Adventures with my boys

8 years old ?!?!?!?

2010-10-07T13:11:00.008-04:00

Happy Birthday to Tanner!! I just cannot believe that he is 8 already!

He is growing into such a fine young man. I try not to brag about him but I thought on his birthday it is only appropriate. :) He has so many wonderful qualities and when I had the opportunity to sit down with his teacher... I was just bursting with pride. I am just amazed by him every single day.

I hope you enjoy some of the recent pictures of our fun for his special day.

*** Have lots of pictures to share and another post BUT blogger has not bee cooperating*** I will keep trying!

Exploring Louisiana!

2010-09-18T21:46:00.000-04:00

Well, we chose to explore Louisiana over the last few weeks. Here is the first of a few posts. We did a 7 mile family hike on the Sugar Cane trail. It was only about 30 minutes from our house and it was wonderful. We did not see a single person all day! We did see a few deer, a fox, a frog, a lizard, and lots of spiders. I am so happy that the boys are at the age where our Adventures are able to be a little more adventurous. Thanks for stopping in.. please come back.. I am trying to get this blog in shape and there are more posts to come.

Much love,

Tammi and the boys!

Lunch at school

2010-09-14T22:23:00.004-04:00

So, this week I had the pleasure of having lunch with 2 very handsome boys. First was on Monday I went to the school and dined with Tanner. I just have to say that Tanner is such a sweet, caring, thoughtful boy. I enjoy his company so much and lunch was no different. We sat at a special table with a table cloth and even flowers in the center. He was very attentive and mostly wanted to talk about me.. and my day.. and how I was.. and of course introducing me to as many friends as he could flag down. Here is a picture of my date #1.

Today's date was with Evan. He was also very excited to see me. It does amaze me that my two boys are sooo different. Evan is such a daredevil. He does everything at mach 10. He does not stop to think. He chose to eat right at his table with his classmates. It was a little brush of celebrity for me.. being Evan's mom.. as apparently he has his classmates convinced he is pretty important. :) He is a bit of a class clown.. which I am not so happy about but it is the joy that he has about life and school and everything in between that makes me smile... :) I am the luckiest mom in the world to have these two wonderful boys in my life.

We are so blessed.

Evan being silly as usual

Thanks for stopping by...

Much love,

Tammi and the boys.

My little bits 1st day

2010-08-18T15:57:00.004-04:00

Well it is official! My baby is in kindergarten!! The first picture really shows how he feels about it! He was so happy and excited! Evan embraced kindergarten just as he has all of life.."let me at em!" Evan is always the one to want to grow up so fast! He has to do everything his brother does even if he is almost 3 years his junior. I am proud of him.. but I wish he would slow down just a bit... I mean it is so hard on the mama. Enjoy the pictures and thanks for stopping in!

My token bus shot.. I will take this picture as long as they let me.

The crew.. Evan was so happy to be among them. I love all these kids!!!

Family shot.. Believe me I needed those dark glasses :(

Me and by boys

I love this picture I just wish my lense did not keep fogging up from the humidity.

It all started with a good breakfast.. his choice..Cheesy eggs and chocolate milk

Gosh I love this kid! He is my heart!

Good luck at school little bit! No matter how old or independent you get.. you will alway be my baby!

Much love all.

Thanks for stopping.

Tammi and the boys

Another school year...

2010-08-11T08:57:00.002-04:00

Tanner and friends waiting for the bus

Smile

The getting on the bus picture.. :)

Another school year is upon us. It happens so fast!! I can't believe that Evan will be starting kindergarten this week. But we have one last week together...so we will enjoy this week and he will start next Wednesday.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of the new 2nd grader from this morning. He is so excited about school and I can hardly wait to hear how his day went.

Enjoy the pictures.. more to come.

Love to all!!

Tammi and the boys!

I loved this...

2010-08-06T14:50:00.003-04:00

Okay so this has nothing to do with the boys... crazy I know...

but I love this:

I hope it works and I hope you enjoy...

More to come!!

Thanks for stopping!

Tammi and the boys!

As promised....

2010-08-02T16:00:00.005-04:00

Well I made a deal with a friend that I would update the blog today.

Now I did not say that it would be some AMAZING update. But I said I would update. So, I am.

Well, I am having a particularly emotional day today so this will be a post about my boys growing up.. WAY too fast.

The other day Tanner asked if he could make his own sandwich and he did. It looked pretty good too. He even wanted to take pictures of it for the "blog" or facebook.. there might be a bit of a problem there. Well he made the sandwich himself and took the picture himself. The picture turned out a bit dark.. but here it is...

That is spicy mustard, turkey, and pepper cheese on a roll. This is Tanner favorite sandwich and he eats it about everyday during the school year. This is the first time he made it himself.

So, between that and a little bit who is headed to kindergarten VERY soon this mama might have a bit of a breakdown. How did this happen? I know everyone always says.. " they grow so fast" and how true it is. I did not expect them to be self sufficient so quickly as well.

Thanks for stopping in... I am still planning some exciting things for the blog to come. I am not ready to give up on it just yet... even though my long hiatus might have had you thinking that.

Much Love,

Tammi and the boys

FAIL!!

2010-08-01T22:49:00.002-04:00

So I know... I said 3 x a week.... week one was good.. week 2 fail!! I just do not know why?

We had a summer busy week. I even took some great pictures. None of which I have downloaded... but here is a list of somethings we did this past week.

Swim lessons..

Hockey

Pool

Indoor play areas

We had a ton of fun! Mom even took some time our for a much needed dental cleaning! And even better a cut and color!!! :)

Okay pictures to follow.. I will keep that 3 x a week goal in place for next week.

Thanks for being so forgiving.

Much love to all.

Tammi and the boys!

Heelies...

2010-07-21T14:37:00.003-04:00

So you may remember this...

Can you believe that Evan is now old enough to wear those same shoes???

Crazy right??? Well I just snapped this pic.. and he was out the door. I will have to work on a few more. Can't get this on to sit still. Oh and as for his hair.. well that is a work in progress.. I am growing it out to work on a different style. He has great hair and it is so fun to play with.. but he won't let me touch it most days.. :(. Of course Tanner who will let you style his hair and do anything you want with it... his hair has cowlicks all over it and I pretty much need to keep it shaved.. :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane.. I know I sure did!

Can you believe 3 days in a row??

No.. I have no aspirations of daily posts.. I just do not think that will happen. :)

Enjoy your day all

Much love,

Tammi and the boys!

It is hot here

2010-07-20T15:05:00.004-04:00

Kids at spray park

tanner showing off lost tooth by the pool

boys playing in our pool

Visiting the local lake

Kids on the boat to crab islans

All 3 boys on the gulf beaches

Boys enjoying the boat ride

Taking a break from wake boarding for a pic

the base pool ( one of 2)

Yes it is hot here... we have found the only way to handle the heat is to spend time in the WATER. We have been doing a lot of that. We bought a small pool for the yard that the kids love. We also spend one day a week at the base pool. The boys have taken swim lessons which they loved! There are some local parks that have spray areas that we have enjoyed and we also made a trip to the Gulf coast and took some time to enjoy the beach there and the water. So far we have had so many adventures this summer. Hard to believe that school starts in just a few weeks.

I will post more of what we have been up to soon.

Thanks for stopping in! :)

Much love,

Tammi and the boys!

Remember us??

2010-07-19T21:27:00.004-04:00

No really??? Do you? I mean it has been so long. I know. I am going to blog at least 3 times a week. I have enough to blog about no doubt.. these boys sure keep me busy.. all day every day.

Here are some pics of our adventures in our new home!

More to come.. I will be bloggin at 3 times a week.

Love to all... or all ya'll... :)

Tammi and the boys!

Graduation

2010-03-26T11:25:00.004-04:00

Well this picture is of our Afit family ( minus Hank) and we have been so blessed to be surrounded by these friends during our time here. We were glad to get a group photo at Graduation last night. It is hard to believe that our time in Dayton is coming to an end. We are excited about our move to Louisiana and out next adventure but we miss our friends. We do know that our paths will cross again as it is a small air force.

Thanks for stopping.. I will try to post more ..soon!

Much Love,

Tammi and the boys.

What a difference a year makes

2010-03-03T21:55:00.006-05:00

So I was uploading some video and I came across this one of Evan skating almost exactly a year ago.... I had to upload it with the video of his first hockey game... made me realized how far he really has come in a year.

Here is the latest of his first game.. more bloggin to come.. thanks for checkin in on us!

Much Love,

Tammi and the boys..

