1x week

I think I can only blog once a week. The days are just going by too fast. so let's see what's happening? it started snowing around noon and b/c of it, tonight it took Bryce 2 hours to get home from work... just 18 miles! He's not feeling well either so he pretty much ate dinner and went to bed.
My mom is in FL this week and everyday she sends me a text pic of her there, and I send her one of me... in the rain, wind, and snow! It's been fun. She sure did pick the perfect week to go!
We refinanced our mortgage yesterday. got a great rate.
We are hopefully getting our home owners association turned over to us *finally* on Feb. 19th. YEA!
cavan has been put into the Accelerated readers program at school... b/c he is such a fantastic reader! :D His teacher got engaged over the weekend, wedding in October.
ryan has been going through some harder times with discpline, but we are working it out. I think the expectations at school have gone up to better prepare him for 3rd grade. his teacher is doing a fantastic job though at knowing when to push and when to help.
Megan sings a new song that she made up about everyone and everything and at the end she says, "and it is all true!" which it is, so I think she's done with her story telling phase!
Bible study has been so enriching! I just love the way Beth Moore "sees" the pictures of God's word! We watched another video today about Zechariah and Elizabeth and the nugget of it was how they deserved double the blessings from God, but the one thing they kept asking for was a child. ASk yourself "why does it seem so easy for everyone else but so hard for me?" and realize that it is b/c YOU were chosen to see the supernatural work of God! You areblessed, not cursed. So COOL! Watch the video at her website, http://www.livingproof.com/ for just $5! YOu can watch them all for just $25.
Well, I guess I better go out and shovel the driveway again. I can get it all done during the commercial break... My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I love this movie!
See you next week!

Accountability People!

Well, it's been two hours shy of my last post, and no one, not one of you out there reading this, has asked me how I am doing on my excercising! Guess my sistopher isn't reading the blog! I mean, C'mon, a blog about color-dyed tea sandwiches 40 years ago has gotten 17 comments! Hee,hee!

Well, what have I been doing all week you ask? Honestly, I'm thinking and I really don't know what I've been doing! I can see that I've been doing some laundry, b/c it is strewn about all clean and sorted, but not put away. We have just been picking out the clothes everyday from the piles and now as i look, it has dwindled down to almost nothing, and the hampers are full again with dirty clothes! Why is this always a challenge for me? I'm know I'm not the only one. Someone should write a"how to do laundry for Dummies" book and could really make a fortune!
Is the idea to just stay home everyday of the week and do a load each day? Do I need to accept that I just must be constantly sorting, flipping, folding, hanging, putting away as part of my daily activities?

I was fighting through a head cold early in the week. no school on monday so that was like the weekend. Helped teachers at school Wednesday morning and Today. Bible study was thursday. Took cavan to soccer, Megan to ballet, all to AWANA, Ryan to Tae-kwon-do. yep, just busy I guess. Uppercase Living orders came in. NICE STUFF everyone got! Had my first conference call for the Co. on Tuesday night...got a few good tips. I have an Open house on sunday with my palatine connections. Should be a good turnout. Word is spreading fast.

OK, so incase you ARE wondering how the excercising is going, take a WILD guess? not good, not good at all. I will try to do better this week. Controlling my eating would be a great start.

Oh My Freezin-ness!

I am up, it is 7am, and it is -4 degrees, with a windchill temp. of -21! FREEZIN'! What really stinks is that I will have to go out at some point to the stinkin' grocery store! And the stinkin' post office! I will most definitely wait until Bryce gets home from his "side job" at noon. better put my polertec fleece outfit back on! I just hope that the heat is working at full force in the van. It's been "acting up", making knocking noises once in awhile and I noticed that at one point the heat was not hot, just warm. Luke-warm.
Good news, yesterday I was reminded (by watching the lake house video) that I need to get my butt on that excercise machine that's hiding in the dark, damp basement. I have exactly 6 1/2 weeks to trim down to an acceptable figure! that's when I surprise Ryan and take him on a 4-day trip to Tampa! After that, I should feel good in a routine and be able to work harder on slimming down the rest of me, acceptable figure for this summer! now, if I can just control my eating habits this summer (so hard!) through September, I should be lookin' mighty F-i-n-e for the big trip to Disney! And the Big-important Henderson family picture! Wouldn't that be nice to be able to watch that video next winter and actually smile at the clips of myself? Pictures are forever. Ok people, I want you to hold me accountable to this! I won't do it if no one asks me how's it going and encouraging me to keep it up! Hey, just tell me to watch the video again!

