On honesty

“Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.”

-Spencer Johnson

For the second summer running, we’ve purchased a subscription to a CSA through the boys’ preschool. I love everything about it. We’re supporting local farmers, we’re eating vegetables that I probably wouldn’t buy at the store like Napa Cabbage and beets and it’s a total steal when you break down the cost.

Each Thursday afternoon we pick up a bag of fresh produce when I get Thomas from camp. An area farmer brings the goods to the school, along with recipes and cooking suggestions, and we often even get to make some choices. This week we could choose between garlic or basil (basil) and kale or broccoli. Andrew was helping me choose and he knew he was going to have to eat some of everything and he knows he doesn’t like broccoli so kale it was.

Tonight I turned that huge bunch of kale into what seemed to be only a few kale chips. They were, if I do say so myself, delicious. Like, I could hardly get them to the table without eating them all good. I gave the boys each a chip and asked them to try it. Andrew ate his and announced that while he didn’t think they were as good as I did, they were “alright” and there was no gagging or excessive milk drinking accompanying the process.

Thomas took a little bite and then just sort of busied himself with eating pasta. When I asked him what he thought he said, “Well, they might have been good if you’re into eating leaves, which I’m not.”

That, according to the aforementioned Spencer Johnson, is integrity and honesty all rolled into one six-year-old boy.

Welcome to my world

This photo pretty much sums up the phase of life we’re in at the House of Hondo right now. I live with a bunch of boys and the two littlest ones play hard. The crazy thing is that I love these stinky, dirty feet like there’s no tomorrow.



Tonight, when it’s time to shower them up, we’ll work together to scrub them until they shine so he can do it all over again tomorrow.

With friends like that...

After the boys showered tonight Thomas came to the kitchen seeking assistance with a stubborn pajama shirt sleeve. As I turned the offending sleeve right side out, Andrew was in the bathroom making hideously loud noises in his best "fake opera voice." I yelled at him asked him politely to please stop. He paused for one beat and went right back to his shrieking, but perhaps just a notch louder.

At this point Thomas was finished putting on his pajamas and was heading upstairs to brush teeth. He was pretty focused on being the first one to the bathroom and was making his way out of the kitchen.

When Andrew started singing again I looked at Mark and said, "Did you hear that? He clearly heard me ask him to stop and then went right back after it just to annoy me. I should go swat his bottom."

With that, Thomas whipped around and said, excitedly, "NO! DON'T GO!"

For a split second I thought it was very sweet that he was concerned I would really go do that. Then he finished his thought. "Dad should go. He's much stronger!"

That is love, folks.

Setting the bar high

I made a trek into Kansas City last weekend for a gathering of friends from college. There were almost 20 of us and there was tons of good food, good drinks and laughing. The occasion was a birthday celebration for a friend who was visiting from Chicago. Before she lived in the Windy City she spent years in Africa (I know, sounds just like my life, right?!) so most of us hadn’t seen her in many moons. 

As I sat and talked with her we both commented that the shared history in the room was pretty interesting. There is certainly something about spending four years living with people, during a formative period of your life, that connects you even decades later, in a very good and comfortable way. We also talked about the fact that those types of friendships become more difficult to replicate as you get older and life feels busier. We agreed that our college experience had set the bar high for future meaningful friendships with other women but that you just have to keep putting yourself out there.



Little did I know that while I was enjoying good company and dinner, my family was literally setting the bar high at the local high school track. I often read that kids in America aren’t getting enough exercise and are busy watching television and joining an obesity epidemic. I believe it’s happening and I believe it’s a problem, but it’s just not one I can relate to right now. I’m sure the day will come, when they’re teenagers and decide that sleep is pretty cool, that our boys will be couch potatoes but for now it’s not on our list of issues.  I sometimes find myself asking if they would like to watch a show because it’s possible that I might need them to sit down for 30 minutes. One of their very favorite activities is to go to the track to run and mess around in the long jump pits. Mark probably takes them once every 32 times they ask to go, but those odds never deter them. They’re persistent little buggers.

This video gives little snippets of what they love to do up there, and I promise that while it appears Mark is really putting them through their paces, they literally beg for this abuse. (My proof is at :03 where Thomas says, "Anyway, we really NEED this exercise.") If you’re not inclined to watch the whole clip, just check out the 1:30 mark, where Thomas shows us all what can happen if the bar’s too high and how to get back on the horse and just keep trying.

Henderson boys at the track…

A shout out to the free market

Andrew recently completed a unit with the Junior Achievement program at school. There was lots of good work that came home in that folder, but this gem stood out to me. Have you ever really stopped to think about all the businesses and service providers it takes to make our little capitalistic society spin round and round?  Don’t forget the little people. Or the Yak Rodeo.