TheHenrichsens.com

1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 boneless, skinless chhicken breast halves
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. butter or margarine

Place flour and eggs in separate shallow bowls. Salt and pepper the flour. Combine the parmesan, bread crumbs and butter in another shallow bowl. Dip chicken breasts in flour, then eggs, then bread crumb mixture. Place in a greased 9×13 pan and cover lightly with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 5-10 minutes until top is browned. While chicken is baking make Bruschetta. When tops of chicken breasts are browned, spoon bruschetta over the chicken and heat just until heated through, about 3-5 minutes. Serve with angel hair pasta and salad.

3 cloves garlic, minced
4 large plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
6 leaves fresh Basil, rolled and sliced
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine first four ingredients. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

2 large cucumbers, peeled and diced
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 medium green pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1-8 ounce bottle fat-free Italian salad dressing
2 tsp. sugar or sugar substitute

Combine all of the above and refrigerate for at least one hour. Serve with a slotted spoon.

And for dessert check out Cook-A-Doodle Doo by Janet Stevens from your local library and after you read it make the strawberry shortcake recipe with your kids. The cake isn’t so great on its own but it’s superb with the strawberries and cream. We snarfed it down for FHE treat only we didn’t have any whipping cream, just light cream and light cream doesn’t whip. So I cut the cake into cubes and we poured strawberries and cream on top and it was fantastic. Happy eating!

When I was little my dad used to bet me $5.00 if I could be quiet for longer than three minutes. I never could. Looks like the same is true for me and my blog. I love my blog and the past three days have been torturous without it. I have received so many emails and phone calls from y’all, telling me how much you’ll miss my blogs and encouraging me to keep blogging–how could I possibly resist you? I hate being attacked and I hate offending people but not as much as I hate not blogging. So hate me if you will but you can’t shut me up that easily! I have way too much to say!

Yesterday I was informed that some of the things that I say and do and blog have been offending several members of my family. Anyone that knows me knows that is never my intention. As a result I’ve been doing some thinking. First off, my blog is my journal. I write here for several reasons. When I’m having a bad day, it helps to vent. When I find a good recipe or book or activity, it’s nice to have a record of it for later reference. And of course, it’s a great way to keep a family history. The only drawback is, knowing that other people might be reading it, I’ve found myself holding back feelings and opinions for fear of offending people, most especially my family. And while I enjoy hearing your comments and having you for my audience, I also want a record of my feelings and my thoughts and I don’t feel like I can do that here. Sure I could have two blogs, or a blog and a journal, but I’m already spending too much time in front of the computer–I can’t justify more.

Next, my sister wrote this: “we need to think before we blog, and think twice before we comment. If you are going to post something inflammatory, be sure you’re willing to take the heat afterwards.” I’m not convinced that I’ve written anything inflammatory but apparently I have written lots of offensive things. And since this is my journal, so-to-speak, I don’t want to have to think before I write anything. And if I had any self-esteem at all, I think I’d be able to deal with the heat and the personal attacks that might come with my writing. But since I’m lacking in the self-esteem department, the last thing I need is to be attacked for thinking or feeling a certain way.

So, at least for now, I’m signing off. And for all those who I have offended, please know that it was never my intention and I’m terribly sorry.

Hunter and I saw a commercial last night that we both found hilarious. We were telling Noah and Denver about it and I found it online so they could see it too. You can view it by clicking here and clicking on the “Pointer” commercial. I’m not sure why I like it, I just do.

Yesterday we were at the library. I was wandering up and down the bookshelves, as usual, trying to find the good books that were mixed in with all the so-so books. The boys were busy playing in the corner with the toys and Caleb was happily drooling all over my arm. A bag full of books later, I meandered over to the boys and found Denver sitting on the couch next to another little boy about the same age whose mother was reading him a book. She was probably the cutest mom I’ve seen in awhile and she had a way of adding to the story little details that made me want to snuggle in and listen too. Anyway, when she had finished reading the story she and her son headed for home and I sat down to nurse Caleb. I told Denver to go get me some books to read to him and he returned a few minutes later with this book. The book shows you the tail end of an animal on one page and then on the next page it shows the whole animal. So, we came to the giraffe’s tail and I asked Denver what animal has a tail that would be way up high. And he said he didn’t know. So then I gave him another hint: what animal has a really long neck way up to the sky? And Denver thought and thought and for awhile I was thinking maybe I’d lost his interest and he had started day-dreaming or something. Then, all of the sudden he looked up at me and said, very matter-of-factly, “A llama!”

