Life at the Henson House

before and after

2012-01-28T15:53:00.000-06:00

before

(forgive the watery eyes...he couldn't quit sneezing)

after

it's like i have 3 new kids!

innocent?

2012-01-26T13:19:00.000-06:00

he looks innocent, but he's the one who just dunked his brother's face in the bubbles.

and he's got that "who? me?" look down pat. i'm in trouble.

still awesome

2012-01-22T17:11:00.000-06:00

this post was supposed to have been done earlier, but i got stuck. in a book. i know...i hear the jaws dropping right now. i'm not one to get lost in a book. it usually takes me forever to finish one, if i ever finish it at all. i have driven my husband and mother crazy because i have no problem reading half of a book and not finishing because i'm not interested or don't like it. but i started reading Unbroken, and i could not put it down. wow. go read that one. (if a book recommendation comes from my mouth...it's got to be fairly decent!!!)

anyway, last weekend we all went to the delta to celebrate some awesomeness. if you recall, last year about this time we went to jackson to have a reunion and celebrate with chase's undefeated high school basketball team. this year, it was my turn to celebrate with my undefeated people!!! (i wonder how many husbands/wives can both claim that?!?) 15 years ago, these mustangs claimed victory every single time we stepped on the court together.

we knew each other inside and out, and we could have conversations with each other without saying a word. it's unreal how much time we spent together. so, it was kind of surreal being back to together with all my peeps...and all the children that have appeared!

we hung out for an hour or two before the game. i have bunches of pictures of each individual family, but i'll skip all those for now. (email me, leave a comment or facebook me if you want your picture, and i'll get it to you!!)

after a down-to-the-last-second win over the raiders from jackson academy, we all went out on the court to be introduced. it was fun to be back out there with my team even if we weren't in uniform! and after 15 years, i came to the conclusion that we are still just as awesome as ever!

curiosity killed the cat.

2012-01-13T16:27:00.000-06:00

that didn't happen over here, though. my curiosity led to pure awesomeness.

a few days ago, i came across something on the internet that caught my attention. i'm not a do a craft/science experiment with your kid kind of person. it's just not in my genes. most of the time. but this was too cool to pass up. all that is needed is a bar of soap and a microwave. you interested yet??

i have no idea where i saw this, but just let it be known that i am not the maker upper of the soap cloud. however, i am now an expert soap cloud maker!

cut a bar of ivory soap into fourths. i don't know why it has to be ivory soap, but it does. and i do know why it has to be in fourths...just trust me here. the website where i saw it said to cut it in fourths and not put a whole bar in the microwave, but i never said i wasn't stubborn. cut it in fourths, ok??

then, put a fourth of the bar on a paper towel, and microwave it for a minute. bam! super excitement!!

excited about their soap clouds for bath time tonight!

most science experiments give some sort of conclusion or reason as to why the experiment happens like it does. i have no conclusion. i just know that it is cool to watch it grow, and it makes little people smile! go try it!

through the eyes of wes

2012-01-08T21:00:00.000-06:00

wes is loving his camera. next week is C show and tell at school. i think i'll let him take his camera and see what kind of fun shots he can get from his classmates. how can you not smile at a 4 year old holding a camera and telling you to say cheese??

all of these were from christmas day...

these were just some random shots i downloaded (it's kind of entertaining to me to see what his view from the backseat is like)....

see? he's not too shabby behind the lens. if he can just keep up with it and not break it, we'll be in business! but the best part is that he's not afraid to hand the camera off to his brother and get in front of that lens!

partying it up on new year's eve!

2011-12-31T19:14:00.000-06:00

we are some party animals over here.

we spent the afternoon in the hump.

that was followed by a fancy shrimp dinner complete with chopsticks.

then there was a little chill time after showers. (reed got in a fight with the "pockey" table if you are curious as to what happened to his nose. the "pockey" table won.)

and all that will be followed by a bedtime of 930. ok, we might get a little crazy since it's new year's and all and push it back to 10. either way, i definitely won't be awake when the new year arrives!!

see y'all on the flip side in 2012!

mr. potato head got a swimming pool

2011-12-29T19:03:00.001-06:00

well christmas has come and gone. the decorations have been stashed away, most of the presents are not strewn all over the house anymore, the leftovers are gone, and everybody is happy because they got what they wanted. even mr. potato head got a present this year.

i'll back up, though. let's begin this with christmas eve. ok, actually it was christmas eve eve. we wrote santa a letter and asked him to come a day early since christmas was on sunday this year. we knew we couldn't get everything done and have a ginormous brunch like we like to do and make it to church in time. santa was happy to oblige, so we had our christmas eve festivities on the 23rd.

we don't make cookies for santa. i'm not martha stewart. i'll cook you a shish-ka-bob that will make your head spin, but slice and bake is more my speed when it comes to cookies. i figure that santa gets tired of cookies, so we roast marshmallows in the fireplace and make s'mores for ourselves and the fat guy on christmas eve. i'm sure he appreciates the change up!

after the shower, they got to open the christmas eve present. pjs!

i was slightly thrown off by christmas eve actually being on christmas eve eve, so we forgot to put out the reindeer food. thankfully, santa's gps got him here anyway!

everybody had to wait at the top of the stairs for the christmas morning picture, and then they got to scramble downstairs and see what all they got!

of course the first words out of reed's mouth were, "it not pjs, mama? i not want pjs." apparently the present the night before wasn't exciting enough for him! they weren't disappointed. bikes, scooters, legos, and the toy of the year - the perplexus - were enough to keep them smiling and happy!

and yes...reed ate a box of whoppers for breakfast!

over the next two days, we had several present opening sessions and continual playtime!

the highly popular perplexus made it into everybody's hands throughout the weekend!

and now that chase and i have mastered the "rookie" version, i'm going to have to purchase the next level one for whatever holiday comes next!

the little people baked and decorated a birthday cake for jesus. and, we promptly devoured it for dessert!

the highlight for wes was getting his very own real camera! (no more stealing mama's!)

no...i'm not a crazy mama that bought her 4 year old a $200 camera. ebay, people, ebay. he has had a blast with it so far. i'm going to have to devote whole blog posts to his pictures. maybe i can get him to give them some captions as well. and then he can just take over this here blog, and i'll go fold laundry. :)

so, like i said...everybody was happy. even mr. potato head. you see, he stays in one plastic bin on a shelf of many bins upstairs. at some point during the festivities, my grandmother found mr. potato floating his bin. yay! he got a swimming pool. only it wasn't chlorinated, pretty blue water he was swimming in. it was yellow water. are you following me here? my middle child, who shall remain nameless, decided to use mr. potato head's bin as his own personal urinal. joy! i don't know how long this had been going on, but it was definitely more than once because he wasn't stomping in a puddle. mr. potato head was getting his float on. i should have been horrified, right? i think this house of testosterone is desensitizing me. the bin, mr. potato head and all his body parts got some clorox and a trip through the dishwasher and were good as new. middle child...well, we're still working on him. maybe that camera will at least keep him occupied enough that he won't have time to think about places to relieve himself outside of the bathroom!

but y'all christmas isn't about cake, perplexuses, or plastic toys floating in a pool of pee. it's about this.

and for that, i am eternally grateful! hope y'all all had a great christmas!

christmas vacation

2011-12-25T19:38:00.000-06:00

there was no shortage of things to do this christmas vacation while daddy had a few days off!

bowling was a hit.

reed made sure to clap and tell everybody "good shot!" after every throw. throw? is that what you call a turn in bowling?

