The Dodd's

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-20T14:00:00.003-05:00

Today was a "teacher planning day" so no school for Taylor or preschooler Jordan. Instead of staying inside all day, I decided to follow friend Aimee & Sarah's lead and take the girls to a local pumpkin patch. It took about an hour to get there, we were able to look for cotton. There were several cotton fields on the way they enjoyed trying to guess which ones were cotton. Once we arrived, they had a lot of fun crawling on the pumpkins and trying to decide which one they wanted. Later we are going to decorate the pumpkins - but right now, I am EXHAUSTED! Jordan kind of blends in with the pumpkins. :) More photos will be on my facebook.

Jordan's 3rd Birthday Party

2008-09-07T17:52:00.005-05:00

On September 9th Jordan will be 3, Saturday we had her birthday party. We had lots of friends join us to celebrate her birthday. I can't believe that my baby is turning 3. She told my sister "I woke up this morning and it was my happy birthday". She walked around the house singing "happy birthday to me". We grilled hamburgers and had pink cupcakes, to end the party we had a pinata for the kids. I think everyone had a fun time. This was a very busy day for us, Danny could not stay due to a funeral, Taylor had to leave the party early for her first soccer game of the season, thankfully Tara was able to take her. Today was a big day for her (and me) too. She moved out of the nursery at church and into "big" class and Bold Bible Kids. Bold Bible Kids is like children's church. Miss Debbie does a great job with them. I actually had tears in my eyes a few times today. No more baby! Jordan did great for the time she had to be in worship and Taylor was a big help to her in BBK. Danny and I keep telling them we are going to put bricks on their heads so they will stop growing up so fast. Thanks to all of our friends who came and helped. Here are a few pictures from the party, all of the pictures will be on my facebook page if you would like to see the rest of them.

Ballet

2008-09-07T17:34:00.003-05:00

With the start of school, was the start of ballet. This year Jordan was old enough to start. It should be interesting. Jordan loves it, she can't wait to go to practice. This is Taylor's third year. Here they are in their outfits before ballet practice.

First day of school

2008-09-07T17:22:00.004-05:00

Taylor started 1st grade, Jordan 5 days at preschool, Mommy 4 hours of silence. :) The first day of school was August 18th. I decided to let Taylor ride the school bus home since it is the first stop. This has been such a blessing for me and her. I don't have to rush to school and wait in really long lines or find a parking space. She had begged me to ride, so she is happy. You will also notice that Taylor is missing her two front teeth. She lost one on a Monday, she ran into Jordan's head and the tooth popped out. She said "I didn't even know it happened" Then two days later on Wednesday morning she was doing a flip on my couch and hit her other tooth on her knee. So far they both are doing very well. Taylor has an 'A' in citizenship and Jordan hasn't been kicked out yet. :)

Vacation in the Smokey Mtns

2008-09-07T17:08:00.006-05:00

The first week of August we took a vacation to the Smokey Mtns. Our destination was Pigeon Forge, Dollywood and Splash Mountain. The girls loved it. Jordan was always saying "Dowwywood". We had an adventure, our Envoy quit as we were headed out, so we had to come back to the house and rented a car. So we were a little late getting started, but everything worked out. Jordan tells the story that we got a new car and new home(our hotel) at Dollywood. The highlight of our trip was Splash Mountain. It was a lot of fun, Danny and I enjoyed that the most too. There was so much to do for Jordan and Taylor. Taylor was willing to try anything, including a spinning disc in a half-pipe - I was so proud she tried but so terrified that I had to be the one to ride it with her. Danny cannot ride anything that spins or goes fast (he says he will get sick, maybe I should test that story). :) On our way home, we took our time. We stopped for a tour at a local dairy. We stopped at Lookout Mountain and Ruby Falls in Chattanooga. It was a fun "end of summer" trip for our family.

Horse Camp

2008-09-07T16:57:00.004-05:00

This summer Taylor spent a week at Horse camp. The camp was just a few miles from our home, so I would drive her there everyday and pick her up in the afternoon. She loved it!! They were assigned a horse, it was theirs for the whole week. They learned how to take care of them, groom, saddle, and ride, rein, etc. The instructor said she was a natural. This made mommy very proud. I grew up on a farm, had my first horse when I was 4. My sister and I always had a horse to ride. So for Taylor to pick up on something that I love so much was very special. This is something that we plan on doing next summer. Here are some pictures from the Horse show, at the end of the week, they had a horse show for the parents.

Taylor & Corkey!

A hug for sister

Circus

2008-06-27T12:23:00.004-05:00

The Circus came to Pensacola. The day it arrived, we went downtown to watch the elephants get off the train. Taylor and Jordan were excited. Thanks to friend Matt, we were able to attend the circus as "celebrities". We were on the front row and actually got to ride in the circus train. We all had a blast, it was our first time to see a circus. Jordan said her favorite part was the animals, Taylor like the clowns. It was a "Bellobration". Bello the clown was featured, we got to ride in the train with our Bello hats.

