i ♥ nashville

Oh, how nice it was to return to my birthplace :o)... although the trip was way too short, it was great to visit all of our awesome old friends there & to see all of the beautiful, colorful trees this time of year!

Courtney & Troy were so great to invite us to stay with them. They are preparing to move to a new home in a couple of weeks, so we appreciate them letting us stay in their "old casa" one last time! I slept like a champ every night with mom & dad in the huge king-sized bed in their guest bedroom (you'll see some of the photos of me snoozing). We also drove up to Gallatin to see their FANTABULOUS new house, too... I loved running around that big empty place. Even more exciting.... they can tell everyone that they live in the house where Taylor Swift filmed one of her music videos... cool, huh?? We didn't get a glimpse Taylor herself, but I did get to see the room where she filmed... ooooooh! aaaaaaah!

When we arrived on Thursday night, the Johnsons had us over for dinner. Mia & I got to have a late-night play date. Our parents let us stay up, since we obviously don't get to see each other all that much these days. We had a blast playing with all of Mia's toys... there was nothing odd about it... we went on without missing a beat. I am not so sure why everyone thought we wouldn't remember each other - we practically saw one another every single day for the first year of our lives... duh!

On Saturday morning, we had breakfast at Mia's Mimi's house & once again, it was just like it always was... Mimi's waffles were out of this world! We then finished up our afternoon by visiting the mall, where we both got to ride several carousels. I have never been a fan of those roundy-round things, but after a couple of tries... I saw how much fun Mia was having & decided it was not all that bad!! Thanks to the Johnsons & Mimi for being such wonderful hosts!

Friday night, we met some friends for dinner at Mafiaoza's... one of our very favorite Nashvegas spots. The pizza was yummy, but the company was even better! I got to hang out with my buddies, Alek & Ashton... the chefs gave us kids some pizza dough to play with & then Jenn brought out the videos on her I-Phone, both of which made dinner 100% more interesting.

After seeing Troy & Courtney's new house on Saturday, we headed over to Erica & Brennan's house for the Tennessee game.... I got to sport my new UT hat for the occasion. Aunt Jess came, too. Aunt E & Uncle B's dog, Sammy, was such a good sport & let me take over his toys & house. Mom got some good photos of me playing with Sammy & of me sharing my stickers with everyone. The dips & appetizers were delicioso, as always.... thanks to the Mooneys for inviting us over... thanks for taking this muchkin into consideration - - it was nice to be able to run aroun & visit, instead of being stuck in a stinkin' high chair in a restaurant somewhere.

Our trip was great.... both legs of the drive & airplane flights were pretty easy this time. I always surprise mom & dad with my travel etiquette. Unfortunately, I did get sick over they course of the trip & am trying to finally kick my bronchitis in the butt this week. I hope I did not get all of our Nashville friends sick... that was not the thank you present I wanted to leave with all of you!! :o)

pebbles & a princess

Whoa.... I had heard through the grapevine that Halloween was supposed to be a lot of fun, but I had no idea that all I had to do to get several pounds of candy was to dress up in a costume & put on a cute smile.... perhaps it'll work on mommy, too!?

We returned from San Antonio on Friday night, so that I could get some good sleep before the big pumpkin day. Saturday morning, I went to gymnastics & then to my good friend & neighbor, Mimi Carlisle's, fun birthday party. After a nap.... the sugary fun began.

I got dressed up in my Pebbles costume (made with love by my Gingi). Then, mom gave me my very first ponytail... complete with a bone & a bow. Once I was in character, mom assured me that all I had to do was smile at people & say "tee taa" (aka: trick-or-treat) to get all kinds of candy. So - I made a few practice trick-or-treating runs at KK's house & scored BIG TIME, because at each practice run... she gave me more & more candy!!! Uncle Brandon stopped by to see me, and then I was off to Gingi & Popi's house.

Popi was still out of town, but Bebay came home for the festivities.... so once we got to Gingi's house - I did my thang & scored even MORE sweets. By this point, I was getting the hang of this "tee taa" business. I must say that my Bebay was dressed up like a monkey, and even though I love to look at monkies in books, I was not so thrilled to see her wearing ears & a tail... it freaked me out a little (ok - lot)... you'll see in the photos. After Gingi & Bebay loaded my bag full of more sugar, we headed to DooDah's house. I ran up to his door & low 'n' behold.... he had candy, too!

Finally... it was time to meet up with my buddy, Sydney, for some door-to-door candy hunting. We met at our house & dad rigged my big wagon with lights, so that us half-pints didn't have to walk a million miles. Sydney was a very tasteful & fancy pink princess... lucky her - she got to wear a tutu!

