Another Fall Favorite

Pumpkin Carving...

They did a GREAT job because they had a GREAT helper...Daddy! Way to go David!

Having Fun

We have just been having so much fun and staying so busy these days! I love FALL so much that I really want time to just slow down! We have been doing all of the fun Fall things from Fall Festivals to pumpkin patches to Fall Break to leaves and much, much more. I have pictures to prove it! Just scroll down and keep on scrolling. They are endless...


Lipscomb Elementary Fall Festival...
I, along with some other teachers, camped out ALL NIGHT at school because we have the best students and PTO. Oh yes...it was a long night but we made it fun!

We were only up to a little bit of mischief in the halls around midnight or so...

Moving right along...

We had fun hanging out with our church family at a local farm. Please look closely at this picture with Sam at the bottom looking up at Addie and Logan. It makes me laugh! He did make his way all the way up.

3 cute kiddos...

Cutest 1 1/2 year old on the planet...

Sam and I went down the BIG slide together and he was hooked. He kept running back for more, more, more. David wasn't able to go with us so I was totally worn out before we even went on the hayride to the campfire.

The kids roasted their hot dogs and thought they were yummy but they especially loved the red kool-aid. Oh to be a kid again...

And then we got to make s'mores...

Sam was a big fan...

Logan too...

Addie three...

Addie has a super sweet friend whom she was so happy to sit with on the hayride. I just love this picture with their sweet, happy faces and Addie's kool-aid mustache just tops it off...

And now for another free outing at Touch A Truck with lots of big trucks, buses, and more. It's fun but I was totally done with the loud horns by the time we left!

For Fall Break, the kids and I visited Grammy and Papa Skip. It was a much needed GREAT time!

Fishing with a princess pole...shhh...don't tell David...

He looks JUST LIKE HIS DADDY in this picture...

We went on a nature walk and collected acorns and pine cones. This little guy loved it. He called the acorns "ball". Too cute!

We were super happy to spend the weekend with Aunt Jenn and Claire.

It just wouldn't be a complete trip without my FAVORITE SPAGHETTI! I LOVE MY MOM'S SPAGHETTI and you can see that Sam does too!

So do the big kids...

Of course, Fall brings lots and lots of leaves to our yard. Instead of the traditional leaf pile pictures, I got these funny ones of them having fun with the bags of leaves. This leaf bag was blown away 2 houses down from us. Logan and Addie went to the rescue and laughed the whole time doing it.

The kids especially loved hiding between these leaf bags and spying on cars and walkers. Addie's face makes me laugh. This is just like our Addie!!!

And...somehow I actually found a little bit of girl time too! These are some of my sweet friends from school. We went to a fun little concert and I kind of now have a secret crush on Keith Urban!!!!!

Hope your Fall has been as great as ours! It isn't over yet and that makes me SMILE! I LOVE FALL!

Howdy Folks!

We know some very special people in Texas who keep us stocked with real Texas cowboy and cowgirl accessories. We just wanted to say to PawDaddy, Aunt Sally, and the rest of the gang...

"We love you and think of you all the time, especially when we get all cowboyed and cowgirled up!"

One and a HALF

Our Sam-Man is 18 months (well almost 19 now but just pretend I blogged this on September 20) and he is fun as ever!
He will jump without actually leaving the floor! He tries to run faster than the big kids and he laughs hysterically and runs faster if you say you are going to get him. He also really loves music and dancing. It is too cute to see him dance and he does it all by shrugging his shoulders and moving his cute booty side to side or up and down. It's too cute!!!

He loves hugs and kisses, even from a scarecrow! He is still loving his pacifier and burp cloth as his blanky but we are limiting the pacifier for bedtime only.

He only wants to eat if he thinks he is 100% in charge of the process and you can forget it if he sees you cutting something he is going to eat.

He is a picky eater and a messy eater but we love him all the same!

