Hay Happens and Hay's Happen

Well, it used to be Art on Mondays. What trumps that? Noah. Wait…working out + Noah?

Can’t beat that.

Noah’s mom, Kate, offered to pick up Tatum with Noah and his 3 siblings form school and take them. I then pick her up at Chaparral Christian which is where the Cross Fit is.

Kettle Bell lifting. GO TOT and NOAH! Sorry about the butt shot.

Step ups!

She said she wants to back weekly. OK, kiddo.

You two are so cute!

She had to read a book for a report. Classic.

She read a Thea Stilton book (she loves these mice!)

And covered her cereal box with the various parts:

And guess what Mrs. Denmark thought?

Each box comes with some Jacks. Great idea!

So proud of your efforts!

Tatum and I had a brainstorm idea!!! She has so many books, and they are not doing any good just sitting on the shelves. Why not bring them into her classroom and allow others to read them? In fact, let’s make it fun!
So, we looked up the AR level on each book and put in the front cover.

Here are all the books we looked up.

Then we made a checkout sheet:

Now each student gets a pencil when he/she returns a book. Oh, and the bookmarks stays in the book.

Cookies will welcome this whole idea!

We presented the idea to Mrs. Denmark! Hopefully she likes it.

I am filled with SO much gratitude for my family, You see, I have been pretty sick lately. More digestion issues, but suffice it to say, my family has been my rock apart from Jesus.

I wanted to express my thankfulness to them. We love do give each other cards.

I need to ALWAYS tell my family how much I treasure them and all they do for me.

I tried to get Coopy’s attention, but we lose him to the TV. He is enamored.

Not even a HOLY COW ball can pull him away. Our little GAWKER!
Daddy, HHH…I appreciate you beyond words. (and worlds! heehee)

Growing like a weed or a heel? And lil’ Tot… you are becoming BIG Tot! Growing….yes. She is growing!

How is it that she is getting so big?
Noah still thinks she is pretttttteeee cute!

Tatum and I sit down each Sunday and map out the week, create goals, and go through her checklist.

We do this daily:

Today, I asked her if she had any goals for the week.

They should be measurable and just challenging enough but doable.

For math, I told her that she could achieve these goals by accomplishing a few minor tweaks:
ONE: Make it NEAT! If you can’t read your numbers and they are not lined up, you are more apt to make a mistake.

Here is her paper from Friday!!! It is 100X neater. She couldn’t wait to show us!

TWO: CYW….or check your work!!
THREE: TYT….take your time. There is no prize for being the first one done. (think tortoise vs the hare).

Ok, then, she wants to up her reading so she can achieve her AR goals. So…3 this week! Ambitious.

Finally, she knows her “TONE” can appear to be disrespectful. Her attitude can then be negative. SO>>>> Let’s work on what she wants to be (I asked her the kind of person she wants to be known for: KIND AND LOVING. So, we’ll watch the tone and delivery.

I added mine too. Goals are so fun to make and then to see them be accomplished…even better!

I don’t take credit for this idea. I listened to a podcast on Focus on the Family, and one of the children from a family does this.

It gave me an idea!

I have had this bulletin board in our closet since we moved in. I have not known what to do with it. Today, I figured it out. Thank you Holy Spirit!

A prayer wall for Tatum’s friends. We wrote down all the names from her class. We’ll pick one/day to pray for.

We’ll update it constantly. We hope to intercede in a positive way for all of the kids/teachers. Prayer works and we are asking the Holy Spirit to work in the lives of our loved ones and (new) friends!

God knew I would need that bulletin board! LOVE.THIS!

In the Hay house, we value character and values. We spend most of our time on encouraging the values of the Fruits of the Spirit. Mostly Love and Kindness.

We also do think grades are important as they are a marker of a good work ethic. (Another value).

Every year, the kids take a standardized test. We have all been there…those LONG bubble tests that measure progress from year to year (and then compare across the country). Well, we receive Tatum’s scores for the end of 3rd grade.

In EVERY area (Reading, Language/Mechanics/Math/Science/SS), the DOT shows she is way ahead of all peers.