Hay Happens and Hay's Happen

Today, being my 47th birthday, I had a chance to reflect a bit. Celebrating a birthday is a bit different these days because of the presence of Facebook. So, there are the face to face birthday wishes, and then there are the ones that come virtually. It is like having one big birthday bash but without all the fluff. I’ll take this because I did receive a lovely note from a past student who put so many things into perspective for me.

Often, we wonder why it is that we went through a difficult season. Then, something comes our way that shows exactly why. Tatum coming into my life is the first reason I know I worked at Tesseract. But then, there’s the students. Occasionally I will receive a thank you note telling me I made a difference in  their lives. One in particular occurred today, and I had no idea that I helped her so much. Yes, with the writing and grammar, but she particularly said I taught her empathy and compassion. What? How about they taught ME this. Anyway, I find it very satisfying to be in this profession for these reasons…making a difference.

Tatum and Mom took me to lunch, and we had CUPCAKES!  She did share a bite with me, the little cupcake lover!

Then when we got home, cards came even from the doggie!
Tatum gave me the sweetest card, and you can even make out what it says. A nice toucan shirt was given to her to present the card to me.

What fun, and what a blessing to celebrate part of my birthday with the most important ladies in my life!

Weeks before Stephanie’s birthday, Tatum and I had a special craft day to make a Mother’s day gift (which I featured in another blog) and a Birthday gift. Now, this little project was going to be so much fun because it involved making CEMENT! Yup, honest to goodness cement!   Tatum was going to make a personalized cement stepping stone for Mommy (with a little guidance from me!).   First things first, we are going mix the cement in a tub with gloves on. The white cement is in the tub ready to be mixed, water bottles at hand, we are go to start!

Hey Doug! I’m getting the glove on. I’m ready to mix the cement! Ok, sounds good I say enthusiastically! I mean, craft projects don’t get better than this – Right?

Then, a voice of reason pops into my head – Sweetie, you better let Doug mix this, it can get kinda messy ya know.

So, I mix the cement and pour it into the heart shaped mold while Tatum sorts all of the jewels.

Check out these cool colors!

Mission accomplished – all sorted! The round shiny ones are the favorites. Let’s put those in first!

Now the really fun part – squishing your hands into the wet cement – Awesome!

That was sooooo fun! Your 3-year old hand forever frozen in time in this soon to be stepping stone. How cool is that!

Finally it’s time: Surprise Mommy – Happy Birthday!

But first the card. Check out the heart and other neat artwork!

Yup – They still fit!

Then straight out the front door, Tatum was determined to get this PERFECTLY placed where all could see.

Looks perfect right there!

Tatum and I had lots of fun making this great birthday memory for Steph (and a great memory for us too!).   The stepping stone says HAPPY B-DAY 2016 but what it really says is:

LOVE

How do Scrabble dice become marshmallows? Or little counting bears become candles and assorted toppings for a cake? With Tatum, she turns the most basic object into a thing of extraordinary wonder.

She made me a birthday party with all the trimmings. The table was set, and the cake was ready. She even had these little assorted lego blocks which became various pieces of candy.

I felt so special to be invited! John, her imaginary friend, was there too. She made sure he had plenty of cake and candles.

 

Thank you, Tot. You are a lovely hostess!

The big T.H.R.E.E.

It was a special day for our friend Jack. See him peeping at her from behind?

She seems to be enamored with Minnie, however.

Then…he approaches. She is still focused on now….Ironman. (shoot, I would be too!)

And then….ta da!! A dinosaur who shoots balls out his butt tail. Now that is one cool toy. Where did that ball go!?We love you, Amy, Mark and Jack.

By Douglas Hay

Mother’s day was fast approaching and I wanted to take Tatum out shopping for a special Mother’s day gift. Then, I got the brilliant idea and we would make this a dual purpose outing and do some Birthday shopping too since Steph’s Birthday is 11 days later! (stay tuned for a future B-day blog).

Alright, I started putting some thought as to where we would go shopping. Well, Steph isn’t into Knick-Knacks, so what would be a cool gift to get: Books (no), jewelry (no), a whatchamacallit that says Happy birthday (no). Ok, this is going to be tougher than I thought. THEN, ah hah! I got the IDEA. Tatum could do a special craft project to commemorate this day and suddenly there were tons of ideas!!!

I settled on a Mug painting project – after all, Tatum told me she like painting on a recent day when Steph and I picked her up from school. But first, we started with the card:

Tatum asked me if this was her in the picture? No sweetie, but I got it because it reminded me of you!

Next, we composed a thoughtful heartfelt letter to Mommy in her card! No Kidding. Check it out in raspberry letters:   t a t u m   There’s some accompanying art work in green just to add a sweet touch! Without further delay, we move to the backyard table to get this project underway!

Pleeeease – can I start Doug?

Absolutely! It’s all yours!

We’ll start with some black and then red

 

Hummm… Kinda looks like Tatum has learned to paint some sort of oriental looking characters at school!

Don’t forget to paint the handle.

Ok, a little more paint to the handle and that should do it. Now, we’ll pop this baby into the oven to cure it and then it will be done.

Happy Mother’s Day Mommy!!   I love you!

 

We had a great time together making this cool gift for a very special mom. Steph, you have such a heart as a mom and we are both are crazy about you! Happy Mother’s day to a very special mom!