Congratulations Donna and Mark

2010-03-02T22:32:00.002-05:00

I had the pleasure of attending a wedding of a very special wedding on Valentine's Day weekend in New Jersey. My "oldest" friend Donna was married in Atlantic City. I had such a wonderful time the only thing is that I was sad that it was such a quick trip. I am so very happy for Donna and Mark and so glad that I got to be a part of their special day.

Big changes are in the works for both the blog and the Halls.. try to hang in there with us and check back when you can!

Love to all,

Tammi and the boys.

Real fancy blog!

2010-01-27T23:36:00.003-05:00

I want a fancy blog!! I am not smart enough to figure it out. Does anyone know someone that they would recommend who is reasonable that I can have rework my blog???

Please let me know.. I really think if I liked my blog more I might update more often!!

Thanks for stoppin in..

Much Love,

Tammi and the boys

P.S. The picture is of our sweet Lola. Tanner got Lola for his birthday. She is such a sweet lovable dog. This was her on Christmas morning... ( hence the baskets filled with random toys ;) )

so behind.. I know

2010-01-26T21:14:00.003-05:00

So, the thought crossed my mind.. to just admit that facebook has taken over the blog. But I did a bit of soul searching and eventhough I am soooo far behind, I am not ready to give it up just yet.

There are sooo many exciting adventures for our family lately. We have been really enjoying our time in OH as it starts to wind down. We have made some great friends and the boys have grown up so much in these last two years. I will try.. I say TRY to be better about this...

But for now, some hockey pictures of Tanner.

Love you all!!

Tammi and the boys

October fun

2009-10-30T22:38:00.008-04:00

Fall and October is among my FAVORITE time of the year. We had a VERY special birthday celebration and we had so much fun between pumpkin carving, hayrides, corn mazes and of course trick or treating.

Tanner's 7th birthday was super blast! I FINALLY convinced him to have a dress up/ Halloween theme party. And I think it was a hit! We had lots of creepy games...like the bloody brains game and the mummy game. Everyone was in costume and seemed to really enjoy themselves. I hope he will consider this theme again another year as well. I will post pics of that stuff soon. Here is some of the fun we had in October:

Tried to get a picture with Baby Hank

The shark and the fireman before they hit the streets..

the ladies I work with dresses as Witches

Tanner carved his first pumpkin ALL by himself. It was amazing!

Entering the corn maze

waiting on the hayride

hayride!

Silly Dad above the corn maze!

At the Sauerkraut Festival

Okay that is all for now!

Thanks for stopping in!

Much love,

Tammi and the boys!

Wedding fun

2009-10-25T21:03:00.003-04:00

Daddy and Evan

Mom and Tanner

Beautiful bride with her Dad

Coming from the Limo

Waiting

Well my boss from when I started at the Credit Union got married and we were so excited to be able to share in her special day. She looked GORGEOUS and the boys had a blast. They loved the dancing and were so curious about the ceremony. It occurred to Tim and I that the boys have not been to any weddings that they would remember so they just had a great time all around. Weddings are fun!!

I have so much more to catch up on .. more to come. We had kind of a crazy week last week but we are pushing through....

More soon!

Thanks for stoppin in.

Much love!

Tammi and the boys.

Newest member of the family....

2009-10-11T18:13:00.003-04:00

Getting to know her new brother...

We went to the pound and look what we found.

I need to get some better pics for the blog. We named her Lola and she is an adorable but NEEDY English pointer. We suspect is a full breed by her look and the fact that she points. She is so sweet and we think she is between 1-2 years old. This is what we get for going to the pound. We all feel in love quickly with Lola.. and Tanner asked for her for his birthday.

More pics of her to follow.

Thanks for stopping in.

Much love,

Tammi and the boys!

Hockey time!

2009-10-08T20:34:00.003-04:00

Well Evan is finally able to hit the ice as a hockey player!! He was over the moon excited!! Tanner is starting his 3rd season and he amazes me how good he is doing. I am just a proud mama :)

After practice.. sweaty.. that is what the coach wants to see..

Right after practice

Ready to hit the ice in one of Tanner's old jerseys

getting geared up!

Evan on the ice with the coach

Tanner on the ice

Evan cheering on

Tanner chillin'

Well I really will try to post more... or at least TRY to!

Thanks for stopping in!

Tammi and the boys!

Back to reality....

2009-09-13T13:21:00.003-04:00

Well school is in full swing and we are back to the reality of daily life... without the wonderful distractions of summer. However, I love fall. I love getting back to the schedule. We are sooo excited about football starting! I love Football and watching football and especially when we get to watch our favorite teams AND be surrounded by friends. Good times! We are excited about that for sure!
The other exciting thing getting into full swing is hockey! It is hard to believe that our little guy will be taking the ice this year in full gear as a member of the team.. and we can't wait to see this. He has only been talking about this for 2 years now! The much anticipated adventure will be captured in many pictures.. and they will be to come I promise. Tanner on the other hard is moving up the ranks and graduated to a more structured team.. he is excited about. There will be more games and I believe we will doing some traveling for games as well. We are all looking forward to it. Hockey is a long season but we always miss it on our break from it. When it gets started we are so excited... and when it winds down come spring we are surely over it and ready for the break! Here is to the cycle beginning!

Thanks for stopping by! I sure know that I have been behind on posting and I need to get caught up on that.. I would love to stay it will get better but the busier it gets I do not want to make promises I can't keep.

Thanks for bearing with me!

Much love to all!

Tammi and the boys!

Cooking club fun!

2009-09-04T21:15:00.002-04:00

I joined the cooking club on base and so far it is awesome! Of course the first night was dessert night.. how can you not love that??? I made these mini cherry cheesecakes courtesy of Ms. Paula Dean. I am really excited that Julie will be posting all of the recipes for the clubs with pictures and such on the blog. So, a NEW blog.. and with food... good stuff. I thought that warranted a post for sure!!

Here is the new blog! Check if out for food ideas as we go.

This is a big weekend... but I forgot the camera... so I guess I will just need to take it all in, enjoy it and capture in my head! :)

Thanks for stopping in.. since I never update!

Love to all!

Tammi and the boys!

A new friend and blogger....

2009-08-19T21:05:00.004-04:00

I am soooo excited to have a new friend and to add her new blog to my list of favs! I got to meet Mary recently and if was so great to get to meet her, though our time with her was way too brief. I hope that we get to visit more in the future! I did snap this picture of Mary and Bryan at the buffet right before she left.

Mary and Bryan (aren't they cute)

They also recently announced thier engagement! We are so excited for them!

When we explained to the boys that Mr. Bryan was getting married. Evan thought that married and buried were the same and he thought Bryan was going to cover her with sand?? Ah my children they sure come up with some silly stuff!

Mary's blog is all about wedding planning and I am so excited to track thier progress.

Since I know Mary sometimes checks my blog.. I wonder if she will appreciate the colors I did this post in.. ;)

Thanks for popping in on us..

Festival stuff...

2009-08-19T08:55:00.005-04:00

Well we went to some festivals this summer.. though we have not done as many. We did do the Mountain Festival... and the Goetta (pronounced Geta) festival in Cincinnatti... here are some pics of the fun..

Hank enjoying the bluegrass music

Posing with the teepee

more posing..

He is sooo cute! :) And he was so patient..it was HOT

mining for rocks

My favorite thing about the last picture is that my husband knows me so well... he grabbed the kids and posed in front of the giant inflatable goeta... I mean how can you pass up a picture with a Giant Inflatable Goetta???

By the way...if you must learn about Goetta check it out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Much love!

Tammi and the boys!

BIG Drama!

2009-08-18T20:56:00.003-04:00

Well, lots of drama today in this family.

First of all, Evan has the chicken pox. He was vaccinatted so it seems to be a fairly mild case but still 7-10 days of no school. Day 1 and he is soooo bored!

Secondly, turns out day two of 1st grade has yielded a "girlfriend" there is even talk of marriage...talk about a whirlwind romance! Turns out Tanner STOLE Ashlyn from Noah.. ( because she thinks he is cuter then Noah--per Tanner) And Noah was NOT happy about it! There was some playground roughin' up...but all in all Noah indicated that he wants to be friends..... Oh the fun of school!

The story cracked me up... I wish you could have heard him tell it. It was told as Bad News and Good news... Bad news was about Noah and the play ground... and Good News.... "I got a girlfriend!!!!"

I know it is a bummer without pictures...but I will post some soon.

Thanks for stopping in!

Much Love,

Tammi and the boys

Our first grader!

2009-08-17T18:43:00.003-04:00

our big boy..getting on the bus

Mom and the boys

Dad and the boys

Daddy's home cooked bacon and egss

Yummy Daddy's breakfast

Well there it is... first day of school! So very hard to believe! It was a quick summer.. our boy is growing so very fast!

