Children's Christmas music at Hardy Street.

Last Sunday morning, our big 3 sang a couple of Christmas songs in big church.  

They looked so pretty and handsome on the stage, and did such a wonderful job with their songs.  

They sang two songs, "Over the River and Through the Woods," and "He is Exalted." 

All three of them sang with all their little hearts, and Tilly may or may not have stolen the show!  So sweet!

Getting ready for Christmas!

Since Thanksgiving, we have been readying ourselves and our home for the Christmas season.  

We helped to film a Christmas commercial for our church that is airing live on TV from now through the New Year!  The children thought it was just the coolest thing ever!

The children have been doing lots of fun thing at school, too!  Making gingerbread houses, hunting Gingerbread men who ran away, having pajama parties, and so much more!

Last weekend, we celebrated Christmas with the staff of Hardy Street and had the best time eating some yummy food and just being together.  

Last Saturday morning we went on the hunt for the perfect tree! 

After said tree was found, we headed downtown for the Christmas parade.  

Tilly's friend, Ella and her family joined us for the fun!  They're from Louisiana and love parades as much as we do! 

We saw our policeman friend, Mr. David, along the parade route.  

The children thought it was so cool!

Can you guess what happened long about this point?  

Characters!  Ha!  Story quickly hopped in her daddy's lap! 

Santa! 

This is definitely one of my favorite pictures of the entire day that David snapped of sweet Tilly waving at Santa! So precious!

Sunday morning, I took the children to church early to take some pictures for our Christmas card.  David has pre-worship meetings on Sunday mornings, so I was flying solo.  It is hard work to get four children to all look at the camera AND smile at the same time, whew!

Carter, age 7.  

Summer, age 6.  

Tilly, age 5.  

Story, age 3.  

Monday night, we had our Christmas program, so we didn't get to decorate our tree until Tuesday night.  We had so much fun!  

The children all took turns putting ornaments on the tree.  

My mom gives the children each an ornament every year, so they were excited to find theirs to put on the tree.  

My favorites are the sweet ones they have made at school over the years.  

I love that our tree tells a story.  

And I love the sweet little hands that joyfully decorated it!  

All I want for Christmas!

Is my two front teeth!

Last Friday night, Summer and her daddy worked together to pull out her first top tooth that has been loose for what seems like weeks.  

She was so excited when it finally came out! I love this picture!

And the proud toothless girl! She quickly called Papa and Gigi on FaceTime to tell them the big news! 

And then on Tuesday of this week, Summer's second top tooth was loose, and she worked on it all morning trying to make it loose.  With the help of Mrs. Gory, Summer's second tooth came out leaving her wanting nothing for Christmas, but . . . 

Her TWO front teeth! We are so excited for you, Summer, and we love you to pieces!

PCS Christmas Legacy, 2013.

Monday night, our big three had their Christmas program at school.  It is one of my favorite things of the school year!

We rushed home from school to do homework and take quick showers to get ready for the big event!  Story was so proud to wear her new Christmas outfit from Mrs. Kelly! 

We got to the gym right on time, and the big three were so excited!

Working at the school pays off when you're a momma, too!  I had the best seat in the house!  Well, for one of my littles.  Sweet Tilly was right in front of me.  And boy did she put on a show.  She is so animated anyway, and I found the most  joy in watching her sing her little heart out!  Thankfully, I could see Carter and Summer, too.  They all love music and love to sing and did so with such gusto!  

Some very special friends were in the audience for the sweet program, and the children were so excited!  We are so thankful for Miss Katie and Miss Kelsey! 

And here is a video for your viewing pleasure!  Thank you, Carter, Summer, and Tilly for making us so proud with your sweet music!  We love you!

Story's dental procedure.

For several months we have been preparing for this day.  This past summer, we took Story for her regular cleaning and check up with Dr. V.  He referred us to a pediatric dentist because the enamel did not form properly on her back four teeth.  This same type of thing happened to Summer, so we weren't too surprised.  However, what did catch us off guard was that Story would need to have surgery to repair the damage.  Last Thursday morning, we headed over to the outpatient surgery center.  

As you can see from the picture, she was very nervous and a little unhappy at the moment this picture was taken.  What you may not know about Story is that she is very fashion savvy.  I am pretty sure T has something to do with this.  Story likes to dress in pretty clothes, and she will quickly tell me if I am wearing "crazy" clothes, which I usually am, ha!  Needless to say, she was NOT a fan of the ugly hospital gown.  Thankfully, they let her keep on her boots at least until she was not aware, ha! 