A lot to say!

I think I have a lot to say... seeing as I am thinking of at least three different things to blog about. First of all, I am totally disgusted with the show "Yo gabba gabba" that is on Nick Jr. Iam trying to get a video posted from youtube.com but am having trouble. guess you'll have to check it out for yourself.
Anyway, It appears as if someone was high on drugs while creating it. I thought Teletubbies were weird, this is just plain WRONG!

Now I want to ask you all if you have seen the movie "Waitress" yet? We watched it last week. it's OK. If you haven't, it's about a waitress who makes up her own Pie creations, based on her feelings... she doesn't love her husband anymore, but gets pregnant and has an affair. yea, i know, not high quality...Well, the other day, I did some of my own creating! I got really mad at my darling husband. I mean, really mad, like I- haven't- been -this -mad- in- a- longtime- mad. It was before dinner, so I didn't want to cook dinner, b/c I'm so mad. So I whipped up some pancakes, you know, for the kids. the next day, we try to resolve our differences and I'm still mad and have to cook dinner, again. So this time, I actually created a new dish! It turned out pretty good and Bryce says that it is good and what do I call it? (that's what the people ask about every pie and she gives it a name) So I tell him it's called "I'm- right- this- time- and -you're- wrong slop" he laughed. things were on the mend and today I created another new dish, which he liked and asks,"whatta call this one?" and I say, "slow- cooker-I -was- right, -but- I- forgive- you" he laughed. I guess that's what happens when you try to not go to the grocery store and just cook with what you have!

Megan is sick. Very sick. We are on a long weekend, so we'll see you else ends up with it. She started coughing yesterday and now she is so congested, coughing, and feverish. bloodshot and glassy eyes. She spent the morning watching t.v at PaPa's house, (in her little home-made clubhouse) so I could go to my Beth Moore video lesson. We are studying the building of the tabernacle and it is truly fascinating! The study is called, A woman's heart, God's dwelling place. Today she dug very deep into the making of the lampstand and what it represents. The lampstand has 7 branches, which represent the 7 fruits of the spirit. it has the decore of almond buds, blossoms and flowers. 3 seasons, spring, summer, harvest. it burns on pure olive oil, continuously. jesus is the oil. the olives were beaten for the oil. Jesus was beaten. You can watch it at her website for just $5. She just has a gift for explaining it all, breaking it down, and painting a picture. I am just so thankful for good teachers of the word.

Is nothing safe anymore?

I got thinking after talking with my dear Friend Heather the other day... we were talking about those emails that get passed on about plastic and metal food containers having high levels of cancer-causing chemicals. YOu really can't get away from NOT buying food in those containers, right? And all the recalls on products made in China that have lead-based paints. Got this new email from my other dear Friend Tina.

This is true http://www.snopes.com/

Chinese Thongs sandals sold at Wal mart!!! DO NOT BUY also They might be sold at other places also???

All I have to say is... OWW! EWW! OH NASTY! How in the world are we suppose to avoid all this stuff?

Still here...

Some of you have asked me for a new post. Well, it's just that I don't really have anything to say right now. I had my first Open House last night and it went allright. I have 5 catalogs to get out to those who are interested, but couldn't make it, so we'll see what comes of that. It was good to get the first one over with, in the comfort of family and close friends.

The Next Generation

Well, I finally did it... I finally got one of my kids (my daughter!) to rub lotion on my legs! Ryan actually did it for umm, about a minute and he got a quater! Cavan did NOT want to. MEGAN, however, she did my legs, feet, hands, fingers, wrists, and I had to stop her when she wanted to do my face! She got 3 quaters out of me! She said that she would do it for free though b/c she loves me. (ooh.) Next time I will try to get her on video b/c she was a stitch... very into it. Dramatic really! When payments came, Cavan expected some too. Oops! that created a meltdown! We ended the night with a promise for just him to earn money tomorrow a different way and a prayer about his angry, hurt feelings. (ooh.)

