I LOVE watching Tatum PLAY! At almost 11, she still uses her imagination on FULL TILT with her love of teaching and drawing.
She spent a couple of hours doing a read aloud to Coopy and Rio the other day; it was a joy to watch her be so animated and creative. Little Coopy kept looking at me.
Seriously, Mom? Do I have to listen to this?
Coopy, it’s good for you to F.O.C.U.S (since he is all about the squirrel moments. Literally).
Rio watched attentively. He knows his mommy is in charge!
Take it away, TOT!
She’s going to be an amazing teacher some day, or whatever she chooses to do, she’ll be truly a leader.
Later, she FOCUSED on drawing her new little feathered friend. WOW!
I immediately had it made into a portrait for her wall. You WOW me, kiddo!
She has been begging me to work in the Special Ministries at SBC. After the training, we were scheduled for this Sunday. You have to be at least 14 to serve, but if she is with me, it’s all ok!
So, today, we worked with Carolyn’s (the head of SpMinistries at SBC) daughter, Megan. She was to work with Arabella, a sweet little Special 4 year old). Tatum just shadowed and helped Megan.
Here we are arriving early!
Then she got to serve in the 4-year old room. Little Arabella is playing hopscotch.
Tatum learned so much as this sweet little girl was so curious about EVERYTHING! Tatum had to learn how to help her keep her hands to herself and take turns.
Also, to help other little kids understand that Arabella is different but SO special in GOD’S EYES!
the Bible verse this morning was “coincidentally (NOT!)” the same verse from her school this week.
I’m HONORED to be Tot’s mommy. She inspires me daily. XXOO.
This is probably going to be my motto for this year. WHY? Because now I have context for what is a little moment. I used to “poopoo” little moments and brush them off as insignificant. The mundane. The waking up and saying GOOD MORNING to the birdies outside. The walking of the dog and seeing a bevy of quail. The kissing my daughter and her Amarillo in the morning and seeing them cuddle. The hubby making a delicious cup of coffee for me first thing. The ability to make new recipes in my kitchen to please my family daily. I could go on. They were ALL taken for granted in the past. Ho Hum..boring. Mundane daily tasks.
Now, I’m realizing that the daily grind is actually where you find the winks of God and the miracles of HIS creation. You see rainbows, flowers, mountains, birdies, people of all colors and sizes….and on and on. You have family, friends, relationships that are building…. you have new podcasts and learning each day from mistakes and from what may have been needed to understand. It’s all a NEW experience which cannot be overlooked. Also, you have the unplanned, inconvenient happenings that occur daily which may be exactly what we need and how He gets our attention.
So is what I gave Tatum on August 22nd; the phone call day.
Our days might not be filled with rollercoasters, trips to Antarctica or even the beach, fancy restaurants and getting all dressed up.
It is the big AUGUST 22nd today. Yep, the phone call day E…E…E…ahem. E.L.E.V.E.N years ago today! HUH!? So, I had to surprise her with HER OWN BLOG WEBSITE! Yes, I bought the domain: www.justagirlwholovesparakeets.com
Then, I went to my GoDaddy account and built her a blog. Now, she can blog daily about her little birdie, Amarillo!
Her first two blogs were her FIRST TWO days with little birdie.
You see, I want to encourage her writing. She is such a prolific, articulate writer, and to encourage it is all I can do. I have done this with her reading since she was born, and she is completely obsessed with books and reading. I figure I can nurture and encourage her.
SO, stay tuned! So proud of your efforts, Tot! SO GRATEFUL FOR THIS DAY!
He’s our new chill pill. Yep, our little Amarillo is just one big “go with the flow”-er
Well, what happens when you add Cooper to the mix? Our little white fluff ball is all about playing. He wants to play with Amarillo, and it appears that it starts with the big sniff.
Then he goes in…
Amarillo? He defended himself with a little beak action, and then? THE BIG…..
Kiss? Or not. You be the judge.
Well, I say that they are kinda cute together. Amarillo is not “ruffled” by Coopy, and Coopy does not mistake Rio for a chew toy. This is all very good!
I’ll tell you what…he is so the chillin bird. He sleeps on Tatum’s shoulder as if he were laying down. Truly unruffled.
As you know, we lost Woody two weeks ago in a sad accident. It has been a process of healing and growing. Tatum and I have been waiting for the new birds to become available at Birds and Then Some. Jacqueline kindly told us we would have the FIRST pick of the new two hand fed birds that would be arriving any day. They would be a mix/hybrid of English and American (Australian) breed of parakeet.
According to experts, “The English Budgie and the American Budgie are quite different in appearance as well as their temperament and characteristics; The American Budgie, also called the Australian Budgie, tends to be quite small in size but they can also be loud and vocal in their home.” Conversely, the English Budgie, which is also called the Show Budgie or Exhibition Budgie, is much larger is not as loud or vocal. They tend to be sweeter and more “go with the flow.”
When Tatum met the new two birds, she instantly locked eyes with this one. HE also was a HE which is what she wanted. They hit if off instantly. Tatum wrote about it below:
TATUM’s BLOG:
August 17, 2023
My eyes fixed on two small little parakeets. Which one was him, I thought as I glanced at the female, then the male. As soon as the woman walked over to us I pointed at the male. “ May I please hold him”? I asked with a quivering lip. The small parakeet started to nip at my thumb in a playful way. Tweet , chirp and bounce, tweet, chirp,and bounce, is what this small bundle of joy kept doing. All the sudden I thought of a name, Tweety. But then my mom said the perfect name, Amarillo. The nickname Rio started to scream at me.
Then at the cash register a cute small baby love bird and Rio started to play. The two were adorable and I loved Rio even more.
He continued to puff up his feathers as he was so animated at only 1 1/2 months old!
An hour later me and Rio were in the car playing, but Rio was as silent as a mouse. I had fallen in love with him and I was not going to let him get hurt.
At home I grabbed my iPad and me and Rio watched Dainel tiger. I set the table and then me and Rio were off to learn some Spanish on ,Duolingo. Rio also ate some dinner, seed’s. Then me, mommy, Rio, and Coopy went into the art room to read, Matilda.
Pretty soon it was time to go to bed. Rio went into his cage and I turned on some relaxing classical music for us. Then the lights went off and we went to bed.
Little Amarillo! Rillo!
He is definitely “chill!”
A new era has arrived, and for that we are so grateful.