Not long after this picture was taken, Story was given the "princess juice" to help her before they administered anesthesia.  It took about 10 minutes before it began to work it's magic.  By the time the nurse anesthetist came to get Story, she was really woozy.  She started flirting with him and smiling real big and saying, "heeeeyyyy!"  Picture Joey from friends, "How you doing?" So funny!  He was so sweet to her, and when it was time to take her away he and the nurse carried Story down the hall rather than putting her on the bed and wheeling her down the hall.  She never even cried, which made it so much easier for me! 

The people at the hospital were so sweet to Story and to us.  It really just ministered to my heart.  They gave her this adorable pillow, which she wasn't a fan of at first because it was not pink or purple, ha!  It definitely grew on her, and she was proud to show it off to her siblings once we got home.  

Story's procedure lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes, and then after about another fifteen more minutes we were able to go back and get her.  Whew!  She did great, and we have not had any complications since.  I am so thankful!  The nurses all assured us that she did really well.  Once we got home, Story kept tripping and falling down, which the nurses told us would be normal.  Story will go back after Christmas for a check up.  Story, we are so proud of you! 

Thanksgiving in Georgia!

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving our party of six hit the road (I feel like I say that a lot - we are always headed somewhere, ha!) to Georgia for the Thanksgiving break.  

We were loaded down!  Our children are such troopers, too.  The traffic between Birmingham and Atlanta was BAD! 

However, we did manage to make it to Lenox to ride the Pink Pig, one of Atlanta's oldest traditions, and one of our favorites.  Our original plan and hope was to make it to ATL before school got out because most Atlanta schools were still in session, but thanks to traffic, we did not make it until almost 5:00 PM.  Yikes! 

Thankfully, there was not a line, and we were able to get right in to ride! 

My Story girl.  

The big three!

Thanks to our rock star Daddy, we were able to ride SIX times!  The children thought that was so cool!

We even got a group picture when it was all over.  After the Pink Pig, we went to eat supper at one of our favorites, Willy's, and then we finally headed to Athens to T's house.  

Wednesday morning, we slept in (sort of) and headed over to T's house to visit with these special girls.  One of my oldest and dearest friends in the whole world is Destinee.  She and her family moved to Statesboro when I was in the sixth grade, and she was in the seventh.  We became fast friends and have been the best of friends ever since.  She just had her first baby a couple of months ago, Mallory, and I could not wait to meet her! 

My girls were really excited about this sweet baby girl, too!

David and Carter took all of us girls to lunch at a new restaurant in Athens, that is apparently all the rage.  It was packed!  David took care of us all, and we had a great time.  

Later that day, T took the children to the mall to pick out an ornament for our tree.  Story chose a cheerleader megaphone, ha!

And then the magic happened.  This precious man who worked at Belk let the children come behind the counter and ring up their own ornaments.  They thought it was the coolest thing ever!  And it kinda was!  After shopping, we took the children to see Despicable Me 2 at the dollar movie, so cute! 

Love this man and super thankful to be doing life with him and our littles!

Wednesday night, Carter, Story and I spent the night with T.  Our party of six has just about outgrown one hotel room, ha!  Carter had fun playing with toys. . . 

While Story had fun helping T shop online ;)

Thanksgiving Day, we headed over to my sister's house and spent the entire day with her family. Noelle and Scott prepared the most delicious meal, which we enjoyed twice! The children all played outside to their little hearts' content and just had the best time.  This sweet thing fell asleep in David's arms, and he later passed her off to me.  It's been a long time since I held this beauty while she slept.  

The cousins had so much fun playing together!  It was a great Thanksgiving Day!

And you know that we cannot be in Athens without visiting the Holy Grail! Sigh.  The sight of this place never gets old.  I cannot wait to take all four little to watch the dawgs play between the hedges.  One day.  Friday afternoon, David took the children back to the dollar movie to see Monster's University while I hung out with T.  He's amazing!  

Hotel fun with our little monkeys.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Saturday morning, we left Athens at 7, so we could meet Mr. Frank and Mrs. Shirley for breakfast at Cracker Barrel just off I-20.  And then we headed home.  David even got us home in time to watch the dawgs wreck Tech, another sight that never gets old!  Happy Thanksgiving and Go Dawgs!