For those of you who may not know, my Mom would entice my sister and I with money to rub lotion on her. For hours! And brush her hair, for hours! I think we must've done it before dinner while we waited for Dad to come home. What a smart lady! I have only experienced the feeling of "feeling old" just a few times and tonight I added one. Megan was putting lotion on my feet and was intently lookig at my ankles and asked "what ae these white things" and I realized she was talking about WRINKLES! Just like MOM! :D I remember thinking that about Mom when I was rubbing her feet!

I am LOVING this age in all of them!

We're Alive!

Well, the bomb squad showed up around 1am and Bryce and I had a great view out the window. We watched as two officers set up what we think was a scanning device on the trash bag, b/c they walked back to the truck. then in a few minutes, they came back and started to open the bag and dig through it. We watched them take something out, and looked like they took batteries out. then they just left all the trash scattered on the ground and left. Bryce found out this morning that it was indeed a smoke detector!
Today I am going to finally take down all the christmas stuff, including the tree! I was waiting for the kids to go back to school b/c they kept telling me, "no, no don't take it down!" i also have Audrey's christmas gift to mail out b/c I left it here. and, then just some grocery shopping and cleaning.

Waiting for the bomb squad

So, tonight at around 6pm I hear an anoying beep in a 3-beep pattern. I think my ears are ringing. Fianlly at 8pm I ask Bryce to check the basement for a beeping noise. Nothing. I stand in the middle of the living room, and follow the beeping outside to the front porch. Ahh, there it is, coming from one of the places across the street. So, I decide to take some sleep-aid so that I will be able to fall asleep, if it is still beeping. Yes, it was. I wake up at midnight, and can still hear it. I lay there, listening, trying to not listen. Then, I hear pounding on the front door. I wake Bryce and say to him," there is still that beeping and now someone is knocking at our door." I was half asleep and could see the reflections of police lights flashing outside the window. More pounding. Bryce gets up. Doorbell and pounding. Bryce gets dressed. (pants and shirt.) i get up and sit at the top of the stairs to listen. Street is barricaded the entire block. Elgin police telling us suspicious trash bag on the curb. (trash is on Tuesday) and to LEAVE THE HOUSE, the bomb squad is coming out! sgt. orders. Bryce says "OK, thanks we've got three little ones to get ready. " Bryce says to me, "we aren't going no where." Phone starts ringing. neighbors calling him and asking if we are leaving. Bryce says, "heck no. " So, we all gather outside in the back and talk about how rediculous it is. Must be a smoke detector with batteries still in it. One family already on their way out, but they only have 1 child. We decide as a group to just stay and move to the back of the houses. So, now an hour later, still no bomb squad, just waiting. never a dull moment around here. Just when you start to get comfy again, excitement! I know the paternal parents are disappointed they weren't here babysitting. ;)
stay tuned after 8 am. to find out the ending. I'll either be back, or I won't. :D

I LOVE it!

This is some of my Uppercase Living! We got them up today and LOVE it! We especially like how "bless All' looks with all the christmas cards around the door, but those will be coming down soon. it is above our entryway door in the kitchen. The other one is in our living room between the two chairs and is our custom made expression and actually took it from the dining hall at UPBC! Tonight we had our friends The Becks over for dinner and their three children. They were suppose to come over on New Years Eve, but the snow kept them home. Anyways, Heather wanted to jump right into the new catalog and I think she is in love! She is a very good scrapbooker and decorator and it was fun to look at and talk about some of the ideas with her.
Next Friday is my first Open House, so you can pray for me in that I will have a great turn out!
PS. I just realized that I never posted my draft of the new year, so scroll down to check it out!