sadly, reed won the first game. but i pulled a few strikes out of my back pocket to come from behind and pull out the win in the second game! i can't have my kids thinking that they are always winners! :)

we also went over to new albany to visit grandmother.

we kept her entertained for a short while, and then we headed north to cotton plant.

seriously. who knew a place such as this existed?? wes was beside himself. he kept saying how much he liked it, how he wanted to live there, how he wished he could stay forever, and then as we were leaving..."well can i at least have my birthday party here?" he was sad to find out that this was just a field in the month of may!

reed was very hesitant at first and hung back saying, "it not gonna get me?"

but after a few minutes, he was pointing stuff out and saying, "take my picture, mama!"

they decided the flamingo and the bulldog were their favorites.

and they also decided that we were for sure going to make a visit to cotton plant again next year! and maybe i'll bring a birthday cake and call it party to appease wes!

henson christmas

2011-12-24T19:16:00.000-06:00

last weekend, we made a whirlwind trip to jackson to celebrate christmas with the henson clan. it is always chaotic with 8 kids under the age of 6, but they have so much fun together that it is easy to overlook the chaos. (said the woman who is a week removed from said chaos!)

at 930 on friday night, we were wondering if frank was going to make it. but they strapped him to the wing of a plane and he made it shortly before midnight. at which point he used my toothbrush and went to bed. the next morning, i walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth, and holly had just finished using my toothbrush. and they are wondering why the stomach bug stayed around their house so long?!?! :) i love these people....but maybe not that much!! :)

after fetching me a NEW toothbrush, we started out with the reading of the christmas story on saturday morning.

next up was brunch. i like the idea of brunch. i don't like to eat immediately when i get up. 9 or 10 is perfect timing for breakfast for me. not so much for the kid who wakes up and says first thing in the morning, "i need to eat, mama." so...naturally, he was caught stealing handfuls of fruit while waiting on brunch.

when you close your eyes, you can't see anybody. therefore, if he closes his eyes while stealing fruit, you can't see him do it.

keep that in mind next time you try to steal something!!

we followed that up with a monster present opening session, and then we spent the rest of the day playing with all the loot!

i know it's no surprise to see my children in their underwear, but it was surprising to see those itty bitty red boxers come flying by on a scooter!

before the night was over, the two littles posed for us in their matching outfits!

and that, my friends, is how you cram christmas for 16 people into one day!! the scooters were fun, but next year... i'm bringing toothbrushes for all. or i'm just going to keep mine in my pocket at all times!

the christmas story

2011-12-19T20:19:00.000-06:00

on friday, william's class acted out luke 2 for all of their parents. it was a really sweet program. there was caesar augustus, mary, joseph, shepherds, sheep and a whole host of angels. they recited the whole chapter of luke (and i do mean they have the ENTIRE chapter memorized...i'll show you that in a later post) and threw in a few christmas carols as well.

william was the angel of the lord. he took his job very seriously (and was giddy at the fact that he got to stand on a gold chair to do his part). it's the little things, i guess!

they finished up with some games and enough candy and loot to last until summer!

wes got to have his party that day too. his class had birthday cupcakes for jesus, and then they played some games as well.

it was a fun way to kick off christmas break. and now i'm counting down the days until they can start back! :)

make a joyful noise unto the lord

2011-12-15T20:40:00.000-06:00

we had our church christmas program on sunday, and it's safe to say that at least most of it was joyful! none of mine picked their noses this year, and i only saw one little girl's (who shall remain nameless) underwear. success.

reed sat through the whole thing quietly and was rewarded with a cookie. or maybe i just walked in the fellowship hall and he was already eating a cookie. same difference, right?

next year, he gets to get up there and sing. i better start bribing him with cookies 12 months in advance!

my kind of parade

2011-12-07T16:25:00.001-06:00

this year's christmas parade was right up my alley. i don't know if you remember my post from last year, but we like to get there late. this town likes to drag out a parade fo-eva! and they will let anyone or anything jump in line to be in it. our crew decided next year, that we are going to get a caravan of mini-vans to form the mini-van mom crew with kiddie music blaring out of our rolled down windows all while wearing santa hats and tossing candy to waiting kiddos. those of us moms that don't drive vans will walk in front and dance. in a santa hat. come on over, ginger and nicole and misty and hayley, and we can start working on our choreography.

ok, back to the parade. it was 55 degrees this year. i appreciated not having to wear 4 layers of clothes sit on the curb and eat a donut. perfect parade weather! at least the last hour that we were there was perfect! :)

will, william, ava, and wes

reed

wren

griffin and reed

will

farrow kate

the end of the parade (minus the street sweeper which is the highlight for all the boys in attendance!)

so there you go. bring on the christmas season. but i'm not in need of cold weather to prove it's christmas...the 55 degree weather can stay! now i'm off to make some room in the den for our choreography session. we gotta learn how to bust a move to the itsy bitsy spider.

what daddy wants

2011-11-30T20:33:00.000-06:00

i asked wes today what we should get chase for christmas.

wes: "let's get him an iPad."
me: "he already has one of those. what else can we get him?"

wes: "i want to get him a bible."
me: "he already has one of those too. can you think of anything else?"

wes: "well then, let's just get him a gun."

what more could a mississippi boy want? an iPad, a bible, and a gun. it does my heart good to know i'm raising this one right!! :)

thanksgiving in pictures

2011-11-27T16:53:00.000-06:00

they said it

2011-11-20T13:49:00.000-06:00

william: (as he is headed out the door) "mama, we have S show and tell tomorrow. i'm going outside to see if i can find some sedimentary rock." he's 6 going on 73.

wes: (as he is eating a jolly rancher) "when this jolly roger gets small, then can i chew it up?" i think we have seen one too many episodes of jake and the neverland pirates.

william: (out of the blue) "mama, when you make my sandwich next time, i want you to make it on the brown bread. it has more vitamin B." he obviously thinks i'm failing as a mom and forcing them to be nutritionally deficient.

reed: (from the backseat) "i kick it old school, mama." if you don't have any of the Go Fish cds, you're missing out.

wes: "mama, do you have another baby in your tummy?"
me: "ummmmm...no. why?"
wes: (gets up from the table at supper, walks over to me and grabs my boob) "well, what's this?"
the suppressed laughter from his father didn't help things.

this is my life. awesome.

shoebox time

2011-11-18T12:46:00.000-06:00

three happy boys with shoeboxes that are sure to make three other little boys somewhere in the world very happy as well!!

to fill your own shoebox, click here and get packing!!

success

2011-11-14T20:02:00.000-06:00

when you come in from an afternoon outside with feet that look like this....

i think you call that day a success (at least in little boy world). mama, on the other hand, is quite horrified by the wal-mart feet. she is also quite thankful for washrags and irish spring.

i'm getting him a camera for christmas

2011-11-08T21:19:00.000-06:00

wes likes to mess with stuff. his stuff. your stuff. it doesn't matter. if it's there, he is probably going to get it, and take it apart. or tear it up. or break it. or color on it. or get it dirty. or all of the above. whatever it is will not be like it was previous to wes getting his hands on it. everybody in this house knows this firsthand.

so when he recently developed a fascination for my camera, you would have thought that i would have locked it up somewhere.

i have two cameras. my big one is for when i need a good picture. my little camera is for when i don't want to wag the big camera around!! my little camera used to stay in the kitchen by our phones. notice i said used to. a few days ago, i walked in to find wes sitting on the floor pressing every button he could as fast as he could. in an attempt to get him to stop trying to mess with it, i thought i'd take the opportunity to actually teach him how to take a picture. that satisfied his curiosity, i thought, because he took a few and put it up. i deleted the pictures of the wall, and we were all happy.

