We put up the upstairs tree this weekend. I love this tree; its purpose is purely for decoration. No one touches it but me! Downstairs, we put a real tree ( I love the smell!) that we put all of our family ornaments on, we put the presents under this one too. We are going to get that one on Monday for FHE. I know, two trees is sort of silly, but this way I have one tree that I get to decorate, and another that is sentimental (plus smells good). And putting the presents downstairs means we don't trip over them upstairs. I love Christmas decorations, especially the lights. They seem so soothing, romantic and timeless.

A perfect expression of how I feel!

I saw something on HGTV that I wanted to try, and I did this weekend. I made these decorations. They look really cute, but I'm not sure how they will work out. If you touch them, they are sticky, which is not good when you have kids. I think I may spray some varnish on them, that might help.

I also love being able to play Christmas music. I do it all the time; I don't seem to get tired of it! I love this season and I love having four beautiful girls and a wonderful husband to share it with.

Husband tag

So far, this is the only tag thing I have been tagged on, so Ican't impress by doing three at once!



WHAT IS YOUR HUSBAND'S NAME? Jason Kay Hendricks

HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN MARRIED? 13 years this past July

HOW LONG DID YOU DATE? Off and on for about 3 years

HOW OLD IS HE? 33

WHO IS TALLER?Him

WHO CAN SING BEST? For sure me!

WHO IS SMARTER? Me, in some things, him in others; isn't that the way it's supposed to be?

WHO DOES LAUNDRY? Me, he is not allowed after some fiascos involving jeans and pens....

WHO PAYS BILLS? Him

WHO SLEEPS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED? He does, I have to be on the left to get up with the kids!

WHO MOWS THE LAWN? Jason mostly, but sometimes I like to do it.

WHO COOKS DINNER? Jason grills, and I cook the majority of the time, but if I failed to have something ready on the nights when I work, he is capable of some yummy stuff!

WHO'S THE FIRST TO ADMIT THEY ARE WRONG? Jason most of the time

WHO KISSED WHO FIRST? Hmmm...I think it was mutual.

WHO WEARS THE PANTS? I have to say, I think this is me.


Lisa, Nichelle, you guys have been tagged!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving day in our home always starts with watching the Thanksgiving day parade in our pj's and looking at the ads for the next day's shopping. This year was no different, except that I spent the day cooking!

I made a turkey, of course, homemade cranberry sauce, homemade rolls, stuffing, candied yams, mashed potatoes and gravy, and turtle pumpkin pie, and Marlene brought pink stuff and green bean casserole and a pie. Ok, so my mother in law made the gravy! The whole meal was delicious and we were all appropriately stuffed.

Cooking with a baby on myhip!

The crowing glory of the Thanksgiving table, Tom Turkey.


We had Jason's mom and brother over. Michaela helped me with the whole meal, what a good helper!

And it just isn't Thanksgiving if your children don't do this!

Then we are planning to go see a movie later. A tiring, but fun day.

What daddies are good for......

Years ago, Jason started putting the fruit snack wrappers and empty snack baggies from Sacrement meeting snacks in his shirt pockets. This tradition has been passed down from child to child and is currently being practiced by Ava. Take this Sunday. Jason had gotten up to walk with a hungry Corrine I was putting off because I was shortly going to sing with the ward choir. Ava had finished her snack, and this is what happened:
Ava: "Where is daddy?"
Me: "He is walking with Corrine"
Ava: a few minutes later, "Where is daddy?"
Me: "He is still walking with Corrine."
Ava: "Oh, yeah."
Me: "What do you need?"
Ava: (holding her empty snack baggie, earnestly says:) "I need to put this in his pocket!"
Apparently, I am no good for disposing of empty snack things in Sacrement meeting, and the only place they belong is in Daddy's pocket. My children have even picked up other peoples trash off the floor on Sunday and promptly put it in Jason's shirt pocket. We just look at each other and grin; we love our kids cute quirks! Love you, hon.

Do you ever.......

Forget what you are doing in the shower? Maybe not everyone does this, but I do the same thing in the same order every day in the shower; it gives me one less thing to think about. ( I am very much a creature of habit and routine.) This works well unless something throws my routine, like showering at a different time, being interupted or just concentrating way too hard on something else......like this morning. I am standing in the shower, and realize that I had just washed my face after shampooing, and I usually wash my face last. So I stand there, momentarily confused as to what I had already washed and still needed to wash. Am I really the only one who does this? What caused my lapse in recall? I was thinking about a very cute cake my friend Cami made for her daughter. You really have to visit her blog, listed in my blogs I read, the soccer mom one, to see this cake. It looks like a giant cupcake, very cute. So I was standing in the shower trying to think how she made it( two batters cooked in bowls and placed tops together?) when I realized I had befuddled myself and had to apply thought to my showering process. Oh, and why am I blogging at whatever time it is on a Monday morning when I have loads of housework to do? Corrine is fussy and won't let me do anything, thats why!

