Week at a glance

Friday we enjoyed a little time at the pool then we headed to Cedar Ridge for the VBS Carnival celebration

Gabrielle came out of her shell and entered the bounce house for the 1st time. As her mom I was proud of this accomplishment. She enjoyed the large slide as well as the other attractions which included a "rainbow castle" and a balloon artist. Mommy wasn't too excited for the hour plus wait in line for a butterfly balloon that took all of 5 minutes to make and has cluttered our house for the past week.

Gabi and her friend Chase were two peas in a pod. They ran, laughed & just thoroughly enjoyed each other. Matt (Chase's Daddy) treated the girls to a bag of cotton candy. Gabrielle felt it necessary to hand feed it to Chase! Too cute!

Monday we scheduled a spontaneous play date with our neighbor Brennan. He is one month younger than Gabrielle. Their playtime the past couple of summers has been limited to time we have bumped into each other at the pool. Now that I am a stay at home mom I have the time to commit to making more friends here in the neighborhood. Jade is such a genuinely sweet gal who I really look forward to getting to know better. We look forward to lots more play dates with Jade and Brennan (and baby Brody due this fall) in the future.

I attempted to capture Brennan laying a kiss on Gabrielle.
Do I see a boyfriend in the making?

This is how I have found Gabrielle several afternoons this week. Our routine is for her to spend independent play time downstairs in our family room while Dawson takes his afternoon nap. It has become deadly silent after about 10 minutes and I will walk down to check on her and voila - sleeping beauty. My one and only complaint about her napping is she struggles to fall asleep. We have had two 10PM or later nights this week.
Our week also included a swim date with Navaeh and Marietta, a trip to the park followed by ice cream at Sonic with Tatum, a special evening with Mema & a 2nd play date at Brennan's Thursday while I took Dawson to the orthopedic specialist for a follow-up appointment. Bree will be here prior to noon today (Friday) to spend the remainder of the day playing while Tom and Lisa get settled at their new home.


It has been a week since my previous post ... things continue to be going extremely well with Gabrielle. I have enjoyed her outward expressions of affection and her sweet spirit. Her bumpy period of the day continues to be when Travis arrives home from work in the evening. She acts out vying for his attention. He has made a tremendous effort to spend one on one time with her daily which has been to our benefit.
Hope everyone has a terrific weekend! We have some fun plans for tomorrow if my back holds up. It has been causing me terrible pain again. This too shall pass (hopefully sooner than later)!

Angelic Form

My sweet, yet sassy baby girl! It has been one week today since we had a turn in our mother/daughter relationship. My own mother plays a significant role in both Gabrielle & my lives. She saw that I was really struggling with some disobedience & consequently discipline issues with my strong willed little girl so she purchased a couple of books for me to read and put their suggestions into practice. The main message of the book is to balance love and control. I was so quick to discipline out of frustration/anger versus love. We have had a mountaintop week and I must say that I can only hope that things will continue to improve. I have enjoyed my time with Gabrielle and have experienced a love & appreciation for her and her bubbling spirit.

This is how Mom and I found Gabrielle friday afternoon. She was watching her Hillsong Kids Praise video and fell fast asleep in our bed.
Why is it that our children look so beautiful while sleeping??

This is a super fun/funky picture I snapped earlier this week.
A true angel in my eyes!

This is a exert from the book "Treat your child with sincere love and dignity, but require him or her to follow your leadership. Choose carefully the matters that are worthy of confrontation, then accept her challenge on those issues and win decisively. Reward every positive, cooperative gesture she makes by offering your attention, affection, and verbal praise."
A suggestion that the book makes is also to lay your hands on your child each night as they sleep and pray for the Holy Spirit to conquer their strong will while not destroying their spirit, because her (Gabrielle) spirit is what makes her who she is.
My personal prayer for my child is 2 Timothy 1:7 "Do not give Gabrielle a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self discipline."

Summer Camp

This past week got away from me! Where does time go sometimes?
Gabrielle attended weeks one & two of a four week summer camp program at Grace United Methodist Church the past couple of weeks. Week one the theme was How Does Your Garden Grow? She learned about different kinds of seeds and plants that grow in a garden. She planted flowers, sprouted magic beans & had dirt cake for a snack. For crafts she made a muddy footprint that says "Mud is very nice to feel all squish squash between my toes! I'd rather wade in wiggle mud than smell a yellow rose. Nobody else but the rosebush knows how nice mud feels between the toes." Cute! She also made a garden step stone and painted a watermelon (not a fresh one, one cut from a paper plate). Week two the theme was A Camping We Will Go. The class went on a nature walk & collected pieces of nature. They spotted a snake one day and a box turtle another - definitely something she talked about a lot. They made cute fishing poles out of tree limber, rope & a paper clips then made fish out of construction paper and aluminum foil for the fins. They headed to the fishing hole to catch some fish. For crafts they painted with a rock, decorated an adorable bug box & made a giant green frog.
I would have loved to have Gabrielle attend weeks three and four but apparently they couldn't meet the demand. It was definitely a great experience for Gabi and Mommy as well. It gave me 3 hours each day to spend one on one time with Dawson, run errands, grocery shop, etc. Did I mention shop? I did that too!!

