Mideival Faire 2011

We attended the Hoggetowne Midieval Faire the other week and we had such a wonderful time. The kids LOVED all the weaponry and shows. Calvin enjoyed throwing knives and PJ enjoyed fencing with his cousin, Gabe. Adele enjoyed watching the Knife Act (well, they all did) and Daddy even took Adele and PJ on an elephant ride!

Our favorite things were seeing and trying on hand crafted weapons and armor. Several of the kids cousins also attended with their parents and so they enjoyed spending the day with them as well!
One of my favorite acts was the jousting. No one got knocked of their horse but it was really neat to see them riding at each other with jousting sticks in hand.









The line-up of cousins...all dressed in costume for the event. Notice my Adele is barefoot!












The knights jousting.


















The knight, Sir Joseph, that we cheered for.















Sir Gabriel (on the left) and Sir Paul (on the right) fencing.















Sir Paul





















Calvin and Uncle Tim sword fighting.
















Trying on real armor...and checking out weaponry.
Lastly, Paul and kids decked out in their costumes.

Calvin's 5th Birthday

(These pictures are in order from what happened last to first.)
Calvin turned 5 on January 31. Since his 4th birthday he has desired a birthday party with his friends, so this year we broke our usual tradition of just celebrating as a family and invited three boys to Calvin's party. I must say, he went to sleep that night happy and feeling well loved. His day was great...
Since all the rage in our house is Star Wars we did a Star Wars themed party. You will see evidence of this in the following pictures. After eating cake they had fun playing with balloons.


































The best picture of Calvin with his cake...simply a strawberry cake with the Star Wars logo on it (simple enough, huh?!) We served the cake with Yoda Sodas (very yummy and green...and easy to make!)













To get the party started we played some traditional games with a Star Wars slant. Paul made a "Death Star" pinnata and the boys (and Adele) had fun whacking at it. Finally it burst open and all the candy came falling out. We were glad our young Jedis were able to destroy it.








Here's Calvin's turn.

















The line up of friends.














And no party would be complete without Musical Chairs set to the Star Wars theme music. The kids LOVED this and had so much fun seeing who would be left out. Can you see how happy our boy is? Happy Birthday Calvin Lewis! We love you.

like an old friend

I hope, dear reader, that you have picked up on the fact that I LOVE Thai food. I hope you have picked up on the fact that I enjoy learning how to cook Thai food and I especially enjoy EATING Thai food! The spicier, the better, in my book and no, I haven't always felt that way! So, you may wonder why I have been content to shop at local grocery stores for the past 1 1/2 years when there are several Asian grocers in Orlando that have the exact ingredients needed to make the delicious Thai dishes that I love. There are a couple reasons. One, I never took the time to go off and find said Asian grocers...most are a good 30 minutes away and in the downtown sector where I rarely venture. 2) I am usually with the kids...thus shopping at an Asian grocery market just doesn't sound fun to me to take all three of my precious bundles. Three, I thought for sure it would be a waste of my time. But, probably the number one reason is that my friends have kept us well stocked with Thai curry pastes and other goodies that have held us over.

Yesterday, however, I turned the page and embarked on a journey that as I write this today, still brings a huge smile to my face! I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and so was kid free and decided to make the trek downtown to one of the Asian grocers. I found it with no problems and actually have driven right past it several times on my way to various homeschooling events. I had my list in my hand (of items I was specifically looking for and hoping for). The carts where lined up right outside the door and so I grabbed one and went inside. As soon as I walked inside, I was REALLY glad I didn't have ANY of my children with me! I am sure PJ and Calvin (on their own) would have been fine but I was still glad. This store was packed wall to wall with food stuff from countries all over Asia. I walked in and was welcomed by all the Thai/Japanese/Korean snack foods that readily greeted us wherever we went in Thailand. I smiled. And then I didn't stop smiling until...well, I am STILL smiling! =) As I walked the aisles and saw familiar ingredients (fresh!) I would smile some more or chuckle to myself and say, "wow". Yeah, I think others in the store probably thought something was wrong with me. But, it was like being reunited with old friends! Seriously! I saw unripe papaya for 59 cents/lb (which I didn't think was a bad price). Now, most Americans if they are familiar with papaya are used to it being ripe and fruity. In Thailand, we eat it that way too. But, it is probably mostly enjoyed unripe in a Thai Isaan salad known as Som Tam which is eaten with sticky rice and grilled chicken...yeah, it's good stuff (and the more bird peppers you can eat in it, the more the Thais admire you!). I have a friend who eats her Som Tam with 15 bird peppers!!! Let me tell you that is really, really, really hot. I eat mine with 2, maybe 3, and remember, I like spicy!
I finally found galangal or "kha" as it is known as in Thai. Galangal is a main ingredient in the Thai soup Tom Yum Kung (a favorite of Paul's which I haven't been able to make since returning because I could never find galangal).
I also saw pigs feet and ears for sale in the "deli" along with other animal body parts I daresay most Americans wouldn't eat. That, too, made me chuckle!
So, I came home with everything on my list...but now that I am home I wished I had picked up some other things that I decided to leave. I guess that way my way of saying, "I have to come back, so I better leave this here for next time."
You may be wondering what inspired this trip. Well, tonight we are having dear friends over for a Thai feast (of which I am cooking) and I wanted to make some different dishes and so here's the menu...it's a lot but leftovers are always good!
*Tom Yum Kung (spicy shrimp soup) pictured at left.
*Tom Kha Kai (chicken in coconut soup)
*Kai Phat MetMamuanghimaphaa (cashew chicken)
*Kai Phat Kraphrow (holy basil and pork stir fry)
*Kai Satay with Yam Tengkwaa (chicken satay with cucumber salad)
*Khai Ciaw sai Muu (pork and egg omelette)
*Cantaloupe
*brownies (ha, ha, I know, not very Thai of me...but give a girl a break!)

