It's December!

There is a lot to catch up on. I had a big custom order in November and it took up most of my extra time. Therefore, I'll have to do a quick update. Most recent first.

Student of the Month

Christian was named November STUDENT OF THE MONTH for his school! At first I thought it was just for his grade level, but it was for the whole school. Last night he was presented with his award at the district office. I will post a picture, but there is an issue with the camera, the car, and a key. Don't ask. The picture will come quickly. I'll definitely follow up to this!

Follow Up: Okay, thanks to roadside assistance, I now have access again to the vehicle that the key was locked in and my camera was in. 

Here are the photos.

Christian (far right) pictured with the kids who were Student of the Month at their schools.

This is what Mrs. Conner, Christian's teacher, said in her comments that were read by one of the Board Members:

I chose Christian Henrichsen for my Student of the Month for a few different reasons. First, Christian is a hard worker.  He never complains about the amount of work I give him or how challenging it might be.

Next, Christian is very respectful. Christian always remembers to raise his hand during class discussions and waits patiently to be called on.  He is also respectful toward his classmates. He not talk over them or interrupt them when they are speaking.

Additionally, Christian is full of creative, interesting information.  I always look forward to him sharing his perspective on the various topics we are studying. 

Lastly, I am impressed with ow Christian is able to use his creative thinking skills to adapt class assignments to his own individual interests. He is the only student I've ever had that wrote a complete poetry anthology on the subject of technology. I was impressed on ow he applied his "left brain" knowledge into a such a "right brain" task. Who knew electricity could be so poetic!

Christian is a unique, multifaceted child who teaches me something new each day. I am grateful that he is in my class this year.

Santa and the Boys

The night before that, we took the kids to see Santa Claus at the mall. Mikelle said she wasn't interested, but I had her wear coordinating clothes in case she changed her mind. She didn't, but we still had fun.

Alexander wasn't upset by Santa at all, and was rather "chill". This was the best shot of the boys, but Santa appears to be "mid-sentence". Oh well.

We also chose a name off the Angel Tree for a child in need. Last year we chose a little girl, so this year we chose a little boy. It turned out, the boys' name is Alex (just a coincidence) and he's 5. He likes Batman and dinosaurs.It'll be nice picking up a few items for him and dropping them back off at the Angel Tree.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving we were all alone as usual (since the majority of our family abandoned us by 2006 and any visitors for Thanksgiving are rare). Before the Turkey feast, we went to see Wreck It Ralph. I didn't want to see it originally because I can't stand Sarah Silverman who was one of the main voices.

However, because I didn't have to see her face, I figured it would be fine and I can pretend someone more talented and respectable was doing the voice. But Alexander only lasted for about 25 minutes of the movie anyway. I left with him and we went for a drive until the movie was over and we picked up Chris and the crew.

This picture gives an idea of why Alexander only lasted a little while in the movie.

Snow White and the...Dwarfs

Let's see...Mikelle was in a play in Drama's after school program, led by my friend Theresa who is also the Drama teacher at Mikelle's school. There weren't enough kids for all Seven Dwarfs, but Mikelle played one of the dwarfs very well, though she was upset that I took so many pictures and insisted I take a picture of her backstage afterwards.

The Dwarfs Working in the Mines

Mikelle on Stage

Sorry, but every time I see this picture, I think of Shrek where he said, "No, dead broad Off the Table!"

Whole Cast

And AFTERWARDS...when I went backstage to get a picture of her...

Really, Mikelle? Really?

All the other proud parents were snapping pictures and then wanting close-ups afterwards of their kids. But for some reason, if I did it, it was a national travesty.

Young Women in Excellence: It's Not Just Black and White

The night before the play was Mikelle's first time attending Young Women in Excellence. I have to say, I was so flattered because my Young Women Values and Theme Motif was used as inspiration for the Young Women in Excellence theme! The girls were instructed to wear Black and White and then each of them spoke on one of the 8 values and were presented with a scarf for that color/value. Mikelle spoke about Knowledge and was given a Green Scarf. The theme was "It's Not Just Black and White". It was beautiful. 

Our Beautiful Young Lady

And it was a beautiful evening even with the video they showed at the end of some guys in Colorado Springs doing a video to "You Don't Know You're Beautiful" by One Direction. The video was cute, but I'm kind of a music snob. But I loved the message and Mikelle is into One Direction. 

After linking it and hearing that song again though, I have to pop on some Depeche Mode, Cure, or some Say it Isn't So by Hall and Oats to get it out of my head!

Mini Motifs Adhered to Canvas that Each of the Girls Received

I would like to add our family pictures that we took at Usery Park on our 18th Anniversary, but since I'm mostly caught up, I'll save that for the next entry. My next entry will also feature the custom motifs I just sent a wonderful customer in Ontario, Canada!

