SICKNESS and BALLET

POOR Scotty was so SICK last week. He missed the entire week of school and laid on the couch most of the time. Anyone who knows my Scotty knows that it takes a lot for him to sit still. He had some type of virus that started with a sore throat, went to a headache and fever, dry heaving, body aches, and finally diarrhea! The second day he was sick he said, "MOM I feel like I am going to die!" Then he laid on the couch and was in and out of consciousness the rest of the evening. He was hurting!

BALLET

Haley started a ballet class two weeks ago and Center Stage Dance. She LOVES it! She is in a class with one of her Best friends and cousin (distantly related) Abbie Hendricks! They have a great time together! Madeline tries to keep up with her older sister! She is probably doing some type of dance move in this photo!
Can I just say that Haley is just growing up too fast. When I brought her and Abbie home from dance this night and heard their giddy chatter in the back of my car I just had visions of what is to come. Doesn't this picture tell it all....on the phone, messy room, frazzled mother!!!!


Missy MOO!
I couldn't resist putting this picture of Maddy! We went to the park a week or so ago and took this picture. Her favorite thing to do at the park is swing. I think we did that most of the time we were there. Isn't she adorable!

4 Months Old

I cannot believe that my sweet Marianne is already 4 months old. I swear time is getting faster and faster. She is the light of our lives right now! Look at that sweet face. She is not a huge smiler, so we live for the moments when she laughs and gives up a big grin. She is 24 3/4 inches long and weighs 12 pounds 13 ounces and has the skinniest little tiny bird legs. She was in the 75th percentile for her height and only 30th percentile for her weight. Doc wants to see her in a month to check her weight, but I am not worried. She has been a kind of fussy baby and a definite mommas girl which had been hard on me. However, she is a great sleeper and sleeps through the night for the most part. That I am grateful for and is the only reason I can make it through some days. However, those challenges are very minor compared to the joy that she has brought into our family. Her brother and sisters adore her, in fact Scotty is in love with her and is very protective of her. What a great big brother!

She doesn't love her pacifier, however she loves gas drops and in dyer situations it is great to use because it helps her keep the plug in.
Bath time is one of her favorite times of the day.
Marianne has found her hands. It is so fun to see her clasp her hands together and wave them around until they finally get in her mouth. I love all the new discoveries babies make, that we have long since taken for granted.
Take note of the hair. She has some WILD hair that just refuses to stay down. I have tried lotion, hairspray, you name it. We definitely won't mix up her baby pictures with the other kiddos. Hopefully this means she will end up with the Hendricks hair (long and thick), poor Maddy and Haley have to deal with my fine hair the rest of their lives.
Here is a better picture of the peacock doo! And a rare photo of me!

Even though many days are very hard and overwhelming. I am so grateful for the opportunity Heavenly Father has given me to be a mother! What a treasured experience it has been! I love you Marianne!

Merry Christmas!

OK.... I know that Christmas was a month ago, but I still want to post the fun we had. We had a great Christmas, with only minor complications. Scott spent most of the day in the doctors office with Madeline. She had a cold, which went straight to her lungs and she was really laboring to breath. She made us really nervous, along with the doctor, who sent her home after several breathing treatments and told us to take her to the emergency room if she got any worse. Thank goodness Scott has the priesthood and was able to give her a blessing which I know kept her well enough to be home for Christmas.
This is a picture of our family on Christmas eve. We spent a few hours at our neighbors and 2nd family the Butlers before going home to read the Christmas story and open a gift. Yep Jammies and slippers!! Aren't they adorable!
The kids all slept together in Haley's bed. They were so excited for Santa to come. It was fun to listen to them talk about hearing him outside. If only I could have the imagination and excitement of a child again!

Christmas Morning!
The kids ran into our room about 7:30am and we could barely peel our eyes open. It was a very late night (try 4:30am). I wasn't super prepared this year. But Scott and I always have a great time getting things ready.

POOR Madeline had to have a breathing treatment before she could dig into her presents. She was NOT happy about that at all. We finally convinced her that she could open presents while she had one.




Scotty's favorite gift was his football helmet and uniform. He was ready to play some ball! That makes Daddy proud!
Haley got a new bike and her more fairies to add to her fairy obsession. Do you believe in Fairies?Madeline also got a bike. She had been saying for weeks that Santa was going to bring her a bike for Christmas. I am so glad the old man followed through.


I had to add this picture of Scotty's new car garage from Grandpa Hendricks. It was so funny, when he opened it he said, "Grandpa is goooooood looookin!" He was SO excited about it!Here is Scott's big gift. He has this naughty habit of trying to guess all of his presents before he opens them. And he is almost always right, partly because he gives you a list of what he wants and partly because I am horrible at hiding his presents, he always finds them, but doesn't tell me. So this year I went to extreme measures to hide his presents well and wrap them in a way that he would never guess them. So I did pretty well.... he only guessed 3 out of 9. This was his recliner that I kept a secret. Dang I am good!

We all eventually got a much needed nap after all the excitement!!!

I know what I want to be when I grow up!

Today at church, Scotty's Primary teacher, Sister Russell came up to me and said, "I have to tell you what Scotty said to me today. Of course I was thinking the worst...

He said, "I know what I want to be when I grow up, a servant."
Sister Russell said, "A servant?"
"Yes", Scotty said "A servant of the king!"

Sister Russell then said he meant Jesus Christ! What a cutie!!

As I thought about it tonight I am sure he was referring to Ammon in the Book of Mormon. We took a few days to read that story with the kids a couple weeks ago and they loved it, especially Scotty. Now I know he is learning from our scripture study!

Books, Books, Books

I know that I still have not posted our Christmas yet, it is coming. But I have to write a short post about our new library! Finally there is a library right by our house. We could easily ride our bikes and even walk if we felt super adventurous. Well it opened today!!! Yeah! Scott ended up getting called out at 1am last night to work on a kidnapping and was gone all day, so the kids and I packed up and went to the grand opening. We missed seeing the ribbon cutting, but heard the cheers as we walked up to the massive crowd. I could not believe how many people were there. We got to see the Mayor as we walked in (that is not saying much since our Mayor is kind of a sleaze, but it provided me the opportunity to teach Haley a little about the government).

The reason we went on the opening day at the opening hour is because Haley's teacher, Mrs. Hinrichs (and yes her name is Jennifer too) gave her class a special invite to meet her at the library. She is a great teacher and really instills the love of learning in her students. So we met Mrs. Hinrichs there along with another 100 or so of our neighbors and friends.

It was so fun to see my kids get so excited about books. Haley loves to read and Scotty is just starting to read. He is doing really well. In fact, he came home the other day and told me that Mrs. Grants (his teacher) told him that she was going to kick him out of kindergarten. I said, why (a little concerned) ? Scotty said, "Because I read her a book and she said I was too smart and needed to go to first grade". I am so proud of him. Just think last summer I was so worried about sending him to kindergarten and now he is reading.

Well, back to the library. It was so crowded that I ended up standing in a long line to check out the books and videos that the kids chose. But they were so good and patient. Marianne slept in the stroller the entire time, Haley read books to Madeline and Scotty read to himself. It is days like this that I am so grateful to be a mother.

THEN... we walked out of the library to go home and Madeline threw a HUGE tantrum. She did not want to leave the library and she made sure everyone was aware of this. She screamed all the way to the car and refused to get in her seat. So I did what any good mom would do and threatened to leave her. It worked! (hmmm, maybe that is why my kids freak out on me when we go to leave and always worry that I am going to leave without them)

Over all we had a great day, and dug into some great books!