well, i was happy until i was backing up out of the driveway the following morning to take them to school. that was when i saw my camera lying in our driveway. i wasn't happy. it was wet, frozen, and it wouldn't turn on. i wasn't happy. i just slowly walked back to the car, held it up and glared at my middle child with what i'm sure was steam coming out of my ears. "oh yeah, i forgot to bring it inside yesterday." i wasn't happy.

after some thawing out and recharging the battery, it actually worked again. and i found out that wes likes to take pictures. i also found out that a camera outside in the afternoon is a good way to find out what goes on in the neighborhood!

he started out in the kitchen by taking a picture of his older, "i-don't-mess-with-stuff" brother.

and then he documented that brother coloring something on paper with a marker. (notice this brother colors on paper...he doesn't color the back door florescent yellow with a giant highlighter)

then, i found out that my floors could use a sweeping.

our bricks are still white.

his girlfriend/sister/best friend came over to play.

and she was obviously his little accomplice in this "take mama's camera for a spin" day because the next picture was this...

the sidewalk is still there.

my mums are looking fabulous...even if they do have a scooter lying in the middle of them.

our pumpkins look pretty good, too.

our neighbor was in his tree cleaning up his yard.

william was helping.

this is just a snippet. my camera's memory was full of pictures like these. the funny thing is that he's not bad at taking a picture. of course, he got in trouble for taking my camera, but after seeing the fun that he had with it...i have definitely added a camera to his christmas list! mine are locked up, but i'll gladly get him one of his own. maybe this is my opportunity to channel his energy from destroying stuff into a useful hobby. if not, at least i'll get to see what went on outside that day! :)

new favorite day of the year

2011-11-05T22:05:00.000-05:00

reed started off the halloween festivities at school last week with his halloween party. since the boy isn't even a fan of putting on a jacket, he for sure wasn't wearing any sort of "real" costume. so, he went as a football player. a cute one!

they had all kinds of games set up for them to play. after they played a game, they were supposed to get some candy. all the other kids were just running around grabbing candy. mine was all about the games. forget the candy!

he was obsessed with the "go fish pole." he kept taking the m&ms off and tossing them back because he wanted to catch a real fish. those m&ms weren't going to cut it!!

and then i drug him out kicking and screaming because he wanted to "play games more, mama" and "i want my go fish pole!" so while all the other kids stocked up on candy, we ended up with one bag of m&ms and two packs of smarties. you'd think wes would have taught him better than that.

on monday, we hit up the reformation party at church.

AND THEN...we went trick or treating.

after the first house, wes turned around with wide eyes and said, "can we go to another house?!?!" when i said yes, he did a little happy dance and responded with "i'm so excited! this is my favorite day!" i mean, what could be better? you ring a doorbell, they give you candy. it was really fun to see their excitement as we made our way around the neighborhood.

i asked several times if we could go home, and each time reed would holler, "no! i not go home yet!" so we made our way around the hood before coming home to hand out candy. before i was able to give out directions about how to hand out candy, one kid scored big time when wes gave him about 15 reeses. after handing out almost all of our candy, i gave them about 10 minutes to feast on whatever they could get in their mouths before bedtime. (who says i'm not fun?)

the funny thing is...they go for the crazy stuff like pixie sticks and green tootsie rolls. that's fine with me because it leaves more snickers for me!! :) as we put them to bed, wes said, "i like trick or treating. how many days 'til we do halloween again?" based on that (and the 14 pounds of candy still in my pantry), i'd say halloween was a success!

day in the country

2011-11-02T21:12:00.000-05:00

i've never tried to deny the fact that i'm not a city girl. being from the delta, it's hard to claim that you're a city slicker even if you live in the "city." when you have to drive to a different town to do, well, everything....you have to just embrace the "country" label.

so when my kids get the chance to be country kids, it makes me smile!

growing up, there was a man in our neighborhood named mr. rabb (i think i've written about him before). he was the dad of a girl that was a few years older than me. he had a go-cart that he let us ride all the time. he would pile us in the back of his pick-up (it was totally safe back then) and take us to the double quick to get gum. and one year when it snowed, he took a street sign off of the pole and turned it into a sled that pulled us all over town behind his 4-wheeler. i'm pretty sure that was illegal. and i'm pretty sure nobody cared. he called it our redneck sled.

this past weekend, we had a redneck hayride.

the only thing better than a redneck hayride is a redneck hayride with a cute driver!!

i got chase to drive a truck. we'll see if i ever get him to the country. if not, i'll settle for a few days like this thrown in here and there. and while i'm at it, i'll be grateful that i don't have to drive to a different town for...everything!! :)

i need a star in my crown.

2011-10-25T14:35:00.000-05:00

i made two pumpkin patch field trips over two weeks! and i don't really need a star. both classes were so well behaved that it was a really easy job!

wes' class went to pontotoc. this was a really neat little farm!

judging by the way they hung around each other, i'd say this is wes' running buddy at school. his name is chase.

after we had picked out pumpkins and climbed on the trailer for the ride back to the barn, wes sat down beside me. no sooner than i had put my arm around him, chase sat down on my other side. he grabbed my arm and put it around him! so there we were talking about barbed wire fences and tractors when wes patted me on the leg and leaned over to chase and said, "this is my mama."

chase with a bewildered look: "i have a mama, too!"

wes: "you have a mama?"

chase: "yes! and her name is mama just like yours!"

wes: "do you have a daddy?"

chase: "yes! and his name is daddy!"

i figured i'd really throw a cog in the wheel if i mentioned that wes' daddy's name was chase, so i just let that one go. :) they were really excited to find out that they both had mamas and daddys named mama and daddy!

william's class went to corinth. it was a little more crowded, but that didn't diminish their excitement.

after snagging a pumpkin, they got the opportunity to play in the animal pen. i don't quite understand why this option exists at a pumpkin farm, but whatever.

sneaking up on the chickens. here, chicky chicky.

got one!

after petting all the nasty animals, it was lunchtime! yummy!! yes...if it were up to me, i would have arranged the chicken-catching part of the trip for after the meal, but nobody asked me. and i can guarantee you that my hands stayed in my pockets while amongst the animals!

so there you go. i'm all pumpkined out. the only other patch i hope i see this year is on the tv with charlie brown!

one day we are going to win a close game.

2011-10-15T20:13:00.000-05:00

until then, we'll just enjoy everything else about game day!

and we'll keep an eye on the start of basketball season! :)

puff is a downer.

2011-10-12T20:40:00.000-05:00

after i put reed to bed tonight, i went into william and wes' room to read. i picked up puff the magic dragon. we haven't read it in a while. that was obvious.

tonight was the first night that they questioned the entire book. why didn't jackie come play anymore? why was puff sad? i kind of miss the days when they just looked at the pictures. anyway...

we had a long conversation. long. included was the fact that little boys grow up. somehow they milked that into... "we grow up and don't have toys anymore?" "we don't live here?" "will i have my same friends?" and on and on and on until both of them were bawling. bawling. this was not the bedtime story i had envisioned.

all of this was through tears (with mama wondering what on earth is going on)...

wes: "but, i want william to live with me when i grow up."

william: "i can't, wes. you have to get married when you get old."

wes: "but, i want william to live with me forever."

william: "wes, you can't. you have to move to a house with a girl."

wes: "but i want to live in this house!"

william: "i can probably come visit you."

wes: "but i don't know who to marry. mama, who do i marry?"

mama is distraught and unable to speak because who knew puff could have this effect?!?!?

wes: "i'll just marry laurie or mary elliott or chandler."

william: "you wait til you're old to pick a girl, wes."

wes: "when is old? 7?"

william: "no. when you get to 10 then you're a grown up."

wes: "but i just want to live here with you. will you just live with me?"

mama finally snapped out of her confusion and stopped this conversation. after drying tears, i assured both of them that they can live here way past the age of 10, that they don't have to pick a girl tonight, that they can visit each other when they get old, and that we will not be reading puff again anytime soon!!

tomorrow night...we're going back to the jesus storybook bible!

happy birthday, chase!

