The Dodd Squad

Talk to Santa, a photo by J-Rae Dodd on Flickr.

Our visit with Mr. Claus in a bit more detail...

Christmas is my absolute favorite! Here are some fun things we did leading up to the big day!

We got an Elf on the Shelf this year! The kids named him Rocky Top and he really did work. The kids loved it! Sam especially loved telling on the big kids to him. I would catch him talking to Rocky Top. It might sound something like this. "Rocky Top, Addie told me I was bad boy and she hit me. I not bad boy Rocky Top. I not!"
We went to the Christmas Parade...

Some cheerleaders gave Logan and Addie these really big suckers and this made them really happy!

The night before Christmas Eve, we had a surprise night out. We told the kids to get dressed in red because we were going to see somebody who loved the color red. They were happy to see it was Santa Claus!

I know these pictures aren't great but this is the best we could do without having to spend a fortune! Sam would not get close to him but he would stand next to Logan. He told Santa from a distance that he wanted to motorcycle and a racecar. Logan and Addie were not shy at all!

We kept the surprise alive...after we were done visiting with Santa, we stopped at McDonald's to get hot chocolate then climbed aboard the Minivan Express to go look at Christmas Lights. It was so much fun! The kids were impressed! We drove through neighborhoods with very, very big houses. Addie was hoping she would see the princesses who lived in those houses. She is such a dreamer!

Sam won the prize for staying awake the longest. By the time we got home, he was the only one still awake! What a great, fun time!

Since Christmas was yesterday, I better get our Thanksgiving pictures on here...oops! Seems like forever ago but here they are...

We had the best turkey ever this year! Addie was a turkey in her Kindergarten program! SOOOO STINKIN CUTE!!!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving Day---

We ate at my sister Gina's house! It was yummy and fun but just not super. Jennifer spent Thanksgiving back in the hospital (boo!), David was working (boo!), and Gina's husband Philip was also working (boo!). But we made the best of it...

Love this face!

The Oreo Turkeys have become a tradition!

This was Mamo's first Thanksgiving with us! WE JUST LOVE HIM!

We stopped by the fire station to visit with daddy on the way home!

This little boy was just too tired...

Station 3 has a pet...it's a gecko and Addie held it!

Sam woke up for hot chocolate and marshmallows...

Day after Thanksgiving at Nana and Pop's house...

Look at these turkey cookies...so cute and so yummy!

David got a present from his brother Jon...yes...he received a picture of his brother Jon! I just don't even to have the words to explain this but it was sooooooo funny!

And then David retaliated! This is Jon's truck and yes, that is Jon standing beside his truck with the mounted picture. Again...I have no words to explain! We laughed and laughed and laughed! I am laughing again! I love this family and I love laughing!

With everything going on in life, I have felt a little bit overwhelmed! So, I decided to do some creating. This just makes me feel good! It's good therapy!

As I was decorating for Fall, I decided to make a new something for our door. I began to search my new found love, Pinterest.com. With some great pictures and a trip to Hobby Lobby to get a plain branch wreath, ribbon, and a wooden letter D, I came home and created. I had plenty of Fall accent pieces and paint at home so this turned out to be more than good therapy, it was good, cheap therapy!

Here is my Fall Door Decor---




After my Fall Door Decor Project left me feeling so happy, I decided I would create a new something for our door to go with each festive season.


So here we are at Christmas and instead of a wreath, I decided on something different thanks (again) to Pinterest.com and Christmas Village. I discovered burlap and I have just fallen in love with the super cute things that you can do with it. After a trip to buy burlap, paint and ribbon, I was ready to go. The only other thing I needed for this project was a hot glue gun and plastic grocery bags. All of which, I have at home. Again, I was able to enjoy good, cheap therapy!


Christmas Door Decor---

I am already imagining the super cute possibilities I can do for our Winter Door Decor. So stay tuned, Project Door Decor is in full swing!

Tonight was a happy night at our house! To be very honest, it seems like we always, always, always have some kind of drama going on...either the kids are fighting, somebody gets hurt or sick, or somebody just doesn't like the way I poured their milk, cut their sandwich, said their name, etc. It's just a zoo around here and somedays I just pray that I survive the day! So far, I have survived them and I am pretty sure I will continue on. So, tonight I'm just thankful we had an uneventful, non-dramatic evening. That is SO rare! We even had some good giggles. I caught them on camera since I seem to be back in the blogging groove, at least for now.


This afternoon, this sweet girl came bouncing into my classroom as she always does. I turned around to see that nifty "red dot" on her forehead. I was about to tell her how cool that was but before I could get a word in, she said "Mommy, I learned about women from Indiana today." Oh Addie, thank you for that giggle!
And the boys had to pose but this is the shot I captured! Yet another giggle!

I fixed spaghetti for dinner. (Did you notice Addie's spaghetti mustache in the top photo?) Sam loved crunching on the raw noodles, or "doodles" as Sam was saying. The word "doodles" just sent Logand and I into one of those laughs that makes you feel so good and is contagious. Then of course, Sam started laughing and so on and on. Thank you Sam-Man for that giggle!

Praying for more giggly evenings rather than the drama, crazy evenings!

We had another great Fall weekend last weekend! Friday night was my Simply Said launch party(more to come about that later), then Saturday we had a service day at Ronald McDonald House, last fall baseball game, and Sunday we had Operation Christmas Shoe Box at church. It was a feel good kind of weekend and that is just what we needed!

While we were at Ronald McDonal House, we dropped our MANY tabs off! Look at all of them!!!! Thank you friends and family who have been collecting them with us! David, Logan, and Sam didn't get to come with us because of baseball. Hopefully next time!
Grammy got to come with us though and it was so special to have her with us! Addie was especially glad it was just the girls!

We provided lunch for the families staying there and we made cards and goodie bags for the kids.

We celebrated another great season of baseball with Coach Scott! We had great coaches and families to play ball with this year! I especially love the friendships we have made through baseball!

Addie has even made a great pal!!!

Operation Christmas Shoe Box--- We filled shoe boxes full of toys, school supplies, clothes and health products for children all around the world. Another great experience for our kiddos!

So thankful for another great Fall weekend and looking forward to enjoying this one!

My favorite time of year is in full swing. I just can't let this time of year pass without at least 1 post on the blog! I do love blogging but I just can't seem to keep up with it these days. That is kind of the way I am feeling about EVERYTHING these days...just cannot keep up!

Here are some of our fun Fall memories this year...

A day with some of our favorite cousins (but not all of them!) at Lucky Ladd Farms...

This picture just makes me laugh...

and this one makes me laugh harder...

We had another Happy Halloween as Cinderella, a firefighter, and the UT Vol's Tyler Bray who was complete with his hand wrapped up...

Our neighborhood gang...

Nana and Pop did return after their adventerous year last year (Click HERE to reminisce)but they came prepared. Nobody was taking our candy this year...NOBODY!

Happy Fall and almost Christmas season! We are especially looking forward to our week off for Thanksgiving! 7 more school days...WOO HOO!