27 minute read
Craft Time
Frogtastic FUN! FUN!
Written by Ashley Wedding // Photo by Jamie Alexander
Challenge your kids to craft using upcycled materials!
Is it just my kids that see crafting potential in nearly everything? What I see as trash, they see as something they can transform into something fun or functional with a little help from our craft closet. My son recently turned an old tissue box into a birdhouse. It didn’t last long in the weather, but it made my heart happy that he was worried about the birds this winter. My daughter has been saving toilet paper rolls, which she has been crafting into fun things, like this frog!
Encourage your kids to up-cycle some used items this spring! This can be a great way to teach about Earth Day, which falls on April 22 this year.
Want to make this frog? It was super simple and easy for my 10-year-old to craft!
MATERIALS:
›› 1 toilet paper roll ›› green and red paper ›› ribbon (optional) ›› googly eyes (optional—you can always just draw your own!) ›› marker ›› glue ›› stapler
DIRECTIONS:
›› Cover the toilet paper roll with green paper. Secure with glue. ›› Staple one end of the roll closed. Fold over this end and secure with glue. This will hide your staples and shorten the body of the frog. ›› Glue a strip of red paper on the inside of the roll that is still open. Secure with glue. Cut out a tongue shape with the remaining red paper and roll it around a pencil or marker for the desired curl. ›› Cut out legs from the green paper and secure with glue. ›› Attach googly eyes. ›› Using a marker, make spots or details on the frog body and legs. ›› Draw a fly or bug to attach to the tongue. Use ribbon if you would like to create a flying effect.. HF
If you make these adorable crafts, be sure to tag a photo of them on our social media accounts! We would love to see them!
Community
THE PEOPLE AND PLACES THAT MAKE HENDERSON GREAT
Mandy Glaser A MOTHER LIVING OUT HER DREAMS
Mothers tend to wear multiple hats. They have multiple roles they play, all typically within the same day. Mandy Glaser is just one of the many amazing mothers here in Henderson County, and outside of her role as mother and wife, she is an author, a teacher, a farmer and a photographer.
Mandy is originally from Eastern Kentucky. She graduated from Morehead University with her Bachelor Degree in Studio Art and then moved to Savannah, Georgia for graduate school at the Savannah College of Art & Design where she received her MFA in Photography and met her husband, Danny. Once they both graduated, they moved to Austin, Texas where Danny’s family resided. Mandy worked as an art teacher, where she worked for a pottery studio. When her daughter was born, she told her husband she really wanted to move back to Kentucky. Her husband wanted to get on somewhere as a firefighter, so she told him if they moved back to Kentucky she would live anywhere in Kentucky who hired him first, and that is how they ended up in Henderson. Henderson was the first place to offer her husband a job as a firefighter, and in 2018 they made the move to Henderson.
Mandy said, “Henderson is a great place to live. The community has been really supportive and everyone we meet is kind.”
MOTHER AND AUTHOR
While still living in Texas, Mandy began to consider the idea of writing her own book. She had been working a few part-time jobs, and she really wanted to do something of her own. “Coming from an art background, I wanted to make something useful. I like wall art, but I didn’t want it to be a piece of art on the wall that had a big price tag on it. Making a children’s book was something that was affordable for lots of different people. It took a long time, but it did get done.”
Mandy explained she didn’t have a real plan. She started drawing pictures first. “I’ve always been influenced by nature and natural sciences, so I started drawing animals. It is based around science. I drew the images so they could be appreciated by a large audience, so it’s not real cartoonish. I would draw an animal, connect it to its environment and then connect it to another animal. From that it would lead into the next drawing and connect that environment to another animal.”
She completed her book in 2015, but she had no idea what to expect from the business and publishing side of it. There are standards to having so many words and pages and particular guidelines you must follow for a publisher or literary agent to consider your book. After submitting to 100 different publishers or literary agents, the mother of two found a publisher in 2019 located in Louisville, known as “Line by Lion Publications” through Pixel and Pen Studio, who was very quick to want to publish her book. Currently, you can find her book, “THIS BIG WILD WORLD of Pretty Little Things” on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, mostly online but she is hoping to get it into more bookstores in the near future.