2011-10-11T20:35:00.000-05:00

mama even skipped the ice cream cake this year and went all out and made oozy cakes! (but we still had baskin robbins ice cream to go with it!)

reed wanted no part of a picture or singing...he just wanted cake!!

chase...make a birthday wish that your middle child will decide to wear clothes by your next birthday. please. thanks. and happy birthday! :)

birthday in the delta

2011-10-08T15:34:00.002-05:00

it's this time of year in the delta!

it's also birthday season there, too! we went to help my parents celebrate turning 60. my dad is quick to point out that he doesn't turn 60 until the end of this month, but we included him in the celebration anyway!! it was a packed weekend!

on friday night, we met them at the crystal for dinner before heading to the house. after coconut pie (with candles), we went home to put the sleepy little people to bed. once they were tucked in, the 60 year olds got their present. this year, i put together a big basket of birthday wishes from friends and family and former students and co-workers. (thank you to all who participated!!!) they had a blast reading all the cards and stories, and we got to see a few funny pictures from their past. chase and i gave up at 1030, but they were up reading until after midnight! i'd say it was a success!

the rest of the weekend was spent being country bumpkins! saturday morning, the boys got on the motorcycles first thing. reed finally learned how to steer, so it was tough to get him off of them!

they also got to experience cotton firsthand. i really think they could have run up and down rows all day long!

unfortunately, it was the first weekend of picking season, so there were no trailers to play in anywhere. but, they did get to see pickers up close and personal and see how pallets were made.

next year, i'll be sure to call ahead and make sure there is a trailer for us to play in somewhere. walter...you're on notice!!! (ginger, you can bring your kids and go with me!)

we also went to play out at sky lake. the boardwalk goes on forever, and they thought it was great!

there was a fly-in out at mark gary's, so we went to look at all the planes. they got to see helicopters and planes land right in front of them, and there was no shortage of planes to climb on and "fly." conner was so sweet to help william and wes into his dad's plane and tell them all about it. he showed them how to make the wings and tail move and the differences in each plane (they all look the same to me)!!

since they weren't tired yet, they went to play on the canons.

and found some trees to climb, too.

have i mentioned that the way to get around town is not by car? it's by cart. they moved up from the horse and cart to the golf cart!

after supper on saturday night, we had birthday cake made by william and wes. and we should have brought the leftovers home with us. that was some good cake!

after church on sunday, my grandparents came over for lunch. i got no pictures, so just imagine a cute gray-haired couple here!

despite the fact that chase and i could barely keep our eyes open on the way home, those little people in the back didn't sleep a wink. they kept asking to stop and play at every cotton field that we passed. maybe i'll grow some cotton with our blueberries and cucumbers next year!

touch-a-truck 2011

2011-09-29T20:19:00.001-05:00

our city does the coolest thing every year. every september they provide all kinds of trucks, tractors, ambulances, race cars, helicopters, etc. for the kids to climb on/in. my little people get a big kick out of it. everyone is so friendly, too! william got to use the controls by himself and move some dirt on several different front loaders. he was giddy!! wes and reed would have stayed all day!

until next year...

gameday...again

2011-09-26T21:01:00.000-05:00

this past weekend, we celebrated a "huge" win over la tech. huge. yeah, if you saw that game...you know what i'm talking about. i vote to never play them again. just my two cents.

anyway...we left reed at home and just took the other two with us this game. they had a ball. and we got to walk through the new basketball practice facility, therefore...i had a ball! :)

go dawgs!

shockwave

2011-09-19T21:04:00.001-05:00

swim team started a few weeks ago. i took my camera to one of the first practices before they put the bubble over the pool. it becomes a dark, cave-like place once that bubble goes up, so i prefer the sunshiney pictures!!!

this year, our whole neighborhood is in the same group!

getting warmed up on the kickboard!

knox

william

mont

braxton

getting focused...

working on breathing correctly...

i've never been able to stick with the sports that don't involve a ball. (you should see my cheerleading/gymnastic abilities.) hopefully, i didn't pass that gene on to my kids. swim, william, swim!!

wes joined the club

2011-09-16T14:25:00.002-05:00

the no training wheels club!!

and if you were wondering, he's slightly excited about it!

how to make reed happy

2011-09-11T21:29:00.000-05:00

1. put him in the car

2. help a friend transport 8 dozen balloons to the church

3. the end

i finally got to go.

2011-09-09T21:52:00.001-05:00

last weekend, we made a quick trip to jackson for honey's birthday. tropical storm lee made sure we stayed indoors the entire time. that nixed the golf that chase had planned with his dad, but it gave william and wes the perfect opportunity to take me to the mississippi children's museum while reed slept one afternoon. i say that they took me because they've been four or five times before. this was my first time! and they made sure to show me around and point out their favorites.

way to go, mississippi! it seems like the media never has many good things to say about us, but this place is something we really can be proud of! my little people are looking forward to taking me for my second visit. and i'm hoping that the velcro wall will be open that time....maybe they'll need an adult to try it out!

day #1

2011-09-06T20:44:00.000-05:00

after weeks of screaming "i go to school!" when william and wes get out of my car in the morning, today was finally reed's turn! and he was excited about it.

at least until he got out of the car in the carpool line. he obviously didn't realize that mama wasn't going to go "play trains" with him. but, his teacher said that he didn't fuss long. once she asked him to come build a tower and play trains, he was a happy camper. so much so that when i picked him up today, he sat down on the floor and said, "no...reed's school!"

now that he knows the routine, i'll be interested to see how day #2 goes! whatever happens, thankfully it doesn't take long for him to get back to his baseline of "happy"!!

hail state!

2011-09-01T12:55:00.000-05:00

i know i've posted this before, but in honor of kickoff tonight....here's your smile for the day!

william, 22 months

Untitled from laura henson on Vimeo.

shootin'

2011-08-29T20:25:00.000-05:00

he took apart two baseball tees and a plastic stop sign so he could fashion a "gun to blow the bad people up with."

he drops the sidewalk chalk in the hole like it's a cartridge, and then he promptly blows the whole backyard to smithereens!

i'm not sure this bodes well for our future! and even if it does, i don't think any branch of the military will accept people who refuse to wear anything except underwear and pjs!

i'm declaring it!

2011-08-21T20:42:00.001-05:00

last tuesday, i woke up with the idea to potty train reed. so after breakfast, i put underwear on the kid, loaded him up with any and everything he wanted to drink, and we got busy. the first day was not pretty! but then something in his head clicked!! and he has been dry since wednesday afternoon!

he's made it through wednesday night church, the gym, kroger, 2 meals out, a bonfire, sunday school and church this morning, and 9 holes of golf this afternoon. i've had to pull the car over already because he's had to go, and we had to stop on #4 today and visit a tree! with that much success, i'm declaring it...i have 3 underwear-wearing little people!!!

i've done this several times, so i know i'll still be cleaning up an accident or two in the future, but i'm pumped that i can quit cutting out those pampers coupons in the sunday paper! it's a weird feeling to know i don't ever have to do this again...but, it's definitely not something i'll miss!! feel free to give me a high five when you see me! and give the little man in the underwear one, too!

at it again...

