Easter, 2011.

Needless to say, this Easter was much different than last year's. You can read all about that here. Let's suffice it to say that there were not only zero broken bones, but also there were not any trips to the emergency room. Boy are we thankful! We were out of school for Good Friday, so Thursday after school, David and Story picked up the rest of us and we headed south. It has been way too long since we headed south on 75 and then east on 16. In fact, it was awfully tempting to keep going east until we reached the ocean, but Mama might not have liked that so much, as she was ready to see the babies!

Friday night, Carter, Summer, and I went to watch Keri play softball. The game was at Memorial field, and it sure did bring lots of sweet memories for me. I spent many, many hours on this field playing, coaching, and keeping score. We loved watching Keri play! She is the pitcher for her team, and she did great!

Trying to get a picture of Mama with all the babies was nearly impossible. This was about as good as it was going to get, ha!

Saturday, we headed over to this place for the Easter egg hunt.

My grandmother has been a member of this church for a very long time. Before my grandfather passed away, he served as a deacon. It was really special to take my children to the egg hunt here. With David being a pastor, we rarely get the opportunity to visit our families on Sundays to attend church. I know my grandmother loved showing off her great-grandchildren.

Tilly helping Mama walk into the church. So sweet.

Summer hunting some eggs.

Tilly opened every single one before she put them in her bucket, hilarious! She wanted to know what kind of treat she was getting.

Summer and Tilly comparing their loot.

Carter checking out his goodies.

Getting ready to head back inside. After the egg hunt, the pastor of the church used the Resurrection eggs to tell the Easter story. Carter, Summer, and Tilly were already familiar with these because we use them at school, and we have our own set at home. I love it that my children know why we celebrate Easter.

Easter Sunday morning. The big 3 as I fondly call them.

My four sweet things.

Our family of six! Wow, so very blessed!

Mommy with the children.

Daddy with the children. By this point, they were DONE taking pictures, so it was hard to get anyone to smile or look at the camera. Daddy sure looks handsome though, doesn't he?

Happy Easter!
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’
Luke 24:1-7

Wordless Wednesday.

My Lenten project, week 6. Happy Easter!

Day 35. Thankful for the cross. Thankful for the freedom and peace and joy and hope and redemption it offers. Thankful He endured it for me.

Day 36. Thankful for these sweet girls, my college roommates. I cannot imagine what my life would be like without either of them. Thank you, Lord, for these sweet friends.

Day 37. Thankful for sweet smiles on precious faces. Thankful dimples and new teeth. Thankful for cuddle time with my littlest girl. Thankful for little hugs and sloppy kisses.

Day 38. Thankful for these two who are just 14 months apart and don't know life without each other. Thankful for their sweet pillow talk at night. Thankful for the sweet way they play together and share. Thankful for the sweet way they take care of their younger sisters. Praying they will always be sweet friends.

Day 39. Thankful for this man who is not only my love, my partner in life, the amazing daddy to my children, my best friend, the one who makes me laugh better than anyone, my favorite, but also my pastor. Thankful to sit under his teaching every week. Thankful for the way he brought the Word to life this morning with passion and love. Thankful the One who created us also saw fit to bring our lives together over 10 years ago. Praying for God to give wisdom daily to David, to direct his steps, to encourage his heart, and to show me how to love him more.Day 40. I've been wrestling with how to finish up my 40 days of gratitude. Outside of what Jesus did for me on the cross, the thing I am most thankful in this world is my family. This weekend we were visiting my grandmother, and both of those things came together so beautifully for me. I am thankful for this little church in Portal, GA. It is where my mom was taken every Sunday by my grandparents. Having her faith established at an early age led her to have my sister and me in church every time the doors were open. I am thankful for the church. Thankful for mine and David's ministry in the church. Thankful to raise my children in the church. Praying they will come to know the Lord at an early age, as their mommy and daddy did. Thankful for this church, where so many years ago my grandparents faithfully took my mom and her 3 brothers and where I have spent many Sundays on the back row with them. Thankful that one day Jesus is coming back for His bride. Thankful in the mean time for the knowlege that He is alive and the hope that knowledge brings.

