I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU

Caiden thought he was part of the Christmas Story! With all the snow in Arkansas, he wanted to see if his tongue would stick to the pole!!

CAMPING IN ARKANSAS

We had such a relaxing weekend in a nice old fashion cabin in Arkansas. The cabin was built back in the 1930's and was on Lake Hamilton. The owner's father built these cabins and he actually lived in one of them. It was like a cabin should be. Old timey stove, as you can see. I so enjoyed cooking on that white little stove. The windows were so back in the day that you had to push them down. Gas stove and heaters were our friends that weekend. But was really cool is the bathtub had hot tub jets! We spent a lot of time by the beautiful lit up gazebo and enjoyed looking at the lake and reading. The kids played in the woods along with 2 dogs. The creeks were so pretty and peaceful, and the snow and ice were the icing on the cake, LITERALLY!!! We cooked on the grill and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows. And enjoyed lots of hot chocolate! I so love the woods,nothing like a Big campfire and being with family in the middle of snow!! 

HORSEBACK RIDING IN THE SNOWY MOUNTAINS

Our family as gone on many trips over the years, but a chance to ride horses in the snowy woods was by far the best thing we have done! Not only did the kids love it,but Jerry and I were in heaven!! All four of us got to horse backride for 30 minutes. We crossed several creeks, and were very high on the mountain top. The snow on the ground was so beautiful and so peaceful. Each of our horses had names, and Caiden rode the biggest horse named Highlander. Bailee had the most calm horse, which was named Rusty. Jerry's horse name Zip, and mine was named Droopy. The kids fell in love with these horses. We all rode one behind the other, with our tour leader and his horse. We enjoyed this part of our Arkansas trip the most! We are going back in the summer, but I am glad we went when there was snow on the ground, for we never see this in Louisiana!! Thanks Jerry for planning this AWESOME trip!!!

NO HORNETS/HOUSTON ROCKETS GAME

Our family had such a great time at this NBA game!!! It was a great game and the Hornets beat the Rockets so that made it so much more enjoyable!!! There was a great half time show and the mascot even dressed up like Rocky!!! Thanks Jerry for all you do for us and we enjoyed spending the New Year with you!!

SNOW IN MONROE!!

We had our 1st first of the new year  today!! This was our 2nd snow of the winter but this snow seemed to stick more to the ground this time! I was so wishing that the kids were home to play in it, BUT school started back today!!! The forecast calls for more snow later this week! You just don't see much snow or sleet in the South!!

AWANA CHRISTMAS / TRIMMING OF THE TREE AND COOKIE EXCHANGE

Bailee and her friend Ryley had so much fun making sock ornaments for the Trimming of the tree at Awanas. They painted thier socks, made little faces on them and even glued some fake snow on them for Santa's hat!!! We even had a cookie exchange that night. Each child was to bring 12 cookies a piece and then each child got to choose 12 other cookies from someone else. Bailee and Ryley got to hang thier sock ornament on the Christmas tree. It was a GREAT night!! I love Awanas and I love seeing children of the Lord get excited about learning scriptures!!

CAIDEN AND BAILEE'S MINI GINGERBREAD HOUSES

Caiden and Bailee had so much fun making these cute little mini gingerbread houses. I found these cute little kits and they were very creative with them. We used various things, including icing, candles for the chimneys and fake snow. I love doing fun things with the kids over the Christmas Holidays!

THE CITY OF LIGHTS

Bailee and I had a girls weekend together and decided to visit the City Of Lights in Natchitoches, Louisana. We had such a great time!! We also had a hotel room for the night so we did not have to drive back to Monroe. We saw many Christmas lights and some AWESOME fireworks. We walked a lot looking around at many things. We got to hold an alligator, which was really cool. Bailee also Got a chicken on a stick,which she LOVES come football tailgating season. Her Papaw Larry always cook this when we go tailgating at ULM. Little did she know that in Natchitoches they give you a WHOLE chicken on a little stick!