Mandy enjoyed being able to illustrate her entire book, but the process took a while from start to finish. She had finished her book enough to began sending it out to publishers in 2015, but her daughter was born around the same time and their move to Kentucky also took place. However, the wait was worth it as her book was finally released in Summer 2021.
The mother and author is now working on getting dates on her calendar to help promote her book, while also currently working on her second book to be published. There is a program in Lexington where she will be doing a book reading and art project in April, and one of the public schools is also going to have her share her book with their students, too. She is hoping to complete her illustrations for her second book by May before their farmers market season begins.
MOTHER AND TEACHER
Mandy and her husband have two children, Rosie (6) and Harlan (3).
“I’ve always been interested in homeschooling, but at the same time I know there are a lot of advantages to being in school,” expressed the hardworking mom. The year her daughter was going to start Kindergarten is when covid started. It was going to be a virtual year, and she didn’t think it was going to be best for Rosie. With their lifestyle, Mandy
COMMUNITY
felt homeschooling was the best option for them and one that could work. “I was lucky enough because I am a stay-athome mom. That opportunity was there.”
This year they joined the homeschool co-op group, Graystone, where there are 100 students from elementary up to high school. They meet once a week, where they follow the same schedule as public schools do. Her daughter has classes in math, grammar, history, geography and physical education, along with the options of electives where others are hired to come in and teach violin, karate, foreign language, etc.
When they were planting, Rosie learned about photosynthesis. When she had a butterfly she learned about metamorphosis. When they take family trips or go on adventures, they stop at places for educational learning. The fun of learning never stops!
MOTHER AND FARMER
This country-living mother grew up gardening. Her family always lived in the country in Eastern Kentucky and had animals, mostly a hobby farm for them. When Mandy and her husband lived in Texas, they lived on 3 acres and always had a large personal garden. After moving back to the Bluegrass State, they moved onto a 200 acre farm, which they named Rain R’ Shine. Corn and soybeans surround them where other farmers rent land and plant their crops, but Mandy’s family sit on a couple acres where they farm themselves.
The Glaser’s practice organic gardening (no spray/no chemicals). They are what is called a no-till regenerative farm, which is a type of farming practice. They are a small market garden that does high intensity planting - soil breaks down naturally. This provides minimal soil disturbances and focuses on the health of the soil.
The farm keeps this outdoor-loving mom busy. With high intensity and high diverse planting comes lots of crops. They garden on about a ½ acre. One row will be cucumbers, a couple rows of tomatoes, next row flowers, next eggplants and next beans and so on. They also leave all the roots and plants in the ground so it improves soil structure and allows microorganisms to thrive. Mandy explained how this is a natural and easy way of gardening.
Mandy’s husband, Danny, is not only a firefighter, but also works two other jobs as an EMT and with FedEx. However, when he isn’t working outside of the home, he is right there beside Mandy helping her on the farm. Whether it’s building something or helping her
pick, they work together as a team. He irrigated everything for her so she didn’t have to water all of it. He also built all the rows. She explained how they grew 150 tomato plants and cucumbers, and he was in charge of those plants. It was a different way of growing them where they grow up a string of vine.
She doesn’t have a babysitter nor does she have family who live close, so everything she has to do her kids come along with her. They go to the Henderson Farmers Market three days a week and sell all your summer garden vegetables such as peppers, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and focus a lot on greens and lettuce. She explained this is probably what they have become known for, including carrots and radishes. They also sell eggs, known as Harlan’s Darlins, and grow flowers and sell bouquets, known as Rosie’s Posies.
During market season, they spend Tuesday, Fridays and Saturdays at the Farmers Market from roughly 8:30am2pm, but they usually wouldn’t get away until 3pm after loading everything up. There are other kids there for her children to play with, and they have a blast going with her. Anything that doesn’t sell at the Farmers Market on Tuesdays, they try to sell from 4-7pm at Cagey’s General Store in Reed off their trailer. Thursday they spend picking to prepare for Friday and pick Friday to prepare for Saturday. Then they would head back to the general store on Saturday afternoon to sell anything they might have left. When Mandy’s kids were in bed, she would make her bouquets. She chuckled saying, “This year we need to work on time management when it comes to sleep. Farmers market nights I maybe slept 2-3 hours.”
