Playing with Ellen...

So, Friday on Ellen, Ellen was playing Guitar Hero. Tatum came in the room about that time and saw this! She immediately ran over, picked up one of our Guitar Hero guitars, and started to play with Ellen! She is such a goof! I thought I would take a picture of her and send it to the Ellen Show! You never know, Ellen might LOVE IT and show Tatum on TV!!! The only problem...I can't seem to figure out how to email the picture! I got on the Ellen website, and to send an email, there is a form you have to fill out first, then write your message below. So, there is no actual email address to send it too! I can't figure out how to attach the picture to the message! I know... I'm a little bit...computer illiterate!! What can I say! At least I can BLOG!!!

And she is how old???

It was a little too quiet around the house this evening, so I thought I better go check and see what kind of "mess" Tatum was making! This is where I found her! On her bed, listening to Hannah Montana on her headphones!!! And she is how old??? 4! What do I have ahead of me, in the years to come??? She is so funny! Sitting on her bed, singing along with Hannah!! She is too much! Lately she has been a little too big for her britches!! (If that is even how you spell that word!) Between her singing and dancing around the house, to performing every time the "theme song" to Hannah Montana comes on the TV (we of course, have to STOP what we are doing and watch her performance)...what's next?? I truly believe that she just might be some kind of performer when she grows up!! As long as she has morals, and has no idea who Brittany Spears is....that's fine with me! Sing away, Baby!!!

New Product from Southern Living @ Home....

So, this is a little different from all my other blogs, since I only seem to talk about Tatum! But, today I went to Southern Living @ Home's 2008 Kickoff Event and I am all excited! We have so many great new products and great incentives for the Spring! I am now going to be focused on trying to earn myself and family a FREE trip to 1 of 2 locations the company has chosen for the 2008 General Incentive Trip! I can choose to go to either Orlando, Florida or Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. 4 nights, 5 days in either of these locations, all inclusive, paid for my Southern Living @ Home....Can't complain!!! So, I posted some of the great New Product ideas that they showcased today! If anyone is interested in Hosting a party, or finding out a little bit more about how you too, can earn a FREE trip, all while making money and having fun doing it, let me know! I would love to party with you , or talk with you about your possible income potential!!! Enjoy the products! I know that I can't wait to Order myself FREE spring products to dress my home with!!!

Playground Disaster....

My poor baby!! So, I got a phone call yesterday from Tatum's school Nurse. She had only been at school for maybe 45 minutes, had fallen off the playground and bit the inside of her cheek. She had a hole the size of a pencil eraser inside her mouth. Poor thing! Her cheek was bruised a little bit on the outside too! The nurse said it was bleeding, and Tatum would not let her put any ice on it! Not to my surprise, she never lets me put ice on her boo-boo's. So, I sent Richard up to school to check on her, and bring her home if she wanted. Once he got up to school, she was already back in her classroom. They brought her back up to the office (not crying), and as soon as she saw Richard, the tears returned!!! She is so dramatic! So, she of course wanted to come home. I checked out the hole in her cheek, oh my gosh!!! I really wasn't expecting that! I called my friend Amber, who works at Tatum's dentist office. She made me an appointment for 4pm, so we could check and make sure no teeth were loose from the impact of whatever she hit it on! For those of you who remember, when Tatum was starting school, back in August 2006, my one Fear/Concern was her playing on that huge playground! It was so big, and there were some big 5 year olds that played out there at the same time she would! Richard was embarrassed, but I did cry to her teachers, begging them to watch my baby on the playground. 1 1\2 years later, my fear became a reality. I know, I am so lucky that she didn't break any bones, or do something worse, but something still happened to my baby!!

So, everything checked out fine at the dentist, he said that it would swell more, and boy was he right about that! The first picture is of this morning. She woke up with a stiff neck and a swollen cheek, she was not comfortable. I gave her some Tylenol and sent her to school anyway! She is having a hard time eating, so we are having to stick with soft foods! I tried to take a picture of the inside of her mouth, but it is a little blurry. You can kinda see the dark hole.

And the other picture is the initial bruise we saw when she got home from school! I wasn't expecting it to be quite this bad this morning! She keeps asking me for a band-aide. Where exactly does she expect me to put a band-aide, inside her mouth???

My Rock Star...

Kids say the funniest things!!! Tonight I was putting Tatum in bed, and after tucking her in, I gave her a kiss and squeezed her real tight for my hug! As I was hugging her tightly she says, "ow, mom, you're squeezing a Rock Star!!" WHAT?? I was cracking up! She is my little Hannah Montana! I couldn't believe what she had just said! I wonder if she heard that same phrase on Hannah Montana, or if she just made that up herself! Whatever, it was so funny! So, after I laughed at her for saying that, she kept on saying, "Hahaha, That's Funny, I'm a Rock Star!!" The things she says keeps me on my toes, that's for sure!!!