Thanks for stopping in!

More soon!

Much love,

Tammi and the boys

First day of school preparations...

2009-08-16T20:05:00.003-04:00

Well, tomorrow is the 1st day of school for one VERY excited 1st grader. We kind of inadvertentaly created this tradition last year.. and looks like it will stick...first day of school cake! I mean who doesn't like cake...right?

As part of all the preparations the boys and I made the cake...

Tim already warned me that for tomorrow.. I "might" not want to put any makeup on.... I already cried a wee bit when we sent Tanner up for a blessing during mass today.... ah Motherhood...

mixing batter

The 3 of us

trying to take a pic of me and Evan

Tanner breaking an egg

Preparing for the cake baking

More pictures to follow... I am sure...

Thanks for stopping by.

Much Love,

Tammi and the boys.

So PROUD!

2009-08-06T06:55:00.002-04:00

This is me and my little man just a few weeks ago. Notice he has his patch on. He has worn this patch 12 hours per day 7 days per week with hardly any breaks! And it is WORKING!! I know it has been VERY hard work for him but we are so proud of him. When we went to the new Dr. just a few months ago, Tanner was seeing at 250 ( legally blind) in his left eye. Last time we went to the Dr he had improved his vision by 50% and now yesterday another 30%. He now can see at 40 with his glasses. Though he has made AMAZING progress this is still more than likely a long process. The Dr. yesterday said he will probably patch on an off until 8 or 9 years old. As of right now, we will continue the 12 hour patching until school starts and then he will be able to do only afterschool and all day on weekends! I am so excited and so is he! No patches at school makes him really happy! The Dr. does reserve the right to change his mind when we go back in Oct... but we are hoping that this will not be necessary.

Thanks to all for keeping Tanner in your prayers. This is a trial for him.. and like I said it is hard work! But obviously it is SOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it!!

Thanks for stopping in!

Much love,

Tammi and the boys!

Camping weekend!

2009-08-02T22:13:00.006-04:00

We checked out a new place about 2 hours south of us called Longs Retreat pretty neat place! I did not take as many pictures as I thought. There was SOOO much to do. We did a ton, the go carts, the water slides, went canoeing etc. I did try to take a few pictures of all the fun! Basically I took and extra day off work and we made a long weekend of it.. enjoy the pics!

Evan at the lake.. it was hard to get him out of the water

I took this picture of Tim to show the splash pad..

This is for the big green slide in the lake..Tanner LOVED it!

This one is to show the dock and the diving boards..

Then there was a whole shallow area to build in the sand and such Tanner is a speck in this pic

You can also see the boat house where we did our canoe rental

See..the big long water slides.. I was suprised both boys rode these over and over

no fear at all in these kids..

Tim helping Evan with the water wars

Tanner ready to fire a shot

Playing in the sand

hangin out at camp

more camp

Tanner met lots of friends and played lots of ball

Across from our site

roasting marshmallows with a friend he made ( Sheldon)

Picture of all the fun stuff from our site, carousel, go carts, jump house...

Tanner and Sheldon... again!

Evan chillin by the lake

really sorry you have to see this twice.. too late and I am too lazy to remove it.. :)

So the first night it rained.. and look what we found.. WORMS!!

Evans worms!

Quick mom get the Camera.. take a picture of our worms!!

Well like I said it was a great time! There was absolutely no cell signal.. so it was uninterrupted family time. The boys said it was thier favorite camping trip ever! I am not sure if we will get to go back or not. We are looking into at least one more trip before the season is done. Special thanks to my hubby for doing all the hard work and making such WONDERFUL meals! He really does take the "roughing it" out of roughing it!

Thanks for stopping by!

I am trying to get better about posting.. :)

Much love to all!

Tammi and the boys

"Bring your own wheels!"

2009-07-26T20:52:00.006-04:00

Well Evan is all about race cars and anything with wheels really. Well I had some ideas for birthday parties but nothing was working out as I wanted. I mentioned this to Julie and Natalie and they brainstormed a great idea. A "bring your own wheels party" . I reserved a spot at a local park... it was a PERFECT location. We had the kids bring bikes, bigs wheels etc and they LOVED it. Everything revoled around race cars. We had crafts that were race car related and even a tire relay.

Here are some shots of the fun:

The riding area...

Crafts

Lunch

More crafting

Natalie helping

Julie and Nick "on duty"

The AMAZING Cake!!

Check out more pics of the cake here

I know it seems impossible...but it tasted better then it looked...

just AWESOME!!!

A very happy boy

Dad getting pinata going

Tire relay

More tire relay!

I need to add this party would have never worked and been this successful without my wonderful air force family... Nick, Natalie, Julie Russell... I cannot thank you all enough for working so hard... and helping us!! Oh... and did you notice the INCREDIBLE shirts that Julie made. I am soooo bummed that I did not get a picture of all of us in our shirts... we really were all working too hard! :)

A family shot at the party.. our shirts that Ms. Julie made all said Evan's pit crew on the front and the number 4 and Hall's racing on the back. Except Evan's which was special and said his name.

The one way to tell the party was successful...one tuckered little boy!

Thanks for stoppin in!

I wil TRY to be better about updating...

Much love!

Tammi and the boys!

Our little bit turned 4!

2009-07-26T20:36:00.003-04:00

We have been going going going.. and I have not taken any time to post have I. I still have a bunch of vacation pictures to catch on, most of which ended up on Tim's computer which is part of my problem....

Anyway, in the meantime.. our little bit turned 4! How did that happen??? On his actually birthday he ended up with 2 ice cream Sundaes ...one at Red Robin (with singing) and one at Ritters... more singing....

The Red Robin Serenade

Ice cream!

The "worms and dirt" his fav!

Since Evan's birthday is so close to that of our nation we had the party a few weeks later... it was a bit of torture...but I think we all agree it was worth the wait...

The party....next post...

Cousins part one...

2009-07-14T22:13:00.002-04:00

The boys had such a blast hangin out with "baby Anna" . She is not a baby anymore and it is amazing to us how close in age the kiddos have all become. They just played so well together and they have been talking about her constantly.

( ok this should have been rotated but you get the idea)

Three snug as bugs! :)

More soon.. bear with me!

Thanks for stopping in!

Much Love,

Tammi and the boys!

New Ride!

2009-07-09T22:37:00.004-04:00

Well our little guy just turned 4.... I know! How did that happen??? Wasn't he just born?? Anyway he is four now and he wanted a new bike...so that is what he got. His birthday party is not for a whole week ...so he is trying to hang in there and be patient. Since his Mom has AWESOME friends I think it will be worth the wait for sure! Anyway enjoy the pics of him trying out his new wheels.

More posts after the weekend. I PROMISE! I will shoot for Sunday night. Love to all!!

Tammi and the boys

Busy summer!!!

2009-07-04T07:54:00.007-04:00

It has been such a busy summer already!! It has been almost a month since I posted on the blog! We are loving the warm weather and all the stuff to do!

I have many vacation pictures to post.... and I will...

Tanner started a new summer camp this summer and he is loving it. They have an art room and he is sooo creative he comes home with all kinds of stuff. This is a bird house that Tanner made right around the 4th ( hence the flag theme)

I have so many more pictures like all of our summer vacation. BUT... we are have a very busy weekend planned so I will do one more post and THEN catch up next week .....promise!

Thanks for bearing with me and stopping in!

Love to all,

Tammi and the boys.

Last day of school???

2009-06-10T22:17:00.002-04:00

How is it even possible that Tanner has completed his very first year of school?? I just cannot even imagine.

I am sorry that I have behind on posting. I know I owe some posts...but you will have to wait on that....

Sorry all....

Much love,

Thanks for popping in on us..

Tammi and the boys!

First Sleep over!

2009-06-01T07:48:00.003-04:00

Okay so this was awhile ago... but her are a few snapsots of Tanner's VERY first sleep over. This is Julian, he is also in Kindergarten. They had a blast! I was suprised Julian did not wake up in the night to want to come home... so was his mom.. but they did good!

My boys are growing up so fast!

They even let Evan be in one pic

Teeth brushing

Thanks for stopping in!

We have a crazy busy week with something for soccer EVERY night except one night! But we are almost done for summer. :)

Love to all

Tammi and the boys

Phillies!!

2009-05-24T13:45:00.006-04:00

Well we headed down the Cincinatti to catch a Phillies game! The Phillies were in town for a 3 game series and won 2 of the 3 games. Unfortunatly they lost the game we went to! BUT it was wonderful weather and we had awesome company. We went with Nick and Natalie, so dispite the bad news we had a BLAST!!! Here are some pics of the fun!

