TheHenrichsens.com

The kids didn’t have school today because of Rosh Hashanah. We get almost all of the Jewish holidays off here which is kind of nice for us. Anyway, I decided to take the kids up to see Melanie (who is husbandless this week) and go apple-picking. Melanie said she knew this great little orchard close to her home that had a great train the kids could play on and hay rides and apples to boot. So that’s exactly what we did.

Upon our arrival we were greeted by three very friendly horses that practically kissed us and even let us pet them. The twins were thrilled and Caleb was a bit wary. Another preschool group was there and one of the horses started sniffing and licking one little girl like she was a lemon meringue pie. It was pretty funny. Eventually we meandered over to the train Melanie had mentioned and Caleb was especially thrilled with it. But of course, all of the kids had fun climbing in, on and around the little wooden train.

We waited for quite some time for our turn on the hayride only to find out it was only for “preschool groups.” Hey! Six of the nine kids in our group were preschool age and I was extremely frustrated with the driver as he drove his empty trailer down the hill to pick up another group of little kids. Would it kill ya to give us a ride down the hill and thrill nine little children for all of thirty seconds? Sheesh! So much to our chagrin we loaded up two radio flyer wagons with babies and walked ourselves down to the apple orchard. The kids immediately took off with their little bags and left me and Melanie in the dust. Justus kept turning around and shouting at me, “Come on Mommy. Pick apples.”

It only took about five apples to fill each little bag so the apple-picking part of the day didn’t take us too long. Everyone filled their own bag, except for the twins and Caleb, and everyone picked their own apple to eat. Then we loaded everyone back into the wagons and dragged them back up the hill. Ugh! 100 pounds of dead weight in a wagon on a muddy dirt hill. I’m so glad I wasn’t a pioneer.

The twins were especially adorable today in their little overalls, exploring everything there was to see. Justus picked that pumpkin all by himself and then spent a good ten minutes or so trying to dust all the dirt off of it. And check out his little face as he trys to get a bite of his apple in the wagon. Man, he’s cute!

And what can I say? His brother is just as darling. Jericho kept picking those flowers and trying to eat them, of all things. Thank goodness he found something better to feast upon in the orchard.

And here are the three little boys, picking their own apples. I love seeing them tippy-toe stretch up to the apples and watching their chubby little grubby hands trying to yank an apple down off the tree.

And check out that smile on Denver. You don’t get a smile like that from him very often these days. He’s all about keeping his lips closed tight and not showing his teeth. But I guess he had enough fun picking apples today that he felt kind enough to share his teeth with us. And by the time Melanie and I had all nine kids loaded back in the car and into the air-conditioning we were smiling that big too. Man, did those kids wear us out!

We spent ours up at the state capitol rallying for families and a constitutional convention. Just like every other state, homosexual couples are fighting for the same-sex marriage thing here in Connecticut. And just like everywhere else, they are lobbying the legislature in the hopes that one single judge will grant them their wishes. So yesterday, we went to church early and then traveled by bus with the rest of the Ward up to Hartford to let the legislature know that we aren’t going to stand for such undemocratic decisions. We want our say, dang it! One person up on their high horse doesn’t get to decide for the rest of us. That’s not democracy.

I think the scariest thing is knowing that should same-sex marriage pass in CT my own religious freedom would be threatened. If you want to know the truth, I believe in God. And because I believe in God I also believe that he created two sexes, man and woman. And I also believe there is a grand design behind these two genders and it is called Procreation. And I believe God made us the way we are so we’d be attracted to the opposite sex and want to “get busy” and make babies and work together as a family by the “sweat of our brows” to survive in this hard world. Believe what you want, I believe this is how it was supposed to be. Should same-sex marriage pass in CT then anyone who believes as I do will be persecuted for not accepting homosexuals in our churches and our temples. And as soon as they start insisting they be married in my temple is the day all hell will break loose in this country. Someone said yesterday, homosexuals deserve our compassion but they do not deserve our endorsement. I have nothing against homosexual couples. Nothing. If they want to live together and adopt babies I’m not about to stop them. But I will not give them my stamp of approval. Because I believe in God and He has told us it’s wrong. Maybe they were born that way. Maybe they can’t help but be attracted to the same sex. I’m terribly sorry for them. But just like a child molester will tell you he can’t help his attraction to children and that he was just born that way and that he thinks having sex with infants is “normal,” there’s no way in hell I’m going to give him my endorsment. Do I feel sorry for him and the struggles he’s dealing with? Sure. Am I going to judge him for that? No. But am I going to help him get his way? No! Same goes for same-sex marriage. I don’t approve and you can’t make me.

