Monday, December 26, 2005
  
Performed every other year by the grandchildren, this is one nativity scene that really comes to life! This year Hunter got to be Joseph and Caleb (being the youngest and all) was Little Baby Jesus. Aunt Anita provided some fabulous costumes, cousin Zach did a great job narrating, and cousins Ephraim and Gloria stole the show when they recited Luke 2:10-12 from memory. Unfortunately, Denver and Noah chose to sit the performance out, but hopefully we'll see them in it December 2007.
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Sunday, December 25, 2005
 
We decided to bless Caleb in Ohio since we'd be with so much of Mark's family. It was just a neat coincidence that it happened on Christmas Day. Mark, his dad two of his brothers and two of his brother-in-laws were all in the circle and it was a very nice blessing if I say so myself. Wish you all could have been there.
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Wednesday, December 21, 2005
When Mark and I got married we spent our first New Year's in Arkansas with his family and it was there that I was intoduced to their tradition of breaking apart a gingerbread house on New Year's Day. It's pretty much like breaking a pinata except we used our hands to demolish the little cookie house. The rewards are just as sweet. Anyway, as a result, when Hunter was just a wee lad, we started doing the same thing with him and it quickly became a tradition in our own home. Of course, in order to break a gingerbread house on New Year's Day you've got to make a gingerbread house sometime before then. Now if any of you have seen the gingerbread houses that Mark's family creates you'd be mightily impressed. They make the most fantastic gingerbread homes I've ever seen. A talent, I suppose, that comes with making so many throughout the years (I hear they used to make them and give them away.) Unfortunately, it's not a talent that gets passed along just because you marry into the family. Still, every year we make our own little gingerbread house and the boys LOVE it! This year I simplified the whole process (since Mark had to work late and I had a baby on my hip)and I know it looks like just a giant blob of frosting and candy--but the boys didn't seem to mind and at least we kept with tradition and have a "candy house" to smash to pieces on New Year's Day.
 
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Monday, December 19, 2005
 
I can't help but smile too!
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Sunday, December 18, 2005
This week while we were eating lunch, Noah and Denver and I were talking about being kind to the earth and ways we can take care of "Home Sweet Home." Of course, we got on the subject of trees and how it's important to not cut down too many trees, since we need them to make oxygen for us. As a result, this year we've decided to save the trees and post our Christmas letter here and only here. Of course there's the added dimension that everything we've done this year has already been written about once and I didn't want to waste the paper writing about it again. So . . . with that said, may I present to you our year in review minus the paper.
In January Hunter had his sixth birthday and celebrated it by duckpin bowling with his buddies. We also found out we would be having our fourth child, although we didn't know what kind. We discovered mice in our cupboard and learned that Denver is allergic to penicillin. Denver prayed for his copy of Polar Express on DVD.
In February we drove to Kansas to visit Grandma and Grandpa Stout and enjoyed swimming for two days at Great Wolf Lodge and bowling and playing Laser Tag and eating out. We all got kicked in the pants by a nasty flu bug and Mark went head-to-head with some smokers in McDonalds. We hope Smiley and Jersey are having a happy, but smoke-free Christmas. Denver continued praying for his copy of the Polar Express on DVD.
In March we celebrated Noah's fourth birthday with pizza and Monkey Ball and everybody came. We learned that Hunter officially has Benign Childhood Epilepsy and they kept him on his meds for a little bit longer. A leprechaun visited our house and left a pot of gold hidden in our stove and the stork left 24 fertilized chicken eggs on our doorstep. And Denver remained steadfast in his prayers for Polar Express on DVD.
In April we hatched four fluffy baby chicks: Hero, Lucky, Jack-Jack, and Wilbur. Hunter started T-ball and I was assigned his coach. Hero died. Mark tried out for Jeopardy and we enjoyed all the gifts of spring including some April showers, giant bubbles and Noah's dandelions. And of course, Denver prayed for Polar Express on DVD.
