USM Homecoming parade!

Saturday morning our little loves were up and at 'em pretty early, like most Saturdays, ha!  No bother this time because we had lots of fun in store for the day.  

We headed over to pick up this girl and ate a yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel before heading over to the USM Homecoming Parade.  Now, those of you who know us well know that we do parades in our family, and we don't play either!  It should be noted that on the way to Cracker Barrel, we dropped off one of our vehicles to insure that we would have a strategic place for viewing the big parade.  

Notice that pretty red G in the above picture.  That is not our car!  Of all the cars to park beside, we got to watch the parade in the midst of some true dawg fans!  Glory! 

Story's sweet friend, Mallory, was at the parade, too.  These cuties are two peas in a pod for sure!

So cute!

In our house, he is the main event.  We talk about Seymour all. the. time.  Story even waved and said hey to him!  So impressed!

The cheerleaders!

Our party of six! 

Miss Katie!  Later that evening, Miss Katie and Miss Kelsey came over to babysit, so that David and I could go on a date.  We received a gift card to Chesterfields, a restaurant in our town from the staff, and we were anxious to try it out!  It was so yummy!  Miss Katie and Miss Kelsey painted fingers and toes in the color of candy corn for halloween, so cute!  It was such a fun Saturday, defintely one to remember.  

Grandparent's Day at PCS.

Last Friday was Grandparent's at PCS elementary where Carter, Summer, and Tilly all go to school.  This is the first ever Grandparent's Day in the new school and our first one to participate in at the elementary school.  We found out at the beginning of the year when it would be, so I went ahead and began to make arrangements, so that I could be sure my three little loves all had a special friend to attend with them.  

Dr. Moody and Miss Beckie were Summer's special friends for the day.  

Dr. Moody is one of the pastor's at our church, and we could not be more thankful for him and Miss Beckie.  They have been such a blessing to David in his ministry and to our family.  

Summer showed them her classroom, introduced them to her teacher and friends, and she read them a book! 

Thank you, Dr. Moody and Miss Beckie for helping to make this day so very special for Summer!

Miss Kat was Tilly's special friend for the day.  Miss Kat taught Tilly Sunday School our very first year at Hardy Street, and they just really connected.  Miss Kat actually attended Grandparent's Day at Tilly's preschool last year, too! Thank you, Miss Kat, for loving our Tilly girl.  

Carter's special friends were Mr. Lewis and Miss Margie Myrick.  Carter and David have been with them to several USM baseball games since we've moved here, and we just love the two of them.  Mr. Lewis greets our family every Sunday morning with peppermints for the children.  He's better known at our house as the candy man! Miss Margie printed some pictures from their time with Carter, so once I scan them in, I will upload them to the blog. We are so thankful for our church family at Hardy Street Baptist Church!  The children were able to leave at the end of the Grandparent's Day program, so after a quick workout, I picked them up at 10:30, and we were all able to spend the day together.  Such a great start to a fun weekend!

Checking on those baby blues.

Because our big three were diagnosed with needing glasses at such an early age, I knew I wanted to go ahead and have Story checked early, too.  We didn't even mess with going to a regular eye doctor.  Carter and Tilly were both referred to a specialist, Dr. K, so that's where we took Story.  

I have noticed a lot lately that Story does not look at the camera when I take her pictures, and that is one of the things we first noticed about Tilly before we took her to the doctor, along with some prompting from my mom ;) Story told me that morning on the way to her appointment: Momma, thanks for letting me wear my blurry shirt today! Sweet girl.  This shirt was Carter's, one that he made at Camp Heiskell several summers ago.  

Here's our big girl doing a little reading while we wait.  

And then, she entertained me while we waited to see Dr. K.  Story allowed me to cover one eye and then the other while she read the eye chart like a champ.  She even had to have her eyes dilated and took it like a champ.  I'm thinking her shirt was not the only thing blurry, ha!

Silly girl playing around while waiting on the drops to take effect.  

So, how are Story's baby blues?  Just perfect!  Her depth perception is excellent, and she is right where she needs to be for her age.  She has some far-sightedness, which is perfectly normal for her age.  And, the best part?  Dr. K assured me that if Story were going to have some problems with her eyes that it would have already shown up, so we do not have to go back again unless she begins to have trouble seeing the board at school!  Such great news!  

After school, Miss Kelsey came over to watch the girls, so I could take our other blue-eyed little love for a check up on his eyes.  Carter and Tilly both have to go for check ups with Dr. K every six months to see how they are doing.  Carter got all of his homework done in the waiting room before the appointment, and thankfully we did not have to wait too long to be seen.  

Carter read the charts and got his eyes dilated, too.   He was not a fan of the "rain drops," but we managed to get through it!  According to Dr. K, Carter seems to be out growing some of his eye problems, and she was able to change his prescription a little.  More great news for our baby blues!

