Reese at the Dentist

Today Reese had his first dentist appointment. He was really unsure of the whole thing and wouldn't let me leave his sight! We tried really hard to get him to open his mouth like a hippo, but I think he was onto us...he knew when he did something was gonna happen he didn't like! Luckily, he finally warmed up and he really liked her sqirting water in his mouth. It was really funny when she put the water "sucker" thing up to his mouth too...he said, "Paaaahh-chow"...just like Ligthening McQueen it was hilarious!

Abby LOVES the Dentist!

Abby also had a dentist appointment today and she was very excited! She loves going to get her teeth cleaned and today she also got to take x-rays which she thought was awesome! They let her look at her teeth after the x-rays were done and she was excited to see that one of them didn't come out...weird! Anyways she had to do one of them again and she kept singing, "I get to take and x-ray...I get to take and x-ray!" Again...my child is a rare breed:)

Guest Post by Greg:
This weekend I took Abby on a camping trip with two of her four year old friends and their dads. This first picture is of us taking off from home. Abby was pretty excited, and I don't think she really knew what to expect. When we stopped off for gas I bought her a pack of Extra bubblegum and let her chew two pieces at a time. She thought that was pretty cool, and it halfway made up for the fact that I didn't turn back when we discovered we had forgotten her "blankie"

The first evening before it got dark we wandered around near our campsite. First we walked down to the lake and the girls threw in sticks, rocks, and whatever they could pick up and toss. I've been telling Abby about Daddy-long-leg spiders for a while, and she was finally able to see some for herself, weaving and bobbing across the rocks. She reminded me that we can pull their legs off if we catch them. After the lake we walked back up to the campsite and the third Dad/Daughter pair arrived, so we walked back along a trail where we saw some deer tracks.

This second picture is Abby with her friends hanging out by the campfire. They were a bit silly running in and out of the screen shelter giggling, but mostly they hung out outside and ate smores, mesmerized by the campfire (I added to the pageantry with a can of lighter fluid). Once we finally made it to bed, Abby wasn't too thrilled about the temperature and humidity. The temps weren't bad, but it was a definitely muggy. We didn't sleep well. In the morning we ate some powdered donuts, packed up camp, and drove around to the other side of the lake for some hiking. The others had to get back for a pint sized soccer game, so just Abby and I set out on our hiking adventure. It was obvious there hadn't been much foot traffic around the trails this spring, due to all the rain. Everything was overgrown and mostly underwater. Abby liked splashing through the puddles and kicking all the mushrooms that were growing wild along the trails. Finally we started heading back to the car and I couldn't find the trail back up because of all the overgrowth. I've been on those trails a hundred times but couldn't find my way. Abby was getting tired and thankfully we finally found the steep path back up to the car. We loaded up on snacks and drinks and took off, just before the rain started. We were both tired from lack of sleep and hiking, so it was pretty quiet on the ride back. We were listening to country music on the radio and Abby says, "Daddy, I want a minivan." Hopefully there isn't a post about that in our future.

Water Day!

The weather on Friday was supposed to be super hot and sunny so I decided to declare a water day! Well the day didn't exactly end up being quite like they said, but the kids sure didn't care-they had a blast! We had water gun fights, turned the slide into a "water" slide with the hose and filled a ton of water balloons-sadly they were all broken in about 1 minute but they sure had fun for that minute! We also pulled weeds which was not the highlight of the day but we all had fun anyways! I love staying home with these guys-we can go as much as we want or we can just hangout all day playing in the backyard-I love my life!

Just give me a Sucker!

Yesterday we took Reese to go his first barber shop haircut! Now this is not his first haircut ever...Greg has been using his clippers on him since he was 1 year old, but we decided maybe he would do better with someone else cutting his hair for awhile. To give you some background with Reese and haircuts- well, HE HATES THEM! He seriously screams the whole time and honestly I think he thinks that we are hurting him...I guess by cutting his hair he thinks we are cutting HIM? (I don't know)
Anyways it just pains us to hold him down every few weeks to give his unruly, thick hair a trimming... so I was hoping this haircut would go better! We took him to Sports Clips becuase, well, I had a coupon, but I also thought he would really like the sports stuff and he got to watch sports/cartoons:) while she cut his hair! I also did a little bribing on my part...I brought suckers (the cure of all cures:) He was super happy the 3 minutes it took him to eat the sucker then, well, let's just say things went down hill from there:( I was proud of him though. He didn't try to escape the chair until she starting trimming around the ears and then he was off and running!! Believe it or not though I am still counting this a success and plan to do it again next month! .....anything to keep from torturing him at home with our clippers...wow that doesn't sound very good, but you know what I mean:)