2011-08-17T17:12:00.000-05:00

it's not good when he wakes up asking for his "bachine." but once i get it out of the cabinet, he's pretty self-sufficient with it! i'm not sure that's a good thing at the age of 2, but i'm thankful for our "bachine!" it makes us all feel better!! check out that smile under the mask...he loves it!

six

2011-08-15T14:40:00.000-05:00

this morning was filled with sweets, presents, and taking his new bike for a test drive before school!

and then he headed out the door with his requested superman cookies to celebrate with his class.

it's shaping up to be a pretty good day for this 6 year old!!

happy birthday, william!

birthday bowling

2011-08-13T14:59:00.000-05:00

william turns 6 on monday, but we celebrated yesterday. we loaded down the car after school and headed to the bowling alley!

this was a great venue!! i have never stepped foot in our bowling alley, so i wasn't expecting too much. sure...it feels like 1980 when you walk in, but the place was empty which allowed us to have the run of the place. the people were more friendly and more helpful than any other place i've ever had a party. and the kids had a blast! maybe all the good vibes are because this is quite possibly the sweetest group of kids in the world. don't get me wrong....when you get a group of boys together, they will be....boys. crazy, goofy boys!

need proof?

but there was high-fiving going on all around, and they were all so good to each other. "way to go, noah!" "good job, jack!" "good throw, william!" and they looked out for reed, too, who looked way too cute in the smallest, cutest bowling shoes ever! they made sure he wasn't in the way when somebody was about to throw, made sure his fingers didn't get smushed in the ball spitter out thingy (i'm a frequent bowler. can you tell?), and brought him a ball when it was his turn. love them! even if they did bounce off the walls all afternoon which forced me to bed at 9pm!

it was really, really fun to watch them bowl, too! after throwing the ball (and sometimes falling down because they went too far and slipped!), they would get the best looks on their faces while waiting on the ball to reach the pins. it took a while sometimes! and then their reactions when it knocked the pins down or missed them altogether was hilarious!

they were too excited to eat the hotdogs, but they calmed down for a second to shove in some cake!

and then they proceeded to have a balloon war! note to self...for the next birthday party, just shut a bunch of boys in a room with some balloons!

if it weren't so tiring watching all that energy, i might just take these kids to the bowling alley every friday afternoon!

or maybe i'll just wait a year until william turns 7!

and it's upon us again!

2011-08-10T14:29:00.000-05:00

summer was too short! if you didn't know, i'm a fan of the summer. i like the heat. i like the sleeping late(r). i like not having to be in a strict routine. i definitely like not having to do the "get dressed, eat breakfast, brush your teeth, get your shoes on, get in the car!!!!" crazy dance every morning! but school is in session, and nobody contacted to me to get my opinion on the matter. i read in the paper last week that "they" (whoever "they" are) were concerned about having to cool the schools during triple digit temperatures, and "they" were worried about the extreme heat affecting bus riders.

hello?!?!? don't start school right after the 4th of july, and it won't be 109 degrees while you are trying to bus kids home. give it a few weeks and start at a normal time of the year. again...nobody asked me. and since i wasn't given a choice in the matter, my people are now in a nice, air-conditioned school room along with the rest of the world.

last week, we went to open house to meet the teachers and see our new classrooms. william and allie posed outside of their new room before heading in to get the lay of the land. (notice the gray tooth...this was two days before his awesome dentist trip!)

and then mary mize joined them for a quick picture with mrs. vaughn.

much, and i do mean much, praise has been heaped on this sweet lady. i know that we have a crazy, busy year ahead of us with her...but when william gets out of her class, he will apparently be able to quote every book of the bible by heart. and he should be able to score well enough on the SATs to get into harvard at the age of 6. i'll admit, i'm slightly nervous as to what this year will hold, but he is super excited. i guess i'll start filling out college applications tomorrow afternoon.

william and allie helped their younger siblings get acclimated in their new room.

wes and mary elliott have miss wanda this year. she's a ton of fun, and i know they are going to have a blast.

and if all else fails, there is a ton of cars/trucks/trains/blocks in the back of the room. he should totally be able to survive on that for a year!

then this week...the first day of school finally arrived. william had his bed made and clothes on within minutes of getting up. i had to drag wes out of the bed...despite the fact that william had every light possible on and was surely shaking the bed around while he made that top bunk! wes is 4. i'm dreading the teenage years.

anyway, we managed to get ready in enough time to get a few pictures before we headed out the door.

but before we made it to the car, wes had a meltdown. william was getting his lunch out of the fridge, and wes started crying because he wanted to stay for lunch, too. i had planned on picking him up at 1130, but he was adamant about staying. i just couldn't say no. so i threw together a pb and j and made a lunch in about 30 seconds. he was pumped and ready to go then!

william took the lead and showed wes how to be cool while walking in the building.

and then he made sure wes found his locker and hung his backpack in the correct spot.

the three amigos were ready for this year to begin. i had to force knox out of his desk to come take a picture. he was ready to get to learning something!!

and the three little amigos (younger siblings of those 3 in the picture above) that were two rooms down the hall were itching to get going as well!

i still say that it should be summer. but, with those happy faces and eager attitudes...i guess i'll accept that school is back in session. that pool better watch out, though...reed and i intend to keep on pretending like it's still summer!

2 days, 2 teeth

2011-08-08T15:44:00.002-05:00

yesterday before church, william walked in the den holding a bottom tooth. today he no longer has one of his top teeth.

however, today was not the usual loose tooth wiggling extravaganza that he so enjoys. a few months ago, he came in from outside saying that he got hit in the mouth and that his tooth was loose. it was, and it has been since then. a few days ago, that tooth started turning gray. apparently, the root had died or something of the sort, and that tooth had to be pulled.

and he was sooooo excited! no, i'm not being sarcastic. the 5 year old was giddy about having his tooth pulled. he asked me 14 times this morning if it was time to go to the dentist yet. it definitely helped matters that his favorite girl, allie, had two teeth pulled a few months ago. and since she said it was nothing, he trusted her. i guess. all i know is that he told the dentist to pull it out, never flinched when they put the mask on for the gas, never took his eyes off the movie he was watching, and never made a sound. he thought it was awesome. he laughed when it was over, and said, "mama...they pulled out my tooth, and i didn't even know it!"

clearly, i'm going to have to start going to a pediatric dentist.

other than some drool that he didn't know was dripping down his chin, this was just a day at the park. and now he has this cute, gaping smile to show for it!!

big boy

2011-08-03T13:58:00.000-05:00

yesterday, reed said bye-bye to his crib, and hello to a big boy bed!!

he thinks he's 6! can you tell?!?

with this change in sleeping arrangements, i am now feeling ancient! i no longer have a crib in commission at my house. however, the thought of not having to tote a pack 'n play with us everywhere we go almost makes up for it! almost!!

all aboard the big train!

