Jones Creek Christmas Parade

On Sunday, December 14th, 5 of the kids got to march in the Jones Creek Christmas Parade since they are participating in Woodlawn Upward basketball and cheerleading. The 4 oldest are playing basketball and Micah is cheering.

Colonial Christmas Homeschool Day

On Friday, December 12th we attended the Colonial Christmas Homeschool Day at Audubon State Historic Site.  We rotated through different stations discussing colonial times as well as Christmas traditions.

Baton Rouge Homeschool Choir

One of the moms in our homeschool group started a homeschool choir this fall.  Luke, Cameron, Miriam & Levi participated in it.  Luke was in Lyrical Measures (6th grade & up) and Cameron, Miriam, & Levi were in First Editions (2nd grade-5th grade).  These pictures are from the dress rehearsal on Friday, November 21st.

7th Annual Bayou Cajun Homeschoolers Thanksgiving Celebration

On Friday, November 14th, we hosted the 7th annual BCH Thanksgiving Celebration.  This was our biggest attendance yet with approximately 60 families participating. 

This year we had 6 stations for the younger kids (ages 10 & below)

• Food games/relay races – Mrs. Melissa
• Food painting/stamping – Mrs. Amber
• 3 sisters information – Mrs. Angela
• Butter making – Mrs. Sarah
• Bean mosaic – Mrs. Elisa
• Thanksgiving story/ice cream cornucopia craft – Mrs. Courtney

And 3 stations for the older kids (ages 11 & up)

• Food science – Mrs. Rachel
• Bean mosaic – Mrs. Anita
• Corn information – Mrs. Laura

ISO Flag football 2014

Highlights from 2014 flag football season at Istrouma Sports Organization:

• Luke – Rams
• Cameron – Bengals
• Levi – Vikings coached by Daddy
• Cole – Raiders

Symphony field trip

On Thursday, October 23rd, Angela, Kate & I took some of the older kids to the see the Baton Rouge Symphony perform a concert at Christian Life.  They described different eras of music and arts and played certain pieces based on that era.  They also introduced the instruments as they were added to each time period.  Each instrument played a little selection so the students could hear what they sounded like.  At the end, they paid a tribute to George Rodrigue, the painter of Blue Dog, and played “The Saints Go Marching In.”

Port Hudson fieldtrip

On Friday, October 17th, we attended the Port Hudson Homeschool Day.  They always do a great job with this program.  First off, they always fire the big cannon and then you begin rotating through the stations.  The stations this year were:

1. Cannon demonstration
2. Medicine in the battlefield
3. Soldier life – uniform and gun demonstration
4. Civil war boats
5. Soldier life – rations
6. Civil war cooking – tasting salt pork and johnny cakes
7. Town ball
8. Music demonstration

Mississippi Ag & Forestry Museum

While we were in Mississippi for Elliott's birthday party, we made a long weekend out of it since we weren't going on vacation this year. On Monday, October 13th, we decided to visit the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Museum. It was a neat little museum. We enjoyed the big rocking chair, model trains, and the tiny corn maze that was set up for fall.

Elliott’s 4th Birthday PAW-ty

On Saturday, October 11th after the boys’ football games, we headed to Clinton to celebrate Elliott’s 4th birthday.  He had a PAW Patrol themed party and they did a good job on the themed snacks.

Cameron’s 10 birthday party

On Friday night, September 19th, we celebrated Cameron’s birthday with some of his closest friends.  The cake and goodies were a golf theme since he’s been playing golf with PawPaw lately.  While waiting for other friends to arrive, they played some football in the yard.  After supper and cake, we headed to Celebration Station to play mini golf.  After mini golf, some played arcade games.  Some of his friend were able to spend the night so we watched “Rio 2” before heading to bed.

Governor's Office of Homeland Security field trip

On Thursday, September 18th, we visited the Governor's Office of Homeland Security. First we watched a movie on "Getting A Game Plan" for the family in case of a disaster. Then they explained what GOHSEP was and how it worked...how all the different local, state, and federal agenices work together when a natural disaster occurs. Some of the kids got to act out an example of how different departments/agencies are called when a disaster happens. Finally, they got to see where the governor meets with the heads of the different departments.

Associates in Pediatric Dentistry field trip

On August 15th, we had a field trip to Associates in Pediatric Dentistry. First, they showed us the results from an experiment where we could see the effects that acid has on your teeth with fluoride applied versus not applied. Then we moved into the cleaning rooms where the hygenist explained teeth cleaning. Finally, we watched a couple of short youtube movies about going to the dentist.

Monroe Staycation

Back in August, we went to Monroe to visit Paw.  Since we aren’t going on vacation this year, we decided to do some “touristy” things in the Monroe area.  First, we drove over to Ruston to walk around the Louisiana Tech campus where Daddy went to college.  Then on our way back to Monroe, we stopped at Duck Commander in West Monroe.  Later on in the day we went to the park in Paw’s neighborhood to play a little bit with Elliott before they had to drive back home.

2, 4, 6, 8…

These birthdays did we celebrate. On July 5th, we celebrated birthdays of Melody (2), Cole (4), Micah (6), & Miriam (8) with a cheerleading themed party.  Thanks to Tricia for making the cute shirts for them.  I went with a La Tech theme since they are red, white & blue and it was the weekend of the 4th.  Here are some pics from the party:

He is the One that I Want

The “Art is In” camp musical this year was called “He is the One that I Want”.  It was based on the 50s.