Dallas World Aquarium

Tuesday I thought it would be fun to make the trip over to Dallas to go to their Aquarium. Now I have only heard wonderful things about it and really wanted for the Tarkingtons to experience it! Gosh... I hate to be a downer about it but really we went about crazy dodging all the school field trips! Ughhhh!!!! I was bummed the kids weren't able to see all the fish and stuff but of course, kids being kids, they had so much fun! I could really learn a lesson from them....just relax and go with the "flow" (in our case a couple hundred kids screaming and bumping into you:) I love this picture of the kids together....it will be framed asap! ...oh also Abby thought you all needed to see a sea turtle...she was amazed how big and old he was!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today was Greg's 29th birthday! About a week ago we went to go get him his present and Greg had to go with us to try on the shoes we were gonna get him...well anyways we got the shoes and since then the kids have been wanting to give him his present. About everyday Reese has gotten the new shoes out of the "hiding place" and walked into Greg's office singing "Happy Birthday"! Well needless to say they were pretty excited today was finally the day to give him the shoes he already knew that he was getting and that he picked out!...SURPRISE! ...well at least you know they fit and he likes them:) Anyways we also went to go get him his favorite dessert at Italianni's...the kids helped him eat it and Greg got to eat a little bit too! Happy Birthday Daddy we love you!

Riscky's Bar-B-Que!

Greg thought it would only be fitting to bring the Tarkington's to the "best" bar-b-que in Texas! Now I have a hard time thinking Texas can have good bar-b-que since I am from KC which has the best in the "whole wide WORLD" but I will admit it's ok:) The kids love it though and think this buffalo is so funny....Reese will point from afar but would have nothing to do with it up close!

Greg and Jeff watching the kids....

Jada and I wanted to go to Target for a little "getaway" so the guys watched the kids. They were more than willing to help out but when we saw what they wanted to do with the kids we were a little scared! They thought it was really cool to hold the (unloaded) shotgun...honestly we have complete trust in the boys but I thought it was "blog-worthy".

10K Zoo Run

This morning Anglea and I ran our first 10K (6.2 miles) We ran super early and had to be there at 6am. The weather was so perfect...it was already 64 degrees when we started at 7:00! As you can tell from the pictures here there is a before and after the race....notice I look like I might throw-up in the second one:) I must say it was easier than I thought and Anglea and I both placed in our age division...Anglea got 6th and I got 8th place....we were pretty excited about that since we just wanted to make it across the finish line before 53 minutes (our personal best time).... which we actually both came in 50 and 51 minutes...yeah!!! I am such a fan of these races and hope to run a ton more....hey you never know maybe I'll be that 40 year old mom that runs marathons all the time!

Tarkington's are Here!

This week one of Greg's friends from high school came to visit and brought his precious family! They got in late Thursday night from Nashville and the kids have had so much fun playing together! Jeff and Jada's kids, Josh and Emily, are 3 and 1 years old so our kids have been playing together wonderfully! I know Josh and Abby have been loving the water guns! We went to a park yesturday and the weather was prefect...actually a bit hot but I'm not complaining:) They are staying till Wednesday so we have a bunch planned for the week...this is Jada and the kids first visit to Texas so we need to show them the ropes!

Mister Funny

I am getting the hint....when Greg starts making faces while I am trying to capture a "memory" (take a picture) maybe I AM taking too many pictures! No really I just wanted you to see these great faces Greg makes....he's sooo funny isn't he? I thought the progression of these pictures were hilarious....notice Reese dropped something:) Anyways hope this makes you smile!

T-Ball Pictures

I forgot to post Abby's t-ball pictures this past weekend...sorry about that! It was pretty funny watching the coaches get all the kids in place. And Abby also has a "little admirer". He's on the second row, second from the left....he's so cute! He's super short and comes up to about Abby's shoulders and follows her around like a puppy! (sadly I don't think she has even noticed him!) Abby is third from the right on the front row.

Tornado

We are currently hanging out in the bathtub seeking shelter from a tornado! I thought it might be a good idea to blog before it hits us... (just in case) No really don't worry I think we are fine. We just checked the good 'ole weather channel and things seem to be looking good. The kids think it is so cool to sit in here playing legos...whatever floats your boat huh?
I was so proud of Abby just a minute ago...the first thing she said when we got in the bathroom was, "I guess it's time to pray!" She said the sweetest prayer... she not only asked for our safety but the saftey of her friends and ALL her family....it was precious! ...oh just in... the tornado sirens have stopped and the kids are going to bed!....for now!

Greg & Shane's Excellent Adventure!