2011-08-01T18:28:00.000-05:00

(at least for wes!) nothing like a regular old day shooting hoops with horatio webster and detrick white.

how many of you hard core msu basketball fans are jealous?? chase sure is!

the beach...again

2011-07-24T20:59:00.001-05:00

we got lucky enough to go back to the beach again this summer. i'd say that chase has had his fill of sand, water and seafood, but i could have stayed for a few more weeks. if i come up missing, you'll know where to find me!

the boys got down and got sandy as soon as they could!

come to find out, william was really good at catching those "creatures" that make holes in the sand as soon as the wave goes out. i have no idea what they are called, but within minutes he had a handful of them. he called them his creatures, and he put them in a cup and brought them back up to our room. it took us until the last day we were there to figure out what that horrible, fishy smell was. yes...that would two cupfuls of dead creatures on the counter by the wet bar. next year...the creatures stay at the beach!!

this next picture made me laugh. i'm sure that when my kids think about me, this is the picture they see in their heads!

after many castles, turtles, alligators, holes, and anything else you could possibly build in the sand, the little people figured out how to have fun in the water!

william got in on some boogie board action,

and he was loving it...

until he wiped out!! and then he refused to do it again!

wes and daddy watched the wipeout...

and then wes just decided to let mama help him out!

reed just looked at me like i was crazy when i asked him if he wanted to do it!

william and wes spent lots of time on this float that we found...

and even reed liked riding in the boat!

we did go to the pool a little while we were there, but it was torture to get in the thing because it was so stinkin' cold!!! i don't know how it could be so cold in the middle of july, but it was!

they weren't cold for long, however, because the "bubble bathtub" that was the size of the town that i grew up in made for a fun way to get clean and warm up!

the lazy river was slightly better in the temperature department!

we spent our nights filling up on seafood at some of our favorite spots, and we tried out some new ones as well! the places with music and/or playgrounds are always a hit!

we also liked hanging out on our balcony watching birds, kites and eating ice cream! just like at home...clothes were optional.

and playing a few games of trouble always brings out the competitiveness in us all!

and you know we had to ride some go-carts while we were there! poor reed was just shy of the 3 foot height limit. next year, he's in for sure!!

after one last look at the beach (in our pjs), we packed up and headed home.

as we drove out, i pointed out to chase that i thought there was a tornado over in the direction we were headed. it was a skinny tornado, but it was spinning just like a tornado. my over-analyzing 5 year old is hollering at us to turn on the radio and listen for warnings about the tornado. we pulled over at the nearest gas station, and a "local" told me that no...it was a water spout. hmmmm....learn something new every day!! after grabbing my phone and looking up what in the world a water spout was, we sat there and watched it slowly disappear back into the sky. after william determined that it was safe, we got back on the road for the long drive home. we only had one fight, one near meltdown in subway at lunch, one actual meltdown, and one request to vomit. that's not too shabby for us! with that in mind, i'm going to see if i can talk chase into another beach trip this fall! :)

yay...tennis

2011-07-19T14:51:00.001-05:00

last week, william and wes participated in tennis camp. yes, it was the hottest week of the year. it said 110 degrees everyday on the thermometer in my car, and there's no telling how hot it actually was on the blue courts, but they had fun. sweat and all.

for me, i loved seeing them out there. it brought back so many memories. i spent every day of the summer with my friend, rachael, on the tennis courts from 1-5pm. sometimes i would ride on the handlebars of her bike to the courts while holding our rackets so she could steer. one time she got so mad about something at practice that she stormed off on that one bike, so that i had to walk home alone. i'm off on a tangent here, but we are so close to the courts that i can totally picture my kids riding their bikes to practice in a few years. of course, if they take up golf, we may have to come up with a different solution because it would probably be pretty tough to carry a bag of clubs on a bike. maybe i can talk chase into a golf cart.

aaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnddddd....back to the tennis!

they warmed up doing some ladder drills.

then they played a little dodge ball.

and yes, they actually picked up a racket and hit a few balls, too!

i guess good form is just in william's genes?!?!

poor reed sat at the gate and whined the whole time because he wanted to play, too.

his brothers seemed concerned about him...at least for a second!

we made it through the week without a heat stroke. i don't know if this was the beginning of their love for a new sport or not. but, it sure would make this mama happy to sit and watch them play tennis in hot, sunny weather rather than watch them play soccer in freezing, cold conditions. just sayin'! so...now i think i'm going to go teach wes how to ride on the handlebars of william's bike.

fwimmin!

2011-07-15T14:31:00.000-05:00

reed has joined all the other people around here in the pool loving department. he asks to go "fwimmin" all the time, and he is becoming a natural! just a few weeks ago, he proved that he could save himself should he happen to fall in water while wearing winter clothes.

and since then, he's been unstoppable! :)

reed "fwimmin" at almost two years old.

Untitled from laura henson on Vimeo.

and here is the underwater view. very cool!

the guys on the recycle truck must think we're crazy

2011-07-12T09:58:00.001-05:00

that's 23 half gallons of milk. anybody got a cow they want to sell?

how to turn 2

2011-07-09T20:29:00.000-05:00

start the morning off by coming downstairs to open presents...

have some fun trying out the new sleeping bag...

hit up shipley's for a birthday doughnut...

pick some blueberries with your brothers...

enjoy some chick-fil-a for lunch...

get all snug in your bed ready for the first good night of sleep as a 2 year old...

of course, that's not before you serenade yourself at supper!

happy birthday from laura henson on Vimeo.

happy 2nd birthday, reed!!

josie

2011-07-07T19:30:00.000-05:00

I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14

this past january, a friend of mine had twins. carmen and josh keith welcomed elijah and josie on january 20th. it seems as if everyone who has twins has to stay for an extended period of time in the NICU due to complications that often arrive involving the birth of twins. but these two kiddos defied the odds and came straight home!

about a month ago, little josie was diagnosed with Saggital Craniosynostosis. this means that the bones on the top of her skull have fused too early. after researching procedures and surgeons, they came to the decision that a doctor in san antonio was the best option for her. and they leave tomorrow morning for a little over two week stay in texas! the surgery will be performed on july 14th, and they will hopefully get to come home on the 23rd. josie will have to wear a helmet for a year afterwards.

so, i'm asking all you blog stalkers for prayer for this precious family. they not only have to endure surgery for one kid, but they are leaving behind elijah and older brother, noah, for the duration of their stay. those two will be in the capable hands of grandparents, but still....

carmen started a blog for others to keep up with josie's progress.

www.josie-journey.blogspot.com

she explains in much more detail what exactly is going on. i didn't want to type it all here since you can go read her version of it for yourself. also, she's new to the blogosphere, so she doesn't have many followers. so, hop on over there and leave a word of encourgement and let them know you'll be praying for them. or don't...just pray for them. i know they'd be extremely grateful.

the next phil

2011-07-06T08:51:00.000-05:00

reed took advantage of being the only kid home this week, and he played golf alongside his daddy a few afternoons ago.

the boy loves a ball of any kind, but i think the fact that the tv is on the golf channel at all hours of the day has influenced his love of this sport. unfortunately, reed believes he is left handed. the wicked serve of a lefty has it's advantages on the tennis court, but not so much on the golf course. especially since they don't make plastic clubs for left handed almost 2 year olds. oh well...i guess if he learns to hit the ball with the backside of the club, whenever he does actually get some clubs where the face of the club is the part that comes in contact with the ball, he'll be that much better!!

tee-ing it up while daddy tries his best to convince the boy that he is right handed...

no such luck, daddy!

working over #11.

he was actually very patient and tried so hard to do exactly what daddy did. he would wait quietly out of the way while daddy hit his shot, and then he would run up and put his ball in the exact spot that chase's ball had just been and hit it.

i've got a racquet or two that doesn't care if you're right or left handed. i think we'll go work on his serve tomorrow.

root, root, root for the home team!

2011-07-04T07:47:00.000-05:00

we finished up our baseball season just in time...it's hot out there! we had our end of the season party at mcalister's a few weeks ago. the parents were happy to take advantage of the kids eat free night while the kids were happy to receive trophies!! win-win situation!

happy william...

happy buddies...

happy team!

we even had fireworks!