During Senior Primary this past week June Rodgerson and her class did sharing time. June is the mother of six boys and I love her for that very fact alone. Anyway, she did this really great sharing time about how when we sin we lose some of our freedom. She then tied Brandon (one of the more rambuncious kids in the ward) up in some rope, making sure his arms were snuggly at his sides. Then she had the kids list off some of the things that we do that are bad. The kids immediately listed off the normal things: stealing, lying, saying bad words, etc. For every sin, Brandon got more rope tied around him until at the end he could no longer move. June then taught the kids that Jesus Christ promised us that if we would repent He would untie the ropes that bind us and set us free. A wonderful object lesson and to top it off, she handed out licorice ropes to all the kids. So Monday, on our way to Duckpin Bowling with Chris and Ben, I discovered the licorice in my diaper bag that I had saved for Mark. The kids immediately started begging for some so we decided they could have some after we told them about June’s sharing time (they’re all in Junior Primary.) So we started telling the kids about the lesson and asked them if they could think of some bad things that might tie us up, so to speak. And Hunter immediately perked up and said, “I know a really really bad sin–throwing rocks at construction workers when they are building a house and also breaking the windows.” Maybe he’s thought about doing it, I don’t know, but at least his answer was original.

And just now, while Hunter, Kak-Kak and I were watching American Idol, a commercial came on for a 99 cent crispy chicken sandwhich at Wendy’s. Hunter pointed out the sandwhich and the price and I said, “Well. . . really it costs a dollar and six cents.” And Hunter asked why so I said, “Plus tax.” And then Hunter chimed in, “Plus shipping and handling?”

Dear Hunter*

You turned seven just over a month ago. This past weekend you brought home your first Hardy Boys book from the school library and you started reading it all by yourself. I never dreamed this day would come, that you would actually read a book all by yourself, but now that you are seven I guess you’ve decided you don’t need me anymore. And for some strange reason it seems like you grew up overnight and I hardly recognize this young man in front of me. And I never knew that you bringing home a book would make me feel this way but a big part of me wishes you were little all over again so I could snuggle you in my arms and read you “Goodnight Moon” one more time.

You are still my biggest challenge. Perhaps you always will be. You struggle to listen and obey and there are times when you resemble a two-year old more than a seven year old. You still make those funny noises that you made when you were little and scream out at random times, maybe for attention, sometimes when you don’t like what we have to say. You throw tantrums when you don’t get your way and when you are mad, you sure have a lot of angry things to say behind the closed door of your bedroom. You’ve just begun telling lies and there are times it’s so obvious that you are fibbing (like taking a bite out of a cookie while at the same time telling me you didn’t steal one) I wonder what you must be thinking.

But somehow amongst all the challenges you seem to dish out, there is an undeniable sweetness that is hard to come by nowadays. Just the other day, as I was begging Noah to share one of his Valentine’s chocolates you told Noah to keep his chocolate and then handed me your entire box of candy and told me I could have all of them. No one asked you to do it–you just did. When you heard your best friend from Kindergarten felt like he didn’t have any friends at school you immediately picked up the phone to call him and make sure he knows he’s got a friend in you. You bring me home love letters almost daily and every morning you climb in bed with me and wrap yourself completely around me. I feel there is so much to learn from you–you have an amazing strength about you and an even greater faith.

You have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, just like your father. While most first graders are bringing home picture books from the school library you are bringing home encyclopedias about how things work and space exploration. You want to be a mechanical engineer when you grow up because you want to invent things and build things. You are so smart–you even started answering your math worksheet in roman numerals, much to your teacher’s dismay. And knowing that she might need help grading your answers, you made a key for her on the back. Unfortunately the teachers don’t acknowledge your abilities and worry more about conforming so you seem bored at school. But whenever I offer to home school you, you protest, saying you’d miss your friends and all the fun things you get to do at school.

You love your school buddies and I can never schedule you enough play dates. You are still committed to Ashlin, despite the emotional roller coaster she sends you on, but you are also learning there are other fish in the sea and have started asking other girls to marry you. You take their rejections well and seem pleased that Sophia has accepted your proposal.

You love lego and k’nex and can build the most amazing things. This year you were finally old enough to attend the Lego Engineering club after school. After just one class you were begging for the kit for Christmas. After the third class the teacher pulled me aside to tell me you were able to do things with the lego that even the third graders couldn’t grasp and that you were positively amazing. You also love computer games (Roller Coaster Tycoon) and transformers and TV. Despite your couch potato tendancies, it is only when you are home from school that your brothers leave the couch and play down in the toy room–you have such a fabulous imagination and come up with such fun games, they can’t resist you. You ride a two-wheeler like a pro now and although your swimming skills need some improvement, you are a certified fish and jumped into the deep end of the swimming pool, alone, just last week.

You wrote a list this past Thanksgiving of all the things you are thankful for. You didn’t miss a thing. I think when I was in first grade I would have listed off all of my favorite toys, a few of my friends and maybe my family. I don’t think I was half as thoughtful as you. But, if I were to write a list of all the things I’m thankful for today, you would be one of the first things I would write down–you with all of your challenges and all of your sweetness. And Hunter, I will always be thankful that we had you and I will always love you.

*Yes. . . I am a copycat, if you haven’t already noticed. But I’d be stupid if I saw a good idea and didn’t copy cat it. Plus lately, I can blog one-fingered and nursing but I can’t scrapbook one-fingered and nursing. So in an attempt to record my children’s lives before they’ve all grown up and gone their ways, I am being a copycat.

Denver loves Caleb and then some. He’ll go to extreme measures to get Caleb to smile and talk to him, as illustrated. He hasn’t quite grasped the concept of “be gentle” and “be careful” but at least if he hurts Caleb it will be out of pure love. And I’ll take that over jealousy any day.