BUBBA'S 2ND BIRTHDAY PARTY

Our puppies are such a big part of our family. We have so enjoyed not only having one, but two. It is always so amazing to me how attached you can get to them. I feel like they are my children. Bubba and Baxter are always there with me when the kids are at school and when Jerry is out of town. They are so spoiled. We recently celebrated Bubba's 2nd Birthday the Day after Christmas. We always make a big deal out of Birthday's in our family.Each Year that we live is a celebration to God for letting us be together as a family.For Bubba's Birthday, we bought him a cute little Birthday outfit, and of course A Puppy Santa hat. The little ball on the hat played music and talked and when we played it for him, he just danced around in a circle trying to catch it! Happy Birthday Bubba Max Ellerman, we love you so much!

ICE SKATING IN THE SOUTH

The kids and I had a blast ice skating at the River Center In Baton Rouge. This was thier very first time to ice skate and I have not done this since I was 10 years old in Dallas at the Galleria. So, We were all nervous. The kids held on to the wall at first, but as time went on, they learned to use the ice skates like normal skates. Bailee got the hang  of it a little quicker than Caiden but she had her share of falling on that cold ice!! And it was just like riding a bike to me, you never forget what to do! It was like I was still 10!!! I did VERY well for a 35 year old Mom!!! We got to skate for 90 min, and then we also took a coke and snack break.

A ELLERMAN CHRISTMAS 2009

We had a great Ellerman Christmas this year. It was great to see everyone and have everyone together. Jerry's dad tried some new things this year. He fried Twinkies. They were sooo yummy!!! Jerry and I are so blessed to have such wonderful family members that make the holidays so special! Thanks again to the Ellerman family for making me like family again! Love you all!!

OUR FAMILY AT THE PUMPKIN PATCH

Our family had a great time at the pumpkin patch. Jerry is usually gone at this time of year, but he is home now and we are so glad that he got to go this year! I love this time of year. I love the cool weather, the leaves falling on the ground and the wonderful smell of campfires!!

WARHAWK PRIDE

CAIDEN'S 1ST AWARD ASSEMBLY OF 6TH GRADE

Caiden also had a award day at school!

He also got A-B Honor roll and a Gator Gold for an A in conduct!

Way to Go C-Max , keep up the good work!!

BAILEE'S 1ST AWARD ASSEMBLY OF 5TH GRADE

Bailee had her 1st Award Day at school.

Jerry and I so enjoyed watching her go up on stage!

She got A-B Honor Roll!!! These girls are looking at the Community Newspaper, Our family was featured in it at the ULM Homecoming game!!

Bailee also got a Gator Gold for making an A in conduct. The school started this program and at the end of every 6 weeks the students can use them and get prizes at the Gator Store which will be held this Friday! We are so proud of our Bailee Grace!!!

SLEEPING BEAUTIES

SYATP 2009

We had a GREAT turnout at See You At The Poles!
We met at First Baptist Church Of Swartz at 6 am for a time of breakfast, fellowship, and even some door prizes!

We had a awesome day set aside for us as Christians to pray for our schools, students, and for our country!

Bro. Thomas speaking to our students, parents, and teachers.

This sign was posted on every classroom showing that prayer was said!

Bailee and her Friend Mary Grace and their teacher

My whole family along with others

The group saluting our flag! What a wonderful gathering we had!! I thank God for Christian students, parents, and teachers in our schools!!

BAILEE'S PET ROCK PROJECT

Bailee had a project to do for her 5th grade science class.
Caiden did one last year, and so enjoyed this project. Girls and Boys are so different, for Bailee wanted her project GREAT!! So we took several rocks and spray painted them and made it a Fall Theme.

We took a simple cardboard box, painted it, glued on it, and put hay in the bottom. We glued several leaves on rocks. We also took some pilgrim faces and glued them onto the rocks. I found a cute little pumpkin that used batteries and blinked in and off! It was so cool!!

She painted jack o lantern faces on some of the rocks.

Bailee and her friend Ashley evened worked together on their projects. We had so much fun doing this cute little pet rock project!! Bailee made a 100 on it!!

