Back in the day

I thought everyone might enjoy this blast from the Henderson family past.  This is a picture of my dad's band from the early 60's.  They were quite successful regionally and made it to the Billboard top 100.  My dad is the one in the front row, far left (back when he had hair :)!

Chopped

Hi Fam,

I thought that when I got married, I would understand why new brides cut their hair. Well, I am no further along in unraveling the mysterious reason why brides do this, but I do know the irresistible urge of it. Ellen (my friend out here, married 8 months or so) felt it and last week she chopped off those golden locks. And today, I couldn't resist it any longer.



David is grieving, but quietly.






The little voice of Amy May is in my head (Little Women); "Oh Jo! Your one beauty." But it will grow again. :)





love,
L

Jacksonlocutions

There was a request for some recent Jacksonlocutions, which made me reflect on why I've not posted any recently. The main reason is that what he says is increasingly intertwined with a set of imaginary worlds or scenarios that we don't fully understand and is thus difficult to convey the humor of on the blog. But I'm emboldened to at least give a couple of examples of what I mean:

Today at lunch (while eating bananas he had just used as laser guns to chase aliens around the apartment)

JRW: If a polar bear is older than me then I'll be dead.
Ruthie: Why is that?
JRW: Because a lion will shoot me.
Ruthie: Hmmm....
JRW: Yeah, it's a problem.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JRW: Daddy, I can do Spanish.
Me: You can?!
JRW: Yeah, I can speak Spanish.
Me: Say something for me.
JRW: (starting to jump up and down) Ow! Ow! Ow!
Me: Wow, Jackson! What does it mean?
JRW: I don't know. It's just Spanish.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since seeing Toy Story at Uncle Clint and Aunt Laurel's, Jackson's been asking me if I'll be "Buzz Light Beer". It seems to me this has a lot of marketing potential.

Within the history of the world...

I just got finished grading a round of papers comparing the international relations theories of Francisco de Vitoria (follower of my man Aquinas) and Montesquieu. Here's a jewel of a sentence with which one student began his (3 page) paper: "Within the history of the world, there have been many different answers to many different questions."

Don't: Things I never thought I'd say

"Don't try to kill that fly on the window with a rock."

"Don't tie up your brother unless he likes it."

Slaying the Neighborhood Dragons

Harry our Hero:
Jacob made these swords and shields for himself and Jackson the other day out of a Life cereal box - an appropriate metaphor his mother and I enjoyed:

Belated Thank You

I am having trouble blogging, I was trying to post pictures and video clips from the March trip, some worked, some didn't. I love you all and had such a great time being with my wonderful family.

Pittsburgh at Night

Hi Fam,

Here are some recent photos. Thanks, Sarah and Bill, for loaning us the camera!

On Friday night, David took a break from his work (two papers down, two to go) and we had a date night. We went to dinner on Ellsworth street, a few blocks from our home, and then to the Duquesne Incline, voted the fourth most romantic place in the USA by Microsoft. We really enjoyed it; it has the best view of the Pittsburgh point.

And for those who don't go for beautiful city views, nothing says romance like the trolly's gear room (self-guided tours are only 25 cents!):

Here is a photo from our apartment; we like being on the 7th floor.


And here is a shot of David, taken tonight (the pretty flowers are from him, but they didn't like the 85 degree weather was much as we did):

with love--

Lynn & David

Final Preparations

We are just three short weeks away (give or take a few days, I hope) from Will's arrival and as part of our preparations we took Benjamin to a sibling's class offered by our hospital.  The nurse tried valiantly to teach the kids how to put diapers on their "babies" (dolls or stuffed animals brought from home) and how to properly hold their babies (not by the leg or ear as some were wont).  Mostly the kids milled around, fighting over the diapers and putting the baby bottles in their own mouths.  I was pretty much chuckling under my breath the whole time.  The kids also got to take a tour of the hospital and see the nursery.  Probably a fruitless exercise, but entertaining all the same...

Here the nurse is showing Benjamin how to diaper his baby, blue bear.

William Wright is born - no, really!

She'd had the baby 12 hours earlier and look at her. The amazing birth-giver, Simone Harris:



















I forgot to get a picture of big brother David. Here he is a few months ago with Harry on a Waco Day Trip:

an explanation of that name. . .David's father was killed in a car accident when he was a teenager, and William was his name. I believe it goes a few generations back. And Wright is Simone's mother's maiden name (and of course the name of her maternal grandparents who had a huge role in raising her). Hence we have Bill's little namesake born in Waco, TX! :)

*** Sometimes I forget that it's not just family that reads this blog anymore. A little background: Simone and I went to highschool together, then on to college at Baylor, where we were roommates until I married Matthew. We were bridesmaids in eachothers weddings, etc. etc. - a very dear friend!

Friends

Jackson, Grace, and Jacob. These guys play together all day long some days, and at least at some point on most every day. Jacob is also 3 (same birthday as Sophie) and Grace is 4. Their older sister Vienna (was in an earlier video on this blog) is in kindergarten during the day and the youngest bro. Seth is a newborn. Yay for our neighbors! We love them! And these two are just one of the many kids who are outside all the time!

Random Randomness for Friday, April 11

Text message received this morning from my friend Jeff: "I forgot how to throw a boomerang, but then it came back to me."

Tornado Pictures

Here are a few shots of the aftermath--our power and internet are back up:

The entrance to our neighborhood--and not an uncommon scene.  This took about five days to clear up.

Joel and Rachel's garage.  They were able to get Joel's car out, but Rachel's is totaled.

