Weekend Fun and Kate's First UGA Game!

We had a lot going on this weekend which isn't anything new but a lot of firsts going on!  In spite of the wet weather we got it all in.  Friday was the junior auxiliary day at the high school.  Cohen would be participating with the majorettes to twirl at halftime.  The show was a special performance to honor veterans.  It was such a yucky day but these girls did a great job.  At game time is was a little misty off and on but by half time the mist/rain stopped and the girls performed.  Cohen did a great job and had a big smile on her face out there.  I have to say I was so excited for her.  I have so many fun memories from high school on that football field on Friday nights!  I could tell she was having a lot of fun in spite of the weather.  The crazy part was the bottom fell out as soon as they walked off the field.  I mean I had not even got to her to get her back into the stands and the flood came.   I am glad it held off for their performance though.

This was before the game and heavy rain

these 2 loved dancing in the rain!  

Saturday was another big game day.  This was an easy week for the Dawgs and we decided it would be a perfect time to take Kate to her first Ga game.  I cannot even put into words how excited she was.  She had asked all week when it was time for the GA game.  When we got to Athens and got parked she was jumping up and down saying, "I'm going to the Ga game, I'm going to the Ga game." I loved it!  We also had Westley and Keyes with us and it was Keyes' first game too.  We definitely wanted to get the kids down to the Dawg Walk and made it barely!  We pushed Keyes and Cohen up to the fence as it was starting and both got to get their high fives from the players.  Kate was on Kelly's shoulders so she could see.  She was watching for Hairy Dawg more so than Nick Chubb :)  We listened to the Red Coats and the kids got to see Uga.  Then we headed into the stadium.  We wanted to get food and of course a picture at the hedges for their first game!  It's a must!

Going into her first game!

This game may have been an easy team for Ga but one thing a lot of people were anxious to see was their band!  Southern's band was voted USA Today's #1 band in the country and let me tell you, they were great!  They were very entertaining!  I love our Redcoat band but I do have to give credit to this band as well.  They were great and I think most of the stadium kept their seat at halftime to watch and cheer for them.  The kids were great during the game too.   We actually stayed on into the 4th quarter so I was impressed with Kate.  She did great watching.  She did love sitting in Westley's lap too.  That and getting snacks kept her occupied.  I think she ate her weight in popcorn!   We were pretty excited to get the seed planted in her :)

Taking it all in

You can always bet on Cohen for a silly pic

Sweet girl's first game!!

When we left Athens we got to come home to some more excitement.  It was Franklin Co.'s homecoming dance and this year was Grace's first dance!  I had so much fun taking pictures for their group.  Homecoming has become quite the big deal.  We did have fun taking pics and then of course Cohen and Kate wanted to see Grace all dressed up for the dance.  What is so crazy is that Grace wasn't much older than Cohen when we moved into our house!  I know time is going to fly by and that will be Cohen before we know it.  I mean I could have cried watching Grace.  How will I handle my own?!

 I had to share this picture of Cohen doing dishes later that night.  She told me she loved washing dishes...hmmm.  How long can I take advantage of this?!

We ended our weekend yesterday with a little birthday party fun for Kate's BFF Autumn.  She had a Sheriff Callie party complete with horse rides.  That was right up my girls' alley.  They both had a blast riding and playing with their friends.

And my last but definitely not least picture to share is Kate sporting one of the funniest Halloween masks I've seen.  We had some fun and a few laughs to say the least!  Happy Monday!

Celebrating With Bebe!

On Sunday after we got home from Nashville we were excited to get to go to a celebration party for Bebe!  This dinner party was to celebrate Mama being finished with all her chemo treatments and being cancer free!  Woo Hoo!  I can't think of anything better to celebrate.  Mama has had some rough months since her surgery in April and to be finished with everything is a relief to say the least.  My aunt and uncle threw this party for her and I thought it was a great idea!  I know Mama felt so special having her close family and friends there to help celebrate with her.  I caught her in a daze at one point and asked if everything was ok, and she just smiled and said, "yes, I am just so humbled that everyone would come out tonight to be here with me."  I was not surprised...my Mama is very loved and has some awesome friends and family!  I have seen the love and support poured out over the last 6 months and it is beyond touching.  So we all got together, ate some yummy Mexican food and very yummy cupcakes!  I thought it was such a fun party and everyone seemed to have a fun time.  I loved getting to visit and talk with so many friends.  Its special times like this that I get to see some of them!

I do want to share just a few things I have learned about my mama over these last months...

1. My Mama has faith and trusts in God!  Over the last 9 years my Mama has had to lean heavily on God because no one else could pull her through the dark times like He can.  How many times she could have questioned him and been angry but she has kept going and kept the faith.  She loves her Lord and does not question His plan.  She said it best Sunday night herself...His plan is perfect!  She said she knew He had a purpose through all of this and hoped she could fulfill His plan for her.  I know she will be a huge impact on others going through similar situations. 
2. My Mama is a strong and beautiful woman!   I hope I can have half of my Mama's strength.  I can tell you that I would be a huge baby in this kind of situation and maybe she wanted to be at times, but she has held it together and been a tough cookie through all of this.  I watched chemo make her so tired she couldn't walk.  She has been nauseous and lost all taste of food.  That right there is enough to make us all go crazy!  Not only that, but this chemo is like a lot of chemos, and she lost her hair with it.  I remember the day she went to LeAnne and told her to buzz her hair off because it was falling out.  I cried for her and I know she probably cried herself.  Again I did not see those tears because she held it together.  And guess what...My mama rocked her buzz cut and was (and still is) cute as could be.  We had bought cute hats and she rocked them.  Did I expect anything else...no.  She is a hot little thing and beauty does not lie in hair alone.  She is living proof.  She does have a hot little wig she rocks too.  Now her hair is starting to come back and it grows so fast but as a woman, I know this had to be a hard thing to go through.  My kids never missed a beat with her hair gone either.  We even let Bryce take a turn trying it on! lol!  Kate was fascinated that Bebe could have hair one minute and not the next but never once did they think a thing about it.  They knew medicine could make Bebe lose some hair for a time but she was still their beautiful Bebe.  The fact that they never really noticed a change tells you she kept it together and going strong.  
3. We have the best friends and family around!!  I knew this little tidbit already but I have to share it anyway.  I can't really put into words how awesome our friends, family and community have been through all of this.  Its in the tough times that love is poured over you!  Prayers were sent up from so many places!  My blog post proved that by getting shared and being the most read post I have ever posted!  Food was brought in, friends sat with Mama at her chemo treatments, drove her to appointments and so much more!  I have some pretty awesome friends too.  The waifs (Tara, Tina, and Jessica) sent some pretty cute pink shirts for everyone showing their support.  My kids are wearing them in the pictures!  Texts, calls, notes, and just conversations showed the love and support and I am forever grateful to everyone.  

Again, for every prayer that was sent up, thank you!  They were felt and were answered!  God is good!  

Sporting their pink "Waifs for a Cure" shirts!

Thanking everyone for coming :)

There are some crazy guys in the family....

We love Joanne's yummy cupcakes!

Cheering on the Dawgs in Nashville!

Last weekend we hit the road to head to Nashville to cheer on the Dawgs!  I love a good road trip with our friends and GA football makes it even better.  We had the best time!  We left Friday at 12:00.  We met Alan, Jennifer, Carole, Barry, and Adam and we all loaded up and headed out.  Let me tell you how we laughed and had the best time riding up.  That's what made traffic bearable!  We got to Nashville around 4:30.   We got checked in and changed clothes super quick.  Nashville has bad traffic too!  We had a dinner reservation that we had to cancel because of traffic.  We were going to the Grand Ole Opry so we decided to do a quick dinner and head on in to the Opry.  At dinner we met up with Jess & Meri Beth.  We all ate at Moe's at Opry Mills then walked over to the Grand Ole Opry House.