2011-07-02T20:45:00.001-05:00

reed doesn't turn two until next saturday, but we had his party this weekend. the country club was kind enough to host his party for him...complete with inflatables, games, face painting, balloon animal making clowns, bbq, snowcones, and even a gigantic fireworks show!! true...some people were there for a 4th of july celebration, but the rest of us were there to celebrate 2 years of reed! :)

reed and his best buddy, griffin, ran all over the place like they owned it. look at these faces!!! it's like they are saying, "you wanna mess with us?!? bring it!" i'm a little scared of the high school years!

everybody else got in on the fun, too.

snow cones were a hit!

after griffin posed for his GQ magazine spread,

we sang to the birthday boy!

and he and everyone else thoroughly enjoyed his cookies!

before we knew it, the glow necklaces had been handed out, it was almost dark, and almost time for the fireworks!

and the show mesmerized everybody!

happy 2nd birthday, roo!

need for speed

2011-06-29T09:19:00.002-05:00

in the minds of my children, we go to the beach for one thing...go carts. every year, we make sure to hit up the local track and get our fill of racing. until this year, we have always gone by ourselves because nobody else wanted to go. this year, however, we talked everybody else into it, and judging by the smiles...i'd say they liked it!!

and a trip to lulu's right after is sure to put a smile on everybody's face!

some sand in our toes

2011-06-28T08:49:00.000-05:00

the place we stayed was across the street from the beach on the bay side. so the beach is really a non-factor in our "beach" vacation. as you can see from previous pictures, with all the water slides and cool pools, none of our kiddos seemed to mind the lack of sand between their toes. but we figured we should at least go to the beach while we were at the beach! and it was a big hit...well, at least with most everybody.

we chose a different boardwalk this year, and it was a much shorter walk. it made for happier feet for sure!

i don't know when this kid got so big. is he 12?

at least these two don't look like teenagers.

wes was totally digging the beach. he didn't want to leave. we are headed back at the end of the summer to actually stay on the beach. i think this boy will get his fill of the sand!

but everybody got in on the action!

well i take that back...these two little ones didn't care much for the beach...

and they preferred to be held.

the sun didn't show it's face much while we were there, but a moon did.

these two stood around and tried to look cool.

so did these three!

and then i got a new profile pic for facebook!

so...our trip to the beach while we were at the beach was a big success, and mine are ready to go back. me too!

the other pool

2011-06-27T09:27:00.001-05:00

a few days, we went to the "other" pool. it was probably the overall favorite, and it was only called the "other" pool because you had to walk down by the bay to get to it. nonetheless, it had a great water slide, and all the kiddos loved it!

"swide down, mama! swide down."

we tried to get one of those cool pictures of everybody jumping in at the same time, but the three 5 year olds and a 4 year old had a hard time jumping on cue.

even with uncle crank's (we re-named him this trip since that's what reed calls him...i think crank fits him perfectly!) help, it still didn't really work!

after more playtime...

and rest time...

we were sure to not forget snacktime!

all that hard work was followed by a trip to cosmo's. you know the people working at front desk hate to see you coming and when you say, "17 and a high chair, please"...well, let's just say that they are probably pretty happy to see you leave!! but, we had a great meal and were entertained by some cute dancers!

and yes...we really did go to the beach while we were at the beach. maybe i'll get that in on the next post!

i have to split this up

2011-06-26T14:14:00.001-05:00

this past week, all 18 hensons spent the week at the beach. with 8 kids under the age of 5, it can get a tad bit loud...but they didn't seem to mind!! chase told me there was no way i could do just one post since i had so many pictures. so as not to bore all 4 of my readers, i'm going to split this up and do several posts to help out you and me both!

after some early morning cartoons in which somewhere between 2-7 kids piled in william and wes' bed, they were ready to start the day each day!

every day, we split our time at the pools, lazy river and water slides.

don't let that picture above fool you. that is the only time they were in those floats. yes...i now am the parent to those annoying kids that swim through the lazy river without an inner tube. the ones that swim like a bullet underneath your tube, splashing, hollering...yep, those are my kids. and yes, i said not nice things about those kids in previous years. yay.

that's reed practicing his scowl for when he turns 14!

and we made sure to stop on this day (and every day) for snack time!

in the afternoons, most everybody would take a nap. reed tried to convince me on several occasions that he would totally not bother anyone and sleep perfectly with william and/or wes.

the little squirmy man did not win that battle. maybe next year!!

after naps, we would head back out and play some more.

sam had a death grip on that bee's antennae, but he looked cute floating around!

i didn't get any pictures of reed swimming because i was in the water with him, but by the last day he was jumping off the wall at warp speed. over and over. and over. followed by a nice little fit when i made him get out. nothing a popsicle or two couldn't fix, though! bribing is perfectly accepted while on vacation, right?!?

stay tuned for part 2, 3 and maybe 4! :)

hello, pool

2011-06-22T09:16:00.001-05:00

the little people have been enjoying the pool for a while, but i just now got to join them since the cast finally came off. and enjoy it we have!

we might need to work on the rotation of his flip!!

let me just throw in a big thank you to our super cool neighbors with the super cool pool in their backyard!! i've been trying for ages to talk chase into a pool. he says no because i can just walk a few feet and be at their pool. i hope they don't stop liking us! :)

happy day to all you fathers

2011-06-19T07:14:00.001-05:00

just wanted to give a shout out to my dad today and say happy father's day. anybody that has ever been around him for even a second knows that he embodies the true meaning of a servant. selfless servant. i hope my kids get at least half of that gene from you! i love you.

(i ran across this picture and just thought he was too cute back in 1987!)

and a happy father's day to my father-in-law as well. i couldn't have done any better in that department. he's almost as easy-going as i am. almost. :)

as for the father in this house...y'all know he can't stand the tributes that everybody writes on their blogs/facebook pages, so i won't. he got an iPad for our anniversary a few weeks ago, so i'm going to say that is his father's day present. but don't think that is all he received on this special day. last week i asked william and wes what they wanted to give daddy for father's day. they had specific requests.

william: "i'm gonna get him a flashlight in case he needs to go to the bathroom at night. that way he'll be able to see when he gets up."

wes: "i'm gonna get him some chicken noodle soup so in case he gets sick, mama can cook him some to make him better."

so there you have it ladies and gentleman...every father's dream. a flashlight and soup. what more could you ask for?!?!?!

and since i can't write a tribute, i'll leave you with this video dedicated to chase and all you other awesome dads out there!!

4 months later

2011-06-14T07:52:00.000-05:00

february 15th - date of injury

june 14th - final (4th) cast removal

i've still got a splint and never-ending physical therapy to look forward to, but after 4 months i am finally on the road to getting my right hand back!!!

vbs 2011 is in the books!

2011-06-10T14:11:00.000-05:00

can i get an amen?!?! mama was in charge of recreation this week at bible school. outside. it was only 135 degrees outside every single day, so i can say with certainty that i'm glad this week is over!!

despite the heat, the little people had fun!

until next year...

dirt

2011-06-05T21:00:00.000-05:00

our sweet homebuilder neighbor friend likes to be nice to all the boys in our cul-de-sac every year and gets this pile of dirt for them! this little person is especially grateful!

summer

2011-05-30T13:46:00.000-05:00

now all we're waiting on is a waterproof cast so we can ditch the fountain for the pool!

