Poor Sad Mama Henley!

We have had a wonderful weekend at Mama Henley's house. It has been a weekend full of friends, lacrosse games, good food, and pirates. Last night after I cleaned up from dinner and was ready to CRAWL into the bed, I decided to start the load of whites that had been accumulating in our washer all day long. I added detergent, moved the dial to hot water, and started our washer. Off I went to bed for a much needed night of rest. I do believe God has a sense of humor, so as soon as I fussed at one of our girls for not knowing where her Bible was before church, I couldn't find mine. I looked EVERYWHERE. Ever-so-gracious and one who is not prone to fall apart emotionally AT ALL (note the sarcasm in my type!), I did just that. I looked everywhere and couldn't find the cute Lilly bag that was holding all of my Bible Study stuff, including my Bible, so then I fell apart. Completely.

Our sweet children and my caring husband were all waiting for me in the car. I made us all late. Some of the children got out of the car to help me after I told DH, "I just can't go. I can't find my Bible and the whole house is a wreck and I just can't go because now I don't feel like going and I can't find my Bible and now we're going to be late and I won't be able to concentrate because I will be obsessed with finding this bag! And I know I didn't leave it anywhere because I remember having it at the kitchen table and the house is a wreck and no one made their beds well, including me, and I just can't go. I just don't feel like going any more now that I am so completely behind!"

My ever-patient husband calmly replied, "You'll feel better if you go and you need to be a good example for the children, so let's just go." I hurried around the house one last time and then gave up. Well, I sort of gave up because I asked DH to stop at the children's school so I could double check the office. It wasn't there.

I am so glad he encouraged me to go to church because our sermon was wonderful! I really was fed while I sat in church, and while our Hurricane did a good job of distracting me, the missing bag did not. Needless to say, I returned home and looked everywhere once again and still could not find my bag.

This afternoon I was going to move clothes to the dryer when I found my bag. It was IN THE WASHER. It was IN THE WASHER that ran last night as a full load because the bag was hidden in there and made the load look full. It was washed with hot water and I accidentally ruined everything in it... my Bible Study binder, my Bible, a brand new library book, a magazine, and some stationary. The good news is that I had removed my calendar and work from the bag,so they were spared. I cried and our sweet girls put all of my things out in the sunshine to dry. All is not lost, God protected my calendar and work items. I can buy a new Bible and beg a friend to let me make copies of the Bible STudy work. We did not suffer a flood or fire, and everyone is healthy. I just feel foolish for not seeing it. I learned that I often fail at showing the children how to react in a 'crisis' and that I need to pray through my responses to little things in life!

Mama Henley is the Last Woman in America Who...

Mama Henley is the last woman in America who does not have a cell phone with texting. I do not have a qwerty keyboard, a cute pink Blackberry, or an I PHone. I just have my good ole beat up Samsung. Thankfully my contract has been up for 2 years and no one "owns" me. I can walk over to any phone company and become a new customer. So, that's where you come in! What phone do you have? Do you love it? Why do I need texting? I am attached to my computer. Is that not enough? How much do you pay per month for texting and internet on your phone? I am trying to avoid huge monthly fees.

Do you think I should get the new I Phone? As much as I love all Apple products, will I Love it?

Also, hubby mentioned buying me a Kindle or Nook over Christmas but decided to wait. Why do I need those? Can you get library books uploaded for free on Kindle or should I stick with hardback books? Tell me tell me. Mama Henley needs your help!

Detective Mama Henley Reports...

Yesterday I ventured out to Target while everyone was in preschool. Armed with my coupon binder, I was ready to rock n' roll. The deals beckoned me to their aisles. I completed my shopping in time for one quick errand before I needed to do the preschool pick up. As I headed out into the parking lot, a young girl with a tattoo at the base of her neck came towards me. She seemed to be about to approach me to ask me something when she diverted her attention to a nearby elderly couple. My instincts told me that she was asking for money or a ride and for some reason, my sense of fear was heightened. This is not unusual for me, as I do tend to be paranoid, especially after a neighbor's rabid cat attacked me and I had to live with an IV for a month. Throwing grocery bags in the car, I kept my eyes on the young girl. She was cute but something was awry.

