Breakfast with Ella.

Last week, we invited a special little lady to join Tilly and me for breakfast at Krispy Kreme.  

I don't think I could have found two girls more excited about being together if I tried. 

Family Fun day at HSBC.

This past Saturday, our church hosted a family fun day on our grounds.  There were lots of fun things for the family: jumpy games, petting zoo, horses to ride, yummy food, and lots of room to run and play.  Our four little ones played so hard and had so much fun!  

I borrowed this picture from my friend, Kelly.  You can actually see part of my profile, ha.  Story and Mallory are big buddies and have so much fun when they are together.  Story talks about Mallory all the time.  Look at their sweet faces.  

Summer was smitten, I mean smitten with the animals.  She spent almost the entire day riding horses, walking ponies, or playing with the goats.  I love this sweet picture of her riding and holding her daddy's hand.  

There are those two cuties again.  Story looks like she might jump in Mallory's lap at any moment.  She's not sure what she thinks about animals yet.  Can you see the little hermit crab at the bottom of the picture, inside the green shell?  

Summer riding the horse.  

Tilly on the horse.  Bare feet and all.  She doesn't get that from me, ha!

And there's our handsome boy.  It was so much fun to watch the children run and play.  We went home late that afternoon for a nap, and everyone crashed!  Even Carter!  Everyone woke up in time to watch the dawgs play, and what a great game it was!

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Our boy scout.

Tuesday night, David took Carter to his very first Cub Scout's meeting, or boy club as Carter calls it!  

Monday afternoon, David took Carter to the headquarters to get his uniform, so he would be all ready and official for his first meeting.  And he's the cutest boy scout I ever did see, if I do say so myself!

My little shadow followed us out to take a picture of big brother before he left.  She insisted on jumping in on the action.  Oh, how I absolutely adore this picture of her looking at Carter!  I think she loves him just a little bit; we all do!  
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Tilly's well check up, age 4.

Tuesday of this week, Tilly had her well check up with Dr. B. and Nurse V.  We are happy and thankful to report that she is a growing and very healthy girlie.  

Here are Tilly's stats for age 4:  Blood pressure, 92/60; Pulse, 119; Weight, 38.6 (74%); Height 3'5' (76%); BMI 16.06 kg/m2.  

Little bit tagged along with us to the doc, mostly for the sucker, but she sure had a good time playing with the blood pressure cuff.  

We are so thankful Tilly is in good health.  After her sweet friend, Ella, lost her baby brother last week, it just makes me all the more thankful for a healthy heartbeat!  On another note, many of you have been praying for Tilly's eyes, so I wanted to give you an update on that as well.  David took her last week while Story and I were in GA to see how much progress was being made with the patches.  Tilly has been wearing the patch 6+ hours a day for the last two months, so we were anxious to hear if there had been any progress.  Dr. K was so surprised to see how MUCH progress had been made!  She said we still have a very long way to go, but the weak eye has greatly improved!  Great news!  Tilly will now wear the patch 4 hours a day until her next visit.  We had the option to use drops to make the good eye blurry, but there were some not so nice side effects, and Tilly has truly done a remarkable job at wearing her patch that we decided just to keep on keeping on!  

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Wordless Wednesday.

SMTTT

Saturday morning began what I hope to be the first of many O'Dell party of six tailgates on game day!  One of the things we love love about Hattiesburg is that it's a college town, home of the USM Golden Eagles.  Our church hosted a tailgate at Saturday's game against East Carolina University.  I grew up tailgating at UGA and GSU games as a kid, so I couldn't have been more excited to introduce my children gameday fun!  It was fun watching David get into the party, too!  

We started our day by watching the "pride of Mississippi" do their thing on the practice field.  

Our children loved listening to the music and watching the flags fly.  

Look at my girlies proudly wearing their Golden Eagles gear!  The great thing about USM is they are not in the SEC and won't play our beloved dawgs very often, so it's perfectly fine for us to cheer proudly!  