Cotton Candy yum!

Ms. Natalie and Evan

Awnry Evan

At a fountain by the stadium

Waiting to go in to the stadium!

Eating at the Montgomery Inn on the water before the game.

The boys were not really understanding why there weren't alot of Phillies fans. So, I had to explain that we were the visitors! Can't wait to take them to a game at home!!

Love to all!

Thanks for stopping in!

Tammi and the boys

GOAL!!!!!

2009-05-17T21:58:00.003-04:00

Today was a big day!! Tanner scored his first soccer goal! Not only was it his first

goal it was his team ( The Lions) first goal of the season! Yeah I cried..( a little) I was just so proud of him!! He hussled and did great! Go Tanner!! Now, that the Lions got the taste for it.. I think the goals will keep coming!

In other news Uncle Matt came to visit for the weekend! We had a blast hangin out with him! He spoiled the boys as usual with these awesome remote control cars that they played with all weekend.. with brief brakes for the cars to recharge! Tim and I also got a night out on Saturday which we are so grateful for!

Tomorrow night is Evan's soccer game. And this week we are headed to a Phillies game so we can't wait for that!

Sorry about the slow posting.. I will try to do better.. we just are so busy round here! Especially now that spring has sprung!

More pictures soon!

Thanks for stopping in!

Much Love,

Tammi and the boys

Goggles and Great progress!

2009-05-06T20:29:00.002-04:00

This picture was originally taken as a joke and now it is the truth. I took this pic because Tanner kept breaking his glasses and we joked we would buy him goggles.. so when we were at the store getting them repaired I snapped this photo as a joke.

Turns out it is no longer a joke. We actually ordered him some goggles today. Not because of his broken glasses and not near this big....but goggles for sports and swimming.

Today was the follow up with the Eye Dr. and Tanner is making some GREAT progress! The patching is working!!! He has worked so hard at it..so that is WONDERFUL news! He has doubled his vision in his left eye from 2 months ago! We still have lots of work to do but this was sooo great to hear.. we were worried we might not get any progress at all! One of the things the Dr. said is that Tanner can NEVER be without glasses, swimming, playing sports, everything he does (except sleeping) he needs to have his glasses on to prevent his eye from shutting down again. So.. we ordered the goggles...

We are so excited and feel so blessed to have recieved this great news!

Thanks for checking in!

Much love to all!!

Tammi and the boys

Happy 7th Birthday to Kayla

2009-05-06T09:02:00.002-04:00

Happy 7th Birthday to the beautiful Kayla! I wish we could celebrate with you though I am not sure how the boys would feel about the sun hats at the tea party! I can't wait to see pictures of your party.. I am sure your mom will post them on her blog...hint hint!

We love you lots and miss you! Enjoy your day and Coldstone!

XOXO

Tammi and the boys!

P.S. Kayla is 6 is the picture above when she visited us this past summer...

Double Bubble Trouble

2009-05-03T21:54:00.004-04:00

As dirty as these boys get... getting clean is always a must! They love nothing better then getting to float aroung in the oversized tub... ( we miss that tub)

Just thought I would share some pictures of the fun!!

Tim and I got soooo much done today.. we hung up some pictures and found places for lots of stuff... lots of stuff will need to go into storage...just not enough room. But either way it is starting to feel like home for all of us and that is a great thing!!

Tanner had a soccer game today! We love watching him play! He and his team are still trying to learn the game...but they have fun and that is all that matters..right?

Okay, off to finish the laundry! Thanks for stopping in!

Much love.

Tammi and the boys!

Soccer

2009-04-29T21:42:00.003-04:00

The boys are both playing soccer and lovin' it! I kind of thought it would be low key 1 or 2 nights a week... well right now we are looking at 5 days a week doing something with soccer. The good news is this is our last week of ice skating lessons so we are free for all soccer all the time. I am not too knowledgable on soccer so I am learning right along with the boys. I do know all that running is surely tiring them out!

Tanner (7) faces off against the yellowjackets..

Evan's pregame pep talk from Coach Matt

A water break between game one and two on Sun it was sooo HOT

First time wearing his uniform and he was sooooo proud. I told Tim when he is big and hairy and smelly this is the image I am always going to think of when I see him in uniform.. his first uniform ever... and so very proud :)

They may be getting bigger but the best part of sports is still the snacks for them... :)

Well thanks for stoppin in and checkin on us.

I am so behind on posting but as of right now I have about 3 things hanging on my wall and no curtains.. so I really need to get this place feeling like home... :)

Love to all.

Tammi and the boys

New baby

2009-04-27T21:24:00.003-04:00

I was fortunate to hold and meet a brand new baby!! Baby Hank is FINALLY here!! We have all been waiting for his arrival. Evan was truly beginning to doubt if he would ever come out of Ms. Julie's tummy...I think at 10 days overdue..Ms. Julie may have felt the same way.

Tim loves a new baby

He is so cute!

Daddy ( Russell) and Hank

Boy I look rough..but such a cute pic of Hank I had to add it!

You can check in on Hank and his parents at Julies blog

We are excited to watch him grow!

Funny story: When we took the boys over to see Hank for the 1st time Tanner said to Julie and Russell.."Welcome to your first kid!"

And since I know Julies reads my blog here is another funny thing Tanner said. He saw my toenails in desperate need of a painting and he said," Mom you and Ms. Julie should go together and get your toes painted. Mr. Russell can just watch baby Hank"

I thought that was hysterical.. this kid comes up with stuff out of nowhere!

Well more posts to catch up on!

Thanks for stopping in!

Tammi and the boys

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T14:10:00.001-04:00

Here are a few more Easter shots! One from church this morning... and one from the bunny!

I hope that everyone enjoys thier Easter!

Thanks for stoppin' in!

Much love!

Tammi and the boys!

egg dying video

2009-04-12T10:23:00.003-04:00

Okay I finally downloaded some pictures and I have some posts to catch up on for sure! Right now .. it is quiet! The boys were up ALL night.. kept checking in to see if the bunny had come. The good things is we were up early enough to make it to 8:00 mass! I did not see that happening! This means they can get a nap in before company arrives! We are so excited to spend Easter with friends!

We miss all of our family and friends from far away!

Much love to all!

Thanks for stopping in!

Tammi and the boys!

Egg dying...

2009-04-11T22:53:00.004-04:00

Blogger is giving me a HARD time tonight. Or maybe it is my computer! I am VERY FRUSTRATED!!! I am having a hard time rotating pictures so here are the few I took that do not need to me rotated for a good shot. We FINALLY dyed our eggs tonight. The boys loved it and they are at a great age for it! I just need to do it sooner.. some how I just ran out of time!!

One of the neat things is that we were dying eggs and totally random and not planned in anyway we looked and there was a cross left in the carton. Tanner noticed and said.. "Look Mom a cross just like Jesus died on a cross for us!" I had to take a picture cause I kind of chuckled that dying eggs actually made a bit of sense for the true meaning of Easter for once...

The random cross

Tanner's Star Wars kit came with a way to build a space ship out of the egg.

Evan's soccer ball egg...

Tanner is so artistic. His drawing amazes me. Such a creative kid! So needless to say this egg dying thing was right up his alley...

So tomorrow.. Easter and matching Easter outfits.. I know I know.. but I just couldn't pass it up.. so cute!

Contest!

2009-04-11T10:19:00.003-04:00

You all should enter this contest!

You could win...the yummiest cupcakes...

Check it out here..

:)

Easter posts.. coming soon!

Here we go again....

2009-04-09T21:34:00.005-04:00

Well here we go again!! We are moving! This will be the 7th move since Tim and I were married 8 years ago... kinda crazy!!

When we arrived here is Ohio we thought we would be smart and rent a nice house. I was sure to get a place in a good school district. I insisted on a 2 year lease so that we would NOT have to move during our short assignment here. We had some tempations to buy but the market in this area is declining alot and we were worried about selling. So, here we are happy as can be and me thinking I am just so smart and I have it all figured out until last friday's mail came....

In that mail was a letter that turned our whole world upside down!! A letter from the landlord indicating that he was going to turn the home over to the bank! Yes he is going into foreclosure. Or actually he indicated he would be trying to do deed in lieu of foreclosure. Needless to say we were shocked!!! Needless to say we are moving! So, here we go with less then a year left on this assignment we decided we will just move on base.

The good news is the Air Force will move us.. so the packers come a week from Monday... here we go again!

A new adventure awaits!!

We will keep you all posted!

