To Never Forgetting

As I have been thinking about everything we have done this year and "publishing" all of the previous years books, I thought it would be fun to write down some of the fun things Henry has said and done this year.  Things happen that you think you will never forget, but you do.  That includes things that kids say.  In an effort to never forget, here are some of fun expressions from Henry this year.

Funny Henry-isms

"You tidding me?!"

"We the best family!"

"Are you seriously?"

"Sit and be talm."

"Stay talm."

"Airbody."

"SOMEtimes..."

I think it is HILARIOUS how he has a bit of a Southern drawl.  For example, he elongates his "O"s.  So it's "hoʊtel", "doʊwn", etc.

"I know!  Guys, I got a idea."

"My do it!"  

"My on my way!"

"To-ge-wer"  (Together)

Random Things that I Love

This kid in general.

 This is not eve the best picture, but I love how he holds his hands behind his back like this all of the time.

And how he stands like this.  

 And how he likes to study things now.  When he is interested, he's INTERESTED. 

I love how he loves his froggy boots. 

And how his trucks help with everything.

I love how much these two love each other.  They get so excited to see each other and I am excited for 2014 to add another cousin/sister to the mix.

I love how many people look out for him.  I am grateful that he has grandparents, aunts, and uncles that all love and take care of him.  I love that he has a Daddy that loves to be with him.  His Daddy misses him on the nights that he doesn't make it home before bed time.  He spends his days at home taking care of both of us.  He is such a good Daddy and husband.  I love those two!

Merry Christmas!

We all really enjoyed Christmas this year.  Kids make Christmas so much more exciting!  Although, I think Henry forgot that Santa came that night.  We had to remind him so that we could get up and be on line in time for Caleb to call at 8:30!  Not a bad wake up time for parents of a young child on Christmas!!  Thanks Henry!

The calm before the storm.
I loved our tree this year.  It was a local tree that did not require nearly as much water and it was cut down 3 days before we bought it.  Come December 15th I didn't feel like we had a decorated fire hazard standing in our living room.

Santa brought a giant excavator!!

 That helped with everything the rest of the day.

 Mama and Daddy built a tool bench!

Now Henry can build all kinds of things on his very own tool bench that now lives in his very own room.

Nate and I got a dishwasher for Christmas.  There is not picture and it came well before Christmas, but I am grateful for it on a daily basis.  It cleans the dishes so nicely and has wonderful features like all of the buttons being hidden from helpful children and a 4 hour delay!  My wonderful husband even installed it on his birthday.  I love it!  (Last year we got a stove, this year a dishwasher.  Maybe next year we can get a hot water heater!  Ooo!  Gotta love being an adult.)

It has been really nice to spend so much time together this month.  I am sad to see it end.  I believe that as much as they loved it, the boys in the house are excited to get back to some sort of routine.  I, on the other hand, am perfectly content to be routine free.

Merry Christmas!

SANTA!!

Just cute enough to know this boy was pretty excited to see Santa this year.  Also awkward enough to be sure it was a picture with Santa.  I believe Henry was relieved to make sure that Santa KNEW that he wanted a giant excavator for Christmas.

Christmas is coming!

We had fun getting ready for Christmas this year.  Everything was exciting for our little 4 year old.  Plus there were lots of opportunities for trucks to help with things.  Henry was in heaven!

Idaho

December 23, 2013

We went on vacation and I managed to not get a single picture.  I'm sure I could find a few from other people, but zero from me.

We went to Idaho for Chelsies senior recital and graduation.  We traveled up with Emily and Rubye and met Mama and Daddy up there.  We left home on Tuesday and returned Saturday, but besides graduation related events, we did not do very much.  The hotel we stayed at provided breakfast and supper most days so we would wake up, eat, swim in the warmest hotel pool I have ever swam in, go on some sort of outing, come back, eat, swim, and go to bed.  It was very nice!

Henry got sick the night of the recital, but I was able to go watch while Henry and Nate camped out at the hotel.  Chelsie did very well and it was fun to see her perform.  It was also fun to see her graduate on Friday, even if graduation was way too late for every single child that had reason to attend.  The two children that went to see Chelsie did exceptionally well, I think.

Now my littlest sister is graduated.  After a semester of student teaching, she will be totally done with this part of school.  She's all grown up (and it makes me feel old).

It was nice to get out of town for a few days and have the opportunity to spend time with family before Christmas.  Henry thinks we are going back and keeps asking about the hotel.  He thinks we are home to do laundry then go back.  When I ask him what he wants to eat, he says we should go back to the hotel.  I think we all really enjoyed our almost Christmas vacation.

Shaka Toes

December 16th

Sitting on the couch, Henry lifts his foot in the air and contorts his toes in a manner that made it look like he was giving a shaka with his toes.  I was pretty impressed and tried it myself but failed with each foot.  We then had the following conversation.

