The Henson Family Blog

On Saturday we took a trip to Auburn, WA (south of Tacoma) to the Super Mall! Garth got a check for some side work that he did and wanted to buy me some new clothes, which I was incredibly excited about. We enjoyed the day as a family.

The kids were very excited about the carousel and couldn't believe they actually had one in the mall!

Rachel and I even enjoyed the carousel. This was Rachel's first time on one.

Benjamin really enjoyed the trains outside the entrance to the mall.

We have two budding virtuosos! We didn't have a piano when Benjamin was a baby, so that's why he's not included.

Rachel is 8 1/2 months old (where has the time gone??). She is pulling up on everything that is her height and starting to let go with one hand. I am not in any hurry for her to walk, but it's looking like she has other plans. One of her favorite spots is the top of the stairs. She'll pull up on the baby gate and yell "Da!" down the stairs because she knows Garth is down there working.

A lady came to pick up some things that were left over from our yard sale (I'd put them up for free on Craigs List). I helped her lift the big old box to her car and stood there talking to her for several minutes. When I got back in the house, I was talking to Sarah and she kept staring at my stomach! I said, "Sarah, what in the world do you keep looking at?" She said, "Mom! Your shirt!" I looked down and saw blue...ah yes, did it ever bring back memories of recent days...blue...I'm beginning to extremely dislike that color! Blue sidewalk chalk was all over my brand new white shirt (yes, it was the first day I had worn this new white shirt!). When I had lifted that box, there was blue sidewalk chalk all over it and I didn't even notice it since I was talking to the lady at the same time. So we will see what becomes of the shirt. It's in the wash now. When Benjamin saw the shirt, he said, "I'm sorry, Mommy! I didn't mean to color on your shirt!"

Ever wonder what you'd look like if you graduated in the 70s? My brother did! He decided to "doctor" (after all, he is going to Med School!) our pictures. Here's what we might have looked like!

Here's me...

Here's Tim...

Here's Jon...

And here's Liz...

We took a trip to Fort Warden this past weekend (about an hour away). When we were nearly there, Sarah started making up a song about sand between our toes. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then played in the sand for a little while. Rachel was very excited about getting in the water until she realized how cold it was! Here are some pictures from our fun day. For those of you who have Facebook, there are a few additional pictures on my profile there.

On Thursday, the kids and I met Mom in Sequim to pick blackberries and make some homemade jam! We had lots of fun filling the buckets with blackberries. The kids enjoyed playing in the wheat field as well as playing with the creatures on the leaves and ground (ladybugs, caterpillars, etc.). When we went back to the Inn, Benjamin and Rachel had naps and Sarah worked on her school work while Mom and I started on the jam. We made nearly 7 quarts of jam after straining all of the seeds out!

Sarah began piano lessons on Friday! She loves her teacher, who is the pianist at our church, and is excitedly practicing her songs each day. We love to listen to her practice and hope the enthusiasm continues.

On Wednesday I helped Mom with a Red Hat Brunch that was held at George Washington Inn. There were quite a few sights to see as these ladies started arriving in their attire!

Several weeks ago we had our family pictures taken. We haven't had one done since Rachel was born, so we wanted to be able to include her!! My favorite is the one of Benjamin and Garth.

We added another member to our family tonight - Lily! She is part boxer and is about 2 years old. She is SO gentle with all 3 kids and they love her so much. Lily is completely house trained and kennel trained. She knows simple commands such as "sit", "come", and "kennel".

When I made my weekly Walmart trip this week, I stopped by the fabric department and was sad to see that they are closing out all of the fabric and adding more craft-type items. However, this meant that everything was 75% off! Most of the fabric was gone, but I got two different prints to make dresses for the girls. After I had that cut, I realized that all of the ribbon and trim was also 75% off!! So...I picked through the ribbon and ended up buying 200 yards of ribbon! I only spent $28 on all of the fabric, trim, and ribbon. I plan to make lots of hairbows now!!

Our baby has grown so much! Wow!

I just hate it when my kids are sick. I'd much rather be sick myself than to watch them suffer trying to breath and feeling so warm from a fever. Rachel started getting sick on Thursday (just not feeling well) and had a fever of 103 last night (Friday). Today she has felt awful. She has hardly eaten all day and does not want her bottle because she can't breath when she drinks it. We are running the humidifier in the girls' room and putting Vicks rub on her chest that is so hot from fever. She just wants to be held and is sleeping so much. Please pray she gets better soon!

This is the conversation between Sarah, Garth, and me that occurred at supper tonight:

Sarah: "Daddy, when can I date?"
Garth: "When you're 40."
Sarah: "Daddy, you have got to be joking!"
Garth: "Why do you think I'm joking? Who do you want to date?"
Becky: "Is it xxxxx?"
Sarah: (rolls her eyes, smiles, and turns red) "No!"
Becky: "Is it yyyyy?"
Sarah: (rolls her eyes, smiles, and turns red) "No! It's aaaaa!"
Becky: "Oh, okay. Should I call him and tell him?"
Sarah: "No, that would be embarrassing."
**By this time, Sarah is crying because she's laughing so hard!**
Garth: "What's wrong? Why are you crying? Do you want us to stop?"
Sarah: "No way! Not when we're talking about this kind of stuff!"

Step 1: Measure the ingredients.

Step 2: Put all ingredients in a bowl.

Step 3: Mix all ingredients together.

Step 4: Clean off the beaters.

Step 5: Lick off the beaters!

Step 6: Pour brownies into pan.

Step 7: Put pan into oven.

Step 8: Wash the dishes!

Benjamin and Lily are best friends! He's so glad to have someone that loves to play rough with him.