a tender ass kicking

Dear other Henrie family, We decided to make this tenderly sweet movie to ease the pain of the - in your face, bare butt ass kicking- that we are about to deliver in the professional hula-hoop war we have all been sucked in to.
please bend over and push play........


Oh never mind the tender stuff! No more Mr.nice guy. Heres the raw version...."Take it, Take it Take it!"


For those of you who haven't seen the other Henrie families feeble attempt to win click to the right on my list of blog's - Henrie Family (Erin and Dave)and make sure you watch it once with the music off so you can hear her kids talking smack and calling us out!

"that's how she rolls........."

When Jessa saw Erin's blog with the kids hula hooping she had to do her thing too. This is for Riki and Hayden (it's so on... :)

Oh, and about my header pic...I ran on to it this afternoon, it was from this summer when Jessa was playing in her swimming pool... seriously, how funny is that picture? I especially like the butched hair nekkid one, at least her ring matches her earrings. Even nekkid she's still in fashion. I wonder if I could market her? I could call her "Bare Ass Barbie" or "Butch Ass Barbie" or "Bare Butt Blondie" and the only accesories would be jewelry. Oh, and one other thing....notice how she set them up and Ken is actually doubling as a recliner chair back? Ha!

Mr Potatoe Head

Aspen Penelope Wardell or as Amy calls her "Pinelli"

In celebration of slowing down to appreciate the finer things in life, I would like to take a minute for my oldest daughter. Aspen will be turning 16 in April and I HATE it that she is that old already. She is starting to plan her life and it's crazy to me that I could have a kid that would actually have a life plan! But she does. She is already taking college courses at school and she's only a Sophmore. She is following the family tradition of going in to nursing (of course everyone else but ME did that!) She is planning on going to school in Alaska which I hate and I hope changes but we will support her either way...that's what your supposed to do right? I can't tie her down with a garden hose like I did to Mike that one time? Anyway, she's so fun, has her head on straight and is really turning out to be a beautiful, graceful, caring, loving, smart and responsible young adult and I am so proud of her! I love you so much Pinelli!!!!

A violinist in the Metro

Amy sent me this email and I know I passed it on to most of you that check out my blog now and then, but It was so touching to me that I had to post it here too. I think the message in this story is so true.

oh, I found him on playlist and he is amazing so now you can hear him while you read the story :)


A Violinist in the Metro--- Wash, DC

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it
was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.
During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of
people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing.
He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his
schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman
threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few
minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man
looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother
pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This
action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without
exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a
while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He
collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it.
No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in
the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin
worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in
Boston and the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was
organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about
perception, taste and priorities of people.

The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we
perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an
unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in
the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we
missing?

Let's see, I worked late. We had enchiladas for dinner for the third night in a row. Jessa cut one side of Simon's whiskers off so he walks lopsided(Simon's the new kitty that replaced Max - Ashlie's dead hamster) I think he's also in heat. I finally got internet at home but don't have any passwords so you all have to listen to Grandma got run over by a reindeer. The cat tried to hump the internet guy the whole time he was here. I have to go to a three hour meeting tomorrow morning. Really though, i'm just excited we have enough enchiladas leftover for tomorrow night too...hell yah! it's a great day :)