Spiritual Birthdays

Today is Ryan's spiritual birthday! he is a 2 year old christian! This morning when he woke up, he asked me if today was january 3rd and when I said yes it was, I suddenly remembered! And he proceeded to say, "Oh good. today is my spiritual birthday!" Amazing that he remembers! God is good! Then Cavan wanted to know if it was his too, and I reminded him no that is March 6th and then Cavan says, "so ryan, what did you get for your birthday?" Ryan started to explain the difference and so now Cavan understands. I think he was just too distracted by the tv being on and was just hearing buzz words like "birthday" :D
Ryan was in Kindergarten that year when at bedtime he asked about Jesus dying on the cross and death and going to heaven. Bryce and I took that opportunity to not rush through bedtime and ended up with ryan wanting to be saved! he had a fantastic teacher that year, Mrs. Lunde, who I think really had an impact on his learning and understanding the truth and realness of Jesus. Her spiritual birthday is Feb 2nd and she made it known by having it up on the calendar and talking about what that meant. That made me Google 'spiritual birthday' and found all kinds of things about marking that day, with a tradition of some sort for your kids. I loved that and so i have! I was also feeling a little left out by not knowing the exact date of my re-birth. I think I remember it being on a Palm Sunday b/c we had been hearing the story of Jesus coming and I just remember the palm branches from the flannel board! I remember asking about it at dinner and then later sitting on my parents bed and talking to my dad about it and he had me look up some popular verses in my white bible about sin. I remember him asking me if I believed all of it and I said yes I did and I remember praying. And I remember that we wrote it in my bible. I do not have that bible anymore or at least have not been able to find it again. Well, I remember that I always told people that I got saved when I was 8. I googled Easter, 1983 and found it was on April 3rd that year so, I counted back 7 days and came up with 3.26.83 and this will be the day from now on that I count as my Spiritual birthday!
On a side note, I met my new little buddy Kristen Joy today! I found the cutest outfit on the sale rack at baby gap for her. She looks just like her mom and her older sister and brother. The oldest two look more like their dad. I love that fresh baby smell and she was so noisy! she made all these little sounds the whole time I was holding her and she was sound asleep!
Ryan started karate tonight. I mean, Tae-Kwon-Do. he has been bugging us about it for a very long time. Bryce took him and said he was actually quite impressed with it and how well ryan did. We ordered the uniform so he should have it for next week! Cavan starts Soccer on monday and Megan will start again in ballet. Fun, Fun, busy , busy times!

A namesake

Tonight at 7:27pm, one of my best friends had her 5th child! She called me to tell me she had the baby, I asked if it was a girl and she said YES and her name is Kristen Joy! :D WOW! I'm honored. I don't know any little Kristens... until now!

I met Kathy and her husband Jeff at church in a young marrieds' class. Then a year later they joined us in a newly married small group studying Crown Financial Ministries. Kathy and I were pregnant at the same time with our firsts, and then our seconds, and then our 3rds! She had a boy, girl, boy. She moved to Wheaton and went to a different church, but we still talked and saw each other often getting the kids together and all the birthdays. I called it quits on the babies and she went on to have #4, a girl and now #5 this new little one!
Her husband just took a job as an associate pastor in June and they had just moved into a nice, 4 bedroom house closer to me before she found out she was pregnant, AGAIN. :D

Interestingly, she is the youngest of three siblings, an older brother named KEVIN and an older sister named KAREN! Her brother and sister are not married. Tonight she told me that with her first baby, she liked the name K-I-rsten but had a boy and then her husband has never really agreed to like that b/c it's too confusing. and so this time around they also talked about the name Kelly but her husband didn't like that name either so they decided on KRISTEN! My parents always told me that I was almost a Kelly, but mom didn't like it b/c of kelly tires! too funny all the similarities!

Incase you're all wondering, Is this lady done having kids? the answer is YES, she is! She is having her little procedure in the morning!

Happy new Year~2008!

Well, there goes another year, good bye 2007, you were good to us! We went to a pizza party at church and they brought in inflatables for the kids to jump in. We had invited some friends over afterwards, and 1 family took a rain-check b/c of the snow. Who's gonna eat this food we have? We called in the troops, our neighbors of course! The Steiners came by for awhile to eat and play. Boy, did that new game table get put to good use! ALl the kids pretty much stayed in the basement the entire time!

I would like to go through and reminisce each month, but that is too much. The highlight of the year was celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary with a trip to Cozumel, in April! We have been in our new house for 1 year now and no major hang-ups. We enjoyed good times this past summer at Fish Lake, Livonia, and UPBC. God spared injury upon me while tubing. Battled a few months with many canker sores and almost ended up with a "scope"! Started to manage a gluten-free lifestyle, still working on it. Megan became a Ballerina. Got three kids into school. Got the first floor walls painted, (thanks Pop!) That's pretty much it without looking through a calendar. Hope you all had a fun time and have a great start to 2008!