In May Hunter continued playing T-ball and Mark stepped up to be Coach. We discovered the best waffle recipe in the world, a nest with eggs in it right above our front door, and Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser. Mark got a raise and the doctor told us we were having our fourth boy. Jack-Jack died and Denver prayed. . . for Polar Express on DVD.
In June we enjoyed Trumbull Days and the beach with Grandma and Grandpa Henrichsen, celebrated Father's day with a Betty Crocker Bake-n-Fill, and had a baby bird hatch above our front door. Denver prayed for Polar Express on DVD.
We spent most of July in our swimsuits at Lake Mohegan where the boys took swimming lessons and I tried to keep cool. When we weren't swimming we were busy visiting the library trying to tackle Hunter's summer reading list and sitting in front of the air conditioner. We had a very fun Independance Day with the sister missionaries, got drenched at the Hill Cumorah Pageant, and picked a bunch of plump blueberries for blueberry pie. And Denver never forgot to pray for Polar Express on DVD.
We discovered pluots in August and Denver got tubes in his ears. We visited the Bronx Zoo for the first time, enjoyed lots of yummy tomatoes from our tomato plant and I had my first ever baby shower. Denver turned three and Wilbur died. Denver prayed for Polar Express on DVD and Mommy starting praying too.
In September Hunter started first grade, Mark won an Ipod Nano, I attempted to teach Preschool at home, we finished rearranging the furniture to make baby number four fit, Lucky laid an egg and I went into labor. The entire family started praying for Polar Express on DVD and an early release date.
In October, Caleb Allen joined us at a whoppin' 8 pounds 11 ounces. Noah started Karate, we made pumpkin pie with a real pumpkin and we went trick or treating with Darth Vader, Captain Hook and a witch! We started begging Denver not to pray for Polar Express on DVD—but he persisted!
November was filled with excitement. Noah learned to crochet and got his yellow stripe in Karate. We discovered the Garbage Museum and visited it several times. We raked 66 bags of leaves and made applesauce from apples. We enjoyed a Stout Family Reunion down in Florida and visited Magic Kingdom and SeaWorld. Grandma and Grandpa Henrichsen and Uncle Michael came to visit us for Thanksgiving and Mark made a super yummy turkey. Oh, and Denver finally got his hands on a copy of Polar Express. . .24 hours before its release date and 1100 prayers later! Hallelujah!
And here we are, back to December. We're keeping busy wrapping presents and eating Christmas cookies. We've enjoyed a couple of snowstorms and have been sledding already. Caleb has started sucking his thumb and giggling. We are reading the Book of Mormon as a family and we're almost finishsed. We're planning a trip to Ohio in a few more days and can't wait to see everyone there and rest and play. All in all it's been a wonderful year. We look forward to next year and the excitement that awaits us in 2006. We feel truly blessed and know that the Lord has watched over us in every event of our lives and that He will be there watching over us in the year to come. We hope your year has been as splendid as ours and that you have a wonderful Christmas and an even better new year!
Love, The Henrichsens (Mark, Shana, Hunter, Noah, Denver and Caleb)
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Tuesday, December 13, 2005
This is what I felt like today while I was trying to find a pair of jeans that fit. Oh, how I hate being fat! But Mark just brought me a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup with caramel and how am I ever going to resist? Hmmph!
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Monday, December 12, 2005
Every year for the past three or four years we've had the same FHE during the month of December. We talk about The True Meaning of Christmas as well as the Legend of the Candy Cane. Several years ago I printed pictures of Santa, a star, a candle, a wreath, a bell, a present, a Christmas tree and a candy cane; colored them in and laminated them. I've used them every year since. Anyway, we talk about how each of those things can remind us of Jesus. After the "lesson" we have a treasure hunt. Mark and I hide the eight pictures around the house with clues and set the kids free. I try and make the clues a review of the lesson with fill in the blanks--so they have to work for their treasure. At the end they get some kind of treat or present--last night it was a little bucket of candy. Then we have FHE treat and send them to bed. Now I'm not telling you this to make you feel inadequate or whatever. It's like the one big FHE we have every year. Usually we read a story from The Friend and scream and shout at each other for awhile and use it as an excuse to eat some really yummy and especially fattening treat. But tonight, as soon as the boys heard we were having a treasure hunt they got really excited and started getting ready for the big event. And by ready, here's what I mean:
They spent at least 45 minutes taping electrical tape and yarn to their faces and pajamas, making colored jerseys and even a checkered racing flag for me to use. They were so excited for FHE it was almost a little scary. Anyway, they seemed to have a blast and I suppose this is one "collective" tradition they will remember for many years to come.
