Strangeness

I actually walked into the living room to find them watching TV like this.

And they had no idea they had an observer.

Happy Birthday Ava!

Days old.


First birthday.




Two Years Old




Three Years Old





Four Years Old



 Five Years Old

And a big SIX Years old!

This Man

This man has rocked and sang to 9 grand-babies and now his 9th great-grand-baby.  And we have all been lulled to sleep by his deep voice and Granny's voice in the background warning, "Daddy, don't rub 'em with your whiskers." 

My Pop-Pop and Jack (9 weeks old).

Jack

He weighs 15 lbs, 1 ounce at 10 1/12 weeks. He is wearing 6 month clothing and has been for a couple of weeks. He grins so much sometimes that he can't even eat. He looks just like a little old man sometimes, so we call him Napoleon. He squeals in shear delight at his Daddy, at the girls and when you moo like a cow. He has managed to squirm 180 degrees in his crib at night which scared me to death. He sleeps in a fleece sleep sack because he's too wiggly for blankets. He does not like bottles or pacifiers at all. He is my little fuzzy bear. He loves a bath. He loves to pee in his bath. He loves to pee when his diaper is getting changed. All over the wall. And me. He is strong and constantly moving. He often coos and squeaks and wants to talk. And he has completely stolen my heart.

Signed

AVA WAS HERE.

We Are Easily Amused Around Here

Nightmare

Joe and I met each other.  Getting in and out of bed.  At 4 am.  I had just finished feeding Jack and tucking him back in his crib.  Joe was responding to a "Daaaaaddddy" from the bedroom at the end of the hall.  The bedroom that is often inhabited by strange and unusual visitors in the middle of the night.  Jack is still eating every 3- 3 1/2 hours during the night.  I like my sleep.  I fell into bed, haphazardly threw part of the sheet around me and immediately drifted into a deep sleep.  I do not remember Joe returning to bed, getting up and dressing, or leaving for work. 

So, later this morning after breakfast I asked Ava how her night went.  Her face become solemn and she got a far off look in her eyes.  "Well, I heard something pecking on our house and scratching and I knew it was the big crow.  It was trying to get in my room again.  I told it to hush 2 times, but it wouldn't quit pecking on stuff.  Then it let bugs come because birds have bugs and there was a bug on my ceiling.  Daddy said he would lay down with me for 2 minutes but he really stayed longer (I'm sure he fell asleep) and the crows went away for now."  Then her gaze snapped back and she ran off down the hall.  The next sound I heard was her singing to her babies in her room, not a care in the world.  On average, this crow stops by once a week.  It's a big black crow.  Sometimes it pecks.  Sometimes it crows.  It always elicits a call in the dead of night.  We keep threatening to let her watch a horror movie so she will have real nightmares, worth startling us out of the deepest of sleeps.  I do get kind of tickled thinking of her laying in the bed telling that crow to hush.  In the daytime that is.

Text messages this morning:
Me:  The crow was pecking last night, huh?
Joe:  Yes.  Good gosh.

Almost 100 Years Ago...

Almost 100 years ago, in the year 1918, my great grandmother, Clara Saxon attended what was then known as Mississippi A & M.  She became a teacher.

Mama Clara, as we knew her, is on the far right in front of the Industrial Building, the year 1918 written on the back.

After World War I, she married Walter McGee and had 6 children, the oldest of them, my Papaw, Walter Saxon "Buddy" McGee.   He attended MSU after World War II in 1948 and lived in the renowned Old Main dormitory.  He married and had 3 boys, the oldest, Walter Lynn McGee, my Daddy.  Dad attended MSU and we have heard tales of his college days in the 1970s  including some about him hitchhiking to and from school.  He and both of his brothers graduated from MSU.

 Jack Cristil's voice over a crackling static radio in a pea green Ford with no air conditioning is a staple of my childhood.  And anytime it is possible my daddy will still watch a game on TV with it muted and listen to it on the radio.  My sister and I grew up believing that if we made the audacious decision to attend the "other" school, not one dime of our tuition would be paid.  Neither of us dared make such a foolhardy choice for undergraduate school.
My sister  graduated with a degree from State before going to law school.   I went to State and later on to UNA for my nursing degree.  My husband, Joe, also graduated from MSU and has memories of many ball game trips with his dad.  After marrying him I realized there were TWO men in the world that recorded and watched MSU games over and over and over again, at times like it was the first time, rewinding the very  best and very worst parts, reliving all the emotion again and again, driving his spouse insane.  "Baby, they don't pull it out this time Ei-ther," I have consoled on more than one occasion.

To say our babies don't have a chance is an understatement.  They have been brainwashed since birth.
They wear maroon and clang cowbells as soon as their fat dimpled fists can clench them.  They learn the cheers and fight song and chant MAROON or WHITE not long after learning bedtime and dinner prayers. They have no idea that universities exist outside of Mississippi State and the "Boo Rebels" team.  No, they've never so much as heard of a  Harvard or Yale. They, like we did at a young age, will grow to believe that it's a good day of State wins, but it's a GREAT day if State wins and Ole Miss gets beat.  




Our family loves the Dawgs!

 Cate at age 2,asleep and holding her ticket in her bed after her first football game at MSU.

Joe and Ava with her cowbell.




A night at Dudy Noble with Cate and Ava.


 Cate and Bully.



Papaw and John Saxon "Jack" Babb, on May 7, 2013.  Jack's first road trip.


I would love for my Papaw  to see this National Championship series. He attended MSU games well into his 80s, until his legs could no longer hold him to walk.  And at the age of 91, on June 7 of this year, he went Home.  For the first time he can remember, my Daddy's telephone didn't ring after a MSU ball game. There was no, "Did you see the game?" on the other end of the line.

My Papaw loved baseball and he loved Mississippi State.  He will be missed, but his legacy lives on.

Hail dear ole State.
Win it all.

VBS 2013

Ava and Mary Frances at bible school, FUMC Tupelo

Ava: "I really didn't have a favorite part of bible school.  I liked having snack." 

Me:  "Did you learn anything?"

Ava:  "Yeah, but it was kinda just boring stuff."

Family

Ava:  Daddy, I want you to stop singing the Avett Brothers all the time.  I don't like boys unless they are in our family. 

Cate:  Well, they are in our family.

(I guess we do have them "around" quite a bit.)

Just a Little Note

Dear Cate and Ava,

 I love hearing you laugh together.  Those silly little girl giggles that get wilder and louder by the minute.

Mama

A Wild Circle

For some reason, one night a (very) long time ago when Joe and I were on a date at his house, he read "Where the Wild Things Are" to me.  Never in a million years would I have dreamed that I would be overhearing it from OUR kitchen as he reads to our own two little wild things.  Maybe it is the pregnancy hormones, but it is getting to this mama tonight.

Christmas at Mamaw and B's

Christmas 2011

Christmas was so much fun this year. The girls were very excited, which made it even better. The number one thing on Cate's list was a slap bracelet and that was her favorite thing. Ava wanted a unicorn that could sleep with her. Santa found a pony and that was her favorite. They are loving their beanbag chairs too. Cate was wide awake when we went upstairs to get them. Even though it was after 8 o'clock, Ava was still asleep and was NOT happy when Cate woke her up.

Just in case someone came downstairs early.


Not happy about being woken up.
Loving the slap bracelets.



Warming up.
Finally happy.




Ava also loves her new slippers from Grandpa and Nana.

Grandmother's House

Joe and the girls to visit Grandmother Birdie in Corinth after Christmas. She turned 90 this year.


Joe's Papaw was a Methodist minister for many years and also fought in WWII. He is buried in Corinth.

The Kite

Santa brought the girls a fun kite for Christmas. One windy (and very cold) afternoon, we borrowed the Kizer's yard and tried it out.