The elderly couple must have refused to help her. She walked away and then began hysterics. She talked on a cell phone, put her hands to her head, and made lots of distressing motions. Again, it seemed planned and rehearsed. It did not look like someone who was really in despair. I have no idea why I felt this way, but I did. She approached more people, acted hysterically, and then asked the next person. It just didn't sit well, so I found a Target employee who was eating lunch outside and asked her to ask the manager to come out and see if this young girl needed help. My feeling was that if she was truly in trouble, she would walk in the store and ask for help. Instead, she was canvassing the parking lot.

I drove around so that I could determine if she needed help or if she was faking it. Articles in the paper recently have discussed the rise in panhandling and the fact that several of the panhandlers, specifically the young ones, make $100 or more an hour and then DRIVE HOME. A man gave the girl some money and then a second man came towards her. I thought that he, too, was going to give her money. Instead he took the money, took her phone, and must have said, "Let's Go!" because she followed him and jumped in the DRIVER'S seat and drove to the far corner of the parking lot where they sat next to another white Sedan. Her car was a Toyota Camry. I left the parking lot at this point for fear that they realized I was following them. As I drove off, I called the Target store manager to report that her parking lot had solicitation going on that looked suspicious. She explained that the parking lot has a "no solicitation" rule, so even if the girl was indeed in trouble, she could not solicit like that.
All of this reminded me that these are weird times and that it's okay to doubt the sincerity of someone who asks for money. We should all be careful AT ALL TIMES and in ALL PLACES. I pray that this young girl will get the help she truly needs.

Tuesday's Tip!

This is a fun time of year where you may be going to Gasparilla to see the fireworks, or a trip to Disney may be on your bucket list for early 2011. If so, this Tuesday's Tip will help YOU! Whenever we are going to be somewhere fun at night with the children, I go to the Dollar Store and buy the neon glow-in-the-dark bracelets and necklaces. They even have glow in the dark princess wands and guns! If you're at the circus, the fair, a parade or Disney, people will be selling fun glow-in-the-dark toys that will break tomorrow. Your little one will BEG for one! If your bag is filled with fun neon necklaces, then you can just whip them out and your child will be thrilled, while your wallet stays full!
Happy Tuesday's Tip!

Treasure Chest Cake

Happy Gasparilla, Friends!

We are SO excited to attend the parade today with our friends and family! Gasparilla is such a fun time for our fair city. Admittedly, jolly rogers are not my favorite accessory, but they sure are cute during Gasparilla! Our house is decorated with wreaths and beads and beautiful hand-decorated jolly roger ornaments and hand towels. It's fun to be festive. Today we'll don our pirate apparel and leave super early for the parade and its surrounding entertainment. We can't wait!

To get into the spirit, we made a fun pirate treasure chest cake last night. We began this tradition last year when we made our first treasure chest cake. I have learned that I am not necessarily a neat cook, so I'm sure you can make your cake look even better than ours. The fun part of this cake is filling it with candy treasures. I had fun going to the Dollar Tree to buy candy necklaces, ring pops, gold candies, gummy worms, gummy coke bottles, wax bottles, et cetera to go inside our treasure chest.

I found this fun recipe on familyfun.go.com!!!
Ingredients
1 baked 13- x 9- x 2-inch cake
6 cups chocolate frosting - One container of store bought frosting will work
Edible treasures, such as chocolate coins, Rolo candies, chocolate almond kisses or Necco Wafers
Red Fruit by the Foot
Mini jawbreakers
Candy jewels, such as candy necklaces and rock candy and ring pops!


Cut a section approximately 2-inches wide in the center of the cake. The two remaining 5 1/2- x 9- x 2-inch rectangular pieces will form the bottom and top of the chest.

Slice the 2-inch section on an angle to form two long triangular wedges. Place the wedges on the bottom half of the chest, about an inch apart. Both wedges should face the same direction (tall end toward the front of the cake) as they will support the top of the treasure chest and keep it propped open.

Then frost the bottom half of cake, including the wedges.

To add further support for the top of the chest, stand a few large gold coins under the lid.