Micah was a cheerleader in one of the dances.

This was Miriam's first year with drama lines. She played a carhop.

Luke was a "squeezer", danced in the "squeezer" dance and sang a solo.

Cameron played the conscience of the main character. He's takes a vacation to Havana, Cuba because he hasn't been consulted for a long time. He also sang a solo in the "Conscience" song.

We were very surprised that Levi was given a role this year since he is really shy. He was a movie star named Jack Warren. The coolest part about this character is that he got to enter the stage on a "motorcycle."

Art is In Camp 2014

The week of June 30-July 4th, the 5 oldest attended Art is In Camp at Stevendale Baptist. Here's some pics taken during the camp days.

Trinity VBS 2014

The kids attended VBS at Trinity Baptist on Friday, June 13 & Saturday, June 14. They have their VBS over the weekend so the dads can help. I helped Amy in the kitchen where we provided snacks on Friday night and Saturday morning and lunch Saturday.

ISO Baseball 2014

Highlights from the 2014 baseball season at Istrouma Sports

• Luke - Iron Birds - coached by Daddy & Coach B
• Cameron - Muck Dogs - coached by Coach Andy & Daddy
• Levi - Iron Pigs - coached by Coach Carson & Coach Mike

Greenwood Gator Farm

On Friday, June 6th we visited Greenwood Gator Farm. We saw real live alligators up close and personal at this full time working alligator farm. We saw gators of all sizes, from new hatchlings to full grown monsters! Greenwood Gator Farm houses and hatches 5,000 - 10,000 alligators each year. We took a guided tour of how Louisiana alligators are born and raised and learned about the centuries old art of alligator hunting from real life hunters. We find out how they go from an egg to boots and purses and sauce piquantes! (Mr. Tim buys alligator from Liz on the History Channel show "Swamp People".)

BCH Homeschool Forum

On Thursday, May 29th Bayou Cajun Homeschoolers hosted a homeschooling question & answer forum.

Thankfully, one of our moms was able to record the event for those that weren't able to attend.

LSU AgCenter Botanic Garden at Burden

On Tuesday, May 13th we had a field trip to LSU AgCenters Botanic Garden at Burden.  We participated in the program called “Trees and Trails.”  We started with an ice breaker and then split into 3 groups that hiked the short trail.  Along the trail we stopped for 3 hands-on/interactive stations:  Tree Cookies, Life on the Edge, and Invasive Species.  After the short hike/learning stations, we broke for lunch.  Then, those of us who wanted to stay went on a guided hike on the long trail (1 1/4 mile).  As we were coming back from the hike, we had an afternoon shower that caught us.   

About the Stations:

Tree Cookies - Students learn about resources that trees need to live, how trees compete for resources, and how to read tree rings.

Life on the Edge - Students learn that habitat loss is the primary reason for the loss of species through a game a game called Habitat Scramble in which each student plays the part of an animal that loses its habitat.

Invasive Species - Students learn how invasive species disrupt life cycles, through the example of the Chinese Privet and the story of the European Starling and the Eastern Bluebird.

Strawberry Picking field trip

On Thursday, April 3rd we went strawberry picking at Landry-Poche Farms. It's always a fun day to pick & eat strawberries and play & fellowship with friends.

Simple Machines field trip

On Thursday, March 27th, the older kids had their quarterly field trip to the Louisiana State Museum to learn about simple machines. First Mrs. Dee went over the different types of simple machines. Then the kids had to go through the museum and find simple machines throughout the exhibits.

Kemp Farm field trip

Learning about farming, petting & feeding farm animals, horseback riding, hayride, and playing with friends at Kemp Farm

Happy 11th birthday Luke!

Upward Basketball 2014

This was Levi’s first year to play basketball and Daddy was his coach.  He played for the Eagles.  Cameron struggled this year.  He didn’t really play the 1st half of the season because he always complained that something hurt.  We think he was dealing with being nervous.  Once we forced him to get out there and play, he was fine.  Luke’s team went undefeated all year until the last game.  That’s always hard to deal with especially since he didn’t get to play the final period.  Luke & Cameron were in the same league, but for some reason they didn’t get placed on the same team.  So that was fun watching them play against each other. 

Highlights from the Upward basketball season at Woodlawn Baptist.

2014 Father/Daughter Dance

The Father/Daughter Sweetheart Dance fell on Miriam's birthday this year, 2/23/14.

Happy Birthday Miriam & Melody!

Melody (2) & Miriam (8)

Insectarium Field trip

On Thursday, February 20th we took a field trip to the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium in New Orleans.  I didn’t get as many pictures as I hoped.  I was in charge of this field trip since Amy was not able to attend.  I entered behind our group and most of the kids took off with their friends except for Luke who was diligently trying to do the scavenger hunt.



Luke pointing to the huge grasshopper which is his nickname.

Bug Appétit

Luke was so nervous to eat a bug, but he ended up eating one that was in the salsa. I tried almost everything and Levi enjoyed the chips and salsa.

Grasshoppers in honor of Luke


Some of the cool beetle displays

Maggie's first field trip

Everybody's favorite area - the butterfly garden

Thankful that Daddy got to go with us

As per our tradition after a field trip or play day in New Orleans, we ate at Corky's BBQ in Metarie with friends.