Only A Boy

Only a boy would ever think of doing this to their punch balloon. Can you see what he drew under the nose? It's blood. He figured if he was punching the balloon in the nose, it would bleed. I guess he has a point! He had so much fun with this balloon until it popped. He now says he wants some balloons for Christmas. I think Santa can handle that one ;)

Jack-O-Lantern Fun

I can't tell you the last time I carved a pumpkin. This is usually a "dad" job, but Dad was at the LSU game this Saturday, so the job was mine. They're not the greatest, but the boys liked them, so that's all that matters!

(We just got haircuts today, so I promise, they look better now.)

Cade always has to be silly.

We're having a big Halloween party at our house after the kids trick-or-treat. It should be alot of fun, and the weather is supposed to be perfect! Most Halloweens we spend the night sweating because it's so hot, but not this year!! We might even be able to light a fire in the outside fireplace!

My Date With Bryce

Saturday, Bryce and I had a date. Well, he would never call it that, but I would! We brought a friend of his, Christian, and Christian's mom with us to see the USAF concert band. We had Mexican food before the concert, and then enjoyed the show. Christian plays the trumpet in our Jr. High band and Bryce plays the French horn. It was alot of fun. I even missed the LSU game for it! (As it turned out, it was a good game to miss)

Me and my handsome boy. I had to take him today to get the staples out of his head, and he has gained 10 pounds in the last 6 months! He weighs 100 lbs!! I can't believe how big he is.

Bryce and Christian

It was a great concert.

Catch-up

I have lots to catch up on this week. I subbed at the school a couple of days, and it totally throws me behind! It is always interesting to see your kids in their school environment. Cade must have waved to me 100 times as I was in the front of their class. Like he had to claim me every few minutes, so I (or anyone else) wouldn't forget that I belonged to him. So sweet. But I also had to break up a fight between him and a couple of boys. I have been wondering why one of the boys' moms has been cold to me lately. Evidently, there have been some problems. Great! He's a wild one, I'm telling you. I'm going to have to keep my eye on him - always!

I was so excited to get a special surprise in the mailbox this week! I won a bow over at Keisha's a couple of weeks ago. Isn't it just the cutest things. It looks like a bat.

But, then I dug deeper and found this:
Whoo Hoo! Now you're singing my song! Thank you Keisha for these beautiful bows. They are just perfect, and I can't wait to have a little girl head to put them on!


I also received an award this week from Kim. She was so sweet to send this my way. She and her peanuts make me smile big!


Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude. I try most of the time.
2. Must love one another. I do.
3. Must make mistakes. Now I would be hard pressed on this one ;)
4. Must learn from others. I try to.
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world. I hope so.
6. Must love life. Definitely.
7. Must love kids. Most of the time ;)

These are the rules for the Smile Award:
1. The recipient must link back to the awards creator.
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must choose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself.
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.


I have chosen these 5 people to pass this award to. They definitely make me smile :)


1. Margie at Mississippizen. Margie just got home with her second China treasure. I don't think the past month has been a walk in the park, but she is always so sweet and loving.
2. Jill at Mission to Macie. Jill is crazy and I love that I have gotten to know her over the past few months. Anybody that has three boys, I immediately have a connection with.
3. Gwen at Oatsvall Team. Gwen is hysterical. She always has something crazy going on over there. I love to read about it. She inspires me to have a closer relationship with the Lord.
4. Adele at Making Memories with Mallory and Meridith. Adele is such a sweet friend. I am thankful we live close enough that we will be able to get to know each other better.
5. Lynn at Somewhere in the Sun. Although she has decided to close her blog, which does not make me smile. I wanted to send her off with this award to thank her for letting me follow along on their journey to Miss Olivia. Lynn is also a fellow baseball mom, and I love that. I will miss you, Lynn.



OK, now that I'm caught up, on with the show!! We have great weather here this weekend, so I'm hoping to enjoy that. My in-laws are in town, and I think I'll let the boys carve their pumpkins while there is back-up here! Bryce and I are going to a concert by the USAF concert band. I think it's going to be really great, and I am really looking forward to it. And, of course, there is game three of the World Series!! It's one-one right now, so we're all holding our breath!

Have a great weekend!!

Who Says I Need Furniture?

