Just So We're All Clear...

If I die of the swine flu, I'd prefer the word,
"swine" to not be said at my funeral.

Happy BD Honey

We wish you a Happy Birthday.

We also wish you had dreadlocks.

We love you Husband and Daddy.

Whatever would we do if you were never born?

-- wife, Anson, Hayden, Ashton and Hudson

Stay Small?

Dear Hudson,

It has come to my attention, that no matter how much I wish you would stay little, you are refusing to comply.

Standing up?

Growing teeth?

Trying to walk?

Who said you could do those things?

It certainly was NOT your mother.

Sweet baby, please...please...stop this nonsense.

Can't you stay small forever?

Is that too much to ask?

No matter how much I begged them to stay tiny, your older brothers just laughed at me and grew taller and taller, smarter and smarter and pretty soon, began saying awful, mean things like, "I'm a big boy Mommy. I want to do this by myself."

The nerve.

So baby boy I'm begging you...

stay small

stay cuddly

stay put

stay in my arms and on my lap

Cause I know, one day, Daddy won't let me have any more little ones to squeeze. He's gently warned me that eventually people stop adding babies to their home.

He says one day, I'll have to borrow other people's babies.

You might be the last of the Hendricks.

Notice how "the last of the Hendricks" sounds a lot like the Last of the Mohicans?

I guarantee you the thought of having no more babies in this house to love, to hold, to smother with kisses seems as tragic to me as that movie.

Little one...

I'll ask you this every day.

I'll never stop.

Could you, would you, please pretty please, stay little forever?

Love,

Mommy

Where Did We Get This One?

"Hey Mom...."

"Check out my hairy pit."

That's life with Hayden.

When the rest of the world sees a loofah, Hayden sees armpit hair.

Hayden makes this house laugh.

Addendum to the Adendum below

Addendum is spelled with two d's.

Thanks for not offering automatic spell check in the title line, blogger...thanks a lot for that.

Two Kinds

Not long ago, I left the house, setting out to "go run."

It was hotter than I prefer the weather to be when running, but it was the only time I had, so hot weather running, it would have to be.

I filled my sonic cup up with fresh, ice water and strategically placed that cup on a picnic table in just the right spot, where I could loop back around, on this long run, and get a drink at the half way point.

2 minutes into running, I was wanting that drink.

I was daydreaming about the ice.

My legs were running, but in my mind, I was doing the back stroke through a swimming pool of Sonic's pebble sized, perfect ice.

Water.

I wanted it.

I couldn't stop thinking about it, or running towards it.

Water.

Almost there.

This has taken forever.

I turned the last corner...

My water.

I can see the table...

But wait, where is my water?

But wait...where did those kids come from...those kids who were not there 2 miles ago....those kids near the table where my water should be...

But wait...what the HECK is that in that kid's hand right there...that kid who is DIGGING with something in the sand volley ball area.

But wait...that's my water cup.

I got to my water and wanted to cry.

I looked down near that kid and there was my ice...in a big melting pile on the ground near his feet.

And there was my cup...completely covered in dirt.

I hated kids in that moment.

I'm not kidding...I really did.

He ruined my run.

Ruined it.

I was so looking forward to that freezing cold, refreshing water...and there it was, on the ground.

Water.

I wanted it.

It's what kept me going...kept me running...kept me moving...and every fiber of me was craving it, wanting it and needing it.

I came home to my sons coloring on the front porch.

As I walked past them I said, "Boys...look at me...look at me."

They did.

"Never...and I mean NEVER dump out someone's water. It's so mean and rude."

They went back to coloring.

______________________________________________________________

You know those automatic toilets?

I don't like them.

You go.

You get done, and they don't flush...and then you have to do all sorts of weird things, you're not really proud of, in order to try to get the evidence you were there to go far, far away.

So you walk out the door, then back in, which is even more fun if people are outside the door waiting in line to come inside. Is the sensor in the door? No. It's not in the door.

You wave your hands in the air...in spastic fashion, in front of a dirty potty.

You go back over your steps, simulating the entire "tee-teeing" experience, but this time, while wearing your clothes.

Why does this have to be this hard? I can't believe I'm doing this.

You think to yourself, "If I just do a little hip hop dancing in here, surely something I do will set this thing off."

Do a few hip hop moves, trying NOT to touch the walls of the stall. If you do bump into the wall...shutter...gag...convulse.