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Sunday, December 11, 2005
Everyone says that Caleb looks just like Kathy. What do you think? No matter what, he definitely has the Stout nose and will eventually end up looking just like my Dad. . . I'm almost positive.
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Saturday, December 10, 2005
 So the kids are getting a little excited about Christmas and what awaits them under the Christmas tree. I caught Hunter doing a Christmas Gift Inventory the other day--counting who had how many presents and who's got the biggest presents and wondering why he only has two and Noah and Denver have three. Then they all started begging to open one early and that reminded me of when we were little and how Mom and Dad always let us open one a day or two early and how exciting that was. Unfortunately for the boys. . . they are going to have to wait, at least a little while longer.
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Friday, December 09, 2005
 
I LOVE snow days. We don't have to get up early and rush around the house, digging through piles of laundry for clean underwear and snarfing down breakfast. No. . . on snow days we laze around in bed until our tummies start grumbling. We stay in our pajamas all day and watch movies and snuggle under blankets and it's pure bliss! Today was no exception. We ate Monkey Bread for breakfast around 9:30 am while we watched our neighbors build a snowman. Then we bundled up ourselves and played outside till our toes were frozen. I managed to shovel the sidewalks and left the driveway for Mark. Then we tidied up the house and played and watched TV and had a wonderful day. Who knew Heaven could come in snowflakes?
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Everyone says I should put socks on his hands and make him stop but
I think it's the cutest thing this side of planet earth and I've always wanted a thumbsucker. He's getting really good at it too and that means he can soothe himself much sooner than the other three kids did. And you can't loose a thumb or drop it on the floor. Hallelujah! And for all of you that are thinking "There goes his teeth," guess what. All of my kids are going to need braces, according to the dentist, and they never sucked their thumbs. And I sucked my thumb till I was eleven and one of my best features nowadays is. . . my smile. So here's to the soothing power of thumbsucking and a happy baby! Suck away, Caleb!
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Thursday, December 08, 2005
Yesterday, while we were checking out at the grocery store our bagger lady kept acting really strange. She was talking to our groceries as they journeyed down the conveyor belt. And every so often she'd call out, "Uh oh, time to bend over" and would then bend over and lay her head down on the checkout counter. I couldn't tell if she really was crazy or just acting like it, but Denver was intrigued and kept staring at her, probably thinking, "Oh my goodness! She's crazy!" I looked at the cashier, sort of looking for an answer, who smiled at me (she wasn't going to confirm or deny anything) and said, "She's just crazy but normal, right Dolores?" and then she continued scanning my items. And I never figured out if Dolores really was crazy or normal but she kept talking to the groceries and kept repeating the phrase, "I'm crazy but normal."
For some reason that phrase stuck with me and as I drove home from the grocery store, with three crying kids in tow, I thought, "I'm crazy but normal too." There is nothing about my life that is not crazy anymore and it's gotten to the point that crazy IS normal for me. If things aren't crazy, I don't know what to do with myself. Here's what I mean:
Yesterday I went to the grocery store to pick up a prescription for Denver and pick up three things: saran wrap, juice boxes and onion powder. An hour later I left with saran wrap, juice boxes, onion powder, cornbread mix, grapes, apples, pears, bananas, five boxes of diet soda and three 2-liter bottles of diet soda, eggs, bread, shredded mozerella cheese, some fuzzy blue slippers, and three crying kids. Denver was saying mean things to Noah. Noah covered Denver's mouth to make him stop. Denver bit Noah. Noah screamed and carried on for 30 minutes, which eventually woke up Caleb and started him wailing. What should have been a 10 minute, $30 stop ended up being a $120, aggravating and frustrating trip to the grocery store--that's the crazy bit. The normal part is, this is how it is anytime I have to go to the grocery store.