Wordless Wednesday.

Gumbeaux's

A little before 5, I got this text from David.

Headed home. Get dressed. We are going somewhere. Be there in 8 minutes.

What! 8 minutes to get myself and four little people ready? Hurry up mommy mode was on.

David loves surprises, and we love being surprised. In our 9+ years of marriage, I have learned not to ask many questions and definitely not to try to guess where we are going, even if I know the answer. Our party of six loaded up and left, and this is where we arrived.

Very often, we get to talking about New Orleans or thinking about New Orleans, and we are always missing New Orleans. So, we wanted to treat our little people to some of the best Cajun food in our area. When we walked in Summer asked, "Mommy, are we in Louisiana?" I only wish you could hear her say Louisiana in her very southern way, as if Louisiana doesn't already have enough syllables, so cute!

Part of our being able to successfully eat out means timing the event just right. So, we arrived at the restaurant before 5, before it was open. Thankfully, there is a pretty patio area with an awesome fountain, so we hung out there while we waited. Look at these sweet girls with their daddy. I don't think they could love him any more if they tried.

Story hung out here most of the night. She still is not up to par, but she was a really good sport. Don't judge, but she especially loved the bread pudding.

It's almost 5! Time to head back to the door.

Loving on Carter and Tilly in the booth while we wait. Speaking of Tilly, when did she get big enough to sit in the booth and when did she get big enough to wear Summer's old dresses? Too fast, I tell you!

And this, boys and girls, is what we came for! Our very first crawfish of the season, so messy, but oh so good! Thank you, New Orleans, for introducing us to this loveliness. Thank you, Gumbeaux's, for providing part of NOLA in Atlanta.

Story.

My sweet Story girl has not been feeling well this week. Sunday night, early Monday morning she was running a very high fever, so David (bless him!) took her to the ER. When they checked her, it was 103, scary. Turns out she had a viral infection, so not much you can do except monitor liquids and fever. Early Tuesday morning, she woke up crying, so I went and picked her up, and she hugged me so very tight, it just melted my heart. I took her in the den and offered her a bottle, and she just cuddled and cuddled with me. What a sweet moment. You know, I think I would get up most any morning for some snuggle time, well, maybe except Saturday. Last night, a rash broke out all over her body, and after seeing Dr. G. today, we learned that it is all connected. So. . .she has not been on top of her game this week, and Mommy and Daddy haven't quite recovered from losing all that sleep, ha! Yesterday, while the big 3 were outside playing with Daddy, Story and I were playing in the floor of the kitchen, so I snapped a few pictures of my sweet girl. You can just tell she doesn't feel well.

Love that sweet dimple. If you look closely, you can see that newest tooth coming in on the bottom.

Playing "peek a boo," also known as "where is Story?" She says in the sweetest voice, mimicking what she has heard us say in kind of a singsong way, "There she is!" So cute!

Isn't it amazing how they know what to do with a phone?

Love my Story girl and praying for God to heal her little body completely.

Wordless Wednesday.

My Lenten project, week 5.

Day 29. Thankful for fun wacky Wednesday at school! Thankful for sweet friends to share this day with. Thankful for sweet smiles on children's faces.

