Tatum gets braces!

Today Tatum got her braces!

She was ready to get them, considering all of the hecticness and trouble that her expander had caused.  I am so hopeful that the braces will be a smooth process for her!

She selected several colors, but then the doctor decided to move full steam ahead with the braces process and went ahead with a wire that would cause movement, rather than one to just 'get used to things', so she had to simplify her color scheme.  She was ok with that and was already planning her next color change.  This girl. She just cracks me up.

She has been the best trooper during this entire mouth ordeal and process.  She really hasn't complained, fussed, nothing....and I am quite sure that this has been painful, and a pain, for her.

The braces went on without any problems, and we'll see how things go!  Back in a month to check on her progress!

Jokester

Tatum is reading (or had read?) a sports-themed joke book.

Periodically, she'll tell us jokes that she recalls from this book.

Tatum:  What do you call a ghost cheerleader?

The team spirit!!

Summer bucket list

Tatums summer bucket list included shopping for school supplies and a special 'date' with me to Chick-fil-A. I am more than happy to oblige.

We survived Wal-Mart on tax free weekend, and the school supply list for a 2nd and 6th grader complete.

Tatum pointed out that next year I will be school shopping for three kids.  Three.  I think I need an entire year to prepare myself for that reality.

Tatum...on dating

Tatum: Mommy, when was the last time you and daddy dated?
Me: You mean, when was the last time daddy and I went on a date?
Tatum: Yeah, a dance date.
Me: Oh? You mean when was the last time daddy and I went dancing? Do you think daddy needs to take me dancing on a date?
Tatum (with great enthusiasm): Heck yeah!

(Conversation took place on the way to church before her volleyball game.  This girl absolutely cracks me up, and I love that she wants to see her daddy and I do things together!)

A glimpse.....

So we are still having behavioral issues at school with Tatum. After a discussion with her about her behavior and how to improve upon it, she came up with her own sticker reward system on her calendar for good days both at school and Kids Klub, and a check mark on the days when she behaved well in one or the other.

There aren't many stickers on the calendar.

Needless to say, her daddy and I are frustrated with her choices and behavior.  We've talked behavior and choices until we're blue in the face. We have read scripture to her, we have read scripture with her, we have disciplined, we have tried many different things in an attempt to get her to comply with the rules.

The difficult thing for me is to differentiate her behavior from her many times.

She isn't bad - she makes bad choices. Her choices don't define who she is and don't make up the essence of her being.

I still love and adore my daughter, but I don't love and adore the choices that she makes and when she is in the midst of those behaviors, I don't want to be around her.

Hmmm....anyone see any parallels there with our Heavenly Father?  It's amazing how much more insight we're able to glean into Him as a heavenly father after being a parent.

At any rate, I occasionally get a glimpse into Tatum's essence...who she really is...and her true sweet self really shines through.  I was able to get one such glimpse this week, and it was sorely needed.

Let me explain......
We were discussing her upcoming birthday and planning some party options when she decided she wanted to have a giving party. She told me that she had enough toys already and she wanted to take all of the toys that her friends brought to her party for her and give them to someone who needed them more than she did.

I told her to go tell her daddy, who was about as dumbfounded as I was. (He even posted about it on Facebook, which happens maybe once or twice a year!)

I frequently purge the toys with the kids, and I use that type of language when we do that process to help them understand why we get rid of toys they don't play with or they have outgrown.  I will say that I wasn't sure whether the idea of a giving party would be a fleeting one or if it would actually stick.

The next morning, she made a point to ask her daddy if she was going to be able to have a giving birthday party.

It apparently stuck.

Our plan is to have her friends donate toys in the 4-6 year old range for Aggieland Pregnancy Outreach, specifically their Mama Club program. If you are reading this and feel led to donate something to this ministry, please feel free to do so. A large and constant need for this ministry is diapers and wipes for the girls who participate in Mama Club.

Expanding our support of Aggie athletics past football and baseball

to....soccer!!!

Tatum and I went to the soccer game yesterday afternoon after church.  We didn't make it for the beginning of the game and apparently they scored a goal within the first 5 minutes of the match.