SWIMMING WITH THE SEA LIONS

For my 35th Birthday, my family gave me a wonderful gift!! I got to swim with sea lions at Sea World!!

It was such an AWESOME experience and I enjoyed every minute of interacting with these amazing animals!!

Not only did I swim with them, I got to really see these animals perform some amazing things!

The sea lions were very smart and they are some beautiful creatures!

The instructor taught us some neat hand tricks to do and these sea lions were very willing to do whatever we asked of them!

I was so nervous but so excited at the same time!! They were unreal, the touch of their skin was like a puppy dog, really.

Just from a simple hand signal, the amazing creatures did some amazing things!!

The water was VERY cold, but i warmed up very quickly!!

I so enjoyed everything about this amazing trip!!!! Thanks so much to Jerry, Caiden, and Bailee for letting me live a dream and swim with some amazing animals!!! I had such a great time and learned a lot about sea lions!!

MONKEY ON HIS BACK?!

Not really, but our puppy Baxter thinks he is! His favorite place is always to sit on people's shoulders. He is not a lap dog, but a stand on your back dog!!

HIGH DELTA SAFARI PARK 2009

The kids and I had a great time here.

We always go to this place a lot in the summer. It's only about a 45 minute drive and worth it!

Caiden fed a lot of animals but my Bailee Grace..well lets just say she was there to watch! She does not care much to come in contact with the animals, and the smell gets the best of her! She has been this way for as long as I can remember. If we go to the zoo we always have to skip the monkey house because she gets sick at her stomach. But she did have a good time!
We did the car tour, petting zoo, and walked around feeding animals. Caiden had a great time feeding all kinds of animals.

The car tour always starts out with the ostrich. I had no problem feeding it, but he eats kind of funny. Instead of just eating out of the cup, he pecks at it kind of like a chicken and the jerking movements will startle you!

Caiden feeding a deer.

We had a hard time getting around the HUGE Bulls. They just kept roaming around the car and I was scared those big horns were going to damage my car.

Caiden had his turn of feeding the ostrich, he did quite well and was not scared.

I fed some beautiful zebras.

Caiden did also.

I love nature and all she has to offer. What a beautiful sight to see so much of it here!

Caiden feeding a donkey

After the car tour, we found a nice picnic area surrounded by a pond. I prepared our lunch last night. I made my mom's famous chicken salad. Her recipe is AWESOME!! I used boiled chicken, eggs, walnuts, apples,pecans, and some red pepper!! It was YUMMY!!

I packed paper plates, plastic forks and spoons, drinks in a cooler bag. I also made some cookies for dessert.

My Bailee just enjoying the view and relaxing.

Right in the middle of eating our picnic lunch, a cute little rabbit was playing in the grass. We suddenly stopped eating and walked over to where the rabbit was.

Caiden has always had a love for animals and he just wanted so much to pick him up.

We got some of the animal food and put some on the ground.

Even Bailee decided at this point to feed her 1st animal!!!

We were so amazed that such a wild creature was letting us pet him!!

Caiden finally got to pick him up and hold him

Bailee also picked him up.

What a awesome thing, we so enjoyed this moment then went back to finish our lunch.

After lunch, we went to the petting zoo.

Look at that HUGE turtle!!!

Caiden just put food on the ground for the peacock!!

The kids sitting on the turtle!!

We had such a wonderful time here. Glad we got to go before the BIG rain hit!!

DIXIE LANDIN

We had so much fun at this amusement park. After a long and fun day at the water park, we went back and rode a lot of fun roller coaster rides!

The kids and I rode so many rides, I was so surprised that they rode the best ,funnest, and most bizarre rides! For sure Caiden, he rode the best rides with me!

Caiden and I rode this awesome roller coaster ride called the ragin cajun! We did so many flips, forwards and backwards. It was a BLAST!!

Caiden enjoyed this ride and so did I!! We were going to fast, you can tell by my hair!

Jerry and Caiden took some time to play some games, they played a couple games of basketball.