50 Ways to Say Goodbye

And while I'm on the subject of music (well, I was a second ago. Now I'm back...), it's hard to convert me to "new music". Even current songs don't really grab me until they've been around for a little while. But not this one. My hectic Aerobics schedule helped as I've heard it repeatedly there and was instantly in love after the second time it was part of the routine.  I know I would have been a hard sell under regular circumstances - especially after Train should have  de-railed after the first 500 times hearing Sweet Soul Sister.  But they've redeemed themselves with this. And yes, I also respect Train because their lead singer, Pat Monahan, is older than me. In fact, he's older than Chris too! Score! (It makes me not feel so old...)

Love this! 50 Ways to Say Goodbye by Train

(and the Guitar Player in the Mariachi Band is hot....)

Checking In...

I haven't slacked off...there just aren't enough hours in the day.  It should taper off a bit in a few days. Maybe.

So in the meantime, enjoy this hilarious line 

(though after midnight I'm a little punchy and a lot of things are funny):

Coming Up: New Custom Circle Motif/Mandalas, Thanksgiving, annual family pictures, Young Women in Excellence, and Mikelle in Snow White and the Four? Drawfs - not necessarily in that order. 

But of course I have plenty of time to bi- I mean, complain, that Halloween and Thanksgiving are over and it is STILL over 80 degrees outside! 

A Message from the Queen

What an exhausting week. First, I am delighted to have been blessed with some custom orders! That said, it's a lot of work all at once. Therefore, it's a blessing but a busy one! 

I won't give up my rigorous exercise schedule. It's a necessity now. I feel better and it's great stress relief. 

The other exhausting part of the week is all the "the sky is falling" comments from those that are panicking from the election. I just shake my head. And my head hurts. Even my Republican husband thinks all the crazy panicking is ridiculous. He's proof that you can have your political differences in the same household as long as you keep a level and sensible head. 

That all said, no matter how you vote or how you feel politically, here is something quite entertaining I saw yesterday.

I will preface it by saying what I said on Facebook:

This says to 'only share with people that have a good sense of humoUr'. Therefore anyone that makes "sour grapes" political comments OR any kind of negative comment that clearly shows your lack of humoUr does not fit into the requirement to have a sense of humoUr and therefore your comment will be deleted. 



A MESSAGE FROM THE QUEEN

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. (You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except North Dakota, which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, David Cameron, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

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1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,' 'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.' Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').

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2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of '-ize.'

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3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

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4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

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5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

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6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

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7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.

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8. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

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9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable, as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

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10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialect in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

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11. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).

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12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

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13.. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

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14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

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15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

PS: Only share this with friends who have a good sense of humour (NOT humor)!

Halloween Hangover

It's been quite the eventful October, as one might imagine with my Halloween Obsession. Add that with my picture taking obsession, and here you go! Okay, the ghost dogs have nothing to do with me, but if you opened your door and saw that, you'd want to have it forever, right? Okay, they didn't come to my door either. But I love the picture.  

First was a Grown-Up Halloween party two weeks ago. I wanted to write "Adult Party", but that sounds like a completely different kind of party (wink wink), so I changed it to "Grown-Ups". 

Chris and I were the "Sea Theme" He was Neptune and I was one of Neptune's Sea Goddesses. 

We hung out with a couple of boobs too.Then Mitt and Big Bird showed up, David Bowie and some of his Labyrinth cast, a lot of 80s and music Shout-outs. There were a lot more, but I have enough pictures on here as it is.

See the resemblance? One of the Boobs and Medusa are sisters.

 

The following Friday was the church Trunk or Treat. Or as I say it sometimes, Trick or Trunk. Who cares. We discovered that Christian was going to have issues with his "Man-Eating Shark" costume. I should have known that my creative endeavors were not going to "mesh" with Christian's sensory issues and idiosyncrasies. My sweet friend that made the costume even made sure the red mesh was thin and soft, but Christian still didn't like it. So we scrapped the costume for that night, and decided to try again at the town Trick or Trunk the following night. 

Anyway, back to the church one. Chris and I were in our Greek (actually, Roman...) sea gear. 

Neptune and his Lil' Shark buddy:

  And the wandering Lil' Land Shark:

And Mikelle, not wanting anything to do with the sea theme was a Goth/Zombie Rocker Chic. I tried to convince her to be a dead zombie Mermaid or something, but it was a no-go. There are more pictures of her from the following night.

Daddy Trick or Treating with Lil' Land Shark. Since our X-man was only 10 months for his first Halloween a year ago, this year was his first real Trick or Treating experience.

