What We're Up To These Days

Once again it has been far too long since I have posted anything.  October has been full of changes and lots of fall fun.  Both Griffen and Austin played fall soccer again this year so our Saturdays were spent out at the fields.  We were very thankful that there wasn't any rain and that almost every week their games were either back to back or at the same time.  We only had one week where we needed to make two trips out to the fields.  YAY!!!

We passed on the traditional pumpkin patch visit this year and got our pumpkins from the store instead.  We did have the Sims over to carve them though.  The kids are getting big enough now that they don't really need our help anymore.  It is always fun to see what the kids will come up with for their jack-o-lantern faces.

Austin and Griff had fun carving away.  They had so much fun that they change their pumpkins after the official carving was done.

Jake picked a pattern out of one of the books we had.  It was a pretty detailed picture but he did a great job.

Another new thing we did this year was that we made a costume for Griffen.  He didn't want to be Batman again so we looked at the Family Fun website and found the perfect costume for him.  The bonus was that it was pretty simple to make too!  The only problem we incountered was that he had a hard time bending over to pick things up and also had a tough time trying to sit down.  It made me laugh many times watching him trying to pick something up.

Austin was going to be Spiderman again but at the last minute he changed his mind and went as a soccer player.

Jake decided that he was too old to go to the church Harvest Party so he and Dean stayed home to pass out candy.  The only other time we stayed home we only got a handful (MAYBE 5) trick or treaters.  This Halloween Dean ran out of candy by 7:00!

The big change for us happened about 3 weeks ago.  Well, it actually started back at the end of August.  Our house was busting at the seams this summer with two little foster kiddos added to the craziness.  They had come to live with us at the end of May and were still here at the end of the summer with no hint of moving anytime soon.  At the end of August though, Dean and I made the tough choice to ask that they be moved to another home.  We were both exhausted and felt that we weren't able to give much of anything to any of the kids.  The boys weren't handling the stress well either so we made the tough phone call.  We told the case worker that they didn't need to leave immediately as we hoped they could find a long term home so that they didn't have to move even more.  After about 3 weeks there hadn't been any sign of another family willing to take them but then the best solution finally appeared but took a few more weeks to happen.  All I can say is that God's timing is perfect.  Things have seemed so much quieter and peaceful around here and we heard from the case worker that the kiddos are doing well.  We are planning on taking a break from foster care until the first of the year and then we know FOR SURE that we will only acccept one child at a time.  Two is just way too much for us.

Now we are in the beginning of November and getting ready for birthdays and Thanksgiving.  Tis the season for the Hendricksons to be VERY busy!

The First Day of School

Well, today was the first day of school for the boys.  It was a pretty big day for all of them but especially for Jake as he rode the bus for the first time as he went to start middle school.  He went to a two and a half hour orientation on Friday where older students showed the incoming sixth graders around. They played games, ate pizza, and had time to get comfortable with the school.  On Monday, he told me that he was nervous about not being able to find the music room again.  I reminded him that he didn't have any music classes so it wasn't a big deal :).  We had his bag packed last night and then true to my first born's personality, he as up a 6:30am.  When I came out to the living room at 7:30 he was already sitting on the couch with his bag next to him waiting (he doesn't have to catch the bus until 8:00).  He was nervous about finding classes so we looked at his schedule again.  Finally it was time (or at least not TOO early to head to the bis stop).  He rolled his eyes as I insisted on taking the traditional first day picture and then off he went.

Austin started fourth grade today.  He is growing so fast (like they all are).  He is looking forward to a year with his best friend in his class for the first time ever.  Tonight he had a page of "homework" that his teacher wanted him to do.  It is a list of questions about his goals for this year at home and at school.  Here is what he wrote:

1. This year I would like to try and help out more at home by...saving electricity (elestricity)

2. A new hobby I would like to try this year is...playing basketball (basickball)

3. I would like to try and become better at...getting my work done faster. :)

4. Another goal of mine at home is...being nicer to my brothers. (I LOVE this one - such a sweet boy he is)

5. I would like to try and do better in the area of...the classroom

6. This year I would like to become better friends with...Matthew (I really don't think this is possible, they are such great friends now!)

7. One study habit I would like to improve this year is...writing

8. Another goal of mine at school is...on tacking (I'm assuming he means staying on track)

These were answered all on his own and I think he did a great job with it.  As a side note, I'm glad that I pulled that out of his bag for this as I discovered that on the other side there are questions for me!

