Hangin' with Dad...

We met Richard for dinner tonight here in McKinney. Tatum loves going and meeting up with Daddy when he is at work. He let Tatum "drive" his car before he had to go back to work! She was so excited!!

Poor Baby....no.... not Tatum...

So, last night was an eventful one! Richard played 2 softball games, one at 7pm, and one at 9pm. We basically spent the evening at the ball field! We got through the first game, hung out a while, then started the next. 20 seconds left in the game, Richard is playing short stop, like he always does, the ball is hit, a hard grounder to short, bounces hard right in front of Richard, his glove is down to receive it, it then pops up and hits him HARD in the mouth! OOOHHHH.....was all anyone could say. His mouth instantly fills up with blood, he spits it out, and the first thing he asks the third basemen is, "tell me my teeth are still there!" Paul looks, "Yes, they are there." Next thing Richard asks, "tell me they are not loose!" Paul checks by pushing on his teeth, Richard yells in pain, Paul says, "nope, their fine!" Thank God! That was Richard biggest fear! He wanted all his teeth! He is so lucky they are all still in there, not loose or chipped, or MISSING! He puts ice on them, gets the bleeding to stop, and gets back out there to finish the game. What a tough guy! After the game, we were checking it all out. It was pretty nasty. The cut on the outside of his mouth, didn't look too bad, but was getting bigger the more he swelled. The inside of his mouth the main concern. His gums were immediately bruised, and he had a huge gash out of the inside of his lip. We were advised to take him to the ER to see about stitches. Of course, he is 29 and has never had stitches or broken bones in his very active life. He has been very lucky. So, he was freaking out that he was going to have to have needles in his face. Why are guys such BABIES? Well, he needed them, he only needed 3 on the outside, and 1 on the inside of his mouth. He was so lucky it wasn't a lot worse. We have seen some bad stuff on the softball fields in the last 10 years, we are lucky he wasn't one of those others!! So, once the swelling goes down, and the stitches are out, hopefully he won't have anything to show for this eventful evening, but a blog of course!!!

Trampoline Fun...

Every single day, Tatum goes outside in the back to jump on her trampoline, then after about 3 minutes, she comes inside to put on her swimsuit, then goes back out to jump with the sprinkler! Today, she decided to take her Barbies out there to jump with her. She only has 5 Barbies and they are all swim Barbies. So, I guess she thought it was a perfect place to play with them!

Tatum's First Wasp Sting....

Poor thing! Tatum came in this evening from outside in the back yard, crying! I asked her what was wrong and she said, "a bug bit me!" She was crying uncontrollably. I asked her if it was a wasp, and she said yes. After getting information out of her, I finally understood, she showed me where it was, the wasp was stuck in the net enclosure around her trampoline, and she decided to touch it. Smart! She said she just touched the "paw" (leg), but I guess it was still able to sting her on the finger from the "stuck in the net position!" Her poor little finger is all swollen and red. She made me put a band aid on it, but I was afraid to put it on there too tight. I don't want it to swell more, and cut off the circulation. So, this was her first wasp sting, hopefully the last! Funny, because I just had Richard knock down a huge nest that was in the front yard above her window, yesterday. I guess they've moved to the back yard now! This picture is of her milking it! She wanted to lay on my bed, and I had to bring her her pink blanket and her blankie! She is so dramatic!

Puppy Dog Kisses....

Tatum wanted me to see her and the dogs playing outside today. I caught this great picture of Petals giving Tatum a nice WET kiss! I guess she asked for it!!

She wanted to do the same with Angel, but at least there was no tongue with this one!!

WHAT was she thinking...