We missed it.

But we watched the game, we Tatum talked, she enjoyed seeing the girls hit the ball off of their heads, and she proceeded to inform me that she was going to play soccer again - after cheerleading, she reminded me of all the goals she scored from last season, then told me she wanted to grow up and play soccer for the Aggies.

Yeah, hon. I want that for you, too.

To the fans that were sitting in front of us that decided to move to get away from her chatter, sorry.  She was excited.  I hope your new spot was a little quieter.

During halftime we walked around for a bit and ran into a College Station celebrity.

For those that don't know who this gentleman is - it's R. Bowen Loftin, President of Texas A&M University and he impressed me beyond belief by having an almost 5 minute conversation with my 5 year-old daughter.  On her level.  They chatted about soccer and school and working hard and coming to college in Aggieland.

And y'all, she had no clue.

But since she's never met a stranger she was just fine chatting it up with him.  Then we let him go on his way and she promptly asked for ice cream. Chocolate ice cream.

That's my girl.

During the second half of the game we had connected with a friend of mine and some of her friends and all of their kids, so we hung out with them on the season ticket holder side (but not in the seats - lest you be upset with me since I only bought a general admission ticket) standing and letting the kids run around (and of course, eat Tatum's ice cream!). Tatum ran into a friend that she had gone to a summer camp with and was thrilled (whose name happens to be Kellen - a girl Kellen, actually, if you can believe it!). She was so excited!

They scored another goal toward the end of the game, sealing the win. And Tatum thoroughly enjoyed herself.

After the Spirit of Aggieland, we headed home. And Tatum remarked that she wanted to watch the Aggies every Sunday we could.

Tatum is officially in kinder!

My sweet and precious Tatum-tot is officially in kinder.  And, true to fashion, her daddy walked her to school today and got her settled into her class, just as he did her big brother on his first day of kinder.

And he sent me a picture of her sitting behind her desk.  All smiles.

Not even a hint of a tear.

She was a little nervous, though, until she sat down at her desk and realized there was PINK PLAY DOH!  Then she was just fine. 

The school is bigger than her daycare, but she has such a super-duper BIG personality that I'm not the least bit very worried about her.

A Summer to Remember

So as summer was wrapping up, we decided to do one more blow-out night at Incredible Pizza in Conroe with the kids and Maw Maw and Paw Paw.  Apparently the kids and the grandparents had been there a time before and tried to take some group pictures to no avail, and Kellen had decided he wanted a group shot to commemorate the summer and to take with him to school to look at, 'in case he got sad.'

So getting that group shot was a must.

But much to our dismay, on our last night attempt, the booth was, once again, not functioning.

We improvised.

I stuck my camera in front of them and did a 'normal' shot. [As much of a normal shot as you can get with this crew]

Then we did a 'silly' shot.

And I uploaded them and wallet sheets will be printed out for the kids to take to school for the first day.

These kids had an absolute BLAST during the time they spent with their grandparents this summer....but I'm honestly not sure who is going to have the worst time with the separation - the kids or the adults.

Kinder is coming

I have been trying to register Tatum for kinder for a while.

Yeah, I know...I can hear you mocking me now.  Things like, "For a while? Registering for kinder can't be that hard, can it?"

Ah, but yes, yes it can.

Allow me to explain.

During the beginning of the summer, Kellen took a session of Kids Klub at the school where he and Tatum will be attending elementary in the fall.  So I stopped by the office for the registration paperwork (yeah me...score 1 for efficiency!).

The paperwork sat untouched for a l-o-n-g time.  I wasn't ready to deal with it, quite honestly, until the week prior to the registration for Kids Klub afterschool care (um, yeah...late July) when I felt the need to register Tatum for kinder before actually registering her for after school care.

Call me crazy.  I just felt like they should be done in the correct order.

Apparently no one else cared, because when I went to do so, her elementary was closed that particular week.  And I tried to register her at the main administration building for the school district.

But you can't register a kid for kinder at the main adminstration building, which I quickly learned.

