Has Anyone Seen....

Henry?


I just can't seem to find him.




His new clothing line will be hitting stores in late July.

Also, I secretly threw away two happy meal toys today.

Rain

"The rain is having an accident." Said the three-year-old, potty training girl to her older brother as they looked out the window during, yet another, afternoon summer storm.

The older, thoughtful and sensitive brother responded with all seriousness, "No, the clouds are crying."

The three-year-old, potty training girl then replied, "No, the rain is having an accident- Henry."

"No Caroline- really, the clouds are crying."

Different versions of this conversation continued as the two young children stared at the rain falling briskly in their back yard.

Finally, the three-year-old, potty-training girl said, "Oh." And ran to her mother with very important news, "Mom, the clouds are crying."

The mother then fed the children an early dinner, took advantage of the dark over cast sky, and put the children lovingly to bed an hour early.

The Henry Report

First of all, it has been confirmed, by comments made to this blog by someone calling them self "Vickstergram," that I am Kelly Clarkson's half sister. Thank you "Vickstergram" for shedding light on this mystery. Secondly, thank you to everyone who has been checking out the blog and giving me regular comments. To keep track of this I have installed a website counter (thanks for the idea Greg). I started it at 53000 so people would think I have a really popular blog. Any how, the feedback I've been getting lately is that Caroline seems to get the most coverage in the blog and Henry has been getting left out. So I'd like to give you an update on Henry.

With the arrival of Samantha Henry has proven to be a very helpful young man. Henry is learning how to be a big brother and is defining his territory. Here is a picture of a sign I found on the children's bathroom door, the playroom, and on Henry's bedroom door. It says "No You"- with a picture of a person crossed out. He told me it was so that Caroline would stay out. It is the first thing he has ever really written, besides his name, without me having to help tell him how to spell anything. I guess with a sister like Caroline you have to take things into your own hands. Secretly, I was really proud of him, but we did have to take the signs down.

He is loving, enthusiastic, and passionate about everything he does- from soccer in the back yard to the Nintendo parties he hosts in the play room. I've kept Henry pretty scheduled this summer, he has attended soccer camp, basketball camp, and a preschool camp. This next week he will be attending the British Soccer Academy. I bought him some new soccer gear to wear, including a dry fit shirt and some cool soccer shorts. Henry was so excited he exclaimed, "These are the clothes I wanted my whole life!" When he said that I felt sort of bad I've waited six years to fulfill this wish.

Kelly Clarkson

Some of you may have noticed that I have the Kelly Clarkson song, "Because of You, " on my playlist below. Sometimes you may even get to hear the song when you open my blog. You may or may not be a big Kelly Clarkson fan, I'm not either, but I'm trying to like her because a friend of mine says I remind her of Kelly Clarkson. In fact, Mary Kaye, even had a dream, (while she was pregnant) that I was Kelly Clarkson and I was at her house giving a concert in her family room. I was standing on her brick fireplace ledge, with full on highlights and a nose ring, giving a concert for young professionals and their very young children. So it is, Because of You, Mary Kaye that I even have Kelly on my playlist. Now, at Mary Kaye's home I am referred to as Kelly Clarkson. For example, when Mary's husband Dan comes home from work and asks, "What did you do today?" she answers, "Kelly Clarkson" came over and swam with her kids. So here's to you Kelly- I hope things get better for you since your tour has been canceled, you fired your manager, and the prospect of your new album selling is not so good. But look on the bright side, maybe your popularity will spike since I mentioned you on my blog. By the way, I think Mary Kaye reminds me of "Pink."

My Birthday

First of all, I want to thank Adam for his guest post. I do have to say he is a great dad and a great husband. For my birthday he treated me like a queen. Here are just a few things that he did that made the day so nice: First, the evening before my birthday he took the kids out to buy me a present. They couldn't contain themselves and they had to give it to me as soon as they got back. It was entirely Henry and Caroline's idea. And I love it--they gave me some Crocs. I haven't really seen a lot of moms wear Crocs, but now when you see me this summer I will stand out and look really cool. Caroline has pink Crocs and Henry has camo Crocs. The two of them think Crocs are the coolest thing ever. I'm glad they wanted to share them with me. Then the morning of my birthday Adam made sure the entire house was clean, had laid out the children's clothes the night before, and even went out and bought Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast!!!! It was so great not to have to do any of those things on my birthday. Finally, to top it all off, that evening we hired a sitter and Adam took Mantha and I out for a night on the town. It was nice to go out on a date with my husband considering we have a new born and haven't been out too much.

My dear friends also treated me like a queen on my birthday. During the day I was able to drop Samantha off at a babysitter and go to the Dallas Temple with my friend Rebecca. (Henry & Caroline were at Jungle Safari Camp at Henry's preschool.) After the temple, Rebecca and Christine threw a little party for me at Rebecca's house. Christine brought yummy take-out from Cafe Express, the kids played and ate pizza, and Rebecca bought me a coconut cream pie (my favorite). It was just nice to relax and visit. My life here in Texas would not be the same without these two women. Christine was the first real friend I made when we moved here and Rebecca keeps me laughing during the day to day rigors of life (like the time Rebecca stopped at my house unexpectedly in her new gorilla Halloween costume.) Below is a picture of me with Rebecca on the left and Christine on the right.

