*UPDATED* The Nutcracker

Tatum's class at school performed The Nutcracker on Friday. I'm posting some of the video and pictures I took. Tatum was the Nutcracker and did a great job!

Smile...it's Friday!!!

E-mail from my beautiful Grammy

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

We waken this morning to the news that in January the USA will have Barak Obama as president. The majority has chosen. God has always allowed people to make choices. He then lets them experience the results of their choices.

In O.T. times the Israelis, Hischosen people, are examples of the cycle of human choices. The USA is one nation, also claiming to be under God. Where are we in this cycle? What can we expect next? Are we on the upward swing, orthe reverse?

Jesus came to earth to be crowned king and to set up His Kingdom. He was rejected of men. He foresaw the results of this rejection, and it caused Him to weep for the sake of the people. His Kingdom was not of this world, not visible to the world. His Kingdom was set up within the hearts of people who crowned Him King in their hearts, and obeyed Him, even while physically still living in the kingdom of this world. The spirit of God within them, is greater than the spirit that is in this world. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith in what Jesus did when He gave His life to pay the penalty of death that we deserve. No matter what the world around us chooses, the believer in Jesus has chosen Jesus as King! Under His blood we are safe. The Israelis leaving the bondage of Egypt were safe, the believers in God in Jerico, were safe from destruction, because of the blood, the scarlet chord. Believe in your heart, confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be safe. Yes, in this world we shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer!

In Jesus, protected by His blood, you are an overcomer.

Trusting Him!
Charlotte

I pledge allegiance to the Flag
of the United States of America,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation under God, indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.

Simple words with great meaning. As the boys were trick or treating Friday night, Tatum saw a flag on a house and stopped to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I was touched in that moment to hear those words out of his precious mouth. He doesn't fully understand all of it, but he knows it's really important and is something to be honored. I and so many others take those words for granted and unfortunately, many don't realize the beauty of those words and what has made our country great. I'm glad Tatum reminded me as he spoke with innocence and pride.

I hate to be political, but VOTE (if you haven't already). We need to make sure our country is one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

I'm pretty sure I'm peaching to the choir on this one! :)

Halloween

Here are the pics from tonight. Tatum had a lot of fun trick or treating with his buddy, Wes. We went over to their house for a neighborhood cookout and then the trick or treating fun began. I'll post some more details later, but just too tired tonight. I just wanted to get these pics up for everyone.

Halloween

Fun Run

Tatum's school had their annual fundraiser today and it was a lot of fun! The kids did a great job and were able to raise alot of money for the school. Tatum's class has decided that with the money they receive, they will create a dramatic play area. You know that is right up his alley and he is so excited about it! If we haven't asked already and you want to donate to his school, please let me know! For everyone who already donated, we thank you so much for supporting him and his school.

Please note - it was totally Tatum's choice to wear the sweatband.

Fun Run

FYI - Some of the pictures are blurry, but I just wanted everyone to see how they had it set up. :)

Printing on Scrapblog!!!

As some of you may have noticed, I started using a site, Scrapblog, to create online scrapbooks. They have just announced the ability to print these out! I'm super excited and just wanted to share. Check it out - http://www.scrapblog.com/print/

Interesting Blog

So tonight I decided to hit the 'next blog' button at the top of the page to see what others were blogging about. I came across a few I couldn't read, I few that were about people's travels and misadventures (which I also found interesting) and then this one, http://pen-gwin.blogspot.com/. This guy is working/living in Antarctica for the winter and captures his story here. I'm absolutely intrigued by it. If you have a spare moment and wonder what it would be like to live in darkness for 3 months of the year, you should check it out!

Tatum and Wes met for dinner at Chick-Fil-A on Tuesday. They love hanging out together.

Tatum had some fun with my camera and took some pictures of his friend from school, Wesley.

Wes's eye - such an artistic photographer

Reflections

Tatum's class wrote Cinquain Poems for the PTA Reflections Program. Above is the copy Mrs. Havens sent home. I am so proud of him.

Here is a link to her website with all the childrens' poems. Mrs. Havens' Class - Cinquain Poems


He had to submit an artist statement about his poem and this is what he told Mrs. Davenport. "I think the T-Rex is so kingish. He makes me say wow. He is my favorite dinosaur. He killed other dinosaurs to live. That is so cool and sad."

Family Fun Festival

Tatum's school, Arnold Mill, had a family fun festival on Saturday. The rain held off and we had just enough clouds to have a really enjoyable day! He had a blast and we got to hang out with one of his new best buds from Kindergarten, Wesley. I found out he lives very close to our house so it will be great for play dates!




Here is a link to all the pictures:

Family Fun Festival

WHOO - HOO!!

I PASSED the first section of my CPA test!!

I'm super excited! Now only 3 more to go!!

1st sleepover!

Tatum spent his 1st night away from home at a friends house this past weekend! To say Mike was hesitant is almost understatement of the year!! But I knew he would in good hands with my friend, Tabitha. The boys had a great time! Check her blog for the full story and pics!

Another Scrapblog page

This is so cool!!

1st Day of School

Tatum started school on Monday, August 4th. He absolutely loves it! His teacher, Mrs. Havens, is great and we LOVE her already!

I created a scrapblog of his first day so check it out!

Beach Trip

We went with the Mowen family to Gulf Shores on vacation this past week. I took a ton of photos so I hope they don't bore you to tears! We had a great time and lots of great memories!

