4th of July

Henry celebrated the 4th of July with his cousins Erik and Thomas. We saw a completely amazing fireworks show out in the country outside of Amarillo. Henry enjoyed the first few fireworks and then got kind of bored and went inside to continue his "work" throwing ping pong balls down the stairs. Here are a few shots from the weekend:

Ranchtime w/ Grandpa and Other Fun

(Click on photos to go to larger versions w/ captions, etc.)

Hank loves the Beach

For Easter, we went to Port Aransas with Henry's Pickle Grandparents and family. It was super fun. It had all of Henry's favorite things: Sand, surf, and shrimp. He had and was such a blast. From climbing the giant mountain of sand, to watching a dolphin show, to fending off giant seagulls, he had a fantastic time. Here are some shots from the fun weekend.

Henry Goes To Zilker...

There's nothing better than Springtime in Texas! Here are some shots of Henry enjoying the outdoors.

 

 

 

 

Henry will be: A Politician, A Philosopher, or a Lawyer

Today, Henry, who has begun the filthy habit of fibbing, surprised me with a little philosophy. He had been in his room during naptime, but not napping. Mostly just saying "Mommy, come in here, I don't want to nap." Knowing that he really needed a nap due to being up most of the past two nights, I kept going in there and saying, "Nope, you can't come out until you've had a nap. You at least have to go to sleep." Then, I would go back to my computer and listen on the baby monitor. I could hear him the whole time - singing, coughing, etc. So, I knew he had not actually gone to sleep. He finally kept calling for me. So, I asked him "Henry did you go to sleep?" Yes, he insisted. I could tell from his little smile and the way he was acting (and because I knew the actual truth) that he was lying! I said,
"Henry, is that the truth?"
"What does truth mean?"
"Well, truth is when you are saying what really happened. It's the real thing. It's not making things up."
I ellaborated a bit more on definitions and he asked a few more questions.
Finally I said, "Henry, tell me the real truth. Did you go to sleep and take a nap or no? I know you did not. You aren't telling me the truth."
Then, he replied, "Mommy, I'm telling my truth and you are telling your truth."

At that, I couldn't help but crack up laughing. Mommy: 0, Henry 1

Henry Va a Mexico

We all went to Mexico this past week with Rose, Adam, and Eliana Koransky. The beach was beautiful, the water perfect, the weather amazing, the food spectacular, the company excellent, and in general relaxing. However, we all got sick with pretty bad colds, and Henry spent some down time with fever; But all in all, it was a great time. Henry learned tons of new Spanish words, and really loved getting some good quality time with his best little cute friend, Eliana. Ben earned a new nickname "Whiskers" which all of the street vendors called him. Rose showed us the best spots in town to eat and was the best tour guide one could hope for. Adam and I discovered a mutual love for solitaire and Yahtzee. And, we all discovered that it's best to generally stick to Tequila instead of Mexican water. Rose and Adam (and Sandra & Crash), thanks for being such great hosts!

See all of our pics at: http://www.creativepickle.com/mexico/

Henry and Jacob Party (Despite the Weather!)

Henry and Jacob celebrated their third birthdays together today. What was supposed to be a fun day at the park with food and a pinata turned into an impromptu birthday at McDonal'ds due to a very cold rain storm. Thanks to McD's for saving the day! And, thanks to all of the friends and family who were flexible! The kids did seem to have a lot of fun though.

Also, some pics of a b-day dinner with his grandparents and Aunt Lori & Uncle Jeremiah. Henry finally got the hi-hat drum he's been dreaming of since Christmas. See him rock out in the video below.

Henry and the Heffers

Here, Henry meets his granddad's new 6-month old heffers. He was dressed for the occasion! Here are some photos from the meeting. Plus, in this video, Henry tries to catch up with them.

(Also, some cute shots of Matt, Lisa, and baby Clyde!)

Almost 3!

It's almost Henry's 3rd birthday. He's excited and knows it's coming for the first time. We'll be in Mexico and celebrate on the beach with some tres leches.

Here are some shots of a recent hike in the pine trees east of Austin; Henry at the playground; Ben showing our chickens' first egg!; Henry's friend Clyde; and a few shots with Great-Grandmom Hunter.

Henry's Many Faces

Here, Henry snuggles with his best friend, Eliana; Makes many different faces while on the playground; and Ben has a stern talk with one of the chickens about etiquette..

Hank and the Giant Orange

Funny pic of Henry. I love how serious he is in this photo, even with a big orange in his mouth.

Henry Rocks Out

Henry has had a superb Christmas- complete with "starring" in a Christmas play, mastering his first set of drums, and experiencing the whole Santa thing for the first time. We've had a great time with both of our families and really enjoyed our first Christmas with Henry where he's really gotten into it. The photos and videos are as follows:

1) First photo: This is Henry dancing by himself on the make-shift stage before his school manger-scene play began.

2) Second photo: This is Henry crawling underneath the white satin blanket that was under the baby jesus - yes, he crawled under it and started wearing it like a cape.

3) Third photo: This is Henry wearing Baby Jesus' blanket and acting like he's the star of the play.

4) Henry helps give toys to some other kids for Christmas with his grandparents and the Paks.