Bailee and her new friend Laurin rode a lot of rides together.

They loved these swings.

The kids rode a lot of rides together

I could not believe they were holding up their hands like this!!

Caiden and Bailee rode this cool roller coaster ride.

They also ride the spider, they loved this ride also

My friend Amy and I rode this pirate ride with the kids!

OK, this was the BEST ride there. It was a straight down path going 80 mph. I told Caiden that I was not going to do it, but I ended up doing it with him!

Caiden LOVED it, and so did I!! It was AWESOME!!

This ride was also fun for the kids. We rode it aleast twice, well I did then they rode it again for the 3rd time!

Jerry did not ride many rides, rollercoasters are not his thing, but he did ride the bumper cars with the kids!

We has so much fun here. We arrived at the waterpark at 10 am and left the amusement park at 10 pm, when it closed so we for sure got our money's worth!!!

COUNTRY TIME LEMONADE?!

Well, not literally, But it is homemade lemonade, and we are out in the country!! When you have a OLD fold out eating tray, an ice chest and a 4-wheeler... well, lets just say that it doesn't get more country than that!!

Bailee and her friends had the best time today setting up a lemonade stand. I was very proud of them. They made their own sign and made their own lemonade. I did not help out a bit!

I was with them, But I also watched from across the street.

Just within 5 minutes of setting up, they had their 1st customer, they were soo excited!

So excited that Bailee Grace and Mary Grace did their special little handshake!!

The girls 1st dollar they earned!

People just kept stopping by Even people who were hard at work and they just needed a cool refreshment.

These guys LOVED the kids lemonade!!

Mary Grace and Ashley decided to go wave the sign down the street to get others attention

Caiden even joined in!

I cannot tell you how many cars stopped but it was a lot!

The girls sold out of the first batch and came back to the house to make more!! That is UNREAL!!

The kids looking at ALL the money they made!! They ended up making 21 dollars and 50 cents, not bad!!!!

The kids had soo much fun doing this, they ended up selling out a second time, but I thought they had sold enough!! What a day they had. We came home and divided the money and they cannot wait to do it again!!

BLUE BAYOU IN BATON ROUGE

We had such a great time at this water park!


The kids and I went along with my friend and her daughter Friday.


Then we all went back Sunday with Jerry.


Bailee was so glad to have a friend there to enjoy all the water rides!

They played in the wave pool

The kids also enjoyed a relaxing stroll along the Lazy river.

Bailee coming down the big water slide. I was so proud of both of them. They did almost every one. I think We only skipped out on just one!

Only In the Bayou state!!

Bailee and Laurin were inseparable, they got along so well!

They enjoyed riding the rides, I was so glad they worked together carrying the tube up the stairs, I had a hard time climbing all those stairs.

Here is Jerry and the kids on the 1st water slide

It was so fun to watch the look in their faces, they LOVED it!

Me and the kids on a water slide.

You really get splashed a lot when you are first on those tubes!! I was drenched!

I LOVE this picture. How sweet , A brother and sister.

This water ride was AWESOME!! I call it the LSU ride!

Bailee going down . It was a straight down ride, it was very fast.

I was really scared, and endured it, and loved it!

Me and the kids

You spin around like a toliet bowl with this ride.

Jerry and I racing down the slide

I beat him!

The kids racing

Jerry and the kids

This ride was very dark inside and the water hot

The kids cooling off

We took a little snack break and got some nachos and a coke. Rested and we were ready to go at it again

Caiden

Look at those HUGE feet!

Jerry

Bailee

We walked over to the amusement park and did the only water ride they had the log ride. We wanted to go ahead and do this because we were going there that night and we did not want to get wet again.

It was FUN!

Our BIG splash at the end!

We had so much fun and cannot wait to go back!

SUMMER HOMEMADE ICE CREAM

The kids and I had so much fun making Homemade Ice cream today!!
I stood back and let them do all the preparation for it

Caiden was really involved in helping make it, a lot more than he usually is!

The kids even worked together, helping each other and making sure all the ingredients were being added.

