Hay Happens and Hay's Happen

the BIG DAY!
Tatum and I decided we would stay home today and make crafts, enjoy being home, and just have fun. We also had a meeting with her new teacher, Mrs. Holman. This was my idea because I wanted to make sure all of my ducks were in a perfect line before school started.

Our craft was just delightful. We made little animals out of egg cartons.

Painting first, then decorating.

After piggy and chicken, we made a family for the chickie and some friends for piggy.

So cuuuuute!

Now it was time to go meet her teacher. I had questions about the drop off, pick up, how can I volunteer, and to just get to know her. Her husband is one of the Pastors at Scottsdale Bible Cactus Campus. She also has 4 grown children (2 sets of twins). She worked at Tesseract when I did and she actually subbed for ME when I taught 7th and 8th grade at Tesseract. How cool is that?
I am so excited about Tatum having her as a teacher.

She posed and was ready to go! (Mrs. Holman took her class picture for the wall today).

 

 

The day was so great, and I just can’t believe the summer is over.

Good night my little love bug. I’m so grateful for you.

How much fun is playing at home? Well, we are milking it all we can before school starts full time! (happy sad face)

First we have broken out the Lincoln Logs. It’s about time since she got these like a year ago. I finally figured them out. (you need lots of patience which I have now) (insert eyebrow raise)

They became a home for bears and doggies.

She also loves playing with her Lego’s; she has three different sets now, and they are all mixed up, but that makes if fun I suppose. Where are my PANTS?? This is the running question. Aside from Where is my HEAD?

This box makes being in the kitchen a true joy for me as I hear her PLAY and role play. Joy to my ears.

Now, it’s time to learn to sew! I bought her a MY FIRST SEWING kit about 2 years ago. It’s recommended age is 7, but I learned at 5, so no time to waste.

Threading the needle was about to put me in the looney bin (but remember, I’m full of patience now, right?) ?!  AFTER THAT, we started our lesson.

stay in one line and make the stitch.

Now, she’s ready for the pillow. (She’s making it for baby).

Up and down. No poking fingers allowed, so we took our time. (another patience lesson)

Now we stuff da’ pillow.

close it up with the stitches.

Baby is so happy.

especially with the pouchy purse I made him.

This bear is loved. And she did it herself!

She ended her play with some play dough. She’s making dinner. Delishilous!

She made me the best dinner ever.

We had so much fun maximizing our home time. One thing I know is that you’re never too old to play and savor time with your kids. NEVER. As Pooh said, “Something always comes from nothing.” We had nothing planned today, and SOMETHING sure did come.

No problem cleaning out Tot’s room and finding donations. BUT, one thing is hard: Giving books away. I had this master plan to make more room in her closet, and what did I end up filling the space with? The extra books we had. Oh dear.

We still have them coming out our shelves.

Golden books:

 

Closet shelves:

And now the main shelves in her room. I basically just rearranged them.

So…..

I did make a little box of donations of books. Hip hip hooray!

Feeling booked out.

Oh man…it’s almost here. I have been dreading anticipating this day for a long time. It’s a happy sad moment for her (me!) because she gets to grow and learn but I’ll miss the little Tot!
So….. I received the supply list and I started to assemble.

Can I get a WHAT!? Look at this thing!? Thank goodness I started in July.

I ordered and ordered and shopped and shopped.

And even added a basketball to the mix since they want things for PE.

The FUN thing was the lunch box. These little YumBoxes make lunches fun. I have been brainstorming ideas for her lunches. Stay tuned for my ideas.

And it fits in the backpack. How cool is this? I just couldn’t resist.

These little ice packs keep all cold. I have to supply snack too, so I needed all to  fit and be cute to boot! (right?)

She tried to talk me into letting her bring her Einstein’s cup (she bought with her allowance) but since it is supposed to be for coffee, I thought not a good idea. She uses it for water and loves to make it COLD!

 

We also (I surprised her) got a new car/booster seat. I was tired of fighting with that darn thing, and she is really ready to just use the seat belt.

Shock a lock ding dong! (she’s pretty excited because of this graduation!).

Oh the joy of getting bigger/older/more mature.

We also are getting her room all organized and cleaned out.

Lots of dumping, sorting and organizing. My OCD was smiling all day, and she actually showed signs of joy as well.

Something about making categories and finding a PLACE for everything; just feels really good. PLUS, we donated two hefty bags.

The bittersweet of it all. I’m so excited to for her! I know God is going to make this smooth and just right for all of us.

We’re always up for a way to encourage MORE reading! Clubhouse Jr., a Focus on the Family magazine Tot and I get, had this challenge starting in June:

She needed to read 1000 pages by Aug. 1st. Easy peasy!

So, we sent in the race colored in along with a sentence of her favorite book.

And…a pic of her reading.

She’s always filled with such joy and animation when reading. I love to be her audience.

Bella is sure loving her sing-songy voice.

Remember on July 3, 2016 ?

When it went BACKWARDS back then ,and I had to be revived from a heart attack, this tooth has been crooked and stubborn.

This tooth has been a problem ever since. NOW….

it became loose in early June, and since then, it has been bothersome and obstinate. So, Tatum ASKED to go to the dentist to get this thing OUT!!!

Dr. B was her dentist today, and he decided it was time also.

There it is in red:

She was given some laughing gas (upon me signing about 5 consent forms!?) Should I be worrying? I wasn’t laughing, and BTW, neither was Tot. She was still as a statue. Thank goodness for the movie Robots which played overhead.

Then they numbed her with bubble gum tooth gel.

I’m having flashbacks of my surgery and feeling sick to my stomach watching Tot go through this. Again, she is statuesque. (Srsly, she’s amazing)

And now…….the longest needle I’ve ever seen is going into her gums. I hope there’s a pillow on the ground, because I’m about to faint.

Just get on with it and get the tooth out.

Praise Jesus. It’s out, and my gauzy Tot is still frozen.

I’m so proud of her.  She must lay there to soak up the bloody evidence. All this for a measly tooth.

SMILE!

 

Two down, 18 to go!

We went home and she put it under her pillow.  What will the fairy bring this time?

 

(Apparently the dentist’s 10-year old son was in there also, and Dr. B said his son was not even 1/2 as brave as Tot. )

SO PROUD OF YOUR COURAGE!

This is what she said to me.

Tonight, I decided it was time. Now, I bought these books about two years ago. I figured I’d introduce her to what it means to be a Christ follower later; when she was mature enough to understand. Of course we talk about Jesus everyday and we talk about the Holy Spirit in her heart. It’s a common language around here.

Also, she prays daily about forgiveness and her feelings if she has guilt. She knows that God forgives her and drops it in the ocean. She also knows we are ALL sinners. She knows that Jesus died for her. BUT, has she ever heard the WHOLE story? Does she get why it is so hard to be kind, obedient, or well-behaved?

These books go through them pretty well and provides the big picture, filling in the blanks.

It also complements her little Adventure Bible which we read nightly. I’m trying to just give her deep roots of memory verses and APPLICATION of what it means. They mean nothing if we don’t live it out and BE the people of Jesus.

So, I weeped the whole time as we read these. I was 24 when I was introduced to Jesus. Why didn’t anyone pull me aside at 5? She may stray, but she has the truth and she’ll never forget the day SHE PRAYED for HIM to be her Savior.

July 27th, 2018. A special day.

She  wanted to read Psalms all night long. And so we did. I love you Jesus.

Thank you for giving me YOU and giving me the gift of being a mom to this girl.