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!