My newly 5 year old decided to act like a 2 year old tonight and CUT her own hair. I walked into the living room tonight to find her sitting on the chair watching TV, calmly cutting off the hair on the side of her head. WHAT WAS SHE THINKING??? I am in total shock. It's not even funny to me. We already have issues with the slow rate her hair grows, now she will be going to kindergarten in a month and a half with a bald spot in the back of her head. When we took her into the bathroom to show her what she had done, I then noticed that she cut all her bangs off to. I could cry right now! The back of her head looks like we took the clippers I use to cut Richard's hair, and buzzed a spot on her. How can she even get scissors to do that? My mom asked me if I was going to keep that hair she cut. WHAT? No, I never want to think about this day again!!!
This picture of the back of her head doesn't even do it justice. It looks WAY worse in real life!
I know this picture is gross, a pile of hair. But, I wanted to show you how much she actually cut off. We probably didn't even get it all from down beside the chair cushion! I am in total shock right about now....but I am sure I will get over it!!! She will NEVER play with scissors again!!! THANK GOODNESS it was AFTER her birthday party pictures!!

Happy Birthday Tatum!!!

WOW! 5 years ago today, this was one of the very firsts pictures that was taken of Tatum. I remember it like it was just yesterday! I went to my regular weekly doctors appointment, at the end of my pregnancy. I was sure I wanted to wait until I went into labor, and not schedule an induction. She asked me again when I was at my appointment, I had changed my mind. I was done being pregnant. I was induced at 4pm, on July 8th, 2003. Tatum was born on July 9th, at 1:24pm. 5 days later, we were able to bring our new baby home, and start our new lives! I wouldn't change a thing! She is the sweetest little girl ever! Here are some pictures of Tatum on her birthday every year since this first picture! My how she has grown, not much, but she has definitely grown!!

Here is a picture of Tatum at her 1st Birthday party! Could she be any cuter? She was so little!!!

Here she is at her Tu-Two at the Zoo Birthday party! She still loves the zoo!!

On her 3rd Birthday....eating cupcakes!!!

The aftermath of eating cupcakes on her 4th birthday!!! Sure looked good!!!

Having fun at her 5th Birthday Party!!! We can't wait for the many more years of exciting Birthday's with Tatum!!!

Today, we took Tatum to Hawaiian Falls for her "real" birthday. She LOVED it! She was able to go down more rides than I expected. Her favorite was the Doubles Tube Ride. Of course, Mommy was her favorite person to ride this with!!! Maybe because I made it more fun, by screaming and yelling WhoooHoooo, the whole way down!! She joined in on that fun too!! Richard bought her an ice cream cone with "Birthday Cake" flavored ice cream! Good thing, because tonight at dinner, she fell asleep before her brownie and ice cream was served at the restaurant! She had a long, FUN day!!!
She got a trampoline from Mommy and Daddy for her birthday! Nana and Papaw got her the enclosure. She has had a blast jumping on it everyday! She even got her Nana out there to jump with her!!!

So, I think Tatum had a great birthday this year! She will start Kindergarten in a couple of months, and we will have many more changes, and LOTS more fun! We are so blessed to have such a beautiful, healthy little girl!! Thanks to all who helped us celebrate Tatum's birthday and life this year!!!

Another Birthday Swim Party...

Sunday was Tatum's 5th Birthday party! What a party! We had it for the 3rd year in a row, at Old Settler's Aquatic Center. Everyone had a great time! I served Hot Dogs, Fruit, Chips and Salsa, Water and Juice for the kids! I had a huge Lemon and Lime cake made to match the Lemon and Lime theme party! Invitations were Lemon and Lime, Tatum's swim suit and cover-up had lemon, limes, and oranges on it, and everything else was lime green and yellow! It really all pulled together nicely. All the kids, and most adults, had a blast in the pool, having splash ball wars, and going down the big slide. Tatum is still too little for that big slide! Maybe one day she can participate in that part of the party! She got so many gifts from all her friends and family! She was such a happy girl that day. Everyday since the party, when we have to leave the house, she asks me if we will be gone long. She wants to get back home and play with all her new and exciting toys! So, we are off to Hawaiian Falls tomorrow for her "real" birthday! I can't believe my baby is 5 years old!!!

Ice Cream Crank-Off....

