Keeping up with the Henderson's

I have not been on my blog in such a long time! It is on my list of things to do BUT yet I always find myself so overwhelmed and busy I sit down at night and think SERIOUSLY I can finally breath. Since, Life seems to by flying by I'm going to make every effort to Keep up with the Hendersons Blog. Our days are not consistant by any means I practically could have my own reality show on how funny things are.

This year I continue to work in Surgery Scheduling as a casual employee. I was on the fence for a long time about going full time but as arrogant as this sounds I know that I could always do that later. The position would take up more time than I'm willing to give up at this point with my kids social life and school events. Recently I have been training for the Staffing Office which is just next door to our office but makes me a little nervous messing with peoples time cards. Shannon who is training me is the same ages and a little jokester. She makes the day go by fast because we spend most of it laughing. She was recently told by one of the managers that a future in health care is going to require your name have the RN behind it. Made me really start thinking about going back to school. The thought of homework, test, and sitting in a classroom makes me itch. I would not graduate until my kids where almost in high school. Things have been moving so fast I'm sure that is only a blink of an eye. Lately, I have been giving it a lot more thought.

Kevin, well what can I say other than he is a ROCK. He is such an amazing husband/dad I'm so thankful for him everyday. This year has brought him huge responsiblities.....running million dollar jobs, a truck full of blue prints, tools, and all the car pool junk from the other guys. I'm so extremely proud of him! WORDS can even begin to express my respect for him. BUT here is the part that gets me- No matter how stressed he is He ALWAYS leaves it at the door. He never talks about work. As soon as he walks thru the door he isn't a Foreman Journeyman Plumber he is Dad. Comes home every night opens the door and Yells Hello my loving family :)

Melayna, this year has really grown up. She suprises me every day on how she has stuck being her own person. It is hard to believe she will already be in middle school this time next year. This girl is sooooooo smart! She excels in everything she does. When I'm not working I like to meet the kids in the front of the school office and pick them up from school. This gives me a fresh chance to ask them about there day. When they get off the bus they already had time to wind down and don't seem to remember. The other day I picked them up and Melayna said "Mom you know how you always tell me to do my own thing"? I said "yes, I'm glad you listen to me!" She said "Well I took your advice and I started an art lesson for the younger kids". I was confused "What kind of art lesson"? Melayna said "Well I made up a schedule and I'm going to start teaching art every other day. It feels good to teach. Are you proud I took your advice". Of course I was shocked thinking wow, I'm glad how much she absorbs.....she listens to all my advice. Made me feel so good.

Mason, on a daily basis makes me smile. He is such a little comedian. Last Friday I had his IEP for speech. The teachers just love him so much. Mason is super competitive (not sure where he gets that LOL). He is always striving to be the best he can be! I'm told he is quite the ladies man. He is always trying to smmmoooth the girls......UGH! This started early and continues. I would like to think I'm setting to be the perfect guy.....loves to shop. I recently got into this coupon craze. He loves to help me! The Sunday paper comes and we cut coupons together, organize, and look up the match ups. The part he loves it that you can use a coupon instead of money. He asked for his own binder~ That just is just too awesome :)


I'm going to do my best in keeping up this blog. It is nice to look back on..........because time is in luda speed.

My lil Mason Man's first E.R. Visit

The morning starts off at 6:30 am Wednesday morning. Mason climbs down from his bunk bed and walks out of his room says good morning mama. I was sitting drinking my coffee and said good morning buddy. You need to go take a shower and make sure before you get into the shower you lift the toliet seat this time because you have been making a mess lately. Mason just ignored me and decided to go get his DSI and start playing games. I said, Mason, I'm not kidding please go get in the shower because Mommy needs to take on after you to get ready for work. He started whinning and crying...I don't want to take a shower. Well, it normally is a fight to get him into the shower but today was a little more difficult so I pulled out the big guns.....I said Mason if you get in the shower and hurry I will let your get on Webkinz (the internet) before the bus gets here. A huge smile went on his face and he ran into the shower.

I heard the water shut off and then a loud THUG. Kids fall all the time but this one sounded bad. I sprinted for the bathroom and I seen he had slipped getting out of the shower onto the toliet and was bleeding alot. I instantly grabbed his towel and new I had to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. He was naked and I was a hot mess that haven't even taken a shower yet. I Ran into melayna's room still carrying my naked little 5 year old and asked melayna to please grab her shoes and where leaving. She said what happened what's wrong. Mason really wasn't crying he would just saying ouch mommy it hurts alot. I said Melayna we need to take mason to the hospital to get his cut fixed. I would not lift the towel for fear of it bleeding on him and freaking him out. So I was putting his clothes on and when I went to put his shirt of his head he seen the blood. Oh boy, from there on it was massive tears. He just kept crying saying he didn't want his brain to fall out. I said, oh buddy it's ok the doctor is going to fix you. Melayna wrapped her "special blanket she made all by herself around him" then off the ER we went.

I haven't worked at the hospital in five years but for some reason they all seem to think I'm still down in surgery. It is nice having that advantage of going straight back over other patients :) especially when it's your baby.