Although preparing, planting, picking and loading for the market keeps them busy, Mandy stated, “It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed it.”
MOTHER AND PHOTOGRAPHER
Although Mandy is so busy with the farm and homeschooling to focus on photography full-time, it is still a passion. Nowadays she finds herself mostly taking photos of her kids and family and their garden, but last fall she did start back taking some family and senior photos on the side. She did most of their graphic design for the farm including tshirt designs, stickers, hats, etc. You can find her work on her Facebook page - Wild WILD light.
INTEGRATING HER ROLES
Last summer, Mandy and her kids were up at 5:30am trying to beat the heat on the farm. In between the gardens, they have their kiddie pool and playhouse. The kids would play alongside her as she worked.
Choosing to sell at the Farmers
Market has not only been a blessing financially, but it has allowed her to feel as part of the community. Their business and work in farming is also a constant learning experience for their children, which is a huge benefit as a homeschooling mom. “The kids are seeing how food is grown and seeing how it is distributed among the community. They learn about photosynthesis, money and socialization. They have also made great friends at the market,” she said.
When the artist is illustrating for her books, her kids can be playing or painting beside her. Her daughter was learning about whatever animal she was painting at that time. “We look it up and read about it!” She applies homeschool to everything they are doing daily. “Integrating the things we do together has helped make a balance. I feel like balance is something I always need to work on and always needs to be improved. Mostly a balance of making sure we take care of ourselves by getting enough sleep.” The enthusiastic mother explained how all of her roles sound like a lot with the children’s book, homeschooling, the farm and photography, but in reality, it all fits together because it is part of their lifestyle.
LOOKING AHEAD
Their schedules keep them very busy. May-October is when they are at the market and November-December they are typically still selling greens and roots to customers. This means they only have a few months at the beginning of the year to consider “downtime” before they begin preparation for the upcoming market season. “There is always something going on and always something to do,” she explained.
“I feel grateful that my husband lets me stay home. I have a blast with my kids. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I think no matter how hard it is, I am grateful I do have the opportunity to stay home. I am grateful I do have the opportunity to live on this property and have a farm that hopefully one day will turn into a bigger production and fulltime position. I am grateful I took a chance with my book. I am grateful to work from home and watch my kids.” Mandy and Danny are hoping the farm and illustration will become her full-time job and Danny’s part-time job outside of the firestation. Their dream is to make Rain R’ Shine Farm a full-time family business!
As a stay-at-home, workfrom-home, teach-from-home mom, Mandy doesn’t live on a timeline because much of what she does is on their property. She loves this season of life, and she looks forward to what the future holds for her and her family as they continue to dream big! HF
LYNDI MAUK, editor of Henderson Family Magazine, was born and raised in the Bluegrass State. She is grateful to be going through life alongside her husband and best friend, Brandon, and being a mother to their two kids.
PERFORMANCE
AT IT’S BEST
Written by Kaycee Garner • Photos by Darrin Phegley
An exciting opportunity has recently come to the student athletes of Henderson’s middle schools and Henderson County High School. Silaf Harris, performance coach at Baker Family Chiropractic and sergeant in the Kentucky Army National Guard, has been offering his knowledge up to students about how to improve their running speed and technique.
Trainings started on February 7th and will continue throughout a 6-week period. Students meet with Silaf weekly on Monday and Wednesday nights at Mattingly Camps on Center Street. Currently, about ten students are participating. At these trainings, students get more prepared for track and field by working on core strength and the fundamentals of running quickly. Later sessions of these trainings will include technique drills, acceleration drills, bandwork, and sled-work. All students middle school age and above are encouraged to participate in these trainings if they have an interest in track and field.
