September Games

September has just flown by! Fall ball is underway. I told a fellow coach's wife (baseball) the other day.....I can't imagine being married to a baseball coach. I mean those games are so long, they play like 3 in one weekend and I hate a foul ball (which she can relate to since she got hit by a foul ball in the press box at Vandy). BUT---I could watch Willie play baseball all day long which might be a good thing b/c he rated our family sport of basketball as his third favorite sport today. (It goes like this right now football, baseball, basketball.) Here's Willie with his first game ball of the season. He was the lead-off batter the other night and hit a home run first hit of the game.

Then there's the college football season....the Vandy game with the Wallace's was quite soggy, but the DAWGs fought it out. We spent much of that Saturday scouring the city for ponchos and water boots. They were a selling out fast but so worth the hunt!

Thank you, my dear family, for coming so far to be with us. I love yall! You know we play MTSU in just a few weeks if you want to do it all again!

Weekend Wows!

We had alot of Wows this weekend!

Ruby was wowed by the red polish that Ronda whipped out of her purse at the volleyball match on Friday night.

Jay and I were wowed that our kids woke up later than usual on Saturday and didn't wake us up. We woke up to the sweet wisdom that Willie was sharing with Ruby in the kitchen as he fixed her breakfast. He peeled a hard boiled egg (previously boiled), toasted her waffle, provided her fruit and made her some chocolate milk by himself. Jay and I just laid there in our nearby room listening to their sweet exchanges.

After some exercise, we headed out for a little Saturday fun and ended up at the Greek Fest....I'm guessing it's our 8th annual trip. The Greek food, of course, wows me and Jay. The games and pony rides wow our kids.

After some rest, Jay and I headed out to the Symphony with Kate and Brandon. The symphony presented an Americana show which connected all kinds of music in America's history including a bluegrass/country flair that I totally appreciated and surprise visit from Emmy Lou Harris. But the wow moment of the night for us was when "Honeyboy" Edwards feebly took the stage. He's a Shaw, Miss boy that's only 94 years old. He wrote Sweet Home Chicago.

Check out his tour schedule at http://www.davidhoneyboyedwards.com/. He'll be in London next week. Honeyboy is the last living legend that played with Robert Johnson, King of the Delta Blues. We were fortunate enough to be invited to the after-party to meet the musicians.

Here's us with HoneyBoy! Is Jay not at one of his happiest moments?! We, of course, talked to him about the Sip and Jay asked him if he knew Jay's elderly friend from Shaw, Boo Ferris (also a living legend http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Ferriss ). To which Honey Boy replied, "yeah, that's old WD Ferris' boy...." that cracked us up b/c he was remembering the generation before Boo.

Wow! I'm grateful we still have so much fun together.

After church on Sunday, we took some long naps with intermittent football and tennis (both in our backyard and on TV). Plus we got some house projects done as we welcome family this coming weekend in anticipation of a big WOW from our beloved Bulldogs.

Apple Orchard

Morning Glory!

Morning Glory Apple Orchard that is.

Mrs. Thompson's Class.

My favorites are getting to know the other parents and counting the # of moms who tell me that their daughter is Willie's girlfriend:) I didn't know which girlfriend to include here so I chose one of his best buddies, Teddy.

Football and Family Weekend!

Starkville was rocking this weekend with the third largest crowd ever. Dan Mullen debuted with a victory. We got to cheer for the football players as they unloaded off the bus....quite the interesting fashion show may I add. Willie was not overly impressed as you might think he would be. I think he's a bit of a resentful fan and I hope he might come around one day. He did cheer for State but I think Jay told him he couldn't go to the game if he didn't. The Vandy game is here this year and I'm afraid that Willie might not come around for our Bulldogs. Willie's favorite part was playing football himself at the tailgate with Reagan and Uncle Steven. During a rain delay, two trainers were on the field tossing the ball, Willie said, "Mom, can I go down there and throw the football?" We had good seats at the game; but we were over half way up the stadium. He was so serious:)


We're so grateful that Jay's family lives in Starkville now. We get to visit sacred ground to us everytime we visit family.

A couple of unexpected highlights.....We saw several of Jay's college teammates this weekend including Rula, Super D, Marcus, Big Damp plus Coach Stansbury. Hard to believe that Erick is still going strong for the Mavericks (13 years). And Jay and I shared with Jeff's youth group on Sunday night! A big treat to share our relationship blessings of 18 years with them.


We made it home in 5 hours today, and we had the yard cut and kids in bed before dark. Actually, the kids put themselves in bed!

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know

Ruby was presented her 2 year old Bible in the Chapel last Sunday. The coolest part to me was that Ruby was REALLY excited about this event. Papa gave Ruby a New Testament recently and she carries it almost everywhere in a little monogrammed purse that Nana gave her. She even has slept with it in lieu of a doll. Then there's a couple of Bibles of mine she pulls out for what she calls "Bible Class" and she teaches a class to imaginary friends I suppose. So getting her own illustrated Bible just like Willie's was a big event.

Here's Miss J. presenting her with her Bible.

To wrap up the ceremony, the parents held children and sang Jesus loves me! I snapped this shot of Ruby and Jay behind big tears. How can she be 2? How will God use her?

Family Photos

Check out www.mandyjohnsonphotography.com/blog/ September 1st entry.

We haven't seen our proofs yet. Mandy came highly recommended, and she can make anything look pretty good which is hard to believe when Willie's personality ranged from hyena to grumpy old man during the session. Of course, Ruby is generally all about the camera.

The best part was Mandy came to us, and I'm honored she found a happy home. It's true though. Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of your love. Thank you, family, for making obedient choices long, long before we ever came around.

Back to School Part 2

Here's some pics definitely for the grandparents and whoever else can stand it.....Most everything since back to school including Day #1, Ruby's fashion show, Canoe Trip, multiple Sounds games, church picnic, LU soccer game, backyard goodtimes.......I honestly can't believe how much fun we make in a week!