It was a miracle. Truly. The whole week of November 20th, I was not doing well. Nope. My body was not moving and my mojo was dead. I was so nervous about pulling off Thanksgiving with Austin and my mom. BUT, Alas. I woke up feeling like a human, and YES! I could make the sides, and my honey could smoke our lovely little turkey.
Tatum made my day with a little picture to say I LOVE YOU.
Then, off to the kitchen to get my groove on. Mashed cauliflower, Roasted maple carrots, green beans, and some salad. It would be delightful with daddy’s winning smokey masterpiece.
I had Tatum work on the table decorations. She made each place setting, and made it look welcoming.
She also got all perty in her new Old Navy warm up suit. Oh, my…she is beautiful! (Photo bomb by Coopy)
Mama and Austin came over early, and they intensely…(srsly!) played the game of SORRY. Again, maybe sorry we played this?
Let’s lighten it up with a few pics, k?
Oh, look at that…my lil QTpie.
And who is the other star of the day? THIS HHH! Look at his masterpieces? Still SMOKIN and LOOKS DELISH!
We are a great team, honey!
We had no problem eating this…
Oh, look at my family for whom I’m so very grateful.
A success because we not only enjoyed the meal, but we enjoyed just being together. Simple and fun. I’m so blessed to have this family. It may be small, but it is MIGHTY! God is good all the time; all the time, God is good.
One. One. How did this happen? Eleven years of blessings beyond belief from this vivacious, dynamo of a kiddo. God has lent me this girl, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
She woke up to a card that maximized a hug for her and a “let’s go buy a book today!”
AND SO… at 9am, the minute Barnes and Noble opened, we were there. Coffee, books, and relax. aaaahhhh.
While she read, I put the new cover on her new…..well, yes, phone.
Ok, here’s the scooperama on that. She uses my old iPhone for pictures, music, and some podcasting capabilities (recording). I figure that I shouldn’t fight the “NO PHONES” until she’s 16, and then BOOM, here’s a fancy computer (phone) with all kinds of capabilities. Dumb. No, you work up to it with building trust. You also work WITH your child to teach them how to be responsible with this powerful device. Liken it to you not just handing over the keys to a car and so, “good luck driving.” You drive with them for at LEAST 6 months, teaching them the ins and outs of how to drive and what NOT to do. SO…as is with a phone.
Verizon had a deal that I could turn in my phone and add a new phone to our family plan for free. AND, I could disable the SIM card so the phone number would not be active. She would only be able to text me ( or other iPhone users). Also, she could download APPS ONLY after it texted me to ask if OK. AND…no phone number until we are ready for that capability (texting too). It’s a great way to build trust and also make it so the phone isn’t this “TABOO” thing until _____. It’s like withholding candy. They go BERSERK behind your back…so we work on this together and I teach her tech responsibility and tech manners (and tech balance).
After three days, it’s already lost its “thrill.”
Ok, onto the festivities of the day. After the surprise B and N, Verizon visits, I made some pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting (all dairy, sugar, and gluten free!). YUM! (She’s off dairy and gluten right now due to some health issues…:-(, but we make the best of it!) (actually they taste better)
Ok…thennnnnn, I said, let’s go see a movie! TROLLS 2. SO fun, so 3-D, here we come.
OH, but WAIT!!! FIRST< we must go outside and see what Daddy has in the back of his car.
Let’s “scoot” on over to check it out.
Matches your shoes and all, oh, and we got TURBO (which means that you can GOOOOOO as fast as those green shoes will take you, my love.)
FIRST< a GAME to say, “SORRY.”..I must beat your booty!
So, after all this fun, we said to meet at the dining room table for some more lovin’ fun.
All her cards decided to sing to her, and did she have a dance in her step.
Snoopy NEVER gets old.
Truly the BEST DAY EVAH was 11.22.
And our fav ….HOOPS and YO YO!~ Little fun gifts….socks, ornaments…and her new video game (she ‘s been asking for this and it’s parent/family approved)
To top it allllll off, some dairy free, coconut-whipped-topped with marshmallow birthday sundae.
That’s right. This little light of mine. I love to see her shine, and she truly brightens EVERY minute of my day. Even the dim moments, she still flickers love.
Cooper, are you coming? He doesn’t look too enthused.
OK, getting all set up!
Class PIC! She’s dealing with quite a few personalities here, so her classroom management skills are getting refined.
Go, Tatum! You are a natural! She reads to them, helps them with grammar, and helps their math skills. LOVE IT! OH, and she sings with them and teaches them BIBLE!
It was time for the Mommy to get a haircut. The Big M and some unwanted health drama is not kind to hair. AND not coloring it for a few weeks, well, you get the drift. Time for a change! Brandy again to the rescue.
AND, HHH and I had a chance to go to dinner (it’s been EONS!), so we got all dressed up. ….well, dressed up, that is, from our loungies.
Close up! Isn’t he cute?
But it wouldn’t be a perfect evening if the TOT didn’t get in the pic.