When we moved into this house last December, I was able to buy a good bit of new furniture to move in with. I could not, however, purchase everything I needed, so there are lots of empty spaces. There aren't rugs on the floors and the foyer is completely empty, and windows still need treatments. Another empty space is in my bedroom. One day, this space will hold a sofa and a big comfy chair, but for now, It holds the cushions from our outdoor furniture. I was so smart and bought some great outdoor furniture with cream colored cushions, so it hangs out in my room when we're not using it. I don't know what I was thinking, but hey, it was on sale!! These cushions, as you can imagine, aren't holding up so great on a porch where three dirty boys live in South Louisiana where the humidity is 100% all the time. Cade likes to go in my room after his bath in the evenings and watch Fetch with Ruff Ruffm*n. The past few nights, I've found him laying on this watching his show:

He made this out of all the pillows from my bed and the cushions from the furniture outside. I think it's so adorable. I've had to tear it down a couple of times, but he just makes it back.

And just for good measure, here's another of his journal entries:

I subbed yesterday and I'm going to be in Cade's class the second half of today. He is so excited he couldn't sleep last night. Very sweet, but I know he's going to be crazy when I get there, so I'm not looking forward to that.

And, the Rays lost the first game, let's hope they have better luck tonight!

Hope you're all having a great week!

World Series, Baby!!

You wouldn't have noticed, but this was Cade in his uniform this past spring:

And this is Braden(and a friend) in his uniform this spring:

Can I just say "It's on" in the Doughty house.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, the Rays just beat the Red Sox and are on their way to the world series!! Guess who they'll be playing? You guessed it...the Phillies!!

Actually all of us except Cade are rooting for the Rays. We already have a trip planned to go to a Rays game next year, so the fact that they are in the World Series is a hoot! We already decided that Cade's team is going to have the same uniform as Braden's next year, so they will both be Rays... but Cade is fighting it all the way.

Go Rays!!

We Were Due

Well, I knew it was about that time. You can only go so long without a trip to the emergency room! At least if you live in a house with all boys! The funny thing, though, is that a girl caused this accident! Bryce was with a couple of friends playing by a canal. There were three girls (jr. high age) being stupid and throwing rocks. One happened to hit Bryce on the back of the head. He came home bleeding all over the place and hysterical. The girls were terribly upset, and the one that threw the rock wrote Bryce a two page letter apologizing (very dramatic). She didn't mean to hit him, she just has really bad aim. She can't help that she throws like a girl! I told her that it was fine, and I knew she didn't mean to hit him, but maybe she'd better not throw any more rocks. I can tell you that if one of my boys had thrown the rock, I would not have been so calm. The funniest part, is that I have been just waiting for an injury during football. Of course, the one child who doesn't play football ends up in the ER!

Richard took him to the emergency room, and he got a couple of staples put in his head. I am letting him stay home from school today. I figure, if you can't stay home after they staple your head back together, when could you ever stay home?!

The picture is more to document for Bryce, so I'm sorry if it grosses you out this morning :)

7 Random Things

OK, I've been tagged. Keisha tagged me to list 7 random things about myself. So here goes:

1. 90% of my life is spent in flip-flops. Because it's so warm here, we pretty much wear them all year round. I do have some boots and flats, but the boots aren't because it's cold.


2. I laugh constantly, and get teased all the time for it. I have tried to stop, but can't. Richard says it's who I am, and shouldn't try to change it, so I won't.


3. I LOVE to watch my boys play baseball. (Like you didn't already know that!) I love to watch them play any sport, but especially baseball.


4. I used to teach 1st grade before I had children. People ask me if I want to go back. The answer is "not really". There are days when it's a little slow here, but I don't know if I could teach other kids all day and then be civil to my own. All I really wanted to do with my life is be a mom anyway.


5. I spend ALOT of time volunteering at the kids' school. I am pretty much in charge of our AR wall, and that takes a good while every week. I sub sometimes, but don't really enjoy it. I am also in charge of our auction that we have every spring. I have to admit, though, I am not looking forward to that this year. I wonder if I could find someone else to head it up? hmmm...


6. The beach is my most favorite place in the world to be.

7. I talk constantly. It drives Richard crazy sometimes, and he's gotten quite good at tuning me out.

I'm supposed to tag 7 people, but I think I'm on the tail end of this one, so if you haven't yet done this tag, please do it. I always love to read people's answers. Some of you have some crazy random fact to share!