Monday, I decided to get the kids away from the television and interact with them a bit. So, we made some bread in the bread machine and started making some pumpkin roll. The kids love to mix and dump and I feel better about spending some time with them doing something constructive. So, we got the batter mixed up and in the oven and had just enough time to get it baked before we had to pick Hunter up from school. Or so I thought. I got the kids' shoes on and bundled them up, because we were planning on staying at the school to play on the playground before karate, and then took the pumpkin roll out of the oven. Not done. So, we went to get Hunter and I left the pumpkin roll in the oven, since it only takes us 3 minutes to pick up Hunter and they needed just a few more minutes to bake. Well, Hunter wanted to stay and play and he was really angry when I said we had to hurry home so the pumpkin roll wouldn't burn. So, he picked up a nice big icy snowball and with all the fury he could muster he threw the thing at me. If being screamed at by your 6 year old kid isn't humiliating enough, the stupid snowball hurt more. So, I grabbed his arm and dragged him home while he screamed at me the entire way, while I tried desperately not to drop Caleb and keep one eyeball each on the other two kids. The crazy part is, we very easily could have walked back to the school after I saved the pumpkin roll if Hunter hadn't landed himself in timeout. The normal part is, this happens almost every day I pick Hunter up from school.
Friday, Kathy invited the boys to have a "mega sleepover" at her house. We had this great plan to meet Kak at the mall and eat McDonald's together and then send the boys home with her (minus Caleb). They would get to spend the night with her and the following day we would pick them up and take them to Daddy's gigantic family Christmas party at the Harboryard arena where the kids get presents and we watch this great ice show and all sorts of fun things. The kids were excited about all of it and had been praying for days that Friday would get here fast. Well, Friday showed up pretty quick and the boys were pumped--the day they'd been waiting all their lives for had finally arrived. Mark called to tell me he was on the train and would need picked up in about 15 minutes. I had been trying to help Me-me make some Christmas c.d.'s and hadn't packed the kids' bag yet. So I started scurrying around the house throwing pj's and blankets into a suitcase while I shouted at the kids to get their socks and shoes on. Well. . . Denver was having fun playing something else and did not want to cooperate. So he decided to tell me he hates me. Yup! He hates me for telling him to get his shoes on so I can take him to McDonald's for dinner and so he can spend the night at Aunt Kak-Kak's house. That's the crazy part. Now I know kids do that. We did when we were little and at that very moment I heard my mom saying, "I'm sorry to hear that, but I love you" which would send us on an immediate guilt trip. So, I said it to Denver in almost the exact same tone as my mother which didn't phase Denver for a second because he was too angry to care about how I felt at all, which only made me feel worse. I just wanted to go shut the door to my bedroom and cry. That's the normal part.
Lately I've been having these psycho dreams. I've had several dreams that Mark is gay, which for any of you that know Mark is about as far-fetched as they come but are still disturbing all the same. I wake up feeling really rotten because in my dreams, Mark is choosing to be with these other men (and women) before me and I hate feeling second best. And last night I had a dream that our neighbor,Elizabeth, came over and knocked on our door with her cane (which she does in real life and it always freaks me out) to tell us that our chicken Lucky, was lying outside in a pool of blood, dead. That upset me because just last night I was reading my past blogs and feeling rather attatched to the silly bird and all that I've experienced because of her. Weird dreams becoming a normal part of my sleep pattern--that's crazy.
