I've really outdone myself

This is the best paint job I have ever done so far. I have to give credit to Erik for picking out the colors and coming up with the idea, and to great-grandparents for sending us christmas money to fund the project, but even I am impressed with myself.

Vic's parents gave Erik this clone wars blanket, which turned out to be perfect. Erik was really thrilled about these stickers we gave him and was doing a dance of joy when it was finally time to put them up.

This is a lightsaber night light that he has been wanting for a while. It has a remote control and can show 8 different colors.

The pictures really don't show how great it is, but I have to say his room turned out pretttttty awesome!

Happy Winter Solstice

We had our annual Winter Solstice celebration last night. It was a great night, better than I had hoped for. We used to have pizza because it's shaped like the sun, but none of us can eat pizza anymore, so we each had what we wanted. Erik had german pancakes:
Taryn had Taco Time:

And Vic and I had Chipotle tacos:

The kids each wrote and read a story for the occasion. This was a new idea that I really liked.

And then we opened presents. Taryn was thrilled about new boots she's been coveting for a while:

We got her an american doll this year. My expectations were on the moon for this, so it was a little less then I expected. But I know she loved it and said over and over this was the best winter solstice ever. Her new doll is Amber.

I wasn't sure if Erik would like any of his presents. We had gotten a bunch of little things in hopes of finding something he likes. About a month before Christmas he tells me that he doesn't like star wars anymore and doesn't like bionicles, which is what we had gotten him. But I know he's fickle, and I decided to take a chance anyway (plus I bought them all online and couldn't return them). He was so thrilled with most of his gifts. I was pleasantly surprised. He was really excited about his star wars things and his bionicle, which was an addition that allows him to build a super-bionicle.

Afterwards we watched the Karate Kid (which I didn't love and don't reccommend), but I sat there feeling quite satisfied with the night. It was so special to be happy together as a family. I'm grateful.

Snowed in

Duct Tape Designs

Erik met this kid at the park that makes duct tape wallets and sells them. Erik was thrilled to think that he could make money off his crafts. So he started his new business and these are his first creations.

Happy Halloween!!!

artwork by Erik Hensley

trophy

I wanted to include this picture Kassie took because it turned out so well. If you enlarge the picture you can see it better. Erik was so happy to win this "trophy". He told Jerome that he has never won anything before. It made me want to cry, his joy was so sweet and innocent. It really was a very special experience for him.

Robothon

Kass, Jerome, and Story came up to Seattle for the Robothon show. As I'm loading my pictures I realize I didn't take any of Kass or Story.
It was fun to have them here, and we got to do a few fun things like go to the bouncy place and the aquarium. (fun for us, I'm not so sure about Jerome).
The robot show was really amazing. Jerome was so generous and brought a robot for Erik to compete with. Erik was thrilled. He helped to put it together and Sunday could not come fast enough for him.

I even thought the robot show was cool. There were times when the robots got really violent with each other and it was exciting. There was a lot of waiting around while people fixed their machines, but we endured.

Erik had a lot of fun fighting and got better and better with each match.

Jerome's robot got pretty smashed up during a fight and I think everyone was amazed that he got it going again to fight some more.

Erik's robot was named Strike. With some luck, skill, practice, and help from Jerome he came in 2nd place! He was beside himself with joy. As a parent, I was overwhelmed by the kindness Jerome showed him and allowing him to be a part of this experience. It was definitely a memory we will keep for a long time.

Thanks so much to Kassie and Jerome for being here and for the fun weekend. We hope you come back again, maybe when the weather is better.

I'm finally admitting that Fall is here to stay.

Erik is taking a new class called Hands on Art History. Last week they learned to make masks, and Erik came home and made this one. I thought it turned out pretty cool.

New baby

Last week I went to Utah to stay with my sister, Kelli. She has just had a new baby and it worked out where I could go and stay with her to help out.
I got a great view of Mt. Raineer on my way out.

Landing in Salt Lake:

This is the view from Kelli's front door. These mountains always amaze me. They are so overwhelming and just right there in your face. It's beautiful.

We did get out a couple of times. One was to this great hike that my neice, Jessica, took us to. The leaves are just changing there and it was really cool to see.

New mom

Felix is a really good baby. He's pretty mellow and usually only cries when he's hungry. It was nice to get to know him a little more personally. I don't usually get that opportunity with my family.

I really enjoyed the extended conversation with my sister. I loved being in their home, I felt relaxed and welcomed. It was nice for me to get to help someone out in a significant way, and I felt really appreciated for it. I often get wrapped up in my own world and problems, and don't extend myself out. I could really identify with what Kelli is going through and so many things brought be back to when Taryn was born.
It was also a nice break for me. It's different caring for someone else's child. You are more in the moment and just doing the best you can, rather than all the pressure and worry of doing it perfectly and trying to give them all you want to.

It was nice to not have to care for my own kids for a little while and to remind Vic of why he keeps me around.

Coming home:

Down on the Farm

Vic took the kids last weekend down to Baron Farms to get our beef. We bought an 1/8 of a grass fed cow. They were having a farm party that day and the kids had lots of fun. There was a big corn maze, music, and they got to feed the pigs (and Vic got to eat the roasted pig). It looked like a great time, I was sorry I missed it but enjoyed having a day alone!

I thought the expression in this pictures was amusing: