Monday, 12/28/09

Back to work for me! However, Lydia is enjoying her time off from college. She dropped the kids off at daycare, then me at work, and headed over to the gym! After that, she went grocery shopping before picking up the kids.

I gt off work at 5, and we went straight home. There was several things to do around the house, so Lydia put in Snow White to keep the kids occupied. Well, it worked for a while, but it was a bit dark for Malachi. He wanted to sit and watch, but in someones lap. He was constantly coming up to me and grabbing around my legs as I was unloading/loading the dishwasher.

I also took some time to edit and upload some videos I had taken of Ronnie Warren. YouTube was not cooperating with me though... and I was getting frustrated!

When the movie was over, we started on the new bedtime scheduler for the kids that Lydia wants to have in place for the new year. So we got them showered, did Bible devotions, scripture memory, prayers, and put them in bed!

It was nice to have some quiet for a while, but we also headed for bed after watching some tv! The past week had definitely made us tired. 

~Matt

Last Sunday of the year! (12/27/09)

Sunday was a rush, so here's a list of what happened:

• Men's prayer breakfast, arrived at church early.

• Drove church van

• Attended Church services

• Drove church van

• ate lunch at church, and we played games with a friends while kids napped

• attended evening services

• went home....

It was a very enjoyable day. I was saddened over the fact that my Christmas vacation from was about to end!

~Matt

All over, but still celebrating! (Saturday, 12/26/09)

Got up late. We were supposed to be going over to exchange gifts with Lydia's dad at 10.... whoops! We got around and we arrived after 11. We talked, opened up the gifts, watched some bit of King Kong that was on TV. The kids played. M&M started getting tired and we knew nap time wasn't too far away!

We arrived back home, made lunch, and put the kids down for nap. Lydia sat on the couch and fell asleep as well!

Around 3, we left for Silver Dollar City. It was cold... but I wanted to get up there for their Christmas season. We headed up there with BJ & Ana. The first thing we did was head to the live nativity. After that, we split up and we roamed around the park looking at lights and saw the lighting of the huge Christmas tree. Then we decided to ride the train. We ended up in the very front, and it was the place to prove how cold it was!

We then decided we had spent enough time out in the cold, and went to the car. We headed to McDonalds, and spent some Christmas money on dinner.

~Matt

Christmas!!! (Friday, 12/25/09)

We didn't wake up early like usual for Christmas day. And for those who know me... you know how odd that is! I guess I was really tired!

When we finally got up and going, and sharing the excitement of the beautiful snow outside, we sat down in the living room and opened up gifts. It took about an hour. Malachi and Mysia got some neat stuff. And I spent most of the time working on one of Malachi's gifts.... a hot wheels racecar track!

After opening up the gifts, we got ready to head over to my parents' house to spend Christmas with them. We gathered everything together and I loaded up the car. As I did so, I started it so it would warm up. Now the night before, I had went outside and left my doors to the car ajar because I have trouble with them freezing whenever the rain freezes. Sure enough, the back doors were frozen tight and I was only able to get in on the passenger side. After I started the car, I gently closed the door so that it would be ajar. But it locked! Come to find out, the lock on the door latched, and was stuck! I couldn't get into my running car!

I waited over 15 minutes, got Lydia's keys and was able to get in one of the other doors. Whew!

Arriving at my parent's house, the kid's played in the snow before heading indoors. As we got in we decided to open gifts. Then it was suppertime! Yum!

We then played "dirty santa". That's where we all bought a gift and we take turns picking and stealing them. It's a fun game, and makes the gift-giving interesting! Games, chatting, and watching the kids is what we did for the rest of the evening. Before heading home we watched the movie "UP".
Dirty Santa

~Matt

Christmas Eve (Thursday, 12/24/09)

After getting four hours of sleep... and I woke up to the sound of feet running up and down the hallway accompanied with giggles. I knew something was up. Sure enough, Malachi had unwrapped the gift for their cousin Elijah! Then later, he unwrapped one of the grandparent's gifts!

Well, we got up and started to try and get things finished around the house! There was still much to do! I ended up having to re-vacuum all the floors due to finding out that the main hose was clogged and it wasn't picking up anything!!! I also had to run to the store once again to grab a few more things we didn't grab the night before.

Lydia's family started showing up after noon. And we started getting supper ready while talking and chatting. We started eating around 3:30, andooooohhh was the food great! I would post what we had, but it makes my mouth water just thinking of it all.....

As 5pm hit, we started getting ready to head for church. I wanted to be there a little before 6 since the quartet was going to sing. We arrived in time, and the auditorium and a neat feel to it. The lights were dimmed and candles were near the pulpit. Our quartet opened up the services with "Christmas With A Capital 'C'". We got to sing "It's About The Cross" during the offering. I'm so glad that we worked on it so hard, and although we didn't really get to hear it ourselves, we were told it sounded pretty good... whew... what a relief!

There had been forecasts of snow, but all we had was rain on the way home. But when we arrived, we all had pie and sweets. We opened up gifts with Lydia's family, talked some more, and then settled down for a bit to watch "White Christmas". I ended up dozing a bit. Hey... I was tired!

Towards the end of the movie, someone mentioned snow... go figure! "White Christmas" and all of that. Sure enough, it was really coming down! Excitement filled the air! Pretty soon everyone started packing up, both due to the excitement and the fear of getting stuck at our house I guess! :)

We watched them all leave, and then we put our kids to bed. Lydia and I finished the movie, and then we also went to bed!

~Matt

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Matt & Lydia Paasch

Our Date and Christmas Preparation (Wednesday, 12/23/09)

I got up and got the kids ready while Lydia slept in a bit. We dropped the kids off at daycare and headed out on our 'Date'. Since I had won tickets to a few local tourist places a couple of weeks ago, I decided that there was one that I specifically wanted to go to. So for our date, I took Lydia on a cave tour! Sound romantic? Well, it was Fantastic Caverns, the only drive-thru cave in America, right here in town! So we got to sit close to each other the entire time!

When we arrived back home, I installed faucet in main bathroom. I had been putting off doing it for some time, and well... it was about time to do it! It sure makes the bathroom nicer, and now the kids can wash their hands without our help. The only problem is that they can now get into the water!

Lydia made cookies.... a lot of 'em. We gave some to the kids' teachers at daycare when we picked them up. Then it was back home to finish working on the food!

My parents stopped by for a bit to see our house decorated for Christmas. They gave the kids a book, candy, and pictures in a frame. Malachi made sure to make a mess on the floor with his candy! Not long after they left, I headed over their house for quick quartet practice. It was to be the last time for us to run over that new song before singing in on Christmas Eve.

When I got back home, Lydia was still working on the food. So I started helping and working on the house, getting it a little more presentable! But the food was the biggest thing! Lydia had even finished making the turkey! It smelled soooooo good! I got to eat a bit of it since I was the one who took it all off the bone for it to be made into the casserole.

Lydia and I ended up staying up until 4am! Whew! Talk about being tired!!!!!

~Matt

Wedding Cleanup (Tuesday, 12/22/09)

As we were getting Malachi dressed I noticed red bumps on his legs. Sure enough, the poor guy had hives! Lydia called the doctor and she told her to take him off the prescription drugs for his sinus infection. Boy, were we glad it wasn't something serious! Whew!

We dropped the kids off at daycare and headed straight to the church. We were there to help cleanup from the wedding. And oh, there was a lot to do! We ended up leaving around 2:30. We then picked up the kids and headed home.

Lydia and I uploaded pictures from the wedding onto facebook and crashed for the rest of the evening!

~Matt

The Wedding (Monday, 12/21/09)

I took off the entire week from work.... I figured that it would be worth it since the wedding of Lydia's brother, Silas, was today!

We woke up, made bacon and eggs for breakfast and dropped kids off at daycare. Lydia and I decided to do some shopping. The idea was to try and find a tie for me. Now, I have tons of them, but I didn't have one with pink in it. Now before you judge me for wearing pink, it was the theme for the wedding. And I wasn't going for a pink shirt!

We went to the mall..... bad idea! It was crowded! I found a nice pink one at Dillards, but it was $130! Wow!!! So we looked other places. We finally found one at Sears that had grey in it, and it matched what we had gotten the kids. Oh, it was only $15!

By the time we were finished shopping, it was time to pick up the kids, then home to get ready for the wedding. We arrived at the church around 4pm. Lydia was in charge of the guest book, and I took pictures as guests arrived.

The wedding was beautiful! And I now have 4 sister-in-laws!

~Matt

Children's Christmas Programs (Sunday, 12/20/09)

This will be a quick rundown of Sunday!

- Did vans, made every stop, no one to pick up!

- Sunday school was our special Christmas snack party. The food was great!

- Mysia and Malachi performed as part of the program in the morning services! (videos to be uploaded to facebook soon!)

- Stayed at the church during the afternoon, Lydia helped in decorating for the wedding reception

- Older kids did a big Christmas program in the evening services

- Enjoyed the rest of the evening at home!

~Matt

Children's Christmas Party & Program Practice (Saturday, 12/19/09)

Well, today was a bit more hectic than other Saturdays. I went into work at 6am for some overtime. I got off around 9:30 and headed straight home. We were supposed to be at the church at ten. Well, Lydia and the kids weren't quite ready when I arrived. So we hurried up as fast as we could. We were getting ready to leave, and Lydia was doingMysia's hair before heading out the door. She sprayed her hair, and it turned blue! The more she sprayed, the more it turned! We didn't know what was happening!

Come to find out, Mysia had gotten a packet of kool-aid and tried to eat the powder in her room. By doing so, she got it in her hair! And you all know what happens when that powder gets wet!

Needless to say, Mysia got a quick shower before we headed to church! When we got there, the little kids had already finished their practice. They got gifts, ate pizza, and watched a video! After a bit, Lydia took the kids home, while I waited for the older kids to finish their party. I then took several of them home on the van!

We then did grocery shopping and came home and spent the night at home. We were planning on going to Silver Dollar City, but decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to have Malachi outside in the cold!

~Matt

O Holy Night!!!

Okay folks... that infamous version of "O Holy Night" that I've shared faithfully for 8 years or more has now been re-done by the original artist!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiAuyM3gB5U&feature=player_embedded

Enjoy!


~Matt

Last week (quick rundown!)

So much has been going on, that this post is a run-down of what happened last week!!!


Quartet Practice (Tuesday, 12/15/09)

Quartet practice was here again. We spent most of the time practicing "About The Cross". I'm still hoping we get it down for Christmas eve!

~Matt


Enjoying Service (Wednesday, 12/16/09)


Last week was the end of Master Clubs for the year, so we got to sit in services! Being away from evening services makes you enjoy them so much more when you get the chance to attend once again!

As we headed home, I decided that we should go look at Christmas lights since we had a little time. I knew where the favorites were, and made sure to drive by. Some has added more! M&M really enjoyed it, and that makes it worth it all!

~Matt


B-Ball Game (Thursday, 12/17/09)

Lydia has been working on her finals. She is excited to get them done, and be finished with this semester. Today was her last two finals! Hooray!

After work, we rushed home, made PB&J sandwiches real quick, and rushed off to Moses' last basketball game of the season. With Lydia having a lot of homework, and our tight schedules, we hadn't the chance to go this year. We got there and got to see SILAS!!! He had made it back to town after graduating boot camp. Of course, wedding talk was in the air! Moses' team won!

We decided to look at some more Christmas lights. The ones we found were awesome!

~Matt



A Poor Sick Boy (Friday, 12/0-/09)

Malachi woke up in the middle of the night, and was warm and fussy. Instantly, I knew that today was going to be very interesting. Sure enough, he had a fever, so Lydia stayed home from her work to take care of him. I dropped Mysia off to daycare and headed into work. Lydia decided to call the doctor's office, and they wanted him to come in to make sure it wasn't pneumonia. So I ended up taking an early lunch to get Lydia the car.

Come to find out, Malachi had a sinus infection. It wasn't too bad as we thought, but it was enough to keep us home, and we missed the church's Christmas banquet. However, we were able to get a few things done at home, so it wasn't too bad.

~Matt

The Weekly Menu (Monday, 12/14/09)

Lydia and I have a menu for supper each week. It was actually her idea, but I think I had pressed the issue, because I like to know what's planned for supper! It's also helpful so we know what to get when grocery shopping. Kinda helps on the budget you know!

We try and work out the menu so that I have leftovers to take to work on the following day. And that really helps.

Well, since Lydia has been busy with an overload of homework, making the menu had been left of for me for the past few weeks. Last week turned out pretty good, so I was pretty confident with this week, and looking forward to it! You see.... tonight was home-made, chicken pot-pie! Yum!

Nothing beats the cold weather, than something warm and filling! And chicken pot-pie hits the spot!!!


~Matt


"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once."

The Christmas Cantata and more (Sunday, 12/13/09)

Vans was a rush.... I made all my stops, and ended up only picking up one person! I wished some of them had called and let us know they weren't coming, choir was practicing one last time for the cantata while I was doing the vans!

Although I missed practice, I was able to meet with Joyce (our piano player) and run over my solo a few times. Then I was off to Sunday School.

The Christmas Cantata went well, and I didn't mess up! (Thank you Lord!) There were several parts in the program that I had 'jumped the gun' while in practice, so I was afraid I'd still do it. But all was well.

In-between services, after running the van for that one stop, Lydia studied for her finals that are this week and I worked on a flyer announcing our church's candlelight services on the 24th. I hurried up and then we had quartet practice to run over that a cappella song. I sure hope that we get it down!

After evening services, our church held it's monthly birthday and anniversary fellowship. That's where I took the pictures of M&M with my cell! Makes me wonder though... why is it that they like sticking out their tongues?????

~Matt


"You're never too old to learn something stupid."

Parade and Visiting Grandma (Saturday, 12/12/09)

Another Saturday was upon us. I tried sleeping in, but was wide awake at 7... go figure. The kids were awake so I went and played kept an eye on them while Lydia slept. Since we weren't to happy on how the tree looked, being more in the center of the living room, I took away the train and set the tree closer to the wall. Mysia and Malachi played with cars and trunks around the train track for at least an hour.

