April 19, 2008

Buckeye in full bloom.	We got around and attended church at Peake Mennonite Church on Sunday.  The rest of Ina Sue's family went to Mt. Pleasant for their communion service.  The Horning communion services can last multiple hours and we were not sure our children would do well for that long.  We had a good time worshiping with our friends at Peake then drove over to Ray Martin's cabin in the woods for dinner with Uncle Lees & Davey Showalters.  Julia & Lola have been housesitting for Rays while they are away on disaster relief work.  The setting there was just lovely and I was aggravated that I forgot my camera.  We had a delicious dinner then spent a while taking a tour of the cabin, grounds and barn.  Ray Martin is an artist/craftsman with some amazing capabilities.  His handiwork is easy to see in just about everything there.
Sloan, Stephanie, Holden & Deborah	By the time we got back to Papa's and loaded up our car it was after 3:30.  We headed back to SC and made pretty good time, arriving in Govan at 10:30.  The children did very well with just one or two stops to stretch or use the potty.  It was good to be back in our own bed.  We must be getting old.  No other bed feels as good as our own bed in Govan....
Playing with party string...	Ina Sue got a little depressed when she saw the mounds of laundry to do on Monday.  Thankfully, she perks up quickly.  It was quite a bit colder today.  I had a bit of catching up to do at the shop since I had missed work on Friday.  A busy day.  For supper Ina Sue fixed us BarBQ, rice & hash, and cole slaw.  After supper I finished folding the clothes and got the children ready for bed while Ina Sue distributed the clothes.  We were just sitting down to our own little bedtime snack when Ina Sue remembered that she had left the water running in the bathroom sink.  Unfortunately it does not have an overflow and the result was a bit of a mess to clean up.  No permanent damage, just some work to clean up.
Waiting on the train	We scurried around on Tuesday morning to get everyone ready on time.  We were to take the children over to Jane's at 7:45 so they could catch a ride with her over to Uncle Duanes for the next two days.  Janice has been offering Ina Sue to keep the children along with hers for a day or two to give Ina Sue a break.  Very kind!  The children seemed to ride nicely with Jane and Janice picked them up from her in Augusta.  Ina Sue said she couldn't remember when she felt more free.  She was ecstatic over all she was able to get done.  Scrapbooking, cleaning the car, baking and just generally partying... :)   I worked a normal day at the shop then came home and had leftovers for supper.  After supper we spent the evening mulching our potatoes with old shredded leaves.  It looks so much nicer now.  The evening seemed much different without our munchkins.
Watching it go by	Wednesday was another day without children.  We had been planning for us both to drive over to Hephzibah and go to prayer meeting there and pick up the children.  We remembered belatedly that several students had talked to me about coming to our prayer meeting here at Barnwell this evening and I had invited them to come over for a snack & visit afterward.  When we called Janice she very kindly offered to keep the children one more night so that Ina Sue could pick them up in the morning.  Ina Sue spent the morning scrubbing off the front porch.  I came home from work a little bit early and helped get some food ready for our snack tonight.  Gordon Amstutz led the discussion tonight on the ordinance of "Annointing with Oil"  A very interesting discussion.
Finishing up the evening with strawberry shortcake.	After the service we visited for a while then the four visitors followed us home.  We also invited Wendell & Naomi to drop in for the snack.  We had a really nice time visiting with the students.  They were all in the pre-nursing program at USC Salkehatchie and were taking a class on Cultural Awareness.  In nursing you often come in contact with different cultural groups and this class was a way of learning how to relate to different cultures.  This group of four and picked the Amish Culture out of the pot for their research.  Since there are no real Amish groups around here they had to settle for meeting the Mennonites and comparing the two groups.  I am glad that they were able to see that we Mennonites are not solely a "cultural group" but are Bible believers seeking to live by our beliefs.  Granted we do have a cultural identity in the same way that any other religious group has a cultural identity.  As we talked it was interesting to learn more about each of them and their beliefs and culture as well.
Picking a bouquet for Mommy	Ina Sue left about the same time Thursday morning as I left for work.  She drove over to Hephzibah to pick up the children then went down to Kay K's to get some training on how to use the new serger I bought for her.  She also did a little shopping in Augusta then got the children back home in time for their naps.   We had quite a feast for supper.  Porcupine meatballs, baked asparagus, pickled beets, and fresh strawberries and kiwis to finish up.  After supper I baked some rosemary bread and we played outside with the children.  We heard the train coming from Olar and made a mad dash out to the end of our road so we could sit close to the tracks and "feel" the train up close.    After we got the children in bed we spent a little while picking our pecans.
Getting ready to fly a kite.	I went in to work early on Friday for a meeting.  Ina Sue cleaned the house in the morning then in the afternoon she studied for her Sunday school lesson  and re-hemmed a dress for Carolina Sue.  When I got home from work she served us a delicious supper of herbed fish & vegetables with my fresh rosemary bread.  We met Ivan Skrivseths at the church to clean.  It went much faster with all the extra hands to help.  Then we came home to a snack of strawberry shortcake.
An evening on the town in Bamberg.	Saturday was a beautiful Spring day.  Bethany Heatwole dropped off Caroline and Michaela here in the morning for Ina Sue to babysit.  The children all enjoyed playing together.  We even got a kite out of the storage shed and tried to fly it.  There wasn't quite enough wind.  I mowed grass and started our burn pile on fire.  Part of the pile was a big heap of fairly green wood chips.  After the fire died down the chips just kept smoldering and smoking throughout the afternoon and the next day.  It kind of left a smoky pall over Govan.  After Bethany picked her girls up after lunch we all drove in to Barnwell to pick up some flowers from Green Tech Nursery.  Mainly impatiens & vinca.  I finished mowing the Govan square and in the process ran into a chunk of concrete that destroyed my push mower....  Oh well,  we had never liked this one real well anyway but I hate to waste the money for a new one.  For supper we drove up to House of Pizza in Bamberg and enjoyed a small splurge.  After supper we took the children to a playground for a while then took my wife to her playground for a while too. (Shopping at Freds).