The Dodd Squad

Christmas at our house is simple but fun. Here are some pictures of the fun we had at our house when Santa came!

The kids are in their Christmas Eve jammies, excited about the upcoming visit from Santa.
Leaving cookies for Santa and then headed to bed.

Guess who came while the kids were sleeping? (I bet you can't guess) SANTA...I guess the kids were good but I was having my doubts! :)

All smiles coming down for CHRISTMAS MORNING!

Logan's Santa...

No, he didn't get the DS he is still wanting but he is still all smiles with everything else. He totally understands that Santa just doesn't think he is old enough for a DS yet. He said he is just going to stop asking. Serioulsy, the remote control Hummer was a total surprise for him and he couldn't have been happier!!

The Star Wars "guy" would have also done the trick!

Addie's Santa...

Since she is a princess, she had to have a castle and a kitty and a lot of other "stuff" that made her perfectly happy!

She has been asking to play soccer and she was so happy to get her own soccer ball she hugged it!

The easiest way to Addie's heart is with anything sweet!!

She was happy and really didn't know what to do with it all!

Sam's 1st Santa was a good one! He was especially excited about the new pacifiers that were stuffed in his stocking!!

Santa did bring Addie the nail polish she asked him for. There is another easy way to get to her heart!

This is just our life in a nut shell! Sam does enjoy Addie...most of the time! Addie definitely loves Sam ALL of the time!

We were happy to have Grammy and Papa Skip spend the night with us on Christmas Eve. They were a big help and it just gave the kids more reasons to be excited!

Now that Christmas has come and gone, the kids have moved on to what they want for their birthday. At least we have a little break until party time! I can't believe Addie is coming up on her 4th birthday. WOW!!

Have I ever mentioned on our blog how wonderful Nana and Pop are? Well, they are the best Nana and Pop we have ever met. We love, love, love them and had a blast, as always, at their house on Christmas Day. Here are some pictures from the happy time...

Addie got a monogrammed jewelry box filled with jewelry. She LOVES it so much she is sleeping with it!

Of course Sam loved everything he got but he was the most excited about the wrapping paper and boxes.

Another Fancy Nancy book!!!

Here is Logan and this is what makes him the happiest. He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES his new jersey and hat. I don't think a day has passed that he has not had these on!!

Sam and Will playing puzzles together. So sweet!

We actually remembered a family picture on Christmas Day!!!

Look at how big our Sam is!!

It wouldn't have been a fun time without our princesses making a grand appearance!

I don't think our Christmas could have been any better this year!

We hosted Christmas with my family at our house a few weeks ago. I love it simply because it is fun for us to all be together. The kids always have so much fun! We were missing a few; Philip was home sleeping because he was working the night shift, and Piper was home with baby Savannah who was not feeling well. We surely missed them all but the show went on without them. We'll try again next year!

Grammy and Papa Skip
The Johnston Grandkids (missing Savannah)
Back row: Austin, Caitlin, Robby, Logan, Addie
Front row: Brody, Ty, Maddie, Sam, Claire
Papa Skip wrestling/boxing/fighting with Ty. It looks like he is getting beat!

Happy and sweet Sam trying to keep up with all of the kids...

Logan got a Star Wars Light Saber. He couldn't be happier!

Hungry, Hungry, Hippos made Addie smile...

We had a very special concert put on by our very own Caitlin. She was singing some Taylor Swift for all of us and it was SUPER. She has been taking voice lessons and I must say that I am impressed! The little girls LOVED it!

Addie and Maddie had to try it out...

When my brother went to leave, he found a flat tire. So, if a tire is flat, you pump it up and the only pump we had was a bicycle tire pump. It worked! He made it to Sears to fix whatever the real problem was. Just thought it was funny to find them using this small pump for his car tire!

We love Christmas time around our house! This year was a little different with a 3rd child and a trip to Texas. We didn't quite get all of the traditional holiday activities in, like gingerbread houses and homemade cookies for Santa, but we still managed to squeeze the important things in. No matter what, we had a great time and made some happy memories.

We went in search of the perfect Christmas tree. It was cold, cold, cold but we managed to find one.

Normally we have hot chocolate after getting our Christmas tree to warm us up. This year was different. We got our tree in Franklin and then we drove around the downtown square. Franklin is such a pretty, picture perfect town. We just couldn't resist getting out and walking straight for a frozen yogurt place called Sweet CeCe's. Yes, FROZEN yogurt rather than HOT chocolate but hey, the frozen yogurt and toppings were so good it warmed us up anyways. It really is a neat little place. If you are even in downtown Franklin, you have to check it out!

David and I are standing in front of our decorated Christmas tree. We were headed to a Christmas get together with some of David's buddies from the fire department.

We had Breakfast with Santa at our church. I love this picture. Sam looks like he is holding on for dear life! I am just happy to have a picture of all 3 of them. Logan and Addie did get their own time in Santa's lap. Addie asked for nail polish, a baby, and a stroller. Logan asked Santa for a DS, a Star Wars spaceship, and a Star Wars guy.

After Breakfast with Santa, we headed to see David at the fire station to get a picture for our Christmas card. We were successful and got a good shot of all three looking at the camera...

This was a reject picture but I still think it is cute! It is amazing how many pictures we take just to get one good one!

A solo picture of Sam...

What a fun time of year! Yes, busy and a little bit of craziness (especially with 3 kids) but I am always sad to see this time of year go.

We were so thankful to make a long, long, long drive to Texas to see my dad, Paw-Daddy. He is still recovering from his stroke but we are so thankful he is recovering. The kids were excited to see him and I was excited he was going to get to meet Sam.

Like I said...it was a long drive. On the way there, we broke the trip up and stayed in Little Rock. We didn't take the pack-n-play because we just simply didn't have the space in the car and the hotel in TX had a crib for us in the room. So, when we stopped in Little Rock, Sam got an entire bed while Addie and I slept on the floor. I just thought it was a funny picture...

Paw-Daddy and his 4 grand babies...

Here is my Aunt Sally who is the most thoughtful, sweetest aunt anyone could ask for. The kids were just as excited to see her! Did I tell you how wonderful she is? My sister and I are so grateful for all of the things she does for Dad!

This is Lake Fork...

This is a dream lake in the fishing world and David just could not pass up the opportunity to go visit it since we were so close. This lake is famous for some of the biggest largemouth bass. Seriously, we saw pictures of the fish people are catching from this lake and they are gigantic!

We made the trip back home in one day and I must say, it was a LONG day. We were so happy to see this sign but it is deceiving because once we were back in TN, we still had 3 hours to go. Oh well, the kids really loved this bridge and going over the Mississippi River. Logan was excited to see the pyramid too!

We were also excited to see that our Sam Cooper has a street named after him in Memphis. How funny is that!