OCTOBER HAPPENINGS

Well, needless to say, October is coming to an end just as quickly as it began...Time sho' flies when you are having fun I guess. This month has been pretty action packed with Birthday gatherings, football games, fall breaks and the approaching Hallow's Eve! I have a few pics to share from various activities so here goes... Grandaddy Butler celebrated his 95th birthday at Moon Lake on Oct. 11. Lots of family and friends attended the event and I know he had a great time seeing many of his friends, children, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren and cousins. Here is a picture of the Melton Clan that gathered that day.

Floyd, Blewett and Anne Craig

Prior to heading to Moon Lake on Sunday, we ventured up to Oxford for the weekend to take in some Rebel football action. We had a much better time than the Rebels played. Oh well! Here we are before the game at Papa's condo for a little pre game football action.
Patten and Floyd

Patten, Papa and Floyd

Me and McLean

I wish I would have taken more pics from the Grove persay but of course I forgot.

Most recently (last weekend that is) Pillow Academy celebrated Homecoming. This year my 1989 State Champion Cross Country Team was being recognized for it's 20th reunion so to speak. We had a good turn out considering this is such a busy time of year. My good good old friend, Cathy Henderson Carver, said it best. "What fun to laugh and remember things from high school. Everyone is doing well and seemed great. I was thankful for teachers and coaches that influenced me and was reminded of the blessings of friends who impacted my growth. We have all grown up and it was neat to see the directions we have all taken. Not sure we can all run 6 minute miles (sub 5 minute miles for Charlie) anymore but we all still have our own joints! I firmly believe we must not ever forget who God puts in your life as you are growing up because He uses all that to shape us into who He wants us to be now - for our Good and His Glory. We are not finished growing and are influencing others one way or the other as we live. Ponder where you came from...Don't forget your roots. Track down a teacher or coach and send them a note or call or email of thanks.
Way to Go Mustangs!" Amen sista! Thanks Cathy! For making the effort to come home! And YES, never forget where you came from!
On the track being recognized...

Christine Johnston Polk, me, Cathy Henderson Carver, Lyn McAdams McCool

Here's our group! (front-Lyn, Cathy, Christine, and Breland Burnham; back-me, Matt and Matthew Smith, Charlie Cascio, Gaines and John Burnham )

Here's our original 1989 State Champion picture at the Choctaw Trails at Miss. College in Clinton 20 years ago. Andrew Lamb has restored it and it's now hanging in mass dimention in the Hall of Champions on the Pillow Campus! Gotta Love it!

in black and white too.....



And last but not least, we were able to snap a pic of Floyd and his buddy, Phillip Rustom or AKA: MUD BUDS.

The football field was even too muddy for Homecoming Festivities to take place on the actual field so the Homecoming Court was presented on the track. The kids, of course, had no trouble finding plenty of mud to have their mini football game. AND on a last note my good friend from growing up in Belzoni and still my good friend today now living in Greenwood, Kim Higginbotham Simcox's son was crowned Homecoming King! Way to Go Kelton!

Happy Octoberfest and all the Rest! Cheers!

KIDDOS

Here are a few pics that are too cute not to blog on and so I must share. Most of my family and friends know by now that my son, Floyd IV, is a football fanatic. Our sweet neighbor (2 doors down), Garrett Brown, is in 5th grade at Pillow and he is playing Pee Wee Football for the Mustangs. He and Floyd have such a good time playing in the yard whatever the sport may be. I was able to make them pose before they hit the gridiron in front of our house. Floyd is getting fired up for what awaits him in 2 years!
"Future Pillow Mustangs".. maybe a quarterback or a running back....we'll see..

On this particular day it was "Titans vs Saints"


Anne Craig recently got some matching pajamas to go with those of her American Girl Doll, Jula Love. These are her favorite PJ's fo sho!! Thanks Moms!!

