Month: September 2020

She is doing so well! I love to watch you swim, love bug.

It was time. Time to surprise my family and make a fun outing happen! Also, we all earned it with our “Kindness in Kali” jar of coins we filled up.

Friday night. They had no clue. They only knew to wear their Hay Happens shirt.

It’s 5:45 and we are headed out to the restaurant. Daddy made us feel special as he pulled the car around. We selfied before he picks us up. I can’t wait to go with you!

We arrived at CPK, and the server came out to tell us it would be a while. Many called in “sick” that night, so he was pulling all the roles. Server, host, bartender…etc.

So, we found a table, chatted and laughed.

Tot took our pic too!

And Daddy took ours.

Time to order. We wanted to make the server, Robert’s night, so we tried to make him laugh.

Hopefully we livened up his spirits. We livened up Tot’s spirits, because after that spritzer with cherry juice, she was FFFFAAARREEEEEZING so she disappeared for a moment.

Oh, there she is. Hi Tot.

It was such a fun night with my family. This little chickie keeps us laughing and definitely on our toes. My HHH always makes the nights special with his smile and silly jokes.

Till next time my Hay family! I love you immensely.

As noted in a previous post, Tatum loves to give gifts to her teachers. Mrs. Phillips is probably her favorite so far; She seems to really encourage Tatum, and I love how she treats the kids.
One of the best parts of Mrs. Phillips is her showing gratitude. She wrote Tatum a thank you note for these gifts and the card.

Tatum did not expect anything in return, but she came home today with this note.

What a wonderful display of gratitude.

Also, our headmaster, Sheryl Temple, lost her mother a few weeks ago. Our family offered to bring them dinner one night. We just received the most lovely thank you note from their family.

Writing out a note of gratitude is underutilized nowadays. Most would whip out a quick email or text. To spend the time obtaining the stationery, writing it out, and putting it in an envelope (oh and to get a stamp!) is quite the effort.

This is why we will continue to do this as a family. It’s a lost art that we don’t want to shirk.

Thank you to her teacher and principal for modeling this!

I listened to a podcast the other day from James Altucher. He has the great idea of writing down 10 ideas a day. A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G. Ok, so why!!? Why would I spend time coming up with any ideas.

It’s like exercise. You want to keep your brain firing, and that requires that the muscle be used. And used often. Daily, if you will.

I got Tatum a little journal, and she is to come to me weekly with her 10. Now, I must look in the mirror. Am I doing this? Am I “ideating” daily? It’s about time I start thinking outside my box. It’s also time for me to start writing again. How can I write if I have ZERO ideas?? So, here I go. I started yesterday.

In the meantime, I desire to grow certain skills in Tatum. Before she is “launched” there are 40 lessons I seek to have instilled into her. This requires humility on my part because if I am not doing these things, then how can I expect them of her? Here’s a silly example. She has a middle drawer in her bedroom which we spent time making neat. She rolls each shirt and puts them away. I opened it the other day, and there were shirts all over. (the bottom layer still in tact). I showed it to her, not to reprimand her, but to just ask if she could try a bit harder to keep it neat. Then….oh boy…..then, I went into my bedroom to change my shirt. My chifforobe has a shelf which houses my tank tops. It USED to be organized, but now, I (wince) kind of just put the shirts in (more roly poly than rolled). Look in the mirror, Steph.

So, as I learn to come up with ideas daily, I’m also realizing that I can’t expiate of her to do what I am not doing myself; I’m learning that parenting is really about who WE are and being the best of ourselves. Holy Spirit gives us the power to live and walk humbly before our God.

So, I begin my list. I borrowed much of it from the Art of Parenting by Dennis Rainey. I will write more about this later.

I love you, Tot. You make me a better person.

With the C-virus, we must be all masked up at church. This makes greeting harder because they cannot see your smile.

Luckily, we smiled with our eyes, and they gave us a few signs to hold.

The beauty of this morning was that Tatum had the opportunity to focus on others, and she could feel how good it felt to BLESS OTHERS with something as simple as a smile. Especially when she had had a hard morning. (the best time to serve is when you are sad or down…Y.O.U. go out the window and T.H.E.Y. become your focus).

What fun. We love our church and all they do to serve and love others.

While we were at Trader Joe’s, Tatum wanted to get something for Mrs. Phillips, her 2nd grade teacher. She also remember that Zoe was coming over that morning, so she wanted to get something for her. Supposedly, she is always thinking about what can she give someone. I love this about her. When we got home, she made a Scavenger Hunt for Zoe to find her pumpkin.

She couldn’t wait to give it to her!

Then, on Sunday, Tatum made a card for Mrs. Phillips (just because), and she got a gift bag altogether. Her heart is truly one of a giver.

(She inspires me).

Can you get cuter, please? You pretty much look cute constantly.

Case in point:

I read every night on the couch. Where do you think Cooper is? You guessed it:

Glued next to my side or under my side or around my side. One of the three.

Cooper, at least we know if anyone scary enters our home, they are in big trouble.

You’ll cute them to death.

XXOO