Month: July 2021

This is our SIXTH one!

It was a simple night. We did have leftovers and sat at the kitchen island this month.

First, our Hay huddle. Coopy dutifully got in his spot.

WE all shared our ideas. Doug always has design ideas! Tot seems to have food and craft ideas, and me? Family ideas. I need to step it up next month.

Stay tuned for next month and meeting our IDEA goals!

Oh, the joy of being a girl, and when you have two of us, watch out! She wanted to dress alike, so she picked the PVCP shirts and jean shorts.

For our weekly outing, I decided we’d start with reading our Mom and Me journal together at Wildflower. It’s always more fun to talk and share over eggs, sourdough and tots.

How cute is she!?

We shared about out jobs…

She has a crush on Caleb from VBS. *wince*

We enjoyed our breakfast, and we ready for our NEXT surprise!
TWO GIRLS TOES!

Before…

And, AFTER!

I must say, how lovely they look!

I want to comment on how much fun I have on our outings. We talk like adults and she truly shares her heart with me. I really listen, and she hopefully sees how much I care about her every word. The habits were building will pay off one day when she’ll be my best friend. Right now, I’m savoring our time together.

XXOO.

For so many reasons, but the number one reason is because that is the day, in 2020, that Tatum became a HAY officially. Yes, Daddy adopted her on that day.

She awoke to this:

And Tatum snuck into our bathroom to put this up:

How fun! They did this all day to each other. Posties everywhere!

Tatum made Daddy some life size surprises. She made a mommy and daddy for us to enjoy.

Now Daddy as some company in his office. Luckily he doesn’t have to commute right now to work, so these stay in the office with him.

OK, so later, we went to dinner and got all gussied up.

Look at these two,

Tatum wore her dress from last year, and Daddy looked divine in purple. I decided to wear the same color.

We got to POMO right on time for our 6pm reservation.

First a little spritzer for the Tot. She loves sparkling water with cherries. Watching her retrieve all of the cherries, was worth the price of admission.

Then the menu…OH BOY! Pizza for the Tot and Pizza for the daddy. They were in heaven.

It was a bit noisy, but we laughed enough to drown it out. We reminisced about the firsts…first time he met Tot. First outing with Tot. First thing you remember about Daddy…etc.

She has such fun memories of him before he was officially her Daddy. It just keeps getting better!

What does it say!!?

What more could he say? How wonderful.

Later on, he presented her with a wonderful reminder that she has TWO daddies. And they are both close to her heart.

It’s perfect for her! (The same size as mine: 14″)

Absolutely beautiful! And a wonderful symbol of HIS love for her and Daddy’s love for her.

Tot, you are the light of our lives!

My honey.

Ready for church?

She sure is!

Earrings, socks, shirt, and shorts. Put together swimmingly. As usual, every Sunday, we greet at the 8am service (which means arrival at 7:30 am).

Tatum has so many relationships with the elder population who attend that service. One such lady is Lynn. They have developed a very sweet connection. Lynn is about 80 years old, and each week they trade gifts. Just recently, Tatum gave her a little journal to trade back and forth. Today, she received it back with a little note. Next week, Tatum’s turn.

After church, which was amazing today, we came home and made breakfast, played and just enjoyed the day.

Daddy put up the flag on our house. (BTW, our landscape is being finished this month). I LOVE celebrating our country and the WHY. That is why we had our ceremony coming up.

We, as usual, every 4th, had our patriotic ceremony. We get this from Dennis Prager and Prager U.

Set up:

Ok, let’s begin, Hay Family!

HERE IS THE SCRIPS:

“Welcome to our Fourth of July Declaration! 

We have modeled this Declaration on the best-known commemoration of a historical event in the world — the Jewish Passover meal. It has successfully kept the memory of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt alive for over 3,000 years. 

As Americans, we need to reconnect with our Founding. We need to rediscover the meaning of our country’s creation. And we need to do it every year. That is the reason for ritual — to enable us to remember. Without ritual, the memory fades. And without memory, life — whether of the individual or of a nation — loses its meaning. 

That’s where this Fourth of July Declaration comes in.

Today, we take a few minutes to remember what the Fourth of July is about and to remind ourselves how fortunate we are to be Americans. 

Before America was a nation, it was a dream — a dream shared by many people, from many nations, over many generations. 

It began with the Pilgrims in 1620, who fled Europe so that they could be free to practice their religion. It continued through the 17th century, as more and more people arrived in a place that came to be known as the New World. In this new world, where you were from didn’t matter; what mattered was where you were headed. 

As more and more people settled, they started to see themselves as new people — Americans. 

They felt blessed: The land was spacious. The opportunities limitless. 

