Sesame Street Live!

A couple of weekends ago, Maddox, Mimi, and I went to the show at the Mitchell Center. Maddox was enthralled.

This was the expression on his face most of the time.

He just couldn't figure it all out! He loved it, though. Of course, his favorite is ELMO!

Maddox is holding the $15 spinning Elmo toy we bought him. Maddox really does not beg for us to buy him things (at least not yet). But, the little boy sitting next to us had this toy, so we had to get one, too!

I'm glad that Maddox is getting old enough to take him to things like this. We had a really good time!

Mamo's 90th Birthday Party!

Saturday, August 30, we drove to Jay, Florida to Britt's grandmother's 90th birthday party.

Here is the birthday girl with Maddox and Britt.

Maddox is Mamo's 30th great-grandchild (I think!). This cute little girl, Avery, is Mamo's first and only great-great grandchild.

Maddox was hot and sweaty from riding the tractors and wasn't so sure about sharing his chair with her!

Granddad and Maddox supporting their favorite teams.

Sliding with Aunt Katie. Check out that hair!!

Playing with Aunt Katie and Uncle Jeremy

Mamo has been making quilts for 50 years, and has made one for every wedding, and the birth of every grandchild, great-grandchild, and great-great grandchild! At her birthday party they had a huge quilt show displaying some of the quilts.

This is Maddox being an active 2 year old and crawling under his baby quilt

One of the highlights of the day for Maddox was riding on the tractors!

Cousin Derrek let him climb on several tractors and actually took him for a ride around the yard on this huge sprayer!

It was a fun day! And, to top it all off, Bama won their game that night! Roll Tide!

Lunch with Daddy

Yesterday, Maddox and I went to the mall for a little shopping and lunch with his Daddy. He and Daddy rode the carousel for the first time. Believe it or not, Maddox was a little scared to ride it, and actually refused to ride it with Mama! He got brave for Daddy, and they had a great time!

Visiting Taylor

While Maddox was at school on Wednesday, I went to visit my student, Taylor. He was diagnosed with leukemia a couple of months ago and is in the hospital getting chemo. He is currently in remission-Yea!! But, he has to have more chemo to make sure it doesn't come back.
I took him a recorder to play, and he loved it!
He is a special little boy, and one of my best students. He has a great singing voice, and can match pitch perfectly! I can't wait until he can come back to school. Please keep him in your prayers.

First Day of School and Big Boy Underwear!

Yesterday was Maddox's first day of school (Mom's Day Out). His new teachers seem very nice, and he had a good day. His friend Matthew is in his class. I think they may become best friends as the year goes by. I don't start teaching for a couple of more weeks, so I'm enjoying the time to get some things done while he is at school.
























Today we went to Target and bought some "Big Boy Underwear". This was my latest attempt to get this potty training thing started. I thought that if he wore underwear and got it wet, he would better understand what's going on down there. Well, he picked out Thomas, Mickey, and Elmo underwear. When we got home, I told him to sit on the potty then we would put on the underwear. He sat on the potty (didn't go), then refused to put on the underwear. Ok, that's fine. I just put a diaper back on him. Well, he wanted to put the underwear on over the diaper! I guess he thought the underwear was like shorts!! So, here he is with the underwear on over his diaper! Silly, silly boy!!

Road Trip

Maddox, my mom, and I drove to Florence last Monday for a visit with family and friends. Maddox did very well in the car and had a good time on our trip.

Maddox and his great-grandmother Hunt

Maddox with GrandDoc


Mimi, Maddox, GrandDoc, Uncle Greg, and Grandmother

We ate at Ricatoni's, one of my favorite restaurants in Florence.

Cousin Mason

Cousin Grant
(When I tried to hold Grant, Maddox got upset. He grabbed my arm and said "No, my Mama"!)


Maddox and his cousin Kate


One night, we had dinner with Johnna and Jeremy. Johnna is a good friend from college who now lives in Florence. After dinner we went to a new playground and splash pad. It was so nice, and Maddox had a great time.

Splashing around in the water

Johnna and Maddox

Maddox, Johnna, and Jeremy

The park overlooks Wilson Dam and the Tennessee River. I had a lot of fun times on that river.


One day for lunch we met Aundrea, my good friend from high school and her kids at McDonald's. That McDonald's has a great indoor playground. Maddox followed Bree all the way to the top and went down the huge slide over and over again!

Bree, Maddox, Jaxon, and Grayson

Thursday morning, we drove to Chattanooga to the Tennessee Aquarium. My good friends from college, Ginger and Carla met us there. Carla has two kids: Ellie is 5 and Tyler is 2 1/2. Ginger's twins, Averie and Andrew are now almost 3 months old.

Ellie and Maddox "inside" one of the fish tanks

Carla and Ellie feeding Averie

We had a busy, but really fun trip. I'm so glad we got to visit so many relatives and friends.

2nd Birthday Party!

Maddox had such a fun birthday party. A few weeks ago I taught him to say "Two" when asked how old he is, and to say "Big slide" when asked what he's doing for his birthday. He sure was excited when he finally saw the big slides! His friends Miranda, CJ, Will, Macy, Matthew, and Ryan were there. I made his beach ball cake and he blew his candles out on the first try. He knew exactly what to do! What a fun day. We can't believe our boy is already 2!