From Porches to Porches (and a little in between)

We started the second semester of our homeschool year last Tuesday, January 2.  I have not been keeping up with my regular school posts but hope to get back on track soon. 

When we finished school that day I met my mom for lunch at Porches.  She had been off work for the holidays and was getting ready to go back the next day.  It was her last day off and she wanted us to have lunch together.  I took Cruz with me. Ben had a terrible head cold so I left him at home with David.

lunch at Porches

They have a gift shop and I was so tickled to see these shirts they had for sale.  Me and my mom bought one.  I will take it back to Guatemala with me and have a little reminder of my favorite place.

I shared this photo already on a recent post.  It was taken last Wednesday morning after I was prepped and ready to have an endoscopy done.  Thankfully the test came back all clear.  I had a colonoscopy done back in September and it came back clear also.  The next test I will have will be a WCE (wireless capsule endoscopy).  That is scheduled for January 25.   I have low iron and these tests are to rule out any internal bleeding or other problem. 

When we left the hospital we stopped for lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant.  The boys took turns climbing onto this saddle and pretending to be cowboys.

Cowboy Cruz

The next day in school I had Cruz do a journal entry on his visit to the hospital.  This is what he wrote.  I love how he illustrated it.

On Thursday we were invited to lunch and an afternoon in the wood shop by a sweet family in the church where we attend in Brookhaven.  They were the same family that planned our farm day back in the fall.  Mrs. Berenda cooked us a delicious meal and then Mr. Ken entertained the boys in his shop that afternoon.

the boys were excited

On our flight home from Virginia back in early December Cruz and I watched a show on the plane called How It's Made.  One of the episodes was on making wooden toys.  One night at church Cruz was telling Mrs. Berenda about a wooden car he saw on the show.  Well, Mr. Ken surprised the boys by letting them help make a wooden car of their own that day.  They were not expecting that and it tickled them greatly. 

Mr. Ken worked all of the "dangerous" tools and the boys watched him very closely.  He let them experiment with some other tools to make it a hands on experience.

They got to help with some of the assembly.

Their finished cars. They turned out great.

the boys with Mrs. Berenda and Mr. Ken

They have loved on us well during our Stateside time.  We will miss them.

On Saturday afternoon I took the boys to Jump 'n Jive.  I needed to write some lesson plans and they were full of energy.  It was a win/ win for all of us.  We spent four hours there and they played hard.

On Sunday morning we spoke at Strong Hope Baptist Church in Wesson.  We got to see many people we have not seen in a while including some family.   My mom, Mr. Thurman, and my Aunt Nita came also to hear us and support us.  Afterwards we all went to Porches for Sunday lunch.  That was a treat!

Mimi and the boys at Porches

Aunt Nita and the boys

my mom, Ben, and me

me and my mom at our favorite place

That night we met our friends the Browns for supper and enjoyed a visit with them.  It was a great way to end the weekend.