Greg and our friend Shane decided they would plan a date night for Misty and I on Saturday. They decided to make it a theme night of "middle school" activities. They first took us to the mall where we could pick whatever we wanted from the whole food court...isn't that sweet of them? Then they gave each of us $15 to get whatever we wanted at the mall (they said that in middle school they didn't have money so they wanted to keep to the theme) Then after we both picked a necklace we headed to the local Putt Putt and played video games. Believe it or not there were a ton a middle schoolers-they sure hit the nail on the head huh? Anyways we played games for about an hour and then our parents came to pick us up...no just kidding we had to go get our kids :) In the pictures you can see we all loved the sniper game which made Greg and I both feel like Jack Bauer from 24......except I kept shooting all the hostages. I don't know how Jack does it! Anyways we had a great night and the guys did a great job. Misty and I both felt very special. I never had a middle school boy like me so much!

*hey if you want to see what the kids did while we were on this "righteous" date check out my friends blog www.jillvaughan.blogspot.com it's pretty funny!

"Keep Moving Forward"

Friday Maw Maw and Poppa asked the kids to go see Meet the Robinsons and the kids were so excited! We never really get to take the kids to the movies since most of them are not really as "G" as they say. So we were so excited to hear that this movie was really positive and had a great message! We were the only ones in the theater which worked out great....we got to talk as loud as we wanted and with 4 kids under 5 that's a good thing! Anyways I got some fun pictures the second one here you see Landry (Greg's brother's son) staring at Abby....these two have a special bond- he just loves Abby and if she laughs so does he even though I know he isn't sure what they are laughing at! The next picture is of Reese and Poppa stuffing their faces with popcorn which pretty much that's what they did the whole show...well except Reese played musical chairs....he is a major wiggle worm....I am praying for the day he chills out just a little bit....I mean I'm not asking for much just a few minutes of down time is that too much to ask? ..No really I'm kidding he's super fun he keeps me on my toes for sure!!!! If you have kids I highly recommend this movie...there are only a few parts that kinda scared the kids but the message is "keep moving forward" and when you fail it's ok because that's how you learn and grow...so check it out!

Crazy Birds!

Today we went AGAIN to the zoo and it was so beautiful outside! Anyways if you read my last zoo blog Reese was pretty sad that we didn't see the hippos so we headed to the hippos first thing! Here in the picture you can't see the hippos because all they seem to do is hang out under the water but at least we have proof now that we did actually SEE them!
The other pictures are of the kids feeding the crazy birds. The kids love this....you go in this big cage and there are tons of birds flying everywhere and you hold up this stick with food stuck to the end of it. The birds seriously go for the food and it is just crazy them flying all around you... it's great- you've gotta check it out sometime:)

Sleeping in Curlers!

I was at my parents house awhile back and found some dress-up clothes that I used when I was a kid and Abby has been so excited to get these curlers in her hair! Last night she asked me to put them in her hair so she could wake-up with super curly hair. Well she made it all night but around 6am she called me in her room to tell me that they fell out but she was going back to sleep....you can't argue with that:) All day today she had pretty curls but tonight she told me she was ok not sleeping in them again...I don't blame her I hated sleeping in curlers as a kid...sorry mom:) ....as I told Abby sometimes you have to sacrifice for beauty:)

Family Night

We have been super busy lately and have needed a down day so tonight we declared a "family night". Abby and Reese thought it would be really cool to decorate the clubhouse for the big event. They took ribbon and crafts they had made and hung them all over and were so proud of themselves...they wouldn't let us come outside until it was all ready! Then we sat up their and read books while Greg cooked some hamburgers. We then sat in the clubhouse and ate dinner....it is so nice to just be together and do whatever we want! As one of my friends says all the time "never get too busy to stop and make a memory!"... and tonight was one of those times!

They are Nuts!

Last night our friends the Vaughan's came over to hangout and the kids got to play with their daughter Bailey. Now Bailey is 8 years old but our kids love love love her and her brother Riley...sadly Riley was at a basketball game with his friends (he's 12) and Reese didn't stop asking all night where "that man is"....that's what Reese calls Riley since he is so much bigger than Reese it's hilarious. Anyways the kids were playing with my workout band and Abby and Bailey put them around their ankle and Reese thought it was super funny to run between it. I seriously thought he was gonna slingshot himself across the room or break the girl's ankles but thankful none of the above happened! ...but I tend to keep my guard up with little Reeser his a crazy man he could brake anything at any minute you just never know! Just the other day Greg and I were walking by his Sunday School classroom and the room looked like a tornado hit it...Greg and I just looked at each other and said, "Reese has been here!"