*sigh*

So I was all psyched to get her registered for kinder -finally- all mentally prepared, and it would have to wait until the following week when the elementary reopened.  So into the office I went the following week with all of the forms completed and with the shot records in hand......Only to realize that I had neglected to bring the proof of residency, birth certificate and the social security card.

Doh!

Considering my schedule last week, I knew there was no way that I was going to be able to make it to the safety deposit box, where I hoped beyond hope that two of those three required items were located.  The time delay allowed me to do one thing, though....have repeated nightmares that I would enter the safety deposit box to find zero birth certificates there and have to scramble to acquire the necessary documentation needed to get Tatum registered for school.

Fast forward to today, when I go to the bank, check the box, and sure enough....there are no birth certificates there.  Now, I am confident that I have them, but the question is simply, "Where?"  I didn't have the time or the energy to figure out the answer to that question and since hubby thought they were there as well, my recurring nightmare was fast coming true.

The county clerks office was my next stop, and I decided that while I was there, I was going to do a clean sweep for all kids, so I picked up copies of all three birth certificates.  I managed to get back to the school in enough time to provide them all of the remaining documentation they needed to officially register Tatum for school, so I'll consider that a success for today!

Maybe there was so much stress and chaos surrounding the actual registration of Tatum for kinder to distract me from the fact that she's actually starting kinder in a few short weeks.  She is so excited for 'big school' but right now, I just want to freeze time!!

And in case you're wondering, I did make it back to the bank and all of the certificates are back in safe keeping (so I won't have a repeat of this in three years for Jacey)!!

Crazy hair day!

It was crazy hair day at school.

So Tatum left looking like this....

(front)

(back)

Jacey, on the other hand, barely wanted me to comb her hair out this morning.  Oh well!

Sweet sisters

Since they rarely do this, I thought it was worth memorializing. Books tonight were read while sitting on Jacey's bed.  Then Tatum (not Jacey, which was really the shocker) wanted to lay down and snuggle with Jacey.

After reading our two books for the night, they decided they wanted to sleep in the same bed tonight, so I obliged (again, a rarity around here except for when everyone manages to end up in our bed by morning).  I only had to go in to settle them down and get everyone (read: Jacey) back in bed twice (that might be an all-time record!) before they were both out.

And by 8 PM.

My sweet princesses.  My goodness they're so adorable sometimes I just can't stand it.

Mother's Day Lunch with Tatum

Tatum's school hosted a Mother's Day luncheon to celebrate the upcoming holiday.  She was so excited about this celebration and had been looking forward to it ALL.WEEK.

We sat down at the table (that she so beautifully decorated for me with pictures) and had a lunch of turkey sandwiches on wheat bread with sun chips and a chocolate chip cookie for dessert accompanied with lemonade to drink.

Then the teachers came around and took Mommy-Daughter pictures of everyone.  Isn't she just the cutest??

This was such a fun event!!  I'm so pleased that her school does special events like this!  As my present, she gave me a special Mother's Day card and a laminated bookmark with her handprint on it as the flower petal.  Love it!!

Girls sick day..

AKA...Tatum's Pukefest

Gross, I know, but sorry.

I'm a parent.  Discussing bodily secretions and functions became 'normal' a L-O-N-G time ago.  Poop, mucus, spit up, pee, puke...whatever.

As a random side note, did you know baby girls could squirt and project their pee pee like boys, without the equipment I thought was oh-so-necessary to do so?  I did not know this until having girls.  Who knew?

Anyhow...back on the farm...

Tatum woke up this morning complaining of her tummy hurting. In my bed, where she had meandered to at some point in time during the night. She doesn't 'play' sick.

I took her temp. Normal. I asked her if she really felt badly.

"Yes."

I tell Daddy, who is concerned but unsure of how sick she really is, then proceeds upon with his day, heading off to Bible study.  I let her lay in bed, which she willingly did (serving as confirmation if I actually needed any) and get the bookends ready for school and daycare.

At some point in time in the morning, I moved her from my bed (which is much more difficult to clean if a puke-fest should ensue), to the pallet that is now a permanent fixture on the floor beside our bed.  I include a throw up bucket for her, 'cause I'm a nice mommy and all.

