Our Fantastic Family Of Four Forever Believes

"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family" Anthony Brandt

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

WELCOMING THE NEW YEAR AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES..

Happy New Year friends! My family and I are very excited about the new year and all the NEW wonderful opportunities that wait us! Let old acquaintances, or should I say old habits be forgotten!!I will get into that later!

Our family had a great New Year's Eve. We started the night of with Some Micky D's. I had cooked so much in the last 2 weeks, that I just told everyone that I was taking a break! For I would be soon cooking AGAIN, New Year's Day. Everyone agreed on some eating out, so Jerry so kindly got McDonald's for us.

After eating, We watched Our LSU Tigers pull out a GREAT and WELL DESERVED victory in the Chick-fil-a, eat more chick in Bowl! We are so proud of them Tigers! We enjoyed the game so much. Bailee at one point had to leave the living room because I was yelling so loud, sorry Bailee you know how Momma loves her Tigers!!

Jerry and Bailee chose a wonder variety of fireworks. When they got home them, we had to pull everyone out and look at them. Caiden was so excited, and he was deciding on with one to do first!













Great job Tigers!!

We had to wait till after the game to pop all the fireworks. We invited the Knight family over to pop firecrackers. They also brought with them lots of fireworks!




Caiden and Bo lit most of them, the girls were so cold, and I thought my hands were going to freeze off!


The girls!!

Leslie and I were having a great time making fun of Jerry and Larry!


Isn't that so pretty!! I love fireworks! Jerry and I decided to wait and do fireworks for New Years Eve instead of Christmas, and I am glad we waited, it was so much more exciting!



The men, looking all tough!

Caiden and his best buddy Bo, They were really having fun! I was jealous of Bo, He had a flashlight attached to his head, and he was lighting them fireworks with no problem!


Sparkler time!





Megan, Emily, and Bailee




The day after...thanks to my Bailee for picking up the BIG mess!! I love you and thank you for being such a BIG help, your kindness does not go unnoticed!


New Year Day, was a great one, I woke up very early to start cooking my New Years Day Dinner. I put on a ham to bake, and started cooking black eyed peas. Peas take forever to cook, and Jerry likes his peas well-done, LOL! Everyone got up a little later, and we all wished everyone a happy new year, and promised each other that we would all be kind to one another, mainly Caiden and Bailee! This was the beginning to a new year, and a new time, so lets make a special effort to say at least one kind word of sisterly/brotherly love! That lasted till maybe 4pm, but at least they tried!!
Bailee helped me out in the kitchen, and I am so grateful for that. Not only for her help, but for her wanting to, she loves to help me cook, she really wants to learn, and I am so glad she does.


How often do you see a man in the kitchen?! Well, Jerry is great about using the electric knife! He is always the one who cuts and carves the game, I mean,the main course! HA HA! Seriously, he does help me out a lot!He often asks "can I do anything?!" but he knows how I am in the kitchen, I want to do it all myself, thanks Jerry for being so considerate, but knowing you are glad when I say " I got it, go play games with Caiden." I love seeing the look of RELIEF on his face!!
We had a great Dinner. I cooked the traditional New Years Day dinner.

We had Spiral ham. butter beans, cabbage, (which only I ate) fried okra,turnip greens, with some hot pepper sauce, crescent rolls, and of course black eyed peas!

My helpers in the kitchen

And some cornbread! I learned a lot from Jerry from the first time I saw him! I can remember soon after we were married , He asked me for mayonnaise to put on his peas. At first, I thought gross, But I tried it and it was great! I cannot eat peas without it now!

Bailee was the one who put the dime in the peas. Jerry is such a clean fanatic,and so I am, so I boiled the mess out of the dime, and then let Bailee drop it in the peas.

My New Years meal, that took about 5 hours to prepare


My family is so grateful for my home-cooked meals, Jerry does not get this when he travels, so when he is home, I cook the most I can.

After a great meal, Bo came over to play and Caiden and him popped more fireworks.
I love watching them together. They were lighting the firecrackers and then throwing them into the water to see how far water would go up into the air.

We had a great time. I know how I go on and on about how thankful I am that Jerry is here, but its just a simple thought of gratitude, for we are not always together, and I do thank the Lord for every moment we have with him. When you are away from the one you love the most, you come to a realization that every moment you have together, whether it be just sitting near them on the sofa, or having a conversation with them, is a blessing. I used to take this for granted, not any more. His job has made me realize the importance of family, and that every moment you have with one another is a humbling experience. As far as New Years resolutions, why make them? Shouldn't we strive all year long to make our life better, to make a commitment to ensure a better life for ourselves, even more our family. Everyone wants to lose weight, exercise, become a little more debt free. One day out of the year, we make resolutions, to try to make one day be the center of the best intentions, the best of a year of sometimes unrealistic commitments, why not make it a daily thing. Asking the Lord for his guidance in our life, us living life to the fullest is actually a daily thing, this is something for me to really think about. Happy New Year everyone! May God Bless every good intention we have! And more than that , make it a reality, and a blessing to Him!






Our New Year's Eve Firework Display