Maybe this time I will actually send change of address cards!

Tim's newest project..

2009-04-02T21:30:00.003-04:00

Well Tim has been doing lots of airplane building lately.. all kinds of fancy stuff I do not understand. But I can say when he built this one even I was impressed. He pretty much can't sleep until it is finished...so it gets finished quickly.

He has since added the stickers and the driver ( Snoopy) since it looks like his plane. I was too lazy to take updated pictures... maybe soon.

In other news we have a new blogger on the block! I am excited that Julie has decided to start a blog. :)

Well we have a busy weekend ahead... so I will try to post more pictures of the adventures soon!

Thanks for stoppin in!

Tammi and the boys!

More skating fun!

2009-03-29T17:21:00.004-04:00

Well in our insanity we just signed the boys up for even more skating! They love it and this is the last session before the ice is gone. We signed Tanner up for some actual lessons since he has learned from just being thrown on the ice at age 4 and thought he could use to review some skills. He did awesome at his first lesson this past Saturday. Evan is continuing on in Snowplow Sam he took great to it for his first session and he is so excited to be doing it for one more session. We can see such a difference in him already. He is just so VERY anxious and excited to learn... to play hockey like big brother.

Well here are some pics from last Saturday we had a VERY busy day to include to trips to the rink and monster trucks in between. We honestly wouldn't trade any of it for the world. We run around alot but we love it!

Tanner, Theo and AJ with thier hockey medals
Tanner with his SWAG.. Evan looks on..

Tanner shooting pucks

Token pose at the hockey party

Evan's token pose... can't get him to stand still

Evan takin a shot at the goal

Evan with his certificate and patch for passing Snowplow Sam.

Thanks for stoppin by to check in on us!

Much love to all!

Tammi and the boys!

Homemade Stromboli and Monster trucks...

2009-03-27T07:22:00.004-04:00

Well we have been SUPER busy and I have so many posts to catch up on. I have started downloading the pics...so we are getting closer. This will be a combo post of 2 things that are totally unrelated. Last weekend we took the boys to monster trucks. One day this past week Tim made these homemade strombolis and they were SOOOOOOO Yummy.... I can't wait until he makes them again!

Well TGIF! Gotta get a move on today!

Thanks for stopping in... I have lots more posts to catch up on. Stay tuned!

Much love to all!

Tammi and the boys!

Happy St. Pats!

2009-03-17T07:10:00.001-04:00

Happy St. Pat's everyone! We enjoyed a green beer on Sunday and today we have Corn Beef and Cabbage cookin in the crockpot!

Hope that everyone enjoys their day!

Much love to all!

Tammi and the boys!

Tim and Tanner race...

2009-03-16T22:56:00.006-04:00

Tim and Tanner race at the rink.

Looks like Dad has still got it.

Much love,

Tammi and the boys

More time on the ice...

2009-03-15T19:29:00.004-04:00

Daddy and Evan skating

The boys on the ice

Cheesin' before they hit the ice.

Well when we were looking for something to do last night we thought of a few activities and let the kids vote. Well ice skating won! The boys were very excited to hit the ice. They both just love skating. Evan is slowing getting it. He just had his 5th lesson but he seems to be catching on pretty quick. I think that he is just trying so hard to catch up to big brother.

Thanks for stoppin by!

Much love to all.

Tammi and the boys.

Final hockey game....

2009-03-14T22:21:00.004-04:00

Tanner played his final hockey game last thursday. We opted out of Spring hockey so we are done for now. The boys are starting soccer next week. But here are some action shots of the final game. Tanner played hard and had a blast. I think it is all coming together how the game is to be played. Tanner's coach said he is ready for the next level for next season which means more games and probably some travel.

I really enjoy watching him play and learn the game. I know a few folks that follow my blog are hockey fans...so this I think you will relate to. This is the first year that Tanner and his gear truly got the HOCKEY FUNK. That is right my little boy has grown into a stinky boy and I know he will only get stinkier as he grows. :)

Enjoy the pics... I will try to post another post tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tammi and the boys

Saturday night....

2009-03-10T10:08:00.004-04:00

Well, after showering Julie and baby Hank we all decided we needed to relax and unwind... and have a beer ( not Julie and baby Hank of course). So, we headed to a place called the Pub.. located at the Greene with some friends.

I did 2 pics of the group about 1/2 are looking in each picture

Tanner doing a sad face on the other side of the window..Daddy being empathetic

( Note: Tanner needs to now where his eye patch all day everyday..we have a new Dr.

we also have new glasses ( yes a 3rd pair) on order for him

Great couple : the gorgeous and talented Natalie and her hubby Nick

Beautiful Julie and her friend Nicole

The boys waiting for dinner ( it was a long wait)

Well off to enjoy my day...just wanted to get a post in!

Thanks for stopping by and bearing with me through the drought of posts!

Love to all!

Tammi and the boys

Showering Julie and baby

2009-03-09T06:23:00.008-04:00

Natalie and I had so much fun getting to shower Julie and baby Hank on Saturday. We decided to mix it up a bit and went with an Orange and Green theme. I think with Natalie's creative genius everything turned out really great. She is really quite the food guru and you can check out her blog for all the yummy recipes. The food tasted as good as it looked.

The gorgeous mom to be opening gifts.

During the party ( sorry it is so dark)

This cake and cupcakes were so yummy and adorable. All done by Natalie

You can see her cupcake stuff here

Me trying to pretend I am a photographer

I made a diaper cake...The favors were adorable (done by Natalie)

The spread.

Since the baby's name is Hank we served the Hank's orange soda.

We had so much fun doing this. I hope everyone had fun. I wish I would have gotten a pic of me, Julie and Natalie but in the midst of all the excitement I did not.

I am still sad about loosing a ton of pics.. but we are moving on and I have some to post from the weekend that I will post soon.

Thanks for stoppin' in.

Tammi and the boys.

Heartbroken!!!!

2009-03-05T20:54:00.002-05:00

I am so upset! I just tried to transfer all of my pictures from my camera to the folder and they are GONE! Deleted! I am so angry! I finally decided to delete all the pics from the camera thinking they were all copied and they weren't. So, I am sorry about the lack of posts. I am so upset because Tanner just had his big hockley game and I had some awesome pictures that are gone forever.

I do not know what to post without any pictures...sorry my blog is so uneventful. I am going to pout now!!

Tammi
( and the boys)

Ice skating!

2009-02-18T23:17:00.005-05:00

Okay I am sorry about these pictures.. I am so confused!! I have done this 3 times... the pictures are right side up on my computer but on here they keep turning. I know I have been slacking on posting so I thought I had better get something up here. Next post I promise will be about Tanner... 2 about Evan in a row? Odd. Anyway these are pictures of Evan's first skating lessons.. he had a BIG Smile on his face the whole time so we took that as a good sign. He just knows this is a necessary step to play hockey so he is very motivated...

Looks like he is starting to do a bit of a split here

Getting suited up.. ( this is not his doll)

There was quite a bit of this..but he got up quickly

Daddy gets him ready to hit the ice!

The class and teachers you can see Evan is trying it on his own.

Bottom line: he LOVES it.. I get the feeling Tim and I will be logging many more hours in the ice rink in the coming years.

Thanks for stopping in.. sorry I have been so slow with posts

Tammi and the boys!

Evan's turn at the Eye Dr.

2009-02-07T21:32:00.003-05:00

Well today it was Evan's turn at the eye Dr. It seems we have been seeing eye Dr's a lot lately. :) Evan did great! He sat so still and listen to everything the Dr. said. We learned we will have another child in the house wearing glasses. The Dr. said that Evan is far sighted and will need glasses. He said at this point he might be a little young since he not really reading or anything yet.. so we will see and keep ya posted. He of course just wants glasses.. cause big brother has them.

Speaking of brother...Tanner is not wearing his glasses right now as we sought a 2nd opinion. The 2nd opinion Dr said we needed a 3rd opinion.. so we are off to a Pediatric Opthamologist in a few weeks to see where we are on this whole mess. For now we are patching and not having him wear the glasses to school ( cause he can't see out of them) Parenthood is so Adventurous!!

Well Tanner had a play date with a friend from school and Evan and I went to the eye Dr. and he was so good I took him to lunch with my friend and I, :) It was a great day!

Thanks for stoppin in!

Tammi and the boys

Lite Brite fun and hard work too!

2009-02-04T20:44:00.002-05:00

Well in a blast from the past we got a lite brite! The main reason is because it is great vision therapy for Tanner's eye. It is a good exercise for him to do with his patch on. The cool thing about the new lite brite if you don't own one.. is that you get to do pictures on all four sides. Here are some pics of the kids playing with it tonight.