Ski Santa Fe...

Alright...where do I even start? We just got back from Santa Fe, New Mexico early this morning! We had a blast! We left to go skiing on December 28th. We loaded up the car and headed off, not knowing what to expect once we got to the slopes! Tatum, Richard, and I had never been skiing, so we decided to join my cousin Michele and her family on their annual ski trip. WHAT A BLAST! We stayed in 2 little condo type houses close to the plaza in Santa Fe. We shared a house with my mom, and the other house was shared by Michele, Andy, Ben and Emma, and Sally, Morgan, and Wes. The houses were really cute. Just 2 bed/2 bath, but perfect for the amount of time that we stayed in the house.

Here is Tatum getting ready for skiing the first morning! How cute was she? We signed her up to take lessons at Chipmunk Corner. It consisted of 2 hours of lessons, snow play, snack, and lunch. They put them out on a little hill with ski's and teach them how to do it. I missed seeing her out on the snow that first day we were there, because we were in our Snowboard lessons. So the next day, my mom came up the mountain with us and hung around in the cold to get video of Tatum skiing. What a great Nana, FREEZE to death, waiting for Tatum to take 1 trip down the hill, then get too cold, and start crying so they take her back inside! Richard and I got to see her do it on video! At least she tried!! That is all that I asked her to do after the first day of her telling me that she didn't like it, I asked her to at least go out there one time the next day and try it again. She did, and I still think that she didn't really like it! It was brutally cold there this year, normally it is in the 50's even up on the mountain. It never got about 30 degrees while we were there this year!

Richard and I tried snowboarding with everyone the first day we were there. None of us really picked it up at all! It was really tough! We fell A LOT, and were really sore the next day! So, the second day we decided to take a 1\2 day ski lesson and try our luck with skiing! This was much easier! We still had not perfected it after our 2 hour lesson, but we had the basics down, and decided to try our best! We went on the lift for the first time up and headed to a restaurant called Totumoff's. They grill burgers and such out on the patio, half way up this mountain! The only way to get there is to take the lift up, the only way to get down is to ski down the bunny slope! So, we did it! It was good food, good hot chocolate, and FREEZING!!!!

So, our first run down the bunny slopes was good! So good, I guess, we got really brave and let Michele and Andy talk us into going up the Quad Lift and head to almost the top of the mountain to attempt a green run, that was really long! I didn't think that I was afraid of heights, but I think that I am now!!! I was sitting on this lift, not really able to hold on to anything, going a mile or more up a mountain! Seeing nothing below me but lots of trees and snow. Watching the skiers and boarders below us going down some pretty difficult hills. I completely worked myself up to a frenzy, and when nearing the end of the lift, the lift worker asked us how we were doing, I told him I was totally FREAKING OUT!!!! Now to get off the lift, this would have been only my second time to get off...ski's up, here we go, slide off...WIPE OUT!!! OUCH!!! I took a hard fall getting off the lift! How embarrassing!!! I was really shaken! Nervous too! So, then to start the lift, I was already in bad shape! Skiing is really tough on your legs, and for a girl who is not in the best of shape, I probably should not have started my first ski trip on one of the highest runs! The lift ride made me nervous, the fall made me shake, and I was a complete nervous wreck! We start down the mountain, my legs burning and shaking. I have to rest! Richard and Andy go on, Michele stays back with me! I get up to go again, and fall a little ways down. I am freaking out! My legs hurt of bad, I had to walk down half the mountain! I sent Michele down, let her have some fun, not stuck with a wimp on the green run!!! So, I walked a little, then put my ski's back on for a bit, then would have to walk some more! Richard and Andy were at the bottom waiting for me when I finally got down 30 minutes later! They were completely prepared to make fun of me for walking down the entire mountain, but I redeemed myself by skiing down the last long hill. So, even after all of that, we will return next year, and I will have my legs in better shape so that I can stay with everybody and get down the mountain on ski's not foot!!!

So, our last day in Santa Fe, we did some shopping. We were hindered a bit, with sick children most of the trip. Emma got a stomach bug, and then passed it on to almost everyone on the trip! So, between either staying at the house, or sleeping in the car, we were not always all together the whole time! So, while everyone was feeling better at the moment, The Kids, and that does include Richard and Andy, had a snowball fight in the plaza while the girls shopped! Tatum had a ball! She loved being in the snow!!! Her daddy was teaching her how to make the perfect snowball before we had even left for the trip! So, once we got there, she was ready to go! She was ready to throw a snowball in her daddy's face!!!!

So, we had a great time, and can't wait to go back next year, but maybe not so early in the ski season. Maybe we will try Spring Break to Ski Santa Fe! Not quite so cold that time of year!!