May 2009

What a wonderful busy month! Let's get started....

May started off with Austins graduation from MSU. Everybody was there for the celebration except Ashton, she was on a choir trip to Destin, Fl.

Austin changed before we went out to eat into his Ole Miss shirt! He sure let go of his bulldogs quickly!

The next weekend was Ashton's class day. It was held in the gym ( hard bleachers) and lasted THREE HOURS! Nana and Tom endured the whole thing, leaving a little early to save us seats at P.F. Changs for lunch. Mark and I surprised Ashton with a John Hardy ring. I had it wrapped in a vintage acrylic rhinestone studded purse!

That Sunday was Mother's Day. We decided since Austin had to work and couldn't come home that we would go to Starkville. Mark had a box of donuts for me for the ride there...YUM! Austin had planned a picnic on campus but it was raining so he set all the food up on his coffee table and had a movie ready to watch while we ate. For dessert he had a cookie cake with "Happy Birthday Ashton" on it, since he wasn't going to be able to be home for her Birthday! It was wonderful! After the rain, we walked around campus so that Ashton would be familiar with it in the fall. I rang a HUGE cow bell on campus! Kudzu was able to go with us and visit with Beau....

Wednesday, the 13th, was Ashton's 18th Birthday. We celebrated it at Fat Tuesday with her friend Betsey and Nana and Tom. She opened presents and had a cake! She got dressed the next day and wore her birthday earrings! Doesn't she look beautiful and all grown up!

The following weekend was Ashton's graduation. Sister came on Friday to be here for all of the festivities! Friday night, Nana and Tom threw Ashton a "Pretty in Pink" graduation party. Everything was PINK including most every one's outfits. Wes and Debbie, Reid and Tyler were there; along with Ellen and her parents Bubba and Carol and of course, Nana, Tom, Me and Mark, Mi Mi and Paw Paw and Austin.

Towards the end of the evening Austin surprised most everybody with a toast, with pink champagne in pink champagne glasses. The toast began with congrats to Ashton on her accomplishment and then he talked about the fact that it was his and Ellen's six year anniversary that night as well and it ended with him on one knee proposing to Ellen! It was so sweet and had us all in tears! And yes, Ellen said "YES"!

I know this is the longest post EVER, but there's MORE! haha.

Saturday was graduation day for Ashton. It went so smoothly thanks to Sister being here to calm my nerves and take all the pictures! It was wonderful having her here. We held up letters so Ashton could see where we were seated and to show her how much we love her! After graduation we went out for lunch!

What an exciting month this has been! Mark and I are so blessed to have such wonderful children and such a loving family. Austin is engaged to a wonderful girl and headed to law school in Oxford, MS. Ashton is 18 years old ( can't believe it) and headed to Mississippi State in the fall. I'm going to be sooooooo lonely come September!

April

Things have been very busy around here with Austin and Ashton both graduating both having birthdays and Summer beginning! April started with Austin deciding to go to Law School at Ole Miss. He was accepted to all five schools that he applied to but is very excited with his decision to go to Ole Miss. I made him jump a tiny fence to get this picture of him on the sign ( surely they wouldn't kick him out this early) haha.... and the other picture is of Austin and Ellen in the Grove! We birthday shopped for Austin while there, he got new shorts and a belt, notice the outfit change!

Ashton decided to go to her Senior prom this year with a large group of friends and had a great time! She's the beautiful one in the middle with the cream and brown dress on!

We had beautiful weather for Easter this year...this is a shot of the kids being goofy in their shades!

The weekend after Easter is the men's church group golf trip. They have been doing it for years and get excited like small children every year in anticipation! Courtney and Susie and I decided to do a small girls trip and go to Port Gibson for the weekend. It rained a lot and Courntey had just recently started walking after breaking both legs in a car accident, so we took it slow! We sat on the upstairs porch and drank and talked and ate and drank... I put Susie in Ashton's room not knowing that she was afraid of ghosts! oops! haha.... She spent the last night on the couch! She said there was just too much going on in that room! We went to the military park and did the tourist thing and also took a day trip to Vicksburg.

The month ended with Ashton's final choir concert!! BOOHOO!!! Pictured are a group of her friends that are also graduating this year and a picture of Ashton with her choir director, Mrs. Hunt.

May is going to be equally as busy!

Booth Redo

I took EVERYTHING out of my booth today and totally redid it! I added three new pieces of furniture...it was a four hour job, but it was worth it! I'm sure everything will sell like crazy now! haha....

Jewelry!

Ashton and I had crafts night last night and made lots of great stuff! I made several necklaces and earrings and Ashton made magnets for her magnet board for her dorm next year! I just thought you might enjoy seeing them! haha..

March

April is just a few days away so let me catch you up on what went on in March.

It SNOWED!!! It wasn't much, but it sure was fun to wake up and see everything covered in white!

We did our yearly Spring Break trip with the kids. We are so blessed that they want to spend time with us!! There's no one that we would rather be with. This year we decided to go to Atlanta, GA. We always let everyone pick something they want to do and we all enjoy it together.

This year I chose the Scotts Flea Market. This has been on my to do list for many many years! I can't even begin to describe how fabulous it was...everything just seemed to go on forever!! It was raining and there was lots of just outside, so I've got to go back one day when the sun is shining! I finally got the mounted animal head I've been wanting for Port Gibson...we aren't sure what animal it is, but we named it "Woody" for the sweet man that sold him to me!

Ellen( who ended up not getting to go on the trip this year), chose the Aquarium, so we were still going for her. However when we arrived and saw lines and lines of school buses we decided the Ikea looked like a whole lot more fun. For those of you who have never been to an Ikea it's something to see!! We spent several hours there, we even had lunch, and left with lots of goodies and a pan of cinnamon rolls for later! YUM YUM....

Austin picked several outdoor type stores...REI, Orvis, Trader Joes ( a cool grocery store) etc... When we check out at Trader Joes everybody starting screaming and hollering ( scared me to death) turned out our total was an even number so we got to "putt for groceries". Of course I was very excited about that since we have such talented golfers in our family. Austin was the chosen one.....HE Missed!! Hard to believe!

We ate at some great restaurants; nothing fancy, but nothing we had ever been to before. A Mexican, Italian, and of course the Varsity!

Mark didn't really pick something just for him ( bless his heart), but he has a friend that insisted on getting us passes into the Apparel Mart. WOW!! Three buildings Six floors of the newest merchandise. It was a bit overwhelming, but yes we managed to find several very nice items!

Ashton chose shopping for a white dress for class day and a dress for prom. A Sephora store was also a must! Not only did we do all of that, but we also found a Bare Minerals store and a VENDING MACHINE that sold make-up!! Doesn't get much better than that for Ashton. The guys were off doing guy stuff..

We ran across some other great places and had to stop of course! Antique stores, a brewery etc... We had a wonderful time together....Lots and lots of laughter!

As soon as we got home there was still time for a visit to Port Gibson, Ellen was able to join us. The boys played golf while Ellen and I rode along. When we arrived back at the house we were greeted by Ashton outside on quilts with all three of the dogs! She had made them all flower necklaces, however, Kudzu ATE them ALL! We had a very relaxing weekend watching a lot of movies. Oh and we also hung Woody on the wall!! Yeah...