What a great Christmas....

Merry Christmas everyone! What a wonderful day it was today! Beautiful outside, and so much fun inside opening all our awesome presents!! Tatum got WAY TOO MUCH, but loves every bit of it! I think she has opened almost all of her toys and gifts TODAY! We had Christmas morning here at my house, then headed over to my cousin Thom's house to have Christmas with their family! All the cousins were able to get together and play. They weren't even asking when we were opening gifts! They were just happy to all be in the same place, and able to go outside and play football and soccer! They all had a blast! Of course, my batteries died in my camera, so I will have to get copies of all the picture of the kids on my computer, from my sister. My mom, sister and family came back over here after we left Thom and Gail's and cook dinner and play a 4 hour game of Phase 10! That is a great card game, but takes FOREVER!!! So, today was long, Tatum was up at 5:45am, and I am finally headed off to bed, now at Midnight! We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!!

A Season for Miracle's...

Today was a Miracle!!! We needed to finish up some last minute Christmas shopping, so we headed out to Stonebriar Mall...again! We walked into Nordstrom, and right there in the Kids Department was SANTA! Oh my goodness, let's see if Tatum will stay in her stroller. She actually did, and was just staring at him. Now, you must remember, the last time Tatum sat on Santa's lap was when she was 5 months old, her first Christmas! The past 4 years, have been a crying fest when she would see Jolly Old St. Nick!!! So, for her to sit in her stroller, and just tell me to drive her the other way....we have made progress! So of course, Santa walked up to us and started talking to her. He sees her shirt that reads, "I LOVE MOM ( more than Santa)". All Santa can see, since she is sitting in her stroller, is "I LOVE MOM" So, he tells her that her shirt should say I LOVE SANTA! I pointed out what was written under I LOVE MOM, and he said, oh I see! I explained to him that this was a huge deal even being this close. So, he was really nice and began talking to her from a distance. He said to her, "I will be at your house to leave you some presents in a few days." She says, "I know." With no expression, and hardly any eye contact!!! She was trying to be so brave! I asked her if she would please sit in his lap so that I could take a picture of her. Her daddy would be so excited to see a picture of her in Santa's lap! "Nooooo...."ok, ok ,ok... So, I went on about my business in the kids department, and she was strolling along with me! We were about to go and Stephanie took the stroller and took her over there. Shelby and her friend Sammy were with us, and were standing right there next to Santa. I had them sit on his lap and asked Tatum if she would sit with them? Still, no, "go over there mommy!" Meaning AWAY from Santa! So, I said what if you stand in front of the girls? No! Ok, can I put the stroller next to Shelby in the picture with you in it? OK! Yea! Now Smile!!! And the picture was taken, and the Miracle made! No crying, no hiding, and we got within 1 foot of him at times!!!! Maybe next year we will stand NEXT to him!!!

A Fun, Party Kinda Day....

So, Friday was a busy day! It started out by taking Tatum to school early to get her award for Colt of the Month! Her school mascot is the Colt, and each month they have an assembly for School Spirit, and they honor 2 students from each class as Colt Of the Month! December was Tatum's month! So, we went to receive her award, and take some pictures. She had a blast, the music was loud and all the kids were dancing, and that seems to be Tatum's favorite thing to do these days, thanks to Hannah Montana!!! After the RoundUp, we took her to McDonald's for some breakfast, then back to class at 10:30. Her Christmas party at school was at 11:45, so I went to that to take her teachers their Christmas gift, and I also made some marshmallow snowmen for her friends to take home with them, as a gift from Tatum. I am sure they didn't make it home, they all wanted to open the snowmen before they got to the car. Tatum's was eaten before we even made it down the road! After school, we went to get Tatum's hair cut! I know, you are probably thinking, what hair are you going to cut? Well, I should say we went to get her hair trimmed! I checked out the Farmers Almanac, and it says that this month, you should cut hair to encourage hair growth on the 20th and 21st. So, that is what I did! Any help I can get right!!! So, we got her hair trimmed, then went to the movies and saw Alvin and the Chipmunks with Sydney and her family for her birthday! What a funny movie! It was really cute, and had a lot of adult humor in it! After the movie, we went back to Sydney's house for her birthday party! She had a princess party, everything was PINK! The girls enjoyed playing together. We haven't been able to get together with The Blankenship's in a while, so the girls were playing as long and hard as they could! They are so cute! They mostly played in the play kitchen, and played house. Tatum was the daughter and Sydney was the mommy! Alexis and Caroline were also part of that family! They ate pizza and played games at the party and just had a blast! Our girls are growing so fast! So, our day was busy, but lots and lots of FUN!!!

Merry Christmas....

Make a free ecard!

Making our first Gingerbread House....

Daddy and Tatum built their first Gingerbread House together the other day. I think Tatum ate more of the candy and icing than she put on the house. They had lots of fun, and will make this an annual Christmas project for years to come!

Santa's Village...

We went to Santa's Village in Richardson tonight! Tatum LOVED it!! Of course, she WILL NOT go and see Santa. She simply tells us no, when we ask her if she wants to sit on his lap this year! She has told us that she will sit on Daddy's lap, while Daddy sits on Santa's lap. We might try that tomorrow!!! So, Tatum walked the whole Santa's Village, in and out of all the cute little houses! Her favorite was the Pet shop! She got to hold a Black Lab puppy, and pet a kitten! She also pet goats, rabbits, and chickens at the petting zoo. It was so cold out there! The weather changed about an hour before we headed over to Santa's Village. I didn't have a warm hat for her, so we stopped and bought the black one in the pictures before we got there! I had her outfit all picked out for some cute photo opts, but it was covered by her jacket instead! Oh well, I plan on going again once Nicole comes to town. Maybe it will be a tad bit warmer in two weeks!? I also like to go during the daylight to take some cute pictures of her for possible Christmas cards! While standing in line tonight at the North Pole Police Station, Tatum looked up at me and said, "Thank you Mom, for this!" How sweet is she!?!

Elf Time....

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1127916060