All things Tanner!

We have our hands full with this one! Tanner has quite the personality! I love him more than words can say. God has blessed us with a "gem" of a child...just like his doctor told me!

Here is a few things :

-he has a temper and he is very hard headed! I don't know what to do with him when spankings do NOT phase him at all and he puts himself in time out. We started the whole idea of time out a few weeks ago when he was throwing a fit and stomping his feet. I told him that throwing fits was ugly and he needed to go to time out. I took him over and put him on top of his toy box...yes, I know...not the ideal "time out" spot but it was the first place that I took him. So he just looked at me and kind of whimpered as I told him that he couldn't throw fits. He looked at me and said, "I sorry. I hold you!" as he reached his little arms out.
So the next day, he was stomping his feet again. I said, "Tanner, that is ugly." He said, "I go time out," and marched his little self over to his toy box, climbed up on top, and looked at me. So really....what do you do with that??

-he likes "chocate milk" very much! Well, anything chocolate for that matter!

-He has a vocabulary out of this world. Yes, I am bragging but anyone who is around him can't believe how much he talks and how clear it all is. It's very rare for me not to understand something that he says. The little toot can say just about anything, including "gum-mit" after hearing me say, "dad-gum-mit" the other day. We really have to watch what we say around him! The other day we were outside and he patted me on the leg and said, "I be back, Mama." "Where are you going?" "To the field!"

-he already wants to know "who dat?" or just points to something and says 'Wha dat?"

-He takes after me and is very social. He loves being around people!

-he can count to ten, get to G in his ABC's, recognizes T, O, S, and a few other letters, and knows the colors orange, blue, pink, and yellow pretty well.

-he likes to watch VeggieTales, Mickey Mouse, and Handy Manny.

-He loves to sing songs.

I attached a few pictures of typical Tanner...

He was a farmer for Halloween. I didn't spend money on a costume he would wear. We had a pretty low, key Halloween and just went to Tommy's Aunt Sue's house. Tanner helped pass out the candy to the trick-or-treaters!
Earlier during the day we had gone to ride horses. When we got back to the barn, he had to feed the horse some corn. "You want it?" he kept asking!

Getting corn for the horses to eat!
Climbing into the bath with our clothes on. "I wet!"

Playing with a "locus" He loves bugs!

He makes a beeline for the dryer anytime it is open. I guess he likes the sound because he gets REALLY loud! This night he looked at me and said, "I need chocate milk." I guess he was just going to hang out in the dryer for a while!

He has an obsession with cat food and dog food. He often chomps on it when we are playing outside. I can not break him of the habit of putting it in his mouth. "Tanner, what are you eating?" "uh, cat food." Gross!! This day he dumped it all out and made himself a hat!

He is a little stinker, but I wouldn't have him any other way. What a precious little boy and it is such a joy to be his mama!

Wow...it's been a while!

Wow, has it really been since August?!? I told myself that I would do better this school year keeping up with my blog, but I guess I really dropped the ball! It could have something to do with the fact that we have to have the SLOWEST Internet on the face of the earth and it takes forever to upload pictures!

So...since August...man, a lot has changed and a lot is still the same! Tanner is growing like a weed and surprises me everyday with the stuff he is absorbing. He is so precious. More updates on him to come...

Me...well, there is a lot going on in this head of mine. Teaching is not as enjoyable as it used to be. I am more stressed out than I was my first year of teaching. The paperwork is ridiculous and I am having trouble keeping up. Just when I think I get caught, they add something else to our plate. Let's just sum it up by saying its been a tough year and I don't know how much longer I will last... :-( Makes me sad...

Tommy, still loving his job. He recently got chosen for something called AgLead through Farm Bureau. It is composed of 12 participants that focuses on leadership in agricultural producers. It's a great opportunity, although I am not sure of the timing!! It is a 2 year program and over those 2 years he will get to travel to several different places including California, Chicago, Washington D.C., and an international trip. I do have to say I am a little jealous...I do get to go with him to D.C. so I guess it isn't all that bad. I am excited for him.

Last weekend, we went to the Sam Houston State vs. SFA game at Reliant Stadium. They called it the "Battle of the Piney Woods." For those that don't know, SHSU and SFA are rival schools. All of Tommy's immediate family and spouses went to SHSU. Grandmother went to SFA so she was the lone ranger.

It isn't nearly as fun when you don't know the players like I did when I was in school. Not to mention, when you have a 19 month old to entertain. However, it was nice to see the huge crowd of orange to bring back so many memories of my time in college! I miss those times! I will also add that SFA had some of the rudest and most annoying fans that I have ever seen!!

