Monday, November 8, 2010

Joel's 5th Birthday!

Our little Joel turned 5 at the end of August! What a fun time it was! My parents and grandmother were all able to come help us celebrate! Friday we ate lunch at Chuck E. Cheese Pizza (Joel's favorite!) and then Saturday morning he had a pool party with all his friends from church, school, and t-ball! It was so fun to watch him open all his gifts and express true joy and gratitude for each one! What a memorable weekend it was! Enjoy the pics!

Joel and his new Iron Man.

All the "Bubbas" driving the cars!

Enjoying the water! Ahhh!

Enjoying all the snacks!

Toy Story 3 gifts were popular and a big hit with our little "Buzz"!

A Buzz costume!!!! To infinity and beyond!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Still playing Blog catch-up...sorry!

We had a family vacation to Mississippi in late July to visit Rob's grandparents and aunt and uncle. It was a very fun and memorable trip and we are so glad we went! The boys absolutely loved camping, swimming, sliding, playing at Maw-Maw & Paw-Paw's, and just being outside nearly ALL the time! Below are just a few of the pics we took to capture our fun we had! Hope you enjoy!

Early morning fishing attempt...no fish caught, but
fun was had by all!


Our home away from home!

Just hanging out before or after swimming!

Riding the 4-wheeler like a big boy with Daddy! Go Asher!


Enjoying one of the slides at the lake! It was so fun to watch
them get the hang of it and really have an absolute blast on those slides!

Playing in the sand with the pro...Daddy! :)

Maw-Maw & Paw-Paw enjoying their great grandkids!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Random Summer Shots

(Couldn't get this one to flip, sorry!)
All my superheros!




The war to end all wars!
I think they used ALL of their action figures and army guys!
Super cool!



Me and my Joel-er!

Cheezy Asher! ;)


Sunday, September 19, 2010

Summer Visit to Houston

My sister and her family were in Texas for over two weeks so we took the opportunity to spend more time with them and headed down to Houston! It also gave my parents and my grandmothers time with ALL the kids! It was a lot of fun! We were all able to spend some time with both my grandmothers and even were blessed to be able to see my aunt and two great-aunts! The kids enjoyed playing together, no matter where we were, and even did a pretty good job enduring all the photo opps! ;)

Sisters! My sweet nieces, Kaitlyn and Rebekah!


Pop (Russell Arnold) and his namesake (Samuel Arnold)!
Best buds!

My granny with all 5 great-grandkids!

My aunt Judy and my big boys!

My 2 great-aunts (Aunt Betty & Aunt Doris)
with all 5 sweaty kiddos! That's love!

My MeMe with 5 of the 16 great-grandchildren she has! Wow!
She moved the next week to Georgia, where 8 of the others live!
We miss & love you MeMe!!!

My sister, Alicia, and I with our MeMe!

Friday, September 17, 2010

The Hartman's visit Dallas! ...finally!


What a fun, memorable, and busy summer we had! A few of the highlights were: my sister and her family's visit from Oregon in June, our trip to Houston to see more or them, our family vacation in July to MS to visit Rob's grandparents, and then to complete the summer, Sam started Kindergarten, Joel turned 5 and Asher turned 2! I've only included a few pics from my sister and her family's time in Dallas. More will to come...promise!
While they were here we visited the American Girl Store (above pic) so Kaitlyn could pick a doll. Stephen and Alicia were rewarding her for her hard work at school that year. It was a lot of fun, especially for me, who doesn't ever get to go in girly stores like that! We also had family pics done all together, spent an afternoon at the pool, went to church, and barbecued for Father's day! The kids just loved being together and playing! It was so fun seeing them interact and get along so well and really enjoy playing together! Wish they lived closer! :(
We also made sure to get eat a meal at Babe's...our FAVORITE fried chicken place around! (Come visit, we'll take you, and you'll get it!) (See below pics.)



Joel and Pop after a delicious meal!


Aunt Alicia soaking up as much of Sweet Asher as she could! :)



And Nana soaking up as much of Kaitlyn (shown)
and Rebekah as she could!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

We're baaaackk!!!

Sorry I sat the month of April out on the blog! My computer was out of commission most of the month but it is back and good as new!!
So, what have we been up to, you might ask?... Well, the boys are finishing up their year at CLC, the preschool they attend, and playing tball twice a week! Asher is basically along for the ride in all of it; from dropping the boys off, picking them up, and going to the practices and games, Asher gets put in and out of his carseat and stroller more times a week than I can probably count. But boy is he a trooper! He loves to put his shoes on and head out to the car when it's time to go...thank goodness!
When the boys aren't in school or at tball they enjoy playing Legos, Thomas, or Playmobil! Sam is becoming quite the Lego-maniac! ;) He can build all kinds of great ships and buildings and get all his "guys" set up inside and ready for battle! And Joel is usually flying something around the room with his hands! It could be a car, a plane, Buz Lightyear, or Thomas the train, but no matter what it is, it's flying, with sound effects to match! And Asher is now becoming quite fond of trains and cars as well (with sound effects too) and he gets excited whenever we see a large truck or digger around the area! He also LOVES to play outside, push anything on wheels, and throw things (though we try to limit it to balls)! ;) He is definitely "all boy"!

