I got my wonderful husband to help me move my family blog to a new site. I have two blogs. One for family/ministry stuff and one for homeschool stuff and both fell by the wayside because I was constantly having to log into one and out of the other and it was a real pain....Xanga was just easier! So now, both my blogs are linked to my gmail account and I have easy access to both!

 At this point I plan to do my blogging on those sites, but want to see if I can copy and paste or somehow publish them here too so my faithful followers don't miss out! Haha!!

 My new blog site is: http://danhenryfamily.blogspot.com/ Come visit me there and follow if you wish!

 I hope to start with updates soon..... 

 

~Happy Easter~

Praise God for His sacrifice and New Life in HIM!!

Tuesday was the final TaeKwon Do class for the kids. A big thank you to Ashleigh Mount for teaching them for 6 weeks. I had started taking the classes with them, but then when I wasn't feeling so good with my gallbladder issues, I decided to sit out a few weeks. I ended up not joining in the rest of the time. I probably could have, but by that time I had missed a lot of what they were learning.

Ashleigh had a little surprise for them the last day....a sparring match with a fellow black belt. It was very interesting to watch! 

Afterwards the kids went swimming at the Pickron's. The water was still kind of cold, but they didn't mind!! 

L to R- Darren, Danny, Kayla, Victoria, Lydia, Dylan, Kirsten, Preston, Bailee and Tamara

Danny and Preston fighting to see who could knock the other off the shoulders of their teammate first.

Lydia and Lego trying to warm up in the sunshine....

Science.....

 Know how this egg can float in the middle of the water?? 

Well, first we put tap water in the cup, about half way full. The egg sunk to the bottom. Then we added about 2 T. of salt and stirred it good. The egg then rose to the surface. THEN, we slowly added more tap water and the egg stayed on the "top" of the salt water!! Interesting.....we also tried an experiment with layering colored water using salt and that one didn't work quite as well. It is tricky trying to keep two waters from blending!! Science was fun today, again!!

 I had been considering doing something else for science next year because I didn't think we were learning that much, but part of the problem was the earlier experiments took supplies I don't have on hand and are hard to get unless I drive an hour or more. But lately the experiments have been using things I have on hand...simple kitchen ingredients! That makes it more fun!!

 

 Tonight Dan and I took another walk and I took my camera along. The little creek bank down the road is covered in wild roses! It's harder to see on this picture, so I also took a close-up.

 I have been trying to walk as many days as possible again. Since I first went to my family Dr. and she guessed I was having gall bladder trouble, she encouraged me to change my eating habits to give some relief. Doing so helped me lose another 13 lbs. I have been at a standstill for a few days so I am hoping soon the scales will start dropping again....I feel so much better. I DID make myself a goal till our anniversary in July so I want to keep chugging away! 

Everything smells so good outside right now. Not sure what those white flowers are called two pics up, but they are blooming everywhere and wreaking havoc on my poor hubby's sinus'!!

 

 We "kid-sat" some friends of our children tonight while their parents had a "date night"!!

 Danny and Sam.....they played croquet, kicked a football, watched a movie, played with cars and who knows what all else. All kinds of fun~ 

Tamara and Anna on the other hand played almost in this exact same spot ALL night!!  

 I finally got most of Tamara's wall decor up today! Still waiting on one or two finishing touches. I am so glad to have that project done!!

 Well, it's bed time. I thoroughly enjoyed my day! Looking forward to another, tomorrow!! Good night~

 

A little over a week ago, we had some strong storms one night. We were under a tornado watch and the weather alert went off during the night that we were under a tornado WARNING for a half hour. I think it was one of those cases where a storm coming through had a very high potential for tornado's. So Dan woke me up and asked if I think we should get the kids up. About that quick our electric went off. It was already storming pretty hard. Since it was the middle of the night and we couldn't see outside, we decided rather be safe than sorry, so we all bunked out in the walk in closet for about 20 minutes. It hailed for a little while and since our roof is tin, it sounded quite nasty outside...the wind and sheets of rain coming down didn't help any!! 

