Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Giving Thanks

I have so much to be thankful for this year, and I wanted to share a few recent photos.


I am thankful that it is finally late fall and the days are cool and beautiful.


I am thankful for my friends and family.


I am thankful that I homeschool and we get to take quite a few field trips for "school".  Last month we drove to  the National Pacific War Museum  in Fredericksburg, TX to see the WW2 Pacific Theater re-enactment.

It was incredible.  The actors demonstrated weaponry and vehicles from both the Japanese and American sides.   We got to see an actual samurai sword in action.


That is one big gun on that jeep!


We learned that the pin in hand grenades is clamped down to keep it from falling out.  So when you see the scenes in the movies where the actor pulls the pin out with his teeth, a more realistic movie would show his teeth coming out along with the pin.  ;-)

We also learned that it takes five seconds for the hand grenade to go off once the pin is pulled.  So to keep the enemy from throwing an active grenade back toward them, soldiers often would count to four before throwing it.  Scary, right?


I am thankful for ear plugs and fingers that can be used as ear plugs.  The actors fired most of the weapons using blanks.  They even shot off a few machine guns.

Some dummy brought a tiny baby to this re-enactment and the poor infant shrieked in terror after every gunshot. It was really awful and the constant screams were captured on the video I taped.  The parents kept that baby there the entire time...

I am thankful that God gave me enough brains to realize you should never bring a baby to a war re-enactment with guns and explosions.


After they finished the interesting lecture, we got to experience a tiny bit how the Pacific War might have felt firsthand.  There were tons of really loud, horrifying explosions and gunshots and men running everywhere.


There were quite a few actors, especially on the American side.  The Japanese actors were few, but the Japanese were supposed to be hidden down in bunkers and tunnels so we wouldn't see them anyway.  Two of the Japanese actors actually flew here from Japan to take part in this re-enactment.

I am thankful that none of the actors got hurt.  It looked very dangerous and a few actors got hurt during the re-enactment the day before.


There was an actual flamethrower in action.


And I am thankful the Americans won the war.

I think it is so important for us to understand the sacrifices of war, and I could tell that my boys had a better understanding of the actual messiness and horror of war.  War is not a video game.


This guy was so cool with his cigar and torn-off sleeves. He was one of my favorite actors.


The boys even got to have their photo taken with the young man who used the flame-thrower.


I am thankful we won WW2 and I am thankful for all of the brave men and women who fought for our freedom.


I am thankful this hand-grenade is a dummy.  I am thankful that Imp is not a dummy (usually). ;-)


I am thankful that we live pretty close to the beautiful hill country in TX and I get to see heart-shaped cactus.

I am also thankful that for the first time ever, neither boys kicked or backed into one. Imp did get covered in fire ants and had to strip naked on the trail so I could pick them off.  Imp was not thankful to be naked in public, but he was thankful that no other hikers were around to witness his humiliation.


I am thankful for all of the beauty around me in this great state of Texas.


I am thankful that I am able to use my science degree in a somewhat limited way.  I love making my own beauty and household products, and my latest adventure is homemade deodorant (using this recipe).  I added 5g more beeswax and 5g less almond oil to make it firmer, replaced 3g of the DE with baking soda for a bit more protection, and scented it with lemongrass, lavender, and tea tree oil.

I cleaned out this nasty old Dove deodorant container and poured my homemade deodorant in there to set and it is amazing!  This stuff works and smells wonderful AND has no icky chemicals.


I am thankful that my son loves machines and has figured out how to use our new sewing machine.  I cut out twelve placemats and napkins for the holidays and he sewed them all up for me.  I am thankful he has incredible patience.


I am thankful that we get to have some of our family over tomorrow for Thanksgiving.  I am thankful we have a nice place to live and plenty of food for our bellies. And I am thankful we are all healthy and happy.

And I am so thankful for all of you who read my blog!!!  I am incredibly thankful that I get to blog about photography and my family as my job because of you.

I would love if you would link your own thankful posts in my comments. I would love to read them and see your photos.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop PSE/Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

2 comments:

  1. Love love love your family posts. That deodorant idea sounds awesome. I have tried a few natural products and they just didn't work for me. This one looks like a goer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Lisa! I agree, all natural things don't work on me, but this del with a bit of baking soda rocks!!!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to leave a message, I love reading them! All comments are personally moderated by me and I will post and answer them them as soon as possible.
Rita