So let me climb down off my soap box and just say–if you live in Connecticut and you want to have your say on the matter of same-sex marriage then this November 4th when you vote, please vote YES for a constitutional convention. It’s the only way you or I am going to get our say on the matter. And if you want to know more about all of this stuff you can visit the Family Institute of Connecticut or the Constitution Convention Campain.

By the way, I think it’s interesting that the CT state motto is Qui Transtulit Sustinet which means “He who transplanted still sustains.” That He wouldn’t be God would it? And also, whoever thought I’d get so involved in politics and government and stuff? Certainly not me.

Caleb has already decided what he’s going to be for Halloween. But don’t be mistaken. He’s not a scary witch. He’s a laughing witch.

If the weather is getting crisp where you are and you’re in the mood for something warm and gooey to eat and, if you’ve been apple picking this Fall and you’re looking for a way to use up all those apples, then this sandwich is for you. I saw Paula Deen whip this baby up the other day and it looked so yummy and easy I had to give it a try. It was right up there with Mark’s Monte Cristo’s with Homemade Raspberry Jam. Thanks Paula Deen!

We made pumpkin bread together because it was the first day of Fall and the only excuse needed when this recipe is involved. The twins and Caleb love to help cook and I love to let them. . . most of the time. Jericho dumped an egg on the table and threw his spoon in the bowl while the mixer was turning. And Justus could not keep his fingers out of the batter to save his life. But the end results were delicious and worth all the little frustrations.

We received Hunter’s CMT results in the mail last week. They were exactly what you’d expect from Hunter. He scored in the Advanced range in all four areas of the test but the most impressive results were his Reading Scale Score. See for yourself:

I know, I know. Somebody scrape me off cloud nine. I’m extremely proud of the boy. A few days later we received this in the mail:

Yup. It’s about time. Now all I’m wondering is how come it took them so long to figure it out? Is it really that difficult to tell a gifted kid from a regular kid without a test score to back you up? We’ve only been begging them to challenge Hunter a little more since Kindergarten! That said, hopefully now he’ll get the extra challenge and stimulation he needs at school because honestly he’s not getting it at home. I mean, I struggled with the kid’s third grade math homework. My brain’s all but mush nowadays. And clearly Hunter’s isn’t. He got one of those big Henrichsen brains and it’s nice to see it getting put to good use.

I recently wrote you a letter urging you to vote for Senate bill 1738. Thanks to some friends, it was brought to my attention that 1)this is a bogus bill full of a bunch of extra SH!# about chimpanzees and 2)this is all about the current presidential campaign and who’s gonna get the glory, Barack Obama or John McCain. I should have known Oprah was up to something. Obama wants 1738 to pass with his big fat name smeared all over it. And McCain wants his big fat name smeared all over Senate bill 3344–which is supposedly a revision to 1738 minus the junk. What I want to know is how did y’all get so self-centered, selfish, slimey and pig-headed? And I would also like to know how you are going to feel one of these days when you come face to face with a little girl who was raped and molested and tortured because you couldn’t get over yourself and pass a bill as simple as 1738 without throwing in something like monkeys? And I’m also wondering how things like the mating habits of snow crabs in Alaska or bailing out Freddie and Fannie are more important than our children’s lives? Y’all suck and I have no idea who I’m going to vote for come November 4th. Maybe I’ll vote for Flint Waters. He seems concerned about our children and their welfare. Or maybe I’ll vote for myself and I’ll make Flint V.P. Then I’ll give all of us Moms guns and V.P. Waters will give us the addresses of all the Pedophiles and we’ll take care of this problem once and for all, real quick like. And then, y’all will be out of a job because you won’t have anything to sit around in Senate, scratching your balls over.