It had been years since I had been to the Opry.  We went in found our seats and spent the next 2 hours being very entertained with a great show!  Some of the main people were Josh Turner, Tracey Lawrence, Exile, and Charlie Daniels.  It was a great show and ending it with "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" was icing on the cake!  A great way to start our trip!

Josh Turner

 Charlie Daniels!

After the show we decided we had to walk down to all the action and see the Honky Tonks!  Nashvegas here we come!  Nothing is better than hearing some karaoke and people watching!  Its also fun being down in the action where all the other GA fans are.  Fun times for sure!

Nashvegas!

Saturday morning we got up early and made our way to Monell's.  Both Jennifer and Jess had been told that this was a must for breakfast.  They do a family style breakfast and O.M.G was it good?!  They served everything you could think of for breakfast and even had fried chicken!  I mean does it get any better than that?!  Once you are seated you are asked to turn off all cell phones.  Everything is passed to the left with the exception of seconds:)  There were biscuits, gravy, cinnamon rolls, grits, eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, pancakes, potatoes, corn pudding, and fried chicken!  What?!  It was breakfast heaven to say the least and we were all so stuffed when we left.  This is the meal ticket you get to take to the register to pay...it fits I must say!

We had a little rest time back in the room and then walked down to the stadium.  Since Jess and Meri Beth were staying right there we had a room we could hang out in too.  There were several games on that the boys wanted to watch.  In fact most of the fans were all into the Auburn game before heading in for our own game.  It was such an awesome atmosphere because GA fans were everywhere!  In fact, I'm wondering if Vandy has any fans...I'm pretty sure there was more red and black in that stadium.  We lined up to cheer on the team as they got off the bus and headed into the stadium.  Of course leading them in was Coach Richt!

Of course Georgia got the win but I would definitely say it was not the prettiest win we've ever had.  There are a lot of things to work on before meeting some of the more challenging teams on our schedule.  We will leave it at that...A win is a win!  GO DAWGS!  Now on to South Carolina next week "Between the Hedges!"

We ran into Hairy Dawg at the end of the game!

After the game we all headed to Hattie B's for another yummy meal!   A dinner place with TV's was a must so we could watch other games on, mainly the Tennessee game.  Hattie B's was another place recommended to Jess and even though we had a little wait, it was delicious and didn't disappoint.  You can see that we did not hurt for a good meal on the trip!

We had to say goodbye to Meri Beth and Jess after dinner.  We had a great time with them!  It turned into a quick goodbye too because fall officially arrived this weekend and once the sun was down it was down right chilly!  While I did pack my jeans, I was very thankful that Hubby packed several long sleeve shirts...for him and for me :)
We all were in the room relaxing soon after and it wasn't long before we were out.  Alan was last to bed and first up!  We were on the road back to Georgia at 7:30.  We had a celebration to be back for that night (more on that later).  I can't say enough about how much fun we had.  I love laughing and making memories with great friends.  Fall and Georgia football will always bring together great people!  We already started our countdown to the next road trip and marking next year's calendar as well:)

Now while Hubby and I were off enjoying our fun weekend in Nashville our kids were loving life back here at home.  Suzy and Sug loved on Bryce for the weekend.  My friend Amanda kept both girls on Friday night and took them to the rodeo!  She also met up with my best friend Rebekah on Saturday and the kids got to go to the fair on Saturday night!  I think its safe to say the girls were in heaven!  They had a blast!  I cannot thank her enough for taking both my girls for the weekend and taking them to the rodeo and fair!  The girls even got to spend Saturday night with Bebe and spend Sunday with her too!  I think their weekend was fun, fun and more fun!  Amanda was so sweet to send me pictures the entire weekend showing me all the fun they were having.  And I love seeing the pictures!  I don't know what we would do without our family and friends!!

cute cowgirls ready for the rodeo in their matching shirts!

Kate was totally in her element!

Cade & Cohen!

Cohen & Cade on the ferris wheel!