Suddenly remember that although people can't see your body, they can see your feet under the door.

Turn red.

Give up.

Wonder why they made electric potties...is it because some people weren't flushing, because if that's why I just had to faux pee with my pants on, and still leave the toilet unflushed, then something has gone terribly wrong here.

OR worse

I haven't even completely stood up and the thing flushes, and has a jet engine in it. Where are they trying to take my pee? To China?

Water splashes on my skin.

Toilet water...on my skin.

A drop of it on my skirt.

I stand there in shock for a moment...totally violated...I think I would feel the same exact way if some stranger walked up and licked my arm.

Toilet water

TOILET WATER

on me!

What just happened here?

Someone set me on fire.

Where are those weird orange things from Monster's Inc. that swoop down from the ceiling, and then burn all your hair off? Where are those thing when you need them?

If You Want to Swim

I looked at this picture and thought..."Man, we have a lot of babies."

Look at the child to mother ratio. That can't even be safe.

It's that time of year again...

The time when a bunch of moms load up their kids every day and head to the pool.

If you want to know when we'll all be swimming during the week, email me at hendrickcrew@gmail.com

I'll put together an email group so we can let each other know where we'll be.

I love summer.

I love seeing my kids playing, almost every day with their friends.

I love seeing my sweet friends too, and meeting new friends at the pool.

I love how good swimming is for my kid's bodies.

I love how fat just looks better tan...come on...you know it does.

I love all the conversations that go on between moms of all ages, and between married and single women.

College girls...if you're here, and bored, come hang out with us! If you're in college and feel insecure about your body, I always say..."Come hang out with all the moms at the pool. We'll do wonders for your self esteem!"

Ah...summer.

Have I mentioned I love it?

Summer Thighs

Originally posted April 3, 2008


Sitting on the couch

with boys

and a book

reading about shoes

on centipedes

Out of the corner

of my eye

I spied

a thigh

a roly-poly

baby thigh

calling to me

"Come squeeze."

I obliged

sighed

and said

"Oh how I’ve missed these little legs."

Winter steals

baby thighs

and hides

them under piles

of clothes

Summer is coming again

And bringing back

My baby’s skin

That Ryan is mucho talented

Notice how there isn't anyone behind Adam?

Here's how you see the pictures from the race...

Go to Ryan's website:

www.ryanpricephoto.com

Click on "enter site."

Up in the top left corner, click on the word, "proofing."

Down at the bottom, you need to enter this password:

compassion

These are so great. Once we quit being sore, we'll still have the pictures to prove we actually did this! I might start to think it was a dream...I mean, Kirby pushed two heavy children in a double jogging stroller for 6.2 miles and my husband wore Puma's.

Maybe it WAS a dream.

We Did It!

Hopefully Ryan has some great pics
of the race we can look through.
When he has them ready, I'll let you know!

____________________________________________________

I haven't posted since the race.

Did you think I died?

I could blame my blog ignoring on being so sore, I was walking around like a 90 year old lady...but that's not why I didn't write yesterday.

The pool opened.

Need I say more?

Saturday was eventful.

Rain, lightning...

the race was postponed.

Some of us met back up at the park at 1 to run in the most humid weather imaginable.

Even though the weather was yuck, the ground was wet, there was a gigantic hill, my ipod was stupid and I couldn't find any of the songs I wanted...we did it.

I think a lot of the ladies were a little disappointed.

They were looking forward to adrenaline kicking in and being able to run even further than they thought they could.

Adrenaline seemed to be no match for the humidity, running in the afternoon and the hill.

It was easy to get discouraged, but we reminded ourselves that just a short 8 weeks ago, these women thought running one mile was the funniest thing they had ever heard in their life.

They couldn't run more than a minute or two 8 weeks ago...

And yet there they were, with a number pinned to their shirts, running a 3.2 mile course.

Some had to walk.

Some wanted to crawl.

But we all saw the impossible become a lot more possible.

These women ran.

They ran further than they ever thought they could just WEEKS ago.

As I stood there waiting to take off (that makes it sound like I was running like Speedy Gonzales...nope...maybe I should say, as I stood there waiting to start moving) I was kind of struck with this weird thought...

"I, Heather Hendrick am running in a race. There is a number pinned to my shirt."

How weird is that?

The only thing that would be more weird than this, is if I was standing here with a helmet on my head about to be in a motorcycle race.

I was about to run 6.2 miles without stopping.

Insane.