Beach Time

Can you believe this?

This is the same kid that was afraid to get into the water when the trip started! What a difference a week can make!!!

Names

Another friend posted this website and I thought it was pretty cool. http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager Just type in any name and it will tell you when the name has been popular over the last 100 years. Neat Stuff!!

Welcome to the World, Shelby Reese Wagner

Shelby Reese Wagner born to Jennifer and Chris Wagner on July 22 around 7:30 am. She weighed 6 lbs, 10 oz and 20 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful!! I'm so glad I was able to visit with her. You'll be seeing more pictures soon!

Weekend at the Cabin

My dad, Mike, Tatum and I went to my parent's cabin in North Carolina for the long 4th of July weekend. It was so relaxing and exactly what we all needed. Here are a few photos of our time there.

Weekend at the Cabin

We didn't even leave the cabin to watch fireworks in town. Luckily, our 'neighbors' had fireworks on Friday and Saturday which we could kinda see through the trees. It was just enough though to satify our needs.

A week with Gigi and Guppaw

Here are a few pictures of Tatum's week with Gigi and Guppaw.

Gigi's Birthday was Wednesday, June 25th and the three of them went out to dinner.

Tatum got to hold the Bible during the morning assembly at VBS. He was really excited to get picked.

Tatum swimming with some friends after VBS.

Kindergarten Begins!

Last week, we got a postcard in the mail with the big news...Mrs. Havens will Tatum's kindergarten teacher!

I can't believe school starts in just a little over a month!

Trademark

Tatum Mowen ™

A trademark (represented by the symbol ™)[1] mark is a distinctive sign or indicator of some kind which is used by an individual to identify uniquely itself from others. A trademark is a type of intellectual property, and typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements.

Tatum noticed the other day that 'lots of stuff' have his initials on them and couldn't figure out how everyone knew he was going to buy that stuff. "It's amazing!"

Another example of how the world revolves around him! :)

Blast from the Past

Tatum got a LiteBrite this weekend which was one of my favorite toys when I was little. We made a couple pictures and are having so much fun!

Jackson's Photo Shoot

Poor Jackson had to endure the pain of one of my photo shoots which happens when I have a moment of boredom! He likes the attention, but just pretends to dislike it. :)








It took some coaching.....













But I finally got the perfect shot!!








**No animals were hurt in the making of this blog**

Coloring Contest

Tonight, each of us colored a picture and then Tatum awarded prizes. The prizes were Pop-Tarts so I was pretty thrilled to win 1st place! Here is each of our pages and my prize.

Mommy's picture

Daddy's picture

Tatum's Picture

Tatum working diligently on his picture.

1st Place Prize - it was so cute becuase he wrote my name and #1 on it!

"T" is for Tatum

We went to the mall last night and stopped by the sports store. Tatum saw the Tenneessee hats and thought the Big T was for Tatum...naturally, as the world does revolve around him. He really wanted the white and orange one, but I could not allow it. Mike was getting a kick out of the whole thing because Tatum couldn't understand why I wouldn't let him wear the white and orange "T" hat. We finally settled on the one he is wearing. At least it is BLUE and ORANGE!

Lion Country Safari

On Saturday morning, we all went to the Lion Country Safari. It's a drive thru safari where the animals just walk around your car...except the lions - they are all fenced in. It was really amazing to see animals so close. Tatum's favorite part of when the ostrich 'attacked' the car. I tried to get a picture of the ostrich's beck pecking at the window, but she was too fast. Several other animals came right up to our car...like I said amazing!

Lion Country Safari

Megan's Graduation

We went down to West Palm Beach this past weekend for Megan's graduation. It was alot of fun for all of us to get together. Here are a few pictures from Friday night.

Megan's Graduation

Help Day

A cute story....Last night, Tatum was telling us that it was the last day of April and that was pretty exciting to him. So Mike said that May 1st is also called May Day. Without hesitation, Tatum said, mayday means someone needs help...so May Day is really Help Day!

Bubble Boy

Twister

Tatum went to a birthday party and the kids played Twister. It was a humorous scene to say the least!

My Beautiful Baby Boy!!

Superhero Dog

Tatum thinks Ellie looks like the dog, Buster, on My Friends Tiger & Pooh so he made her a collar to match Buster's. She didn't really like it too much and it didn't last long at all, but at least I got one photo of it!

We visited with Tabitha and her kids a while back and here are some photos of everyone playing outside. Their house sits on a small hill so the kids rode their bikes down the hill. Tatum was quite adventureous that day and I was very proud....and then really nervous!

Friends

Wacky Day

Tatum had "Wacky Day" at school and he thought his outfit was really WACKY!!! You can't tell in this picture, but he really was excited about it. He decided to wear his pants backwards, a dress shirt with sweatpants, a t-shirt over it and then the t-shirt was backwards too. Oh, and he wore two different socks! This was right up his alley!

Tatum received Monopoly on his birthday and has really mastered this game!

He is a tough guy to beat. To be honest, I haven't done it yet!










He got a bit excited and celebrated a little!

A funny story...

Read this story...It's posted by my friend, Tabitha, about an afternoon at her house.

http://3gigglewiggles.blogspot.com/2008/03/lion-tiger-bear-oh-my.html

Ninja Tatum

Tatum got the red ninja turtle face mask costume. Here are a few action shots of NINJA TATUM