GIVING "THANKS" FOR NATURE

For some reason, my camera is always with me.
Maybe its because I want to capture my feelings on something I see. I am so interested in how a single picture can show my expression and emotions. The exact moment I focus in on a subject, and see something that moves me, that really has a profound affect on me.

I am a southern gal, I love to hunt, and I love being outdoors. And for some reason, I am moved by nature. Just the knowing that our Lord provided this earth with little critters, and the mere existence of beautiful trees, that provide us with many resources. For shade, and simply for us to enjoy looking at.

The kids and I have spent a lot of time with my mother this week, and she lives on the bayou.

I love to go down to her dock and just sit on her pier, taking in all the beautiful surroundings.

These are images that were taking on Bayou Bartholomew. I am thanking God for the blessings in nature. He has really blessed us with soo many things. What a joy to be able to look at our world and see the nature in the making of the hands of the Lord!

THANKSGIVING SHOULD NOT BE ONE DAY OUT OF THE YEAR, BUT ALL YEAR LONG

Let me first day that I LOVE Thanksgiving! Besides, Halloween, It is my absolute favorite holidays of the year. I have been looking forward to Thursday. I so love the times I spend with my own family as well as my extended family. To have times with my grandparents, thank God they are still with us, and my mom and siblings. To have absolute well prepared meal set before us, holding hands around the table, each of us giving "thanks to God" for all things in our life. I have spent many hours preparing my Thanksgiving day menu, and looking at my family's recipes. I love cooking to begin with, but I LOVE cooking the old traditional meals, fried turkey, turkey and dressing and my famous pecan pies! I am also enjoying the extra time with the kids, for when the house is filled with laughing, the blaring tv, and the occasional, "They hit me first!" I am reminded how blessed am to have it all, even sometimes I wonder if things will calm down! I am also concerned with Jerry, if he will be home to share this wonderful time with us, for this is the most special time of the year to be with family, and to "give thanks" for all be have been blessed with. I have to admit, I have been a little on the edge because I want him home with us right now, to share the little outings me and the kids have. But, at the same time, he has a job to do, so we can have the little things that make us happy, but should I want those little "extra" things that we could live without?? Should I just say, Hey Jerry, I know you were soo happy with being a policeman, and it is your true calling, do what makes you happy!" We have had this discussion many times, and leaving it at We want what is best for the entire family. There are sacrifices made on each of our parts. He works several hours a day, away from our home, sleeping in uncomfortable hotel beds, eating lunch and dinner alone, and I feel so bad for him, because deep down, he just wants to be with our family. He loves to have me cook his favorite meals, for me to say, " is there anything I can do for you?" He longs to tuck our children into bed, and here them say"Goodnight daddy, I love you." And I want it too, and sometimes I have bitterness, for others who have their spouses home all the time, hey, I am not perfect, and I will never sugarcoat anything, for some can pretend that their little family has the greatest times ALL the time, but I know that is not true. But, after going to church today, my outlook on life had done a 180 degree turn. While I was going on with self pity, and soo realized that Thanksgiving is a everyday thing, that I should give God thanks EVERYDAY for all the blessings in my life. We should not say" I am so Thankful for this and that on the exact day of Thanksgiving." but it should be a everyday thing.For blessings happen to us everyday, not just on Thanksgiving. We should praise God for every situation that is place in our life, whether it be a good thing or a bad thing. It so easy to praise the Lord when things are going OUR way and everything is good, But when obstacles are placed in our life that don't always agree with us, we asked God "why me?"Then I am reminded of Paul, who was a great man of faith, who had many obstacles placed in his life. Having read the Word, and him saying that he had a thorn in his flesh. It was not "literally" a thorn but an affliction that kept trying to pull him down, that tried to question his faith. Paul did not have an easy life. He had been beaten, thrown in jail, and betrayed by his friends. But through it all, he gave glory to God, for everything, good and bad.He gave thanks to God for EVERYTHING.Why? I have been reading scriptures upon scriptures to understand his faithfulness to God.These verses really spoke to me.

"For I reckon, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Romans 8:18.

"But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happen unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel, So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places." Philippians 1:12, 13.

"And we know that all things work together for the good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" "He spared not His only Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with him also freely give us all things?" Romans 8:31, 32.

