Category: Totally Tatum

Tatum would have NO idea. See her at breakfast?

She was excited for a surprise but didn’t know what it would be. All she knew was that she had earned a grand prize with all of her piano practicing.

Little did she know that it would include a weekend away to Flagstaff.

It actually was a new LEGO set, but she would receive it the same weekend we had planned to go. My dear friends, Sharon and Andy, have a 2nd home in a luxurious community in Flag, and they offered to let us stay there. HELLO!! So, how could we turn that down? We would surprise her at school and pick her up early on Friday after her tests (we didn’t want her to miss the whole day since she had tests in the morning). We brought Coopy with us to pick her up. He was the hit of first grade and the whole school, actually.

She was so surprised! First stop, drop off Coopy at Boulder Falls for a nice weekend.

We didn’t want to bring him to the snow. Where am I going???? OH. gosh.

We love you Coopy-head.

Tatum saw the car all filled with suitcases and coats. Are we going to where it is cold??

You’ll see! Then she saw the sled in the back and that kind of gave it away.

When we arrived, we checked in with the guard and drove to the house. The homes in this neighborhood are ginormous! What a treat. We entered the house, and Tatum went right to the back porch and played in the snow. She only had her school clothes on, but she did care??

NOPE! She said she was hungry, and decide to taste it.

She was FAAAREEEEZING, and we had the next surprise she had to get ready for, so we got her all dried and warm and headed out.

We had kind of a bust at Kitt Peak Observatory in the summer, so we decided to go to Lowell Observatory and check out the sun telescope which was in operation. Also, it was so close to where we were staying.

The Rotunda museum was such a beautiful building. Tatum gave us a presentation of Saturn when we got in.

And then she noticed Charon, also known as Pluto I, which is the largest of the five known natural satellites of the dwarf planet Pluto. (BTW, The observatory is where Pluto Percival Lowell, an American astronomer who predicted the existence of a planet beyond the orbit of Neptune …this ended in the discovery of Pluto).

Here is to you, Mama!

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We headed to the sun telescope presentation.

We looked in and saw a large red ball. Isn’t it beautiful and amazing! We looked at the sun!

There were a few wonderful quotes surrounding the viewing deck.

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We then headed to another museum on the property.

We saw a Millionaire!

Not that kind…this kind:

A first telescope

Tatum stood on the moon!

It finally got dark, and we headed to the viewing deck again. What beautiful telescopes awaited us!

Then the Venus telescope!

And there it was….

As bright as ever!

It was phenomenal and awed us how BIG GOD is. However, we were absolutely freezing, so we headed home and guess what we did first?

Daddy and Tatum worked together.

And look at that!

We had some salads and cheers to the takeout cook!

And some Exploding Kittens game. Our new fav. Daddy is trying to trick me and get me exploded; He is pretty sneaky!

We plopped into our warm beds and looked forward to a fun-snow filled day tomorrow.

We can always strive to be better. If we started out as perfect, what would be the need for God? We are to be dependent on Him, and when our weaknesses come out, it’s an opportunity to glorify God and to ask for help.

Such has been the road with Tatum this 1st grade year. Academically, she does pretty well. In fact, in reading, she is at the 3rd-4th grade level. In other areas, she is at grade level or 2nd.
What I look at is her attitude, her work habits, her character, and social skills.

First quarter, she struggled with the wiggles, following directions, listening, and sometimes she didn’t know how to handle conflict with friends. Her neatness needed work too. She had A TON OF good areas, but these weaknesses were bothersome.

As a family, we are intentional. We spend time meeting, praying, discussing how to work together to overcome. WE rely on GOD to help us, realizing that we are not alone.

Mrs. Finnman complimented Tatum on how much she has improved in just 3 months. She accomplishes things first time asked, she is polite to her classmates and to authority. She sits still in chapel and on the carpet, and she is being much neater with her work. ALSO, she is just always kind and helpful.

Her report card shows her improvements.

Tot, we love you so much. I love watching you grow and mature. Man, you are a delight to raise, and I can’t get enough of you! XXOO

This little guy greeted me on the wall in the hallway.

He is the real size of a Rockhopper: About 20 inches.

Then she wrote the story about Sal.

Sal was a good friend!

Get ready to say, “Wow” when you hear about this fuzzy little guy. Tatum has been assigned to study penguins, and she was given the Rockhopper specifically to study.

Did you know that a rockhopper hops from rock to rock as in the term “Rockhopper.” Her assigment is due on January 21st, but she finished the whole thing one week ahead of time.

Oh, note that she enjoyed a Kale shake as she reported. She insisted I make her one of my specialties.

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Ok, now focus!
Cooper was out since he did not want a kale shake.

Here we go!
Read up!

She found this info on four resources. SO proud of her! We had so much fun. I think the Kale shake was the secret sauce. ?

Tatum has lots of kids. I mean there’s Charlie, Pierce, Tommy, Luke…All boys, you see.

Here’s how it goes: She loves to browse pictures of herself as a baby. We have gone through the 2’s and 3’s. She picks out about 12 pics since she has 12 plastic frames. We just went through the 1’s, and I got them developed. (she pays with her allowance).

Then, she plays with them. She gives each one a name like Charlie today.

Charlie came to school with us.

Supposedly he was crying all morning, so I have to keep my eye on him while she’s at school. After I pick her up, she’ll ask, “How was Charlie today?” And I’ll assure her he was in the best hands.

Oh, my sweet girl; I love how your creative brain works. Also, how you love to love. You love to nurture and care for others and you show this with how you love on your toys/kids/dolls/pictures.

When we got home from school, she pulled them all together and decided to read to them.

How about the story of Cain and Abel?

Yes, yes! Apparently “Cain was 100 years old and was in room 12 at Hospice. Abel visited him and while there, God showed Cain his life in front of him. He showed him that when he was 16, he could have lived better if he had prayed more to God.”

OK, I don’t know where she got this story, but it has so much wisdom in it. Again, I love her brain.

Her kids are listening intently.

You are one of a kind and I absolutely adore you.

Today, Tatum had her seven year old check-up. First, I can hardly believe we’ve come this far so fast!

She is up to 41.75 inches

and 38.4 lbs.

Vitals look good!
(We have the same blood pressure; mine is usually very low)

Dr. Bloomenthal commented all looked awesome.

EXCEPT:
She is not keeping up with the height chart. Her growth has stalled.

Her weight percentile is just fine.

She will be referred to an endocrinologist to just make sure everything is ok.

Stay tuned!

One of the presents we got Tatum for Christmas was this cool camper Lego set. I wanted to spend quality time with Tatum as much as possible over the Christmas break, so this present would allow this.

I had no idea 344 pieces could be so time-consuming. However, we tag-teamed and made it go by much faster.

She would do a bit, then I would find the pieces and I would do a bit.

It SLLLLLOOOOOOOWWWWWLLLLLYYYY came together.

Then the camper.

HOW CUTE! The little kitchen inside has all kinds of appliances…

It’s always fun to play with the TOT!