Watching the band play with Miss Lucy.  Her husband, Josh, is our college pastor, and we are so very thankful that the Lord led them to our church.  We adore them!  

Here's Tilly with Mr. Josh and Miss Lucy, photo courtesy of Summer!  Can't you tell how much we love them??

Love this little one and her little ponytail!  

It was so much fun to watch our children play with their friends from church.  

They played so hard!  We ate some super yummy food, too!

I could just eat her sweet cheeks up!  

Look how big and beautiful this girl is getting!  I forget so often that she is just barely FIVE!  

Love these two, and oh how they love each other.  

A group shot before we wrapped up our tailgate.  We opted not to go to the actual game.  It was a 2:30 kick off, and I really didn't think little bit would make it!  We headed home and napped, so we could be ready for the main event, the dawgs!  

Road tripping with Story.

Monday morning, Story and I hit the road headed east after dropping Carter and Summer off to school. It wasn't long before Story went right to sleep!  Sweet thing.  

My grandmother has not been doing well.  At all.  In fact, about a month ago, she had a terrible fall, which led to a lengthy hospital stay and two weeks of intense rehab in Savannah.   David and I knew that once she was home and feeling up to it that I would need and want to make a trip.  Sadly, since coming home from rehab, she has fallen several more times, the most recent fall leaving her unable to be left alone or able to do much on her own.  Our family learned last week, that the fall caused two fractures on her pelvis, so sad!  My three uncles have been taking turns staying with Mama at night, and Miss Dooley (a sweet lady, who has been helping our family for years) has been staying with her during the day.  I felt like I just really needed to go and help out.  Thankfully, David is fully supportive, and offered to keep the big 3 at home with him, so Story and I could go to Georgia.  After 9 hours in the car and only one stop, we were ready to be at Mama's!  

We arrived just in time for supper on Monday night.  Story insisted on saying the blessing, and I love this sweet picture of her praying for her food!  So sweet!  She said, "Dear Lord, thank you for our day. Thank you for our day.  Amen." Love. 

On Tuesday, Mama had a doctor's appointment, so we rode with Uncle Kim and Mama to the doctor.  It didn't last long, so we came back home to play!  Story is so my child, lining up her diapers all in a row.  

Wednesday, Mama decided she wanted to get her hair did.  All of us girls know how much that can help a girl when she's down!  Story had the most fun playing in Miss Gail's beauty shop!

Miss Gail cutting Mama's hair.  I was sporting my new Golden Eagle tshirt, and Miss Gail commented on it.  She didn't know that I was living in Hattiesburg now.  She grew up in Mississippi, and loves Hattiesburg.  In fact, her nephew still lives here and manages the TJ Maxx.  What a small world!  We headed home after getting beautified, and I think our little trip to the beauty shop about wore Mama out.  I did not think we were going to get her back to the car!  

Wednesday morning brought another surprise, T!  We were excited to see her pull up in Mama's yard, especially this little lady!  I think she looks right at home in T's lap, ha!

Wednesday afternoon, T had to leave, so it was just the three of us.  After resting for a while, Mama decided a change of scenery would be nice, so we wheeled her into the kitchen, a place she knows so well, but hasn't been able to use much lately.  Story caught a ride with Mama!  

Thursday brought with it more doctor's appointments, so loaded up our bag of tricks and went along.  Story did so well in the waiting room.  We colored.  We ate snacks.  We looked at pictures on the iPhone.  We played with her new baby.  And then we decided we would sit in the car until Mama was finished, ha!  

One of my favorite things about going to Mama's house is spending time with this girl.  Tuesday, I got to pick her up from school, always a treat, and then that evening after she was done with ball practice, we did a little photo shoot while we still had a few minutes of light.  The rest of the pictures from her shoot will be up on the photography blog later this week.  Thanks, Keri, for letting me get in some practice!  I loved spending time with you!