Let's hope that all these dishes turn out yummy. I am not a very good Thai cook, very amateur, in fact, but I do enjoy it. I'll let you know how it goes!

more Christmas pics

We did a Gingerbread house this year. The kids thoroughly enjoyed decorating the little people and the house. You may notice in the first pic Adele STILL inseparable with her bink. Well, I am happy to report that shortly after this was taken we took away all binks from Adele and we are now bink-free..for a few months anyway! =)














Here they are with their finished work. Notice Adele got into the blue candies!














PJ's gingerbread man ready for the cold with his earmuffs.





















Calvin decorating the snowman.

Christmas Morn 2010 Part 4, I think

Ok, so this is post-Christmas picture with a pre-Christmas story. PJ lost his other tooth beside his front teeth and so now is missing both of them...he looks kinda toothless, well, I guess he is. Here's a funny picture of him smiling without his teeth.







Also post Christmas was the celebration of Grammy's birthday yesterday. Most of the family was able to be there. Becky made her a yummy cake along with some brownies (when you're feeding a crowd like the Henry Clan you need more than one cake!). The kids enjoyed singing to Grammy and celebrating her life. We are so thankful for her and for all the love she dishes out daily to each of her children, grandchildren and countless others!




Adele posing in her Christmas dress that actually didn't get worn until the day after. I had to get at least one picture of her in it! Notice the chocolate in her hands...this girl is a chocoholic some other folks I know!











And no Christmas day would be complete at Grampy and Grammy's without the Christmas night swim in the jacuzzi. These boys had their romp and Grampy made sure there were lots of bubbles. They had a blast.










As you can imagine, no grown ups ventured in the jacuzzi with this wild crowd.

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. The only down side is that we didn't get to see my family. That has made me a little sad, to say the least, but I am looking forward to the next time I do get to see them. My cousin, Jesse and his wife did come for Christmas dinner at the Henry's (they live down here in FL too) so that was really nice.
We hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas season and that you will have a Happy New Year full of the Lord's presence.

Henry family playing Grampy's new game, Hink Pink. Lots of fun.













Two little girls playing dolls on Christmas morn.















Calvin enjoying his dress up gifts from Daddy and Grammy.
PJ...can you say excited?! He was so excited about this LEGO set from Grammy and Grampy.

Christmas Morn 2010 Part 2

Grammie opening her gift from us...jewelry from Namibia!
















Adele opening her "big" gift, a dollhouse for her dollies!















PJ and Calvin getting started with their gifts from under the tree.
















Calvin and Adele opening stocking gifts.















PJ dumping his entire stocking out to see what is inside.

Christmas Morn 2010

Paul admiring the stocking all hung by the fire with care....
















Calvin and Mommy waiting.
















PJ and Adele waiting...

for Pappy

Ho, ho, ho

These are for my Dad...I hope you enjoy them!

Thanksgiving 2010

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with Paul's family again this year. We had 14 kids (13 years and under) and 10 adults. All the cousins have enjoyed running through Sherwood Forest and the rest of the property calling out war cries and every so often we would hear a charge rise up from the woods. The childhood these kids are having is one that is a tremedous blessing...their imaginations, fueled by good books and each other and even their parents, are always working overtime...and it seems that

they work even harden when here at Gramp's beautiful home with lots of open space to run and play.