They did very well with the cracking of the eggs. I had a separate bowl handy for them to but the egg shells in.

After mixing, Caiden went outside and poured everything in the container.

WOW, it turned out looking yummy!!They were so proud of themselves!

We sat outside under the carport and ate our ice cream!

Caiden had to get the first taste in!!

We brought in the leftovers and put it in the freezer to have some more later!

We even let the dogs have a taste of it, and they LOVED it!!

THE PLACE WHERE A KID CAN BE A KID

SUMMER SWIM TIME IN HOTELS

During the summer time, we visit many hotel swimming pools!
From state to state, we love getting to experience everyone elses culture and yes, their swimming pools!
Here are us in Baton Rouge!

Caiden and Bailee decided to go behind the ladder to see if they would get stuck there, well, they didn't!!

Bailee's handstand!

Bailee in the hot tub and it was HOT!!

this hotel was in Shreveport

They had a BLAST here!!

what made it more fun was that our puppies Bubba and Baxter came out to swim with us!

Caiden and Bailee really love their puppies!

We are so blessed to be able to travel with Jerry and see so many different things!

ZEPHYRS BASEBALL

We had a great time at the baseball game!
We love sports and love going to see the real live action anytime we can!

We drove from Baton Rouge to New Orleans to watch this game.

They even had a pool where you could swim and watch baseball, how cool is that!?

I was so proud I actually caught this towel, I was hoping to catch a baseball, but oh well, I will take what I can get!! I gave the towel to Bailee, She LOVED it!

The Zephyrs Mascot messing around with the players!

What a cute couple!! Doing some southern dancing on the field!!

Then he got in trouble, OH NO!! She was just a fussing at him!!

Half time show!! It was a race at who could make the fastest human hamburger!!The kids were laughing so hard at this!

The last of the "human" hamburger!! I thought he was going to hurt him when he jumped on him!!

At the end of the game, all the fans got to go on the field and run the bases. Caiden was so tired at this point, But Bailee and I were excited about doing this!!!

Bailee was having so much fun!! We are almost to the home plate!!

I was kinda upset that these pictures did not turn out well but I am still learning about my new camera. We had fun posing!!This is Jerry!

Bailee

And me!! We had so much fun and look forward to going back for another game!!

OUR VISIT TO OUR STATE CAPITOL

We had a great time visiting our state capital in Baton Rouge Louisiana
Jerry and I have been there several times, but this was Caiden and Bailee's first visit and they enjoyed learning about our State History.

Jerry and the kids walking up the LONG stairs, it was soo hot and they were so glad to finally get to the top!!

Caiden was so proud that he made it and thought he was Rocky!! One of my favorite movies!!

I cannot believe that Caiden was brave enough to climb here, I was kinda panicking but Jerry was trying to tell me that it was ok!

My Bailee

Inside the state Capitol, it was soo pretty

We had so much fun and glad our children got to visit our state capital and learn about our state's history, YES, even though it's summer we are still doing things that are essential to our children's education!

USS KIDD

Our family had a BLAST at this place!!

What better way to spend 4th of July weekend !

We celebrated Independence Day at a wonderful historical place in honor of our freedom.

This place was so neat and very educational not only for the kids but for Jerry and I as well.

Look at all those pretty flags!!

What is so neat was that we were not planning on going here, just passing through and decided to stop and tour it. Sometimes its just plain fun to do something out of the ordinary.

I so love the fact that Jerry takes time with our children. He was showing the kids the BIG ship.

My beautiful family! We are so blessed to have each other!

This picture is very special to the kids. This man was on the ship and was explaining to the kids the significance of it. The kids are holding pictures of him when was on the ship.

This picture is of Jerry and the kids trying to pick this man out in the picture of all the men in the ship.

Jerry flying high on the USS KIDD !

My Caiden taking in the view and enjoying this historical landmark.

Caiden LOVES history and takes pride in always learning!

I LOVE this!! Jerry thinks he is fighting on the ship!

Jerry helping Bailee.