With the "hinged" end (left side of photo) at the back, place the top of the chest on the bottom and frost.

Wrap the fruit leather straps around the chest and press mini jawbreaker "nails" into the frosting alongside the straps. Fill the chest and the surrounding area with edible treasures and jewels.

Our Bug and Buddy

When our Bug was born, we thought she was the most wonderful baby in the whole world. Of course we thought that same thing 2 years earlier when the three most wonderful babies ever were born. DH and I were enamored with Bug from the start. Compared to three babies, the Bug was easy. She was a happy baby. She was just so happy that DH and I always said, "Our Bug is just happy to be here." You see, it was a miracle that I could have a baby without a lot of poking, prodding, et cetera in a sterile operating room. The Bug was the miracle we had prayed for, hoped for, and had been told would never happen. She was given to us without medical intervention.

The Bug was born in the year 2003 when many of our friends were also having new babies. It was a fun time to be a mama to a little baby. Her playgroup had over lots of babies in it, and most of them were second born babies. From birth, she was drawn to a baby boy we'll call Buddy. You know his Mama and I didn't have a thing to do with their friendship. We didn't arrange it one little bit. No. Never. NEV-AH.


Well, Bug and Buddy became closer friends than his mama and I ever imagined. They were friends and co-conspirators. They played together, laughed together, ate together, and cut hair together the day before preschool pictures. Our Bug is not lacking in personality, and neither is her Buddy. They are quite a PAIR. They just seem to enjoy each other, not in a romantic way at all. In fact, we've never pushed that with these two because what 3 or 4 year old needs to worry about marriage? What we have encouraged is their sweet friendship. It really is sweet. Special. Unique. I mean, she never worried about wearing her bathing suit in front of him with that cute little belly of hers!

These two have enjoyed playdates and birthday parties together. They never tire of one another's company.


Buddy's not even afraid to wear a little gloss for the Bug. Well, 4 years ago he wasn't afraid. He probably wouldn't do it now that he's a big boy.


One of the most difficult parts of our move was that Bug had to leave behind her 4 best friends, including Buddy. It was heart wrenching. She just loves her friends. Bug and Buddy spent some nice afternoons at Pullen Park before we had to move.


Don't you just love how much fun they have together?


At Christmas, we stopped by Buddy's house to see him and his precious family. They are dear friends and we have missed them! None of us could understand why Buddy wouldn't come out and say hello to the Bug. She finally went upstairs with all of the children and they played and talked a little. Suddenly she was shoving money in my hands and telling me she didn't know what to do but that Buddy had given her the money.

"Oh, sweetie, we can't keep Buddy's money. That is so sweet but this is $6!!! That is a lot of money. I am going to give it back to his parents." She nodded and said, "I know. He doesn't need to give me anything."

I gave his Daddy the money. Buddy was still not acting like himself so his daddy went to check on him. Buddy's daddy came back and said, "I now know why Buddy was hiding. He was so upset because he did not have a Christmas gift for Bug. He told me that he couldn't not give her a gift but that he had not had time to shop for her. He wanted to give her something so he gave her his money. He gave her ALL of his money. So, if you've ever doubted his intentions for your daughter, you should know that he gave her every last dime he had!"
We all sighed a collective "Awww!!", and I wiped away some tears. Is that not the sweetest thing ever? Buddy gave our Bug everything he had. May it be so in all of our relationships. May we ALL give all that we have.

Tuesday's Tip... Gasparilla Pirate's Rum Punch!

Aaargh... Maties!
It's that time again! Tampa will be invaded by pirates this Saturday, January 22, 2011 for the Children's Parade! Are you mateys ready? Just in time is a Gasparilla Pirate's Punch Recipe! Those who don't want the bang can enjoy Hawaiian Tropic's red punch with sprite!

Gasparilla Pirate's Rum Punch

1 part rum (Bacardi rum works just fine)
1 part cranberry juice (50 ounce bottle)
2 parts orange juice... the best kind is Tropicana with pulp
Mix all of the ingredients together and serve! I also like to add some Coco Lopez to it or use a little coconut rum to make it taste very island-y!

Cheers!!!