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Every year Hunter’s school participates in the Reflections contest hosted by the PTA. The kids are given a topic and are to create something that falls under that specific theme. Kids can submit art in any of the following six areas: literature, musical composition, photography, visual arts, dance choreography, and film/video production. This year the theme was “I can make a difference by. . . .” Long before the contest began Hunter had composed his very first song on the piano, a very catchy little tune that all of us were caught humming at one time or another. When the Reflections contest came up, both Mark and I suggested he write some lyrics to his little composition and submit it. The night before his project was due and terribly sick with Strep Throat, he and Mark stayed up until midnight recording his song and getting it ready to submit, complete with sheet music and a c.d. recording of the music and Hunter singing. It was a huge undertaking and Hunter was in tears by the time it was over. However, when everything was finally complete, Hunter had one amazing piece of music to submit. Here, listen for yourself:

A Difference by Hunter Henrichsen

Anyway, this past Friday morning the entire family headed up to the school at 7:30am for the Reflections breakfast and the judge’s decisions. We were all pretty excited and confident that Hunter had done well. While we were waiting for the program to begin, Mark ran into the mother of a student he used to teach piano to. They chatted for awhile and then she announced to Mark that her daughter had won first place for the musical composition and that the school had called her to make sure that she would be there for the awards ceremony. Mark and I were both very disappointed because, of course, we were certain Hunter had won first place. Anyway, the ceremony began and Hunter received Honorable Mention for his submission and received a ribbon and a certificate for his efforts. He was bummed to find out he wouldn’t be going to Nationals but seemed proud of his Honorable Mention and even wore his ribbon to class, anxious to share the news with his classmates.

As Mark and I were leaving the mother over the Reflections contest caught us and shared with us that the judge, a music teacher at another school, had been terribly torn over Vandy’s and Hunter’s compositions and had deliberated for a very long time before he finally made his decision. She said we should be very proud and that Hunter had done an awesome job. We shared this with Hunter and he seemed satisfied with everything. Later that night, when he said his prayers he said, “And thank thee that I could technically win first place in the Reflections contest. . . ” and then he asked once again if that meant he would get to go to Nationals.

Unfortunately Hunter, no matter what we do, you won’t be going to Nationals. But this much I know, you earned Grand Prize in my eyes and your Daddy’s and next year, we’re taking it all the way, Baby. Watch out Vandy–here we come!

Since it’s Sunday I thought I’d post a few photos of us in our Sunday best. Dang! We’re one good looking family!

And I snapped this photo of Caleb a few weeks ago, just before we had to leave for church. He’d been ready for awhile and was sitting patiently on the couch while the rest of us ran around like headless chickens getting ourselves ready. Anyway, when I saw him sitting there, just ten toes away from being ready for church, I had to snap a pic. Isn’t he delicious?

And then there’s these guys. Eighteen years from now when they come knocking on your door and ask if you want to hear more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, please be nice. And if you really want to make their day, say “yes.”

P.S. How do you like their missionary haircuts? Yeah, I finally gave in and cut off the nappy curls on the back of their heads. They still look like babies to me–suppose they will for another little while at least.

I just finished your third book in the Twilight Series, Eclipse. It was absolutely, positively addicting and simply delicious. Of course, that’s no surprise considering so were the other two books in the series. I couldn’t put it down. Luckily, one of the babies was sick this past Sunday and I got to spend the entire day holding him and reading my book. The laundry piled up, the dishes went undone, the kids were clawing at me from all sides, I was sleep deprived, the house started crumbling and my husband barely recognized me when I finally came up for air. But it was totally worth it. That is until the depression settled in. Now what? What am I going to do for another eight months until Breaking Dawn is released? Really this can’t be healthy. Which brings me to the reason for this letter. I have a small favor to ask of you.

