August 2007 Archives

We are pretty much just hanging out this last week before school starts. We've got lots of stuff to do around the house, since the kids and I both start back to school on Monday. I have got my "to do list" which is about a mile long and am just trying to knock things off one at a time. The kids saw me working off of my list and all wanted to make their own (ah, makes my list loving heart happy!) and have been happily marking through finished items of their own this morning. I find myself trying to stay busy so I don't have to think too much about how next week will be so different for all of us. Luke will be starting 2nd grade, which seems so big to me, and the twins will be in 1st. I will be starting my last year at Blinn before I transfer into A&M to finish my degree in Special Education and Philip will be starting Sonshine School again while I am in classes. On top of that Matthew has a great opportunity to take a Bible class through Heritage Christian and he is excited about that. Big changes, but I think everyone is ready for it...I hope I am.

Matthew and I celebrated out 12 year anniversary this weekend, Sunday the 19th to be exact. I babysat kids from the co-op I am in all week last week to earn enough coupons so that we could have a date night on Friday (4 kids for three hours = 12 coupons and that is a lot of babysitting for me!). We had a wonderful night, but we laugh at how most people would find a date nights rather mundane. We went to Blue Baker (love it!) and split a BBQ chicken wood fired pizza that was EXCELLENT! It was so good to get to sit and eat without having to refill cups, grab some more napkins, wipe up spilled drinks or dodge food being thrown by Philip. We actually got to have some "adult" conversation, although I admit it often turns to talking about the kids. After we ate we went browsing through Hobby Lobby, (again, not saying "walk behind me" and "don't touch anything!" was very nice), Sam's and finally made a quick run to the store. After we picked the kids up and got home, we put the kids in bed, put on a fire log (yes, that's right it was 100 degrees during the day, but we love the "ambiance" - don't judge us!) and watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire while we snacked on some Gouda and crackers. It was a very good night.

This is not to say that we would not love to get out of town, stay in a nice hotel, eat at a fancy restaurant and get each other nice gifts. But, we love being able to do what we can and feel blessed to have what we do.

I am just now starting to understand what people mean when they say "it feels like it was just yesterday". It truly does. We have been through so much together - four kids, several jobs, school, health troubles, and more good times than I can name - and I feel so blessed to have Matthew as my best friend and truly thank God that He sent him to me.

Sad news in the Henderson house this morning - Sarge is under quarantine. Well, actually he is on his way out. Sarge was our newest addition to the kids collection of die cast Cars from the Pixar movie. Since the movie came out last summer, the kids have been collecting them as they received them for birthdays, Christmas, and even with their own allowance money. They play with them just about every day. But, due to the recall that was announced yesterday by Mattel, Sarge is officially a hazard to our kids health due to excessive amounts of lead based paint - poor Sarge! The others are probably fine, but websites have encouraged putting all the Cars away for now until they make sure that others are not affected by the recall. As for Sarge - well, he's headed back to Mattel, or China, or wherever.

** One educational opportunity did come out of this ordeal this morning. Sam and Luke helped me divide the Cars into "Thailand" and "China" piles (the ones made in China are supposedly the only ones affected). This is the reason they are divided in the picture - Thailand on the left and China on the right (and poor Sarge right in the middle). They checked the bottom of each car and in the process wanted to see on a map where China and Thailand are. Nothing like a little Geography lesson to start the day off.