September Visitors

September has been a pretty action packed month I must say. But truly sad to say what month is not?? Actually the more I think about it even though it's been pretty "schedule free" The Melton Family still seems to stay busy. From soccer practices to football season cranking up it's been pretty slammed. We have enjoyed friends and family that have come in to town or passing through for one event or another and for that we have been thankful. My stepsister, Germaine Wilson, and her daugher, Addie, stopped by on their way to Oxford with Dad and Jane a few weeks ago. We all enjoyed meeting Addie and she was so alert and such a great baby! Can't wait to get to visit with them again soon we hope.
Here's one of me holding Addie with Germaine.

Floyd's a real natural with her don't ya think?



300 Oaks and River to the Rails was a lot of fun too. The Pedigos came and spent the weekend with us. Anna Tyner came down from Clarksdale to run the 10K and then on Sunday Lisa, McLean, Patten and May May came through Greenwood on their way home from Oxford to Fairhope to have lunch with the family. Here are a few pics from the great weekend! Enjoy!

"On your mark....get set....GOOOOOOO" The runners for the Mile Fun Run are off!!


Me and John Stewart at Mile 2


Home Stretch thank goodness- mile 6!


John finishing strong


Lulu, Anna and Lisa after the run


Boyce and Allison walking the 5K


Pedigo runners


Walker Saia, Floyd and Walker Pedigo on bridge after race


Floyd and Walker getting their awards


Double Winners


me and Lisa Lisa


Anne Craig's dance troop about to perform at River to the Rails


Anne Craig dancing away!


Patten and Floyd at Vaught Hemingway that night


Riding the Mule that we used for the weekend to shuttle back and forth from Downtown. The Melton Family has got to get one of these babies! They are sweet and we loved it!! Hated to take it back on Monday morning for sure!

ARE YOU READY???

Ready or not football season is here and in full force! The Melton Family is fired up and as you can see from our front terrace display we are ready to root on the Rebels. We are actually going to a few games this year in Oxford believe it or not. Our old Grove group is rekindling its flame for 1 or 2 games and we'll be in full action. It will be fun for all of our kids to get to know each other. Our group mainly consists of our close college "couple" friends. (Meltons, Connells, Pedigos, Burnhams, Abneys, Dales, Holmes, and Gilillands are our base crew. We may have a few more come and go though). Once everyone started having kids it became harder and harder to get to every game and put forth the full blown effort of "tailgating so to speak". Now that most of the kids are older (past infancy/toddler years) it's time to reconnect. Needless to say, Little Floyd (our inhouse football fanatic) went with Papa to the Memphis game and even rode the Alumni Assn bus from Oxford. He is going this weekend to see the Rebels take on Southern Louisiana with Scott and Walker Pedigo. He tries not to miss a game. The rest of us will stay in Greenwood and enjoy the River to the Rails activities and a Lusco's dinner. 300 Oaks Road Race is this weekend too and our front yard is the headquarters for registration that morning. Rob, Anna, Anne Carson and Chloe Tyner will be staying with us with their girls as will Scott, Lulu, Walker and Elizabeth. Lisa and McLean will be passing through on Sunday for lunch and a visit on their way back to Fairhope from seeing the Rebels play. We are looking forward to seeing everyone indeed! So as the weekend approaches I ask again (in more contexts than one), "ARE YOU READY??" HELL YES...DAMN RIGHT (and as I quietly respond in my head... I think and hope so!!) Let's have some fun yall!

News Flash!!! The Toothfairy came a callin'... finally

Well, it's official! Anne Craig lost her first tooth last week. It's been a "shade" loose for some time but it finally squirmed it's release last week. It was hanging on for quite a while. Her first grade teacher, Mrs. Burgess, did the honors while she was at school. I could not help but think that we were a little late in joining the exclusive club of missing teeth but my wonderful dentist reminded me that the later the kids lose their teeth the healthier the permanent teeth have a chance to be. I was glad to hear those words of wisdom due to the fact that it's usually a full blown battle to brush teeth daily much less use sufficient tooth paste while doing so... geesh...

I had NO CLUE that the going rate of the Toothfairy these days is $5.00 for the first tooth!! My goodness...that seems a bit steep to me but Anne Craig was excited. I told her that I bet that the next few would be $1.00 teeth. She seemed to accept that notion.