My sweet Bailee

Caiden taking control

And YES, I had to try it out too!!

These are pictures of us touring the ship.

The history was overwheming, and very emotional for us.

Bailee was sitting in the Barber shop chair that they used on the ship. The kids were so amazed at all the different compartments of the ship. For they lived on here for quite a while. This was thier home.

What is a ship without a pirate flag!!

Jerry thinking he was fighting!

This was the best part about the tour. The AWESOME wall of those who fought for our country.

I think this picture says it all.. nothing is free

We had such a great time and we are so thankful for those who fought for our country. We are truly blessed as a nation. God did BLESS THE USA!!

MIKE THE LSU TIGER

While on our trip in Baton Rouge, home of the LSU Tigers, we got to tour the LSU campus and see the mascot, Mike the Tiger!!
He was taking a little nap while were there! Caiden and Bailee and I were in awe of this mighty beast!! But he did not look so tough lying here!!

This is Mike's purple ball that he plays with.

Me and the kids posing by the Mike the Tiger statue.

LOVE THIS!!

Here is Mike's play land in Tiger land!!

Our family had a blast here and getting to see our LSU Mascot of the champions!!! GEAUX TIGERS... and MIKE!!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY FROM OUR FAMILY

What a wonderful day for us as Americans!!We have so much to be thankful for!! Freedom, Life, Liberty..and most of all our family!!!

BAILEE'S BATON ROUGE FIELD TRIP

Bailee had I had the best time on her end of year field trip to various places in Baton Rouge!We went to Myrtle's Plantation,Rosedown Plantation, and the Bayou Swap Tour. It was such a wonder experience and I got to spend some great time with her! This picture of a snake was the highlight of the trip! While we were on the balcony of the Rosedown plantation, we saw this little creature just passing thorough the garden. The kids were in awe of this snake slithering along!
Bailee and I got up at 4 am to be at the school. We left at five thirty am! The school rented a BIG bus with many TVs for the kids to enjoy!

Some of the girls that were on the bus !!

Our first stop was Myrtles Plantation.

This a picture of one of Bailee's teachers and many girls on the field trip!

Bailee and her sweet teacher Mrs.Tanner. She was the BEST teacher! I so loved going to every party and function and helping her out in any way I could! Bailee and I love you dearly!!

This picture was a reflection of the famous mirror at Myrtles. They say that this mirror was special and the reflections were haunted, NOT!!

Bailee and her best friend Ashley with one of the tour guides.

I LOVE this picture! Bailee brought her yearbook on the trip for all her friends to sign! What a special moment in a girl's life! I see so much of me in Bailee! Special memories Bailee will have of all her friends in school!!

These are just pictures of various things in the plantations that I thought were really cool! I took soo many pictures, 420, to be exact, so it was very hard for me to choose which ones meant the most to me!

I absolutely LOVE this picture! This was a baby crib in the Rosedown plantation. This was the original crib!!

This is a picture of the boy's room. I LOVE the slingshot, for sure the hobby of a typical boy!

Of course, I took many pictures of the kitchen because I LOVE to cook!It is so amazing to me how women cooked back then! I feel so blessed to have the many convinces of electricity! And Dishwashers!

We had a great picnic time! I brought several blankets and me and some girls camped out on the ground and enjoyed nature, and YES, and lunch!!

Bailee and Ashley enjoying a cool soda on the bus! Bailee and Ashley toured the gift shop and ending up buying the old soda pops in the glass bottle. We sure have come a long way from this! But I am glad they enjoyed a cool refreshment!

Bailee's favorite part was the Bayou Swamp tour!

Bailee had I had soo much fun there! We learned many dance steps.

I was choosen to be the leader in a group of music groups, We voted on the name of the Gator Glory crawdads!

Bailee learning how to play her instrument

Bailee learning how to dance !