 We were all happy to return back to our beds safely and continue our night of sleep! Thankful for no damage. But not everyone was so fortunate. There were quite a few trees down in the area and our neighbors down the road lost some tin off the roof of their barn.....

and part of the back part of the barn collapsed. The barn used to go the whole way to that little piece of equipment and the tree on the left side of the picture! 

I don't especially care for the stormy spring time weather, but am thankful we have been safe so far!!

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Tuesday was the kids second to last TaeKwonDo class. Ashleigh is doing a great job teaching them the basics. And they are having fun learning....despite the pain! 

Tamara throws a punch...

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The men/boys from church had a father-son campout Friday night at Ben's pond. Sounds like they had a great time, despite the storms during the night. A few people got wet, a few ended up sleeping in their vehicles, but guys don't let that bother them!! They just deal with it!  A few of us ladies spent Friday evening at Heidi's house just visiting. When Tamara and I got home, we watched a few episodes of the Cosby Show before going to bed at midnight. We had planned to get up the next morning at 8 to go shopping to the Outlets. Well, the storms had me awake for over an hour during the night, so when I woke up at 8 and tried to wake Tamara, we both decided to keep sleeping!  We woke up at 9:40!!!  Till we got ready to leave, the guys were already home!

 We took our little shopping trip and it was successful! Even stopped at a big yard sale on the way (or a junk sale, might describe it better!) While we were gone, Samuel Drawbond (a youth from church) called and invited the kids to go with him and his sisters to a rodeo in town that evening. We gave them permission to go. 

 So, that meant a night out?? for Dan and I!!???   We were thrilled, but what were we going to do? This doesn't happen to us!!  Dan suggested we go to town and take a walk on the bike trail and then get some ice cream. So, that's what we did!! 

It wasn't as dark as it looks in this picture! (on the trail)

The moon was shining brightly...it looked much bigger in real life!!

We had so much fun just being alone, together!! 

 When we got into town, we decided to jump off the trail and walk the streets instead. This is a big tree by the courthouse....

A cute little ice cream/sandwich shop in town. The sign says open, but it was very dark and closed up!! 

 I love this little nook between two of the shops....there is a pavilion and flowerbeds and lamps....but it needs a little help. Cute anyway!

The park in the center of town...Magnolia Square.

We walked by Helping Hands- a thrift store I shop at once in a while, Connies Kitchen-a restaurant where all the old men in town hang out, and El Jalisco's- our favorite Mexican restaurant. Then we came back to our starting point.....

Across the street is Main St. Station and that is where we went for ice cream and coffee. Dan had Butter Pecan and I had Choc. Chip Cookie Dough. Mmmm! After fueling up the Jeep, we headed back home and just relaxed till the kids got home. They had great fun and so did we! 

Today...

Outside my window...it's sunny and breezy with a high in the low 80's. The farmer next door is disking the field behind our house and is being followed by the white egrets hoping for some turned-up bugs!!  ....and there is wash flapping on the line.

I am thinking...that I love days where I can just stay home and keep marking things off my to-do list.

I am thankful for... the blessings that my husband and kids are to me. The kids are turning into great helpers around the house!!

From the learning rooms...We are finished with English for the year!!!!   But we are doubling up some Math lessons to keep things moving. The kids could spend ALL DAY in science and history!!

From the kitchen...I cleaned out my Tupperware cupboard, kept some things out for yard sale and then washed the shelves and put everything neatly back in. Also cleaned out two of the drawers in the bar and wiped them out. One small project off my to-do list....did you know I love to be able to X things off my list? 

I am wearing...a long denim skirt and a purple t-shirt....and socks! Because I hate walking barefoot on my kitchen floor when it's not clean! 

I am going...to take the kids to their 2nd to last Tae Kwon Do class in an hour. 

I am reading...I am on Day 258 of reading my Bible through in a year. Sadly, this is the first time I have ever done that!! (My hubby and kids are also doing it and it amazes me what the kids can remember and pick up. Sometimes I think they understand more than I do....or their perception is better??)