It was a great game, but sadly SHSU didn't pull it off...oh well, maybe next year!

Here is a picture of us...of course, Tanner can't smile when he is supposed to! The little munchkin eating his raisins and supporting the Kats in his cute little shirt. He can say "eat 'em Kats" but refused to do so at the game!

Tanner and his Diney...thanks to her for bringing all of the toys and food to keep him occupied. He did pretty well considering how long we were there!!

These are the days...

Yesterday, I started back to work...Booo!!!! Summer went by TOO fast! So summer is over but the heat is still sticking around! Tanner hasn't been able to go out and play much lately because of the retched heat. I have been waiting until late evening to take him out to play and most of the time he is only wearing a diaper. If we lived somewhere else, I might make him wear clothes but #1 who is going to see him out here and #2 it is usually so hot! Yesterday, we went out about 6:30 and surprisingly, it was nice and breezy! So our afternoon play began with a our fingers in the dirt!

Then he heard an airplane so we looked "Up!" Note the nice "granny beads" on his neck!

Then we ventured to the backyard, where we climbed on the dog pen gate and yelled at the dogs.

Then he fell in the grass while mommy was chasing him!

And he thought it was Hysterical...even getting up and running and then purposely falling down again!

Then he crawled under the back gate to go find the "ssshhh" (fish) in the water trough!

Ooooo...he heard another airplane...I love the look on his face...so precious!

Then we took a walk down the driveway which didn't last long. He was quickly distracted by the gates. Sheer determination as he almost succeeds in completing his task...

Soon after this, we had to venture inside to change our "naatee"(nasty) diaper. These pictures record a typical afternoon around here. I know these days will pass too soon.

These are the days I want to remember....

FOREVER!!!

Ride 'Em

Tanner has started a new daycare called Feels Like Home. I have felt a lot better about him being there and he seems to be adjusting well. I know he will be moving up to the next class soon. I do have to say I am having a hard time dealing with the fact that he isn't a baby anymore and will soon be sleeping on a NAP MAT!!! I wanted to go ahead and have one ready so yesterday I started searching online...Ummmm HOLY CRAP! I never knew there were so many types and brands of nap mats. When we were little, it was the blue and red, thin as crap, kindermats. Call me high maintanance, but I just can't send a plastic mat for my baby to sleep on. So my options were to make covers for a kindermat or buy one already made. Since I waited until the last day of summer, I decided to just buy one pre-made. After literally spending most of the day yesterday looking and researching, I decided to buy a Wildkin brand mat called Ride 'Em. I am going to have my friend Lacey monogram Tanner's name on it whenever it comes in. I hope it is as cute as it looks and that the quality is good!
I am planning on finding some fabric and asking Tommy's grandmother to make Tanner another one! I hope she is up for it!

Toes in the water, Toes in the sand!

I have been wanting to take Tanner to Galveston for a while now. Tommy has been really busy with work so I decided to see if a few of my girlfriends wanted to meet up. Jo and I were the first to arrive, so we stayed at the hotel until Courtney and Jessica got there. Once they arrived...both late :-) ....it was 5 o'clock. Tanner usually eats between 5:30-6:30 so that didn't leave too much time to play. We decided to go to the Strand to check out some of the shops. I hadn't been there since Hurricane Ike. I have to say that they have done a really good job cleaning up. You could still see the water line on some of the buildings...left purposely. After walking around for just a little bit, we got REALLY hot so we decided it was time to eat. We went to a place that was near the Strand and ate. It was YUMMY!! We watched some people try to navigate a row/sail boat around. They didn't look like they really knew what they were doing! It was great entertainment!

By the time we were through it was 7...too early to go back to the hotel for the night, but too late to really do much. As we were driving down the Seawall, we decided to go get Tanner's swimsuit and a towel and let him play on the beach for a little while. I was really surprised at how "nice"(for Galveston) the beaches were. They have brought in a lot of sand and there was NO seaweed, but the water is ugly! But Hey, it is a beach and it is close! Here is my little munchkin and I before we went down to the water!
So Jo and Jessica spotted a guy in a Speedo sitting on the beach. So guess who took our picture...hahaha!!! At least he put on his shorts before snapping this shot! The lighting was terrible but it's all I have!

He LOVED the water and the sand between his toes! He had the best time running into the waves and picking up the sand to throw it! I loved watching him experience something new! I can't wait to take him again!

