Tatum and Milania have playdates almost weekly. Coopy awaits.
Woody awaits….amidst the coconut. Hello pretty bird!
She is a great new friend for Tatum as they share so much in common. I wanted to make a special time for them, so I baked some sugar cookies and pulled out my can of frosting which I had bought (a year ago…*wince*)
Much to my chagrin, it was not so “whipped and creamy” as the packaging noted. Nope. It turned yellow and flat. YEW! So..I had to think fast. Pinterest to the rescue, I found a quick recipe including butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. BOOM!
Then, I had them pick out some colors and lick the beaters. Cmon! How can it get better? Green, purple and pink! Piping bags, setup up complete.
They have a blast decorating. No matter on HOW MUCH frosting, right?
Tatum loves to play teacher. However, to play teacher, you need to be a good student right?
Well, the white board is a place where she likes to animate the learning.
What do you think she’s teaching here? She loves to promote FAMILY. Smiles.
With family, comes responsibility, and she is learning this. She is also learning that sometimes you have to put in extra effort to learn. It’s H.A.R.D as she says! Yes! Anything worthy in life is hard! But, us Hays, work hard and play hard, right!?
So we work on our math everyday, and she is setting up her AR goals.
And we keep track daily of her goals; it all pays off!
She wants to improve in school! She is even asking for help now, and I love her efforts. We celebrate this!
Valentine’s Day, yes, is over-rated; however, we can still celebrate LOVE! I don’t think we need a day to shower our loves with love; it should be a DAILY thing, right!?
First, our small group has adopted GIGI’s Foster Care home (A home for about 8-10 girls).
I delivered this to them in the am: (baskets and goodies for the girls and staff)
Today, we also did a bit to celebrate. ALSO, the American Heritage gals did a little bake sale to raise money.
First, I love surprising the TOT and my HHH.
and for lunch for the TOT
Tatum and I had an evening together, so I surprised her with a little basket too. Journals, pens, a mask for sleeping, and some sour watermelon!
We had a fun time celebrating.
That day, the girls (AHG) had a bake sales, and Tatum was all ready to sell!
And that they did!
HOW CUTE! They made about $350! So proud of them.
Then the next night, Daddy HHH surprised us with some fun gifts as I made a fun scallopy dinner!
We love to spoil each other.
And for me! Love my honey. Not sure if I agree with this checklist, but he does and that what matters! SMILE.
Our dear friends Susan and Jason (I’ve known Susan for 20 or more years!) have a cabin (which they call the Golden Elk) in Strawberry which is right outside of Pine. They now use it as an Air B n B. She approached me and asked if we’d like to use it! What an opportunity, so we jumped on it! Also, it was a way us Hays could get away and spend some time “retreating.”
My plan was for us to spend some time on our Mission Statement. We pared it down to: 6G, but we really need to update the wording. Plus, I hoped that we could also work on our individual mission statements. So I put together a packet: (cuz that’s what I do!)
Packed us up….and we were off! The packing was not super easy though because I wanted to bring up our own food since there really aren’t places to eat around Pine or Strawberry. Our frig went into these boxes.
And Tot…she was all ready (with Woody!) (sorry Coopy!)
Daddy packed up the car and …..Woody is ready!
Daddy mapped it out..only 93 miles CHECK!…and WE ARE OFF!
Stopped in Payson for a lunch/ice cream etc..(ya know our usual!) and BOOM! We are there. Pine and then if you blink you’ll drive right through Strawberry. Arrived! How cute is the Golden Elk.
When we got in…HOLY ELK! It was ALL elk decorated.
Little Elk everything.
Even the GAME ROOM!..well, wait…they had this life sized DREAM for us English teachers.
and a sand game.
A little walk outside to welcome ourselves to the neighborhood (so beautiful on the narrow hilly drive and cabins were spread out; far apart)
Tot and I watched a quick show on the TV; well, what the heck is on? Nothing.