I looked at the ladies waiting to start the race, and thought to myself that this right here...before we ever start is something to celebrate.

I don't think most of us would have ever imagined we would be running in a race.

That's just not who we are.

It's not who we were.

A bunch of non-runners running a race.

I thought to myself...."I don't care what happens during this race, what has already happened is a miracle."

The ladies did such a beautiful job.

They finished strong.

They all look so cute in their t-shirts.

Their lives and their stories inspire me so much.

There were times when NOTHING else besides knowing that those women were running around that course, hurting, pushing themselves kept me going. I can't even describe what it felt like to know that they were in this with me.

Postponed

The race has been postponed until 1:00 today.

Let's face it.

Running is hard.

One thing that would make running even harder would be getting struck by lightning.

Not the Same

Still haven't registered for the race this weekend??

Hurry! Go! Today! Now! Do not pass go! Just Go register!

Jenn is a mess, trying to get this all organized, and it would help her TREMENDOUSLY for you to register today if you're participating on Saturday.

Everyone who registers early gets a t-shirt that looks like this...way to go Charlie! This will be my new favorite T. If you don't register early, you might not get a t-shirt. Gasp! How sad would that be?

Emptying Camera

Make a Smilebox slideshow

While the food is cooking, babies are sleeping and the house is quiet, I'm cleaning off my camera.

I want my memory card to look nice and empty like the tomb.

There are so many slide shows in this post, it's ridiculous...but YES...we really did all these things over the past four days (except the Spring Break pics...those are just late.)

Above are the pictures from right before bedtime on Good Friday. They are so blurry. Sorry!

______________________________________________________________

Next...

Circus Pictures!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We had a blast. Tons of friends joined us.

Come to find out, this was the "cruddiest" circus that Ringling Brothers hosts. This was sort of their "C" Team circus.

It wasn't bad.

It was small.

And there were lots of mistakes.

But I decided, after gasping...and feeling a little sick to my stomach when the performers fell or almost fell that I like the circus BEST when someone MIGHT die.

I know.

That's sick.

But it's true.

Still hands down...this was my favorite circus...

I mean soupus.

_______________________________________________________________

Below are the pictures from the last night of our Spring Break week of fun.

The last night of Spring Break, we always get a little crazy and break out the beer goggles.

Beer Goggles are these weird things you can wear that show you what your vision would be like if you were toasted.

How do we have these?

Aaron stole them from Allen Duty and refuses to give them back.

Why does Allen have these?

He was a youth pastor.

Do I need to say more?

When Aaron was a youth pastor, we had a closet FILLED with an ARSENAL of water guns.

We broke out the beer goggles and made people wear them while they were playing volleyball.

Then there was the beer goggle race.

Nothing like watching fake drunk people race each other and try to make a basket with a basketball.

Whew...funny.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

When the boys first got home from the farm, I was thinking to myself...

"Remember to tell Jimmy Burton THANK YOU for taking pictures."

And then I saw the pictures.

Normally, I love pictures.

I drive my family and everyone else crazy taking pictures.

But, I think I could have been FINE without seeing pictures from the past Dangerous Boy Event.

Moms...I'm sorry you know us.

When Aaron was on the way home he said, "Heather, Wade Amy told Tyler that the way you catch more fish is to warm your worm up in your mouth before putting it on your hook."

"That's gross," I said.

Wade is so goofy.

But then I was like...wait.

Why is Aaron telling me this?

And then he continued.

"So Tyler did it."

What?

"Yep. Tyler did it. He put a worm in his mouth. And Heather...it probably would have ended there, but unfortunately, Tyler caught a fish."

And...

"And so all the boys started putting worms in their mouths."

Oh my gosh.

Wade didn't make it to Navasota before his phone started ringing.

When the camera got home, it was even more disgusting than I had imagined.

AND

I saw my small son with a knife in his hand.

"Why does he have a knife in his hand? Are you standing near him?"

Aaron just ignored me.

I guess this is why they don't let moms come with them.

I guess this is why boys need men in their lives.

I would never let them eat worms, or hold a sharp knife without me sitting on their shoulders or something.

Now it's your turn to shudder...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I'll post the jelly making pictures next week with a post telling ya how we did it.

I want to can everything now.

And I'll leave you with some family photos.

What handsome boys we have.

Hope your Easter is sweet.

Today I will be a Granny

I just sent a truck load of boys off to the farm to explore...to fish...to blow things up...to be with a bunch of men who love them and love God.