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Galveston, other than the beach, was to go to Moody Gardens and take him to Palm Beach! It was SOOO cute! The main area has a swimming pool that gradually gets deeper and just like the beach it was surrounded by sand. They also had a splash pad in one area...Tanner really liked it! The third main area had a water "playground" that had slides. Tanner LOVED it all...well for a while!

We didn't get to stay as long as I wanted to because Tanner had other plans. He was getting really grouchy...maybe b/c I wouldn't let him play with other kids toys. I had brought him his own but those weren't good enough for him! So we had to pack up early and head back home!

All in all, it was a great trip! I hope next time Tommy can go with us and we can enjoy a little family time together!

Happenings around here...

I thought with summer, I would find more time to actually keep up with my blog. Boy, was I wrong. Summer has gotten away from me!!! I am so sad that we only have a few weeks left...boo hoo!

Here are a few things that have been happening in the lives of the Pabens:

-Tanner started at a new preschool today. I am really sad that it is already that time again. I only took him for a few hours because I want to slowly get him used to it. They said he did pretty well but he was upset when I got there because it was about nap time. While he was there for a few hours, I got A LOT done around the house! It is amazing how much you can get done when you don't have a 1 year old to chase around and keep out of things!

-I called AT&T to change our phone plan. So I talked to "Bill" who spoke with a very heavy Indian accent. I explained to him that I wanted to know my options for phone plans. He repeatedly told me, "I will be happy to help you because I want you to be a very happy customer," spoken in his heavy accent. So he told me that he would have to transfer me to another department, even though the #2 phone option I chose was "plans and services." And yes, he transferred me alright...to a LAW FIRM!! Seriously?? The lady that answered the phone sounded really confused when I started telling her that I wanted to know my options for phone plans!!! "Umm, ma'am, this is a law firm. I can't help you with that." I think "Bill" needs a new job!! haha at least I got a good laugh about it!

-As forgetful as I have been, it does not surprise me that I let my teaching certificate expire. YIKES!! Every 5 years in the state of Texas, you have to pay to be re certified...DUMB!!! So since I didn't apply on time, I just have to pay $10 more to get it renewed. So I went online about 2 weeks ago and followed all the prompts to renew. It got to the screen where you type all your credit card information in and submitted my payment. Instead of it showing a receipt, the website informed me that my session had been "timed out." So I logged back in and started to type it all in again. But I checked my email and there was a receipt of payment. I thought, "Okay, I guess its fine." So fast forward two weeks, and I go to check the status and it only says applied and gives me the option to pay. What?? So I SEARCH the website for a number to call and finally get in touch with someone who can help me. She informs me that their system is new and has some glitches but it shows that I haven't paid. So I have to go check my bank statement which shows that they payment cleared the bank. I had to fax them a copy of my bank statement so that they could manually input the data. Ummm, all I can say is they best hurry! School starts in a few weeks!!! What a nightmare!

-I was in the kitchen fixing dinner last night and Tanner was in the living room. As I peered around the corner to check on him, I found him standing on the coffee table. He was on the edge bouncing up and down and peering at the couch. Before I could stop him, he jumped from the coffee table to the couch!!! Wow...the things I have to look forward too! He isn't even 1 1/2 years yet and is already being a dare devil!

-New windows are going in on Thursday! I am SOOO ready to have these old ones replaced! It is going to do so much for the house and hopefully we will see a drastic change in our electric bill!!
They say it should reduce it by 20-30%...BRING IT!!!

-I found out today that I will be teaching 6th grade math again next year! What a relief that is...I am glad that I don't have to quit my job! And we are getting a new teaching tool called a SMARTboard! They are REALLY neat!!

So there you go...few things going on in the last few days with us! We live a pretty uneventful life right now...hopefully, we will liven up pretty soon!

Happy Birthday, America!

The Fourth of July kind of snuck up on me this year. We don't ever really have any major plans but this year we really didn't! We spent most of the day at the casa...me trying to clean the new floors and Tommy was mowing the yard with the little munchkin! To our surprise the weather was actually nice...after DAYS of rain, the sun was shining and it was beautiful!

After lunch we decided to take advantage of the pool, and went for a swim at Tom and Dianne's! I love THEM having a pool! Tanner LOVES it too! He has NO fear of the water which is good and bad! He jumps in, gets his face wet, and refuses to wear floaties or sit in a float! Here is a picture of the water baby...
Tommy was able to go swimming with us too. Munchkin wouldn't let go of that ball...I only wish you could see his little face! He was having a grand ole' time!

Tanner wouldn't look at the camera and my hair was ridiculous but here is a family picture...there aren't very many of these so you take what you can get! Dianne graciously took the camera and snapped away! On a side note, I have these dumb "baby hairs" (as seen here)around my face that popped up after I had Tanner. They are SLOWLY growing out but I told Tommy it looks like "White Trash" hair. Yikes! I think they are a pretty common but boy I am ready for these things to grow out! But until they do, I will have terrible ponytail hair! Anyone else have this issue??

After swimming for a while, we headed up to the church for their 4th of July celebration. It started at 5, but Tanner was napping. So we headed to Sonic for a drink...FYI: "Sparkling" Lemonade = Disgusting!!!! Then I snapped a few pictures of the cute chapel in front of our church. I was a little disappointed that the flag was wrapped around the pole. Oh well...here is one of the shots.

After Tanner woke up, he didn't stop. The boy could wear the energizer bunny out! We chased him all around. Luckily, they had these play toys near our "camp" that kept him busy for a while. Once he got tired of that, he wondered around...everywhere! Tommy was a sport and chased him the majority of the night so I could socialize with the girls from our SS class!

The night ended with a fireworks show from the Katy Mills Mall parking lot. People gather at our church on Fourth of July so they decided to just make it a community outreach this year. They sold food and had jump houses for the kids. It was a fantastic night! Here is a not so great photo of the fireworks as we were leaving. We left early so we would miss the traffic! Fireworks are NOT an easy subject for an amature to photograph!!

Happy Birthday, America! I am PROUD to be an American!

Gettin' things done!

I have promised myself that I will NEVER again let my "To-Do" list get as long as it is. I always think of things to do and then put them off "until the summer." Well, summer is now here and I have a ton of things that I want to tackle. Having Tanner running around doesn't make my tasks any easier so I am slowly getting stuff done!

Our house was remodeled (mostly) before we moved in but I was not around to make any of the decisions. Probably a smart move on Tommy's behalf! I am the most indecisive person alive! But there are a few things that still need to be done!

A few things on my to-do list:

*organize the garage--check!

*redo flowerbeds--half way check! One more bed to go!

* get new tile laid in the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room, and mudroom...( the people that did the remodeling screwed up the floors BAD! They were supposed to be stained concrete but they obviously didn't know what they were doing!) The tile guy is coming to measure tonight and hopefully will be laying tile within the next week!

*new windows! I am biting the bullet and getting we are getting new windows put it. It is going to cost a pretty penny but it will be worth it! Right now, our windows are 60 year old single pane windows that might as well be paper! Let's just say electric bill is outrageous for our little house!

*paint the front door....looking at RED!!

* fix the wall in the laundry room from where our water heater busted a pipe....LONG TIME AGO!!! I will post pictures when it is done...let's just say it's going to be CUTE! Nothing like anything else in my house!

*redo decor in bedroom....yeah, well I think that is going to have to wait for now... :-(

* work on T's scrapbook and get caught up!


Geez, I could keep going on that list but these are a few of the things that are keeping me busy this summer! I am so ready to have it all done! Tommy is going to be ready for me to go back to work so that I will quit spending money! In my defense, I am not a shopper and do NOT spend money usually! However, I once heard that a woman's house is an extension of her and it is so true. I knew there was a reason that I was so crazy if my house was a mess! I guess that explains a lot....my house is always a mess!

Bumps and Bruises

Oh my...If Tanner lives through childhood, it will be a miracle. The kid is ALL boy. I am wondering how many times we will visit the ER and when I will be on a first name basis with Poison Control. I have a feeling it won't be long!!!!

It has been an adventure having him at home with me everyday. I have enjoyed my time with him but it's been stressful due to his ability to climb on ANYTHING and fearlessness! You turn around for ONE minute and he is into something is not supposed to! The other day we were at home and I was busy trying to clean up around the house. Before 9, he had already fallen off the couch and face planted on the hardwood floors, climbed up and was standing on the dining room table, got into the diaper cream (which I decided that he didn't ingest much!!) and bumped his head on the stool when climbing up to see what I was doing.

Then later in the day he was climbing(once again) on a dining room chair and it fell on top of him. I tried to put an ice pack on his eye but you can see how that went... Don't worry...I took it away from him before he could bite a hole in it and eat the insides!

So here is a picture of his bruised face...poor little guy looks like we beat him!