I am hoping...that God's will continues to be clear in our lives....Dan will be done with his degree in a year. Then what!??

Around the house...there seem to be messes everywhere and TOO MUCH CLUTTER (that's why I made a HUGE to-do list, that I love making smaller!!)  One load of wash in the dryer to be folded and one in the washer to be dried and one on the line to be brought in and folded!

Picture for the Day...

Don't be afraid to stand alone! If God is for us, who can be against us? -Romans 8:31b

 So much has been going on in our lives lately. I post things on facebook and then feel like I'm repeating myself when I post here. So if you are my facebook friend, please overlook my repetitiveness! (Whew, that was a hard word to spell!!) 

First, I'll tell you about the things I have pictures for....

 Last night Dan picked up some seeds on his way home from work so we could start planting garden. 
A little history first.....

When we moved south we had our neighbor man plow up a garden spot for us. The first year we planted lots of greens and tomato's and a few other things. Well, the fire ants and the heat made me dislike gardening VERY MUCH!!! So, sad to say, Dan did most of the work in the garden (I did some canning and freezing, though) So we decided no more garden. I was NOT interested in battling with ants all the time (at that point, we were not keeping after the ant hills, so they were kind of out of control!!) And the heat, oh!! The HEAT!! My blood was just too thick, me thinks!

 Well, last year, our neighbors plowed up a big garden behind our garage and invited us to plant whatever we wanted. We did do some watermelon and something else that got all vined over by the watermelons!!  They were so kind as to let us harvest some of their crops when they felt like they had too much!! Our "Neighbors", are an older couple who live alone, and also attend our church. So the two of them don't eat that much!! 

 Fast forward to this year. Jonas put manure on the garden and got it plowed up real nice again. They planted a big garden and told us we can use the rest of the space for ourselves. I figured we'd probably not plant much.......BUT THEN.....

 I'm going to "blame" a brother-in-law here!! JK!!  But we have been hearing so much about all the preservatives and other bad stuff added to our food and are seeing the importance of eating better....for our health, and our children's!! 

So this is where we are now. We are not going hog wild, just planting a little bit for now. (Hoping to do some fall gardening too)

 Jonas' keep their tiller over here at our garden and gave us permission to use it. Well, we could NOT get it started!!!  We have a little bitty one that's been sitting in the garage for awhile and that one wouldn't start either.....

So we went old-fashioned!!  Good work out!! 

We only had enough daylight left to get enough space hoed and raked for two rows of beans.

We planted one row of baby lima's and one of regular lima's. Dan also bought some zipper peas to plant, but they will get planted next week. I'd also like to try some onions and lettuce, but I think they may have to wait till Fall!!

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I am so glad we got kittens for the kids!! They love them. It's funny how Tamara has her favorite and Danny his....

 A pregnant Fluffy and Tamara....

Danny and Bozo like to climb the tree in the front yard together!

 

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A big project I started last weekend and finished this week, was painting Tamara's bedroom. She has been waiting so patiently for this day!! Her walls were just plain white. She wants a horse theme so we debated what color to go with for the walls since her carpet is pink. I picked out a pink and a brown and figured we'd do two walls of each color.....so we started~

 Danny wiped the baseboard clean....

While Tamara brushed the walls.

The kids did all the rolling the first day, except for up at the ceiling, and I did all the edge work.

Turns out the brown I got looked more like Gold and it was just nasty!! It was not at all what I had pictured. Someone said it well when they said I was looking for a "paper bag" brown. So we stopped with two pick walls. Then the question was, do we do it all pink (I didn't think that would be cool since her carpet is pink), do we go with a chocolate brown (afraid that would make her room too dark) or find another shade of brown.

 Monday we went to Walmart and I picked out another brown. I am happy with how it turned out! It really goes good with her curtains, for not taking any samples along to the store!! 