I think the biggest highlight of the trip for me was kissing an alliagator!! Several teachers were asked to kiss this adorable , yet, but scary, creature. At first, I must admit, I was TERRIFED!! But as soon as I closed my eyes, prayed to the Lord for safety, I somewhat felt at ease. Yes, CRAZY, but yet, so BRAVE!! I am soo glad that I took the chance to do this! Bailee was so proud of me and was so happy to be able to watch this and see me demonstrate some bravery and courage. Maybe I was just plain CARZY!! Only the Lord knows!!

Baliee enjoyed meeting this alliagtior and for having the chance to pet one!

After some dancing and petting the alliagtor, we got to enjoy some Domino's Pizza!

Bailee wrestling an alliagtor!

Bailee and Ashley

The Boyou Swamp Tour had a sign welcoming our school!

Bailee and I had such a great time on this trip! What a way to end the year with a trip like this! Again, I am feel so blessed to go on any trip with my children! I so enjoyed it!!

VBS 2009

My kids love all things about summer, but they look forward to VBS most of all!

Not only to they get to see friends from school, but get a chance to share God's love with them!

Caiden and Bailee had a GREAT week at VBS at Swartz Baptist Church!

The theme was Boomerang Express.

Caiden and Bailee enjoyed being around cousins and friends, But most of all, learned more about Jesus and His love!

The last day, they had Water Day and got to play on a water slide and with water guns!

Caiden doing crafts

Bailee and Sarah

My two sweet kids!

Bailee had a BLAST on the water slide!!

CRAZY cousins, Caiden and Carter!!

Cousins, Caiden and Peyton!

Caiden was enjoying his snack that consisted of LOTS of nachos!

I cannot tell you how many times Bailee took on the water slide. It was A LOT!!

Cousins, Caiden and Patrick

Bailee got in right on the face with the water gun!

Caiden had whipped cream all over his face!

Wednesday night was family night and the kids got to perform with the staff singing the songs that they learned during the week. I so enjoyed this and seeing my kids enjoy singing songs about Jesus and His love !

What a wonderful week my children had and I am so glad they got to go and fellowship with children that love the Lord like they do!

ULM BASEBALL CAMP 2009

Caiden had a great week at the Coach Shake ULM Baseball Camp this week!

I took Caiden and Bo this week at they learned so much and had such a great time! This is a picture of Caiden hitting a home run!!

I got to watch Caiden play a lot and enjoyed seeing him have such a great time.

Where is the baseball going to end up?!

Caiden acting like Babe Ruth!!

Caiden and Bo were very proud of their certificates!

After the Camp, the guys got to get autographs with Coach Shake and The ULM Baseball players

Caiden such a great time and had a great experience of baseball time! He loves baseball and is always willing to learn more about it this sport!

BAILEE'S END OF THE YEAR AWARDS CEREMONY

Bailee had a GREAT year of 4th grade this year!! She made A-B Honor roll all year and received the Spelling Award! Her average in Spelling was always 100 A plus and most of the time above this average!

Bailee has made made so much progress this year and so proud of her good grades and passing the I-LEAP!!

Way to go Bailee Grace for all your hard work and discipline in studying all year long! Love you!

Bailee and her best friend Ashley proud of their awards!

Bailee was so proud of her award!!

CAIDEN'S END OF THE YEAR AWARD CEREMONY

I am so proud of Caiden for all his GREAT grades this school year!
He got all A's and B's all year long! For the final 6-weeks, he made ALL A's and His LEAP scores were AWESOME!! He got advanced and Mastery on his scores!!

There is no better feeling for a parent than for their child to succeed, and excel. Out of any of Caiden's accomplishments so far in his life, I am most proud of his scholastic accomplishments more than anything!

Way to go Caiden on an AWESOME year!!!

SLIPING AND SLIDING

After a GREAT week of VBS for Caiden and Bailee, Bailee has a friend over to spend the night.

Bailee, Ashley, and Mary Grace headed over to Mary Grace's house for a little summer fun on the Slip N Slide.
So I enjoyed watching these girls do this, They had a BLAST!!

What a wonderful memory for these girls to have of summer fun!!

Thanks Mary Grace for letting the girls come over for some summer fun!!