So, this week I started exercising again in the hopes of losing a couple of pounds before I have to face the Henrichsen clan at Christmas and accept the title of heavyweight champion again. So Monday, despite a freshly sprained ankle, I decided to do the "Firm" workout which combines some serious weightlifting with aerobics. I struggled my way through it and managed to survive long enough to feel my muscles begin to ache. Tuesday, I decided to give my muscles a break and give my heart a workout instead. So, I popped Step Reebok into the VHS and strapped Caleb into the carry pack and started stepping. The added 13 pounds on my chest about broke my back but it kept him from crying (which is usually what keeps me from exercising) and I thought for sure I'd lose an extra pound or two because of it. Well, Wednesday morning when I got up to weigh myself I had gained two pounds. That is the crazy part. So I didn't exercise yesterday and I had a big bowl of chocolate peanut butter ice cream and about six chocolates right before I went to bed and I felt much better. That is the normal part.
And then there's my haircut. I cut it with the hope that I'd look a little neater and nicer on a daily basis, maybe even a little more mature. I know I don't look any sexier but I was hoping I'd look nicer and definitely not younger or "cuter." Well, the first crazy thing is, right after I cut it Mark said, "I liked seeing you with your long pony tail across the food court tonight." Which means he really wanted me to keep it long but never could say it for fear I'd take offense or think he was being controlling or something. It was always, "Whatever makes you feel better" or "Whatever makes you happy." But if he'd just said, "No! Don't cut it! I love how it looks long!" I might not have cut it. But I did and now it's too late. And the next crazy thing is, I thought the haircut looked more mature but all I'm getting is "cute" and that was the last thing I was shooting for was a "cute" haircut. I might as well put it in a couple of piggy tails and suck my thumb. I mean, I'm thirty years old and I'm still being called cute which really is crazy but then again, I suppose that's normal for me. I still get mistaken for a college student who really shouldn't have four kids, and I suppose I should be grateful for that because everyone wants to look young nowadays, but I just want to look grownup and be treated as such.
And last night, Mark got home really late. He had a dinner to go to and then an Elder's quorum meeting. So I fed the kids alone and got them ready for bed and struggled through scripture reading with them and tucked them in bed and then proceeded to clean the house and try and wrap a few Christmas presents. Of course I had Caleb with me which made everything 10 times more difficult and take 10 times longer. So, when Mark got home I handed him Caleb so I could finish wrapping his Christmas present. Five minutes later I came out of the guest bedroom and sat down by Mark and Caleb on the couch and there was Caleb laughing at his daddy. Now normally I'd be thrilled about it but on this particular occasion I was green with envy. Here was Caleb, smiling and laughing with his Daddy when he'd been home all of ten minutes and had done nothing with him all day. While I, on the other hand, had spent all day feeding him and holding him and bathing him and changing him and singing to him and reading to him and talking to him. And yet, Mark got the first laugh. And yet, as crazy as that is, it's normal too. Mark always outdoes me, even when it comes to parenting. Afterall, who do you think they call for first--mommy or daddy?
There are so many crazy things like that in my life. My skinniest kid is my biggest couch potato. I have to threaten my kids with a spanking to get them to go and play. Caleb always poops two minutes into nursing him. The only way I get to blog nowadays is with one finger while I nurse. The laundry is never done, nor are the dishes despite very hard efforts on my part. No matter what I cook, dinner is never good enough for everyone. The worst part of it all is that all this craziness is a normal part of my routine and I keep smiling despite all of it. Perhaps the real crazy person here isn't Dolores, but me.
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Tuesday, December 06, 2005
 Every year, Yale's Pediatric Diabetes Crew throws a Christmas party for all of their little patients. We went for the first time last year and thought it was really great. They serve dinner and have a balloon artist tie balloons for all the kids and all of the doctors and nurses make their rounds, playing with the kids and wishing everyone a 'Merry Christmas.' Then Santa comes and hands out gifts to all of the children. But the great thing is, Santa is Doctor Tamborlaine--the head doctor of the Pediatric Diabetes Clinic. And he holds all of the kids on his lap and hands out the presents. It's pretty fun. So of course, we went again last night. Hunter loves it especially because he gets to run around with a dozen or more kids just like himself and he whips out his pump and compares it with his new friends' pumps and they all check their blood together and count carbs together and everyone feels normal--even if it's just for one night a year. Anyway, we feel really blessed to be a part of Yale's Diabetes Clinic and all of the changes they've helped us through with Hunter and with diagnosing his epilepsy and dealing with it all. They are a great group of doctors and nurses and you can tell they all love the kids and the work they do for them and for that we are very grateful.