Day 30. Thankful for our rock star midwife, Christine, who delivered ALL four O'Dell babies starting with Carter who was just shy of 10 pounds. Thankfully, they got smaller after that, ha! Praying for Christine as she prepares for her upcoming wedding to David. Praying for a long, happy marriage full of God's blessings. Love this picture of her with our little Story girl!Day 31. Thankful to be doing the Peachtree later this summer with my love. I mean, what could be more fun than 60,000 runners, 150,000 spectators, a priest who throws Holy water, hitting the pavement on July 4th in Hotlanta, and a hopeful finish?Day 32. Thankful that tic tacs do indeed dissolve, even when placed up the left nostril. Thankful my Tilly girl is okay and that my mommy heart has learned yet another lesson in humility!Day 33. Thankful for family date nights with these precious little people and their rock star daddy!Day 34. Thankful for this sweet girl, one of my dearest, oldest friends in the world. Thankful for Destinee and her sweet constant friendship. She and her husband, Jeremy, have been so encouraging to our family. We love them!Day 35. Thankful for the cross. Thankful for the freedom and peace and joy and hope and redemption it offers. Thankful He endured it for me.

Family date nights.

On Friday nights, we have a tradition of taking these adorable little people out to eat. We have a couple of stipulations for our place of choice: loud and fast! We always try to eat frugally when going out, so I don't really count that one. This past Friday night, we took them to Firehouse Subs. Have you ever been to one? One word. Meltinyourmouth. It is delicious! We haven't been in a while, and I had been craving it, so we went, and it did not disappoint, except that they put mayonnaise on mine, yuck! Now, I know some of you must be wondering how in the world it works taking 4 little people 4 and under out to eat. Let me tell you, we have it down to a science. First, get Tilly and Story placed in high chairs as soon as possible. Carter and Summer usually tag along and help Daddy order. This particular night, all of the children were seated with me while David went to get our drinks. These two "older" couples, stopped by our table on their way out to compliment the children. Don't you love it when that happens? I do! The two men stopped by first to look at Story. She loves to look at people and smile really big when we go out in public. Quite the charmer, I know. These two men where just ooohing and ahhing over our Story. Then they noticed the other 3 and were just commenting on how precious they all were. Really sweet. We said our good-byes, and then David came back to the table. I was telling him how these two sweet couples stopped by to compliment the children. I told him that one of the men asked me if they were all mine! We laughed, and then Carter said, "Yea, and then he said, 'bless your heart!'" Yes, my heart is so blessed and beyond full!

Happy 11 months, Story!

Happy 11 months, Story!

We can hardly believe you are almost ONE! Let's see what you're up to at 11 months:

• You are wearing size 18 month clothes, size 4 diapers, and size 3 shoes.
• You have sandy brown hair and big blue eyes.
• You now have 8 teeth, four on top and four on bottom. We think that your molars may come in soon, too.

Clearly, your big brother, Carter, continues to adore you. I think you like him just a little bit, too!

• You are sleeping from 6pm-8am most nights, taking two naps a day, morning and afternoon. Your morning nap is usually just an hour, and your afternoon is 2.5-3 hours.
• You are talking more and signing, too. Some words you are saying: hi, bye, Momma, Daddy, Papa, and you have a word that you say for Carter, but I can't even begin to spell it. You say something that sounds like hi there, and there she is, when we play peek-a-boo.

• You love to be outside, and we have been spending lots of time out now that the weather is nice and warm.
• You love to play pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo, and you try to do anything your siblings are doing. You always just want to be right where they are.

• You love these Mardi Gras beads, and it scares me silly! Funny how little girls just know what to do with necklaces!
• You are pulling up and walking on all the furniture. Your first place to stand alone was the bath tub, scary!

Maybe, just maybe, your parents allowed you

to have your first taste of a cupcake! And, I'd say it was a big hit!

• You love to eat. You are eating all table foods now with the occasional yo toddler and oatmeal. You are down to 3 bottles of formula, and next week we are going to start supplementing whole milk in with your formula. I can hardly believe it's time.

Here you are at your first 5K, cheering on Mommy and Daddy. You were such a good sport this day by spending a large part of the morning in your car seat. You love to watch people, so you were entertained for sure.

And finally, here's the monthly picture of you with your brother and sisters. My how all of you have grown over this last year!

Happy 11 months, Story! We love you to the moon and back.