Clash of Empires (Action, Adventure)  - Community: The Complete Second Season (Comedy, TV)  - Creepshow 2 (Midnight Madness Series) (Comedy, Fantasy, Hor...

Hello All, We have another beautiful day with our cold front here in Texoma. I am so enjoying this weather. Yesterday we made homemade granola bars. I had several requests for the recipe so I decided to post it here so everyone can access it. Homemade Granola Bars: 4 cups oatmeal 2 cups flour 1 cup coconut (optional) 1/4 cup sugar 2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt (I usually only use 1/4 tsp) 3/4 cup vegetable oil 3/4 cup honey (OR 1/2 cup honey, 1/4 cup molasses , OR 1/2 cup honey, 1/4 cup corn syrup depending on your taste) ...

We woke up this morning to such cool weather! As I went to let the dog out this morning I actually felt a chill. It was so nice! I had to stand out there and just feel the breeze and smell the air. Having had over 100 degree temperatures since April it is so nice to have a glimpse of fall weather. At noon today the temp in the car read 67 degrees! Love it! Fall is my favorite season. It may because my birthday is in the fall, or the changing of the leaves, the crispness of the air, the holidays and family and friends, football season, and oh so many more things that I absolutely adore. Technically we still have 3 weeks but I am going to take advantage of the weather and start some of my annual fall activities. Today we will be baking homemade granola bars and making homemade play dough in fall colors. I bake A LOT in the fall so local friends be ready for lots of goodies. My famous Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, homemade caramel popcorn, and much more...lol. Do not be surprised...

Hello Fellow Movie Buffs! Sorry, I have not updated the dvd/movie releases lately. We all know life gets in the way at times. Well here is the DVD release list for today Tuesday August, 23, 2011. ENJOY! - Bambi II (Special Edition) (Animation, Drama, Family)  - The Beaver (Drama)  - Blitz (Action, Crime, Drama)  - Brothers & Sisters: The Complete Fifth Season (Drama, TV)  - Citizen Jane (Crime, Mystery, TV)  - The Event: The Complete Series (Crime, Drama, Mystery, TV)  - Gossip Girl: The Complete Fourth Season (Comedy, Drama, Romance, TV)  - Henry's Crime (Comedy, Crime)  - Hostage (Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller)  - House of Fallen (Unrated) (Horror)  - Off the Map: The Complete Series (Drama, TV)  - Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension (Animation, Comedy, TV)  - Poetry (Drama)  ...

Well, yesterday was the first day of school for many children yesterday. The day is often filled with excitement, nerves, intrigue, and curiosity. We had all of those feelings yesterday morning while getting ready for Keonte and Cheyanne's first day of brick and mortar school EVER. We carpool to school with friends of ours and Keonte and his friend are both in 6th grade at the same school and Cheyanne and her friend are different grades but go to the same school so it works out perfectly. Well, we were ready to go VERY early... they could not sleep and were a bundle of nerves. We dropped the boys off first and they had butterflies but were very eager to get started. After dropping the boys off at the curb (not too close to the school, for coolness factor...lol) we headed to the elementary school for the girls. Cheyanne was very quiet, which those that know her know that is not her character. She was very nervous...but after walking into the classroom the boy that sits next to ...

In an earlier blog post I spoke about the type of hair that my daughter and I have and the maintenance and care of our hair. Well Cheyanne wanted to wear her School Bows that my friend Kristell made for her. (They are so cute!) So she decided she wanted two piggie tails so she can wear her bows. So how we did her hair: Last night we washed her hair. When washing our hair you have to be careful of what shampoos and conditioners you use because some of them will actually dry the hair out more. We rarely even use a shampoo and use a cheaper conditioner instead as a rinse. Our shampoo of choice for hair rinsing is Herbal Essence...any of them basically work well and we love the scents. After washing her hair I use a wide toothed comb and/or my Denman D4 brush (or a brush similar) with the combing conditioner to comb out tangles. We love the Tresemme Smooth and Silky as our leave-in/combing conditioner. As you can tell we use  A LOT of conditioner. Moisture is very important with...

Hello Friends, I have been struggling for a few weeks with being spiritually torn. Those of you that can offer sound advice on this one..it would be greatly appreciated. We are in a transition period in our family and this transition is causing two promises that I made to God when I got married and had children conflict with each other. For the last 11 years they have worked in harmony and have been what I believe with all my heart to be the best thing for my family. By trying to continue to fulfill one promise the other is now completely severed. I have prayed and prayed and prayed about it I have received peace on one part of it but not the other and that is what has me so conflicted. I have tried to voice my concerns to a few but the ones who I have voiced it to do not seem to understand the seriousness of the promises I made to God and myself. The change is obviously inevitable and I have examined myself over and over the last weeks to make sure that it is not for selfish...

