The Henderson Family Chronicles

Well, it's that time of the month again. No, not THAT time. The other time. 4th Sunday time. Time for my monthly Relief Society lesson. And guess what my lesson is on? Children. How many people do you think i will offend THIS time? Luckily, the lesson is NOT on how amazing, beautiful, wonderful, sweet, innocent, gentle, thoughtful, and kind little children are. This time it's on Teaching Our Children to Understand. I think I can handle it. When the Relief Society president called to tell me which talk I was supposed to use, she reminded me to behave myself. Moi? Ha.

Guess What? Chicken Butt! Guess How? Chicken Cow! Guess Why? COW PIE!!!! I know, brings back memories, huh? So, looking at my blog, and even Facebook, I notice I have been a little short on verbage lately. I've said very little about the happenings of our life, and I've said little about weird stuff lately too. Soooo...Let me try to catch up. Andrew is in school, online, through BYU-Idaho, finishing his second bachelors, this time in nursing. He should be done in April. Online classes are a little hard for him, they just don't really suit his learning style. He really wants to to on to be a Nurse Practitioner, but there are a lot of factors to consider, and it is seeming PRETTY overwhelming to me. First, the only school in Idaho that has a NP program ONLY offers it online. Also, all schools are changing from a Masters degree to a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, which means it takes twice as long, costs twice as much, but only gets you an extra $5000 or so...

Poor Nate. Everyone has to have a first time. When you get comfortable, you get brave, and when you get brave, you sometimes get hurt. Bum deal.

Em has finally decided what she wants painted on the wall in her room (See Nate's wall here:  Nate's Super Hero Wall ). She came to me last night at bedtime to tell me that she had made the decision. She's been working on this for a year, or more. Are you ready to hear what she wants me to paint on her wall? A Boy Barbie. Uh, yeah. Ken. Life sized, on her wall. I haven't had the heart to tell her: A) That's Porn. B) Even if I was ok with that, I don't have the skills. Bless her heart. And she's been sleeping a lot. My mom thinks she's going through a intellectual growth spurt. Great. That's just what I need.  A more clever Em. I already can't keep up with her! Which reminds me. There was a story on FoxNews today, of a 2 year old in Washington DC that is a freakin' genius, and just became the youngest member of Mensa (Which I will admit to getting confused in my head about the difference between Mensa and Menses). Her name? ...

A lot of my blog is full of crap about my kids. I was telling a story to Heather last night, and suddenly realized I should document the ridiculous things I do as well. So here was my note worthy moment from Thursday: Choir practice was drawing to a close for the night. We are only a few weeks away from our big spring concert. The theme of the concert is Wish Upon A Star, a tribute to Walt Disney. We have a lot of guest soloists performing with us (which we are all bummed about, because no one in the choir was given a chance to audition for solos this time, but that's a WHOLE different story). At this particular practice we had a guest present to critique us, but none of the soloists were there to practice with us. So the director asked for volunteers to sing the solo parts, just for this practice, for timing, and so on. Janna has been picking up the Mary Poppins solo whenever the soloist isn't there, and has been doing a great job with it. So we go through the practice, and...

My kids are full of it. Yesterday was one of those days I should have had a recorder going all day. I should have written some of it down, but I was too busy putting out their fires. Em was destructive. She ran around all day destroying things. My mom said it was for attention, but I know THAT was crap, because I tried to sit and hold and play with her, and she whined the whole time. Nate was...Nate. There are no words for his special spirit. He's creative, and bossy, and anxious, and sweet, and irritable. Huh. Sounds a little like his mom... Anyway, I'm talking about the stuff they say. So here are my quotes, recorded for posterity, and your entertainment: Me: Em, why are you sobbing (in the bathtub, while I wash your hair)? Em: (WAAAAaaaaa) Mom, I am just SOOO BORED!!!! Em: Hey, Nate, do you know what my favorite smell in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD is? Nate: Um, no Em, what? Em: It's LADY BUG POOP! Me: Hey, I said no tv till your rooms are clean. Turn it off and get cr...

Okay, you know everyone parents differently. And you know I see parenting differently. But this lady says what I feel. She has a handful of rules that, to some extent, I have already implemented. It's important to be a good mom, and some do that by doting on their kids all day, listening to every word, every whine, hugging on them for hours at bedtime...Not my style. I feel like boundaries and expectations are HUGE in raising kids. Read the article, I am sure you'll get SOME good idea from it! I am going to write the rules down and post them somewhere, as a reminder to the kids AND to me. Quirky Ways to Get Your Kids to Behave - Parenting.com