They Always Prove You Wrong

As soon as I wrote that Braden didn't read unless I was making him, he proves me wrong. He is onto a series by Dan Gutman about different major league players. This book is "Jackie & Me". He loves them. When I took this picture, I had been calling them for dinner inside the house, but Braden never came. I went outside and this is what I found. He's on the balcony outside his room. Makes this teacher/mom's heart flutter!

Nothing much going on, except the usual. School, homework, football, repeat. I brought my camera to the games this past weekend, but didn't really get any great shots so I won't bore you with those. I'll try again this weekend.

We are FINALLY supposed to get some great fall weather here this weekend. I had to clean up the mess from a rotten pumpkin on the porch yesterday. It wasn't carved, it's just so hot that they go bad. We can't carve them until right before Halloween. I don't have the kids' costumes yet. You know, that procrastinator in me just keeps taking over.

I visited her blog yesterday. Do you know that she already has Christmas presents wrapped?!?! I can't even wrap my brain around that! I wish I was that type of person, but there's no fighting it...I'm not!!!

Hope you're all having a great week. I am ready for the weekend. I think we're going to try to hit the corn maize Sunday and take advantage of the cooler weather.

Look What I Found!

Remember this?

Well, I have been wearing the heck out of it, and loving every minute. Yesterday, I got a comment on that post from the girl who designed that t-shirt! Her comment led me to her site and look what I found!!!

There's more of them!!! I am so excited and can't wait to have a couple more "boy mom" shirts! Her site is more affordable AND 10% of each sale goes to support orphaned children in Southeast Asia!! How about that? It's a win-win.

What Makes Braden, Braden

Here's my post about Braden, if you missed Bryce's you can read it here. Cade's will be next.

He is quiet

His voice is almost always hoarse sounding (thanks to nodules on his vocal chords).

His voice is worse in baseball season because he is always encouraging his teammates (hard to fuss at him for that!). He is the leader of the team.

He's my lover boy. He is always good for a cuddle.

He loves hugs and kisses.

He has tons of friends. Everyone loves him...

...especially the girls. They swoon after him.

He had a girlfriend last year.

He is one of the most popular kids, but has no idea.

He is a very good student.

He loves his hair long. I don't know why, but he refuses to wear it short at all.

Math is his favorite subject, and he is VERY good at it.

He is a very picky eater. Drives me insane.

He is super skinny. You can see every one of his ribs.

All his teachers adore him, and so do his friends' parents.

He is a trememdous baseball player (and any other sport). He is an awesome catcher and short stop.

He is very competitive, and absolutely hates to lose at anything. It gets him in trouble sometimes.

He loves for his room to be picked up. (not that it always is)

He is more mischievious than you would expect. I am always surprised when he is the culprit.

He is the spitting image of Richard when he was a boy.

He has the exact personality of Richard. (drives me crazy sometimes!)

He has lots of freckles, just like his dad.

He loves to do anything with his dad.

He is the biggest hunter and fisherman of the three. He has been practicing pulling back a bow for months now so he could go bow hunting.

He is very thoughtful and kind.

He grins instead of smiling big.

He enjoys reading when I make him (every night). He won't do it on his own, and only likes to read books that have something to do with sports.

He has never really used his imagination. He'd rather play with a ball of some sort.

He hates to color or draw, always has.

He is very much a saver of his money. He bought his first bank CD this summer.

He is very polite.

He is very excited about our Chinababy. He asks about her often, and likes to see pictures of your Chinababies on your blogs. We will probably name her a name that he came up with. I'm not sure yet, though. He can't wait to go to China.

He asked if we could visit a bouncy ball factory while we're in China! They know all their toys say "Made in China"

He is a thinker. While Bryce lives in a fantasy world alot, Braden doesn't. He notices and hears more of what happens around him.

He and Bryce are opposite in just about every way. They are still great friends, though.

He is a HUGE blessing to our family.

Here are Braden's stats:

At 10 years and 1 months:

your child is 75 pounds, and that is at the 60th percentile for weight

your child is 56 inches, and that is at the 67th percentile for height

Thank You Secret Pal

I am sorry I am so late posting this. This awesome package arrived right before the big party last week, so I hid it away. It was filled with so many sweet little blankets, and little princess books. I can assure you, we have never owned any "princess" books in this house before! lol... I especially love the fluffy ladybug blanket! Thank you so much, secret pal!