Its my party.....

Today was the much awaited party day to celebrate Ava turning 4 years old. To start things off, we had family over for breakfast. And yes, we had cake and ice cream after! It was a yummy breakfast and Ava enjoyed herself.

Then that afternoon, Ava had her friends over for a party. A tea party, to be exact. We decorated the house, and played tea party games like pin the top on the teapot and tea cup coin toss.

The girls got to drink out of real tea cups, and take theirs home with them.


This is out of order, this was in the morning. Ava was a little excited about getting Walle.

A proper tea party, with the girls in their pretty dresses.


In this picture, notice the cute girls, not my rear end. It just goes to show you can't trust your husband with the camera! We had to sing "I'm a little tea pot"!

They played tea party with the stuffed friends they brought.


Is there a kid in that pile of gifts?

I really did a lot for this party, and it was all lost on the little 4 year olds. But it was fun for me, and years later when Ava looks at these pictures, I hope she can see that all I did was because I love her so much!


Martha's got nothing on me. I made the invitations, sewed the purses for the take home gifts, and made a lollipop flower center piece for the table. (the girls did like that). I also got real china cups(DI) and painted their names on them. I made a teapot cupcake for Ava, and tea cup cupcakes for the others. Take note, I did not include a picture of the tea cup cupcakes. They looked less like what I had hoped they would and more like a child had done them! But I got no complaints from the guests. I guess they tasted ok.

Happy Birthday Ava!

My darling little girl turned 4 today! I am a little sad, she can't really be called a baby anymore. Ava is turning out to be a wonderful little person; she brings joy and laughter to our home daily. She often gives the baby a smooch, then leans over and kisses me as well. So precious.

In light of the fact that we are having Ava's birthday parties on Saturday, I decided to get up a little earlier today and make her pancakes. Chocolate chip with banana slices and whipped topping. This is how that went:
Me: Happy birthday Ava! I made you pancakes for breakfast!

Ava: (frowning at the pancakes) I want my cake! (this after I had gotten up early for this culinary feat; for those of you who know how little sleep I am getting, this really was a sacrifice.)

Me: We will have your cake on Saturday, remember? ( I really thought I had explained this in a way she could understand it; apparently not.) Today is your birthday, but we will have your parties on Saturday. How about we sing Happy Birthday to you? (Me and the older girls start singing)

Ava: NO NO NO! I don't want that song until I have my cake!

Me: We can sing to you now AND when you have your cake.

Ava: NO!

Ava didn't let me sing to her until this afternoon. I had taken her to McDonalds for lunch (she told her dad we went to Old Macdonalds!) and she was in a pretty good mood, so I tried again. I was finally able to sing to my girl! I really don't know what the problem was. She wouldn't let my mom sing to her either.




My mom sent Ava a balloon bouquet today as well. Ava was so cute; when the doorbell rang she asked me if she could get it(we have been working on that, she did good) and I told her yes, I think its for you. She heads toward the door, and can see the balloons through the window and says, OOOH, birthday balloons! It was adorable.

Ava is almost always in her dress up dresses at home, if you haven't figured that out yet!
All in all, it was a good day for her. I am excited for her parties on Saturday. She is too!

The end results.......

So I have been doing some really cute things to Ava's hair because of a blog I found that gives step by step instructions on how to do girls hair. I have never been very good at doing anything other than braids and piggys, so this is fun for me. What I didn't count on though, was the aftermath of the cute do's. Here is Ava after Jason took out her twisty worms hair do. Jason took the pictures, I was at work. Apparently, he wasn't gentle enough in taking them out and it made her cry.

Whoa, what a do!

This is acutually kind of cute, I may do twisties at night so I will look like this in the morning!

Here is Ava after I took out some messy buns; she is smiling. I am much more gentle at taking out her hair!

Who needs boys?

