A Day at the playground and bread!

It was a really long, busy summer!

Mabry got a new haircut!
Then she saw some fireworks at the Ole Miss baseball stadium. They were fabulous!
Gabe learned to pick his nose. We know, gross.
Then, Gabe learned to drive the car.
Gabe, Nadia, and Mabry played in the slip and slide a lot!
I saw the outfit that Harrison Ford wore in Star Wars!
Guy rode in the Millenium Falcon. (I did too, but Guy was geeked out about it).
We started school. The students seemed to have an exhausting summer too. Do you like how we verify our sleeping referrals?
Gabe's favorite game is Santa Claus. This consists of covering his chin with something and yelling, "Ho! Ho! Ho!" over and over while laughing hysterically.

Funny things my son says

So Gabe has been putting together full sentences and paragraphs the past couple of weeks. It is so surreal to think that even two months ago, we didn't understand half of what he said. Yesterday, the boy had me laughing to the point of tears. The following are the transcripts:

Scene 1: in the kitchen, the toaster bings

Gabe: Mommy made toast! Go, Mommy!

Scene 2: in the living room, watching "Elmo Goes Potty"

Gabe is done with sitting on the potty and trying to put on his shorts, albeit with two legs into one leg hole unsuccessfully. Gabe suddenly looks up and says "Uh-oh" runs to his potty where he proceeds to pee. Upon completion, Gabe yells, "I won! I won!"

random pictures from my phone and camera

The above is blurry, but this is the red, white, and blue outfit with Hotty Toddy embroidered on it that Gabe will be wearing to my cousin, Josh's, wedding in September. Josh and Amanda in their infinite wisdom have decided to get married on the opening day of college football season. The sacrilege!!! Josh is also an undying State fan. Can you see the revenge plot in my head? A whole family dressed in Ole Miss regalia? The pictures that will last a lifetime and irk his maroon and white heart until the day he dies. Just kidding. Ole Miss fans have class and manners. We will be dressed appropriately, but the boy will be wearing the Ole Miss john-john.
Nadia, Mabry, and Gabe having a great time with the sprinkler.
Mabry giving Gabe rabbit ears.
The boy loves him a baseball cap. It goes great with pacies.
My wonderful, awesome mother got me a window decal for my car. Notice the flip flops. Notice they are red and blue. Awesome, huh?
My little overachiever, Mabry, got straight A's for the entire school year (this is gonna cost me), won the accelerated reader award for her class with over 180 points (most books are only worth .5 points, so imagine the sheer number of books read), and came in second in accelerated math with 165 objectives mastered. She is wearing her gold medal for AR.

long time since last post with pictures

Mabry had a gymnastics recital last night. Unfortunately, my camera chose then to act wonky. The picture above is the best I could get. Mabry did an awesome job and is looking forward to next year's classes.
Those are the little girls dancing to "Butterfly Kisses". Too adorable for words.
Gogo the wonder mutt on her chair.
Gabe and his buddy, Cooper Howell, after the Easter egg hunt at church. Aren't they handsome? Little Jack Leatherman is in the back. He thinks he's Mabry's boyfriend and really likes it when she wears bows to church.
Family portrait in the courtyard of church after the hunt. Mabry got a ton of loot!
Gabe is all boy, but really likes to wear pink straw hats with feathers. Tim
Gunn would tell him to "make it work!"

musing

An old friend of mine has experienced a horrible tragedy this week. I feel the need to vent some feelings and don't need to have my friend's family criticized at all. Henry, a four month old baby, died yesterday from an accident. He apparently smothered while sleeping on his father's chest on the couch.
Everytime I think of my friend and their baby, I cry. I cannot imagine losing either of my children, especially from something I have done countless times with my own kids. This is a baby who never got to sit up, say a first word, walk, voluntarily give his parents a hug or a kiss. There are no words for how profound the loss of a child is.
Guy and I lost a child at ten weeks of pregnancy. I mourn that loss often, but I feel that loss is so much muted comparatively to the loss of a child one has snuggled, held, and been able to experience. Our loss was a bad dream unrealized. The loss of Henry is a bad dream. Please put this family in your prayers or thoughts. They will struggle so much in the days ahead to make sense of this. I wish there was something I could do to make this time easier.

zoo trip

So we went to the Memphis Zoo, which is lucky enough to house two adorable pandas! We waited in traffic for an hour to get a parking place since I believe the entire population in the tri-state area decided it was a perfect day to be outside (70+ degrees, sunny with a nice breeze). We then waited another 30 minutes in line for tickets. Once inside though, it wasn't so crowded, at least until you wanted to eat. We meandered for the better part of three hours through the park. Gabe's favorites this time were the bears. It didn't matter which bears. He called them all "Little Bear". Guess what cartoon we watch A LOT of? Every time we saw a bear, Gabe would yell, "Hey, Little Bear!" and then when we left he would tell Little Bear good bye. Too sweet!
This is Gabe at the outside panda exhibit. The two pandas do NOT get along and they keep them separated except to hopefully create a baby one day. The female was outside and the male inside when we were there.
Mabry with the panda. I think the photo looks like it has a fake background, but too cute!! Mabry loves the pandas too. It is her biggest disappointment in life that we don't adopt the panda and buy every item the gift shop sells with a panda picture on it.
In other zoo news, while we were walking, I stared at a man with a young family with the overwhelming sense that I was supposed to know him. As we passed the man, Guy asked me if I recognized him. I told him that he seemed familiar, and Guy informed me that it was Dunbar of Real World and Ole Miss fame. I felt kind of lame that I didn't recognize him offhand, but Guy should feel lamer since he recognized an MTV reality show star first!!! We are too old to know who these people are!

Happy Monday!

Introducing Super Gabe!!!!

mabry and her cousin, Reaves, at Nana and Papa's.
Daddy and Gabe
Gabe likes to have his ganky tied on like a cape and fly around the house.

wanting mama to fly too