SPEED TRAINING CLASSES
Silaf has been administering these types of trainings since the pandemic began in 2020. During Silaf’s senior year at the University of Southern Indiana, his track and field tournaments were cancelled. Because of this, he was inspired to do speed training himself to improve his performance and became inspired to help with these trainings for others as well. With his background in sports and his knowledge of exercise science that he obtained through the University of Southern Indiana, Silaf has much to offer those around him who are interested in improving their running skills.
A PERFORMANCE COACH
As a performance coach at Baker Family Chiropractic, Silaf helps to strengthen muscles that may have been weakened or damaged by inventing routines for his clients to carry out. Silaf says his favorite part of being a performance coach is helping people reach their goals. His admiration for performance coaches like Brian McCaw in Texas helped to make him more interested in exercise science and performance coaching as a career. He thanks Dr. Kate Baker and Dr. Jeremy Baker for giving him the chance to succeed at Baker Family Chiropractic and for allowing him to help people in the way that he does. He has been at their
facility since he graduated from college and celebrates his oneyear anniversary of being hired in March of this year.
FAMILY INSPIRATION
Silaf’s motivations for running, exercising, and participating in track and field come from his family. “My uncle was the one who introduced me to the weightlifting aspect of everything. He was a big powerlifter back in the day. And my older cousin ran track for Western and he was the NCAA All-American, and he made it to the Olympic trials in 2004. That’s what sparked my interest in running track.” Silaf thanks his uncle, John Harris, and his cousin, Johnathon Brown, for helping to get him involved. He also thanks his mother, Mattie Harris, and his aunts, Sherry and Tracie Harris, for helping him to get to where he is today. “I couldn’t have done this without my family supporting me through the whole way. And I couldn’t have done it without Dr. Kate and Dr. Jeremy being the great mentors that they are.”
Thank you, Silaf, for sharing your knowledge with Henderson’s students! HF
KAYCEE GARNER has lived in Henderson her entire life and plans to keep it that way. She loves animals and movies, and enjoys drawing with charcoal and working on local political campaigns in her spare time.
BEAUTY IN BEAUTY IN NUMBERS NUMBERS The Journey of Motherhood
Written by Lyndi Mauk • Photo by Darrin Phegley
said Heather Hensley, mother of six.
Heather has been married to her husband, Chad, going on 25 years in May. He was her only boyfriend, the only guy she has ever been on a date with. Chad recently surprised her with an all time bucket list dream vacation - Tahiti! Heather could not be more excited! Although this will be a big anniversary trip, they have always dated and had time away together. “We don’t get a week, but we definitely take little trips and big trips. It is important to renew and refresh as husband and wife.” They have truly had a fairytale love story.
Heather graduated from the University of Southern Indiana, after attending college to become an occupational therapist. She owns her own pediatric occupational therapy practice where she offers home-based services for children birth-3 years with special needs. Heather is also a certified health coach. She loves helping others get their life back from a health perspective. Heather was blessed with an amazing mom and two amazing grandmas who showed her how to love and how to serve and be a part of their family and community.
THE BEGINNING OF MOTHERHOOD
Heather and Chad had been married about 4 years when their first child, Mitchell, was born. It wasn’t until he was delivered they found out he had down syndrome. “That was hard. Hard on a young couple to be expecting your first baby. Finding out was difficult, but we managed down that road. He brings us so much joy and pleasure in life,” she boasted, as she smiled looking over at Mitchell. Twenty months later, they welcomed their daughter, Katelyn. She had a smooth delivery, and she was a healthy baby girl. Both Chad and Heather thought they were done having kids and their family was complete. One day, however, Heather had a tug at her heart they should consider being foster parents. She laughed as she recalled having a whole speech prepared for Chad on why they should foster. They had a spare bedroom that wasn’t being used and a loving home. She said, “I feel like we should think about foster parenting.” Before she could continue, Chad’s immediate response was, “Okay. Call them!” They went through all the classes to become foster parents. “Our goal wasn’t adoption. We felt like we had love to give and could help children in need.” Everything quickly changed when their very first placement, a 12-month-old baby boy, came to live with them. He was brought in with a wet diaper and a sippy cup, she recalls. This baby boy, now 14, was their first adopted child, Bradley.
