Month: February 2017

Have you ever met her? She lives in our house and she probably lives in yours as well.

You see, Tatum wants her way. Who doesn’t? We want our way, right God? That is what started this whole FALL of mankind.

Sometimes, you just want to put on a mask and hide!

But does that do any good? Probably not. It’s best to work it all out face to face.

When we want our way; when Tatum wants her way, sometimes….just sometimes, there is reason inside. That is when, if we can talk things out, we can avoid our little lady friend, Miss Understanding. (For Tatum it’s sometimes UN understanding because this is all new for her: her desires and then how to handle her emotions that accompany them)

Tatum is at the age where she is experiencing phases of growth that are lending themselves to this Miss.

She can be…

• demanding but also eagerly cooperative
• rude but then realize she is not being kind

BUT on the flip side, she can communicate with articulation. When I take the time to come down to her level PHYSICALLY, look her in her beautiful blue eyes, and talk things out, we avoid meeting up with lil’ Miss Understanding.

It’s been a journey lately and it is tiring! It requires time and patience, and sometimes, I just don’t have it. BUT, this Miss….so we have to work HER out of a job. This means

• prayer
• prayer
• and more prayer

with each other.

And you know what? It’s paying off. It gives us context to discuss the NEED for Jesus. The NEED to be forgiven because we “are all yet sinners, but Christ died for us.” (Rom. 3:23)

Miss, we know you come to our house sometimes, and we want you to be discussed away. Respect and honor and grace IS the central theme of our home. 

And I’ll also add lots and lots of laughter!

 

I love you both so much.

And we did own it! I have to admit, it was more of a day off than a celebration of Presidents. We decided to take on a mountain. trail.

I had this vision of us hiking up Camelback, trudging through the boulders and cacti, and then I realized I have a 36.5 inch Tot who has teeny feet. So, we decided on the Dreamy Draw Trail on the back side of Squaw Peak.

She roared up to the sign and started running like mad. Doug had to chase her down. She wiggled her way into his arms.

Then we came upon some cacti and quartz. Doug had more knowledge than anyone I’ve met! Those white rocks? Quartz? That octopus looking tree thingy? Ocotillo! It looks friendly, but quite spiny and spiky! Tot was warned.

We piled rocks onto the first marker. It felt like a mile but was probably more like 100 feet at our pace.

After about 200 feet? No, just kidding, maybe one mile, Tatum was ready to run back, and so she did. And with that? A solid biff.fall.kerplop.boom. She said she couldn’t walk: EVER again.  Well, at least until we got to the sidewalk.

So much fun on the trail! Doug, we’re ready for more, but the next time, she has requested a walking stick and a rock collector. That was Doug on this round.

Later that day, we headed to Kiddy Keys. Of course the rocket must precede. Did I mention she found a pair of my goggles in the car?  They helped pilot.

Ok, onto the rest of the day. Playing with Coti, reading an inordinate amount of books and bedtime. She couldn’t sleep, and I heard her sweet voice reading on her stool.

Good night Tatum. Good night Doug. Good night Presidents. Thanks for helping us squeeze the maximum out of a day.

Being sick on Valentine’s Day really put a kink in the armor of life. But, the benefits are that Tatum got to wait patiently for a special surprise from Doug. And surprise it was!

But before this, she had to mend. This meant a whole LOT of down time. What do you do with all this down time? hmmmm???? You read to your kids of course! She loved on others. Bella to be exact (see her sitting there quietly next to Tot?); that is a great way to feel better.

 

The wait was worth it because when I was at school on Thursday, and Tatum was slowly feeling a bit better, POW! A little  lot of LOVE came her way from Doug. Love coins, love balloons and lots of red hearts.

The love is flowing out of Tatum as she sings about it all. After reading to me of course!

Recovery can only happen with one important ingredient. Lots of L.O.V.E!

 

And if feels so weird! But, I chose to keep Tatum home because she’s had a fever and woke up with a slight fever still abrewin’. I figured we could lay low, read, draw, play games and rest!

After pancakes, Tot, Coti and I headed out to grab a cuppa joe in our jammies. I don’t think we have done this for like a year! It was kind of fun. When we returned, we decided to do some reading. I wanted to read my Bible and devotion, so I hung out in her room. I had not spent time in the Word like this in a while, and it felt wonderful.

Tatum chose a few million books to read herself.

And she read every.single.one. OUT LOUD. It tickled me to hear her read so diligently and articulately (even if she made up the words).

 

Next, we cleaned out my closet and her drawers. Filling two garbage bags full of clothes, shoes, purses and what nots felt so freeing. Hello St. Vincents! We have goodies for you.

Next, it was puzzle time. We pulled out the oldies but goodies.  (This one is from my brother, Johnanthan) First we did the number’s side.

Then we needed a new outfit for the other side, the letters.

 

Ta Da!

The rest of the day we played, ran our goodies to St. Vincent’s to donate, rode her bike and walked Coti. A bunch.

This no-church Sunday was refreshing, but I missed it intensely. But time with the Tot was like being with Jesus himself! I am blessed.

 

See this??? This is me loving on the Tot. It’s been a hard road this last week. She is up almost two hours every night coughing incessantly. We’ve tried everything from cough syrup to magic fairy dust to PRAYER! Ugh. Either one of us have slept and it leads to tense times, but we have each other. And you know what? This is what usually happens throughout the day. Lotsa hugs.

(This picture was courtesy of my love, Doug)

(It’s our two year anniversary, so we had to practice our hugs too!)