Month: June 2023

I asked my family. What does this look like?

Daddy:

Tatum

Mommy:

May we do this! AMEN.

It’s hard to believe that we have come full circle! Back when Tatum was 3 and 4, I volunteered in the Kids Club in her class. Now, she is old enough to be my helper in this class!

They needed volunteers, so I figured we could do one week together; this way she’d get a taste of it for when she is old enough to do it on her own.

She is a natural with children.

At first, she was a bit shy.

Then she joined some kids to see if they wanted to play.

Then..it happened. The cutest boy in the world walked in. Grayson.

They immediately clicked, and he had to tell her his life story.

He wouldn’t leave her side. CUTE!

They listened to the Bible story together: About the Centurion whose son was sick and was healed by Jesus from afar. Warehouse….

and back at the room.

SHE HAD A BLAST with the kids.

Later she joined the YTH group of 5th-8th. WOW! How did this happen??

As we all know, Tatum has an addiction. BOOKS. She LOVES to collect them and read them. She does have a tendency (like her mommy) to start a book and then start another one and another. (Never really finishing one). So……I figured this summer, I’d incentivize her to read and write me a summary of every books she finishes: $5 for small chapter books; $10 for larger ones.

She is MOTIVATED!
She just finished two books.

Charlie and The Glass Elevator

Dreamkeeper’s Saga (a doozy! $10)

Now, this one, she worked at Luci’s with a Cake Pop. Now, this is not just ANY Cake Pop. This is a solid gold/take out a second mortgage, sell your car Cake Pop. Sheesh. Luci’s prices their bakery at exorbitant prices. But, hey…a treat, right!? And it’s YELLOW like WOODY.

and she finished!

She wanted it. She begged for it. I said, “You buy it!” Oh, she worked hard to raise the money too.

You see, this Nintendo Switch contraption captures our youth (and youth at heart) hearts. It’s a video game console which allows players to play basically most video games. Now, Tatum has never been a real “gamer” per se, but all of her friends play constantly, and she finds it fun to play as well. Mario seems to win out, and this I can relate to due to my addiction to Donkey Kong when I was her age. Now, I had to put the quarter in and wait for the music to cue. Then I had about 3 minutes of fun as I would stand at the monstrous video console. (at the local grocery store of course)!

It took her about three months, but she did it! She earned every penny! I refused to buy a NEW Switch, but then I remembered Swappa!

We found one in MINT condition after researching many of the listings.

This won!

And now? She has to earn a bit more for her first game, but I think I might help her! This way as a family, we can all play our first video game together. She promises me that it takes brains and strategy to play and that it’s not just mindless fun.

OK…I did tell her it’s all a “balance.” Play with REAL toys, read REAL books, and talk to REAL people. THEN, playing video games can be held in a nice balance of it all. She still LOVES to play and imagine; may that never change.

Stay tuned!

Every morning. What books you ask?

The latest….Dreamkeeper’s Saga

and any book by Roald Dahl or C.S Lewis’ Chronicle’s of Narnia.

Throughout the day, I like to soak up information. I cannot sit down to read a book until later on in the night, and if I am sitting, I usually am working or reading some article. Podcasts are a gift from God. I can listen to many in a day while I am driving, cleaning, cooking, or just doing odds and ends at my workspace. I LOVE to LEARN new things ever day! Well, this has influenced Tatum, and now she is creating her OWN podcast.

Her latest: The Tatum Hay Show; How to rock being in your family. She gives the TOP TEN TIPS on being a great sibling, daughter, or family member. She begins with a song, a few ads, and a welcome message from Woody.

When I was her age, I would sit in the living room in front of our stereo system with my mic in hand interviewing the latest star, making advertisements, and singing. Yes, I did pretty much the same thing. Yet, I never shared with her that I did this. The kid just did it automatically. SHE IS TRULY MY KID! OH, and Woody was on all my recordings too! HA!

She records all of these shows on her little watch, VTech. The quality is pretty low, but she still does a fine job with her ideas!

Now she wants to record podcasts all the time! (with me as her guest of course)