Category: SAHM I am

Sunday is usually our Football Day, and Tatum loves to sport the jersey. She’s always asking about the “little birdie” on her sleeves, and we remind her it’s the Cardinals. Great C word which I’ve added to her lessons of course. They had no Fitzgerald jerseys (the were $150..HELLO!), so she’s sporting a Peterson 21. He plays some thing like left field or goalie or safety or something ( haha)Anyway, it was a winning day, so Doug offered to take her to the park to play some real sports! Real girls get real dirty, so I geared her up with her tennies and lots of Thieves spray

Golf was first, however, she did not realize this club was to be used as a club. Not a mallet or hockey stick or whacker. (sorry Doug)

At one point she saw a dog go by. “Squirrel!” moment. “Doggie! Hi doggie!” All was lost at this point.

Ok, Focus Tatum…there ya go.
No, don’t put the ball in; PUTT the ball in.  Ok, never mind. Hole in one!!

It was time to change courses. Baseball is much safer, right? Especially when your bat and ball are nerfy. Doug was safe when she bopped him on the head by accident and threw the ball at different parts of his body. (she apologized profusely!) OK…time for bowling since how could anyone get hurt here? Nobody except a few ants, right?

Doug: Roll a strike! (Ahem..Doug? She doesn’t know what this means)

Tatum: throws the ball and hits two pins. Throws the other ball and hits two more. (key word: “throws”)Then whacks the rest with her hands. 

Doug: I think that counts! STRIKE!

So, he slightly altered the rules for all three games, but she had a blast, had no major injuries; Doug kept all of his limbs, and me? I loved every minute of them enjoying each other.

This girl of mine? She’s shining every where she goes, and people notice. She’s a kind, silly, sweet as pie little child, and I love her so much.

Thank you Doug for making it a great Sporty day. Who needs the Cardinals when you can watch Tatum sport it up or at least find every dog in the park.

Of course we had to start at Trader Joe’s! Bev was dressed as a Minion as well, so they had to pose! She was playing “Dave.” Tot? She is more like Bob, but he only had one eye!Then, when we got home, Tot’s bed became “toddlerized.” And she was bouncing around like a monkey! She pretended a bottle was a microphone and belted out some tunes. Then collapsed in laughter.

We eventually got Coti in his Bat costume. (after much consternation)And voila!

Tatum is ready to hit the road.  She ended up having a bite of Butterfinger and Heath Bar.

I told her she could have her lollipop tomorrow. She asked me if she could have one lick after church. Should I? We shall see! (Don’t you love it when a parent says that!?)

We had the MIM to ourselves today! And…we had no idea that it would be the treat of all treats!

Upon visiting the European instrument portion, and avoiding the school that just arrived, we ventured down for the show. What show!? Supposedly, once a month, they have a concert, and today, it was to be the trombones from ASU! Now, would Tatum be able to sit through an hour long concert? Let’s find out.

First, these ASU students were dressed in nice rainbow shirts, and they had quite the array of talent to boot. The conductor, was Douglas Yeo, and was he a gem!

Supposedly, he was with the Boston Symphony for 30 years and now teaches at ASU.

Tatum sat quietly enjoying each piece as well as these short interludes.

The best part was when the conductor performed his solo from “Peter Gynt.” Dem tromBONES! Wow!He introduced it with saying that he never expects his students to do something he wouldn’t’ do, so one of his students did the conducting, and he did the performing! What a sound message: MODEL! HE paused at one point (and we all thought it was over), and Tatum yelled, “Good job!” Douglas became red in the face and smiled. I became red as well! Excuse us! HE played with poise, preciseness and perfection.

It’s a definite that we will attend each of these mini-concerts since the venue is small and it’s so easy and inexpensive. She is learning so much culturally as well (as am I!)

Finally, we hit the gift shop and guess what we found?Yes, besides these…(which I had to buy of course!)