So what does this all mean?That I should not dwell on the things that are happening right now, that I should put all my trust in the Lord, because in the end, it is all about glorifying Him and working to please Him, by giving thanks for all the things in my life. Even though things might not go my way, He places things in our life to bring us closer to Him, to be more Christlike. Paul knows this better than anyone, for He was under some trying times, but He realized the things that matter was that giving God ALL the glory would bring him to a understanding of appreciating the sacrifices that the Lord made for us. When we humble our self to the Lord, we come to an understanding that without Him, we would have no life, no hope, no reason to go on. And isn't it wonderful to know that even though we don't get all the answers to our questions in our time, but we have God that hears us, and loves us, and only wants the best for us. His ways are higher and above our ways, and ultimately, He knows what is best for us better than us. So, we should always thank Him for everything, good and bad everyday of our life.I believe that God place things in our life to teach us about the greatness of his power. He place things in our life sometimes that are not so great to help us take a bad situation and turn into something that will bring glory to Him, and for us to understand that good things can come out of bad situations.We should thank Him that we are able to breath, wake up in the morning and see the sun shine, that we have food and shelter, family. But most of all, we should thank him for being a Loving God,a forgiving God, and a provider. May we all this season start praising God for all the things in our life! Jerry may not be with us on the day of Thanksgiving physically, but spiritually, he is with us, just like our loving God! May God be with all families this Thanksgiving Day! And let us thank Him daily! Not just "one day out of the year." God Bless you all!

BAILEE'S FIELD TRIP TO THE BALLET OF CINDERELLA

Bailee had her first field trip Friday and she was so excited about it! She has been talking about it for weeks!
Matter of fact, she had a hard time going to bed Thursday night, because she was so looking forward to it!

The field trip was to the Cinderella Ballet. It was so amazing! I love Ballets, the music, the dancing, and just being there watching the beautiful movement of the dancers.

I got to sit by Bailee and her friend Ashley and they were so mesmerized by the whole ballet. Bailee has actually spent the last 2 days in her costumes from her dance recital. She is interested in taking dancing again!

We had so much fun watching it.

I actually did more videos than pictures , for I felt I would not do the Ballet justice by pictures, for I was moved by every scene.To actually watch the ballet and feel the moment was so extraordinary.

After the ballet, Bailee got to ride home with me and we just spent the rest of the day around town, enjoying time with each other. It is so nice to be able to take each one of my children and spend one on one time with them, Caiden had his field trip last week , and I did the exact thing with him!

I am soo grateful to the fact that I can attend these special times with my children!

WHAT MY CHILDREN ARE THANKFUL FOR...

As Thanksgiving approaches,I am remained of How much God as blessed me and my family.I am so grateful for so many things, and I could never list all the things that are so important to me. For the gifts that God has given me are infinite, and He will continue to bless our family. I wanted to do something different this year. I wanted each one of my children to share their own feelings on my blog and tell you what they are most thankful for. I am the one who does all the blogging, but I wanted my children to attribute their feelings on Thanksgiving. So, you are about to hear the exact words of Thanksgiving from my children!
Caiden says... that i have a good family, that my parents let me have dogs and i have a cellphone, that i live in a country where i can be free,and that God loves me no matter what, i love my friends, and i am so glad that my momma lets me have friends over,i love my sister even though we fight sometimes. I am not happy about the president, but i hope they will let God be back in our schools. I am thankful that my mom buys me binders for school because i have to have so many and they keep tearing up.i love my parents so much and my momma always takes care of me while daddy is gone working


Bailee says...I am thankful for shelter,fresh water,good food,to have wonderful mother and father ,toys,to live in a great country,electricity,computers,cable,to have friends,bed,clothes,ponytails,aircondtoiner,to have my parents that are getting along,my mom cooks me supper,let us talk about our bad times,to have a family that cares about me,and everything else. and most of all i love God

2ND SIX WEEKS: CAIDEN AND BAILEE'S REPORT CARDS

I am so proud of my babies! Caiden and Bailee came home with their 2nd six weeks report cards.

Caiden had all A's and 1 B.

Bailee had A's and B's and 2 C's. I am very proud of her! 4th grade is so hard, and she is really trying her best. We study every subject every night, and she is improving day by day. We are trying to prepare early for the Leap Test. I have materials and Study guides already in order to help her prepare for the test.Great Job Caiden and Bailee, you are doing great!!