The highlight of this past week for me was spending time with my Mom while my Dad was on his annual fishing trip. She had wanted me to help her put together a scrapbook of their 40th wedding anniversary cruise they took this past year. We worked Wednesday evening, Friday & Saturday morning and knocked it out. We had so much fun together and it pleases me to no end to see how happy she is with the album. It is something she is very proud of and looks forward to sharing with friends and family. She enjoyed it so much she is ready to start another album!
Sorry no pictures this post. More later - C

Hicks - Theede Wedding

Gabrielle was honored to be the flower girl in her Aunt Pammie's wedding this past Saturday. This was her 2nd venture as a flower girl. Little Lucas (Brad & Pam's 1st grand baby) was the ring bearer. He is only a little over 2 months old therefore is not in the pictures.
Pam and Brad hosted the wedding at their home in the country which boasts beautiful greenery and a wonderful creek. It was such a neat ceremony true to who they are as a couple. Brad purchased Pam's wedding dress on clearance at a local Western Store. It fit her like a glove and she looked beautiful in it. Brad and his brother dressed in western shirts, jeans and cowboy hats.

The kiss

The wedding party from left to right: Shari (Pam's sister) - maid of honor, Gabrielle (niece) -flower girl, ? - pastor, Pam - bride, Brad - groom, Scott (Brad's brother) - best man

Uncle Darren with baby D
Dawson wasn't too sure what to think of Uncle Darren. This was his immediate reaction both times Darren attempted to hold him. Sorry Darren!!
I love this man and the women that my sister-in-law Shari has become since he came into her life. He is kind, fun loving, a Harley boy at heart & a member of the God squad (a group of guys that he works with that share their love of Christ & their passion for some online computer game that keeps Uncle Darren up all hours of the night!!!)

Travis with his 2 sisters
Shari on the left and Pamela on the right

Our nephew Dustin's girlfriend Nikki took a couple family photos for us.
It is sooooo difficult to get a decent shot of 2 adults + 2 little ones.

Dawson getting some cuddle time with GG
He partied as long and as hard as his little body would let him before finally crashing!

Just a fun pic I snapped of Travis and I after the champagne toast. He is even more uncooperative for the camera than the kids. I was glad to get a halfway decent shot as he is always contorting his face, sticking his tongue out, etc.

We enjoyed time away from home visiting with family. We ate entirely too much, slept entirely too little and came home with more than we left the house with.
Thanks Grandpa Dallas and GG for all the extras this trip!!! We are so grateful.

Firsts

Our families 1st visit to the neighborhood swimming pool.

Dawson was a fish and Gabrielle was a mermaid (her words).
Both my kids share a love for the water.

I took Dawson to get his 1st official professional haircut at Strandz with Ms. Jillian, my stylist. He couldn't have been any better. He was a ham for the ladies. He needed his hair trimmed around his ears, the necklace and a little length taken off the top prior to Aunt Pam's wedding this weekend.

Dawson posing with Jillian after his cut.

Dawson has had trouble producing shooeys (our family word for poo) on his own so sister asked if she could give him a bottle of apple prune juice this morning. It was so endearing to watch her mother him and sit patiently until the last drop was gone.
Now it is a waiting game ...

This picture was taken Wednesday as he was distressed & straining to push a shooey out. Poor little fella! Sorry for the details, but I thought the picture was too cute.

A love gesture saying "job well done brother ... you know how to polish a bottle off like a true pro. I love you, sister."

Flying High

It was such a perfect evening and as with many other evenings we headed out to the backyard. I have been a little apprehensive to put Dawson in the outdoor swing as the safety strap is broken. I finally decided it was safe enough as I was within a hands reach from him.

He was so happy to be "flying high" feeling the cool breeze as he swung back and forth (and round and round when sister took a turn pushing!)

I don't wish for the day that he outgrows his baby fat rolls. I don't know what I will miss the most ... the cute dimples on his hands, his chubby wrists that camouflage his birthmark or his chunky thighs that are simply irresistible.

I chuckled as I was taking these pictures. I realized Dawson is wearing a Carters onesie that has an airplane that resembles the Little Tikes swing shape to a tee.
I was so excited because I found this exact same swing at a neighbors garage sale this weekend for a great price. The safety strap is in working order so now we just have to wait for Daddy to hang it which is on his to do list for tomorrow. More fun times ahead!
Pictures taken 05-23-08