I know you are in the process of writing another book and I’m glad, really I am. I think you are a very gifted writer. And really I love your books. I more than love your books. I lust your books. I’m totally addicted to them. I think about Edward and Jacob and Bella all the time. I wish vampires and werewolves were real and occassionally I catch myself thinking maybe they are. Your writing has a way of sucking us readers into a whole new world and try as we may to escape, we simply cannot, at least not until the last page is read. And even then we’re not really free because we’re addicted and we need that next book, like a druggie needs their next high. I’m not the only one that feels this way because I’ve talked to several other women who have read your books. We’re all the same. Life as we know it stops when we read your books. Our homes suffer. Our children suffer. Our husbands suffer. Nothing is more important than Edward and Bella and everything takes a back burner. And when we’re finally done reading it takes us weeks to dig our way out of the mountains of laundry and scrape the dried-on, crusty leftovers off the dishes and satisfy our children’s desperate need for attention.

Anyway, so about this next book–I was just hoping that maybe you could wrap things up. You know, get Bella and Edward hitched, give us all that steamy honeymoon we’ve been waiting for and turn Bella into a vampire. And then just end it there. You know, we don’t need Bella getting pregnant or the Volturi stopping by for another visit. And we don’t really want Jacob messing things up between Edward and Bella so you could probably leave him out for the most part, unless you want him to imprint like maybe on Bella’s daughter, (I mean if you have to get her pregnant and all that) but you really could just leave Jacob where you left him in Eclipse, you know, just let him keep running. And we don’t need anymore stressful run-ins with newborn vampires or even old ones for that matter. We just want Edward and Bella together, two vampires living happily ever after. And then, I promise, you can start up another series about whatever you’d like and I won’t read it. I’ll walk away and I swear I’ll never look back.

I realize that I’m asking a lot. I know you could make a ton of money by stretching this series out as long as possible. Can you say J.K. Rowling? But if you have any sympathy for us young mothers you would see that ending this series is the kindest thing you could possibly do for all of us. This waiting, not knowing, it’s just plain torture! Please put us all out of our misery as soon as possible, that’s all I’m asking for–just a little sympathy, just a little closure, just a simple wedding and a transformation. Thanks for understanding and of course, best of luck on this next book.

Sincerely,

Shana Henrichsen

P.S. After looking at your website and seeing your preview of The Host and Midnight Sun I realize this letter is pointless and my family may as well just get used to my periods of irresponsibility and neglect. I simply cannot help myself. Hello, my name is Shana and I am an addict.

So just before Thanksgiving Mark went to the doctor and received some not-so-good news. His diabetes was out of control and I think it scared him quite a bit. I mean, dealing with me on a day-to-day basis is rough but dying at 35 is harsher. So he and the doctor decided to take some drastic measures and Mark started the Atkin’s diet. I was a little doubtful because I’ve heard Atkin’s is almost as harsh as death (at least it would be for me, the carb addict queen) and Mark has struggled with dieting in the past. But his mom gave it a whirl this past year and lost so much weight, I think it gave Mark some hope that he could do it too. So just days before Thanksgiving Mark started his new carb-free lifestyle. Two months later you will hardly believe your eyes. He’s gone from this (his shirt bulging at the buttons):

to this (two pant sizes smaller):

Amazing, isn’t it? He has been so good, only taking a break on Thanksgiving and Christmas. He’s exercising regularly, his diabetes is in good control, he’s down more than twenty pounds, and my biggest worry now is the line of women outside my door hoping for a chance to get with the new man. It’s shocking to hear what women are saying about my husband–I always thought he was extremely handsome but now I have a whole lot of competition going on and I’m a little bit worried I don’t have what it takes anymore. I always wanted to be the one that men drooled over but it looks like Mark’s earned all the drool this time and he totally deserves it, don’t you think? Keep up the good work my “not so chubby hubby.” I love you!