So people often ask us "are you going to try for a boy?" and we always tell them that we are fine with our girls, we like having girls. What they probably don't know is that on many levels we sometimes feel like our girls give us a taste of what it might be like to live with boys(for those of you with only boys in the house, girls are not all sweet and smelling like roses all the time!)....case in point, today in Relief Society. I am sitting there, enjoying the lesson. Corrine had been sleeping in my arms for most of it, but had recently woken up and was sitting there smiling and being happy. The room was mostly quiet, except for the lady giving the lesson. It was then that my sweet baby GIRL had what can only be described as an explosion. I am not kidding, it was so loud that most in the room turned and looked at me and giggled. She is at the age where she blows out her diapers frequently, and by the sound of it I knew I needed to get to the mothers room quick before she ruined her outfit and mine. (Which did happen a few Sundays ago.) I know she is a baby and that everyone knows that babies to that sometimes, but somehow it is still slightly embarrasing. I made my escape, and luckily it was almost time to go so I didn't have to make the decision to go back in or not. My luck, Corrine wouldn't have been finished! Another example of our boyish girls was what Ava did the other day. Flatulence seems to be uproariously funny in our house, and not a day goes by (it seems) that someone makes a joke about it, so it isn't surprising that Ava has picked up on this. We have a substance called "Flarp" that one of the girls got somewhere; its existence is to make a farting sound. It looks like play doh, but when you stick your finger in it, well, you get the picture. Ava had been playing with some, got down from the table, put it near her bottom, and was making the aforementioned sounds to make it seem like she was doing it. She thought this was very clever and had a huge grin on her face while doing it. My older girls also get in on the action, but as they are of the age to be easily emarrassed I won't elaborate. Suffice to say, refer to the title of this post.........Who needs boys?

Ava and her flarp, making "music", in a princess skirt no less!

All she wants to do is dance, dance, dance.

Our Thursdays are crazy, and I am not the kind of person who thrives on crazy. In the morning, I have to get Ava ready for preschool and have her there by 9:30, then run home and usually finish getting ready so I can to volunteer at the school. After the girls get home from school, I get something ready for dinner to put in the oven then we gather our things and head off for dance. We all have a dance class, so our gathering includes four water bottles, four pairs of clogging shoes, a snack for Ava, something to entertain Ava in the car, a book for me, Corrine's things, and if it is time to go to the library, all our library books. And of course, four kids. We leave at 4:oo, the two older girls have dance at 4:30-5:30. Ava's dance doesn't start until 5:15, so we either go to the library, run an errand, or sit in the car until then. We leave dance at 5:45 when Ava is done, and we all run home. Also on this night Jason has scouts from 5-6. I feed Corrine, change my clothes, talk to Jason for a few minutes and get back in the car to go back to dance for my class, which is from 7-7:45. It doesn't help that the dance studio is clear across town over by Albertsons. I love dance, but this year is a bit much. For the past two years, just the older girls have taken dance, and that was enough. This year with all us girls in it I am wondering if I took on too much. I suppose when I have more sleep it won't be so bad. I am loving my class though, and it is good exercise. And Ava looks too cute dancing! So I guess even though its crazy on Thursdays, its worth it. You can look forward to future posts with pictures from performances and competitions!

So blessed!

I am sitting here in my pajamas while Corrine naps and Ava watches her shows, and just have to record my thoughts. I feel so fortunate and blessed that I am able to stay home with my children. To see their daily accomplishments and personally be there to capture the adorable things they do each day is a gift. I have a career, but only work 10 hours a week, so you see where my priorities lie. ( I get to have it all, be a stay at home mom and have a career, how sublime it that?) I feel for women who don't have the choice, to work is their only option. I truly enjoy being home with my girls and think often of what a blessing it is. Of course, there are days when I am pulling my hair out with frustration and need some time away, but the majority of the time I am content to change diapers and make mac n cheese. I know this season in my life is short, and I need to gather all the memories I can. My heart is full, my Heavenly Father has blessed my family so abundantly! In a world where so many things are wrong, our family is so right. A good husband, four beautiful girls, a safe place to live and food enough to eat and being able to be home where I am needed; what more can a person ask?

Ava loves to dress up in her pretty dresses and dance for me!

Corrine has found her toes and grabs them every chance she gets.


What a sweet smile! She giggles at us all the time, we live to hear it!

Ava was "reading" Corrine her book. They both enjoyed it. Ava does such a good job at entertaining Corrine when I need to be doing something else. What a helper!