It was time to get the bookends to school so I needed to wake her up (yet further confirmation of her being sick) and get her clothes changed from her nightgown to something more comfy and slightly more appropriate for the car so I could get her into the vehicle while I dropped the other kids off to their respective schools.  After we did this, she decided to lay back down, then quickly realized that the movement of getting dressed must have stirred things up, resulting in our Puke #1. Time = 7:20 AM

Shortly later I was getting things ready to walk out the door (after texting Daddy our sick-fest update), when she thought she was going to be sick again.  To the toilet she went, but to no avail. She gets a look of relief on her face as she tells me that she must not have to throw up, then that look rapidly changes.  I now have to clean my bathroom sink and mirror. Puke #2. Time=7:26 AM

*sigh*

Have I ever mentioned how much of a sweetheart Tatum is when she is sick?  I mean, she is just the absolute sweetest thing on earth when she isn't feeling well.

She felt absolutely horrible about getting sick outside of the toilet or throw up bucket.  It was so pitiful.  I just kept telling her over and over that it was ok...it was the sink and counter. The mirror was just a mirror and it was all so easy to clean and that she wasn't in trouble and that it wasn't her fault.  Bless her little heart.  She just hated that she had created work for me to do and that I had to clean up after her. 

A quick clean up and into the car we went, throw up bucket in hand - literally.  We got the bookends dropped off with no incident, then on the way home I hear her.  In the bucket.  Puke #3. Time=8:01 AM

Once we got back to the house, I got her situated on the bean bag chair so we could rest in the living room watching movies ('cause that's what we do on sick days in our house).  She laid on the bean bag on top of towels (just in case, because I can't just throw a bean bag chair into the washing machine), with her throw up bucket next to her (on a towel, I have light carpet in my house and um...just no).

We watched Cinderella.
We watched The Little Mermaid.
We watched Hercules.
We watched Curious George.

By lunch time, she seemed to have a little more color in her face.  She had managed to keep a little ginger ale and 4 Ritz crackers down, and was asking to try lunch.

I obliged.  She ate a peanut butter roll-up and some raisins, then laid down for a nap.  Whether she actually slept or not is in question, but she did rest.

Afterwards, she was back to her normal self again.  I'm still not quite sure of what she had, but it hit her hard and quick.  Luckily, it didn't last too terribly long!

I lamented the fact that I missed a day of work, but considering that I have felt poorly since the latter part of March, taking a day that included resting was probably just what I needed as well!  I think I may have truly napped more than she did...I remember parts of both Hercules and The Little Mermaid, but I'm quite certain I didn't make it fully through either of those movies.

Roller skating fun!!

Yup!

Roller skating.

Uh huh.

Daddy decided that we were going to go roller skating.

I married a smart man.  One with a keen sense of adventure.

A guy who sure does like to have fun.

We told the kids after church that we had a surprise for them, had lunch and loaded up for a drive.  We drove to Brehnam and they all crashed out in the car on the way.

Once we arrived, we told them what their surprise was...they just LOVE that part!  We went in and got our skates on (after returning a few pair in order to get the correct sizes), and we realized that they even had skates small enough for Jacey...yeah...how cool is that?!?!?  Then Daddy gave the kids some lessons.

And we spend the rest of the time (all told...about 2.5 hours) just playing.  Generally speaking, the kids stayed close to the walls, but then we got a little 'cheater' walker set so they could get a little practice getting their balance and getting good.  Tatum went first because Daddy was just working more with Kellen and she really got the hang of it quicker (it may have helped that her wheels were pretty tight), then Kellen got the walker and practiced some as well.  Then we let Jacey play and practice with the walker and once she got it, no one else was really able to practice any more on it.

The rink played some fun games, did some races (Daddy came in third place in one of them!) and it was just all around fun.  I haven't had this many bruises on my knees since high school drill team (Mommy is NOT a good skater, but trying to help 3 kids half your size stay up is all-around difficult!) but it was just an absolutely fun family day (oh, and the roller skating is a total of $5/person, including the skate rental!).