We went back into the room and they put some gauze inside the wound to numb it before the lidocaine shots and stitches. It was hard your little baby in pain. They asked me if I would be able to hold him down while they did the stiches or did I want another nurse to come in. I said no way am I leaving him, that would just scare him more. We wrapped him up like a burrito and Dr.Vanasche stitched him up. Mason did amazing. I was so proud of him. What a strong lil man!

He still is convinced that the shower is a bad place....oh great! He thinks his brain will fall out if he gets in it again. I'm hoping that will change, but I still think he is such a strong lil buddy ;)

Waiting to Exhale........

When it is quite in the house is when I sit back and think of all the good, bad, and ugly. This was a wild rollercoaster ride year, maybe one of the biggest rides so far.

So I begin this blog with the good: January 2009 My baby girl turns eight and is in 3rd grade (all ready)! It really is crazy how times flies by you. She is so so so smart and sooooooo beautiful. I see so much of Kevin in her eyes. The wheels are always rolling which makes this mama so proud. I was still working at Wah Chang as a temp and loved it there. It was a really good job and I actually felt pretty important. Kevin was working for Robert at Complete Plumbing, wasn't his favorite place to be but he is amazing and will do anything for his family. Mason is just a little ball of fire. It is fun to sit back and just watch him. So the beginning of the year started off ok, there was still some emotions that where carried over from the previous year but we all where trying to just put it past us.

THE UGLY: Then the rug was swept from our feet. Around Februaray Kevin was laid off due to lack of work. Man, you always hear about the bad ecomony on TV at night but never really think that would affect you.........when it does you have to make it work. I received a another job at a different company but this time I hated it. It was a 360 from being at Wah Chang. Kevin was staying at home and now I was the one working. He did such an amazing job of taking care of the kids and the house. It still was just hard because my pay checks would not even add up close to Kevin's wages. It was working thou because Kevin was able to claim unemployment. We had a strict budget that he would make work and did a great job. Then another suprise came our way. Kevin's boss got upset when he would not come back as an "oncall" person. There was no way we could make that work usless he was going to be sure working(what would we do with the kids) So they called unemployment office and we no longer would be receiving unemployment anymore. Well why not bring on more stress.......Kevin's lost his dad with a battle of cancer on November 16, 2008. He would receive a nasty attorney letter every week about the estate and just other garbage his "wife" would like to dig up. Don't get me started about such an evil person! So not to drag out more drama all over the internet I will leave it at that. So needless to say there was alot of stress and I'm glad I had Kevin there to help me with it........I would cry alot. I'm not a crying person but did shed alot of tears this year.

The BAD: Without trying to cry more I will talk about gramps. He has been battling Cancer for two years and was hospitalized again over christmas. He just doesn't look like my grandpa so small and weak. What an amazing man! He truly is one of the hardest working men I have ever met. Constantly trying to fix something his mind is always going on what needs to be done next :) Today he was moved up to Georgia's house and looks like he will be staying there. Hospice is going to come in so that will help out.

Getting older seems to be getting easier and harder at the same time? Makes no sense, trust me I know but no other way of putting it. So I would like to be thankful for the good memories this year and try to think the bad and ugly memories made me even stronger person. I'm so grateful for having Kevin, Melayna, and Mason....they make me who I am. It's not bad to be me :) I'm ready for a new year, and I know it has great things in store for us.

Elvis has broke my machine

Well It could have been me that broke it :) My sister has been love with Elvis since we watched Elvis and Me in Florida. Grandpa would take us to Sam Goody to rent movies and we would always rent the old ones. We watched the Patsy Cline story, Shirley Mc Downy story, Ritchie Valens story, and and and.......well you get the idea all the old people movies. Grandpa would also take us to the library a lot. We had to read at least two books a week so we always picked the easy craft books. Neither one of us really enjoyed reading so we would get books that we could make stuff. Shawna was always interested in scary movies. One time we got a make up book and had this great idea to make her look like Freddy Kruger from nightmare on elm street. We didn't really have any one the right stuff so I decided let melt some wax and pour it on her face, LOL well to make a long story short it didn't work~

Being stuck at home without my kids or my man I remember these old days and they make me laugh. It's amazing how much time flies. One day your making up dance video in the back yard and you blink and you see your kids doing the same thing.

Well for Shawna birthday I decided I was going to make her an Elvis blanket. I thought it would be cool to interlock Patsy Cline and Freddy Kruger some home but couldn't find the material. You would be surprised that they don't have that LOL. So, after making Kevin's blanket I got into a small grove of making it go faster. IT still is a process I get a little obsessed with......once I start I don't like to stop. Unfortunately getting older your body does too and I noticed my wrist getting more and more swollen each day. After this blanket I might take a little time off. Oh, and the fact that my sewing machine isn't working might make me day a couple days off. So here is the blanket. It is not complete yet but should be soon.

Remember the Old Days....