Voting fun

On Monday night before we voted, we had a FHE on voting and the constitution. I would have taken a picture of the red, white and blue cupcakes I made, but I decorated them with a screaming baby in my arms and they looked less than professional, to say the least. They tasted good, anyway. Anyhow, our lesson was good and the girls we very interested. They have been very interested in the whole election, asking us who we are voting for and why. So on Tuesday morning, I decided I would take them with me to vote, and they could just be late for school. The next time we have a presidential election, they will be 12 and 14, and may not be so excited about it all. Payden reminded me of whom I was voting for loudly when in line. I told her that was a private choice, and to please not broadcast it througout the polls! I am not ashamed to proclaim my choice for Obama, but did not want any heated discussions by some person hoping to sway my vote before I reached the front of the line. Michaela and Payden watched my vote, and heard my name called out that I had voted. I hope they remember this, and take their right to vote seriously later in life. You hear a lot about the complacency of Americans, of how they don't think their vote matters. I want my girls to know it does matter, and it is a privelage they should fight for. Being late for school one morning was a small sacrifice for a good lesson!

I should do this more often...

Today in the car, the noise was getting to scary decibals, so I turned off the radio. We usually always have the radio going, and sing along with it. When I turned it off today though, Ava (after first whining for me to turn the radio back on) started singing the ABC song, and I noticed she had a couple of letters mixed up. So I sang it with her a few times. Then Payden asked if we could sing Row Row Row Your Boat in a round. We started off with just two rounds, but worked our way up to three. I would start, point to Payden to tell her when to start, then point to Micheala. Ava thought all the pointing was hilarious and giggled her way through the song. It was nice, singing with my girls. It felt like we were connecting, and the girls were working together on something rather than fighting. We will continue to enjoy the radio and our fun cd's, but I am going to make a point to turn it off every once and a while and sing with my daughters. It put a smile on all our faces!

Happy Haunting

Halloween this year was great! We went to Jason's office to trick or treat, and got great stuff. His company buys all the goodies, and people in the office hand them out. Then we went to the veterens home to see my mom. She got them some healthy stuff( I asked for no candy; I knew they would have tons!) like pomogranites. Then we went home for more festivities. For the first time in many years, we didn't even have to wear jackets to go trick or treating. It was 60 degrees outside! We started the evening off with a spooky mummy meatloaf and apple cider with dry ice in it. The girls loved it.

Michaela made up her costume this year, she was a granny. She got lots of laughs! She had a stuffed poodle attached to her rear and she would say to people" if you see my poodle, let me know. I sat down this morning and she just dissapeared" So funny!

Corrine was a loaf of wonder bread, appropriate because she is so soft and squishy.

Ava was what else, a princess. What a pretty one!

Payden was Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. She ran around saying the spells and waving her wand. As we left the vet's home, I turned around and caught her waving her wand at the automatic doors, "making" them close. It was so cute!

Another great year and wonderful memories.

Fall Family Fun!

We went to do our annual pictures in the fall leaves, and had a hard time finding fall leaves in brilliant colors. We had very limited time, and couldn't drive around to find the perfect spot, so we were stuck the first place we went and had to just do it before the sun went down. We had fun though, and the pictures turned out ok. The best family one is the title one for my blog. I always take the pictures myself, and this time was very interesting because I do not currently own a tripod. I took the stroller, and propped my camera on the tray with burp clothes. It was not an exact science, and many of the attempts were crooked. Oh, the memories! Corrine cried for much of the time, but we did get some cute ones with her smiling. There are a lot here, so I apologize; if you are not a family member this may get tedious!

Michaela loved playing in the leaves. It won't be too many more years and she won't, so I enjoyed watching her.

Ava, however, is still tiny and had so much fun kicking, throwing, and dancing in the leaves!

Ok, so I realize the background in this pic isn't spectaular, but the girls were too cute to miss it.

Michaela snapped this one! She did a pretty good job. ( I did tell her where to stand and focus it for her.)

Payden looks so sweet in this picture.

So much fun! They were gathering the leaves into piles that were perfect for kicking!



Ava Kay, my cutie pie!

And I saved the cutest for last ( ok, I don't mean to say she is cuter than my other kids, but come on, she is a baby!)

Corrine actually didn't seem to mind getting laid down in the crunchy leaves.....Look at that grin!




Oh, I could eat her up!

So there you have it. Another Hendricks fall fun in the leaves.

The sins of the parents visited on their children.....

For those of you aware of my guitar hero addiction, I thought I would confess to passing it along to my two older children. I had to snap this picture because Payden looked so much like a rocker. It was crazy hair day, thus the wild 'do. She also happened to be wearing her leapord print leggins and looked so much the part of a rocker I had to capture it. By the way, this picture had been sideways and I figured out how to change it. So, unless I miss them, no more sideways photos! Yeah!