2012!

I haven't updated this in a long, long time...and so there is much to say. Mostly, this is for MaryAnn. She made a request and now that our computer came back from being fixed (Emory ripped off half of the keys off the laptop-- classic) I can fill you all in.
First, or perhaps, last, but first in importance, Isaac got baptised last weekend. He was very cool about the whole thing and informed the bishop he didn't need to plug his nose, he'd do it non-plugged. Spence wanted to video the whole thing, but we convinced him to refrain. Here are the pics.

Next, Emory. he is now two and knows it. There is some latent chromozone or instict or something that seems to lay dormant inside a child's body until the 24th month of life and then it EXPLODES with a fury and a vengeance! "NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!" is what he screams at the slightest provocation, and often at NO provoking at all!
"Do you want some milk, Ems?"
"NO!NO!NO!"
"Okay, I'll take it away."
"NO!NO!NO!"
"Do you want bread?"
"NO!NO!NO!"
"Okay, no bread."
"NO!NO!NO"
"Do you want a spoon?"
"NO!NO!NO!"
"No, spoon it is."
"NO!NO!NO!"
You get the idea?? Needless to say, it palls quickly. Luckily, he is learning after 2 bouts of solitary confinement in his crib, each lasting about 10-15 minutes. He was quite docile afterwards!!
Here are some pics of him looking angelic, just to remind myself that he really is a sweetie.

 Check out those eyelashes!!

And, here are some pics of his b-day. Nothing grand or spectacular, I'm not going all out if they don't have any idea why they are opening presents!! But still, we recorded it for posterity. Notice the classic 'bunny ears' from two brothers! That never dies.

 This is Emory's favorite perch in the house-- looking our the front widow, usually in hopes of joining the boys outside, or waiting for Dave to get home from work...and when he does get home, Emory almost can't handle the excitement! He runs to the door yelling 'DAD! DAD!' over and over at the top of his little lungs and then helps Dave take off his boots. It's fun.
Below is Dave and Ems making homemade ice cream. Emory had to get right in on it, putting the stool as close to the bucket as possible while still being able to squeeze his knees in!

 Spence is doing better at school, his teacher is good for him, but his friends are not as much...one little boy down the street has introduced Spence to all manner of bad words and ideas and we are struggling to counteract this and teach him how to replace bad thoughts with good ones. I suggested he sing a church song in his head and he said he didn't really know very many he could pull out of his head and so we settled on the Duck song...if you are not familiar with Peep and the Big Wide World, it is time for you to BROADEN your horizons...the song goes like this:
                                      OH, I'M A DUCK AND DUCK'S THE BEST
                                      BETTER BY FAR THAN ALL THE REST!
or
                                      IS THERE ANYTHING BETTER THAN DUCKS?
                                      NO! NOTHING'S BETTER THAN DUCKS.
                                      SING HEY, SING HO FOR DUCKS, WHOA!
                                      ESPECIALLY DUCKS UNDER WATER!
And here is the link to view some quality cartoons...seriously, check it out, you won't regret it.
http://peepand the big wideworld.com    Please click on WATCH PEEP NOW. Hours of good entertainment. Who doesn't love Joan Cusack???

Dave's going through transition time with his career. He gave in his notice to Westridge Cabinets this week and got a part time job so he could pursue his own business. He is focusing on Reclaimed lumber right now-- plenty of old farm buildings whose wood can be salvaged and sold for a good profit. We really feel good about this, but its still a bit nerve-wracking. Nevertheless...we know in whom we trust! We'll see where this new adventure takes us.
Another bit of news is that I just got called as the young Women's President in our ward. I'm planing on picking Di's brain (one of my DELIGHTFUL sisters-in-law) for she is the YW Pres. in her ward. I'm looking forward to it, and have already lined up several girls who will let me french braid their hair at camp!! I haven't done a french braid in close to 20 years!! I'm totally excited! For some reason my children won't go for that hairstyle, although it was torture giving Spence a cut last weekend. he has the serious hair-flip down to a science and was secretly afraid, I think, to lose that, but I kept it long enough in the front to allow for as much flipping as his little heart desires. He's way too cool for life, I'm telling you. 10 going on 18. I'm sure most reading this can relate!
And to finish off, I just want to tell all my friends from our mission 100 years or so ago, that I got out my mission scrapbook last night after searching for it to show our sister missionaries, and I just sat there and remembered...ah, the memories! I'm grateful to have those experiences to think of forever, and all my friends that I'll not see for a long long time, I am glad of the fun and pain we went through! What a life!
So, until next time, which I fear might not be in the near future, I say thanks for taking the time to read this, and I'm always glad to read comments...!
JEN

My love for "Hooking" continues...

