break wood

Everyone always asks me if Reid can really chop a block of wood. He can do it, but it only happens on days where they test. Here is Reid warming up for the big moment with some jump kicks.
Kick breaking:

Punch breaking:

I am very proud of my tough guy. Who needs a security alarm when you have a 6 year old wood karate chopper in the house?

Snow Day #2

This snow day involved the whole family being home for the day. No work or school for anyone. Even better was the fact that for the first time in a long time no one was sick. I wanted to build a snowman, but the snow wasn't cooperating. I ended up with an enormous snow cowpatty in my front lawn. We abandoned that idea and headed for Douglass Park.

Right out of the gates Robin and Reid take off like bull riders at the rodeo. As you might imagine, they got bucked off.

The best part about sledding at this park is there is a lamp post you have to avoid on your way down. Emiline decided to play it safe, then we had a round of doubles.

Don't you hate it when your parents make you carry your own sled up the hill? It appears that Reid hates it more.

Here is our grand finale of the day. All of this in sixteen degree warmth and sunshine.

Snow Days

The kids looked out the window yesterday and they instantly knew it. School was out. Time to celebrate. The only problem is that it has been bone chilling cold outside. After a big breakfast they eventually made it out.


Reid lasted longer outside than Emiline. She was excited to put on her new ski clothes, but the thrill wore off when the cold set in. She resurfaced later when the sun came out to make some snow angels. Tomorrow will be day #3 that school has been cancelled. The kids have their fingers crossed for Friday too.



As you can imagine, this snowstorm has been more fun for some of us than for some others.

Step back VonTrapp family, there's a new act in town. Below is the program from Emiline's Christmas violin recital. In addition to our family performance she played The Happy Farmer.
Don't get too excited. The Henderson Family Quartet only knows one song. We played our one song then we ran for the hills of Switzerland. Actually, we drove around and saw some of our favorite Christmas lights.

If you don't live in OKC check out www.mestalights.com to see the kids' favorite house. Below are the lights at Chesapeake where they briefly jumped out for a chilly picture.

Wii Wish You a Merry Christmas

If I think my children haven't been influenced by video games I am so wrong. This is how Reid wrote "On Christmas we celebrate Jesus' birth." Seriously.At least I can rest assured that he has now changed his person on the wii from looking like this:
to this:
Huge improvement. Thank goodness they mostly play old school video games like Galaga and Donkey Kong where everything is spelled gramaticaly correct. Reid can spell Space Invaders like nobody's business.

Elf-tastrophy

Today our dog and our elf met each other. What I am sure started as a friendly encounter led to Zipper being carried around in Bixby's mouth while the kids chased him yelling, "Bad dog." This is where he landed.


In an effort to maintain his elfish powers the kids decided it was best to pick him up with the tongs. Personally, I feel that if touching him takes away powers then being carried around in a dog's mouth will do him in for good.


Nevertheless, we are hopeful that his powers will be restored and that he will continue to spy on us from places out of the dog's reach.

Turkey Talk

There is more than one way to eat a turkey. I can't take credit for this idea, but the kids loved making their own paper bag turkey. After we ate dinner they carved it and feasted on the popcorn Mr. Tom was stuffed with.
We always shoot a family game of pool on holidays. They think it is family bonding, but really we are training them for when they are older and we take them to pool halls to hustle unknowing strangers out of money. Aren't we great parents? Maybe we should get them their own monogrammed cue sticks in cases for Christmas.