So the other day I had this nasty craving for some homemade chocolate pudding. I like it homemade versus “out of a box” and I like to eat it warm. That way it’s just like eating hot fudge straight out of the jar. Anyway, shortly after I made up a couple of batches (because Noah hates chocolate and I can’t live without it I had to make vanilla and chocolate) Mark said one of the twins looked like they wanted to finger paint. And that reminded me of when I used to let the big boys paint with pudding way back when–when I was young and energetic and motherhood was fresh and new and ideas like this came to me much more readily. So the other day I thought, “Hey, we have a bunch of leftover vanilla pudding. I’ll let the babies finger paint.” Clearly, they had a blast and by the end they looked like they’d been mud wrestling.

Of course I probably should have just given them the pudding in the bowl because they weren’t really painting so much as trying to get as much possible from the paper to their mouths. Everytime I tried shooting a picture of them painting all I got was a picture of them eating. Oh well, like I always say, at least it was one hour that they weren’t sitting in front of the TV and anytime I can get them away from the television is a good time.

You know how on those cell phone commercials they always have the teenagers talking in abbreviations like B.F.F. (Best Friends Forever) and I.D.K (I don’t know)? That’s how Hunter talks to us nowadays. It’s either that or he gives us some complicated math equation to tell us what his blood sugar is–something like 38 below 187 plus 12 or 46 below what I was three days ago at noon. So it is in his honor that the title of this blog has been abbreviated. And for those of you who are still struggling to unscramble the riddle–Hunter turned Nine Years Old on Tuesday.

It was weird waking up on Tuesday and realizing that I had a nine year old. Probably because it doesn’t feel like that long ago that I was that nine. I remember eight like it was yesterday. That’s when I learned the truth about Santa (my mom told me and I cried myself to sleep because I was still a serious believer), how babies are made (Ewww, gross!) and I received my first offer of marriage (Justin V.) I had two best friends–Molly Mills and Amy McShane. I couldn’t understand what the difference between a cursive “q” and a cursive “g” was. And that’s when I learned my first dirty joke. All of the sudden Hunter didn’t seem so little anymore. He’s growing up and I’m getting old and for some reason his birthday seemed so much bigger than the rest.

Hunter’s so much different than me when I was nine. He still believes in Santa and the Tooth Fairy and even Leprechauns for that matter. And I have yet to teach him about “the Birds and the Bees.” I think the fact that he still believes in Santa makes it really hard to teach him about vaginas and sperms and sex. I think I’ll save that for another birthday or two. And instead of barbies, Hunter is into Lego Mission Mars and his new Nintendo DS Lite and all computer games. He has one B.F.F. Christian and when they are together they talk about baseball and computer games and religion of all things. Just the other day Christian was quizzing us on the Ten Commandments and Hunter begs me on a regular basis to let him give Christian a Book of Mormon. (Don’t worry, the missionaries have already delivered one to his parents and Christian informed us yesterday that his mother is probably going to sell it.) They are a funny pair those two but Hunter loves Christian and I’m certain he’d never survive Ms. T if he didn’t have Christian to look forward to everyday.

Hunter loves his second grade teacher like I loved my fourth grade teacher. I didn’t realize how much so until yesterday when I was up at the school for Hunter’s birthday celebration. He requested sugar-free Jello jigglers (why he didn’t ask for cupcakes or cookies beats the heck out of me) and that we donate the newest Magic Treehouse book to the class library. So that’s what we did and afterwards Ms. T asked Hunter if he needed a minute and he nodded immediately, scooped up the tray of jigglers and headed out of the classroom. “Where are we going?” I questioned him. “I’ve got to give Ms. K a jiggler and also Ms. O,” came his reply. He delivered the first to his gym teacher and then headed down the second grade hallway to find Mrs. O. Just his luck, Mrs. O was walking right towards us and Hunter said, “Just the person I was looking for!” I thought his head was going to burst off his shoulders he was so proud and excited to see her. When she seemed surprised that he’d remember to bring her a treat, Hunter said, “How could I ever forget you?” It was really moving to see their little relationship and to realize that he’s really growing up and building relationships and finding people who really love him outside the home. I couldn’t have picked a better person for him to fall in love with myself.

