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.

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

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.

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:

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".)

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.

Kemp Farm field trip

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

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.

Maggie’s Birth Story

On Monday, January 13th while I was folding laundry in the afternoon I started feeling some strong contractions.  My biggest fear was getting stuck in traffic on O’Neal.  I called my midwife Bethanie who was at the office that day.  I asked her if I could come in to check me to see if I had progressed since my last check-up.  She was only going to be in the office till 4:30 and it was around 3:30 pm.  I took a quick shower, called my mom and neighbor to come watch the kids and headed to the doctor’s office.  I had some pretty strong contractions while I was driving.  When I got there, Bethanie checked me and I had progressed from my previous appointment.  She told me to go ahead and go to the hospital since I was considering getting an epidural this time. 

I don’t know what it was this time, but I was more scared of the pain.  I think in the long run this fear prolonged the labor.  Once they described the epidural process to me, I knew that I didn’t want to go that route.  I knew I would regret it later and would also miss the freedom I have immediately after I deliver like taking a shower and getting up & walking around.  The first couple of hours I progressed a little but I was scared to let them break my water because I didn’t want to deal with the pain.  So I just walked hoping that it would progress more.  Finally, when I was ready for them to break my water the midwife Kathy wouldn’t do it.  I mentioned my fluid level was a little high and the baby was still high up that she was afraid if she broke my water the cord would come out first.  So we had to wait until the doctor came on the next morning.  They suggested I get in the bed to red but I couldn’t get comfortable in the bed. 

So at 7:00 am on 1/14/14, Dr. Huynh did a quick ultrasound to make sure the baby was in the right position and then broke my water.  I sat down in a chair because my feet & legs hurt from basically standing up & walking all night long especially since I had been up for 24 hours.  A new midwife Jan had come on at 7:00 and was massaging my feet when 2 more gushes of water came out.  After this, the pressure was getting worse so I moved to the bathtub.  I asked them to check me to see if I was ready to push, but they just told me to push when I was ready.  I started pushing in the tub but I eventually just stood up in the tub.  At one point, they told me to raise my leg and put it up on the side of the tub.  They kept telling me to push, but I felt like I was pushing all I could and nothing was happening.  This is when I shouted out “I ‘m going to die!”  Poor Levi, he had come to witness this birth and at that point he left the room.  At 8:10 am Maggie Faith was delivered weighing 9 lbs, 14 ounces and measuring 21 inches.  She was my biggest baby, but the funny thing is I didn’t have any stitches with her. 

This was the 1st time we didn’t have another adult with us when she was born so I don’t have a lot of pictures.  Amy came up to the hospital when I first went in and stayed for a good part of the night.  But eventually she had to go home because Rob had come with her. 

Here’s some of the pictures from when we were at the hospital. 

Louisiana State Museum and State Capitol field trip

On Thursday, January 9, we took a field trip to the Louisiana State Museum and State Capitol building.  Our group was so big that we split into 2 groups.  We started at the state museum while the other group started at the capitol.

First at the museum, the director went over some famous people in Louisiana's history.  She had some of the students help her out.

Tate as Andrew Jackson and Luke as Napoleon Bonaparte, Cai as Louis Armstrong, Cameron as General Chennault, and Abram as Huey P. Long.
Andrew Higgins, inventor of the Higgins boat used in WWII and Napoleon Bonaparte who sold the Louisiana Purchase to the US

Cade and Ian representing the Houma and Bayougoula tribes

Baton Rouge gets its name from a pole that was red from blood of animals and fish. This was the boundary marker between the 2 tribes. The Native American name for it was Istrouma. The French called it Baton Rouge meaning "red stick." Cole represented Zachary Taylor who fought in the Mexican/American war. He is the only president from Louisiana. Tate as Andrew Jackson helped defeat the British in the Battle of New Orleans. There's a famous statue of him in New Orleans in Jackson Square. Huey P. Long was governor of Louisiana nicknamed "The Kingfish" After winning his Senate seat, Huey explained his nickname by saying, “I'm a small fish here in Washington, but I'm ‘the Kingfish’ to the folks down in Louisiana.”.

Louis Armstrong was also known as Satchmo which originally came from the nickname satchel mouth. He possibly got this nickname because of the way his cheeks puffed out when he played. Once when he was playing in France, the French mispronounced satchel mouth as "Satchmo." General Chennault was a leader of the "Flying Tigers." Clementine Hunter was an African-American artist whose favorite flowers were zinnias.

The girls got to represent different animals found in Louisiana.

Micah was the Louisiana black bear, the state mammal. J was the alligator, the state reptile. Emma was the honeybee, the state insect. Sarah was the crawfish, the state crustacean.

These girls represented the catahoula cur (state dog), white perch/crappie/sac-au-lait (state fish), and brown pelican (state bird).

Here's a little song she sang about the animals in the swamp.

After this presentation, the children were able to do a scavenger hunt through the museum. There were different levels for the different age groups.
Unfortunately they were not able to finish the scavenger hunt because the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the building.
After a quick lunch on the state capitol grounds, we went for a tour in the state capitol building.

First, we toured the lobby with all its intricate marble and gold work.

Next, we toured the House of Representatives chamber.

Then we went to the hallway where the governor's elevator is located as well the location where Huey P. Long was assassinated.

Next was the senate's chamber.

A pencil remains embedded in the ceiling of the chamber from the force of a bomb explosion in 1970.

After the tour was over, we had the option to go up to the observation deck. I chose not to go since I was 38 weeks pregnant. Amy took my camera to take these pictures from the top.

A bright future for Louisiana ;)