Girls Night!

11-11-11, that was the night of the Charity Ball this year in Hatteisburg.  Normally I probably wouldn't go but this year a "few" of us girls decided to go.  And at last minute a few more girls decided to go until there were 8 of us! It was so much fun and spent with a group of really great girls! I usually am not a big fan of putting a whole lot of women together but this group of girls was the exception.  We had a blast, everyone laughed all night long.  I can't wait for another girls night with these ladies! Good clean(sort of) drama free fun!!! :)

You can take the girl off the farm...yes I really wore these boots with my formal!

Thank God for Jodi, we all looked stunning :)

Rebecca!

Katie

Katie,Julie, Brooke, Brandi and Rebecca, part of the crew

Jodi, Katie, Julie, Brooke, Brandi and Rebecca

Three of my favorite sisters, Brooke, Jodi and Brandi

Katie, Rebecca, me, Brooke, Dana, Brandi, Jodi and Karla

Fun times on the dance floor

I even saw my sis in law!

Brandi!! :)

I  love this picture of her

Me and Jodi

I have no clue but I am sure it was funny!

Brandi and Me

Me and Dana

Dana and Brookie

hmmm

Dance Floor

Hey Katie

I don't know what to say about this one :)

Katie, Brandi and me dancing

Dana, Brooke, Me and Jodi

Brandi and Brooke

Katie and Brooke

again

hahahaha

self portrait, sorry Jodi :)

me and brandi

this was a self portrait of the guy who drove us back to our car on the golf cart! :)

We had just as much fun in the car!

me and brooke!  :) ha

Karla about to ride off with a biker, lol

all the girls, late night! plus Seneca!

Memories...

Cash and Lulu taking in the fresh air, there is nothing like a boy and his dog!

This is what love looks like.  They slept like this most of the night.

This is what the inside of my heart looks like.

Cash's "new" 4-wheeler, he loves it, it makes mama nervous!

Cash loving on Lulu

Farm life, enough said!!

This would be the mini me of Jason and me.  At least I think so.

Until she is just to big to ride on my shoulders, this is where she always tries to sit.

I was SO proud of Alese and her JV dance team from PCS, they won  overall state!!

This is what happens when your 3 year old daughter squeezes your puppy's foot! :( Poor Lulu

Malaine spent a few nights with us and we had a blast! Her and Arden had a fashion show out of my closet!

Two sweet girls! Malaine and Arden

Arden and I saw this rainbow today, it would have been prettier if we wouldn't have been in town but we were reminded of God's promise and love anyway.  :)

A little snuggle time!

Bill gave Arden this purse for her birthday and she LOVES it. Can you tell?

These are a few of my Thankful Things...

Today is a day of giving thanks.  Before I deleted my face book page I have for the last three years listed something I was thankful for every day in November.  It isn't that I am not always thankful for these things it is just that November seems to be a time of year that we associate with giving thanks.  I am blessed, beyond measure, sometimes I feel guilty and even a little bit fearful, if that makes sense, for ALL my blessings. 

I am overwhelmed with gratitude and love for my healthy children, for their zest for life, for my parents and their health and the fact that I still have them both in my life.  They are strong sources of strength for me.  I am thankful for my husband, he can be difficult at times but watching a dear friend grieve the loss of her young husband this year has certainly enlightened me to how harsh and fast life can be.  I have some of the most faithful, loving friends anyone could ask for, some of them are fairly new and some of them have been in my life since I was a child, wow!!!  They know me inside and out, secrets, failures, flaws, successes, the good, the bad and the not so pretty and yet they still, somehow love me. 

I could blog pages about my family farm and my love for being there, for getting my kids OUT of the city and on the dirt!!  We love it there, I am SO thankful for a place to go, to breath, to see all God's beauty in its fullness.  We had a huge meal today at my parent's, I am thankful for that, there are those that struggle to buy groceries.  We often take these small things for granted.

Dear God,
You are the almighty, the Giver and the Taker.  Thank you for your abundant presence in my life, for all your gifts and blessings that never stop coming even when I am unworthy.  I am emotionally overwhelmed by your goodness and I love you!

CAshism's

Last Sunday Cash wore a cross necklace to church.  When we got home he came up to me and said, "Mama you gotta take this necklace off of me, it is giving me a heart attack" :)

Arden Caroline turns 3!!!

After a very long and busy month of agritourism on Ard's Dairy Farm I was ready for a break, NOT ready to plan a birthday party for my baby girl.  Maybe also because I didn't really like the fact that she is turning 3, where have the years gone?  When Cash turned 3 a girl told me that 3 was the most fun age and she was right, Cash was hysterical at 3, so much fun and Arden is already showing those same traits.  Instead of a party this year I just let everyone know that we were going to eat supper at Rocket City Diner and we would love for anyone that could join us to come on.  It was loud, wild and so much! The kids hula hooped there socks off and Arden had a great time.  She actually had school on her birthday so I baked some home made strawberry cupcakes with home made cream cheese icing and we had a little "party" with her friends in her class.  I will brag, the cupcakes were really good! :)  Happy Birthday to my beautiful, energetic, challenging, determined, strong willed, loving Arden Caroline James, I will never forget the first time I held you in my arms, my love for you grows more by the minute! You rock my world!

Milestones...

I am not sure if most of you would consider this a real milestone but it was for me!  My little boy has gone on his first trip to the deer camp with his daddy, 3 hours away.....for three nights.  He is only four years old and I won't lie, this was a little bit emotionally difficult for me.  He is my baby and he is only four.  I really thought I had a few more years before this was an issue, did I mention he is only four?  P Daddy is in two hunting clubs, one is right south of Hattiesburg and only a 20 minute drive so Cash goes to that camp and spends the day often, that is not a big deal.  The other camp is in Louisville, almost 3 hours away and Patrick has never considered taking Cash this year.  There has been talk of me going up for a few days and then he would get to go but never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that he would go now, at this age, without me :).  Yesterday after church Master P was packing up his truck to leave this morning, that is when it all began.  Cash started whining, kicking  his foot in the dirt saying "I want to go to the deer camp" then it turned into crying.  I don't mean the yelling, pitching a fit, typical four year old tantrum, I mean heartbroken tears, crying that made your heart ache.  I asked Patrick how he could say no to that and he said "I don't guess I am.  You can go with me buddy".  Cash started asking me right away to pack his stuff, he started getting his boots, toys, guns, ropes etc... All his boy paraphernalia.  He piled a bunch of it up on top of P Daddy's stuff, now for the count down!!  

Patrick was awaken this morning by Cash coming into the bedroom, fully dressed pulling his suitcase behind him, ready to go.  I started looking around for Cash's hunting boots and he informed me that he had put them in the truck last night! :)  I took  a few pictures of them loading the truck up, I am sure neither of them understand the big deal but it is my babies first trip to the deer camp, he is only four, did I mention that?  I did put my disclaimer into Master P before they left, it went something like this, "if my baby is exposed to anything like a bunch of loud cussing and drinking I will fly up on my broom and you will all suffer my wrath.  Protect his spirit or else".  I know this is a big deal for daddy's and sons, this time to bond and do all the nasty things that boys do at deer camps but I wasn't ready just yet but I am happy that the boys get to bond.