While all the men in our lives are off being a little bit dangerous, a little bit silly and a little bit serious, some sweet friends of mine are about to head over here to my house and we're going to learn how to "can."

You know...that stuff your grandma used to do...it's happening in my kitchen today, minus the granny.

We're going to make jelly and can it.

Who are we?

I've always wanted to learn to do this.

Since strawberries are on sale for a little over a dollar a container at HEB this week, this seemed like a great time to learn how to make jelly.

I've been trying to reduce the amount of corn syrup our family consumes.

One of the things I just can't do is pay a whopping $5-7 for a tiny jar of jelly. That's how much jelly with no corn syrup in it costs. I haven't been able to find it any cheaper.

If you pay that price, then more power to you...but really...there are a ton of people in this house, and we Hendricks, plus the non-Hendricks who are usually sitting around our table could eat an entire jar of that pricey stuff during ONE meal.

That's one of my rules about learning to eat healthier food.

The minute I feel myself being stingy, or rationing our food because it's too expensive due to it being "better for you" then I'm done. I try to figure out a new plan. I am bound and determine to eat healthier, have lots of food around this house and lots of people over here sharing it with us.

If this jelly turns out great today, this will DEFINITELY be the new plan!

I bought 18 cartons of strawberries yesterday and only paid $22. Awesome!

I already had the jars.

Pectin is cheap.

So is sugar. Kirby and I actually got the sugar for free from Kroger.

Lynsey's precious friend, Mandi schooled us in jelly making.

Today we're making jelly and I'm freezing a ton of strawberries for our smoothies. At $1.24 a carton, that's WAY cheaper than buying the ones that are already frozen from the store.

If this goes well today, I may even go back and buy some more. Maybe I won't have to buy strawberries until this time next year.

There is no other way to describe it.

I seriously feel like a granny.

Never in a million years did I think I would be "putting up" some strawberry jelly.

Never in a million years did I think I would be "putting up" some strawberries for smoothies.

Never in a million years did I think I'd know what a good deal was, or talk about price per pound.

Who am I? I really want to know.

If you want to learn to do this, I'll take lots of notes today and maybe even some pictures so we can share our granny ways with you.

Look What I Found

I'm going to try and do this with the boys tomorrow...

Tell the Easter Story with a Playdough Mountain

Dangerous Boy Event....THIS Friday

What's a Dangerous Boy Event?

Don't know?

You can read all about them here.

Friday, April 10

Yonder Way Farm (in Brenham)

Boys/Men/Dads/Guys will fish, drive farm equipment
and learn to back up a truck and trailer.

Please let me know if you're coming,
and we'll send you the details
(time, directions, carpooling and caravan info.)

Thanks for Playing!

It's time to announce the winner of the $20 e-Target gift card!



To redeem your prize, email me at...

hendrickcrew@gmail.com

Hooray!

This was so fun, I want to do it again!

How to Be A Swaggernaut...Frugal Week Finale

Want to know how to make your swagbucks account grow? This post is going to sound very technical and depending on how computer savvy you are, possibly pretty goofy. I just read back over this post, and it also sounds bossy. I could go in, edit and "nice" it up...but hey...I'm a firstborn, and when I was a wee-little girl I was nicknamed "bossy boots" by my parents...so today...bossy it is!

So...you want your swagbucks account to grow?

1. Here are some tips from swagbucks.

2. If you shop online, then you might want to check out the "Shop and Earn" section of swagbucks. If you're going to shop online anyway, might as well make some swagbucks doing it! I also check out Retail me Not before I shop. They usually have additional promo codes to use.

3. Yes you can make swagbucks searching, (I've actually considered making my kids type in all their spelling words every week for "practice.") Maybe when they are older, instead of grounding them, I'll make them search words on swagbucks for hours at a time. I'm kidding. No one call CPS. Teachers, instead of assigning sentences, you could make kids search words on swagbucks after school. Okay...I'll stop.

Searching is ONE way to grow your account, but the main way you get swagbucks is by setting up an account, and then getting other people to sign up under you. Every time your friends win, you win! Since you are signed up under me, every time you win a dollar, I win a dollar! So thanks for being such great searchers!

IF YOU HAVE A BLOG

Post about swagbucks on your blog. Explain what it is. Tell your friends that you know people who have actually cashed in their bucks for real prizes. I would have never signed up if Kirby had not already won REAL prizes! Consider hosting a giveaway to get more swagbucks. You don't have to give away a $20 giftcard. Just pick something fun!