Summertme Fun

2008-06-27T12:10:00.003-05:00

We have had a fun summer so far. We went swimming at friend Aimee's and others who have pools. Taylor made the comment that we swam four days in a row all at different pools. These pictures are of our time at Aimee's. The girls had fun playing with Joshua and Luke. Taylor and Jordan really like to swim.

Our next adventure was to the beach. We rented a condo on Pensacola Beach for a week. Taylor enjoys it, Jordan hates the beach. We would walk to the beach and Jordan would start fussing, she refused to get sand on her. Jordan and I spent most of the time in the pool. We also made snow cones. You can see some pictures of them enjoying the snow cones.

Catching up..........

2008-06-03T09:42:00.004-05:00

It has been a while since my last post. We have been extremely busy with a variety of activities and other happenings. Taylor and Jordan are officially out of school for the summer. We do have lots of things planned, mostly swimming.

In May, Danny and I traveled to Malibu, CA to Pepperdine for the annual Bible Lectures. It was a lot of fun, however my trip was interrupted by my Grandmother. The doctors called the family in to see her one last time. She hung on for two more weeks. It was a rough three weeks with her being sick and me traveling back and forth a couple of times to see her and be with my dad. She went to be with Jesus on May 19th. Jordan and I traveled to Arkansas for the funeral. I have to say that with all the traveling to Arkansas (10 hours) Jordan did extremely well. Taylor and Danny stayed in Pensacola. Taylor had her Kindergarten play and her Ballet recital that week so we thought it best she stay. Danny's best friend lost his son that week. It turned out to be a blessing that Danny didn't travel to Arkansas with me so he could be here for his friend.

Taylor was a Mule in her Kindergarten play. I think her teacher type cast her pretty well. Taylor is really stubborn. She did a wonderful job as the Mule who tells the other farm animals why the cow won't moo. "Hee haw! Hee haw! Heehaw you all! I'm here to save the day! I'm really glad to heed your call! Now listen as I say. The problem withthis cow is clear she doesn't feel part of the team! What's obvious with this cow is fear and a lack of self esteem!" She had the most lines in the play, her teacher said it was because she could speak the clearest out of everyone. I would have to agree after seeing the play. :)

Next we had her ballet recital. I had just returned from Arkansas, my friend Sarah Davis came by to help get her ready. Taylor was so beautiful. Her class was "perfect" according to her ballet instructor. The title of her ballet was "Jewel of the Sea".

After a week of funerals, plays and recitals; Danny, the girls and I headed to a house in central Alabama. A couple from church let us borrow it for the weekend. It was nice to get away as a family for some relaxing. There were two small lakes (I call them ponds) with lots of fish. Taylor loved to fish, Jordan only as long as her attention span would allow. Danny loves to fish and now has a partner in Taylor. Taylor would get up early with Danny and they would head to the fishing hole. She caught most of the fish. We mostly caught Brim, but Danny did catch a couple of Bass. We had fresh fish for dinner both nights. There was a creek that they were able to splash around in to cool off. They loved getting wet and muddy.

Jordan is now 2 1/2, she has potty trained herself. I was going to wait until school was out to potty train her, but she couldn't wait. She started taking her diapers off and bringing them to me. I got tired of this and just put some panties on her and showed her where her potty was. She has done remarkable. The weeks we were on the road were the hardest, but she seems to be getting the hang of being a big girl and not wearing diapers. I can't believe that she is growing up so fast.

Now the summer has begun. I am not use to having them both home during the day, I am going to adjust my schedule. Mostly my work will be done at night after they have gone to bed. I plan on keeping them as busy as possible during the day. We have plans to swim, there are a couple of summer camps that Taylor will attend and Vacation Bible School. Also, next week we plan on spending a week at the beach and Danny is working on a mini-vacation for the four of us. I know in August I will be saying "I can't believe the summer went by so fast" :)

Disney World

2008-03-15T16:36:00.004-05:00

I know what all of you are thinking...it has been FOREVER. Just remember that this is my "busy season". I am doing some taxes and have stayed really busy lately. I have tried to post a couple of times, but the site shuts down on me, so I give up. If you are reading this, it worked this time.

In February we took our girls to Disney World. They loved it. Jordan was so much fun, this was her first "real" time. She was only 5 months old our last trip. Taylor still loves the roller coasters. She was going to ride the Tower of Terror, but I vetoed that. My brother David and his girlfriend Autumn went with us, he was Taylor's roller coaster friend. Jordan rode her first roller coaster too, a real small one in the Magic Kingdom.

This was our second time, it was really crowded this time, Taylor was not use to that and was impatient some. But over all, we had a lot of fun.

