Hay Happens and Hay's Happen

We decided to hang out with Mama on New Year’s Eve; we would ring in the New Year at 8pm. HA!

First, we played a game of Scrabble. This was enough to fill my cup, (my mom’s too). Tot and Doug? They’ll get there with my favorite game.

Later, we had a nice salad dinner and Tatum enjoyed adorning herself with the table decor.

Hot fudge sundaes later which is mandatory the night before a new year.

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Time to cuddle with Coopy who came with us to Mom’s house. We are trying to get Coti and Coopy to be friends.

He’s so stinkin’ cute!

More fun pics.

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We are excited to have new memories and new adventures in 2020. We hope Mama continues to stay healthy too. She adores my hubby as do I.

Cooper was SOOOOO tired when we got home. All the excitement wore him out.

Good night sweet boy. 2020 here we come!

I love my FAMILY.

Tatum had her teeth cleaned yesterday. She is looking good! The dentist suggested she see an orthodontist next year. 8 years old! Wow, they do it differently these days.

Her x-rays show her teeth here.

I love her smile!

Doug has known Don and Leti for over 25 years. He used to spend time with them weekly, and for the past 9 months, he hasn’t seen them once! I know it has been hard on Doug. Moreover, I have wanted to get to know better them since they are terrific people.

They just moved out to Queen Creek, and they also got two horses! This was definitely another reason to go visit.

When we arrived, Tatum instantly noticed their jungle gym. Guess what she wanted to do??
P….L…A…Y! She viewed the horses after I pointed to them.

Do you see that big mommy hand pointing?

NOW do you see it??

Well, she just couldn’t wait to ride. But first, we had a lovely salmon lunch. GLORY BE was it delicious!
Don got Tatum already to climb aboard. But first, she enjoyed getting to know Muffin and Legit.

Then Don helped her on and away she went. Kiara helped out too since they are her horses

After only maybe 5 minutes, she was done. May I get down please?

We know one thing: Horses at our McCormick house will not be in our future.

It was such a fun time. I hope that we all can go horse-back riding as a family one day.

Don and Leti, we adore and love you. We hope to see you soon!

For Christmas, Tatum got some colored clay, and I couldn’t wait to play with her! We first decided to make a pig. Luckily, they had step by step directions.

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And then we worked on the doggie.

You basically start out with making little balls and then forming them onto the clay.

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And then they were friends.

I used to go there ALL THE TIME when I was single. It was my favorite place to lose myself in art and lose track of time.

This was our first time going as a whole family! I wondered how long Tatum would take since she usually finished quickly.

We all got started. Daddy worked on a mug. He is so diligent on his detail as well as artistic. Tatum worked on a cute little puppy. I suggested she look at some ideas before she jumped in.

She was so focused!

I worked on a tile for Tatum; it’s her mission statement and life verse. I hope it looks good after the kiln!

Doug’s turned out great!

He was inspired by Psalm 46:10 (Be still and know that I am God) and GCU. Hooray!

We had SOOOOO much fun! I can’t wait to go back. Art is so bonding.

And so we did!
Do you think it will be enjoyed?
I’m sure whoever gets it will love wearing it.

The 12 Days have ended. I only hope the joy of giving and serving becomes a habit every day.

Next year, we’ll do it again!

A few days before Christmas, Tatum spotted a singing Hippo at Fry’s Grocery Store. Upon pushing his paw, he belts out, “I wanna hippopotamus for Christmas.” She fixed her mind on it, not to be changed. I noticed the price to be $14.95, and I told her that the day after Christmas, it would be 1/2 that price. She was going to have to pay for it with her allowance, so if she waited, she’d save $7.50. Could she wait?

She reminded me every day that on Thursday morning, we’d head to Fry’s to buy that 1/2-priced singing hippo. Well, the day arrived, and when we got there, there was ONE left. The lady scanned it and guess what!? It was $7.49. She did a happy dance, and the hippo and Tatum were united. Her patience paid off.

And he’s been singing to us ever since. The brilliant toymaker allows one to click the button again and he shuts off. Hooray!

Later that day, I spotted her using TWO of her other Christmas gifts. She was doing a sermon to her kids. She was teaching them (on her new microphone) from the Bible and had them memorize part of one of the Gospels, Mark. She had them first memorize that there were 4 (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) all told from different points of view. It was so cute!

Her heart for Jesus and her patience (which is a fruit of HIM) shines through. I love watching her.