“The journey of foster parenting is very emotionally draining because so much of it is out of your control. You don’t know what life is going to bring. What the next phone call is going to mean. Just being able to go into it knowing all you can do is take care of them when they are in your home, love them for all their worth and sometimes you have
to let them go and sometimes you get to keep them.” After Bradley, they fostered a few others who went back home, but then they decided not to foster anymore because it was so hard when the children had to leave. “It’s really difficult to take care of a child and be their sole provider and not take on a mom role so it's really hard to let go when that time comes,” she explained.
Heather’s husband, Chad, is a pastor and there were some circumstances in which they wanted to open their home back up to the foster care system. It didn’t go as they thought, but then they received a call about a 3-year-old little girl who needed a place to go for just a little bit. A little bit turned into forever, as they completed their second adoption, welcoming their daughter, Grace, into their family. Fast forward six months later, the Hensley’s received a call saying they had 16-year-old twins who needed somewhere to go. Heather and Chad knew these girls. “We love them, and we want to take care of them and now we are a family with 6 children. We have kids in college all the way down to 3rd grade. It’s been a ride!” the blessed and proud mother said.
The day we signed the adoption papers was scary. “Can you love a child the same way? Can you biologically have a child and adopt a child and love them the same? And the answer is emphatically, yes! The day we signed those adoption papers, and the day they took on our name, it is like we had them. There is no difference to us, and that was something I never imagined being the journey. I believe in God, and God adopted us into his family. He loves us, and I think my children have taught me so much about what real love looks like and really is and is lived out everyday.”
SIX BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN
Courtney and Whitney are twins and are 21-years-old. Courtney is older by one minute. “She is so kind-hearted, easy going and loves life. She is going to school to be a counselor and works at a daycare in Evansville. She recently became a dog mom. She is beautiful inside and out and really finding her way in life.”
Whitney is the second born twin. She made Heather and Chad grandparents this year, and that has been an amazing journey for them. “I love spoiling and getting to send him home,” Heather said, laughing. “She is very driven and hardworking. She is going to college and majoring in business and works while raising a son. She is a very determined young woman.”
“Mitchell is 20, and brings so much joy to our life!” He keeps them laughing all the time. “He loves basketball and power rangers. He loves to sing, sing in church and get his Bible and preach sermons and help his dad with Bible studies.” He graduated this past year, but they are still trying to figure out his next steps but waiting on covid to get better first.
Katelyn is 18 and a freshman in college. “She could rule the world. She is extremely determined, self-motivated, independent and strong-willed. She is working at Busy Bees as a daycare teacher and going to school to be a child life specialist through first earning her degree in elementary education.
Bradley is 14 and 6’3. He is a freshman in high school. “He is a kind-hearted person, and he would give you the shirt off his back. He is so loving and thoughtful of other people. He is a boy and challenges us, but is an amazing young man.”
Grace is 9. “She is super athletic, so she dominates on the soccer field and basketball court. She laughs and smiles and brings so much joy to the world. You can’t be around Grace without smiling because she is going to be smiling. She is just precious.”
“We love all of our children, and they are also unique and different. Who knew. You raise them all in the same house, yet they are all so different. You have to treat them differently. Sometimes navigating that is tricky. Just because it worked for this one doesn't mean it is going to work for the other,” stated Heather.
FACING THE HARDSHIPS OF MOTHERHOOD
“Hands down my Christian faith is always number one in my life. If it wasn’t for that foundation, it would crumble.” Although Heather has been beyond blessed with a big, beautiful family, it doesn’t mean she hasn’t faced hardships and trials during her walk through motherhood.
From their first born having an unexpected disability to three years ago one of their daughters being diagnosed with a brain tumor to car wrecks and
college and life decisions, Heather has experienced all the things that come with being a mom and going through life. Heather said, “Never in your life do you think a doctor is going to call and tell you your daughter has a brain tumor. First off, your life immediately stops in its tracks. It was hard. It was the scariest time of our life. But I never questioned my faith.” It was a really difficult time trying to balance everything they went through with their daughter, Katelyn, who at the time was 14 when she was diagnosed. They had to spend six solid weeks at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and another 30 days after Katelyn’s surgery, so she and Chad traded out each week so one could be home to take care of their other children.