The pictures are my brother and Autumn with Jordan, waiting for the bus. The Dodd's all togehter, Taylor and Minnie Mouse. The last one is Jordan on her first roller coaster. Sorry about the format, my blog will be changing soon. :)

Christmas Day

2007-12-25T14:20:00.000-06:00

"
We had a really good Christmas morning. Taylor and Jordan were so much fun, especially Jordan, she didn't know what to do. They got a new kitchen to share, Jordan got a tricycle and Taylor a scooter. Taylor also got a digital camera, she has been taking pictures all morning. I will have to share her pictures sometime. My mom, sister and niece are here with us. Notice there are no pictures of Danny, he is the one in charge of the camera. He was good to me this year, I got a gift cert to my favorite store, a Johnson Bros tea set, earrings from Germany and other little stuff. He got all the books he requested. Now four are napping, Taylor is playing and Danny is reading while I update you on our day. Before Christmas, I had cleaned out the girls playroom and got rid of a lot of toys, Taylor just made the comment "Santa must have known how many toys you got rid of because he gave us a lot". That should sum up their Christmas for you.

Taylor's first Razorback game

2007-11-19T07:52:00.000-06:00

As most of you might know I am a huge Razorback football fan. So Saturday, I was able to take my five year old daughter Taylor to her first Razorback game. It was a proud moment for me. She had a lot of fun. She had to calm me down a few times. She wanted to make sure I didn't get too crazy. But she did learn to call the Hogs! She ask lots of questions, like "when is it going to start" - this was mid-way through the 1st quarter. She learned the difference between touchdown and field goal, and she learned by the way I was acting if Arkansas scored or not. I also tried to explain downs to her, I don't think she completely understood, but she acted like she did. It was really a fund day, especially since Arkansas won 45-31. They were playing Mississippi State, which Danny likes, not his favorite, but being from Mississippi, he will always pull for one of there teams. After the game Taylor said she was "sad for Daddy", she didn't want him to be sad because his team lost. I am going to work on that with her. :)

We are still in Arkansas. Danny is in Germany visiting with our missionaries and retreating. He will return on Wednesday and we will head to Greenville, MS for Thanksgiving with his family.

I hope everyone of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Ready for the game

Calling the Hogs!

With Tusk, the Razorback mascot

Having fun!

Eating Cotton Candy

How does he look?

"I want one of these"

October Fun

2007-11-06T08:46:00.000-06:00

The end of October was a lot of fun for the Dodd's. We had the fair and Fall Carnival at Church, and don't forget Halloween. Taylor and Jordan loved all the activities. Taylor really enjoys the fair. Since Danny gets sick on the rides, I am the one who gets to ride with them, some were fun, some not. Taylor did ride the kiddie roller coaster all by herself, I was busy on the Bumblebee's with Jordan. I also introduced Taylor to the "Scrambler"(at least that is what it was called in my day), I can't remember what it is called now. She absolutely loved it, we had to ride it twice. We would have ridden more, but Jordan had fallen asleep and Danny was cold. We want to thank our good friends Steve and Diane Peacock, we went to the fair with them and their daughter, my friend Judy. It was a lot of fun.

The Fall Carnival is always fun to see the costumes and cars decorated. I have to give the prize to the Johnson family. They were Peter Pan -we had to walk the plank, it was fun. Jordan didn't understand, but had a lot of fun. Taylor played all the games and won a lot of prizes. Needless to say, we have lots of candy.

For Halloween, we went to Judy Peacocks for dinner and trick-or-treating. Taylor and Jordan were not fun to get ready. Taylor was crying because she didn't think it was time to go, she didn't see anyone else out. Jordan did not want costume on again. When I told her "lets go get some candy", she ran to the pantry to get her pumpkin from the carnival, when she saw the pumpkin empty she was very unhappy.

Danny was gone for the last week of October. So he missed the Fall Carnival and Halloween. He was in California, near San Fransisco preaching a meeting and then to the Gulf Coast Teen Retreat. We are happy to have him back.

We are gearing up for the Holidays. Danny is horrified that I need my Christmas tree up now. :) I want to get my Christmas cards done before Thanksgiving. We will see if it happens.

Taylor and Jordan are still enjoying school. I am very thankful for my down time when they are there. Although my down time is work, but it is nice and quiet.

It took me so long to update my blog because I am having trouble figuring it out. I still don't know how to do the things I want. There fore all the pictures are first because I don't know how to change that just yet.

Thanks for checking out our blog.

Welcome to our Blog

2007-10-24T09:25:00.000-05:00

Hello friends,

I want to use this blog to keep up with friends and family that we do not see often. I am really bad at sending emails, so I thought this will help since I only have to do it once.

Danny and I are in Pensacola, FL. He is the pulpit minister at Gateway church of Christ. I work from home, doing a little bookkeeping/taxes. It lets me really be a stay at home mom and I enjoy that more than anythng. Taylor is now five and Jordan is two. They are such a joy and at times a challenge. Taylor has started Kindergarten and Jordan is in preschool three days a week.

Taylor is playing soccer and taking ballet. She is improving all the time in both activities and she loves them. Jordan is too young to join, but she does like kicking the soccer ball around with big sister. Danny has entered the world of soccer - he is Taylor's soccer coach. You really don't have to know much when you coach five year olds.

Thank you for checking out our blog.