What I've been doing while not blogging, Part III

Thanksgiving down in Monticello was by far one of the best yet! We all got as sick as dogs with a mysterious illness that spread like peanut butter throughout the entire clan. The initial symptom was nauseating burps that tasted like yeast, and it went downhill from there. (Since of course, you were curious.) But, we didn't let that stop us from eating ourselves silly, playing lots of board games, watching many movies, and taking a wild excursion into the tundra for a Christmas tree. It rained all weekend, and so there was plenty of mud. Ben was excited to have some off-roady Subaru commercial moments, but it turns out that the AWD on the side of our vehicle is just decoration, because our sporty car was the only one that completely stuck. The mud was so heavily encrusted on our wheel axels, that we had to remove the tires and clean them out in order to get our wheels to turn at all. A slightly lesser drama was the fact that at first I hated our tree. I tried to suffer in silence as all of my male relations, (and a few of the cheerful and stalwart females) pushed against my car, up to their knees in mud. But, as it turns out, I love the tree, and so all their labor was not in vain! Here are some highlights from the trip, my favorite of which is the shot of my dad demonstrating to my nephew Rawl what fun it is to sit on a mattress, and that any big boy who goes potty in the toilet can also enjoy the privilege of doing so. Josie somehow was able to bypass all of those stipulations. Hmmm...

What I've been doing while not blogging, Part II

Yeah, Mae and Ike are still around. Growing like dandelions. They adore each other, as you can see. Or rather Mae adores "Itey" and Ike adores everything, including Mae, but also including dirty socks and plastic bags.

Things I have been doing while not blogging, Part I

Our first possibly annual Costume Ball of Special Magnificence!!

Imagine... dreamy lights, whimsical jack o' lanterns, fresh flowers, amazing food, swirling fog, costumes, dancing! Butt freezing, frog strangling cold!

I LIKE IKE

Well gang, let's talk Ike. He really is a swell little chap. He has Ben's ears. I thought Mae had Ben's ears when she was born, but she doesn't. She has Ben's mom's ears. Here is a diagram to differentiate the two models:

The Ben Ear: (
The Carol Ear: /

(This is a view from the front, if you follow me.)
And an unfortunate genetic trait that my two kids do have in common is their mother's purple-white skin. It looks great on them, though. They pull it off five hundred times as well as I do. Ike has fuzzy white hair, and a little boy face. He smells so unbelievably good. I sniff at him all day. What a world for our little son... I mean, so much shady business going on all the time. His mama, smelling him all the time, his big sister helping to "burp" him on his face, and giving him very sloppy kisses, his daddy, lapsing into fits of loud protest every time he has a bowel movement. Strange. He is bringing us so much dadblasted happiness and joy, and giving us constant cause to wash our bedding. Ah, Ikey. We likey.

He's here!!!

Benjamin Ike Henderson was born on Thursday the 14th of August at 08:30 weighing in at 7 lbs 14 oz. Healthy as a horse and handsome as...someone really handsome. I'll let Eirene fill in the details, but we're all doing great, and Mae is loving her new baby brother. Enjoy the pics!

Ben

The Big Scabby Apple

What to say about our recent trip to NYC? The following is our NYC Update At-A-Glance, for those of you strapped for time and energy. (Namely, myself.)

Sights We Saw:
1. Brooklyn
2. Chinatown
3. Central Park
4. Eighth Church of Christ, Scientist
5. Museum of Natural History
6. The Subway System
7. A drunken man
8. New Jersey
9. The Atlantic Ocean
10. Times Square
11. The Angel Moroni on 66th St.
12. Grand Central Station
13. Sbarro

Experiences We Experienced:
1. Being, apparently, the only white people in all of Brooklyn.
2. Wishing we were dead, or in other words, hauling a stroller, a baby, and luggage for two adults and one baby, up and down flight after flight of nasty subway staircases.
3. Figuring out that the reason they keep the lights in the Natural History Museum so low is because of a serious dust problem.
4. Eating dirt in Central Park. (Mae relished in this experience exclusively.)
5. Fishing a cigarette butt out of Mae's mouth in Central Park. (Every mom's worst nightmare
realized.)
6. Undergoing a mysterious resurrection at the beach.
7. Witnessing a drunk man fluent in both English and Sign Language professing his love to a woman doing a cross word puzzle on the bus.
8. The Lion King on Broadway! (Amazing, guys.
Really.)
9. One Rolex watch (fake) $30
10. Pinpointing the stench at Times Square as a combination of raw sewage, garbage seepage, urine, B.O., cigarette smoke, and imitation perfumes.
11. How crying will improve customer service by about 95%.
12. How granola bars get very old when you eat a steady diet of them.
13. How one milk addicted, sleep deprived 13 month old can VERY nearly ruin a vacation.
14. Noticing how the staff of a Jamba Juice is
fairly universal: teenage girls, with the token lurpy, gay boy.
15. Navigating the subway system without getting lost once. (Thank you, thank you)
16. Stepping in every freshly discarded wad of chewing gum from Far Rockaway to 81st St.
17. Noticing how Obama crazed NY is. He is a pop icon. His face is on glittery T-shirts and
handbags. Obama is Hannah Montana, pretty much.
18. Peeing in NY public restrooms about every five minutes... and wishing I was dead.

Lessons We Learned :
1. If you are in a wheelchair, or have a stroller, do not take up a residency in Manhattan.
2. An airplane is the last place you want to be if you are even remotely pregnant.
3. Milk goes bad.
4. Do not EVER travel without photo ID. Unless you aren't particular about catching flights, and don't mind being treated like a criminal.
5. A true friend is one who will volunteer to babysit your child while you spend a romantic and strollerless day in the city. (Thank you Aundi.)
6. It is worth it to take lots of pictures, even if you feel touristy.
7. Never sacrifice comfort for fashion. Never.
8. Cheap diapers are a waste of money.
9. Having a baby on the subway breaks down awkward barriers like magic.















































































The truth is, we had a marvelous time. But we'll be recovering for the next month, so don't be surprised if we are still NYZ's (New York Zombies.)