Actually, backing up a bit, two days before the church Trick or Trunk, I was on the news regarding a political story. A reporter who used to live in our ward (congregation) and was our home teacher when he did, contacted me and asked me to do the story and I gathered a couple friends.

The link is below. The name of the story is stupid. Dan, the reporter and friend, said he didn't write the headline. And I know he didn't, being LDS himself.

Gotta love the media!

Our names also didn't make it on the TV part of the story due to last minute technical difficulties, but they made it in the written part. I wish more of what we discussed made it on the air. I know we're in a "snippet" news age. But what irritated me, is earlier in the newscast, the two main anchors wasted so much time bantering over a nothing/fluff story, when more of that time could have been used for substance in ours! Oh well. Like I said, gotta love the media!

Click here for story:

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/19909220/2012/10/24/can-a-mormon-be-a-democrat

These pictures below were taken right before I went to the interview. I was such a nervous wreck, you can see how well managed Alexander was with the pens and markers. He's such a "mimic" and sees me with pens and markers. 

I don't know if his obsession with drawing is the mimicry or a real interest in drawing. When I was two, this picture was taken of me drawing, and we can see that it was definitely a part of who I was and who I came to be. However, with Alexander's mimicry, I'm not sure if this indicates a drawing gift/interest or simply just copying what I'm doing. Time will tell I guess!

About Age 2

Okay, moving forward again: The Town Trick or Trunk or whatever you call it.

We modified Christian's Man-eating Shark costume a bit, but we still ran into his voicing of displeasure. Still, we got these pictures ahead of time.

Later, Mikelle joined the "Sea Theme" for a second or two!

Alexander has really gotten past some of the "fear" elements. Especially when Land Sharks meet up with Storm Troopers!

Storm Trooper, meet Shark.

Shark, meet Storm Trooper.

Shark Boy Devil Mom

 Shark and Dad Shark (Christian's Costume)

And after all those pictures, it STILL wasn't Halloween yet! But yes, we've finally arrived at October 31st. Earlier in the day, here Alexander as a Devil Boy. And the way he often behaves in shopping carts and wriggling out of the safety straps, he lived up to the "devil" persona!

Christian's 3rd Grade teacher sent home a puzzle that if it was solved, it's her address to come trick or treat at her house! Of course Christian solved it without a problem. So before we tackled our neighborhood, we took a short ride to Trick or Treat at her house. 

This clearly shows the difference between an elementary school teacher and junior high/high school teacher. An elementary school teacher can do what Christian's teacher did. They can send home a cute spooky puzzle and give the kids a fun prize when they Trick or Treat at her house. A Junior High or High School Teacher? Pray no students find out where you live and show up or egg it later.

Land Sharks just before leaving:

And later, Mikelle's friend Freddy Krueger arrived. I mean, her friend Brooke arrived and they did a little Trick or Treating. 

And thanks to my friend Shalin who made Christian's costume! In exchange, I did this artwork for her sweet daughter. Some personal details have been blurred so I can post it:

Also, here are my Halloween blocks. I'm going to make more and put them on my Etsy shop a couple of months before Halloween 2013. I'll also make some smaller "Boo Blocks" of only three letters too.

While I'm relieved that some of the craziness of Halloween is over, I'm a little sad too. They're the best decorations and so much anticipation of waiting for it to really show that the heat of summer is over. I don't think I'm going to let it go just yet. Maybe I'll make more "Boo Blocks" now and keep going on Halloween style scrapbooking. 

Also, here are some videos I made featuring us, the Henrichsen House of Horrors. If the links don't work, let me know in comments and I'll email them to you.

Monster Rap

Monster Rap -  Starring Mom as DJ, Dad as Vampire, Christian as Mummy, Mikelle as Witch and Alexander as Green Frankie Monster!

SuperFreak

Super Freak - My least favorite of the three. But Christian as the Skeleton bobbing for apples cracks me up. Starring: Mom as Pumpkin, Dad as TinMan, Mikelle as Flower, and Alexander as the Cat!

Or if that Super Freak link doesn't work, try THIS ONE.

Monster Mash

Monster Mash - This one is great! Alexander stars as the Mad Scientist. Mikelle is the Frankie Monster. Chris is the Vampire, I am the Monster Bride and Christian is the Werewolf!

All three of these are on a public setting, so go on in and view them! If the links don't work, go on my Facebook page and scroll my Timeline until you find them. Like I said, they're on a public setting so they're accessible. JibJab does give you the option to download them, but I'm not spending extra coin to purchase a download of them. I'm not a cheapskate, but I am frugal. The $12 yearly subscription to JibJab is enough!

Anyway...another Halloween is  "technically" over, but never in Spirit!