Making Mama Proud

Presbyterian Christian High School

221 Bonhomie Road

Hattiesburg, MS 39401

(601)582-4956

Student: Alese James Date: 12/17/2010 Grade: 7

Term 1 Term 2 Sem 1 Exam Sem. 1 Term 3 Term 4 Sem 2 Exam Sem. 2 Final Attendance



SUBJECT

7th Grade Rotation  P 

Mrs. Ventura

Bible  B+

Mr. Stanton

Choral Music  A+

Mrs. Stephenson

English 7  B-

Mr. Bonner

History 7 B
Mr. Powe

Mathematics 7 B-

Mrs. Bielstein

Science 7  A-

Mrs. McInnis

Christmas Traditions

Wow!! Christmas is such a special time of year but somehow no matter how hard I try it gets a little hectic!!  I am the girl who has most if not all of my shopping done by Thanksgiving and this year was no exception, in fact I had everything wrapped by Thanksgiving this year!!!  It's nuts I know but my kids are only in school two days a week and when they are out for the holidays I have no time unless I am paying a sitter so I just assume finish my shopping and hang out with them.  I started last year giving the kids a Hallmark ornament for Christmas.  I love starting collections for them, I am very sentimental and I hope when they are older it will be just as special to them as it is to me.  My tradition is to have their ornament wrapped so that they can open it the night we put the tree up.  It is always fun to see what they will think of what I chose for them.

Another tradition that we started last year was going to look at the Christmas lights on Christmas Eve.  It was especially fun this year because the kids are at such a super fun age.  We always go to see the Lewis lights in Purvis which is just amazing! 

After the kids play with their Santa stuff we load up and head to the farm on Christmas afternoon to celebrate with the Ard's.  Can I just say crazy, fun, loud madness!!! hahahaha  My mama loves Christmas as much as I do and it shows at her house.  Excitement is bubbling over in the air at Papa and Gigi's house!!  It is tradition at the farm that before we open any gifts I read the "real" Christmas story to the kids, well actually everyone gathers around to hear about the birth of baby Jesus.  It is so fun to see what all the kids get and to see what their reactions are.

I know last year I blogged about this but one of my favorite traditions that me and mama do is when she hides money on the Christmas tree!  Every year she hides a $100 bill on an ornament and I have to search the tree and check all the ornaments until I find my money :)!!!  Maybe next year I will trick mama and hide something for her on her own tree. 

Needless to say Christmas wears me out, in fact our family has been away from home every weekend since Thanksgiving until this weekend and the only reason we are here now is because Cash is sick, otherwise we would be at the farm having his party.  I am worn out and tired of being in the car and am ready for a little break! :) 

family tradition, going to the Lewis lights on  Christmas Eve

Gotta love Santa on a John Deere

The Bearenstain Bears are our favorites!!

Cash and Arden leaving marshmallows out for the reindeer!!

Snow Village

more snow village

more snow village

i love our Christmas cards! I save them every year

Master P with his present from me, a picture of his PaPaw

Cash giving Ella a ride on his 4-wheeler!

James Family Christmas

So before I let Valentine's day sneak up on me and still no Christmas blog.......

Just imagine how many times these stairs were traveled by these kids

Cash man helping saw some firewood for the fire

Add caption

This is my favorite picture! I loved playing in leaves when I was a kid!

Aunt Sherri and Aunt Jeani helping with the making of the ornaments

Sweet cousins

The James family started a new tradition last year of doing a weekend of Christmas fun, everyone spending the night together, for the ENTIRE weekend.  That's right people, all the family, all weekend.  It's madness! :) ha  This year we rented two cabins at Yogi on the Lake in Pelahatchie, nice place, very beautiful and I would love to go back in the summer.  Besides Arden deciding to throw up all over everything and me on Friday night we had a great time.  I spent most of the Saturday morning in the laundry mat since I had only taken one set of sheets and 5 towels and the sweet little sugar princess used them all up.  We built a fire and roasted marshmallows and Sherri always brings a "craft" for the kids to do which is always cute little Christmas tree ornaments.  The cousins all had fun playing together,  I love seeing my children playing with their cousins on both sides of the family.  I have vivid memories of playing with my cousins growing up!!  I am still resting up from all the holiday nonsense, um I mean fun and travels but I will be ready to do it all again next year! :)

