Happy Happy November Birthdays!!!

The Melton family has several special birthday wishes or "Shout Outs" for the month of November. I had every intention to post each one separately but time got away from me. (Can anyone relate here???) So here goes... we can start chronologically with some past, some present and some to come I suppose. But none the less, all in the month of November.

First up, we have Big Floyd or aka: Grandaddy. He celebrated on Nov. 13! Here are few pics from his birthday dinner celebration. Cute pics of the Grandkids by the way...

Floyd IV, Ainsley and Anne Craig


Big Floyd with Grandkids


Big Floyd birthday dinner at The Melton's


November 16th is Blewett's birthday!! She was 29 years old. Happy Birthday Blewett!!! Looking forward to seeing you Thanksgiving.


Tomorrow is my dear friend (and interior decorator I might add), Margie Barger's birthday. Margie will be 26 years old! Hard to believe that she is that young with the talent she exudes. Here's to you Margie!


And last but certainly not least is my sister in law, Shannon. Shannon's birthday is this Saturday November 22. Shannon will turn the big 3-0! Woo hoo. Here is a darling picture of Shannon, sweet Ainsley and Shannon's Mom, Debbie.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERYBODY!!!!

HOME SWEET HOME.... The before and after slideshow of 209 Grand Blvd

It is with great pride and pleasure that I introduce you to the "just about totally" finished product of our new home. It's been a longgggggggg, journeyyyyyyy indeed. But so wonderful at the same time. With the help of so many people everything came together beautifully and I could not be more thrilled. I must specifially thank my dear friend and decorator, Margie Barger (see post below), whom without I would be in Whitfield by now(please keep your comments to yourself if you think I need to be there anyway. haha). Deidre Woodruff, my seamstress from Greenville, who so beautifully crafted all of the gorgeous fabrics into works of art. Craig and Cary Karlson, my wonderful aunt and uncle who were sources of direction and guidance not to mention Cary himself hung most of the rods, drapes and shades. I can only imagine how much it would cost to find someone to do that service. He and Floyd actually made the cornices for the living and dining room from old patterns from Cary's father's collection. They used the Bush's woodshed to do the beautiful handiwork. OH and I must give our wonderful housekeeper, Georgia Murray sooooo much credit. She does such a wonderful job keeping my house and family up and going that I could not function without her. She helped clean and get the beautiful floors looking their finest. Dennis Cheeks is the man who really got things in ship shape. Dennis is remarkable. Not sure of his exact age but he's on up there in years but don't let that fool you. There is nothing he can't do. Most all repairs were done by Dennis and if it weren't for him telling us that he could fix the problems that existed in the house prior to purchase, we would not be where we are today. Thanks also to everyone who has encouraged and assissted in more ways than I could have imagined. I love you all!!! I think this house was made for us and as you can see it has now, "COME BACK TO LIFE". We look forward to many good times. Laises Le Bon Temp Roulez!!! We are indeed HOME!!

Boy Scout Camp Out

This past Friday night Floyd's Cub Scout Troop 200 went on their first official camp out. They went up to Minter City to Steele Robbins' family farm. Two different Packs went together that consisted of the First and Second graders. They had a great time. Several Dad's went along too and the weather was perfect. I'm sure this is the first of many more Scouting events to come for Floyd.

MARGIE BARGER aka: "Decorator Extrordinaire"