Sincerely,

One Very Disgusted Mother

The three big boys and I went raspberry picking this past weekend at our favorite raspberry farm, Candee Farms. Mr. Candee informed Mark when he called that there weren’t many berries but we decided to go anyway. Mr. C was right, there weren’t a whole lot of raspberries on the bushes but that’s probably because he’s letting them get a little overrun. Which makes me sad because this is the only place I know of that you can pick your own raspberries and there’s nothing quite so delicious as homemade raspberry jam.

Anyway, we picked what we could, about four pints, and supplemented the rest with nasty California berries from the grocery store. The twins helped do the mashing and Sunday morning we enjoyed some of what might be our last batch of homemade raspberry jam. It was so good. The boys each took a tiny jar to school for their teachers–they were so proud of their hard work–and there are a few other jars reserved for a few special people in our lives. And the last four or five tiny jars will be marked “special occassion” and brought out only for things like Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. And we’ll just hope that God will bless Mr. Candee’s raspberries next summer and give him a bumper crop, just especially for us. Either that or we’re going to have to plant our own really soon.

I watched Oprah Winfrey today. I’m not a huge fan of Oprah anymore. I used to watch her daily but it seems like lately she’s way too busy tooting her own horn and showing off how rich she is. Plus, I don’t have time to watch TV during the day. But today was a bad day so I gave into the peanut M&M’s and watched Oprah too. I really wish I hadn’t but, once it started I couldn’t turn it off. If you watched today you know what I’m talking about. She was discussing Child Pornography on the internet and how bad it’s really gotten. And it’s gotten REALLY bad. Little tiny babies wearing diapers, with pacifiers in their mouths are being raped and videotaped, daily. And thousands of predators nationwide are watching and sharing and making their own videos to share. There are instruction manuals on the internet, teaching pedophiles how to rape their daughters (starting from age 0), videotape it and how to do it all without getting caught. Predators can even get on chat rooms with other predators and watch live videos of molestation and rape–they actually take turns molesting their daughters for each other LIVE! It was all I could do not to vomit.

Anyway, at the end of the show Oprah spotlighted Bill 1738 which is on its way to Senate in just a few days. There’s a man in Wyoming, Flint Waters who has figured out a way to track internet pedophiles right to their front doors. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough money or man power to go after the thousands of internet predators that are out there. In fact, Flint Waters said he’s only able to investigate two percent of his cases and only half of one percent of those cases are actually prosecuted. Bill 1738 is an attempt at getting investigators the money and man power they need to go and get these child molesters and save these babies who are literally screaming for help. Oprah urged everyone watching to contact their state senators and insist that they pass Bill 1738.

I wouldn’t have known such a bill even existed if I hadn’t watched Oprah today. And maybe I would be happier and more comfortable right now if I hadn’t. But knowing what I know now, I can’t stand by and do nothing. I’ve already written both of my Senators and Mark is planning on making a couple of phone calls himself tomorrow. And now, as much as I dislike Oprah I can’t help but join her on this one front and ask you to do the same. Please contact your Senators today and ask them to pass Bill 1738 . Oprah even has a letter already written for you to cut and paste into your Senator’s email, for those of you that are short on time. But whatever you do, just do it and do it now. There’s no time to lose.

Mark has every Saturday morning completely filled with piano lessons from 9:00am til lunch time which is great because like everyone else, we really need the money. But unfortunately for the boys, this means they have to stay in their bedroom (or downstairs in the toy room) for almost three hours straight and remain absolutely quiet. That’s no small feat for three little boys. Anyway, I found this on their bedroom door yesterday and I thought it was pretty great.

I really love having all boys. And when the girls do come around, they are definitely going to have to pass some major tests before I even let them think about entering our Mega Party. And by the way, even though they were having a “mega party” upstairs in their little bedroom, no one heard a peep out of them the entire time. Good job, boys.