Ted Williams Interview on Today Show - Homeless Man with Golden Voice

WOW!!! I am sharing this for several different reasons. One because I think it is something that everyone should hear about, so in case any of my blogger friends haven't heard this story, here you go! Another reason I am posting this is because for some reason it has really touched my heart. I won't lie and say that I have a real tender spot for panhandlers, in fact I would say it is just the opposite. I am sometimes angered by them but always curious, how did they end up here, what is their story? That is where I usually come up with my own prejudged opinion, "another life wasted on drugs". Now, for those friends that know me well and know my past know that in some way I have a "right", for lack of a better word to feel this way. I detest drugs, despise them, they are evil and I have always made a choice for very, very personal reasons not to give money to panhandles!! I have seen first hand heartache and damage from drug abuse, I could write a book, I probably should write a book. Hey there is an idea! ha. So in saying all this I must admit this Ted Williams story has touched my heart. As a christian I should be sharing Christ's love and emotions towards the homeless, panhandlers. I will add here that I have often taken food to panhandlers but I don't give them money. Jesus wants us to show love, our God is the God of second chances, isn't that great!! He has at some point given most, if not all of us a second chance so why not reach out to someone like this!!! I am asking all of my blogger friends to join me in praying for Ted Williams, that he may remain clean (two years clean) and strong and wise, seeking God in all his decisions, to make good choices so that in years to come he will be a blessing on his family and an inspiration to people everywhere!!

This is copied from a newspaper clipping my mama put in my baby book 32 years ago...

Today's farmer is a pardox-he is an executive with his home in his office;


a laborer digging fence post holes;

a dietitian with a passion for alfalfa, amino acids and antibiotics;

an engineering genius fixing machinery;

a scientist using fertilizer attachments;

a purchasing agent in an old straw hat-

a production expert with a grain shippin problem;

a personnel director with grease under his fingernails;

a manager battling a cost-price squeeze;

in short, a specialist, yet "Jack of all trades."



He likes plenty of food and dinner at noon,

He likes auctions and fairs--drives miles to get there--

gives him a chance to have a nice chat with that neighbor from the farm next to his.

He likes sunshine and rain if not too much or too little

as long as it comes on the days he has chosen.



He's not sold on droughts, gullies, weeds, eight-hour days, daylight savings time, grasshoppers or helping with housework.



Farmers are found in fields--plowing up, seeding down, rotating around, planting in, fertilizing on, spraying for, and harvesting from.



Wives help them,

little boys follow them,

city relatives visit them,

salesmen detain them or wait for them,

weather can delay them

but only Heaven can stop them!!!







And this my friends, is just how it is!!!!!

.

What is a Farm Chick?




A Farm Chick is a girl who sees the world through rose-colored glasses. She loves her family. She laughs a lot. She's farmgirl meets Fifth Avenue and with a little style, she'll change the world.

Happy New Year......

Happy New Year friends and family!!  We celebrated the new year (and our 6th wedding anniversary) at the farm.  Everyone piled in at John's house and Jason shucked a ton of oysters for our enjoyment! We had raw and baked oysters and John cooked some shrimp.  Yumo!  That's my word! :)  If the truth be told I acutally slept through the new year, man life has changed a lot the last ten years, for the better I might add.  I have to say that 2010 was a great year, I tend to believe that a year with all your family healthy, free from disease and heartache is a good year.  Our God is so good, and I am so thankful!  I had some dear friends loose their parents this year and I must admit that is a club I don't want to join any time soon, I feel SO thankful to have my parents and to be able to spend so much time with them, to have my children be able to spend so much time with them. 

One of the things that I am MOST EXCITED about this year is the fact that after 32 years with the USPS my sweet mama is retiring!!!! WOO HOO she has definitely put her time in and it certainly time for her to end that chapter in her life!

So I guess most folks do make resolutions for the new year so I guess I will jump on that band wagon too. I resolve to loose 10 pounds, seriously if I don't my jeans will just hate me for it! I also resolve to quit smoking, oh wait I don't smoke! Whew now all I have to do is loose 10 pounds! :D seriously, I have all kinds of thoughts about what I want to do. Get my house more organized, those that know me know that I really am pretty organized already but I am pretty tough on myself about my house being in order. Its a stupid, exhausting obsession and I have gotten better about it. Really I have. I would love to get back to waking early enough every day to pray for my family and spend a little more time with my Lord who has blessed me so much!!! I love to write to friends and before I had children I was much better about doing this but I bought a small storage box this week to keep all my notecards, stamps etc... For easier access. Now when I want to write a few cards I can just grab my little box and it is all ready to go. I have always felt that when God lays someone on your heart you should let them know! So to all of my family and friends reading this, I love you and I pray for God's blessings on your life this new year!

Here's to health and happiness and may we all live in peace with one another!