Happy Birthday Mama!!

We love celebrating, but especially when it’s for our favorite Grandmama!

We invited her over for a special dinner, and Tatum couldn’t wait to see her.

I just think she looks so beautiful. It’s hard to believe she turned 85 today. She looks like she is 65! Her spirit sure is youthful. Tatum says, you betcha!

It was time to get the din din on the table, so I got the salmon all cooked and the parsnip fries all crispy. I wanted to try something new for Mama, so we went for parsnips!

The evening was lovely as we doted on Mama and showered her with little gifts.

Later, it was time for her favorite: chocolate covered ice cream cones!

AND…of course, Tatum serenading her.

Last but not least, Tatum made her a card.

She lights up our lives!

We love you to pieces, Mama. Many many more years to come.

Belated 9-year old annual exam

Dr. Bloomenthal is busy! We had to cancel our Jan. appt for her annual checkup, and her next opening was late March. So we waited….

The day came, and I picked her up early from school.

Weight?

Height?
SHE HAS GROWN!

46.5 inches tall. Wowza!

She was so excited when she saw Tatum. Dr.’s boys are the same age as Tatum so she always enjoys hearing about Tot’s interests. She always comments on how kind and smart Tot is!
ALSO, she is keeping up with her “peers” in height and weight. Proportions are perfect.

HEIGHT:

WEIGHT

The Tot is growing. Disneyland, here we come! We appreciate you, Dr. Rachel Bloomenthal.

Appreciation Dinner March 2022

The fourth Monday of the month we like to share our appreciations for each other. I make a nice dinner, we sit a the dining room table, and share/love/enjoy.

I made steelhead trout with a nice tangy marinade. YUM!

Daddy is so excited he’s eyes are closed as he dreams of the deliciousness waiting for him!

I love spoiling my family.

We appreciated Daddy first: TOT, you go!

She used colorful adjectives and explained as she read.

Then I shared. I could have gone on for many pages for my HHH. (IA = I appreciate)

Then Tot shared about me. Just wow. My ability to overcome? My love for the family. These are things I didn’t even realized she noticed. Thank you.

Then Daddy shared about me. I’m so grateful.

And then we shared about the TOT!
Me first:

(again, so many more, but I had to stop somewhere)

And then Daddy shared about Tot.

So grateful for our family. Appreciation is daily, but we memorialize it on one day in the month.

Bert, Ernie, Rose and Larry? Ladybug family

She got into the car yesterday with her new kids. Yes, she adopted some new critters from recess!
They all got names as they each have distinct personalities. They also have a new Trader Joe’s water bottle home cozied with dandelions.

She got home from school and gave them dinner of raisins and lettuce.

Very happy little ladybugs.

And even more happy when she lets them crawl in nature.

The drive of this girl! Grades, Martha, and Perseverance

Tatum just complete the 3rd quarter! Wow! The year is getting harder, but she continues to shine. Now, her History grade went down a bit, but with the project coming up, she’ll raise her grade. She is doing project and presentation on Martha Washington.

First, here is her report card.

But…and this is a BIG but…. I look at the character. (grades help too).

Look at what Mrs. King wrote:

Sweet, sensitive, and a servant’s heart. YES! She sees what I see. Often she is comforting a hurting student.

Now, what I see at home…much of this, but even more.


Tatum came into our room this Sunday morning with a two-page essay she completed. Now, she had already completed it for Martha Washington, but we cut it up and put it on her board for presentation.

She apparently woke up in the middle of the night with a realization:
OH NO! I have to turn this essay on Monday, and we cut it up! I need to rewrite it!

So she woke up at 5 am (on her own) and did this whole thing:


Bursting in our room at 6:30am, she showed me her paper.

So I told her she had showed some tremendous character traits by doing this;

Perseverance

Responsibility

Respect

Attention to Detail

Diligence

and Intentionality

SO proud of you for being WHO you are. Your fruit is juicy!

Sowing and Reaping: A TRUE GARDEN!

Gardening is such a Godly endeavor. It truly embodies the idea of life: The more we sow seeds of love, joy, peace, patience…. the more we reap this in our lives. We plant, we get TEN, TWENTY, ONE HUNDRED fold. What a beautiful concept.

Tatum is learning this concept of giving. Giving OUT with how she speaks and acts. The tongue can be a mighty force of giving LOVE or stealing joy. She is choosing love.

Patience is required when you plant seeds (or when you use kind words and you don’t get back kindness sometimes) James 5: 7-8: “Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”

I tell this to Tatum. You continue to be kind no matter what. Later, it will come back in spades.

Daddy is illustrating this for us with the garden he has made in our back yard. JUST WOW!

Isn’t it glorious!?

Stay tuned for the crop we will sow and reap. Thank you, Daddy for showing how this works, and thank you Father for being our teacher of this law.

May we continue to sow seeds of the fruits of the Spirit.