By 1776, a century and a half after the first Pilgrims landed, this new liberty-loving people was ready to create a new nation. 

And on July 4 of that year, they did just that. They pronounced themselves to be free of the rule of the English king. We know this statement as the Declaration of Independence.

Q: Why do we celebrate the Fourth of July? 

A: Because the Fourth of July is the birthday of the American people — the day we chose to become the United States of America, a free nation. 

Q: Why was America different from all other countries? 

A: Because in 1776, all countries were based on nationality, religion, ethnicity or geography. But America was created on the basis of a set of ideas. This is still true today. 

Q: What are those ideas? 

A: Three ideas summarize what America is all about. They are engraved on every American coin. They are “Liberty,” “In God We Trust” and “E Pluribus Unum.”

We pass around an American coin and TOT reads:

TOT: “Liberty” means that we are free to pursue our dreams and to go as far in life as hard work and good luck will take us. 

TOT: “In God We Trust” means that America was founded on the belief that our rights and liberties have been granted to us by the Creator. Therefore they cannot be taken away by people. 

TOT: “E Pluribus Unum” is a Latin phrase meaning “From Many, One.” Unlike other countries, America is composed of people of every religious, racial, ethnic, cultural and national origin — and regards every one of them as equally American. Therefore, “out of many (people we become) one” — Americans. 

We have on our table items that symbolize the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War that won our freedom.

— We drink iced tea to remember the Boston Tea Party. “No taxation without representation” was the patriots’ chant as they dumped British tea into the Boston Harbor.

 

— We eat a salty pretzel to remember the tears shed by the families who lost loved ones in the struggle for freedom in The Revolutionary War and all the wars of freedom that followed. 

— We ring a bell to recall the Liberty Bell, which was rung to announce the surrender of the King’s army. On the bell are inscribed these words from the Book of Leviticus: “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof.”

— We eat strawberries and blueberries dipped in whipped cream to celebrate the red, white and blue of our flag.

We celebrate America’s greatness without denying its flaws. There are no perfect individuals, so there can certainly be no perfect country. Our national history has its share of shame. The greatest of these is the shame of slavery, which existed at our founding, as it existed throughout the world at that time. 

But let it never be forgotten that we fought a terrible civil war in which hundreds of thousands of American died. And the reason for that war was slavery. 

Let it also not be forgotten that America has fought in more wars for the freedom of other peoples than any nation in history. 

America’s history is one that we can be proud of.

Declaration of Independence.

We now close with one more ritual. Let each of us sign our names to the Declaration of Independence. While it is a replica of the one our founders signed, the words and sentiments are eternal. 

 Everyone present signs their name to the Declaration of Independence. As each one signs, the host hands each person the lyrics to “God Bless America.”

WE then SANG:

Amazing. Off key a bit but beautiful.

Dinner was homemade turkey blueberry maple sausage with fingerlings and ketchup. Red White and Blue.

And salad of course.
What a lovely day to celebrate this great nation!

Prayer cards. Now, one might wonder, what is a prayer card? I know that my mind can wander when I pray. So, I started to make prayer cards to focus my prayer life. I have a card per person (for significant people like Tot, Doug, and my Mom). Then, I have a bevy of others….school, friends, neighborhood.

Tatum wanted to make her own. I had no control what she did as she chose what to put on them.. Next thing I knew, she had a stack! And they were filled with prayers and verses. Flabbergasted.

Now, every morning, we do them together.

She ran out and talked to the boys from Balance, and then she decided to add a prayer card for them.

I love our mornings. Before this, we do our devotion and our Bible verse for the week.

Glorious.

Tatum has been going to Phoenix Theatre camp in the summer since she was four. Now, she is in the all day class, and I picked Sound of Music for the theme week. (out of about five choices).

When I signed her up, I did not know she’d have to wear a mask all day and they’d perform in a mask. Also, that we would not be able to go to the show as it would be on ZOOM. No bother, we made the best of it.

She loved her camp leaders, and she made many friends. The last day, she wanted to wear her navy jumper for the show. They’d perform Do Re Mi, Lonely Goat Herd, and So Long Farewell.

More posing with Coopy-head!

Then off to a breakfast on this rare cloudy morning. I wanted to have some prayer/devo time with the Tot so I took her to Einstein’s so I could have some coffee with her.

While we were there, she pointed to a lovely African American lady eating alone. Tatum said she thought she was beautiful, so I actually told this to the lady. She was so grateful and gracious. She also commented how cool it was that we were talking about Jesus and praying. I love it!

So, the show occurred, and I watched via Zoom.

She introduced herself and then performed. I thought it was lovely, but it was a bit hard to see. I’m just grateful she got this experience.

I love you, Tot!!!