This morning over breakfast we somehow got on the subject of fiber. For those of you who don’t know my boys, let’s just say they can get a little backed up. As a result they know a lot about fiber and what it does for you. We often sit around the breakfast table comparing fiber content in the different cereals and trying to decide which one would help us poop fastest. Anyway, I mentioned that Kellogg’s makes an all-bran cereal that is filled with apricot and that it is oh so delicious. Unfortunately, you can only get it in Canada and England. I told them this because my parents were just in England and they bought me a generic version of the stuff and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. It’s soooo good and it has tons of fiber in it and that kind of double whammy is hard to come by. Anyway, Noah, out of the blue, said: “Is it so good it tosses its cookies?” I immediately burst out laughing because first of all. . . I’ve never heard that phrase before. And second of all. . . he’s using it in the wrong context. He got it from a volcano video we rent from the library where these aliens land on a volcano and when it erupts they say it ‘tosses its cookies.’ Anyway, I’m not sure why I’m blogging this except that it was ridiculously funny and somehow the whole thing is so totally Noah I don’t ever want to forget it. And from now on when you hear one of us Henrichsens say something about tossing our cookies it probably doesn’t mean we’re about to hurl, but rather, that we think something is totally groovy.

On a completely different note, while Chris and Meg were over for Meg’s music lessons, I asked Chris if she had anything yummy for dinner lately. Grocery shopping is sort of a drag, but nothing is worse than trying to come up with a meal plan. I need all the help I can get in this department and I had put off the task for as long as I possibly could. Anyway, she proceeded to list off all these scrumptious things she and her family had enjoyed over the past week or two. One of the meals she mentioned sounded so good I immediately added it to my shopping list and we had it for dinner. Here’s what ya do: spread some guacamole in a tortilla, top it with bacon, some grilled chicken (we added that bit), some sprouts, a little pico de gallo (Mark made his own) and roll it up. It is totally healthy, really filling and super tasty. There, you’re one meal closer to having your meal plan done.

And last but not least, we read a great book from the library just before bed. It’s a little twist on the nursery rhyme “Hey Diddle Diddle” and I thought it was absolutely clever. I don’t know about you but when I go to the library and stand face to face with all those book shelves, half the time I don’t even know where to start. There are a lot of children’s books out there but that doesn’t mean they are all good and finding the books worth reading is sometimes like looking for a needle in a haystack. So, that is why, when I come across a good book, I just have to share it. Anyway, And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon by Janet Stevens is one of those books you should look for in the library. Hunter started out grumbling about how many times he’s heard the nursery rhyme and by the end he was totally hooked.

Yesterday Caleb decided to sleep from 3:30pm until 9:00pm. Then he decided to be awake from 9:00pm until 11:00pm. Now normally he goes to sleep at 9:30pm and I crash on the couch almost immediately thereafter. So last night, in a struggle to stay awake, I started flipping through the 800 some-odd channels we have on TV. I was hoping to watch some CMT but there was nothing on. So I headed down from channel 187. . . 186, 185, 184. . . and so on until I came across “The Man Show.” Now I don’t know much about this show but it has Adam Carolla on it and Mark and I think he’s pretty funny. Anyway, I stopped to watch for a minute and of course, it was about penises. And I won’t go into detail for you faint of heart, but they had a man on the show who lifted weights with his penis and they showed an Indian man lifting a small boulder with his penis. And all of this penis weight lifting reminded me of a “Religions Around the World” class I took at BYU and a film they showed us about how some religions believe self-torture is a way of self purification or something like that. And what would you know, some men lift rocks with their penises as a weird way of purifying themselves. Only the only difference is, on “The Man Show” they had a little black fuzzy spot covering the man’s goods but at BYU they showed everything, penis and all.

Now normally I would have flipped to the next channel (which I did) and forget all about the penis trauma (which I didn’t.) That was just enough penis talk to send me over the testosterone edge. See, early in the night the boys were all playing nintendo, Mark included, and cheering for each other and high fiving each other and slapping each other on the back and I felt like I was intruding on some Bachelor’s Party, minus the stripper. And try as I may to get into computer games and Star Wars and Science Fiction and aliens and sports. . . I just can’t do it. And I sat there in the middle of the family room thinking, “I am so totally the only girl here.” And I’ve felt it every now and then, a little outnumbered, but last night I really felt it. And I started feeling claustrophobic in a weird kind of way, like I needed to french braid someone’s hair or play with barbies quick, or else I was all of the sudden going to sprout my own penis. And the scary thing about that is that lately the boys have been trying really hard to convince me that I am a boy and that I already have a penis. And Denver is so convinced that I have a penis that he has started getting mad at me for not showing it to him. And I’m starting to feel afraid, like I’m about to be assimilated and while I like men and I’m glad they are around, I don’t really want to be one.

And guys always complain about pink and frilly things and hormones and tampons and they get so fed up with it all. But their testosterone can be just as overwhelming. And sitting in this house full of boys I’m thinking the boy power is beginning to be a bit overpowering and I’m feeling the urge to paint something pink.