We stayed until they closed the place down for public skate, turn in our skates, grabbed some water, and then headed to our favorite playground in town to play for just a bit on the playground there.

Have I mentioned before how much Jacey loves slides?? 

 
Overall, the kids were remarkably well behaved and given the amount of physical energy the activities required, I'm surprised that only one of them was out by the time we got home!  I love our family fun days....and I love it when Daddy comes up with his great ideas!

Daddy-Daughter Dance

Our church does a fabulous thing each year.

They provide an opportunity for the daddies to take their daughters on a date.  To model for their little girls just how a guy is supposed to treat them.

And my man did it up this year.

He asked Tatum to go on a special date with him.  Then he arranged to get dressed, snuck out of the house, and knocked on the door to 'ask if she was ready' for their date on Friday night. 

He brought flowers (by way of a wrist corsage) for her as well. 

And jewelry.  That he put on her himself.  {If I wasn't already in love with that man I would have been after seeing the effort he went through to make that precious 5 year old feel oh-so-special!!}

And he took her out to eat to the restaurant of her choosing.  I think it ended up being Chick-fil-A.  And she couldn't play on the playground because 'fancy girls all dressed up can't play on the playground and get all messy'.

At the dance, a friend of ours took some wonderful pictures of them dancing...

The church family life center was decorated beautifully (so I'm told) and there were craft activities for the girls to do and lots of candy and an ice cream bar.  I was also told that Tatum went for four bowls of ice cream...or rather bowls of toppings with a smattering of ice cream at the bottom.  Take a look at the picture below and you be the judge??

They had a remarkable time.  I'm not sure how Daddy managed to make it through dancing with his princess after some of the daddy-daughter songs he told me they played, but he did.

I had a work banquet to attend this same night as well, and when I got home Tatum wasn't asleep yet, so she gave me the quick highlights of her night.  I could tell by those highlights that this will be one of those nights that just sticks with her. 

Watch out, boys.  We're going to teach this little girl just how a princess is supposed to be treated!

Spring break preview.....

Yes...our spring break was that much fun....more to come.

Blue Man Group!

Grandma Gerren and I had discussed, a l-o-n-g time ago, back when the OPAS schedule first came out for the season, about the fact that the Blue Man Group was coming to town the weekend of Tatum's birthday. We both thought that she might really enjoy the Blue Man Group.

So a week and a half before her birthday, when we discussed this again, I realized I hadn't thought much about it since then. And in seemingly normal fashion, Grandma Gerren and I chatted, and she made it work.

She managed to get some pretty good seats for 'the girls' to attend the Blue Man Group for the Sunday afternoon showing. 

I didn't do a very good job of explaining the Blue Man Group to Tatum, nor did I explain the theatre itself, so it's no wonder she got a little scared.  For the record, she DID enjoy it. It has just taken her a little while to process through what she saw to realize that.

She's been talking about it ever since....Mommy how did those blue men do ____________?, Mommy, were those men really blue? Are they blue all over? Mommy, during that one part, how did they ______?

I love that we were able to take her, I just wish I would have done a little more research on what to expect from their show so I could have better prepared her. But I loved it!

Tatum's very first sleepover....

We didn't finish Tatum's party and call it a night. Oh no. We decided that on her most special of days, she could invite a friend to spend the night.

So her sweet friend E came to spend the night after the party.

I suddenly developed an accent, and the girls turned into princesses. And then they were different princesses. They had a spa (read: bubble bath), ate dinner, got their toes and fingers painted while watching a movie (that they BOTH agreed to!!), then ate a dessert of yummy warm cookies (because they hadn't eaten enough sugary goodness at the actual birthday party).

And by that point in time, it was then very late and they went to bed....we didn't even get a chance to do any of the various crafts I thought we might...and had set aside in case.

Jacey had been moved for the night to mommy and daddy's room (and wasn't sleeping, but that's another story). Kellen had been moved to mommy and daddy's room so that the Grand Queen (grandma) could use his bed for the night.