Katelyn’s tumor was found after she had attended the State Future Farmers of America Convention that summer and noticed her hand wouldn’t stop twitching. Several days after she had returned home, they were outside when Heather asked Katelyn to hand her something. Katelyn said, “I don’t think I can. My hand won’t stop twitching.” Heather knew enough to know the jerk in Katelyn’s hand wasn’t normal. They weren’t able to see her family doctor, but she was able to get in the next day with another doctor who spent the entire day with her. Heather said, “In my mind I went through muscular sclerosis or pinched nerves in her neck.” A brain MRI was taken, and the next day he called Heather and told her she needed to put Katelyn in the car and drive her straight to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. As the emotions began to rise, Heather teared up and said, “Within an hour, we had loaded our car and were driving off.”
They found out the tumor was not operable because it was located in a very dangerous place. For six weeks, Katelyn went through proton radiation. It seemed to be working but then her tumor swelled. It wasn’t spreading, but it was giving her daughter problems. The doctors put Katelyn on massive steroids, and she gained 80 lbs. She also was given a type of chemotherapy. Everything settled down, but her next MRI report was not good. This time, they were told they had to operate. Katelyn would probably have permanent damage, but they didn’t know to what level. The surgeon was the head of neurology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and he also brought in another head of neurology from another children’s hospital. Heather explained it was so overwhelming to know the magnitude of what was happening. As a mother, it was so incredibly difficult to watch her daughter go through. It is never something you want or imagine your child facing, and there is only so much you can do because so much is out of your control. Most of the tumor was removed, but Katelyn can no longer use her left hand, and she walks with a little bit of a limp. The little piece left they will continue to monitor.
The strength her daughter has shown through her trial is simply amazing. The proud mother, smiling, said, “Katelyn has handled this all so incredibly well, and I do think some of it is her dad and I lived it out in front of her. It was how we responded. She has stayed so positive and driven and put so much work to getting back as far as she can go. It’s amazing!”
Outside of the challenges Heather has faced as a mother in regards to the health of two of her children, she has experienced having three drivers so far, who have all had car wrecks. “When they are infants they keep you awake all night by necessity, but with older kids I still lose a lot of sleep worrying and praying.” She laughed saying, “Teenagers come with their own set of challenges and blessings.” Heather explained it can be tricky sometimes balancing because as they get older, you have to shift the role you play in their life as their mother. She explained, “The definition of mom starts to shift from I am in charge of everything to I am here to support you and offer advice, fix you dinner but no longer be involved in the everyday decisions. And, as a mom, that’s hard to let go of.”
LIFE OUTSIDE OF MOTHERHOOD
Heather is able to set her own work schedule, so she usually sees patients Tuesdays—Thursdays and keeps Mondays and Fridays open to do things at home. Outside of working, she likes to read, take walks in the sun and do mission work. They have been to Russia, the Philippines and Jamaica for missions. Currently, they are working with Dawson Springs, KY and have adopted a 21-year-old man who just became a father last month. They are trying to help him get on his feet and walk that walk with him.
THE CURRENT SEASON OF MOTHERHOOD
Heather is really enjoying this season of motherhood. It’s busy but fun. It is rare for them to all be together at one time because of everyone’s schedules with work, school, extracurricular activities and church. “A lot of our life revolves around whatever activity our kids are involved with at the time,” she said. However, they make time for one another. The older kids will come over for dinner, and they plan trips and whoever is able to come will come. Although Heather wears many hats as a mother and has six beautiful children she is trying to raise, she said she couldn’t do it without support. Her husband and parents have been absolutely amazing throughout her journey as a mother.
“I love being a mom. It's one of my greatest experiences!” HF
LYNDI MAUK, editor of Henderson Family Magazine, was born and raised in the Bluegrass State. She is grateful to be going through life alongside her husband and best friend, Brandon, and being a mother to their two kids.