We were in W*l-mart yesterday and I picked up the Sleeping Be*uty DVD. Cade said, "What is that?, Who is that for?" with a look like, I know you're not going to make me watch that. I told him it was for Chinababy. He said, "Chinababy is gonna be rich with stuff!" Yep. So true.

A Bunch Of Animals!

We didn't have school yesterday, so a few moms and I took the kids to the New Orle*ns Z00. We had 3 moms and 11 kids, 9 boys and 2 girls. We had alot of fun and the weather was nice. Not nice like the fall weather some of you are having, but nice in that we weren't dripping with sweat when we left! Here are a few pics of the real animals in the zoo yesterday:

I love this picture. All these boys just immediately started climbing this amazing oak tree. Even the little one wanted on.

Talking to a sea lion.


Braden is bow hunting with Richard this weekend, so I let Bryce bring his friend, Ross.

This is as close as a "whole" group picture I took. It was impossible to get them ALL in the same place at the same time.

One little side note, the two girls are the same age as Bryce and Ross. In fact, Bryce and Grace are always together because our families are such great friends. I don't think I ever saw them talk to each other, not one time. So funny!

He Covered the Cow-lick

The answer to the previous post is that he successfully covered his cowlick! The one thing he hates most happens to be one of my favorite things about him. He has the exact same cowlick that I have and Bryce has. Bryce couldn't care less about it, but Cade's main goal in life is to get rid of the cowlick. We have gone from cutting his hair really short (he wanted to shave the cowlick) to growing it long (how it is now). I have to say, I was pretty impressed when he came in the other morning and it looked really good, but all good things have to come to an end. The picture above is what it looks like by the time he comes home. I hate to tell him, but it's not going anywhere. Can you tell he's not happy with me this afternoon? I made him do his homework, won't let him eat whatever he wants, and now I'm taking his darn picture. Yep, he has an aweful mom! Oh, well...life's tough!!

What's Different?

I thought I'd let you guess to see if you can tell what's different about Mr. Cade in this picture. I can tell you that he was very excited!

I'll come back later and let you know!

Have a great day!

Dear Diary, chapter 2

I thought I'd post another page out of Cade's diary. You'll definitely be able to see this one better if you click on it. The funniest part of this page is the illustrations. He has me helping him with homework, and the boys playing football. He talked about Richard cooking, but when he drew it, he has him catching on fire. That is so funny (and never happened). He then drew Mr. Jimmy coming and Ried leaving. I just love his little illustrations. By the way, you can always tell which drawing is supposed to be him because he ALWAYS has a baseball cap on.

Party Pics

Here are some "people" pics from the campaign party the other night. This is the only picture I am in because I was, of course, the photographer. I had Bryce snap this before anyone got there.

My brother, the politician, and his wife Jennifer. Jennifer was responsible for all the beautiful flower arrangements and the decorating. She is responsible for making everything so beautiful.

Bryce and Rylan. I sent the other two boys to a friend's house to spend the night. I didn't want them hanging on me all night. They got to bed alot earlier than they would have with us ;)


Rylan with a campaign sticker on his rear. He is telling PawPaw something important.



Joel and his mini-me, Bryce. They looked so cute in their campaign colors.

Joel and Jennifer with their parents.

I just had to post a picture of this arrangement all by itself. It is ginormous, and I am so enjoying it on my island. I am sad to see some of the roses already starting to die.

I am so happy it's a new week! The boys only have 2 days of football practice, 0 days of baseball, and 4 days of school!! They have a fair holiday on Friday. We are all thrilled about that. What I am most happy about is I have no "to-do" list today!!! I am going to stay home, finish the laundry, learn to "sync" my new blackberry, and catch up on all of your blogs... And I'm happy to do it!!

Hope everyone has a great week!!

Party Time

Here are a few pictures of the party decor. I have to say, everything was SO pretty! The campaign colors were lime green and brown which go perfectly with my house, so it was great. Everyone seemed to have a really good time, and the most important picture is this one:

This was after 26% of the precincts had reported, but he held strong the whole night. It was very exciting, especially when we knew for sure he had won!!

I'll post more, but I'm off to do this:

The piles have been lurking in all kinds of hiding places just waiting to pounce.

Election Day

It's blurry, but I took this with my phone earlier today. Everyone is working hard today, and Bryce is no exception. Here he is with my brother, Joel, on a street corner. If you have elections today where you live, don't forget to vote!!

Party pics tomorrow!!

One More Day!