Oh yeah, Saturday was an adventure too. His new pleasure is YELLING "Mama" from any room he is in. As soon as I walk in there to see what is wrong, he just looks at me and continues to play with whatever he was playing with. The other morning I was looking up something on the computer and he was in his room playing. I hear, "Mama....mama.....mama.....mama!" Since he does this all the time now, I didn't rush in his room to see what he needed...I took my time! So as I walk in his room, I followed his little voice and found him in his closet. He was STUCK in there and couldn't get out! I found it pretty hysterical and Tanner got a premature lesson on "The Boy Who Cried Wolf!"

Jessica's Skydiving Adventures

My dear friend Jessica went Skydiving on Saturday. Skydive Houston is only 5 minutes from our house and we see sky divers all the time! I was so glad that she let me know that she was going to be there. It was a nice surprise to see her and Christina Kaye!!!! It is really neat to watch up close. Since we brought Carter back with us from Fredricksburg, I was playing Mommy to two. It was an experience and something I wasn't used to. Watching the plane and then watching the skydivers come down was neat. The In-between time was a different story. Tying to keep two busy boys contained in a general area was tough! Not to mention it was HOT! Oh well, we survived and I was so glad to see my friends!

Carter and Tanner sitting on the bench waiting on the skydivers to come down!

My girls from Livingston...Love them!

Jessica before they went up!

Here she comes...

After skydiving, we went to eat at On the Border in Cypress. Interesting experience once again...we had a party of 12 that was squeezed in the tiniest area EVER! It was ridiculous...and having two boys to try to feed and entertain during a long dinner in a close area was pretty stressful! I am so glad that Tommy was able to go with us! Love you girls!

Fun in Fredricksburg Part II

My mom and dad used to live in Fredricksburg. They enjoyed seeing how much things had changed. One of the things they used to do when they lived there was the Willow City Loop. Dad really wanted us to go check it out and even threatened to duck tape me and tie me to the roof when I jokingly said I didn't want to go. We tried to go one evening and was headed right into a thunderstorm so we turned around. We decided to go the next day instead. Luckily, we timed it to where the boys would sleep!
At first, we were a little disappointed because it was overgrown and you couldn't see much. The more you drove the better it got. It wasn't really what I expected because it was just a LITTLE road that drove through peoples land. There were random cattle guards in the middle of the roads and creek crossings. It ended up being very enjoyable!

I love the Hill Country!!!! I made Tommy stop so that I could snap a few pictures.

When Tommy and I went a few years ago, we ate at Hondo's. They have these FANTASTIC stacked enchiladas. There have been several times in the past 2 years that we would both randomly talk about wanting those enchiladas. We knew we had to go eat there. The rest of the family was up for it too. It is a pretty neat place to eat. FYI: Hondo used to own Luckenbauck.

The boys were playing on the stage. Carter thought the tip "jar" was neat. The whole screen /curtain was painted. The boys just happened to sit in front of the Lone Star Beer ad...NICE!!! Me and Carter...one of the few pictures I actually have with me in it!

After eating at Hondo's, we found a playground to play on. We wanted to make the boys TIRED! They both had a blast!

Tanner LOVED the slide. It was so cute seeing him so happy. There is no telling how many times he went down that slide! I love this picture of him!

Me, Mom, and Carter....he had to climb in the picture! I was looking rough! Yikes!

We had a great time in Fredricksburg. It is such a neat town full of history! I really enjoy going there and this time was extra special! I hope we can make family vacations an annual thing once again! I love my family and REALLY enjoyed spending time with them!

Fun in Fredricksburg Part I

We were able to go to Fredricksburg for a few days to relax with my family. We haven't had a family vacation in a LONG time so it was nice to get away and spend time together. We rented two houses that shared a common yard. It was fantastic!!! The house below is the house that Kim, Brandon, Tommy, and I shared with the boys. I loved this house...it was so stinking cute!

We decided to grill the first night we were there. We had grilled steaks, new potatoes, and salad. It was yummy!

The house had a fantastic porch. We spent a lot of time just sitting on the porch talking and catching up.

We bought the boys a little pool and mom got them some water guns. Carter calls them "juicy guns." Here he is with Brandon showing it off! In the background is the house that Mom, Dad, Cody, and Amber shared.

Grumpy and the two boys...
Mimi trying to teach Tanner to shoot the water gun.

Cute picutre of Carter...they were having fun playing in the pool and sprinkler.

My little pumpkin