Mama:  That's pretty impressive Henry!!  How'd you do that?!

Henry:  (Very matter of fact-ly)  "Mama.  There are lots of things you don't know about me."

Evil Virus

November 26, 2013

The past week and a half has been rough for Henry.  What I thought was a mild cold or a simple runny nose due to bipolar weather turned out to be parainfluenza.  A simple virus that I guess we are exposed to so many times by the time we are 4 or 5 that we are basically immune.  Much older than that and the worst you're going to get is a mild cold.  (Unless you're going through chemo or something.)  The sad part is that it can cause croup, bronchitis, ear infections, and a bunch of other icky things.

Last week Henry had the flu thing.  Friday it turned into croup.  By Sunday it was ear infections.  He wasn't really getting better plus he was occasionally complaining about his ear.  Singular.  The right one.  In reality, both are infected.  Poor Henry.  I hope he feels better soon!

Happy Halloween!!

Rubye the Butterfly and Henry the Builder

After a day full of Halloween, I asked Henry what his favorite part was.  He said "the kids."  Looking for clarification, I asked if he liked playing with them (at the neighborhood party) or giving out candy to kids.  "Giving it to them."

When asked what his favorite Halloween candy was, he said "The big one!"  He received a full sized bag of M&Ms for walking through the scary tent to get candy.

I think Halloween was a big hit for our little builder this year.  We had one happy, grinning yet sleepy camper when we put him to bed.

October

October brought an old friend, trunk refurbishing, and Halloween!

Derrick (Georgia brother I met and was in band with in Hawaii) was nice enough to come visit Conference weekend.  It's always nice to catch up with old friends!

Here is the trunk almost at the beginning of my efforts.  This is after scrubbing rusty metal and painting anti rust stuff on it but before gluing or any more painting.

It is still not finished.  I still need to re-line the inside and the tray that sits inside.  I also need to figure out what I want to do about the handles, but I have finished the outside for now.  The painting was not finished until well into November, but here is the finished (for now) product.  I am leaving the wood the way it was.

Halloween prep was a lot of fun this year.  We went to a little family farm to pick out a pumpkin.  Henry's giant dump truck came to help and the two of them did their "important job" and found the perfect pumpkin.

We painted pumpkins this year.  Henry loves to paint!

And it can't be Halloween until you've made some Halloween cookies.  Yumm!

September

If pictures are a reflection of major events or exciting lives, the only thing major or exciting that happened in September is Henry turned 4.  I was not feeling up to cooking, so we told him that he could pick anywhere he wanted to go for his birthday supper.  He knew exactly where he wanted to go.  The spaghetti place with the trolley inside! He wanted to eat IN the trolley, so we made reservations to be sure we got a seat inside.  When the nice waitress came to take our order, he decidedly requested spaghetti with a meatball on the side.  His meal came with ice cream, a candle, and birthday singing.  

Happy Birthday Henry!!

August

According to our pictures, all that we did in August was go to Onion Days.

Haircuts for Henry is still an event that might cause a passer by to consider calling in backup for the poor, screaming child.  The morning of the day we planned to attend Onion Days, we decided it was time for another haircut.  One buzz in I decided I was willing to exchange cute little boy tapers for tear free and fast.  I also decided that rather than spending the money on a haircut, we could use the money to bribe encourage him to help us have a happy haircut experience.  He was then allowed to buy tickets and use this money on anything he wanted at Onion Days.  (Teach him to let me cut his hair AND lesson in budgeting.  Right?)  Haircut complete, we headed to Onion Days.  This is what he choose to spend his haircut money on.

July

We started our July on vacation!  We were able to visit G.G., Granddaddy, the coast, and the Redwoods.  We camped in a yurt on the coast, played on the beach, had a seafood boil, and swam at a natural water slide.  On our way home we were able to go to a Dixon family reunion in Idaho.  It was lots of fun for all of us!!

Visiting Shore Acres State Park

Exploring the beach

Camping at the beach

We slept in yurts and ate a lot of seafood.  Grilled one night.  Seafood boil another night.  The way camping should be!

Visiting the Redwoods

Bridge like tree that arched over the trail.  After beginning his ascent, he decided it was taller than he thought it would be.

(A redwood pine cone)

A beach stop on our way back to our yurts

Guarding the yurt...?  Being a crane...?

 

(As I am typing this, Henry comes up and reminds me of the giant mosquitoes that ate him up while we were there.  They had an evil bite.  Henry suffered the wrath of the mosquito far worse than the rest of us.)

On the way home we went to a Dixon family reunion in Idaho.  Not all Dixons were able to make it, but this is a good chunk of us.

Later in the month Henry fell asleep on the couch.  This DESERVES documentation.  There's a first time for everything and I am pretty sure this is a first for Henry.