It is with great pleasure that I devote an entire post to my dear friend, Margie Scroggins Barger. Let me tell you... this girl is something special. I have known Margie for about 4 years now I guess and consider her one of my dearest friends. Let's see... where to begin....I tracked her down when she moved to town after marrying Greenwood's own, Alan Barger. I quickly found out that she went to Ole Miss and graduated in Speech Pathology. We needed some help in the County Schools and she fit the mold. We worked together for 3 years in the Leflore County School District as Speech Therapists and she was amazing. Sadly I say, (and/or maybe with a touch of jealously), she "retired" this year to venture in the new direction of retail here locally in Greenwood at The Melon Patch. She was and still is in my opinion an amazing speech therapist. One of the best I have seen and certainly more creative and energetic than myself. But Margie is very special in many other ways. She is amazing at whatever she puts her mind to. She is so talented in so many ways and when you see what she has done to my new house you will think....this girl is IT. Well, I think so at least. I will mention that she is a decade, yes, a decade my junior. Which is all the more amazing in my opinion. How can someone so young be so dang good at design and forsight??? Can you say(as Eddie Murphey's uncle did on his stand up movie RAW)... "That gurl got talent!!! I forsee big things ahead for my dear Margie. She is an amazing artist, fashionista, decorator and above all friend. Here's to you Margie!!! Thank you for all you have done for me and my family. We've laughed and cried together and lord knows you have been on this crazy real estate roller coaster ride with me for I guess 3 years just about. I am going to attempt to put pics of our house in some sort of slide show formation so readers can get an idea of some before and after shots. We still have a few more details to work on with the house but the time has come to POST. Hope I can get it together soon. Margie YOU ROCK!!! I LOVE YOU. Thanks for the memories and I know there are many more to be made.

Nursery Rhyme Day!!!

In lieu of Halloween, the Pillow Academy Kindgergarten recognizes Nursery Rhyme Week instead. Anne Craig was Little Miss Muffett this year. They have to recite their nursery rhyme and then they have a big feast comlete with curds and way (polenta), cheeses, haystacks, bugles, moon pies, blue muffins, etc.... Anyway....here are some snaps from this morning on the way out the door to school. We are so excited about Halloween weekend. McLean, Lisa D, Mary McLean, and Patten are coming to town. Check back soon for pictures of the upcoming action packed weekend.

Pumpkin Patch and Cotton Pickin- Yep, it's Fall Y'all

This is a busy time of year in the Pillow Academy Kindergarten. Anne Craig's 5K class went to the Simmons Pumpkin Patch near Belzoni last week and this morning they went to pick cotton. Not sure of that exact location. Anyway, these were great snaps taken by Anna Joyce Jefcoat who is room mother for her kiddos and I appreciated her snapping Anne Craig for me. Pictured with Anne Craig picking cotton is Caroline Brock (Don and Romney's). I hope everyone is getting in the mood for the fall season. It was 32 degrees this morning as I left for work. That is a bit chillier than I prefer but none the less it felt nice to bundle up and head out. It was the first morning of the season that I headed outdoors to crank the car a good 15 minutes before I actually drove off. Speaking of the season....It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...IN OCTOBER for goodness sakes....The next thing you know, we’ll have people putting up lights on their houses and we haven’t even observed Halloween/Fall Festival (pick your poison) yet! And what about Thanksgiving? Do you expect me to eat turkey, sip bloody mary's, watch football and play yard croquet (yes, we are playing croquet this year. Melton/Trotter's against Swayze/Pillow's) as I stress about getting down the Christmas decorations b/c I have to be decorated in exactly 7 days after.....(save that for another blog)....
You see? It just doesn’t go together. September is harvest. October is Halloween. November is Thanksgiving. And December is CHRISTMAS! Enough said. Ahhhhh re reading my post... I think I started to rant...oops sorry bout that. Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Birthday Gamba! We miss you so!

Today, Saturday October 25, is Gamba's birthday and I wanted to give a shout out for her. I don't mean to be morbid in displaying the pictures of her grave and not of old pics of actually her but I am very proud of how pretty her resting place is. Gooddaddy had the spray of fall flowers draped over her tombstone a few weeks ago and I went out and planted the pansies on her last week. She always loved pansy faces and the actual features they displayed. We all miss her so much and with this being her first birthday to come along that she is no longer with us it makes me very sad. I think Gooddaddy is having a hard time right now and we are all going out of our way to keep him busy, active and involved as much as possible. He has been a great soccer fan this season and has made most of Floyd's games. He's really looking forward to Thanksgiving at our house. Gamba was such a special lady who always had a flair for fashion and timeless design. I am really realizing that especially now as I am displaying many of her beautiful things in our new home. I know she would be so proud and happy. We miss you sweet Gamba. Happy 86th bday. You are in our hearts forever. Love you!