Most currently we are on the hunt for a swing set for them all to enjoy in our backyard! I really miss our old one and actually asked for a swing set for Mother's Day (hey, it will bless me just as much as them)! :) We've found several on line we like, but boy is shipping something like that ridiculous! I think we may have to be limited to what we can find at the stores.

In April we were able to go visit some family in Houston and Santa Fe! We got to spend some time with my two grandmothers and aunt and the boys did awesome! The boys hugged and talked and seemed to really enjoy being with them all. It was such a blessing! And in Santa Fe we visited Rob's grandparents and his sister. And again, the boys did well and seemed to enjoy being with them! I wish we could visit more often, but we are so thankful for the times we do get!

So there you have it. Nothing extremely exciting, but it's our life and we count ourselves blessed to have it...3 boys and all! It truly is in my three boys that the Lord has really taught me some of the most valuable lessons in my life (and continues to do so) and helped me to understand the gospel in a deeper! "How deep the Father's love for us..."

So long for now, and pictures to come!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Zoo Day!

Monday we headed to the Dallas Zoo! We decided to become members so we can go as many times as we want this year!!! It was a glorious day....sunny, no wind, not hot, and not too cool! Absolutely a zoo-perfect day! Here are a few pics of our fun family day!

Joel showing off his map!

Which penguin are you the same size as? Joel is about the same
size as the emperor penguin!

My big boy wading in the chilly water in the children's zoo area!


Joel enjoying the water too!


And don't forget Asher...he wanted in on the water fun too!



Our new friend...she walked over and picked up food
and then sat back down and kept looking at us
while she was eating!

Asher in his usually pose!








Joel, resorting to Daddy for a ride when his
legs were "tired" from all the walking!


Thursday, February 25, 2010

sick zone ending.



  • We officially have been to the doctor 4 times, and maybe one more time is needed tomorrow (for Asher).

  • The flu has ended.

  • Joel has a double ear infection now.

  • Asher has a new mysterious fever w/ no other symptoms.

  • Tball practice starts this weekend and their team name is now the Indians (sort of bummed about that b/c last year we went all out on the A's gear. Sorry Pop. Oh well, Academy shirts and/or caps will suffice this year!)

  • Rob and I are going on a date tonight, thanks to our good friends Stan and Sarah! Much needed! Sometimes I feel like the kids and I just want to be w/ "Daddy", ie. my man! ;)

  • My parents came last weekend and Rob's parents come this weekend! We love it when the grandparents visit! So much fun! Thanks for taking the time out guys to spend a weekend with us! We love you all!

  • Rob is preaching this Sunday!!!!! Yeah! Can't help but love it when my all-time favorite preacher preaches!

  • Boys went back to school today!! Yeah! They love it and hey, so do I!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

brief catch up from a tired mommy...

okay so here are the latest highlights, in bullet form:
  • It snowed a FOOT (ie 12 inches!!!!) last Thursday!!! (I could't decide what sounded more dramatic, a foot or 12 inches.) Needless to say, it was awesome and so beautiful! And sadly, not many pictures to show for it. (I will try to post what I have soon.)
  • Our entire family is sick. :( Asher and Sam have the flu (swine the dr. assumes), Rob and I have sinus infections (again, Michelle?, you may ask. Yes, AGAIN.) And Joel is getting over an ear infection, and praying it stays at that....no more fevers and flu please!
  • The big boys are all signed up for T-ball (hence the new blog background) and ready for "Spring Training"! Our coach emailed today and said start practicing throwing and catching!
  • And finally, the Tombrella family is leaning daily, more than ever, on the help and grace of the Lord Jesus to not just "get us through" each day, but to empower us to do and say the right thing (primarily w/ each other), to forgive us when we don't, and joyfully walk through each day and all that it holds! And we strive to do it all for the glory of God!

Friday, February 5, 2010

a few asher pics...

Nothing big has been happening in our life lately, so the pictue taking has been nill to none. I did take a few of Asher a week or so ago and thought I would post them. He is such a cutie with quite a fun personality! He laughs, smiles, and seems just plain happy most of the time! (A true kindness of the Lord in my house of 3 boys!) He absolutely loves books, shoes, trains, and bellies! He never tires of carrying books over to me and settling into my lap for a quick read before he heads off the get another one and do it all over again! It is quite funny! And he insists on having shoes on nearly all the time. He isn't picky on whose they are either; could be his, a big brother's, Daddy's, or even Mommy's...any will suffice in his eyes! He now is starting to make the sounds the animals make when we look at them in his books; the "he haw" of the donkey is the cutest! He also can say "cho cho" for his trains, and he excels at "DA-DA" very loudly! And he finally is waving bye-bye, though not always on command! He actually waved at a book cover that had Dave Ramsey's picture on it in the bookstore the other day! So funny!
We all seem to be more in love with him as each day passes and so grateful his sweet spirit is among us! He truly brightens up any room he enters! Thank you, once again Lord, for our sweet Asher!
Rub-a-dub-dub, three boys in the tub!

...literally walking into the pillar!
(don't this he's quite ready for the Cowboys yet.)

Waving from one of his hiding spots!


Ahhhhh!


Big boy!


Oh, how I love that sweet face!


What a gem!