A HARMONICA! She couldn’t say it quite correctly, so she called it her trombone. She puffed away at it making various sounds, discovering it has quite a range of noise! Her delight made it all worth it. When we got home, her first thought was to show/scare Coti! *wince*

“Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.”-Martin Luther

(even if sometimes the music isn’t so musicy!)

Dress rehearsal. The goggles! Yep. It has the “Oh my GOODNESS! Look at her!” effect. And so it was. The little minion idea was created, and she was into it because she likes to be funny. The goggles are not the most comfortable eyewear, so she knew that for music class, she’d have to bear it for a few Kodak moments. This week, it was the “Pumpkin Patch” party, so she had to sport her costume. Finding the right jumper was a challenge, but bingo! We got it.

I could just eat her up! As usual, each class, she has to choose a way to tap her name on the drum. This week, it was the pinky finger. Ms. Mary, our bumbly bee teacher, couldn’t stop laughing at Tot this week because she just had that effervescence. They visited the virtual pumpkin patch and Tatum pretended she was grabbing the largest pumpkin on the lot.

My little Minion posed with Sullivan (firefighter), Morgan (Princess Elsa), Harley (Marshall from Paw Patrol), Berkeley (a pink cat), and Emma the angel (and she really is)
Now if you look up Minion, you’ll find it means, “a loyal servant of another person.” Yes, my girl is truly LOYAL as she shows her love and joy daily to her family and friends.  Another term she is learning is to have a “Servant’s Heart” like her Savior, Jesus. My little Tatum, may you shine!

I love this girl so much. Loving someone this much, unconditionally, takes no work when it comes to Tatum. My daughter, my sweet little girl, absolutely knocks my knickers off. So, I might not wear knickers, but if I did, they’d be flying off into outer space with the amount of awe I have for this kiddo. She actually reminds of a juicy grape. But, she did not start out that way.

This little raisin has been producing more plumpness as time has gone on. Now, what is it that makes me crazy about her? Our negotiations. I have become the prime negotiator as she usually has to have her way. (I know..a little girl wanting her way. Whoda thunk!?) For example, every single morning, we have to decide what will come first: Coti going out, her baba or the morning “ride.” When we finally get to her ride,….well, I should say morning push because she doesn’t really “ride” the bike quite yet….she sports her grapey little jacket. It keeps her cozy warm as she learns to turn right and left and not run into the wall. Ha!Then, there are the lessons. She wants to please! We discuss the desired behavior incessantly. Tatum, you will listen and honor your teacher. Of course, she knows that she must obey if she wants a big smile from mommy. But more importantly, she is learning the concept of respect. Today, she wanted to wear these grape-colored Cressi Crabs. They sure helped her see more clearly. Wouldn’t it be great if all we needed was a pair of grape Cressi’s to be able to see the clear picture?

Tatum, FOCUS! (sometimes I have to remind her)

Then, of course there is the little shopper’s need to empty the basket and hand and name each item to the cashier. (Hopefully, it’s Kevin, her favorite TJ’s employee). She finishes, pushes in the tray, returns her cart and rushes to get her stickers. This kiddo has it down.

Every single solitary day, I understand how fruit is produced. Pruning must occur. As John 15 points out that without the struggle and the pruning of some challenges , plump juicy grapes could not be produced on the vine. So is it with raising Tot. We fall forward every day as we work through being the best we can be (with what God has given us!) Some may wonder what it is that makes me so crazy about her? Well, just hang around her for more than one second, and you’ll see why. She’s charming, funny, creative, and will keep you on your toes! She’s as sweet as a bunch of grapes. And the great thing? This little orb continues to get more and more juicy and plump every day. How can it not be with God’s love and her family’s love pouring all over her.

I can only be “grape”ful.

Hat: Check. Sunscreen: Check. Tennies: Check. Music: Check. We are off to Old MacDonald with our Mom’s group! Oh, yes, did I bring my stroller to carry a pumpkin? Nope. Did I bring extra water? Nope. Ok, so I’m not completely prepared, but we arrived early enough that it was not too busy, and I figured we could get some help.
As usual, the car ride is a karaoke party. Tot and I sing along to Laurie Berkner songs like “We are the Dinosaurs, I’m Gonna Catch you, There’s a Mouse in my Toolbox, The Cookie Bakers of the Night..” It’s one big songfest. Good thing nobody can hear me but Tot!

Arrival time: 9:04. Wow! How many acres is this place? It’s Old West Disneyland!

HI MOMS and Kiddos!!!

We are ready. First stop: Pony Rides! Cricket, the pony is a great sport, because Tatum cried for a few moments when she first plopped down. Is this going to hold me? She’s thinking I’m sure. Plus her helmet was flopping all over the place. I held her steady on the pony the whole time and she was so brave. If it wasn’t for the floppy top, she’d be a star on that Cricket!

After realizing she couldn’t reach the pedals…

We opted for the petting zoo. For 3 bucks, we bought a cone of pellets for these aggressive little dudes. They jumped right on top of her, so I took over…

And here he comes…!

Hello Mr. Goat!

More animals to see now….finally a nice little one. Whatcha got in your hand?
Let’s go this way to see the….
Pig Sheep, goats..
and..oh, now he wants some love!
Ok..enough of the petting thing. Let’s go where the action is! There’s GOLD down here in these parts!
Painted gold rocks. Hmmm.

OK, so now, where was that pumpkin patch? On the way to the hayride, we got distracted with a carpet covered bull and lasso. Ride ’em cowgirl!

An opportunity to show our strength. Tatum could barely lift the tool to test it. 
I of course wanted to show my strength  (LOL) but…oh look! There it is!!! We found the hayride. We got lucky with a hayride almost all to ourselves so we could chat with the driver. Lovely ol’ chap. 

To the pumpkins we go!

This one will work. C’mon kiddo, it’s 95 degrees in October. Let’s pick one!Yahoo! On the way back, more distraction.  All I can say here is Thank God for indoor plumbing. Say goodbye to the ducks and hello to our cool car. The shower is the first stop when we get in the house. Thank you Ol’ MacDonald for a “HAY”PPY Day!

There’s a museum for that! It’s called the I.D.E.A museum, and oh does it live up to its name. When you first walk into the museum, there are multiple sized xylophones to bing and bong. It is tough to just get inside because these are so inviting.

When Doug, Tot and I arrived, we first discovered socks were needed for the “art” room. This was more like a tumble, rattle and roll around room. Not impressed here. However, Doug built, Tot climbed through and plopped down the blocks that Doug built. Just like the story says…they definitely needed to be built of stone and not cushions!

Next stop, the recycle art center. They have bins and bins of plastic scraps, egg cartons and water bottles. I attempted to make an aerodynamic race car with an egg carton part and plastic Downey lids, and to no avail…well, no strong glue..FAIL. Doug and Tot, however, cranked out a supersonic rocket made out of a paper towel roll. Who knew these could be so useful!?Then of course we had to add to our scrap fun by making something out of glitter glue, felt, popsicle sticks and confetti scraps.

It was hard to hide that RIGHT BEHIND us there was…the iPad invasion. Yes, many little seat with opportunities to draw. I said, “Two minutes” because Tot took to this like white on rice. What is it about these darn machines?There was one cool part of the museum where they have an iPad set up in front of a “scene.” You create action figure legos, and then make a movie with the iPad. You pick the music etc..Then RECORD! She just wanted to hit the Music buttons.

Finally, I convinced her that we had to go have tea with the Mad Hatter.

I was lucky that I wore my glow in the dark electrified fluorescent shirt! We looked simply radioactive..and we even saved Humpty Dumpty.

We barely scratched the surface of this treasure of a place, as we just touched the surface of the train exhibit. We are definitely going back to make art out of scraps, dine with Alice, build a train or two, and just have some creative fun.

Thanks for taking pictures, Doug!