BAILEE'S FIELD DAY

Mrs.Tanner was a WONDERFUL 4th grade teacher and I am so glad she was Bailee's teacher! This is her helping Bailee and her friend Brianna get ready for the 3-legged race!

Bailee had a GREAT time with her friends on field day!

She got to play various games and had so much fun!

This was her favorite event, the beach ball !

Bailee also participated in the 2-legged race with her friends Brianna.

Bailee throwing a softball.She did GREAT!!

Mrs.Tanner and her girls.

Bailee and her friend Taylor Brooke

Bailee and Ashley taking a break from the games.

SNOW CONE time!! YUMMY!

It was a HOT day, but the girls cooled down with some good ole snow cones!

What a bunch of sweet girls !

Maddy and Bailee

What a fun and Great time for not only Bailee Grace, But Jerry and I as well! I love all school events my children are involved in, but this is my favorite school party! For summer is on the way!!

Proud parents!

Jerry LOVES his Bailee Grace!!

In addition to Field day, Bailee also got to visit the Gator Store at school. The kids get tickets for doing various good deeds and they redeem them later in the school year for school prizes!

CAIDEN'S FIELD DAY

Caiden had his field day at school last week and it was so fun to watch him and his classmates race!

Caiden participated in several events and did so with his best friend Bo!

Caiden and Bo did the Broom Race together and it was so funny to watch them do this event!

Caiden also did the tug a war.All the boys wanted him in the back because he was the biggest and the strongest.

The boys had such a great time together. I am so glad that Caiden has many friends at his school.

Best of buddies.

The Stroker boys! Have you ever seen so many orange hats!

Caiden was glad I brought a blanket for him and his friends to sit on. They ate snacks and watched the games.

Caiden's classmates ,the girls, had a good time too!

The girls in Caiden's class doing the Broom Race

Goofing around his what these boys like to do!

Caiden was planning his strategy!

Caiden's teacher , Mrs. Thomas and her boys! She was a GREAT teacher this year! I am so glad Caiden was in her class!

On you marks, Get set, GO!!

Jerry and I had such a great time with Caiden! How blessed we feel to be able to attend school functions!

ALLIGATOR KISSES

Either I am credibly CRAZY, or just brave!!

Bailee and I had an AMAZING field trip today!

We went to Baton Rouge and visited many places, her favorite, the Alligator Swap place.

Several teachers were asked to "kiss" this little alligator.

So after teachers did so, I decided that I would!

Crazy, yes, maybe, but I believe We have only one chance to live life to the fullest, so, I thought it would be neat to "kiss" this adorable alligator.

What was amazing was that I was scared at first, but somewhat felt comfortable when my lips touched it!

MY MOTHER'S DAY

What a blessing it is to be called "MOM". My Mother's Day was not spent with breakfast in bed, flowers, or a gift of my own, but a gift of being with the ones I love most in this life. It is so amazing to me how God allows certain situations and circumstances in our life to bring us closer to the ones we love, more than that,closer to him! Since my brother moved away, I have not has the same relationship with him. I love him so much and so miss him being only 20 minutes away,now 8 hours away. I am so blessed to have such a loving and caring brother and sister. My brother just received one of the greatest blessings in life, a newborn baby, a son, and his baby boy was having some problems. But by the Grace of God, he is doing great! My WONDERFUL mom, has been through a lot this last week, and has made sure she was there for my brother and his family. With her dad just having surgery, she was trying to hard to be there for everyone. One of our jobs as a mother is the need to take care of any situation and everyone involved in that situation. Yes, sometimes it feels like a burden, but as a mother, we thrive and act on situations that involve our family, and seek guidance from the Lord and loves ones to make their life the best it can be. I think about the saying, "God could not be everywhere, that's why he created Mothers," But God is everywhere, and involved in every aspect of our lives. He gives us a choice in how we respond to these hardships and sees us through them so others can see His amazing Grace! The Lord can take any situation good and bad and use it so other's can see love, unconditional love, the love of a mother and child. Nothing illustrates this better than Go