The candy was flowin' in Santa Rita, even though I was less than confident about approaching some of my neighbors, who were rather extravagantly dressed up to hand out candy! I would run up close to the door, but then retreat & ask mom to "hold tu" (aka: hold me) to get candy. Each time I got a piece, I'd rejoice & head back to the wagon for more "tee taa-ing". We ended the night at my cousin, Steven's house... he was dressed up like a wacko soccer player... even he gave me the heebie jeebies a little. We made the rounds around our neighborhood for almost 2 whole hours... yup - we're troopers, eh?

Sydney & I were both strung out on sugar for a while last night! My mom & dad let me stay up past my bedtime.... or perhaps they were just confident that I was not going to settle down easily after so much endulging. I ran around like a wild woman, until I crashed out pooped from a long, hard day of playing. It is hard work being so cute, but it is definitely worth it when you get mounds of yumminess. Mom & dad mentioned several times that they were glad to be "falling back" this weekend (whatever that means!?)

* click HERE to see all of the photos from the night in Snapfish album *

"punties" & jack-o-lanterns

Our visit to the "punty" patch (ok - so my pronunciation lacks a little clarity, so for those of you who don't speak my lingo... "punty" = pumpkin) this year was a pretty good one. Although I did not get to bring home all of the gourds & "punties" that I wanted, I did have fun showing them all to my mom, dad, & K.K. We didn't have to go far... our church has a patch 'o' jacks every year... so mom changed my clothes after Sunday's service & let me explore!

My favorites were the "baaeby punties" and the ugly, gnarled gourds. I was good at differentiating between the "biiiig" ones & the "baaaeby" ones. I also would announce each and every "boo boo" (aka: warts, scars) that each of the "punties" had suffered & kiss them to make them better if the "boo boo" warranted a kiss. After all of the exploration & photos, I was ready for a nice loooong nap to recuperate that afternoon. The parentals were glad that I slept so long, because it allowed them to work outside in the yard at our new casa.

After my nap (in my own bed, with my own toys, in my own room, @ my own house, which was so very, very nice & comfy.... sorry to ramble, but it does not happen very often any more, as we're moving from home to home lately), we got busy decorating our chosen "punties".

Mom & dad carved theirs, although somehow we did not get final photos of those!? You can watch for them later. I on the other hand, used one of my favorite decorating tools..... STICKERS :o) Mom directed me a little & I stuck all of the face stickers onto my "punty".... she turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. A couple of the facial features may be a little "off", but I think it was a good effort... ha! Mom added some curly hair to her for the finishing touch. I had so much fun decorating my Jack, that Gingi donated another of her "punties" so that I could decorate a 2nd one.

The "punty" decorating would not have been complete without enjoying some Halloween candy at the same time... so they let me have a l"punty" lollipop & a few packages of smarties (that just might have been the best part of the whole process).

Now.... I'm all set for the big "punty" day. My outfit is finished & I am SUPER ready to collect all of my sugary, sticky, gooey goodies. We're heading out tomorrow for San Antonio, so that daddy can shoot in the National Sporting Clay Meet, but we'll be back in time for some trick-or-treating Saturday night.... watch out San Angelo!

CLICK HERE to go to the Snapfish Album with ALL of the "punty" patch & jack-o-lantern photos.

we're goin' nutz around here...

Hello, friends... what a couple of weeks I've had... what about you??? I won't tell you every detail about our wild 'n' wacky times, but I thought you might like to see a few photos. Our casa is pretty darn torn up... our kitchen has been demolished down to the studs... so we're in & out of the house. So, apologies if my posts are spuratic... it's just cuz I don't have access to the internet quite as easily these days!

This past weekend was mommy's ten year high school reunion, so I got to stay Friday & Saturday night with KK (Granna's new name) & DooDah, while mom & dad were out with their friends. I did get to take part in some of the weekend's festivities by going to a tailgate and part of the Bobcat game on Friday night. I had a blast playing with the other kiddos at the tailgate & loved watching the football game, too... although those poor Bobcats couldn't pull out a win. Several times during the game - those guys would tackle each other so hard, and I would yell, "boo boo!" Poor guys - I hope they're all ok. I especially enjoyed watching the band & dancers at half-time... the Bobcats' TexAnns & cheerleaders were really cool... I danced with them & waved my hands around when they did :o)

Other than that... we're just truckin' along. Gingi has been working on my halloween costume & it is just about finished! I am getting excited about all of that candy that I remember from last year. This year - if I'm really lucky - perhaps my mommy will let me eat some of it!?!? Enjoy all of these random photos from the past couple of weeks...

watching the Cowboys play with daddy...

pix from the tailgate Friday night...

photo of mommy & her best high school friends / my mom & dad...

just some pretty day pics of me...

"helping" Gingi make my costume... can you guess what i'll be???...

nice hair after a bath... cheeeeeese!...