Griffen started the first grade today.  My little baby boy is now a full time elementary student!  He was super excited this morning to get going.  He chattered all the way up to the school and as we took Austin to his room first.  Once we got to Griff's room he suddenly got very quiet and his eyes got huge. We had met his teacher on Friday but today he seemed like he had never even set foot in the room before.  When we got there, there was only one other student and mom in the room.  We waited until they were done talking with his teacher and then greeted her and let her tell us where to put things and how to get Griff started on his day.  By the time he got home he was all smiles and said that he had a good day.  I am looking forward to seeing all of the new things that he is going to learn this year!

So the Hendrickson household is off to a good start on this year I hope all of your "years" are off to a great start too!

Time at the Beach

A couple of weeks ago we went down to Dean's parents for the annual Rice Family Reunion.  It is a full weekend of catching up with family, having fun, and eating really well.  On Saturday we have an auction that raises the money for next year's reunion.  Everyone brings a wrapped present and they all get auctioned off.  You never know what you're going to get until you buy it.  We were blessed this year with great weather and we also got to spend some extra time there as Dean and I both had vacation the following week.  The boys had actually been at the beach all week with their grandparents and Dean's sister Toni and her family.  Dean and I and our two little house guests left EARLY (3am) on Saturday morning and arrived at the beach in time for yummy waffles.   Here are some pictures of our time there.

We do tie-dye shirts for the kids each year.  This year they got really fancy with lots of colors!

Auction Time

Griffen's New Skill

So on Saturday we decided it was time to challenge the little Griff-ster and try him out on two wheels.  Dean took him over to the school and took off the training wheels and off he went riding his bike in the field.  Here are a couple of videos.

Then on Sunday, Dean was gone for awhile and the boys said that they were going over to the school to ride bikes.  I figured that Griff would take his scooter as his bike still had the training wheels off.  (I was stuck at the house with a sleeping little one).  They were gone for a little while and then came back for a snack.  Then they went back over a couple more times.  After the third time they came in the house VERY excited and told me that Griffen had taught himself how to get started on his own!  When Dean got home we all headed over to see the kiddo show off his moves.

I think we've found a future Tour de France winner ;).

Our Summer So Far...

has been VERY busy. Well, I guess with five kiddos in the house there is no other way for it to be. I don't know when our summer schedule ended up so full. It seems that when we first started looking at this season, we had a blank calendar and then the next thing we know, every other weekend someone, if not all of us, is gone and there are appointments and outings scheduled all over the place. Thankfully the busy schedule has been mostly full of fun things.

As every summer for the past sixteen years has started, Royal Family Kids Camp was the kick off. The only exception being that I wasn't actuallt at camp this year. Things were just too crazy with working and adding the extra two kiddos to the house. I did help plan Breakfast Club again this year but then passed it off to someone else to "run". I sure did miss being there this year but it also felt great to take something off of my very busy plate.

We headed down to Longview for the 4th and spent time with my parents and saw some of Dean's family. We camped out at Lake Sacajawea most of the 4th and really enjoyed the fireworks show. All of the kiddos were SUPER tired by the time we got back to my parents' house at 11pm.

Playing some Uno while waiting for the fireworks.

Jake wearing his special fireworks glasses

Griffen "Wow, these things make everything 3D!"

We've been sticking closer to home when we are in Bellingham as venturing out is a pretty big chore although we are getting the hang of it finally. We have had fun playing at the park across the street and having friends over for barbeques. We also spent an afternoon at friends who have a swimming pool (unfortunately I didn't take any pictures there). That afternoon ended with a double bonus of all of the boys being more comfortable in the pool and Griffen even puttering around with his buddy, in their lifejackets, all by themselves!!! He is getting so big and tackling big things this summer. He even just accomplished another thing today but I will save that for another post.

Setting up their race

Playing at the park

Swinging in the backyard

A boy can't swing without his keeping his sword handy

Last weekend we headed back to Longview for Dean's grandma's 80th birthday. It was a fun time to celebrate with her and we got some yummy pizza that we can only get in Longview. Once again I failed to take pictures.

Austin just finished up a week at Fircreek Daycamp.  He had a blast with his friends and was very excited that this year for the sleepover night he got to go out to Camp Firwood.  He also brought home a souvenir from camp.  He got stung behind his knee, right where it bends.  Ouch!!! 

Well, there's a lot more in store for us for the last half of the summer. Stay tuned more more adventures of the Hendricksons.

Ending the School Year

We had a big end of the school year last week.  Both Griffen and Jake had "graduations" as they each finished a big milestone year. 

Our little guy has officially finished up his kindergarten year and is now a big first grader. His teacher invited the parents to a little performance on the last day. I had gotten a little preview as I had heard Griff practicing his song as he was playing. Here is the video of the class singing it. 

He loved his teacher (she was pretty great!) and best of all he made a really great friend. They are the cutest pair and are pretty much glued to each other. I am so thankful that they found each other and that they play SOOOOOO well together. 