Anyway for Hunter’s birthday I practically killed myself trying to pull together a birthday celebration good enough to meet Hunter’s expectations. There were four very important criteria I had to meet. First, everyone in our neighborhood had to know it was his birthday. Second, he had to have Marble Cake. Third, he wanted Swedish pancakes for dinner. And fourth, presents. So I dragged the three babies to the grocery store and Party City to pick up candles and balloons and strawberries. And I sacrificed the babies naptime and my shower to make his cake and make a dozen banners to hang all over the outside of the house and wrap his presents. Mark went to extremes to find a red DS Lite for Hunter. And I’m not sure how I managed it, but we had Swedish pancakes for dinner. Hunter seemed pleased with the results and even though I thought for sure I was going to die of exhaustion, I can’t think of anyone more worth it. In his nine little years Hunter has had to battle more than his fair share of challenges. And certainly, his life isn’t going to get any easier. But Hunter continues to walk tall, confident, happy, untouched by the difficulties, unafraid of the future, optimistic, a spiritual giant, an example to us all. There’s so much more I wish I could give him and do for him and be for him that just seems impossible right now. And if I could give him the moon I most certainly would. But since I can’t, hopefully the marble cake and the balloons will do for now. I love you Hunter. H.B.N.Y.O.

We had Barry Bear again this weekend. I sort of hate it when these guys come home with Denver because that means I can’t let my kids play Nintendo all weekend while I ignore them. We actually have to do something worthy of writing in Barry’s (or Barbara’s) journal. It doesn’t help that this weekend I was down with a major bladder infection and the only thing I really wanted to do was rip my urinary tract out of my body and flush it down the toilet. But we hit Build-A-Bear Workshop anyway and purchased a couple of teddy bear backpacks (which Denver has been begging for since Thanksgiving) and then spent a good part of Sunday morning making miniature school supplies to fill the packs with. I must admit everything turned out rather cute and I didn’t feel so bad on Monday when he packed up the bear and his journal and headed back to school.

This is one of my favorite presents that I got for Christmas. Kak got it for us. It’s on the back of the Suburban and I’m certain it is so cute it’s going to cause a car accident, especially when the people behind us are worrying more about how many kids we have than our brake lights.

And this is one of my favorite pictures from Christmas. Caleb was so sick while we were in Ohio but he sure did perk up when he opened this present from Uncle Michael. And he loved it so much, he fell asleep snuggling it. I wonder what he’ll do to it when we finally put it together and he gets to paint it.

And one of my favorite quotes from Christmas was on our drive home from Ohio, not too long after we stopped in New Jersey. It was Christmas Eve and all of the kids had Santa on their minds. Then out of the blue Noah said, “You can even get lice in your beard, huh Mommy?” Of all the things to think about when you’re dreaming of Santa’s arrival. Noah is so silly.

Last night we attended Hunter’s cub scout pack meeting. Hunter has been working especially hard lately to earn his Wolf Badge and I’m happy to inform you that he did it! We’re so proud of you Hunter! Keep up the good work.

The other day I was sorting through our home videos looking for a video I’d promised to show Kak while she was here. I found that video but unfortunately for you, I’m not allowed to share it with anyone else. It’s embarassing to Denver. But while I was sorting through the videos I came across this one and I thought it was especially cute. I filmed it the day Denver did this to his hair.

Click Here for Video
Anyway, that got me thinking about spikes and how much I miss having them around. That was the last time Denver really let me spike his hair and although I’ve tried spiking Caleb’s hair it just doesn’t look the same on him.

Anyway, ever since finding the video on Sunday I’ve been thinking a lot about spikes and I finally decided on Tuesday to try out the twins’ hair. And since I really don’t have the heart to cut their hair yet, this is my new solution. What do you think? Yeah. . . I like it too.