This year, Thanksgiving happened in a less traditional sense. We didn't have an indoor meal. No, friends, we are blessed to live in Florida. Now, Florida weather in the winter can be a bit unpredictable from year to year but this year it is quite mild and so we put up tables on Jay (Paul's brother who lives nextdoor) and Nancy's front porch and feasted. You can see the picture below. The consensus was that with 14 kids, maybe we should think outside the box a bit and so we opened up to the great outdoors! I must say it worked out great! When the kids were done eating (which was long before the grown-ups!) they got up and went off playing some more while we visited. Then a little while later, we had our pie and coffee (while the kids were still playing!) and then they came in for their dessert. It was beautiful and I think everyone enjoyed it.
All the cousins are enjoying each other. Don't get me wrong these kids are not perfect...they fight and get tired and fuss and whine, just like all kids, but they are having a great time with each other. You can see below the younger three girl cousins Erin, Adele and Vinnie who are all currently 3 years old, having a tea party. It's fun to have little girls who play house and baby dolls and aren't constantly fighting with swords or karate-chopping things!

And lastly, Adele playing at Erin's kitchen with her bubushka on her head. She must be getting the tea ready for their tea party. They do have a good time together.
The food was delicious. Nancy made the turkey, faithfully basting it every 20 minutes! And we each chipped in and made side dishes. It really cut the workload down, though Nancy might disagree since she had the turkey! I found myself often praying and thinking of our Thai/American family in Bangkok also celebrating "Giving Thanks to God Day" and how I missed each one but how thankful I am for each one. So, now that Thanksgiving is over, it's time to think about Christmas and decorating and the greatest gift ever given. =

Some Thoughts on Thanksgiving

The time of year is quickly approaching where we, as Americans, eat way too much food (especially turkey!) but hopefully we are also full of Thanksgiving to Christ for what He has done. I recently started reading an old and I believe, out of print book entitled, Squanto and the Pilgrims. I had NEVER read or heard the account of the story of Squanto before (except in Charlie Brown's Mayflower Voyagers video my kids watch, which is surprisingly quite accurate!)
This is an amazing story. If you have never read it, I would strongly encourage you to find it and read it OR I discovered another children's book entitled Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving that is also true to the historic facts of what happend way back in 1620. It's amazing to see the Lord's providential hand upon Squanto's life, though it was a life full of hardship and suffering. It's amazing to think how the Lord took Squanto to England for several years before the pilgrims came, thus learning English! Crazy! My boys have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and are constantly rooting for Squanto. We haven't finished the book yet, but we're getting near the end. I haven't read any other books on the topic, though I intend to finish On Plymouth Plantation now that this little children's book has piqued my interest!

Camping, Conference and COLD!

I forgot my camera so I am challenged to give you all the details well enough to keep your interest! We traveled to Atlanta, GA and Chattanooga, TN at the beginning of the month. We were gone about a week all together. We camped, mostly, but thankfully, some new friends and some old friends also each put us up for a night here and there. I must say that the camping part of our plan wasn't planned out so well. Neither of us remembered how nasty fall can be in north Georgia...rainy and cold and it turns out the weather is quite similar in Chattanooga! However, by the weekend, the weather had turned to sunshine, though still quite cold at night. We managed and I can say that I am glad we ALL went on this trip. It was worth it to see so many friends (P'Khiaw and P'Pawn who came with Miss Mary all the way from BKK along with Tim, Dave, the Bronsons and all the newbies...). It was also a blessing to reconnect and chat with those who are friends of Thailand...those folks who LOVE Thai people...and also love us and even a few who love us enough to listen and pray and encourage us through our tears and our weakness...thank you! And, of course, there are those friends whom the Lord has given us in past ministry that we got to catch up with and meet new children and hear what God is doing in their lives. It is amazing how He weaves His tapestry and how that tapestry seems ever connected as we go through life!

The kids enjoyed seeing the change of leaves though, admittedly, wasn't spectacular, it was still beautiful. We enjoyed sweet fellowship with the Cunningham family on our trip home who labored in Thailand 6 years with MTW and are now called home to the USA to live out their calling here. It's amazing to me to hear my 7 year old (who was 4 when the Cunninghams left Thailand) inform his brother that we were going to visit Gracyn who is one of his best friends! As Third Culture Kids those bonds go deep. The kids also attached themselves quickly to P'Khiaw and P'Pawn...as if we had never left Thailand. They were completely comfortable with them and immensely enjoyed being with them.
Looking back on our trip, I am so thankful for it. For the ways God has richly blessed us with relationships that are beyond time and space with our eternal Lord in the very center. He is the glue that binds us together, praise His name!


*pictured above, P'Khiaw holding Adele and Calvin the week we left Thailand*