5) 3-d glasses are cool

6) Henry gets some drums and a new lunchbox from Santa

7) Henry cruises in his new 3-wheeler.

8) I just had to include this: Random cowboy riding a longhorn steer while talking on a cell phone in front of the Bandera courthouse - taken from my car window. Only in Texas....



9) First video: Henry discovers his drum set. Here is a transcript:
(what 2 year old knows that a drum set isn't complete without a hi-hat? He's such a character!)

Dad: Ok henry come see if santa brought you anything.
Henry: Hehehehe (excited laughter)
Mom: Did santa bring that to you?
Dad: Santa brought you your very own drum set
Henry: That’s why I’m so excited
Henry: What are these?
Dad: Those are your drumsticks
Henry: But what are these drums called?
Dad: This is called a tom, and this is called a snare drum and this is a crash symbol.
Henry: But where is the hi-hat??
Dad: There’s no hi-hat with this one. This one has a crash symbol, you can use that like a hi-hat.
Henry: But crash symbols are not hi-hats. Drum sets have to have a hi-hat drum.

Etc etc etc.
Pretty funny! Once he got over the apparently critical lack of a hi-hat, he got into them (see next video!)




10) Second video: henry rocks out

Preparing for Santa

Henry has been getting ready for Christmas. He's been decorating ginger bread cookies, putting ornaments on the tree, and singing lots of Christmas songs. At the store the other day, there was a picture of Santa on a sale sign. Henry said, "mommy, is that man coming to town?" Yes, I replied, yes! Henry wants a drum set from Santa and is very good at pin-pointing exactly which drums are in any song that comes on. "Here's where they play the high-hat mommy." "I want to listen to that tom-tom song." "Now there are no drums... but, now there are three drums." I have to say, it's pretty impressive.

Here are some pics from the last few weeks. There are a few shots of him putting together a snow ball in the back yard with the dusting of snow we had last week.

A very happy (and a little redneck) thanksgiving

We all enjoyed visiting Henry's Uncle Shannon's ranches in west Texas for our Thanksgiving. Henry saw lots of animals (both alive and dead) including big horned sheep, many elk, several deer, one dead coyote and the partial spray of a skunk on his dog Sophie. He dined on turkey and ham. He rode around in many types of all-terrain vehicles. He played with his cousins Thomas and Erik. And, enjoyed dinner under an "antler chandelier." All in all, it was very fun and I know he will never forget it. Here are a few shots from the occasion.

The cat in the hen house

Henry's cat Fiorella wanders into enemy territory. The chickens, whom Henry has named "Turtle Jack" "Cookie Jim" "Verna Ray" and "Junior" are all wondering why she is there and when she will leave.

I AM A ROBOT

Henry was a cute little home-made robot for halloween and really enjoyed some trick or treating for the first time. He would say "I am a robot. Trick or treat" in a little robot voice. Pretty funny. Our friends Shelley, Jason and their 10 month old Truman were in town which made it all the more fun. Here are some photos:



Here he is in live-action:

Gearing up for Halloween

We've been in an autumn state of mind lately. Lots of playing outside (with our new chickens), going to a butterfly garden to see the Monarchs, and cruising a pumpkin patch with Henry's classmates. Here are a few shots of the boy in full fall action...

August & September

Henry has of course been very busy! We took a trip to Waco to visit his friends Eli and Milo, his dad made him a banana leaf outfit, spent time with Grandmom and Granddad Burdett, and also went on a fun boat trip for his Grandmom Jan's birthday. Here are some photos:

Fun Summertime

Henry has been very very active. He's really into letters and numbers and is becoming interested in spelling. He's also really into diving for rocks in the pool (and is quite good at it) and loves play-do. A few quick stories for you:

Henry went over to the chalkboard one morning this week and without prompting or anyone looking, he wrote the letter H! Then for the rest of the morning he kept describing how he did it: "First I drew this line over here, then I drew this other line over here and then I drew this line across. And, then it was an H!" It was so cute. He was so proud of himself.

Henry's favorite song is "Ode to LRC" by Band of Horses. It's one of our favorite songs too, but for weeks now it's the only thing we're allowed to listen to in the car - he likes it over and over and over. And, he knows all of the words.

Henry (as you'll see in the pictures below) had some alone time in his room the other day. When he came out he was so happy with himself and he said "Mommy, look! I put stickers on my boobies!" So funny!

Then the other day he got kind of serious and he said "Daddy, did you know that when you go to the restaurant there is a man there and he will give us tacos?"

Other photos: Henry striking a pose with Eliana; having bbq with friends including his aunt bliss; playing with Everett; riding daddy's shoulders; singing songs with great grandmom; getting art lessons at bolm studios (now called "BigMedium") ; hanging out shirtless at bigmedium (after having spilled gatorade all over his shirt); ben auctioning art; Clyde's first art show; Hank passed out in the car; wearing stickers, wearing playdough art, imitating sophie, and his first letter.

Summertime fun

Henry has been having a good time. He is a big fan of Barton Springs. And, has been enjoying learning to swim in some swim lessons with his friends. Also, he had a great time at his dad's cousin Shane's wedding. Here are some photos from the last few weeks: