It was time for his annual Vet visit. We have been going to North Phoenix Vet Care since he was a pup! He loves it there. Well, he always leaves a little package in the lobby. (if you know what I mean! Ha!)
Ok, so he has gained ONE pound! Yay! Now, I know that he is a bit scruffy right now since he is due for a grooming, but also he is now eating. We switched food to Costco brand and he LOVE it. Praise Jesus.
10.3 lbs!
She just ADORED him! He was so brave and cute. Didn’t even flinch for his shot and…
for his drops in the mouth. (Bordatella)
Thank you, Dr! I get to get my teeth cleaned next year!
And now, just rub my tummy, Mommy! Such a blessed and loved little guy.
We still do this! However, the idea generators may be a bit tired! We are still implementing old ideas and adding a few new ones here and there. I love when they give me food ideas.
So, mine are pretty generic. I really am excited about planning a HAY retreat with service in mind.
Work in progress.
Tot really loves to give me food ideas! Also, anything FAMILY.
She changed lasagna to casserole. Any casserole. Does she even know what this is? Heehee
Ok, Doug always has great ideas for family and bonding.
Till September. Keep an eye out for implementation!
No, not the swimmy kind. The sucking kind! HA! Yes, my wonderful honey bought me a new toy to aid in my effectiveness to keep a lovely home. A NEW……
Lift-away! Ah…if only it did that for everything! Coopy is checking it out. Now, see all the dust bunnies in there? Apparently I hadn’t cleaned the office in a while because this is the remnants of ONE room. Eek!
Thank you, Sharky! The beauty of this baby is that Tatum can use it. It’s light, maneuverable, and FUN to use! This is her on Saturday:
I fell in love with the new Broncos maybe 18 months ago. They were so uniquely cute and so different from the Broncos of the past; I decided that I would abandon my Honda loyalty and start shopping for a Bronco when my Honda hit about 75,000 miles. Also, I had to have enough cash since I don’t believe in car payments! Fast forward to July 1st, 2022. I tried to find one online. NO LUCK. They were TOOOO popular! I then went to Sanderson Ford, and they had ZERO stock. They had a few sold on the lot I could see, but I couldn’t drive one.
Then, Austin from the dealership told me they had a few on order. The Sports come in 3 levels and the second level starts where there is leather. So, Outback was my choice! He also said they only had 3 colors to choose from. OH….also, I ALWAYS buy used cars, but apparently the used are MORE than the new ones! What!!???
So, I chose to wait for the ones the dealership had ordered. Cactus Grey (a new color) would be the one I would choose (the other ones were brown and Area 51 which is a grey/blue).
He said the cars would arrive end of July. Welllllll, I didn’t get it until August 26th! Austin came out and drove it to me! The easiest transaction ever!
It only had about 48 miles on it!
I told Tatum I had a surprise when I picked her up. I waited in the parking lot and then when she got out, she looked for our red Ram. Oh, my!! It’s our car!!
So pretty! We named him BRADY.
She took a few pics of the inside.
We took Brady out for a drive to Trader Joe’s Saturday morning.
Here it is in its new home…our garage!
Oh, Brady! You are a perfect addition.
I just have to kiss your cute lil behind.
Off we go!
Tot is in love with the cutie pie too.
We are so grateful for our new Brady. Patience paid off!
Yep. Today. August 22nd, 2022. Ten years ago today, I got a phone call from Dr. David Kaufman asking me if I’d like to meet this woman who was 6-months pregnant. She’d have a baby on November 22nd, 2012. I would soon find out that GOD chose ME to be the FOREVER Mommy to the Tot. Me! I wanted to celebrate her with a nice dinner.
Guess what though? She had to stay home from school today, so I got her another Squishamellow. And she played school. She LOVES to play this as I did too!
She also loves to play family; better yet, she is ALWAYS pretending she has siblings. She wishes I could have about 5 more babies!
Well, back to the celebration. She tried to eat my fancy dinner, but alas..it was a tough day for her.
And her favorite part besides the newest addition to our family, was this cute card.
You continue to rock my world, my girl. I’m SOOOOOO grateful and count each day as the PRESENT. AMEN!
There are times (for all of us) where we act out or “lash out” and an innocent figure. It could be a stranger at a light or worse a loved one. Usually, it’s our most beloved ones.
You see, Tatum has moments where she will attack impulsively with her words. She might not even know why because at that moment, her conscience is bothering her from something that happened earlier that day, and she feels shame or guilt. Then, when I ask her a question or I make a comment, she’ll react with that shame/guilt (which is stuffed in her heart) and the attitude appears sassy or rude. Ugh… to dive down deep and help her erect the root issue…this takes patience and emotional energy. BUT, there is ALWAYS a deeper issue. ALWAYS.
Now, does this excuse the disrespect? Does this excuse the way she may treat me or Daddy at the moment?
NO WAY!!!
However, as her mom/coach/disciple maker, I need to help her gain emotional intelligence and be more aware of her emotions, but more importantly how she handles them. It’s been said that emotions (like guilt, anger, shame, fear ….etc) are just that. Neutral. IT’S WHAT WE DO WITH THEM THAT MATTERS. Sometimes, she might not even know she is experiencing shame until she processes it out. But, when she has a not so pretty attitude, I now know there is more to it.
OK, here is an example:
When she woke up this morning, she had a bit of an edge. It was just a feeling I had. Then she had a disrespectful response to a question I had. She came out an apologized immediately and she said, “I just have a lot on my mind from school.” Now, remember, this was from a whole day ago, and she finally realized she had something from school which was causing her attitude.
In the car, I said, “I am here for you if you want to talk.” She was silent. Then at our breakfast place, she again was rude in a response. FINALLY, she said, “Mommy, I lied.” Ok, I’m listening.
She continued, “Yesterday, I told Carley I have a cat named Toby; I don’t know what to do.” She commented that this was why she had been grouchy today and disrespectful. AGAIN, not excusing it, but I understood now.
We had a fruitful talk about what to do. She has a choice. She can continue on the lie and continue it with more lies. OR, she can say, “Hey Carley, I was just kidding yesterday about having a cat. My brother has one and I like to pretend I do too.” DONE. OVER. MOVE ON.
She LOVED that idea. Clears the conscience. Makes things right.
It’s so hard with girls sometimes. Really, all of us have emotions, but having the intelligence to name our emotion and be healthy in our responses, this is a whole other level of maturity most of us don’t have. I must discipline, yes but also give her grace and love. I want her to feel SAFE coming to me (and she is safe being “real and raw” with her emotions with me!) (better take it out on me than her teacher or out in public).
I love you, Tatum. We are on a journey together. I’m so proud of you telling me the truth and feeling safe to share! Be steadfast and keep rocking! (like this cute little rocking horse!)