#1

2011-05-28T19:26:00.000-05:00

today, he joined the ranks of big kid"dom"!!!!

the rules have changed

2011-05-26T14:45:00.001-05:00

we have now reached the midway point of our t-ball/pee-wee/baseball/coach pitch season. the name is kind of elusive because the rules change half way through the season. it started out as t-ball, but as of this week...we are in the big leagues. or coach pitch league. same difference, right?!?

we got there early for the game this week so all of the little people could get some field time.

and then the two littlest people parked it (at least for a few minutes) to watch the big boys play.

they are so cute!

the bad thing about coach pitch is the bat. william can crush a wiffle ball with a plastic bat in the backyard, but that metal bat takes some serious umph to get it around by the time the ball arrives. we have quite a few players with this problem! :) but even so, he still managed to get a hit his very first at bat when getting pitched to. and he even made it all the way home.

his very first at bat in a coach pitch game...

coach pitch from laura henson on Vimeo.

and now i'm going to go find a good protein shake and a weight training regimen for skinny 5 year olds...you know, something to help our bat speed!!

pomp and circumstance...kindergarten style

2011-05-19T16:26:00.000-05:00

i now am the mother of a kindergarten graduate. where did this year go?!? two nights ago, we watched as william and around 29 other little people graduated from a really fun first year of school. they were precious in their caps and gowns, and i'm going to need to stock up on some sort of antidepressant to keep the emotions in check when we do this again in 12 years....if not for myself, then definitely to hand out to the other parents (ginger, i'm talking to you).

ready to go graduate...

posing with his fans...

and his banner...

william and allie...

all lined up and ready to go...

singing his way up to the stage...

obviously, he thought the speaker's message was very captivating.

receiving his diploma and awards...

reed had great fun clapping for each graduate as their name was called.

getting a hug from the coolest kindergarten teacher in the world, miss dennis...

being a christian school, each child is given a character award. william received the "kindness" award. i have seen how he acts towards his "medium sized brother" at home sometimes, so it made my heart happy to see that he doesn't act that way towards others at school!! each class also had a "fruit of the spirit" award which he received as well. as cool as it is to see god work in your child, it's just so humbling when others acknowledge it. wow.

but as proud as i was of him, i was just as proud of his friends! these two are like my own, and i'm so glad william has allie and knox. they made it through the first of day of school together...

they made it through the learning fair together...

and they graduated together...

i can't wait to see what the coming years hold for these three!

wes kept his composure for the ceremony because he knew there were snacks waiting afterwards...

what a fun night! way to go, william! we are so proud you!

leaving the 3s behind

2011-05-11T15:41:00.000-05:00

today, wes turned 4. it's been a week-long celebration for him, but his excitement didn't dwindle at all. this boy loves a birthday...and it's even better if the birthday in question is his!

this morning, he woke up to lots of goodies...

and chocolate donuts!

no birthday for wes would be complete without some cars and trucks!

he celebrated at school yesterday with joey cookies. (joey is the snake that he sleeps with...are they not the cutest cookies ever???)

i know he was excited despite the look.

we need to work on our camera face!

last week, he got two early birthday presents...a V reader ("just wike weeyum") and his very own tent! at what age do the boy scout campouts where daddy takes all 3 boys camping for the weekend start?? i'm ready!!! :)

also, last week he celebrated at a local jumpy place with all of his buddies and a lightning mcqueen cake. i don't know how we made it out of the bouncy place with all 30 kids still in one piece, but somehow they all survived...even wes' head!

happy birthday, bud!! hope you sleep great your first night as a 4 year old! i know i sure will!

adding to the injured list

2011-05-10T10:49:00.000-05:00

exactly one week ago, wes started feeling sorry for me. he didn't want me to be the only one injured around here. according to him, he "was wunnin' and i wan into a table." this little episode resulted in this...

(sorry it's a little blurry. i was still highly medicated at the time...all the camera buttons looked the same.)

one week later (and not in the mood for a picture), it looks like this...

why is it bigger and bloodier, you ask? well, that's because he has busted it open 3 times since the table. 3 times. i wasn't aware he hit his head this much. y'all remind me of this in the coming years...it could explain a lot!

i was hoping that after the 3rd bust he learned a valuable lesson: don't headbutt your brother (at least when your forehead is in this condition). however, seeing them on the slide earlier makes me think that learned lesson never was learned. so...maybe in 6 months or so when it's finally healed, i'll be able to show you the nice, big, ugly scar above his eyebrow.

and after this, i think i now know why god gave him the biggest, bushiest head of hair of any kid i know!

i so special

2011-05-08T18:27:00.000-05:00

happy mother's day to me...

and to all you other fabulous mothers out there!!

bingo was his name-o

2011-05-07T16:52:00.001-05:00

this past week, the k-4, kindergarten, and pre-1st classes at william's school put on a play called "down on grandpa's farm." they all worked so hard and did such a great job! i was especially proud of my little bingo who barked his way into the spotlight. watch out, broadway!

if you'd like to see for yourself how close we are to broadway, click play below! :)

bingo from laura henson on Vimeo.

pain and prayer

2011-05-02T21:34:00.001-05:00

i'm lying here in the bed typing with one hand. this morning i had surgery to repair the torn ligament in my right hand. yes...same thing i've been dealing with since february. and yes, church basketball has seen the last of me.

the pain is just now becoming somewhat tolerable. WOW...the pain. i did not anticipate this afternoon being so bad. chase told me i was still asleep in recovery with tears rolling down my face. when the dilaudid didn't touch the pain, i guess i should have known what was coming. oh well, my alarm clock will be set every 4 hours through the night tonight to pop a few pills...that's for sure!

i'm not trying to have a pity party or make anybody feel sorry for me. i say all this because i know my situation pails in comparison to my friends. remember the gillons?

justin was diagnosed with a brain tumor back in february. last week he had a successful embolization that cut off the blood supply to his tumor. tomorrow morning at 530 they will arrive at vanderbilt to have it removed. it's a 10 hour surgery. my heart is heavy for them. heavy for justin and what he will undergo. heavy for kim for what she will undergo. heavy for noah and katherine for what they will undergo. heavy but hopeful.

last week, i was driving william to school on a nasty, rainy morning. wes was singing "rain, rain go away." william piped up, "but, i like the rain!" when i asked him why he replied, "because it waters the flowers and it makes stuff grow." amen. nothing like getting preached to by a 5 year old.

so...kim and justin, i pray that when this storm is over and even while you are walking in the midst of it you will be able to praise god for his protection and bringing you through it. and when you look back on this rainy season in the months and years to come, i hope you see just how much he made you "grow."

i know i'll be awake for much of the night, so i'll be praying for y'all lots. to everybody else that's reading this...please lift them up as well.

psalm 121

i will lift up my eyes to the hills,

from where does my help come?

my help comes from the lord,

maker of heaven and earth.

he will not let your foot slip.

he who watches over you will not slumber.

indeed, he who watches over israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

the lord will watch over you.

he is your shade at your right hand.

the sun will not harm you by day

nor the moon by night.

the lord will keep you from all harm.

he will watch over your life.

the lord will watch over your comings and goings

both now and forever more.

(if i messed that scripture up, i'm sorry. i'll read it tomorrow under less medication and fix it if need be.)

will you be my friend?

2011-04-29T06:54:00.000-05:00

i got these pictures in an email along with these captions from my neighbor a few days ago. i thought he was at their house playing, but i guess he was trying to snag a girlfriend. at least he has good taste!!

wes: "i like you this much."

wes: "can you like me this much?"

laurie: "i'll think about it...maybe."

wes: "dang...women."