Here I am blowing out my candle- thirty one is a lot of candles, so for safety concerns we only put in one candle.


Here is a picture of my favorite girls- Caroline, Lauren (Rebecca's daughter), Maddie (Christine's daughter) and baby Mantha. It's fun to watch these sweet girls hug, maul, and cuddle Samantha.
And to top all that- it was so sweet to get the little notes, emails, and phone calls from so many of my friends. It's nice to know that the friends I have made during the different stages of these past 31 years still think about me and take the time to keep in touch- it means a lot- life long friends, that's what I'd call them. I wouldn't be the same without them.

My birthday was one of the best ever. Here are some sentiments my friend Brooke (whom I've been friends with for over 18 years) sent me that I think really captures the stage of life I'm going through. Brooke wrote, "I hope you are savoring every moment of this alphabet-singing, laundry-filled, sleep-deprived season of our lives." Well, I must end this blog- it's time to fold the laundry.

The Empire Strikes Back

Guest Blogger: Adam Darowski

For my Father's Day activity on Saturday, the five of us went to the new Star Wars exhibit at the Fort Worth Science Museum. I am a massive Star Wars fan and Henry has become a pretty big Star Wars fan in his own right. Henry's interest in Star Wars really peaked around the time Episode III came out a few years ago. I've learned that kids go through phases of shows or toys they are passionate about. For Henry, it was Thomas the Tank Engine, then Buzz Lightyear, then Star Wars, then Monster Trucks, then anything related to Michael Jordan, then the NFL, then European club soccer, and now Mario Kart. It seems like he only has the capacity to be loyal to roughly one such interest at a time. Caroline has gone from Dora to Little Bear (another cartoon), to Lady and the Tramp, to Mickey Mouse.

The problem for me is that I get extremely caught up in whatever my kids interests are, to the point that I begin to enjoy them so much (like watching the rest of Toy Story even when the kids fall asleep half way through) that I become sad when they move on to their next hobby. While the hobby is raging, I add a lot of fuel to the fire by encouraging (spoiling) the kids in their interests. Below is a picture of Henry's train table I built for him on our kitchen floor (the house we lived in at the time at Duke did not have a garage) and Thomas trains I bought for him. Ebay made a lot of money off of me in that period.





Leaving the Thomas the Tank Engine phase behind, for instance, was very hard for me. "Henry" and "Caroline" happened to be the names of characters on that show, and I still have Henry the Green Engine and Caroline the Car toys in my office at work. The picture below was taken at the heighth of Henry's love of Thomas, and is one of those priceless moments you have as a parent where you take your kids' interest and hit a home run with it.



Likewise, the picture below of Henry fighting Darth Vader (while wearing his Jordan jersey) at Disney World represents one of my life's crowning moments. Henry was 4 years old at the time, and the reason moments like these are special is because you know inside that at that moment no other 4 year old on the planet is as happy as your's is. And you're the one that made it happen. That's a big rush as a parent.



Anyway, the Star Wars exhibit was pretty cool. On display were lots of costumes and models of space ships that were used in the movies. It was a little crowded, but the kids had a good time. Henry especially liked the exhibits of the light sabres used in the movies. After the museum we ate at Joe T. Garcia's, which is a famous Tex Mex place in Fort Worth. The food was excellent. All in all, a very nice Father's Day outing.

P.S. Tune in later for my guest blog on the Gilmore Girls series finale. Keep it real, Adam

Girls Just Wanna.....

So...I'm really having a lot of fun doing this blogging thing. I love looking at my friends blogs and putting up stuff on mine. It has given new life to the concept of a scrapbook- which was dead to me considering the stuff I've been meaning to scrapbook is in a box(s) in the garage and Adam has been asking if he can throw it out for years... Anyhow, I was checking my friend Kristin's blog and as I opened her page "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" started playing. Caroline was sitting on my lap at the time and as she heard the music she looked at me and started bobbing her head up and down, then she began twisting her neck and finally she couldn't help herself any longer and she jumped off my lap and started dancing. You know me, I'm always ready to party so I couldn't help but dance with her. We had a Darowski Girl's dance party in the living room- Samantha even bobbed her head up and down while sitting in her bouncer. So Thank You to Kristin- for the "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" moment. I remember having my first GJWHF moment back in junior high, I never new how fun it would be to have one with my own daughter. So now you know where this music player came from- it's super cool. Apologies for anyone who reads this blog while at work and gets some unusual looks as music may blast beyond the confines of their cubical, corner office, or Starbucks wi-fi lounge area.

Look What I Found....

I was in the kitchen and I came upon an empty box of "My Little Pony" Band aids. Hmmmm.....Then I found Caroline with two pairs of shorts on and band aids all over her legs while eating a popsicle in the living room. I just had to laugh. I then explained that it wasn't necessary to wear two pairs of shorts, that one band aid would probably suffice when she wasn't really hurt, and she needed to first ask to have a popsicle and then eat it at the table.

Body Spray

Adam was running low on cologne recently, and found himself at the grocery store. While they don't really sell too much cologne at the grocery store, they do sell male deoderant body sprays that are advertised to teenage boys. I think one of them has Nick Lachey in the commercials. Anyway, Adam bought a can of body spray. According to the label on the body spray, "The ladies will find it irresistible." While I have not really noticed a difference in the degree to which I find Adam irresistible, there is one little lady that has taken quite a liking to him...