Hay Happens and Hay's Happen

Tot and I are starting our summer today. We always start with our Gratitude Journal. Today, we prayed for Daddy to have a great day at work. His valve project was going through some major challenges, and today, there may be a light at a the end of the valve tunnel. We lift him up, Jesus!

Today, we are adding a bit of brain work. We don’t want the her brain turning to oatmeal during summer.

We’ll do a little bit everyday like last summer.

Cooper waits patiently for her to be finished.

He gave up and then played squeak with his toys.

Here’s your yogurt; I love you!

Later, we opted to help Daddy get organized. He has adopted a little place in the house to keep his stuff, and I feel bad he has nowhere to “park.”

So we got him an organizer. Tot, Coop, and I built it.

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Tot helped so much!

We hope it helps you, Daddy.

Now we are off to Hubbard! We haven’t been there in 3.5 years! She used to go from 6 months old to 3.

We are back now for Jellyfish.

They welcomed her with open arms!

She is doing great! What a great start to our summer. I love you!

Tatum and I decided to decorate Cooper’s space with some patriotism. He needs to appreciate this wonderful country as well!

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He loves it! More to come on Monday when we celebrate our fallen heroes.

Now, we have been playing non-stop with Cooper. His little personality is so vivacious and loving.

Tatum and Coop just love each other.

He’s learning so much from her! Especially board games. Cooper, can you find the match?

Then he plays plays plays!

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New toys make him so happy! The duck and the purple dog were today. Chloe (Tot’s old doggie toy) is so fun to run around with. He cannot get enough.

He’s just chewing everything in sight right now, so we have to keep stock of MANY chew toys.

And then he just konks out and chills and that cuddle is awesome.

Daddy had the best idea of how to get him to sleep through the night. He now sleeps right next to me in his portable crate. There is much rejoicing in the house now as he sleeps through the night.

Looking forward to Memorial Day.

Upon peeing on his grass pee pad, he went to bed in peace in his little crate. Now, we were seriously rejoicing.

About midnight, we hear this howling! And guess what? It continued through the night. Finally about 6am, we let him out. He howled some more from hunger since he didn’t eat last night.

He scarfed down his food, went right to his grass pad and peed and pooped! Hooray! This usually is a huge problem, but we are able to let him follow us around in the house which he did all day.

He was also as playful as can be today! Chasing everything and running all over!

Then it was time to run an errand and he got so sad. Howl howl!

It’s ok puppy; we’ll be right back!

Tatum went to get beautiful which didn’t take any time since she already is.

Thank you, Brandy!

Here we come little buddy! Now, if only we could sleep tonight. The minute he can’t see us, he goes a bit berserk.

Six years ago, Tatum became my daughter officially! It is always a special day. To celebrate, I made her a strawberry smoothie; the secret ingredient is love.

I think she likes it!

Well, today, is our pickup day for COOPER!!! Besides Tot and Daddy, the best present of them all.

We bought a portable crate for the car.

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We showed up at 1, and he was ready to go.

Liliana gave us all of his papers. His pedigree is quite impressive. Emma’s (his mom) grandfather was an award-winning Coton in the world!
Flash Dancer! I think Cooper’s sparkling personality comes from him.

He’s ready to come home; car ride home.

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He seems pretty comfortable here!

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He did whine a bit when we would leave the room. But he seemed to really warm up to us.

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When is Daddy going to get home?

It’s true love. He bonded with Coop immediately!
We tried to get him to eat, but it was no good. He just had no appetite.

We just cuddled with him for a while before we gave Tatum her Love GIFT.

I gave her a card telling her how much I love her and how God has amazing plans for her life! Her light SHINES!

She got a new watch because she had spent her hard earned allowance on a watch that did not work. So Daddy bought her a nice one.

I just can’t get enough of the little guy. Between Tatum, Daddy, and Cooper, there is a lot of love going on!

Just love this little guy! Tatum was pretty focused on the watch for a few while I cuddled.

We tried feeding him some treats and he played with them more than eat them.

It was getting time for bed so we tried out the crate.

It was getting time to put him down, and we prayed he’d sleep through the night. He probably would miss his puppy family, but soon he’ll adapt.

He peed on his grass pad right before putting him down! No problem!!!

I love you sweet boy. I love you Tatum!!! I love you Daddy. Lots of love.

How did he do? Find out tomorrow.

I love hummingbirds. Did you know….

My honey gave me a card that had this on the back. I think it’s symbolic of what we need to have more of in our lives. We are so encumbered by our schedules. But what if we lived with more grace and more recognition of the beauty around us. We create it with what we choose to focus on.

Doug gave me that reminder for my birthday. Now, for a gift, I get Cooper, but he gave me more of a gift tonight. The gift of time with me at Ruth Chris steakhouse.

How handsome is my man? I am proud to be with him also because of that handsome heart of his.

When we sat down, they made me feel so special. Reserved for a lovely couple.

We decided to play “questions” for a while, and interestingly, we had a few misunderstandings and conflicts. But, what came out of it is what counts. We got more clarity! It’s so cool how that works. He held my hand and assured me of what was worrying me. In this way, he is a leader. He knows what I need and how to help. We also always talk and pray it out.

Then, he gave me the cutest card ever!!

Look who is on the front?

Looks just like little Cooper!

But more importantly, what he wrote inside. He never forgets the important things. His heart is full of love and desire to grow.

He is KING of the little things; he never forgets. I’m honored, blessed, and so grateful. 50 ain’t so bad! It is only going to get better. Thank you, dear husband, for being my HHH and for blessing me. Love you to pieces.

One of the skills Tatum needs is better writing. I also am a big believer in writing our thoughts down because it helps us process. Third, add an element of being grateful daily, you have a trifecta of an activity.

Enter:

Every morning, Tatum and I will write in our respective journals.

First, we will read the Bible verse for the day. Then, we will write what we are grateful for for the day. Then, we’ll talk and write about our verse following a prayer and who we will serve today.

This was the first day, so it was about making the commitment.

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I did it with her. We will do 7 days straight to get the habit going, and then a little reward. The summer will be so much fun doing this with her!
Plus, we’ll be focusing on what we are grateful for, and how can that ever be a negative thing?

I am so proud of you, Tot!