I was sitting at home this morning thinking.............. The other day Kevin was working outside in the garage I heard him whistling while he works. Ah, that brought a smile to my face. It's weird to me the little things like this you miss when you get older. I remember when I was a kid my dad whistling all the time. There was the good whistling while he worked, there was the whistle when you where down the road you better get home fast, and the whistle when you looked really cute to embarrass you in front of all your friend. Just wonder, why people don't whistle as much anymore?

SUMMER< SUMMER SUMMERTIME!

I can't remember the last time this last month I have sat down. The kids and I have been running from one thing to the next.....and enjoying every minute of it! Since a picture can tell a thousand words I thought I would add a lot to this blog.




Oh boy, Did the kids fall in love with Kyles house! So much stuff to do it was almost better than Disneyland. This is "Grandpa Kelly" giving Mason a ride on his hog. He told mason you want to take a ride on my hog? Mason looked and him kind of in shock because they had just placed the pig in the BBQ. He said ok, so Kelly went and got his motorcycle out of the shop and Mason wanted to drive it. He said not this time buddy :) Melayna and Ashlee got to go for a ride and they were grinning from ear to ear.








The Mason Man and Harley Man

The Kids love there grandmas! Georgia took a couple days off this summer to take the kids to the beach. Grandma took the kids to the Albany Linn County Fair and we spent all day riding the rides and looking at all the exhibits.I went with Mason while my mom went with the girls for awhile. The girls were going on all the big and fast rides. Mason and I are more a slow speed :) He wants you to think he is tough, but he is a softy like him mom.
My Summer Love is Gardening! I could spend hours out in the yard just messing around with all the flowers. This was the best my hanging plant has ever done. I got it for mother's day and it is still alive! It some kind of record because hanging plants are so hard!

This took our breath away. This is the Vietnam Memorial at Timberlinn Park. The kids and I went around to all the monuments. I think on a every day basis we sometimes forget we are at war.

Our NEW CAMPER!!! After endless craigslist adds, car lots, and magazines we finally found a camper! It was hard to agree on this one. I wanted a fifth wheel or trailer. There huge and more roomie but Kevin wanted a camper. My reasoning was you get more bang for your buck! The trailers are so huge on the inside and have bunk beds for the kids. Kevin's side was we could pull a boat if we got a camper. He was right. After several months of looking because we had to have specific stuff we wanted, A north to south bed (so no one is jammed up against the side) a camper that would fit a short box (which who knew it was so rare) and a bathroom. We found this up in portland and feel in love. We have only had it since a couple days before the pig roast.

Lisa and I at the pig roast.

So last year we decided we should do another Pig Roast with Kyle. We had one before about ten years ago we we lived on Airport Rd in Lebanon. It was such a hit not sure why we haven't brought it back till now. Kyle made arrangements for the pig and BBQ. It all came together so well. Kyle put so much time and effort into this party! It first started with him pouring 10 yards of concrete to make a patio for everyone to walk on.......then he decided we need two Kegs so him and his dad built a kegorator for the party. We set up the huge Elk tent and several other tents for food and drinks. Kenny made a whole cooler of jungle juice. There were so many kids and teenagers that would look at the pig and say "EWWW GROSS, I'm so Not Eating that! " It was so cute because they are the ones that came back for seconds and thirds! We are going to have to have another BBQ like this every summer. Not sure we will do a whole pig but everyone really enjoyed themselves. We did a loose count and had around 80 people show up, there was still half the pig left over. It all turned out so amazing!

Kyle and Kevin getting felt down to cover up some of the wires on the ground. Can' have a party without lights and a radio.
The night before we were all a little shocked on how big the pig was. This one was 250 lbs.
Took up the whole tail gate. Kyle started the BBQ at Friday 2:30 AM and did not finish till 5:30 pm Saturday.
The kids thought it was pretty cool.
It took all four guys to lift it into the BBQ.

The Sea Lion Caves.

I have never been to the Sea Lion Caves at the beach. We started off in Florence and worked our way down the coast line till we reached the caves. It was really neat to see them. We all enjoyed it very much.

Melayna loved the view of the bird and watching the sea lions come in from the ocean.

Triangle Lake.
Vacation Bible School.

The kids look forward to it every year. The South Albany Community Church does such a great job every year!

House Project aka MELAYNA Rooom

Well there was only one plug in her whole bed room. SOOOOOO, I decided to do something about it :) We tore off all the sheet rock and Kevin put in seven new ones. Maybe an overkill but at least she will have electricity now. We are still working on this one, will keep the blog posted.



They are great helpers!

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Daisy the Trucker.

The newest Addition to the family Daisy the Hampster. When Matt came back from Iraq he bought a hampster in Texas where he was living. He drove from Texas to Oregon with his Hampster Booger. When we went over to the house the kids could not get enough of him. I have been going every week for sewing and noticed Gracie has a hampster too. They are pretty cute so we had to get a little Dwarf Hampster and the kids named her Princess Daisy.

this is so true....a letter to the grandkids

We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better. I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.

I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen.


It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.

I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.

I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him.



When you want to see a movie and your little brother wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him. I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.


On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom.

If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.

When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.

I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like.
I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it.. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with them.

May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays.

I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.

These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.