Austin didn't have a graduation but is also now an official 4th grader. He did pretty well this year.; He is definitely a social guy and LOVES to be in class with his friends.  He is a math wiz and loves to do random acts of math. I remember a couple of times at home I had asked him to find something to do so he grabbed a piece of paper and found (& even made up) some numbers to add together until he filled the whole page with a really large number. We are so thankful that Austin has been blessed with some great friends as well.

 Our big to-do was for Jake this year as he finished up his last year at Geneva Elementary. We got to go to the 5th Grade Celebration on Wednesday and see a video of the kids from the year. Then on the last day we headed up to the school to take part in the 5th grade tunnel. All of the parents, teachers, and other students line the walkway outside the front doors and cheer on the 5th graders as they leave for the last time. Jake was really looking forward to this and was one of the first ones out the door. Watch for the yellow shirt to the right who is RUNNING out the doors. :). 

We celebrated by meeting some friends at a park and playing for awhile. One of my friends asked how I was doing with all of the graduations this year, wondering if I was emotional because of it. I let her know that Griffen finishing kindergarten was the one getting me the most, Jake going to middle school will most likely hit in the fall when we go to orientation. But for now, we are going to enjoy our summer and hope that the sun will be shining soon!

A Little Family Vacation

Both Dean and I had the last week off of work.  We had dreams of another family trip but Uncle Sam said "NO!" so we planned a quiet week of getting a few things done around the house and then taking the boys out of school for a couple of days and going to Seattle.  Well....as usual things got changed a bit.  On the 21st there was an email sent out to foster families about a brother and sister that needed placement that night and for at least 3 months.  We didn't answer back because we were sure that we were just going to stick with one at a time.  Well, a little bit later the phone rang and the placement coordinator was asking if we could take them.  Once again, we said no because it was two and we were planning on going out of town.  About 20 minutes later Dean called me again and told me to call her back and tell her we would take them.  So at about 4:30pm we had a little 3 1/2 year old girl and her 1 1/2 year old brother with us.  Thankfully not all of our plans changed and we were able to have them in respite care while we took the boys to Seattle for aour planned mini vacation.

We had a lot of fun being tourists (a family we asked to take our picture even called us that :)).  We started our adventure early on Wednesday morning as we headed south toward Safeco Field.  Griffen was SO funny as he talked like we go there all the time or at least like he had been there many times before when in reality it was his very first time there.  It ended up being a great game as Detroit was up 4-1 but then the M's came back in the 8th to win!!!!  

After the game, we headed to check into our hotel and then to the Seattle Center and the top of the Space Needle.  Once again Griff made me laugh as he was so excited to go (he was sure the game was taking too long and he "just wanted to go to the Space Needle.") but after about five or ten minutes he was ready to go back to the hotel.  Good thing he is easily bought off with hot chocolate!

The next morning, we went back to the Seattle Center and took the Monorail downtown and then walked to Pike's Place.  It had been so long since I had been downtown that I really did feel like a tourist, especially when we pulled out the touristy map but at least we made it without getting lost!  I love Pike's Place.  All of the colorful flowers and produce are so beautiful!  The boys thought the fish throwers were pretty cool but weren't that excited otherwise.  Dean and I decided to splurge a bit and got some crab (packed for the trip home) and some yummy pasta noodles, that we still need to eat (the pasta, not the crab.  The crab was gone that night!)  As we were leaving Pike's Place, a street magician stopped us and had the boys help him with a trick.

Our final stop was the Pacific Science Center.  We have talked about taking the boys there a few times but had never done it so...we finally did.  There was so much there and the boys had fun in all of the areas.  I'm glad that we finally went!

We had a great time even though it was short and we made a lot of good memories together.  On the final days of our time off we did get a couple of the project done that we wanted to do (more on that in another post) as we continue to adjust to having two more kiddos in the family.  Things are starting to fall into place and we are all finding a bit of a rhythm to the chaos  :).  We shall see how this week goes now that we will be back to work!

Easter

We had a pretty low key Easter this year.  We stayed home as usual but we had two extra kiddos with us as we were doing respite care for another foster family.  We had a little one year old boy and his two year old sister.  They were pretty easy going kids and we had fun with them here. 

We went to church Sunday morning where they did the traditional balloon parade of kiddos.  Then we had dinner at our house with Toni, Jordan, and Caleb (Jason had to work) and also another friend of ours, Carmen.  The kids had an egg hunt inside and we ate some yummy ham but like I said all was really quiet.

Oh yeah...we also had some fun making funny egg eyes!

Hope you all enjoyed celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus!