All About Tammy

Hi!! My name is Tammy Ward.

I went to about 18 different public schools before I graduated high school. We moved TONS when I was a kid. I have lived in Utah and Idaho mostly, but also CA, CO, and Germany while growing up. When I was 17 (a week away from my 18th birthday) I jumped on a Grey Hound bus and moved to NYC. I lived in Queens, NY and worked in Manhattan, NY as a receptionist. It was only for about 5 months but I'm glad I did it because I met some wonderful friends and learned a lot.

I met my husband, Casey when I was 10 years old. I had such a HUGE CRUSH on him back then. (Well, still do actually.) I still have my diary that talks about how madly in love with him I was back in those days. "He is getting cuter by the second! What a major babe!" I still feel that way about him. He is my whole world. I love him so much. I looked him up after moving back from NY and we were married within a year. He is truly my knight in shining armor in every way. We have been married since 1998.

I LOVE to go outside and play in the dirt! (AKA Gardening) I haven't been all too successful with every garden in the past but that doesn't hold me back from trying out a new one every year. It's very therapeutic and helps me to feel more grounded. I also think it's a great way to teach the kids the value of work and to stay connected with each other.

I also love to read, learn, write, teach, create, cook, clean, spend time with my husband and my kids, etc. My favorite books to read are about motherhood. My new favorite books are: "A Mother's Influence" by Margaret D. Nadauld and "250 Ways To Connect With Your Family" by Melodie Webb. Both of these are inspirational, inspiring, and very uplifting to my soul. They are of LDS flavor and I highly recommend them both.

I am an entrepreneur at heart. I ran a successful business from home with The Pampered Chef for nearly ten years. I enjoyed it very, very much. I was a Director most of the time and enjoyed helping others to reach their goals too. I enjoyed teaching others fun, new recipes. I love talking in front of people, although this was not always the case. I loved meeting new friends, the paychecks so I could be a sahm and the 14 FREE vacations I earned from it. (Disney World, San Diego, San Antonio, etc.) It was a great blessing to our family while I worked my business. The main reason I retired my business was so I could spend more time being a mama. To everything, there is a season! :)

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I haven't always been an active member (teen years) but I found out for myself that I am a much happier person when I live the teachings of this Doctrine. I have prayed about the Prophet, Joseph Smith and I believe that what he said happened in the Sacred Grove did happen. I believe that God, the Eternal Father and His son, Jesus Christ did appear to him like he said. You can find out more by going to lds.org, mormon.org or let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them. I have read The Book of Mormon and prayed about it and I believe it is truth. It has changed every facet of my life. I am so grateful for the Gospel. I respect people of all faiths.

I AM A MOTHER AND I LOVE IT! This is my passion! My kids keep me so busy and we have a lot of fun together. I am the mother of 7 sweethearts. 4 boys, 3 girls. My oldest is 13 on down. Being a mother is one of the absolute joys of my life. I believe it to be our sacred partnership with the Lord. It is our calling, our duty to raise our children up in righteousness. It is challenging, engaging, hard as heck and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

I love it when my daughter, Panda surprises me by making my bed and leaves an "I love you" card. The foot massages aren't bad either! (Thanks, Faith!) That girl is super talented and has magic fingers. Sparkle is an absolute gem in the kitchen. Many times this past pregnancy has she made dinner to surprise us or just whipped out a triple batch of cookies or brownies to help me with my visiting teaching. Macado can be super helpful with his little brothers too. He helps with the chores too. Sunbeam will learn all of that, but for now... he is being a whirlwind of energy and giving us all plenty to do. LOL I love his go, go, go and his hugs and kisses. Handsome is the sweetest little one year old you ever did meet. I just LOVE being a mom. It means everything to me that Heavenly Father has entrusted these special spirits to Casey and I.

I am also a home educator. This, of course, has changed our lives dramatically. (For the better.) We started when my oldest was in the 2nd grade, which was about 6 years ago. It had been something that God had planted a seed about, before that day we made our decision. I have a post about the reasons why our family chose to do it. I am such a fan of it now that we will continue on this way. We follow an educational philosophy called "Leadership Education" or "Thomas Jefferson Education," TJED for short. You can learn more about it by asking me more or reading books by Oliver & Rachel DeMille, Diann Jeppson, or Dr. Shannon Brooks. We are quite eclectic in how we do things and go by the Holy Ghost after deep pondering and prayer for each child. tjed.org is a great resource that can teach you more about it!

To go along with my passion of being a mother, is the passion of being a home educating mama. I believe that what WE DO influences our kids in ways unimaginable. I love organizing community events to benefit the kids learning!! Some our favorites this year have been: Entrepreneurship Fair for Kids, (about 300 attended!) Lolipop Projects Day (usually 50 come each month!), the field trip for the Planetarium, (about 100 kids!) and our local homeschooling gymnastics class, Classics Youth Book Club for Young Women. We have also started doing some larger events in Northern Utah. You can find out about them on our other blog: www.hopehavenevents.blogspot.com

There are many forms of support for home educators these days. If you have ever had a thought or interest about it and would like to discuss more, feel free to drop me an email! I am pretty open to share.