This was Tatum the minute we got home from Flagstaff.
103.5 degree temperature. YOIKEEEE!!! We decided to wait picking up Cooper until tomorrow. Luckily Monday is MLK Jr. Day, so it’s a day off school.
The whole day, she only ate apple sauce and crackers.
On Sunday evening, we talked about our trip and all the wonders of being together for our 4th HAA. Yes, I pulled out the whiteboard since you can’t take the teacher out of the girl.
These are our “Plays Of The Weekend (POW’s)” or our highlights!
A bit closer for the rest of the POW’s
Daddy and I also noticed some definite differences in Tatum.
I’m so incredibly grateful that we got to go to Flag. Sharon and Andy are so special to us and they allowed this to happen. We love you guys!
More importantly, we all got to be together. Thank you, Hay Family. I love you so very much and would do anything for you.
We woke up Saturday morning NOT bright and early…and there was much rejoicing. The plan was to go on a little nature walk outside with all of our warm clothes on. Playing outside now was much more enjoyable (perhaps?) because she was CLOTHED in waterproof clothing.
Daddy got his gear on as did I, and we headed out. (his jacket is quite exciting!)
Now, it was only about 25 degrees out, and to us that was freezing, but the sun was out so it wasn’t terribly unbearable.
We noticed that the names on the streets had some girl’s names. Note, Tatum Isabella Hay.
Aren’t they cute?
We also spied many icicles. The ones on this house were quite intriguing because they were going sideways.
Tatum was getting pretty winded on our walk. She was having a harder time than usual. (HMMMMMM…Little did we know….)
We got home and then headed out again for our surprise. We were going to go to a tubing park to play and ride tubes in the snow. We arrived, and guess what!??? They were all sold out. FOR THE WHOLE DAY. Ugh. So, plan B. We figured we’d find our own hill and sled (PRAISE GOD that Doug brought a sled). Oh, and it was free!
First a little snow play.
and then the WEEEEEEEE!! Tatum went first and then we went down together. My steering was a bit off.
Back up and down again and again. Daddy had to go park the car so he only joined us for a few runs, but honestly, we were tired out! The longer “DOWN” you go the more “UP” you have to go. Yes, that’s the dirty little secret of sledding.
Again, Tatum seemed kind of off at lunch. She slowed down a bit faster than usual. We weren’t sure what was up. About two hours after lunch, she said she felt terrible. I felt her forehead and it was burning up. I didn’t need a thermometer to tell me how sick she was. We searched the house for some aspirin. Luckily they had 500mg tabs, so we cut it in 1/2 and had her chew it. Not ideal, but it worked until we’d go out and buy some Motrin. Meanwhile, we’d watch some Bugs Bunny, Tasmanian devil, Sylvester, Roadrunner, and Jetsons cartoons. That was pretty fun in itself!
The rest of the night was pretty mellow. We had a quiet dinner with, of course, Exploding Kittens. The Motrin kicked in, allowing her to play for a bit. Then, she went right to sleep.
We would head home early the next morning.
A SUPER fun day, despite this hiccup. Oh, Tot. I’m so sorry you feel yucky.
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!
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.
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
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.
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.