So everyone had their place, and Tatum gave her bed to E and I set up a pallet on the floor next to the bed and put them to sleep...after E called her mommy and told her 'Good night'.

Daddy and I switched care for the girls and I took over for Jacey and he continued to check on the 'big girls'. They got scared once or twice, but nothing that turning on the lamp rather than just the nightlight couldn't cure.

On Sunday morning, Daddy made a big batch of his morning mess (scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage and hashbrowns) and everyone had some of that, then Mommy got up and made cinnamon rolls. And the girls ate those - two rolls each. Then we got dressed for church, put on our glittery spray, lip gloss, and off we went.

We met up with E's mommy and daddy by the nursery counter so they could see her before Sunday school.  They had a BLAST. A complete and total BLAST. Tatum was upset that it wasn't a two-night sleepover.

Happy birthday, Tatum!!

I can't believe you're 5!!

You decided that you wanted a butterfly-themed party (which shocked your Mommy and Daddy to no end...we just KNEW you would want a princess party), but you made up your mind. You and I sat and pored over pinterest ideas for cupcake decorations and party activities...you were so thoughtful and excited about this day!!

We decided to have the party in the backyard, and do some butterfly-related crafts, complete with a butterfly cupcake cake, additional cupcakes decorated with butterflies, and just play. But as the day drew closer, the ramifications of the enormous amount of rain we had in February sunk in....and the yard wasn't drying out. Although we didn't get the rain we thought we might in the week leading up to your birthday and party, the yard still wasn't dry enough for all your friends to play and have fun in the backyard, so we explored other options.

Your daddy was fabulous...he made all kinds of phone calls to find out what we needed to do to have your party at the park right down from our house. And he also prompted Mommy to look into a bouncy house for you...and he was so right. He made calls to all sorts of people about that bouncy house to make sure we could have it up at that park for you and your friends.

The morning of your big day, you enjoyed tremendously....you relaxed, and helped get things finalized for the party. You even took a short nap before the party so you would be ready to play to your hearts content.

And outside of the intense wind, it was a beautiful day for a party at the park. We had our treats.....

And you and your friends bounced and bounced (and each of the Hapes kiddos managed to get a bang or bruise of some sort from the bouncy house).

And we did enjoy the crafts....despite the wind...the kids made and decorated butterfly and bee masks, then did some of the scratch art butterflies. We never made it to the candy necklace station, but that was ok.

Everyone sang Happy Birthday to you, then enjoyed butterfly cake and ice cream. We didn't even bother with trying to light birthday candles...it would have been completely futile in that wind.

You didn't seem to mind at all.

We decided to open presents once we got home so we could leave more time for you and your friends to play in the bounce house. You were such a sweet birthday girl and made sure to talk with all of your friends and show them how glad you were that they came to your party. I was so proud of you!

Things you like:

• All things pink
• Princesses
• Littlest pet shop
• Playing dress up
• Fishing with your daddy
• Helping mommy bake/cook
• Having your toes/fingernails painted
• Riding your bike
• Barbies
• Zhu-zhu pets
• Your build-a-bear stuffed animals (thank you, Aunt Boo!)
• Reading, sounding out words for spelling, doing math
• Coloring/drawing/painting

Sports you like:

• Last fall you tried Upward Cheer (cheering for football) and you really enjoyed it (but we couldn't make you understand why you weren't scheduled to cheer for Kellen's team)
• You're about to play soccer...with practices starting later this month
• Virtually all things Aggie (your normal comment to me is, "We want the Aggies to win, right?"

A look back....

You are so beautiful and so sweet and so loving and I am so proud to have you as my daughter. You make my heart melt in so many ways....Happy 5th Birthday, Tatum!!

Fearless

I always knew Tatum was fearless....and at a recent birthday party she proved it.

She climbed to the top of the climbing wall on their rope wall and touched the ceiling...it's probably 4 stories tall....when she got to the top, she wanted to just jump off into the pit below her rather than climb back down.  But the workers told her she couldn't do that, so climb back down she went.

Amazing.

I want her to have an appropriate sense of fear, but love - absolutely love - that she takes challenges like this and pushes herself.