He is trying to talk. He has several words or sounds for things, such as mama, dada, ball, bye-bye, uh-uh for uh-oh, na for snack, ca-ca for cracker, mo for more and a few others. However, we are going to have to step up with teaching him some animal sounds and other important speech things like that. He is definitely a 3rd child as he just goes with the flow. We love him and will do anything for him but we just haven't really thought about teaching him some very simple, yet important things...oops!!! Plus, he has 2 big kids around the house that are making more than enough noise and keeping his parents a little preoccupied!!! (His doctor thinks he may have a speech delay. At this point, I believe he is fine but we are stepping it up in the speech department just to be sure.)

He is still sweet as ever but he can pitch some very entertaining and loud temper tantrums. He is doing great and we love him to pieces!

It's been a LOVELY year and a half with our Sam-Man, Sam I Am, Sam Coop, or just Sweet Sam.

Beat Those Gators!!!

The Dodd Squad is cheering our VOLS on today! GO BIG ORANGE!

Happy Saturday!

Logan and Football

Logan is so pumped to be playing flag football this Fall. He loves baseball but he has always REALLY loved football too. So, we thought we would give it a try and see how it goes. He had his first game last weekend. He was excited and he especially thinks the mouth guard is cool! His team is the Cowboys. He was not too overly thrilled to be on the Cowboys as he was really looking to play for the Saints or the Titans. Oh well...he is just happy to be playing some football!

Warming up before the game...

Logan got the ball and RAN it all the way down for a touchdown. After scoring the first touchdown, he ran 2 more down, scoring 2 more touchdowns!

Then this happened...

He caught an interception and scored a 4th touchdown!!! He was super excited! Of course, they don't keep score yet but Logan was just happy to be playing football and happy that he had scored his first touchdown in a real game!

When he woke up the next morning, he said he had a dream that he was playing in the NFL as the only 7 year old. They were rushing him but he broke through, ran the ball, and scored another touchdown. I love that he is a dreamer! GO LOGAN!

3 Day Weekend

If only every weekend was a 3 day weekend...it would make me so happy! We had a great weekend. It was a pretty laid back one but we were able to catch up on some much needed family time! I just wanted to love on the kids for a while and that is what I did! Even better, our church had an outdoor service at the park with a picnic and games after. The weather was perfect! It was just a perfect weekend!

My sister and I ran in the Franklin Classic on Labor Day morning! We ran the 5K and we did AWESOME! It's been a while since either of us have done this so it was a great feeling of accomplishment! We even enjoyed drinking Starbucks together after we ran and watched the 10K runners run in! HA...we loved every minute of it! It was a PERFECT morning for running and hanging with my sweet big sis!

After the race, I picked the kids up and we went to love on Daddy at the fire station! The kids love it when he blows these gloves up for them. I know he is so happy I snapped this picture but it just made me laugh!

We had a lot of fun just hanging out at the house! You never know what you are going to find this little girl wearing. I am liking this sweet, innocent fairy princess look...

Not so sweet and innocent here but probably more characteristic of her personality these days...

A sweet moment of these two hanging out together with smiles on their faces... (we need more of these!)

I could just eat this cute little boy up! He is growing up WAY TOO FAST!

I knew you wouldn't believe it unless you could see it but our Sam is learning how to hold his own in this family! Poor Addie is going to be lucky if she has hair left! Don't worry...Sam was quickly removed and put into time out. Oh my...the drama never ends around our house! It's fun but it's crazy fun! Look at Addie's poor face...

To follow this terribly sad picture of Sam and Addie, I must tell you what Addie said tonight when she was brushing her hair before bed.

Addie: Do you know what Mommy?

**Sam was playing and giggling in her princess tent while he was looking at a book.**

Mommy: What Addie?

Addie: That Sam sure is a funny lookin' fella.

I totally disagree with that but I got a good giggle out of that comment!

So...we had a great weekend and now it's back to the craziness that the week brings! I LOVE YOU LABOR DAY WEEKEND! PLEASE COME AGAIN SOON!