We also got Ker Plunk and that has also been a great family game that both kids can play.

Thanks for stopping in on us!

Much love to all!

Tammi and the boys

Dear Friends

2009-02-01T22:57:00.002-05:00

Here is a picture of my dear friends! I was so glad that I got to spend some quality time with Donna. It was nice to have some girl time. Donna had lots of stuff planned for us. We even tried meditation. I really liked it. If I could find a place here I think I would look into doing meditation often. It is okay to laugh at me.. I think my mid 30's has been my road to self dicovery.

Well I only was able to see Melissa briefly. We went for coffee and treats but I was so glad that I got to spend some time with her and catch up.

I have been friends with these 2 since highschool. It is amazing to me how long ago that was but I know how lucky I am to have them in my life.

Thanks friends!

Thanks for stoppin in to visit us.

Much love,

Tammi and the boys~

25 Random things....

2009-01-30T22:31:00.002-05:00

Okay well I put this on facebook.. thought it was kind of fun. I needed a post.. and I thought it would be fun to post here as well.

Hope that you all enjoy!

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you. (To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1. I have put off doing this list because so many people have done such a great job and I don't know that I can live up to the pressure.
2. I met my husband and married him within 5 months. I told my best friend after our 2nd date that he was the man I would marry. I truly believe “when you know you know.”
3. My mother had me when she was 48 years old. Having a mother born in a different generation gave me insights and advantages I have not truly appreciated until recently.
4. Being a mother is the most important and challenging thing in my life.
5. I lived in NJ for the first 27 years of my life. After living in other states and hoping to add more places to the list; I don't know if I could ever feel like NJ is home again.
6. I am not good at apologies but this is something I have been working on.
7. I was baptized the same day as my oldest son. My walk with Christ has shaped who I am in every way.
8. I am always amazed by those who do not have regrets. I have done a lot of things I wish that I hadn't but I do believe all of my experiences have made me who I am today.
9. I try to be a good friend and would help a friend in need in any way that I can.
10.I really don't like TV very much. If I am home alone I rarely even turn it on.
11. I can't sleep with socks on no matter how cold my feet get.
12.I am a coffee snob. I have only tried one regular cup ever and I have stuck to Starbuck's latte's ever since
13. I love jewelry and rarely leave the house without some on.
14. I love to paint, even if I am not very good at it.
15. I wish I had more self confidence
16. Everyday I listen to Howard Stern and Artie Lange. I love them both.
17. On the total opposite side of the spectrum I am very conservative and love Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Fox News.
18.I am easily intimidated by people in positions of power.
19. I am a very dedicated worker.
20. I have a pretty severe internet stalking problem. Facebook is awesome for people like me. I do not know if it stems from moving away from everyone I knew or what but I love seeing how everyone's lives have turned out.
21. I would like to go back to school for a Master's but I don't know how to juggle it with my family.
22. I should be better at making time for me.. that is also something I am working on. I know when I do this I am a better wife, mom and friend I just find it hard to prioritize.
23. My biggest fear in life is something happening to my husband or my children this is a nightmare that I worry about often.
.
24.. I love to read but I decide in the first 2 chapters whether I will devour the book or put it down and never pick it back up again.
25. I developed and intense fear of heights since I had my children it is unbearable if they are around.

I am not tagging anyone here.. but I thought I would leave the rules in case anyone else wanted to try thier hand.

:)

Thanks for stopping by and checking in on us!

Tammi and they boys!

My sweet boy

2009-01-27T15:28:00.002-05:00

So I was feeling under the weather and missed church. My sweet Tanner came home with these for me. He is the sweetest most kind hearted child.

Okay just wanted to brag on him a second. I am a lucky mommy for sure!

Thanks for stopping in and checking in on us!

Much love,

Tammi and the boys!

God works in mysterious ways....

2009-01-27T07:58:00.003-05:00

Well I have had many times in my life when things have just seemed to come together. I know it is all part of a greater plan of a higher power. I had a similiar situation right before Christmas. My brother Jimmy called me with a message that there was a post in the newspaper about the death of one my brothers. Now for those readers that know me well, know that I had 8 total brothers. My mother had 5 sons and my father had 3 sons before they met, married and had me. Well, I never really had contact with my 3 brothers from my father. I have tried to look for them over the years online and such but with such common names ( my maiden name is Parker) it seemed an impossible feat. Well this is why that phone call was so critical. See Jimmy always knew I was looking for my brothers so when he heard of the newspaper obituary he called me. Of course I was sad that my search had lead me to this dead end. Now I would never meet my brother Tom, my Dad's oldest son. While I was online looking at the obituary pages I saw where you make comments and I tried to learn as much information as I could. Then I noticed one of the posts had been by my other brother Bob. I hesistantly emailed Bob and sat on pins and needles until I recieved a response to my email. It was not long until I recieved a return email. We have been able to talk, email and even meet on a recent trip to Baltimore that I had already scheduled. I am so excited to meet he and his wife Linda too. I am looking forward to meeting the rest of his family and also my other Bill and his wife who were unable to make the lunch.

This has been such a blessing to me. I am looking forward to learning more about my father. I already learned he was a great baseball player, a pitcher. I am sad to say a lot of the memories of my father have faded. I was only 9 when died and he had an almost 2 year battle with cancer before that. I am also so excited to learn more about my brothers... I tell you I think those we have up there in heaven really work on our behalf. I don't believe in coincidences. I truly believe everything happens for a reason... and it is all by the power and grace of God. I won't stop counting my blessings anytime soon!

me and my brother Bob ( see any similarities?)

Bob and Linda

I still have more to post about this trip.... so I will try to get that done.

Thanks for stoppin by!

Love to all!

Tammi and the boys

Taste of home

2009-01-25T20:34:00.002-05:00

Okay this might be sad to say but some of the best stuff about home tends to be around food. I have to say I enjoyed all the food that I can't get here... I had to have scrapple...yum yum. I also had to have a REAL hoagie from a real Italian place... ( pictured above). The cheesesteak I had was so good I didn't even take a picture of that. I also had to eat at a diner. :) Hee hee...jammed a lot of food stuff into 4 days time. Another note of the picture above..can't have a hoagie without Herr's chips. :)

Well there is alot more important stuff to share about my trip...but I thought I would start with a low key simple post.

Thanks for stoppin in more pics to come!

It was a super quick trip home and I did not get to see everyone like I would have loved but I did have a blast and I hope that we can't get back again soon for a longer visit. Always seems like we do not have enough time.

Much love to all!

Tammi and the boys

One more...

2009-01-22T22:34:00.005-05:00

Okay with all the delay I think that your deserve one more post tonight. I promise to get some pictures downloaded over the weekend. This is a tale from the other day. Tanner recieved this lego car from Ms. Julie and Mr. Russell for his birthday. It was for ages 7-12 and I was sure Tim would need to help him some. Well, to my suprise he sat down at followed the directions and built the whole thing himself. I was impressed and I think he was pretty proud of himself too.

Of course as you see in the picture above Evan wanted to help soooo bad. Tanner is such a sweet big brother and he was trying to be patient with Evan but pieces kept disappearing. I soon realized that Evan was basically torturing Tanner while he was trying to put this together. After I fuss at Evan a few times. I notice again he is taking pieces... and trying to hide them. I say to Evan... "Evan, leave your brother alone please!" And Evan turns looks me dead in the eyes and says "Mom why do you keep catching me??" This is a glimpse into Evan he is awnry but of course we would not have him any other way. :)

Okay I promise to post the weekend fun this weekend.

Thanks for stopping in.

I need to get to bed!

Much love to all!

Tammi and the boys

P.S. Thier matching hockey shirts are also from Ms. Julie and Mr. Russell..they LOVE these shirts!

Hockey game!

2009-01-22T19:10:00.007-05:00

Here are some family shots of our minor league hockey game! We did have fun!

FINALLY

2009-01-22T08:30:00.002-05:00

Okay blogger has finally decided to cooperate and let me post some pics of the snow fun! Here are the boys sledding...we have actually had a few days of sledding fun. I owe lots of pics from the weekend and such I know... I am hoping to catch up soon.
Thanks for bearing with me.

Much love to all!

Happy Winter!

Tammi and the boys!

YEAH SNOW!!!

2009-01-14T21:17:00.005-05:00

Finally a little bit of snow to help us be able to enjoy winter. Here are a few shots of the fun! Course the boys had an absolute blast! It is still snowing so they are hopeful to be able to do it all again tomorrow...

Insert pictures here....been trying to upload them for 2 days... no luck...how annoying!!!

I leave tomorrow for a trip for the weekend... I hope to have exciting stuff to post when I return!!

Thanks for checkin on us!

Sorry about the lack of posts!

Much love!

Tammi and the boys!

The Children's musuem

2009-01-07T10:16:00.003-05:00

We all went to the Children's museum when the family was in town... the boys had so much fun playing and showing everything to Anna.

Sorry I haven't had anything exciting to post!

Thanks for stopping in!

Tammi and the boys!

Happy New year!!!

2009-01-04T18:13:00.002-05:00

Okay so in years past I did exotic things for New Years. Fancy restaurant's, hotels and even that crazy year I went to see the ball drop in New York's time square. But this year was one of the best! We have started a "new" tradition. I have decided that we will spend New Years having family game night. As the kids grow hopefully this will turn into more of a competition but fow now it was puzzles and Uno. We had snacks and pizza and of course no New Years celebration is complete without sparking grape juice. We didn't exactly make it to midnight but we were blessed with each other and the company of friends and I am very hopeful about 2009.

About resolutions... I am still debating that! I mean I like most want to have a great start to the new year with healthier eating, more exercise and of course the big one......being an all round good person. So, I guess I can resolve those again...as I always do. I really just think that I am on a journey to being the best me I can be and making God proud...so I am a work in progress... I am still working on it.

Happy New Year!!

Cheers to 2009!

Much love to all!

Thanks for stoppin in'

Tammi and the boys

Christmas Stuff

2009-01-03T11:07:00.005-05:00

Okay I downloaded my pictures finally...and there are so many....here are some pics of the fun!

Okay blogger is giving me a hard time today... you get the idea.. I am sure...lots of Christmas fun with the boys! The whole gang was here and Thanks to Mark and Lori we have matching shirts too!

Love to all!

Thanks for stoppin in!

Tammi and the boys!

How 'bout them EAGLES!!!

2008-12-29T10:33:00.003-05:00

E-A-G-L-E-S.....EAGLES!! Yeah How 'bout them Eagles! I don't know what is the best part...that everyone counted them out...or that we stomped the Cowboys!!! Either way...good stuff Birds...Good Stuff Birds!!

:) :)

Okay I know that I owe you pictures of the Christmas fun... I will hopefully get that soon!

Thanks for stopping in!

Tammi and the boys!

Merry Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T12:43:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas Eve to all!

I know that I have said it many times on the blog....but I LOVE this time of year!! Especially with the boys this year...there is pure magic in the air! They are over the moon. We are blessed to have Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Mark, Aunt Lori, Anna, and Uncle Matt with us in Ohio to celebrate. The boys are very lucky to have this whole extended family to spend time with over the holidays. I hope that these are memories that they will truly treasure. We will be attending church tonight and tomorrow it will all about watching the kids and thier excitement.

God Bless everyone during this wonderful time of year.

Thanks for stopping in and Merry Christmas to you and yours!

I am thinking the posts will be limited with all the company but I will try to slip something in if time allows.

Love to all!

-Tammi and the boys

So it feels like you were there...

2008-12-22T15:56:00.004-05:00

This should make you feel like you were there... :) Tanner kept telling me that he was wearing a donut on his head but I swore he meant to a halo...well he was right it really was a donut. Thier costumes were so cute and so well thought out. Lots of costume changes.

Well thanks for stopping in!

Much love to all

Merry Christmas!!

Tammi and the boys

More padgent pictures...

2008-12-22T15:46:00.002-05:00

Here are some shots from the padgent. They really went all out. The kids all did great!

The girlfriend!

2008-12-19T12:37:00.003-05:00

Well last night's Christmas Padgent was a huge success. Tanner sang in a lot of songs and both kids are quite the little hams ( I am not sure where they get that from really) :) I have not downloaded my pictures...really Thank God for Ms. Julie. But I thought I would share a pic of Tanner and his girlfriend.

This is Hope...aren't they so cute? Anyway, Hope and Tanner are "officially boyfriend and girlfriend" per Tanner as of this last week. He also told me that lots of people are breaking up but not them :)

Well another thing is when Tanner came home from school wearing his glasses for the first time I asked how it went and he indicated that everyone laughed at him...but not his girlfriend..she didn't laugh. And not two other people either. I have to say I was a bit suprised that kindergarteners even know to laugh at kids that wear glasses :(

Anyway, I will try to post the rest of the padgent pictures soon.

Thanks for stopping!

Tammi and the boys!

Christmas Festivities....

2008-12-18T07:26:00.004-05:00

As promised we had a little Christmas Gathering and here are some pictures of the fun. We ate, drank and were Merry....even watched some episodes of the office. ( Nothing says Christmas like the Office)

These pictures are compliments of Ms. Julie because I have not downloaded my pictures yet.

This cake was Red Velvet and SOOOO Yummy!

The kids loved singing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

Ms. Julie brought the cake which is appropriate because my kids always thinks she bring cake!

Evan in his Nerf gear that Ms. Julie and Mr. Russell bought him for Christmas

This was a HUGE hit ( for the big kids too)

Tanner Action pose

The whole gang..

(L-R Tanner, Mike,Evan, Russell, Julie, Nick, Natalie, Brian, Me and Tim)

Today is the kids Christmas program at school and Tim is the parent teacher volunteer for the day at Tanner's school. Tanner is very excited to have his Dad be at school with him. I will post some more pictures of the show when I get them.

Thanks for stopping in!

Much love!

Tammi and the boys!

As promised....

2008-12-15T12:26:00.003-05:00

Little bit decorating the tree
Tanner

With the tree

I let the boys decorate the 3 rd tree in the house... they just love decorating...so why not!

I stole a few pics and one shows how cute Tanner looks in his new glasses!

Thanks for stopping in!

This is such a busy time of year but I LOVE it! I am so excited. We are having a small get together tonight so I will try to post some pics of that.

Much love,

Tammi and the boys

Amblyopia---

2008-12-12T11:28:00.003-05:00

This is a bit of a public service announcement for all of my fellow moms out in blog land. I know most of my readers are moms and I think this information can be very important.

Tanner was recently diagnosed with Amblyopia. This is commonly known as " lazy eye". Many of us may think that you would notice lazy eye but for Tanner this is how it unfolded....

Tanner had a preliminary vision screen in his Kindergarten classroom and when he did he was slotted to go to the nurse for a vision screen. When you get information from a 6 year old... this is what you get..."Mom and Dad I see different out of one eye then the other...like if I cover up one eye I see different then if I cover up the other eye" Tim and I were not sure where this all come from ( he did not mention the eye testing) So, next step 2 days later I recieve a call from the nurse indicating that he failed his eye testing. She explained to me that he cannot see out of his left eye....So off to the pediatrian and eventually the eye doctor and fast forward to where we are today. We are doing some patching and hoping that we will be able to get something going in his left eye. The Dr. believes he has some vision it is just that the brain has shut off messages from that eye because it has gone on for so long. As it stands right now Tanner cannot see through binoculars or a telescope or a view finder or see 3D or have any depth perception. I am sad it took so long to catch this but I am so happy that we caught it at all.

This had made both Tim and I realize how amazing our little guy truly is. He has become quite the hockey player he is being put with kids much bigger and older then him and he is skating great and scoring a number of times everytime he plays. As far as school he is doing great despite his vision. I am growing more concerned that when we think he is reading...he is in fact memorizing. At least now we know what to watch for and he is doing vision therapy ( patching and such) and he will also be wearing glasses. I am hoping this will all make a difference in his world.

My only message here is ....Take your kids to get thier vision checked by an eye doctor. This could have been caught as early as 6 months old. I never knew this. Because Tanner's "lazy" eye is not noticable by appearance it was missed.

The patching is hard work and he gets very upset and frustrated but we continue to try and pray.

I will post some pictures soon of how adorable Tanner looks in his new glasses. If they make as much of a difference in his vision as we hope it might change his whole world or at least the way he sees it.

Thanks for stoppin' in and checkin on us.

Much love,

Tammi and the boys

Tanner's wish

2008-12-11T20:06:00.002-05:00

I thought this was sooo cute! This is what I pulled out of Tanner's backpack today. I hope that you can read it. It says Tanner's wish is Uncle Matt lived closer and complete with a drawing of him and Uncle Matt. Melts my heart. More to post but gotta get the Christmas cards in the mail...and Year without a Santa Claus is on and that is my FAVORITE cartoon Christmas movie.

Love to all!

Tammi and the boys!