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Who needs healthy food when you've got junk?
Today while we were eating lunch, the boys were complaining, as usual, about what we were forcing them to eat--sloppy joes and tator tots (terrible, I know.) Anyway I tried to convince them to eat by saying, "I want big strong healthy stripling warrior boys not whimpy little sick boys." (I thought it might work since we just read about the Stripling Warriors in the Book of Mormon and we all know how cool they are.) Then I added, "So you gotta eat healthy food and all you've been eating lately is junk!"
Noah asked, "Mommy what's junk?" I'm sure he was thinking about our recent visit to the garbage museum and was certain he hadn't eaten any junk lately.
I started listing off all the junk they'd been eating--popcorn, candy, donuts, brownie sundaes. . . . to which Denver, who was sitting close by, replied, "Mmmmmmmmm, that sounds good!"
Christmas Bowling
Decorating for Christmas this year has been a very long and difficult process. It's not that anything has changed that much from last year but it's hard to carry large boxes of decorations up and down the stairs when you have a baby in tow and help three kids hang ornaments when you have a baby in tow and even think about Christmas decorating when you have a mountain of laundry growing in the basement and a baby who hasn't had a bath in days because the kitchen sink is full of dirty dishes. Anyway, slowly but surely we've been pulling decorations out of the boxes and trying to make our humble abode look festive. One of the things the boys keep asking for are "Christmas toys." I haven't quite figured out what they are looking for but Denver has been content to play with the nativity sets I've found. A few days ago he ran excitedly into the family room exclaiming something about "Christmas Bowling" and that I needed to come quick and see. So, as soon as Caleb was done gulping down his breakfast, I hurried into the piano room to see what Denver was all excited about. There, on the floor he had carefully set up all of the nativity figurines, both from (Great) Grandma Stout's nativity and the chunky people from our Fisher Price set. And clenched in his little fist was a Christmas Ball from our christmas tree. The object of the game: knock down the the nativity figurines with the christmas ornament. He was so thrilled with his idea I couldn't help but join in. Only I had to make a few adjustments since I felt a little sacreligious throwing balls at baby Jesus and Mary. So, we put Great Grandma's Nativity set away. Then we put the chunky baby Jesus on the top of the Fisher Price stable and agreed that when we knocked down all ten of the other figures we would hit baby Jesus and turn on the music. Then, instead of using the Christmas ornament--which wasn't rolling very well or big enough to knock down anything--we used a tube of desitin cream (which just happpened to be lying on the floor close by) for the bowling ball. It actually ended up being quite fun and Denver was thrilled with his new take on bowling.
Yes. . . Even Heavenly Father Cancels Church. . . Sometimes
This morning we woke up to snow. There was about an inch on the ground and it was still falling. For some reason, that made the boys think church might be cancelled. I still insisted that they have a bath and get dressed for church and eat breakfast until we heard otherwise--because I was certain church wasn't going to be cancelled. So we sat down for breakfast and Hunter said prayer, during which he asked for church to be cancelled.
My response: "Ummmmm. . . Hunter do you really think Heavenly Father is going to cancel church? I think you are praying to the wrong man for that one."
Within five minutes of my comment, we received a phone call informing us that we only had Sacrament meeting today. I guess I was wrong and Hunter was thrilled.
Three Way Screwdriver
Noah was dying of thirst this afternoon. We were right in the middle of reading "The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe" so I told Noah to wait just a few more minutes and then I would get him a drink. After a few more minutes, he got tired of waiting and decided to make his own drink. So, he ran into the kitchen and poured himself a combination of crystal light, apple cranberry juice cocktail and grape soda. When I asked him what he was doing (because I could see he was up to something and it looked messy), he said, "I'm making a three way screwdriver." Then he tasted it and smiled really big and said, "Mmmmmm! It tastes like candy!"
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