Daddy's Little Helper

When I was pregnant with Tanner and Mike found out we were having a boy, he was so excited to have a little helper around the house! He couldn't wait to teach him how to do "manly" things, like mow and fix things. Boy did he get what he was wishing for with Tanner and more! We went outside Saturday night so Tanner could play, and Mike decided put together his new fire pit, work on the mower, get rid of the sticks he had picked up when he mowed, and fill the squirrel feeders, and Tanner helped him with everything!

"Whacha doin' Dad?"

"I'll help!"

"ooohhhh" Big Boy!

Lovin' Summer

Tanner L-O-V-E-S to go outside these days! He loves to climb and explore everything, so Mike and I have been having fun hanging out outside watching him learn new things, and buying him new things to play with! A lot of the stuff is garage sale finds, but then Mike decided he needed a sand box. So Saturday we went to Menards to find one, and had too much fun! They have a whole play area with swing sets, sand boxes, and little cottages set up for the kids to try out! Tanner did NOT want to leave! I would love to have a big swing set for him but they're pretty expensive, so for now we'll keep taking walks to the park. Here are a few pics of him in his new sand box!

We found this little dog at Menards and Tanner fell in love with it and wouldn't let it go, and Dads a sucker and bought it for him. It's a bobble dog, so Tanner stands there and gets him bouncing and then he has to bounce too! Tanner also has a kiddie pool that he likes, but Friday Abby called and said she was headed to the Maryville Pool with her girls, so I met her there with Tanner. He didn't know what to think of it at first, but he wound up liking it. We'll have to go a few more times this summer to get him used to it, and I think eventually he'll really love it! Maybe over our summer shutdown...it's only 3 weeks away! Yay!

Ozzy....(this could be a tear jerker)

Things have been a little crazy around here, which is why I haven't got to blog in a while. A couple weeks ago I woke up and let the dogs out and Ozzy didn't come with out with Roscoe and Memphis, so I went looking for him. Long story short, I found him by his cage and he couldn't move his back legs. We took him to the vet and found out he had a slipped disk in his back, and it was putting pressure on his spinal cord. We tried all of our options short of surgery to try to fix it, but nothing was working, and the surgery is very expensive and not guaranteed to work. He wanted to play and run, but he couldn't without rubbing sores on his belly and he couldn't go to the bathroom on his own, so we decided it was best for him to have him put to sleep. For those of you that don't know me, my dogs are my babies and I love them to pieces. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do and it still bothers me to think about it, but I have to keep telling myself it was for the best. He was one of the best dogs ever, he was one of those dogs who has never meet a stranger. I will miss him forever, and I hope to have another dog like him some day, but right now two are plenty. It took me a day or two to get feeling better about it, and I've been trying my best to keep myself busy so I don't think about it and cry (like I am right now). I just hope my little guy is running laps somewhere warm and snuggling his little heart out. We buried him in our yard and my mom got me a stone to put down so we will always be reminded of the five years we had with him and the little footprints he left on out hearts. Here are some of my favorite pics of him.

An evening at the Lager's

We went out to Kermit and Mary Ann Lager's house Memorial weekend for a little get together and had a pretty good time! Abby, Tim, and their girls, and Pam and her friends were all out there, so Kermit brought out the slide and a bounce house for all of us to play with. Tanner and all the other kids (and the adults!) all enjoyed playing on them. Then we went down to the pond for some fishing and feeding the catfish. Here are some pics of our evening.

Hangin' with the Beatys

We went to visit Chris, Amy, and Vance Beaty Saturday night and they treated us to a BBQ. Their little boy Vance is about 6 weeks older than Tanner, so it was fun to see them get to play outside together now that they can both walk. The only trouble we had was rotation of sippy cups all night!

Vance and Tanner
Vance with his chest puffed out!

The boys in the pool.

Tanner with the dogs.

Chris and Vance on the fifty.

These boots are made for walking!

Tanner got into his closet the other day and found his cowboy boots, and it was love at first sight!

Playin' Outside

Tanner and I spent some time outside Friday exploring around the house and had a pretty good time!

Tanner trying VERY hard to get into the shed!

Trying to feed Memphis grass!

Climbing on the picnic table.
Running down the hill takes concentration!

Trying SO hard to get into the truck!