Place an advertisement in your sidebar for swagbucks (your referral number is linked to the button, so that when people sign up, you get credit). Go here to get the html codes. Copy and paste the code you want (just not the top one. That's for a link, or something you would use in your email.) Then, go to your dashboard. Click on "Layout." Click on "Add a Gadget." Click on html/java script. Then paste the code inside the box. Save your settings, and wah-lah.

You will also want to explain to people how to set their computers up so that using swagbucks is easier.

If you haven't done this already, then one way to grow your own account is to make using swagbucks super convenient. Go here.

This will let you add swagbucks in your toolbar. This means, up in the top of your screen, it will no longer say google. It will say "sb". This way, every time you search you can make sure you're using swagbucks. Download the plugin. Then, you may have to restart your computer. Once you have, you may also have to go up to your toolbar at the top of your screen...see that little down arrow next to your search toolbar? Click on it and select "sb."

Once you've invited people on your blog to join, explain that stuff to them too. You can just cut and paste the instructions from my blog. I don't care! Really, if it would be easier to just cut and paste what I've already written, in any of these posts about swagbucks, you have my permission to make your life easier.

If you have a blog, you should also keep reading and try doing the stuff below for all the people in your life who still haven't jumped on the "reading blogs" thing.

IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BLOG

Then EMAIL all your friends and family explaining swagbucks and ask them to go sign up for you.

You can EITHER go here and type in all the email addresses you want to include...OR...you can go here and copy the information out of the first white box. Make sure your reference number is at the end of the http address. See it?

Then cut and paste this information in an email to the people you know...I mean, seriously...you can write your own email if you want, but if that thought makes you want to cry, then feel free to just copy this!

Hey Friends and Family,

Can you do me a favor? I recently found out about this cool online search engine called Swagbucks. Basically, it's like google, (it's actually powered by google) but it pays you money when you use it. Now, instead of using google, I use swagbucks so that I can eventually cash in my swagbucks for things like gift cards to Itunes, Apple, Target, Macys, Barnes and Noble, Amazon and Starbucks. I know this works, because a friend of mine posted it on her blog! She has already won $100 in FREE target gift cards!

I will get more swagbucks if you create an account. You'll also start earning swagbucks just for joining. Signing up is very easy. All you do is go here: (then enter your html code you copied from here. Most email programs will automatically make the address a link). That's all you have to do! If you signed up, and want to know how to grow your own account and make your own swagbucks, let me know. I can tell you how to switch your toolbar over so that you're always using swagbucks.
(You can link to this post if you want, but only if you think it will help people believe that Swagbucks is the real deal. I swear I'm not trying to get more readers. You people are overwhelming enough...hee hee! You might want to make sure your friends know NOT to sign up under me. Besides, that promo will be over, anyway!)

The main thing to remember is to MAKE SURE your referral number is at the end of every html code you post on your blog, or use in your email.
Happy Swag Recruiting!

Thank you all for signing up this week! If you still haven't signed up, I think you can until midnight tonight. The give away and promo code are found here.
Let me know if any of the links in this post didn't work, or if you have questions. I want to help you grow your account! Like I said...I don't want to be the only one sitting around wondering what on earth I'm going to spend all this swag money on! There's only so many things a person needs from Target. I wish Compassion or GFA would set up swag accounts! How cool would that be to be able to give our swagbucks to places like that? Anyone got any connections to make that happen?

Hudson's Room Got a Facelift!

My trip was a success.

And by success I mean, I successfully went 5 hours without using a porta potty!

Let's all clap.

Sorry...I REFUSE to "go" in a closet filled with a crowd's poo.

I'd rather run out into a nearby pasture and "go" behind a cow.

I wanted to share with you one of my FAVORITE booths in Warrington.

It's run by Jennifer Warner, with Salvage Style.

I could LIVE in there.

When I walk in, I immediately think...I want all of this stuff...ALL OF IT.

She is so creative.

She makes me want to come home and paint everything in my house.

Go check out her stuff here.

Take your time.

Look slowly.

Let the cuteness overtake you.

I bought my baby boy the cutest H to go over his bed.

You can custom order the name plaques, or single letter tins.

These would be the SWEETEST gifts for friends hosting baby showers to go in together and get a new mommy!