CAIDEN'S FIELD TRIP TO POVERTY POINT

Caiden's field trip to Poverty Point was such an educational trip! I learned so much about Louisiana culture and so did Caiden! He asked about every question possible about Poverty Point, and I must say that I was so thrilled about his eagerness to learn more about Our Louisiana history! This was absolutely the best field trip I have ever been on with my children!

We left the school around 8:15, and Caiden and another boy in his class was asked to bring the lunches out to the school bus. I think it made him feel strong, for he was asked because he is such a big boy!

Caiden and his friends were so excited about going on the trip!

Poverty Point is considered one of the most significant archaeological finds in the country.It has a complex of Native American ceremonial mounds built between 100 and 700 BC. The site was derived from a nearby Native American site consisting of complex earth works and artifacts dubbed from the Poverty Point culture, its people settled on the banks of Bayou Macon, near what is now the town of Epps.

The artifacts and findings at Poverty Point are so extraordinary, and they are so special.

We we first arrived, we watched a film on the History of Poverty Point, and it was so interesting, the kids were glued to the tv. Of course, Caiden had many questions after the film!

We then proceeded to the History part of Poverty Point. The kids got to see all the artifacts, fossils, and finding left behind from the Native Americans.

After that, we headed to 4, 3o minute demos of how the Native Americans lived. One was on how the Natives used Oatmeal, Walnuts and other types of nuts. He showed us how that smashed them using many different tools and bowls.

These were the tools they used in order to prepare their food.

We then headed to the cooking part, on how the Natives used different tools and rocks to cook, they made these tools from mud, and the park ranger showed us how to make different shaped tools out of the mud, just from the different way you use your hands and fingers to shape the rock,it was soo cool. Some of the kids got to take this mud and form their own tool. They really enjoyed doing this!

The next demo was my favorite. And Caiden's too, for he got picked to help demonstrate the different types of arrows, and throwing tools used to kill their food. We spent most of our time here, and it was great! I felt like one of the kids, it was so neat!

They used these tools in order to kill rabbits, deer, and other animals.

Caiden and some of his friends had to be right in the front of the demonstration, they liked this part of the tour the best!

Caiden was getting ready to show his classmates how far he could throw a arrow using a special tool the Natives made in order to help further the distance of the speed of the arrow.

The last demo was on on how the Natives used a tool in chipping a way at different tools and their shape in order to help them accomplishment different tasks.

Caiden and his friends decided to dig on the dirt to try to find some artifacts and fossils of their own!

After that , I helped the teachers set up tables for lunch. Of course, Caiden had to be at the table with his best buddy Bo, and Jacob, and a couple of really sweet little girls.

I ate lunch with Caiden's table, I brought with me extra little things, like a towel, and antibaterical wipes, and other little snacks for some kids who didn't have anything, the other kids were wishing they were at our table, but I did share and the kids were grateful.

After lunch, we then headed to the mounds, and I must say, walking up those steps was a act of congress, but I needed the excerise, and it was great to be in the middle of nature, it was very refreshing to be a wonderful area of history. This was a most significant part of Lousiana history.

After we climbed our way to the top of the mound , there a was a park ranger there to explain to us the signifiance of the mound, and how the mound was built like a bird. Caiden asked the question of how many people lived and worked on the mound, and the park ranger told us about a 1,000 people worked day and night bring in baskets upon baskets of dirt to build this mound, it was amazing to hear about how the Native Americans worked to make this thier home. He also sayed that they were many other settlers that wanted to settle on the land , but made them wait days before letting them in for the fear of disease, for they did not want thier hertiage to be extinct.

He also sayed that this area, the Poverty Point mounds will be preserved in the next couple of years, they are in the process of cutting down trees, for the trees are shifting the mound grounds and they are interfering with the preservation of the mounds. He also thinks that in the next couple of years that we will not be able to walk near the mounds because of the shifting of land, and they are trying to preserve the area.

We all had such a wonderful time at Poverty Point. The kids were great and were so glad that they got to see such a signifcant part of Louisiana history. For all we know, we may never be able to walk on this part of the land in the future. They are doing all they can to preserve the land.

Caiden's class

Caiden and his friends acting crazy!!

Demo 1, the act of grinding and making food, and preserving thier food.

Demo 2, the act of cooking, and having boiling water to make different types of meals, like soups.