A little bit of a mommy fail, but it was just one of those days.  Carter's eye appointment has been scheduled for 6 months, so never did I take into consideration that he would have a baseball game that afternoon, just hours after having his eyes dilated.  Oops! 

He was a trooper and did great!  He even got to play catcher.  Now, whether he could see the balls coming in or not, I'm not really sure, ha!  

Tilly's first field trip!

Friday, Tilly got to go on her very first school field trip.  

She and the entire PCS kindergartners traveled to Ruth, MS, to Ard dairy farm.  When we first moved to Hattiesburg, two years ago, our family took a day trip to this very place, and we had the most fun!  

Mrs. Malone's Kindergarten class, 2013-2014.  

So, my sweet husband accompanied Tilly on her first ever field trip, and the two of them had the most fun together.  He even took some really great pictures to document the day, including this one of all the mommas taking pictures of their children, ha!

Tilly and her sweet friend enjoying a snack before the fun really began!

Tilly really has the sweetest class.  I have loved getting to know her classmates and their families.  

Tilly checking out some of the equipment on the farm.  

Checking out the animals, too. 

She even got to feed a baby calf, so sweet!

Here is our girl going for a ride on the Moo Choo Train!

Tilly had the most fun at Ard's Dairy farm with 85 of her closest friends, ha!

This is definitely my favorite picture of the day.  Not only because my husband looks super hot, but also because I know there are many, many other things that he could have been doing and needed to be doing on this day, but he chose to be with our Tilly on her very first school field trip, and there are few things more special for a little girl than getting to spend the day with her daddy!  

LoveLoud

This weekend our church family has been participating in a LoveLoud weekend, where we have been loving on others in our community.  

LoveLoud began last weekend with a special prayer and worship service to prepare our hearts for the ministry that would be done this week.  Missions is so very important to David and me, and I love that we are involving our children at such an early age.  

Friday night, David had a meeting, so the children and I headed over to the church for our portion of LoveLoud.  The children's ministry participated in LoveLoud by packing beans for Edward Street ministry, who provides food for people who go without.  

As soon as we arrived, we donned our plastic gloves and got straight to work! 

Miss Diane was our fearless leader, and she patiently helped all of my littles with their beans.  

I love that our ministry for the weekend was helping to provide food, such a basic need.  

I know I do, so my children definitely take food for granted.  We want them to understand that not all children have as much to eat as we do.  

The children all worked quickly and efficiently.  

And they had really sweet attitudes.  I am way biased, but I was super proud of them!

Even Story participated.  I simply adore that sweet freckle on her little hand.  Carter has one, too :)

In less that 45 minutes, the children had all of the beans bagged, and then it was time for some pizza!  While they ate, Mr. Landon shared with the a little bit more about Edwards Street and the project we were helping them with for the night.  

Our hard workers for the evening.  

"Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth."

1 John 3:18

Spirit week and party fun!

This past week was Homecoming at our school, so beginning on Wednesday, the children were able to wear different clothes to school.  

Wednesday was team day, so the children picked a jersey to wear to school with their uniform shorts.  Summer represented the Saints; Carter the Golden Eagles; Tilly the Colts; Story the Dawgs.  

Thursday was camo day.  I just happened to be subbing at the school on Thursday, so of course I had to participate in the festivities!  So fun!  

We had to get one with Story, too! 

Thursday morning, the members of the Homecoming Court went around to each of the Kindergarten classrooms and had devotion and prayer time with the children.  What a neat experience!  

I snapped this picture of Tilly and Ella on the playground during recess.  

Friday was school spirit day, so the children got to wear anything that would show their school spirit.  Friday was also Summer's student teacher's last day, so they asked me to come snap a quick picture of their cute little class.  

We got out of school early on Friday to attend the Homecoming parade.  This is very first event we went to when we moved to Hattiesburg 2 years ago.  We always have the most fun.  This year, we met up with some sweet friends.  Can you see Story hiding in the back of my car?  She didn't want to see the Bobcat!  And inside that stroller are Ella's twin brothers, who are doing really great!  We have been praying for them for a while now!

It was such a treat to see Miss Meredith, one of our favorite church friends in the parade.  

And there's the famous Bobcat!  I love all of their little hands reaching for some candy!

Saturday, was filled with birthday parties, one right after the other.  Tilly and I began our morning at a gymnastics party for one of her classmates.  

Such sweet girls! 

These two silly girls left the gymnastics party to head over to help some church friends, Noah and Sydney celebrate their birthday.  In just a few months, Noah and Sydney along with their parents will be moving to Nicaragua to be missionaries!  

Make a wish!  What a fun weekend it was, all except for the dawgs losing to Missouri.  I'm trying not to think about that one too much!