Hello All, We have been busy, busy here in the Kendrick household. This is the last week before school starts and we there are mixed feelings and emotions in the house about it. Keonte is very excited and looking forward to starting 6th grade and middle school. My goodness, I have a middle schooler! He did very well in placements tests and tested into all AP classes. I guess we did something right by homeschooling them the last 8 years! Cheyanne is a bit nervous about starting school but I think it is mainly being afraid of the unknown. I am torn because I was prepared for Keonte going to try school but not Cheyanne. I am still very unsure about how I feel about it but I keep reminding myself that if it comes to it I can always pull her out of school and go back to homeschooling. In the meantime, unfortunately my own schooling did not come through for this semester and I have no clue what I am going to do with my time yet, most likely volunteering at their schools to remain involved...

Ok, most of you already know that I am multi-racial. Puerto Rican, Caucasian, and African American. So needless to say I have mixed hair. My daughter has also inherited the mixed hair as well. Our hair is curly, wavy, and straight all in one...lol but mainly curly. It is hard to manage and I get frustrated easily with both of our hair. Growing up unfortunately in the 80's..it was hard to learn how to take care of mixed hair. Observe... Yikes (and not just to the clothes)!..lol....I do not want this for my daughter and with the knowledge out there now really no excuse. When I have the patience and dedication our hair looks great and I have learn several tricks of moisturizing and maintaining our curls but sometimes come to a lose for hair styles. I get tired of ponytails and just curls all over sometimes. Luckily my hair straightens fairly well with my straightener but my daughter's not so much but heat is not good for our type of hair anyway. With the kids starting schoo...

Happy Monday Everyone! How are you all doing? I hope you all had a good weekend. This weekend we had fun with the neighbors, went to the rodeo, church, and yesterday was mother/son day and we went to lunch and a movie! Love these kiddos! On to the fitness update: I weighed in today at 307 exactly. This is the exact same weight as last week and the first time in 2 months I have not show a loss. Normally this would have been a bad thing for me and I would be self destructive in diet and fitness. But I do know that this plateau is actually due to my direct actions/ or non actions this week. Due to unforeseen circumstances this week I only walked once. I did play basketball in the driveway a couple days. I was conscious of my eating but did allow myself to enjoy nachos at the rodeo and hot wings yesterday for mother/son day. This taken into account I think I did good not to gain and am confident that if I had workout a bit more last week I would have lost. We did manage to get the e...

Hello All,  The week is winding down and people are getting ready for the weekend. Here are the movie releases for this weekend. There are a few on the list that we are interested in seeing. Whether this weekend or not is to be determined but we will see them eventually.  Now on to the list: July 29 - All In (limited) - Assassination Games (limited) - Attack the Block (limited) - Cowboys & Aliens  - Crazy, Stupid, Love.  - The Devil's Double (limited) - The Future (limited) - Golf in the Kingdom (NY) - Good Neighbors (NY, LA) - The Guard (limited) - The Interrupters (NY) - Point Blank (NY, LA) - Sleep Furiously (NY) - The Smurfs  (3D/2D theaters) So we are interested in:  Cowboys & Aliens (I hope it lives up to the hype)  and of course we have to see Smurfs (if for nothing more than my childhood nostalgia) at least...

"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible." Arthur C. Clarke I have a habit of making it to the 2 month mark and tapering off on working out. I am determined to get through this habit of quitting after 2 months. Unfortunately, there has been a coincidentally timed snag and my walking buddy will be moving away. This normally would have discouraged me and I would have just said well I have no one to walk with so forget it.  I am bummed but I am not letting this be a reason to quit.  I still have some organizing to do from the move but I am determined to get my exercise bike out of the garage and into the house as well as starting to box on the slam man. I will definitely miss the companionship and accountability of having a workout partner but I will find another. My husband is always willing but at times I feel I cannot keep up. His fitness level is far above mine and I get disheartened when I feel I am so behind. ...

Hello All, Hope you are all having a blessed week and enjoying the day. Here are the DVD releases for this week: - A Big Box of Wood (Various)  - After Dark Originals: Goblin (Horror)  - After Dark Originals: Scream of the Banshee (Horror)  - After Dark Originals: The Task (Horror)  - Alice: Season One (Drama, TV)  - American Grindhouse (Documentary)  - Born to Ride (Action)  - Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe (Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, TV)  - Conan the Adventurer: Season One (Action, Adventure, Animation, Fantasy, TV) - Dennis the Menace: Season Two (Comedy, Family)  - Do Dooni Chaar (Comedy, Drama)  - Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (Comedy, Horror)  - Goblin (Horror)  - Jackboots on Whitehall (Action, Comedy, War)  - Jersey Shore: Season Three (Uncensored) (Reality TV...