Hobbyin'

2008-12-07T20:51:00.004-05:00

Maybe it is our age sneakin up on us but Tim and I have takin to Hobbyin'. Tim has been doing a lot more with his airplane hobby which the kids LOVE. He has takin to some ameatuer aerial photography.... I am hoping he will let me post the video that he made at some point...it is pretty fun! If nothing else you get a good view of my neighborhood.

Anyway, I have taken to stampin'. I am really enjoying it and I never thought I would. With the help of my friend Julie I have made my Christmas cards... they are done and should be headed out in the mail in the next week.

I am glad we have hobbies... I feel I am starting to have more time for it now that the kids have thier activities and thier time spent doing what they want.... yes my boys are growing up :(

Okay more soon... just wanted to pop a post in just in case anyone stops by.

Take Care

Tammi and the boys

Tree hunting

2008-12-02T21:29:00.002-05:00

Look what we found... After much searching we found.... our Christmas tree. We had a great long weekend with Uncle Matt and one of the things we did was head to a local tree farm and cut down a tree. We had a blast!!!

The winner
Token family shot

Just the boys

This is how we found the tree farm...

Evan riding in the sled... :)

It was a fun time and no so cold and windy so that was a nice change from years past. The house is all decorated. Tim outdid himself on the outside.. I love Christmas time! :)

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Tammi and the boys!

Turkey day!

2008-11-30T17:38:00.003-05:00

Lucky me I got to eat with all these handsome men

( Bryan,Mike, Uncle Matt, Tanner, Tim and Evan )
Tim's I am too full for pictures face.

Dessert!

Evan's feast!

Tanner enjoying his dinner

Okay well I cheated but I still had a great Thanksgiving! We went to the club for a buffett. It was very yummy and I ate too much for sure! I enjoyed a lazy day finishing up a book and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade in my jammas. While it was very nice... I don't know if I will take a break from making turkey and all the fixins again... I did miss the smells in the house.

I hope everyone had a great holiday!

More soon!

Thanks for stopping!

Tammi and the boys

THAT MOM

2008-11-29T08:30:00.002-05:00

I always said I would never be THAT Mom. The one that shows up at stores before they open and stands outside to run in and see if "the" toy was on last nights truck. Well, I am officially THAT Mom today. When I said I would never do it.. I did not think about the power of a 6 year old looking at you saying, "It doesn't matter if it is not in the stores Mom I asked Santa for that and he will bring it" Hence, I was at Target this morning with all the other poor saps....waiting for the doors to swing open. There was not any pushing or shoving or anything... but I will admit when I got in there was some running by me... and I tell ya not much gets me to a run these days. All for my boys! I know I owe pictures and I will post soon we are hoping to get our Christmas tree today and I should have pictures to share soon.

*** On another note*** It gets really hard to talk about Christmas stuff when your child can spell... and the bad part is I did not see that coming until he started saying what we thought we were being sneaky by spelling...

I love this time of year!!

Thanks for stopping in!

Much love!

Tammi and the boys !

So VERY Thankful!

2008-11-26T08:30:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving time. What a great time of the year to reflect on all the gifts and blessings that we have in our lives. This has been a difficult year both personally and for our country but we still have a laundry list of things to be thankful for.

First and foremost, I am thankful for my church and my faith and our wonderful loving and forgiving Lord. I am of course thankful for all that we have been blessed with.

I have the amazing love of my husband. With all the ups and downs that life has to offer I could not imagine being on this journey with anyone else. He is my partner and my very best friend. We enjoy each other and just make a great team in every way.

I have these 2 wonderful boys that make life both joyful and challenging. Everyday is a new adventure ( hence the name of the blog) . Tim and I discuss how every night we worry about thier well being and if we are doing a good job in molding them into the young men they will someday be. It is such a honor to be thier mother and get to watch them grow. Motherhood, is the one gift that you never know how much you get from it until you have been given it.

I also have family and great friends scattered around the country. Somtimes I think about what it would be like to have lived in one place all these years. Sometimes we miss being close to family. However, then I think about how I would not have the blessing of this military family all over the country. Where we get to spend holidays together and be there for one another in ways that is unheard of to others. I have asked of my military family favors that I would be hesitant to ask of my own family or the friends that I have known for years in the town that I grew up in. It is truly a phenomenon that is unlike any other and I am truly thankful for the whole experience.

I am thankful for so many other things that I know we take for granted. I am thankful for our home, that we have food and all of our needs met. I am thankful to live in this great nation and as much as I worry about the state of our country at this time. I am thankful for our freedom and I know that it does not come without great scarifices from so many.

I am thankful for all of you reading my blog too.... because I know that you are all family and friends that I love and most of you are reading this because we will not get to spend Thanksgiving with you.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I promise to post some pictures soon :) Maybe of the holiday celebration!

Love to all!

Thanks for stopping.

Much love Tammi and the boys

Sad news

2008-11-23T17:20:00.004-05:00

Helen-Marie Lithgow, 68, of Pittsgrove passed away on November 21, 2008 at the South Jersey Hospice Center in Bridgeton. Born in Camden, Mrs. Lithgow was the daughter of Russell & Helen Carr.
She was a member of St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church in Elmer and had retired from the Law Offices of Daniel Rosner in Vineland. Her family was everything in her life, everything else was secondary. She was a very generous, loyal and kind person. Helen was a collector of "everything", she loved going out to breakfast, especially to the Kountry Kitchen, and she loved her dogs.

Nineteen years ago Thanksgiving will be the anniversary of the death of my mom. Not a day goes by that I do not think about her. Sometimes it is a little thing like overhearing a co-worker on the phone with thier mom asking them a silly question and sometimes it is a deep yearning for her guidance in this world. Either way, my dearest and longest friend lost her mom this week. Her mom was my 2nd mom. I referred to her parents as mom and dad. I feel like her family took me in and made me a part of thier family when I was just a young lost child. I am so sad not only because I know the loss that Donna is dealing with on a very real level but in my own selfish way too. I will surely miss her. She would do anything for anyone and when I lost Wyatt this summer she called and talked to me and cried with me and felt my pain in a way I don't know that anyone else could. It seems that every time this happens to someone we love we are shocked and hurt and bewildered by it. I will continue to pray for my "family" and as we believe, " Where two are three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them" Matthew 18-20. There is not a doubt in my mind that both of these woman are with our Lord right now. I just wish we could have had them here longer. Your thoughts and prayers are always welcome.

Thanks for stopping by and for all of your love and support.

Much love,

Tammi and the boys

Dayton Bombers

2008-11-22T09:01:00.003-05:00

Watching
Evan practicing

The boy

What a cutie!

All geared up to play... I think he is saying ( C'MON MOM stop taking pictures!)

Well it is that time of year! We are in the full swing of hockey and Tanner is LOVING it! Evan cannot wait to play so it looks like next year we will have two on the ice. Here are some pics. It has been a crazy week I am sorry I hadn't posted.

Thanks for stopping by.

Much love,

Tammi and the boys

Blast at boonshoft!!

2008-11-16T21:24:00.007-05:00

The children's musuem was a total blast!!! It is by far the best children's museum we have been too!! Enjoy the pics!!

See what happens when Dad's the judge....

Shopping the store...

Maybe Tanner was in jail because of who was on the witness stand.... little brother!

Evan thought the body shop area was awesome!!

The tree house part was amazing... lots of exploring and bird watching!

Tanner compared to a redwood tree.... made me realize I need to take the boys to see the redwoods...so amazing!

Enjoying the large water play area...

Checking out the planets with Dad

Okay that is enough for one post...

Thanks for stoppin in and checkin on us!

Much Love,

Tammi and the boys!

Happy birthday to Nolan!!!

2008-11-16T14:29:00.003-05:00

Happy birthday Dear Nolan!! We hope that you have a wonderful day! We wish that we could be there to share in the fun! Hope to see you soon!!

Much love,

Tammi and the boys

Cowboy turkey

2008-11-13T07:47:00.002-05:00

Tanner had a school project where he had to hide Tom Turkey so he could avoid being eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. We dressed him as a cowboy.

When I told Tanner that I wanted to take a picture of the Turkey we made Evan said " I better get in the picture because I am cute!" ( And humble huh? )

Tanner insisted that he could not be a cowboy without a horse...

Anyway, I have some catching up to do. We went to the children's museum last weekend and it was a blast!!

Thanks for stoppin' in!

More soon!

Much love,

Tammi and the boys

My gorgeous neice

2008-11-06T20:49:00.002-05:00

I haven't put any new pictures of my neice Anna in a while. She just turned 2 years old. Isn't she adorable?? And look what a cute monkey she was for Halloween!

Thanks for stoppin by!

Tammi and the boys!