Tatum turns FOUR!!!

All I have to say is Tatum is like a fine wine, she just gets better with age. As a baby, she was a really happy-go-lucky type of child and now as a four year old, she remains the same. I reflect on the past four years and begin to realize how blessed we really are to have her here...and then I laugh as I type this at the table sitting next to me is Tatum eating her pizza for dinner and she turns to me and says, "One bite of this pizza mom and your dreams will come true"... "Just one teeny bite and your dreams will come to me..or they won't come true". She loves to name her babies and animals these crazy cute names such as Penelope, Sullie, Seler, Belle, Eelie..etc..etc...
Currently she has stopped swimming lessons until after the winter and we are probably going to put her in some sort of sport or gymnastics next. She keeps telling me she wants a baby sister. People will ask me in front of her if we are done having children and I'll say we are on the fence and Tatum will say, "Just one more baby..a baby sister". She reminds me on a daily basis and probably won't give up until it happens.
Now about the party-many of you who know me, know how much I truly love the rain and how the area we live in just does not rain (I believe last year we only had .7 inches!). When we were in Idaho, I checked the weather report the weekend before and it showed rain showers were expected. I just couldn't believe it since it never happened. I had the whole day planned complete with a HUGE castle 5-in-1 bouncer/slide and a cotton candy machine. I spent the day before running all of the birthday errands in the rain (my mom was in town to watch the kids which helped since I had really only the day before to get really ready because of our trip). It rained the whole day before so I thought we would get lucky. I stayed up really late the night before preparing and baking and still not planning on any games or any indoor activities. So the day of the party, the bouncer people came and ultimately decided it just wouldn't be safe since it was supposed to continue raining (which it did) and the wind wasn't safe as well. They had also forgotten the cotton candy machine and couldn't bring it back to around 1:30ish (the party was at noon) and were still going to charge us full price, so we vetoed that one. We rented a few little tables which they also wanted to take back, but after some smooth talking on my hubbies part, that was quickly resolved. I spent the first part of the party worrying that people would be really upset and disappointed, but really..I don't think anyone really cared and I'm pretty sure the parents understood. It was really nice that Tatum's friends still showed up despite the weather conditions which made her feel really special. Tatum's friend, Madison has a mom who works for News Channel 3 and was at our party and later that night she talked about our party on the news. I told Tatum, I can't believe your party actually made the news!! (LOL)




With that being said...I have decided not to do the children's birthday parties every year from now on. I love throwing them, but due to the fact that Corbin's is just a month later and they both fall during the holiday season, it's just too much. I will have one party a year and they will just switch off. So much easier than trying to do two (I'm having Christmas at my house this year as well). So if you don't get an invite to Tatum's party next year, you'll know why :)))). Thanks again everyone for making her day so special!!!