So, for most of you this is not a new thing, but I have recently passed my 1 year mark of being an official 'hooker'...you know, crochet. I thought I'd delight you all with a sample of my projects-- except one which is a gift for 'baby Angus' (as Dave fondly calls Cammie's fetus).

So, here they are (most of them):

 

I was on a dish-cloth/potholder frenzy in the summer. As you can tell...

Next, are some more recent projects...

Emory loves to slip and slide on the floor with these!
And now, we have what I've entitled, "Birds of a Feather" toques...

As you can see, Okes was a much more obliging model than was Emory. Probably he'll come around by January, or so- (probably).

And, since my creativity juices are being displayed, I'll show you my plate wall as of today...

I still have a couple more to put up, but so far, this is it. Anyway, nothing here is of great import to anyone, just a bit of fun for me!

Poor little Cutie

So, Cutie, aka Isaac, fell a couple of weeks ago whilst being a boy and playing all sorts of ridiculously dangerous games. He said he'd landed on his arm backwards and was pretty sore, so Dave took him into emerg to get it checked out. They X-rayed it and found nothing. Isaac also said it was feeling much better by the time they got there, and to top it off, he was being usurped by a REAL break as a boy from our ward showed up with a serious broken arm that had to be operated on...so, we figured it was just a sprain or something.
BUT...this past week it has still been sore and by Friday it was swollen, so I thought maybe it was a hairline fracture that didn't show up in the first x-ray. After church, Dave took Cutie back to ER and after 4 hours of waiting they did another X-ray and found that it was, indeed, broken, just farther down the arm than they had first thought. And so, here is the result...

Yep, the WHOLE arm! Apparently, he should not be rotating his arm at all...

Anyway, he only went 2 full weeks with a broken arm! but, he's tough--he's his father's son, that's for sure.

Cheers

I should be doing something extremely useful and I'm not.

I feel it's time to update the blog. I have avoided work all morning, feeling it necessary to catch up on my crochet patterns perusal on the Internet. I even sent a video to America's Funniest...we'll see if I can ever get the signatures of the people who are in the movie in order to get it on the air. That shows you how non-productive I am being. I have gotten helf-dressed, but my hair is still au natural (sorry Tye for the slaughter of French), and I just feel like blogging.
My sister, Becky, and I are avid crocheters lately. I am 'hooked'. My ultimate goal is to make a cloth to put on a temple altar-- but I just cant seem to find the time to sit for hours on end crocheting tiny little motifs whilst my sons rampage and plunder. So, my goal is long-term.
My in-laws went on a mission to Romania-- they are in the MTC right now and will fly out on Monday. I wonder how they like it. I imagine them in the cafeteria, lying down at night talking over their day (in Romanian) and just feeling the Spirit everywhere. I loved the MTC, I loved my mission, and I loved all the friends I made while I was there. I am excited for them to have such amazing experiences, and to make new friends. What a delightful two years they have ahead of them.
My family is still going through a bit of aftershock form dave quitting his job-- he is now working at a much bigger place that seems to be in utter chaos most of the time with extremely high expectations and not really any incentive for the employees to give their all, if you know what I mean. We hope that this is the best thing for us-- for Dave, really, and trust that the Lord answered our prayers...but new jobs are always a bit of a stretch for anyone, and so I am de-briefing with Dave every night.
The boys are going to school, not really happily, but they are going. Why is it that some children LOVE school and can't seem to get enough of it and for others, it is like pulling teeth? Why couldn't I have gotten the little boys who thrive on numbers and read voraciously, wanting to impress the teacher with good behaviour and brushed hair?? Are there any boys out there anymore who are afraid of their teachers, who regard the school rules with respect and awe, who only want to play with the nice kids and do not gravitate directly to the dyfunctional and trouble-makers, and who don't try to make the class laugh with every comment that comes out of their mouths? Coming from a family of all girls who were basically afraid of all adults, this is a giant leap of learning for me. I just don't get it.
Anyway, we contrive.
So, here are some more pictures of our summer...Isaac's nose has healed up quite nicely after all, only little pink lines are left, hopefully they will disappear over time.

We went cliff jumping with some friends a few weeks ago, and I was very impressed with the boys-- they were VERY brave!

 And baby Isabelle (our cousin) came to visit this weekend-- she and Emory fought over all his toys-- We love baby Bea!!!

 These are just some random fungi I found pretty-- growing over by the church- The front one is bigger than the palm of my hand!! Just a bit of fiary tale prettiness!

 Above is Ockey hand-planing something-- putting all his elbow grease into it!!
And below, we did some crafting-- dabbled paint on the paper and folded it in half, then made art out of it!! What do you think?

We ran into a HUGE storm!! This was actually a full double rainbow! This is when I wish I had a really good camera. And below are Dan & Deb-- the last trip to Heritage park...

Classic Heninger Boys.