When we returned, Doug cooked us up some pork loin. (and I noticed our view!)
I enjoyed using the kitchen and whipping up some sweet potato fries and salads.
While Tot played at the table; Is there a bird on my head?
Ok… We are ready! The Qwirkle must come to an end. Daddy was winning too. Sad face.
Tot got the whole downstairs so she slept in both rooms because why just have one room?
We took a drive down to Fossil Point to do a hike the next morning. ELK!
Everywhere! Hey buddy!
While driving, we noticed a little breeze. Or maybe I should say major wind because the hike we intended to meander became a big frosty endeavor. Did I say faaaaaarrrreeeezing? For the Love of GOD, can we just take the picture already!?
We got to see the “token snow” and the “token view” and that was jjjjjjjjuuuuuusssstttt enough. BRRRR!
TADA! K. I’m good.
Coffee! Here we come! The little windmill place had a line, so we waited in the little breeze.
But how cute is this place?
We decided to walk around Pine to all the cute little shops from antiques to teepees. Yes, SRSLY.
First stop: Lavender Farm. Very fragrant. What’s that buzzing noise, Daddy?
Antique stores; we basically just bought taffy. Oh, look…
Later we just found some souvenir/trinkets from good ol’ AZ!
Our last night was leftovers and silly conversation. We decided we all needed a ONE minute vent of some negative and then the REST? Gratitude.
Tatum got a little goodie for being so delightful.
We do LOVE you! And we love Strawberry! Thank you, Susan and Jason!
We decided to have the party in February due to the busyness of the holidays and all the “Stuff” surrounding November and December. Now, we have been celebrating her birthday at the train park for every year since ONE. This year, it was time to do something different. 10 years old, it’s time!
She wanted some bouncy houses, and PUMP IT UP has private rooms, so we opted for this place. It was the perfect fit too since they do all the work (I’m wiping my brow with a PHEW!)
It would be BIRDIE theme..to celebrate the lil’ QT pie, Woody:
I got her this adorbs shirt…
And these cute “LOVE” birds cupcakes
We got there early and set up (well, they did, but we got in the room to put the gift bags in!)
Then the kiddos started to arrive!
Carley and IsabelIsabel and HaydenLincolnMilania
Noah and Lily came later… and also Maddy and Poppy. Let the bouncing, sliding, chaos begin!
Noah!!!TOT!
Daddy showed up just in time for the air hockey. Coins Daddy? He’s always prepared.
Time for the cupcakes. She chose a red one, and……I warned her about the red lips.
OHH dear!
The kids had so much fun..truly. She got some gift cards, art set, and another bird shirt! LOVE IT!!
Oh, Tatum, you are so loved. And, I love how you love your animals! The comments were thematic: Your daughter is the kindest in the class. Milania cries when Tatum isn’t at school. She is a “peacemaker” I was told. Thank you so much. The FRUITS are so juicy on our girl.
Mrs. Denmark had asked the class who would like to participate this year. Tatum volunteered, tried out, and got the chance to go this February! Only one other student from 4th grade would join her.
She has been practicing for months. Daily. ..well, nightly with Coopy watching:
We both chose the verse, Psalm 16 since it is such a warm, comforting verse of his presence and love. She says it reminds her of having a constant Daddy around.
This is it:
1 Preserve me, O God, for in you IÂ take refuge.
2Â I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;Â I have no good apart from you.”
5 The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
The day arrived and she practiced for me that morning. Poised and perfect (practically!)
We arrived right on time and got her signed in.
Then they called the 4th grade Bible group. The kids were from all over the state, and the Bible group was about 15 kids.
We all assembled in a classroom, and she had to do her verse in front of the parents, kids, and the judges. (no pressure!)
She knocked it out of the park! Feeling, heart, and articulation!
and guess what!?
Mrs. Denmark and Mrs. Rodriguez were so proud of her!
AND SO ARE WE!!! TATIES~ all that hard work paid off!
Never stop trying! You are such a confident, bold girl!