Joel and Rachel's backyard.  This used to be a big, open grassy area bordered by trees.  They lost 13 trees.  Contractors have been driving through the neighborhood (many coming from neighboring states), offering to give estimates on construction.  They've actually gotten a few very reasonable quotes, but it's going to be about 2 months of construction.  They can't get their power back on until the construction is finished and their home has been inspected.

Benjamin and Victoria Lamar watching the linemen working.  These guys are fast!  It's been very impressive to see.

Tornado Update

I don't know how many of you heard about the tornadoes we had through Jackson last Friday. We just wanted to let y'all know that we made it through just fine and with no damage to our property (thank you, God!!!) It was a very serious situation though. Josh was at work in the stairwell. I happened to be out shopping with Benjamin and drove directly towards the storm. I had heard thunderstorms predicted for Friday, but not tornadoes. I saw the sky turn green and the clouds start circling. We pulled over into a department store parking lot and ran into the store. There were other people there gathered in the center of the building. It blew right over us and touched down across the street from the shopping center where I had just been. Benjamin was scared at first, but then thought it was a very fun adventure to be in a store with lots of kids and people and animals that took shelter too. The bigger adventure was trying to drive home afterwards: downed trees and powerlines every where. I ended up at the Lamars for the afternoon because I couldn't get to our house.

We don't know anyone who was injured, but the Bomgaars, among many others, sustained major damage to their home. A tree fell on their garage, crushing it and totaling at least one vehicle. (Both cars are still inside and the structure isn't stable enough to try to pull the other one out.) The roof of their guest room is also collapsing. Their backyard was hit the worst--they had a large lot with at least 20 trees. About 5 of them are still standing. You can't even see grass, it's that covered with trees.

We are without power right now, but we have running water. It's going to be about a week we think. We do have power at work, so we're able to charge our cell phones and check email that way. Many of the roads are clear now, so we're able to get out to work and the grocery, etc. fairly easily. I'll post some pictures as soon as I can. Thank God that we are safe and well! Please pray for Joel and Rachel and the other families who sustained such big losses.

Rehearsal Dinner

I've been laughing at my remembrance of the rehearsal dinner show for the past 99 days, and I finally got a copy of the script and looked at it tonight. Thanks again, everyone, for the hilarious entertainment. I can't help posting this adaptation of "I've Got the Horse Right Here" performed by Matt, Josh and Cody--brilliant!

“I’ve Got Bus Right Here”

1: I’ve got bus right here,
The morning route looks clear
So if you get the kid there, you’ve got nothing to fear
Can do, can do, I’m telling you the bus can do
If I say the bus can do, can do, can do

You know the route’s all right
I got it down to the light
Of course, it all depends if it rained last night

2: You want the 309
On to the end of the line
It’s a different high school, but it’ll work just fine
Just fine, just fine, this school’s gonna work just fine,
I’d say it if the kid were mine—just fine, just fine.

So take the 309
It’ll be just fine
You know the bus driver is a – friend of mine!

3: Now just a minute, ma’am,
‘Cause I remember, Pam.
She attacked my driver with a frozen ham
Won’t do, won’t do, I’m tellin’ you it just won’t do,
My guy told the boss he’s through, won’t do, won’t do.

A fast Cooks Illustrated recipe! It has been found!

The recipe book has drawn me in again, this time with the words "15-minute" and "fudge" - great combination. Go to page 22 of Jan/Feb and you'll find "Simplifying Fudge"; It honestly was easy and fast and marvelous. I made the varient of the original, Chocolate Walnut Fudge, which looks even easier.

15-minute Rocky Road Fudge
makes about 2 1/2 pounds (I doubled this using a 9 x 13 pan, worked perfectly)

16 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped fine (I used choco chips)
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp table salt
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 c. miniature marshmellows
1 c. coarsely chopped peanuts (I used "party peanuts" w/salt b/c I couldn't find unsalted at the store, and it seems fine to me)
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

note on chocolate - they suggest using Ghirardelli, which is what I did. I imagine any good chocolate is great. . .

1. Fit foil into 8"square pan, allowing excess to overhang sides. Coat with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Toss chocolates, baking soda, and salt into heatproof bowl until baking soda is evenly distributed. Stir in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Set bowl over saucepan containing simmering water (i.e. make your own double boiler b/c most probably aren't big enough for all this esp. if you double it. I used a big metal bowl over a simmer saucepan of water.) Stir w/ rubber spatula until chocolate is almost fully melted and a few small pieces remain, 2 to 4 minutes (make sure you get it off the heat before it's melted. otherwise the chocolate will start to separate if it's overcooked and you'll have greasy fudge)

3. Remove the bowl from heat and continue to stir until smooth. Add the marshmallows, peanuts, and choco. chips, then transfer to prepared pan and spread w/ spatula. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Remove fudge from pan using foil and cut into squares.

Hailstorm!

Here's Jackson's loot after a 5-minute hailstorm this morning. We froze it for Daddy as Matthew is in Chicago presenting a paper. . .

I thought the title appropriate, as the look on his face looks like its own hailstorm. He's titled it his "funny face".

Random Randomness for Tuesday, April 1

Happy April Fools' Day! And on this most hilarious of days, I am reminded of the phone call Meme and her friends used to make to their local grocer each year on this very date, which went a little something like this:

Grocer: Hello?

Meme: Do you have Dr. Pepper in a bottle?

Grocer: Yes, we do.

Meme: Then please let him out.

(Sounds of intense laughter, followed by the phone being hung up.)