(I know, the picture is over a year old, but it's the only one I could find)

Well, the countdown is almost over! I have gotten to the point that I am crossing things off the list just because I know they will not be done. That's ok, it is what it is. I have been extremely busy trying to get everything ready, but it's been alot of fun.


In the middle of all this, Richard and I had our 15th anniversary yesterday! I know, no sappy post, but I'm too busy for that right now! lol... We'll go out to eat sometime after the party to celebrate. He's my best friend, he understands ;)

Yesterday in the car, Cade said someone in his class got a detention. He said, "It wasn't me, I can tell you that for sure". He asked what would happen if he did get a detention. I said, "You would be getting a spanking at home." No response from him. Then I said, "And there would be no playing with your friends after school." His response, "That would be TORTURE!" That's my little social butterfly. Do whatever you want, just don't take the friends! I am working on Braden and Cade's posts (like Bryce's). I should have them done next week.

I got my nails and my hair done yesterday. I have been trying to let my hair grow out a little bit so I could put it in a pony tail, but I have noticed alot of hair falling out lately. When she started looking at my hair, I realized it looked just like it did after I had each baby: very thin with a whole layer of new growth underneath. Kind of like a dog!!!! We think it's because I got off the pill a few months back (Richard took care of that lol...). My body must think I had a baby!! I am not very happy about this, but there are people who lose hair for much worse reasons so I shouldn't complain. I guess I should just be happy my milk didn't come in!! Needless to say, it's short again. No reason to let it grow out when you have no hair!

Well, today is cleaning day. I have a girl coming to help, but there is so much to do, I'm going to stay here and help. I want to wipe down baseboard and clean windows, among other things. I'm just happy to be staying home today!

I'm planning to take lots of pictures during the party, so I'll be sure and post them after the weekend. I'm just hoping I'm able to take lots of "victory" pictures.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Dear Diary...

Cade has the most awesome teacher ever. One of my favorite things she does with them is that they write in a diary every day. This will be my most prized possession ever! They brought them home today to show them off so I was able to scan a few pages. I had read this entry at his open house and about fell out of my chair when I saw it. We are in a new neighborhood and there is a new filing going in behind us. The boys had been going to play on this ginormous dirt pile for about a week. They were having a blast and I didn't think they were bothering anyone because it was always after the workers were done for the day. Well, this certain afternoon, there was someone who actually chased the boys away...ON A BULLDOZER!! The funniest thing was that I had no idea. After seeing this diary entry, I asked the boys about it. They fessed up that, in fact, a bulldozer had chased them away. I asked them if they had decided together not to tell me and they said they had. (This doesn't give me much peace about future trouble-making) If you look close at his drawing (you can click on it to make it bigger), you can see a boy on a bike saying "run, boy, run!" I love it!!!

I'm afraid I scanned quite a few of these and just have to share them with you in the days ahead. They are absolutely hysterical (and a little scary)! Good or bad, I'm afraid Cade's teacher will know every detail about our family before the end of the year :0

Crazy Days

Things have been so crazy here this week. I am steadily marking things off of my to-do list, but there's a long way to go. Yesterday I went shopping for a few things with my SIL and nephew. I have completely forgotten what it is like to be on the go with a toddler. He is 20 months old and the cutest darn thing, but he is so heavy (33 lbs) just like Cade was. It brought back so many memeories of the "good 'ol days". This picture was taken in March. (Yes, he has a faux-hawk. Yes, it is adorable and gets him attention everywhere he goes.) When I finally made it home after carline, I laid on the couch totally exhausted. I couldn't figure out why I would be so tired, but then the memories returned of being so tired after a day with my babies that I couldn't even see straight! All I know is China had better light a fire under it, or there's no chance I'll be able to keep up with a toddler!! I'm not getting any younger over here!!

Today I have to work on some of my "piles" around here. I have piles everywhere! I finished the laundry room and the little desk in the kitchen. I still have a bowl in the kitchen filled to the brim with who-knows-what, the kitchen table and my closet. I am also going to work on the front porch. I need to get some hay, mums and pumpkins. I'm telling you, when this party is over, my house is going to look great!!

Bryce and Braden both came home with a very poor grade yesterday, so we have got to step it up with the studing and homework. Football sure puts a big cramp in the whole school thing. It's just hard to juggle it all. We were playing some baseball games too, but have decided it's just too much. We'll save the baseball for the spring.

Hope you're all having a great week. I'm off to work on that dang list.