Is full of spunk! Her imagination takes her to the most fun places as she enters the books she currently reads. Karen Kingsbury books she loves:
The characters become her siblings. Same with the Boxcar series! She just loves to be in the book.
Cooper finds her enthralling!
This particular day, President’s Day, we celebrated by drawing, baking, and playing.
Drawing FOR someone of course. In this case, a gumdrop picture for Daddy because he is sweet like sugar!
We also enjoyed going out a bit to buy some groceries. Tatum and I marveled at the flowers around our fountain that Daddy planted this weekend. Colorfully delightful!
The day was so nice to have her home; she gets to see Daddy hard at work which she decided to enter into THIS environment as well.
Yes sir, I’ll get on that right away!
Maybe while she’s in there she could make his desk more organized?
Nope. Duty calls. It’ll have to wait! In the meantime, she decided to mimic the Daddy with her iPad time tonight while I made dinner.
Tatum, will you set the table please?
Yes, Mommy, after I finish this memo.
And so, the day with the Tot was imaginative, restful and delightful.
Ready for dinner with my family now. I love you, Hay family!
Happy Anniversary to the Hay Family! Three years ago today, we became ONE! Tot included and I’d say my mom and Austin too because you really are combining two families. But, truly, how wonderful! To celebrate, I wanted to have a separate date with Doug on another night, and have dinner for our family on the actual anniversary.
Mom came over around 5, and we played Exploding Minions to lighten the mood. There’s nothing like trying not to explode with diffusing cards! (we love to steal them from each other!)
Ok time to eat!
Pork roast, rosemary fingerling potatoes and salad. Simple yet delicious.
During dinner we remembered some wonderful memories from our first three years.
I love that we have the love and protection not only from our Heavenly Father, but also now our earthly Daddy!
It was perfect timing because the next weekend we had a marriage seminar and Doug and I got to reflect on each other and appreciation. Just wow. It’s so important to focus on the good. (as shown!)
This is mine for Doug:
And his for me…(he ran out of time to finish)
Ha! He sure does see so much in me that I didn’t even realize. Cool under pressure…planning SO MUCHto bring our family closer.. I think the best compliment is that I live out my faith daily. Gosh. Honey, I’m so blessed by you. I love you, my sweet HHH. And my Hay family.
The same night! OH the pressure! I love spoiling my family on IDEA night, but this coupled with Valentine’s Day made the pressure (completely self-inflicted, mind you!) doubled!
But, not to worry. I had it all planned out. Little did I know Tatum would stay home today from school. I headed to school early that day so I could pick up her work. The best part was that I got to see her face when she opened her lunch.
Tada!
Oh, the fun I have.
We also could “POST-IT” to Daddy all day. Tatum loves to drop a note or two on his desk, and I love to surprise him with treats. Today, I made him so peanut butter protein cookies in a little heart. He, of course, is Mr. Secret as he goes in and out to the store all day…+ Love Post-its.
I got to work on the dinner. Shrimp Tacos with Avocado Crema and salad with Cilantro Lime Vinegarette.
Setting the table was fun!
Daddy’s gifts at the end screamed beauty and hard preparation. He always makes gifts look so welcoming.
Tatum wrapped up some gifts for us. She had so much fun making a gift for all of us..even Coopy!
She also sent a Cinquain and letter to Mama. She received it today and will open it up when she comes over Wednesday for dinner.
Ok..back to dinner!
We posed for pics! Daddy, you spoil your girls.
Tatum opened her gifts before dinner. It’s so fun to celebrate LOVE! We do always, but especially on the 14th.
Daddy’s gifts to her show how much he cherishes her. It’s a good role model for what a man should do to a girl…cherish and adore.
The card sang to her when she opened! Then, the LOVEBUG!
Oh, how perfect for her. I think she was most excited about these!:
She loves her pencils. He also got her a car to paint because we love to craft!
So much fun.
I got her some fun goodies too. Dog cards are ALWAYS winners, and she loves books, bracelets (to make) and pretty plants. (oh, and CHOCOLATE, right!?)
Doug and I do “together” gifts, but for V day, it’s important for him to role model the guy’s part! (wink!)
(Cooper is wanting to read it!)
I will open my goodies after dinner. Now, for the IDEA part of the night.
First, they LOVED LOVED the dinner! YAY! I had a salad instead of the taco part, but I did partake of the shrimp and crema. SO GOOD! We each presented our ideas. Tatum and Daddy always have such great ones! Doug usually had house ideas…oh and FOOD of course! I love his suggestions.
Looking forward to our garden who the fence.
Also, he can look forward to Tuna melts, green chile casserole, pasta (hearts of palm) with mushroom and sausage….
We will eat outside in the front patio. We will go to 3 D golf. Love it!
Tot had similar suggestions. Strawberry bread, cherry pie, French fries (but HEALTHY versions of each)
pool party, movie night….all very good ideas! Then, mine. I want to gift more! I want to vacation more! Our bucket list is extensive for the year!
Upon our IDEAS, my honey loved on my with the gifts.
I had 3 cards!
Where does he get these! Then card two. I don’t get what he says, but I’ll take it!
And, it was SEVEN years ago today that we had our first date. ….so he commemorated with a wine with a key. (just like our first date!)
He’s so chivalrous.
I gave him his card too! Oh, I didn’t spoil him as much, but I did cook and bake to his heart’s content.
Oh, and Coopy got a card.
What a blessed day! Two more days until our 3 year anniversary!
Two years ago, (February 7th, 2020..right before the pandemic lockdown), we saw him live. Tatum has been wishing she could have a “do over” (a mulligan if you will) of that experience since she wasn’t as “pleasant” as she could have been. Well, it was the time for him to return in all his glory, and I hopped on the Ticketmaster site the second the concert open. Heartbeat racing; palms sweating; seats disappearing, I finally landed on some seats by the stage. (I wasn’t sure how good they were, but judging the price, I figured they were pretty perfect).
We shall see! The evening arrived, and per our usual, we packed a tailgate and enjoyed our dinner a la Mercedes interior.
And then got in line to check in.
Anticipation!
Enter the building. Walk down. Down…down…and more down. WHAT!!? We are here??!
(This behind us is the front of the T. I’m in heaven! Terrain is singing right now…she’s back up for Toby, but she has a magnificent voice). We are on the side of the long T.
First act up is Cochrane and Co. I love his voice and his lyrics.
Hallelujah!
Everyone is worshiping together as one. We are truly a family at this concert. Old, young, black, white, brown…you name it…we are a family. So incredible.
Then, David Crowder came up. His music spans the spectrum from hard rock to gospel. Delightfully deep.
Good God Almighty. Such a powerful song.
Humbly we come to you, Lord. On our knees.
After the openers, a pastor, Eric, came up and drew this amazing painting in a few minutes. (upside down…then turned it up and…WOW).
We ended up listening to his message and Tatum wanted to sponsor another child from Food For the Hungry. We are going to pick a young boy from Uganda named Dennis. Stay tuned about this.
9: 01. Here we go! Toby starts with Help is on the Way. And…I’m smiling from ear to ear with how close we are. I grab a chair for Tot so she can see too.
“And we’re holding on to the promises that He’s rolling up sleeves again….”…” It may be midnight or mid day. It’s never early; it’s never late. You can stand by on what He claims….”
She is pretty happy this time around.
I’m literally looking right up at him. TOBY!!!
His music has such incredible depth, yet it is lively. He goes into Love Broke Through.
MOVE! (Keep walking…just keep moving on…don’t let the ….get you down!)
They did an acapella of “21” years to sing about his son. He ended up praying for our city which was so powerful.
His heart for others….is absolutely contagious.
He edifies his band and his surroundings.
Till the Day I Die…(It’s your name I’ll glorify!)
He got so close to us…the boy right next to us got to sing!
Last time I bought a shirt with this on it, but this time we picked up another one for Tot.
I cannot even begin to describe the amazing rush we had at this concert. It was liking being in a worship service for four hours, but with the mighty power of thousands of people on the same page…loving Jesus and celebrating HIS power and LOVE.
Edge of my seat….let’s live like this! What do I GET to do today!?
Thank you Toby for SPEAKING LIFE! Let’s speak Love, Life..into each other.
Till next time.
We will never forget this evening. Thank you, Hay family, for celebrating it with me. We need more Jesus…all of us. This world! AMEN.
We had planned to go to Flagstaff for the weekend, but we decided to change our plans. We didn’t want to miss church, and we weren’t sure if the snow would be there.
The morning started out wonderfully. I had a restful sleep which I needed due to my past week tummy woes. Thank you, Jesus!
Church was also wonderful as usual. Tot and I greeted the attendees (who have become dear friends). Later, we planned a HAY DAY! Bike ride, ice cream, park. What more could you want?
We headed out on our bikes (mind you it was about 72 degrees out! WOOHOO!).
Starting out just fine, we wanted to get on the path. This meant going DOWNhill. Ugh. “Ride your brake, Tot, and don’t pedal!” Next thing I know, she is down. Doug is way up ahead. Oh dear. She is completely scraped up and stunned. Luckily, it was just some scrapes, but her wrist hurt quite a bit. After sitting for a few minutes, she agreed to keep going. Yahoo, Tot! Brave girl.
Steadily, we took the path allllll the way to McD’s for our ice cream. This was our motivation! Arriving, we noticed the long drive-thru line and then the sign on the door. NOT OPEN (only drive thru). Ok, shall we wait and then eat at the tables (which don’t exist..HA!) or….do we go across the street to a new experience. -Sweet Republic. I knew it was a gourmet ice cream shop with gourmet prices. Sure, why not!
In we go. We settled on mini-hot fudge sundaes. $6 a pop. ayeyayyae!
I got mine on the side (hot fudge that is), because I like to have a bit with each bite. Maybe I should have gotten extra because they gave me a thimble-full. NO worries, I am going to enjoy this. I must say, McDonalds is so much better, but alas…we are having fun with this sweet treat because the spoons are cool and futuristic.
Daddy, you finished in 3 bites!
No, you cannot have any of ours.
I savor every bite.
This is the antidote to a hurt wrist. She completely forgets about it as we partake. Then……the time has come to hop back on the saddle, and it all comes back to her. She begs me to head to Walgreens to purchase a sling wrap thingamajig. But first, the park.
First, frisbee. This pink little disk is not tossing quite right. I blame the wind, the frisbee, and the trees. Couldn’t possibly be our tosses.
Well, it actually is the frisbee. It lands. It breaks into pieces.
Good thing we brought the mitt and ball. Batter up! Oh wait, we have no bat, but we do have our catching hands and our powerful throws. HA!
Doug is enjoying my stance and set up to powerfully throw the ball.
Tatum attempts to catch each one. I think she enjoyed chasing more than catching it. She’s just like Cooper.
Later, Tot and Doug played on the jungle gym until the pain kicked in. I did go get the wrap at Walgreen’s and nursed her all better. I hope.
What a fun day despite the injures, scrapes, and kerfuffles.