 So here is the finished product. Well, we still need to decorate and organize some more, but the painting is done.....whew!!!

 

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Last week I talked to my sister in GA and she told me my nephew was going to be at a church near them singing with a chorale from the Bible School he had been at for 6 weeks. Dan had off work on Friday, so we left here around 3:30, stopped and got some supper and then continued on to Meigs. We got around a little early, so we ran by my sister's house till it was time to go to church.

I was so thrilled to see that he had the same chorale director as I did when I attended that same Bible School back in 1995!!   Dan Schrock was my favorite director that year!! He was so much fun. The year I was at MBS, his wife was sick. I think she had cancer, and we found out she passed away about 3 months after we came home from Bible School.  BUT, this is so neat!! His second wife, Ruth B, from Canada, is not a stranger to me! When our youth choir went on tour to Canada in 1994, I stayed at her house overnight. Her husband had died a few years earlier when his aorta burst, if I remember right. She didn't remember me, and I probably wouldn't have remembered her, except for the fact that I took pictures!!  A couple years later, she came to PA with a choir from Canada and stayed at my parents house...and that she did remember!  So it was so cool that the two of them got married!! 

Dan & Ruth Schrock

These 3 guys stayed with my sister and b-i-l that night. They had to leave pretty early the next morning to head to Sarasota.

John M. ~ My nephew, Kevin Z,  ~ Steven Shirk

Saturday we went into Pelham to see where the Martin's new restaurant will be opening soon!! 

 Isn't that the coolest old building?? What you can't see is the big dome on top and the spacious, spookiness of the whole place!!  It is being remodeled and I think they are hoping to put some businesses in there. The restaurant will be in the bottom left corner.

A peak inside....

Can't wait till they open!!

Some friends of theirs were down from WI? IN? MI? I'm not sure, but from the cold north!!  They brought "her" car....and let us take it for a spin...or for spin(s). We had a great time!

Nicole at the wheel. She had to behave with her Mom sitting right behind her! 

My sis, Chris and I enjoying the windy ride....

Dan took the younger girls for a ride....lets just say, I think there were some people speeding that day!!  

 

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A few weekends ago, we went to the Air Show at the Tyndall Air Force Base.

One of the WWII stunt planes~

Dan and the kids behind a HUGE cargo jet!! That thing was just.....HUGE!! It's hard to imagine something so big and so heavy flying in the sky!!

This cool little plane landed on top of the camper while it was driving down the runway!! 

And this was my favorite part of the show....a jet powered bus that went 331 MPH. That could get your kids to school fast! 

And the Thunderbirds put on a good show at the end!

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A pretty Luna moth on the screen outside my kitchen!

Wow, this post is taking me longer than I thought it would!! 

 

 On Monday I am going for a consultation to the Dr. who is planning to do my gallbladder surgery. I will find out then exactly which day it will be done. Hoping it can be done that week yet!

 I had a HIDA scan done Monday, almost 2 weeks ago, and it showed that my gallbladder is only working at 17%. So I guess that explains why I was feeling so nauseated and having so much stomach ache! I am ready to eat normal again, although I DID lose 10.5 lbs!! 

 

 Tonight we took the kids to eat at Pizza Hut to use the second to last of their Book-It coupons. After eating we drove out to the Park and took a walk and just enjoyed the beautiful evening. It was such a hot day, but tonight was lovely.

 

 Tomorrow Dan is sharing the message at church, followed by our bi-monthly Fellowship meal. I made Deviled Eggs and Blueberry Delight to take along . Wanna come???  Then we are going to spend the afternoon and evening with friends, boating, fishing and just hanging out!! 

 Y'all have a blessed and relaxed Sunday....and Happy Spring!!

I'm thinking it's high time for another update.....I got my USB cord, but it seems the camera is the problem, not the cord!!  I guess that's what I get for buying used on Ebay!! 

 Here are two hints of what has been keeping us busy the last few days.......

 

   AND waiting for this to happen....  

 

I'd say painting is the more fun of the two!!