Our Christmas!

Absolutely incredible! Those are the only two words I have to describe our Christmas, and our Mama!!! Eirene made our Christmas. Figuratively, spiritually, and perhaps most of all, literally! Here is a sampling of our handmade Christmas:

Mae: Beautiful doll (now known as Harper), matching nightgowns and dresses for Mae and Harper, a knit winter hat, a gorgeous coat, and a cute purse all made by mama; and a cradle for Harper made by dada.

Ike: Superman pj's, knit monster hat, monster backpack, monster stuffed animal (really cool!), and a stickhorse all made by mama; and a pinewood derby truck made by dada.

Dada: Sweet F-16/paper airplane tshirt, ipod armband, awesome fatherly "Lucky Charms, anyone?" apron, and an incredibly intricate knit winter hat all made by Eirene.

Eirene is simply incredible and really made our Christmas wonderful. We also got some very great gifts from family and friends. I hope you all enjoy your Christmases as much as we've enjoyed ours! Merry Christmas!

Ben

Our Christmas Eve

So dada has to work tomorrow (Christmas), so the Henderson's Christmas is today! While mama and the kiddies are still sleeping, I wanted to quickly post some pics from last night's Christmas eve before I don't have time! We went the homemade Christmas route this year, and Eirene made Mae a little (almost too little!) nightgown to match the one that her new doll is wearing (she'll open it this morning!), and she made Ike Superman pajamas. Last night--our Christmas eve--we first read the Christmas story from Luke 2 in the Bible taking a moment in between verses to explain a little to Mae. We then watched Joy to the World, the Church's relatively new nativity movie. It was so fun to watch Mae pick out things from the story we'd just read in the scriptures and understand what was happening! We then opened our new pajamas, and Mae instantly felt like an angel in her white nightgown. She flipped over a little laundry basket and started the angelic chorus. Ikey soon followed by flipping over another little basket and standing on it right next to Mae and joining in the songs! It was a beautiful night, and I am really excited for this morning when they wake up!!! More to come...

Pictures Pictures...

Hrmmm. Catch up.

Howdy folks. Ben here. Its been awhile since either of us have been on the ol' bloggy. I'm going to throw up a few pictures in a lazy attempt to catch up. Most people would then commit to keep current from that point onward. That is most likely not the case with me!

Family. Isn't it about...Blogging?

One of the funnest parts about being a mom are those times when everything is peaceful, and you get to relax for a minute, and maybe check your email, or putter around at anthropologie.com, but then you realize that it's too peaceful. Suspiciously peaceful. And sure enough, your daughter has painted her face yellow.


Another fun part is when your baby starts army crawling around the house, and eating whatever he can salvage from the recycling bin. (His favorites have definitely been church magazines.)

closer...

closer...

he got me!

A potato for your thoughts is just so much more delicious.
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Ahhh...sleep. Ahhh...milk.


Don't let her fool you. She's definitely not training. She just likes to read on the pot. And don't we all?


Looking particularly Bennish.

Baby No More

Not sure when this happened, but our Mae became a girl. I mean, not that she ever was otherwise... I mean... well, you know what I mean. She is just so big! She has thoughts and opinions and a personality. She pronounces blanket "bacon", she calls circles "bubbles", and she says "allriiiiight!" after she suggests you get her a snack. She's quick, my kid. I'd could go on and on and on, but we're off to the park. We'll run and play, and blow some circles.

Let's get down to the knitty gritty

Before I begin, a little light philosophy: Blogging is a nice way to share photos and anecdotes about one's life for the enjoyment and information of any who care. There are some who view it as a sort of online dinner party with a complex set of social rules and an exhausting standard of etiquette. I vote we take the surplus knives and forks out of blogging, and look at it as more of a spontaneous picnic. Let's take the "Emily" out of "Post."
Now, let's talk knit. Lately, I have become a knitter. (As in, within the last four months.) My friend Kristiina gave me a crash course on the basics, but I only recently knuckled down and commit myself. How this came about was our state of relative poverty. I wanted to buy some cute winter hats for the kids, but couldn't afford the ones I wanted. And so I did what any poor mother with cold-headed kids and nimble fingers and a stout heart would do. I went to the library and checked out some books about knitting. (I recommend Knitting School, and the Idiot's Guide to Knitting.) Encouraging Statement: It's really very easy, once you get the hang of it. I knit the winter hats for my kids, but grew hungry for more. I was surrounded by noodly tangles of yarn, my fingers were pickled from constant needlecrafting, I was becoming a real geek. (I also recommend the youtube tutorials of The Knit Witch. Very helpful.)

Anyway, here are some of my hats, knit for my nieces Avery and Parker, and my nephew Sam.


Avery is a touch camera shy. I had to nonchalantly snap this shot from the other side of the room, and then resume pretending to change a diaper.


There is something so delicious about knitted produce.




Who says warmth shouldn't attack your head?

New Year Resolution

It was a new year's resolution to improve my blogging performance, and so, first off, I'm giving the old girl a face lift. Please be patient while I rearrange and reconstruct. (My blog, not myself.) phew.
Eirene