Thursday afternoon, Keri's team was playing in a softball game, so we definitely didn't want to miss that.  Keri is the pitcher for her team, and she did a great job!  In fact, Keri's RBI actually won the game for her team in the last inning!  It brought back so many good memories for me of my many hours logged in at the ball field, and it made me so proud to watch Keri's team do so well!  As you can see, Story knows where to get the goods.  Uncle Kim is taking her to the concession stand to get a treat, ha!  

Here we are with Mama on Friday morning.  My sweet Uncle Joey insisted on taking our picture, and I am so thankful he did.  Love this picture and the memories we made last week with Mama.  I sure missed David and the big 3, and I am so thankful to him for supporting me and encouraging me to go spend time with this precious lady.  I love that Story got to go with me and spend time with Mama and the rest of my family.  My uncles sure were smitten with her, and I just cannot imagine why, ha!  

Then, before we knew it, the week was over, and it was time to head home to Mississippi!
Story is such a great car companion.  She took several cat naps on our trip.  We sang LOTS of songs.  Her favorites right now are: ABCs, Jesus Loves Me, You are My Sunshine, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Indescribable, and Row Row Row Your Boat.  We also counted and talked and talked and talked.  After one stop and another nine hours, we made it safely home once again.  I was oh so happy to see the big 3 and their daddy.  So thankful for a week spent with my little love and Mama.  So thankful for a loving and supportive husband.  So thankful to have our party of six all under the same roof again.  

Prayers for Alexander.

Tuesday, September 11, our church, Hardy Street Baptist, will be hosting a blood drive in our activities center from 4-9pm. This blood drive will support Alexander, who is awaiting a heart transplant at a children's hospital in Jackson.

You can read more about Alexander's story on his Facebook page listed on the picture above. His family has become extra special to us since our move to MS, as Alexander's big sister, Ella, is Tilly's very best friend from school. Please join us in supporting this sweet family during this difficult season. There are several ways you can help. "Like" their Facebook page, purchase a T-shirt similar to the picture above, or donate blood at our church on Tuesday. Most importantly, you can pray. The specific prayer for this family right now is a new heart for Alexander, as they learned this weekend this will be his only chance for survival. Please join our family in praying for Alexander.
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Member's only.

Last Thursday night, our family was invited to attend an event at the Hattiesburg Zoo, hosted by the Hattiesburg Zoological Society for its members.  We love the Hattiesburg Zoo, and because it's close and convenient, we go there lots, as I'm sure you've noticed.  

Well, this event was extra special because throughout the zoo, many of the keepers were on hand with lots of animals for the children to feed and touch.  What a treat!  

The fab four were super brave, too!  We got to pet llamas, tarantulas, tortises, and snakes.  

Story even jumped right in and touched this hedgehog with super fast speed!  So fast I couldn't even snap a picture, ha!  

And look who came out of the water.  Most of the time on our visits, he's barely sticking his head out of the water.  

On the back forty, there were nice tables set up for supper.  

With pretty white table cloths and food provided by Outback!  That's David's favorite, so he was mightily impressed.  

After a delicious meal, we were treated to carousel rides.  

The big 3 especially were so excited.  

This little cutie just wanted her momma, so thankfully David was up for taking pictures of everyone.  It was SO hot, so Story and I were practically sticking to each other!

Love Summer's sweet face!

A picture of me with my little loves.  Story is telling me how sweaty I am, ha!  I'll just let you come up with your own captions for what the big 3 might be thinking ;)

After the ride on the carousel, we got to ride the train.  One of my favorite views from the train is our pretty church right next door!

Here's a better picture of all the pretty tables set up for dinner on the grounds.  

There was even a band playing music.  

Our sweet conductor for the evening was running back and forth between the train and the carousel.  

Our super fun night was topped off with cotton candy.  I think for the children that was the highlight of the night!  So thankful for my little family and for the memories we are making together.