Today was the Annual Ice Cream Crank-Off in downtown McKinney. So, we decided to go check it out! WHOA!!! BIG mistake! First off, it was HOT!! Second, it was CROWDED!! So crowded!! So, we met up with Michele, Ben, and Emma, stood in a long line to get to the ice cream, paid $3 to get a small Dixie cup, spoon, and a napkin, then started to fight the lines and the crowds to get to the sample tables. There were some interesting flavors. The first one we tried was Breezy Brazilian Avocado Sweet Cream! WHAT? It was not good, but not disgusting!! So, we ended up trying several flavors, my favorite was Black Cherry. I could have some of that again, right about now!!!

After we had enough ice cream, which wasn't long, we got the kids some lunch and then walked to a couple of stores that were having sidewalk sales. The kids also got to paint an ice cream picture at some tables that were set up by the Art Institute of McKinney.

When heading back to the car, Tatum was able to check out, yet another, Firetruck! Remember, she wants to be a fireman when she grows up, so she must tour every truck she can! This time, she got to sit in the drivers seat!! It also had a bright shiny bell on the front she was able to ring!
So, we had a pretty good time, at our first and last, Ice Cream Crank-Off!!!

Happy 4th of July....

Happy 4th of July!! We went over to Steph's to eat an early dinner. Then we headed off to watch the McKinney Fireworks. We chose a spot off the side of the road, not knowing exactly where the fireworks were going to be coming from, hoping some of the trees and light poles weren't in the way! It ended up being almost PERFECT!! It was a pretty good firework display. The grand finale could have been better, but who cares, the kids enjoyed it! After the fireworks were over, we ate watermelon, waiting for the traffic to clear out. We threw the rinds out in to the field, maybe next year, we can show up for fireworks, and pick our own watermelon from the field?!? ....Maybe not!!!

Matching again...

We went over to Michele's to go swimming today. We walk in, Tatum takes off her cover-up immediately, Emma walks around the corner and....Matching again!! This is becoming too funny! Almost every time we see Emma, her and Tatum are wearing the same thing, something the same, but a different color, or a coordinating outfit. Most of the clothes we have in our daughter closets are the same as the others. We have the same taste when it comes to dressing our sweet little girls!! Below are a few pictures of "matching on accident!"

This picture, I LOVE!! It was in Colorado last summer! Tatum was going to try and help Emma down the stairs! Not a good idea, since Tatum can barely take the stairs herself!

This one is hard to see, but I love it! The girls were holding hands walking to breakfast in Colorado last summer. Emma was wearing the pink dress with brown cupcakes and leggings and Tatum was wearing the same dress but with brown horses and the same brown leggings! They were so cute!!

Here is a picture from Halloween last year. We show up at Michele's to take the girls trick-or-treating, and they are pretty much the SAME butterfly fairies! Just different Tu-Tu's and wings!

This is from Christmas 2006, Emma had the sweet plaid dress, Tatum the coordinating skirt with shrug sweater!! Such sweet little girls, allowing us to take a million picture of their matching outfits! I think this was the beginning of it all, "accidental, but adorable matching!!"

Bailey's Berry Patch...

This morning we went to Bailey's Berry Patch in Sadler. We decided to pick only blackberries today. Blackberry season is about over, so we thought we would take advantage, and go back another time to pick blueberries. Their website says to come early, most of the ripe blackberries are usually gone by 10am. Sure enough, there were a lot of people there already when we got there at almost 8:30am. They give you 1 gallon buckets to collect your pickin's. Tatum ate more off the bush, than she probably put in the bucket! We only picked about 1\2 a bucket. We were searching hard, but most were gone by the time we were ready to go! It got HOT out there!
We all got some Blueberry Lemonade. Oh my, it was GOOD!! I also bought some Blackberry Preserves, my favorite! I can't wait till tomorrow morning to have some on my toast. So, it was a fun morning. Tatum has already been saying she wants to go back tomorrow! Maybe next week we can go and pick blueberries. There seems to be way more of those to pick!!!

Below is a picture of the big bowl of Blackberries we got home with!! There are probably more than we can eat here!! Maybe I should learn how to make pie!!!