Funny thing happened yesterday during bath time....conversation went something like this...

AC: "Mama, were you born in 1970?"
Me: "Actually, baby, I was born in 1972!"... "Why do you ask?"
AC: "Isn't that when the sky was still brown?"
Me: (Insert full blown laughter here)
I am assuming she is referring to seeing old sepia toned pictures perhaps that we have run across of late while cleaning out Gamba's house... who knows....

Annual Girls Trip 2009 "The Big Easy"

Nothing says therapy like a long weekend getaway with your oldest and closest friends right?? That's what I'm talking about. This years girls trip was long anticipated for many reasons. Primarily because of the location. We've been wanting to do a trip to New Orleans for many years but due to various reasons we've had to postpone the location. This year was THE year! Everything fell into place..No one had family conflicts, no one was birthing a baby, nothing..We were all able to be there except one. Liza had to cancel last minute so we were one shy of our full entourage. She was missed royally though. Needless to say we had such a blast! From the time we crossed the Ponchetrain comin'in until the time we could smell Bourbon Street no mo' we had a large time. It was so awesome to be able to have stayed at the Ritz Carlton right on Canal Street and not just stay there....no indeed... we were residents of the Club Level or better yet... "THE BUTTA CLUB"! It earned it's name rightfully so from Lulu's family many years ago b/c the butta club is as fine as Butta! (Butter for all you non Suthun' readers) Lulu's husband, Scott, was able to pull some strings with his law firm's connections and set us right on up! Personally, I could have never left the butta club and been juuuuuust fine right there. There were always delectable treats available for all hour munching and refreshing spirits to quinch your dying thirst. However, we had much too much to accomplish while in the Big Easy...so that we did!


Sara Beth Bunch Bryant, Kelly Hemphill Connell, Lulu Sandifer Pedigo, Kitt Ewing Bailey, Boyce Harlow Robbins (adoptee), Elizabeth Barnwell, Lisa Trotter Melton, Avery Mounger Lee
Who can believe that this group is approaching their 20th class reunion? We lookin' good up in the Butta Club!


Boyce, Lulu, Elizabeth and Avery
We rode the trolley all the way down St. Charles and walked back up Magazine and did some shopping. Had such a good time seeing all the gorgeous houses in the Garden District and the neat shops! Need about 2 days alone to just get all the way down Magazine (note to self)

Kelly, me, Kitt and Sara

The last night we ate dinner at Dickie Brennan's Steak House. It was wonderful and very "mafia like". The steaks were yummy! Want to definately go back there!

Sara, Kitt, Ave and Boyce

Kelly, Barn, Lisa and Lu
Other things we did while we were there: ate some fine food, danced until wee hours, got onstage at the 80's band bar, rode the bull at the Bourbon Cowboy, walked the River Walk, shopped at Saks, lived the life at the Ritz...now that's what I'm talking about sho'nuf! Girl's Trip 2009!

Laisez Les Bon Temps Roulez!! We did indeed!

July Beach Daze Part II- The Bar Convention

Since we just can't get enough of the beach let's just move on down the shore line to Sandestin how bout it! Have we not had enough sun and surf? Have we not run out of sunscreen yet? Have we not burned to a crisp?? NOOOOOO of course not. Each year we attend the Annual Mississippi Bar Convention. It's our summer vacation with Cham and Jane and we have the best time. The McLean Trotter's and Germaine and Michael Wilson(Jane's daughter and husband from Ocean Springs) usually come over and we also get to catch up with old friends from Law School that we only see once a year. This year was no exception and since these pics were taken Germaine has given birth to sweet Adelaide Jane Wilson!! Everyone is doing well and from the pics I have seen it looks like Germaine just spit her out! It's always a special treat to get a good visit in with Kelly, Ted and Sykes Connell also. They stay at the Merkel's house which is right next door to where we stay. The kids have a big time playing together.

Patten, Floyd, Anne Craig, Sykes and Mary McLean


Ted and Kelly


Dad and Jane in the surf with the kiddos


Taking it alllll in!



Life is good!


Dad in surf with girls!

Thanks again, Dad and Jane! We had a great time.