The Tandy Family: 2013

Friday, December 20, 2013

2013 Tandy Family Letter

Tandy Family Letter 2013

This year has been the most eventful for our family so far. Too much has happened to put it all down on paper. So I will only include some of the highlights.

Levi turned three this year and has grown into an energetic little boy. My little baby is not a baby any more. It is both sad and exciting to watch him grow. He is already reading simple words and sentences, as well as doing simple math. He loves to learn and explore, and has shown a big interest in music. We now have a keyboard, and it has become one of Levi’s favorite things. He doesn't just pound the keys; he actually tries to play songs. They are mostly ones he has made up, and he normally sings along about various fun activities he has done recently.

Matt is as busy as ever. He received a promotion at work, and is now a Vice President and directly oversees business development for Northpoint nationwide. He has worked very hard for this promotion, and we couldn't be more proud. Through the roller coaster of this last year there were not only high happy moments, but also some sad moments. Matt’s father who was battling leukemia passed away October of this year.

I quit my part time evening job to attend school full time. I am working towards an Associate’s Degree in Computer Science. Having just finished my first full semester with flying colors, I’m feeling very accomplished with my schooling. Housework however is a different story. I feel busier now than when I was working full time right after Levi was born. Thankfully, Sonja, my sister-in-law, is close to the school and watches Levi for me during class. He loves spending time over there, which is great since he is there four days out of the week.

Because of my ever increasingly busy schedule I haven’t posted much on our family blog. But it is still there, and I will try to do better at keeping it up to date. The blog address is mctandy.blogspot.com.

Love,

The Tandy Family

Sunday, July 7, 2013

4th of July

We went to our ward pancake breakfast that morning. They had a bike parade for the kids, and Levi was overjoyed to be able to participate. He helped decorate it the night before, and was dancing with excitement.

Here he is riding his bike:

Just in case you didn't catch it in the video... I cut my hair!

Because I haven't posted anything in a while here are a few fun random photos. Enjoy!

Here we are on the marry-go-round at the aquarium. Levi's favorite animal to see was the sharks.

Spending some quality time with his cousins in Oklahoma.

Levi decided to surprise us with building a train out of puzzle pieces all on his own. We were very impressed with his creativity and ingenuity.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Back to School

I have decided to go back to school and get my degree in Computer Science at a local Community College! I will be attending full time and so will be quitting my part time job. My first class will be the most intense: a mini-semester math class, 3 hrs a day, 5 days a week, for 3 weeks. While I am a bit nervous, for the most part I feel really good about it all and am excited to get started.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Levi Turns 3

This year we had a simple celebration at the park with family. Sadly it was so windy and cold, that we couldn't do all the fun outdoor activities we had planned.

Levi picked out vanilla cake (turns out he doesn't like vanilla). And he specifically asked for cupcakes. I put them in the shape of a 3 and used homemade marshmallow fondant with Rice Krispies treats to make the cars. He did like eating those.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Tandy Family Letter 2012

I know it is no longer 2012, but better late than never. Levi turned 2 this year. He is very social and loves to play with his friends. He is a regular little chatterbox and will happily talk your ear off, even if you don’t understand all of what he is saying. He has shown a big interest in art. He loves to draw, and can create some rather good faces for a two year old. I started having learning time with him once a day Monday through Friday. He is learning about the letters of the alphabet, shapes, colors, numbers, and other fun and exciting things. He usually asks for learning time multiple times a day, and gets upset when I say we are finished with that day’s lesson.

Matt was called to be an early morning Seminary teacher for our church this year. Teaching Seminary is something he has always wanted to do. Getting up before 5 am everyday is a bit of a challenge, but he still loves to teach. This year Matt participated in the Houston Startup Weekend. He competed against many other entrepreneurs with much larger teams and wound up winning 2^nd place! He has also been working very hard on the new Houston office for Northpoint.

Sadly some things did not go as planned and because of financial difficulty we decided to make some major changes. We sold or gave away more than half of everything we owned. And moved out of the beautiful house we were living in, and into a small apartment less than half the size. I started working part time in the evenings at a local restaurant as a hostess. And we are still in the process of going from two vehicles down to one. It may be difficult now, but we know it is only temporary.

I have been busier than ever with all the new things going on this year. I am slowly working on putting together a new curriculum for Levi once he finishes the current one in March. I’m glad he likes the current one I put together, but it does create some high expectations for the next one. I had to stop couponing after the move. While it did save money, it took up a lot of time and space. Both of which I no longer have available. There are many more exciting things in the store for the Tandy Family. I will try my best to keep you all up to date.

Love,

The Tandy Family