I had planned to go to the Christmas parade, so I put them down for an early nap around 11, and made sure Lydia got up. Yes... she was still sleeping. Staying up the entire night on Thursday really drained her.

We headed downtown for the Christmas parade around 1. It was cold, but it was also how I remembered most of the parades I went to when growing up. The parade wasn't much different than years past, but M&M got a bunch of candy! I never remember getting that much when I was a kid! It filled an entirewal-mart shopping bag!

As we left the parade and headed to church for me to pick up the van, we hit a downpour of rain. Boy, was I glad that it didn't hit when we were watching the parade!

After picking up the van, we headed to my Grandma's house for what was supposed to be a short visit. We ended up staying there until 6pm! But all was great... we talked and visited and let the kids play. Malachi made a mess with Dallas' popcorn he had in one of those tin cans, but both kids enjoyed eating it anyways!

When we arrived home, Mysia was asleep. So we put her to bed. She slept from then on!

I got a facebook status update on my cell from one of my friends saying that "It's A Wonderful Life" was on TV. So, we turned ours on and watched it!Ahh... it's one of my favorite holiday movies! Malachi watched a bit of it as well, but he was more into playing with his toys.

~Matt


"The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was."

"White Christmas" (Friday, 12/11/09)

After work we were planning on going to Silver Dollar City, but those plans were changed due some financial conflicts we were dealing with. So as we tried to sort thing out, we stayed home and watched "White Christmas". The end of the movie mad me really want snow!

And another thought... how come after watching that movie, the only song that gets stuck in your head is "Sisters"?

I finally pulled out the Christmas Train and set up the Christmas village underneath the tree. M&M couldn't keep their hands off the train! The train track circle was so big, that I practically had to pull the tree out into the center of the room for it to go around it! To say the least... it was a bit frustrating. Oh, and of course, there was one bulb out for the Christmas village, but at least it's not all of them!

~Matt


"Eighty percent of all people consider themselves to be above average."

Cantata Practice (Thursday, 12/10/09)

Since Christmas is so near, our choir at church has been gearing up for our Cantata. We had been working on it for several weeks, working on a song or two each time. But today was the big practice!

Lydia picked me up from work and we got some food and ate quikcly. I then helped get the kids ready for bed. Lydia had decided to stay home and continue working on her 15 page paper that was due Friday morning. As I left, Malachi was all ready for bed and Mysia had just finished her shower. The plan was for them to watch a quick Christmas show on dvd before going to bed.

I arrived at choir practice a few minutes late. We practiced for about an hour and a half. We got some parts down, but I was still unsure on my solo. So end up staying a bit to practice my piece some more before heading home.

Lydia ended up staying up all night working on her paper. Me..... I went to bed!

~Matt


"A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory."

Snow! (Wednesday, 12/09/09)

We woke up to beautiful snow falling outside... of course, the wind was horrible! It was so cold that it wouldn't stick to the ground, it just blew around, giving it an eerie feel when going down the road. We didn't get much snow at all! It was too cold....

The cold was also a problem for Lydia. I went out to start the car and get it warmed up, and had a hard time getting in. The doors were frozen shut. Once I finally got in, I discovered that the drivers door wouldn't latch. This is a usual occurrence when it freezes! ... and a pain as well! So Lydia drove the car with one hand on the wheel, and the other clutching the door handle so the door wouldn't swing open.

That evening, we hurried up and ate supper and got ready for church. Lydia stayed home to work on her 15 page paper that is due on Friday. It's killing her! It was the last day in the year for Master Club's at church. But it was still a busy one! Book-time, lesson-time, snack-time, and then Christmas program practice! Whew!

Before leaving, I had the quartet run over the Christmas songs for our associate pastor. Everything was okay with him! It was then off to Walmart to get milk and a couple of necessities (like Lydia's hair gel spray). Try taking two tired, but lively, young ones into a store when the weather is freezing cold! Brrrr! I was nuts!

~Matt


"Keep the dream alive: Hit the snooze button."

Quartet Practice - Christmas!! (Tuesday, 12/08/09)

I was put down on the schedule to sing solo for our church's Christmas eve, candle-light service. I asked if I could have the quartet sing in my place, and was actually given the okay for us to do two songs!

So we decided to we'd better practice. One song was pretty much decided upon immediately... "Christmas With A Capital 'C'" (Legacy Five). However, we were stumped on what the other should be. Since the other one was so 'peppy', we wanted to so something with more of a traditional quartet sound that would please those who like something a bit more soothing. But, we also wanted something a bit different than just a traditional carol.

Sam suggested we sing "It's About The Cross" by Go Fish. It's a great pick! The lyrics are fantastic, and we're hoping to sing it A Capella in our own arrangement that fits us as quartet. That's what we spent most of our time working on during our practice Tuesday evening! It's definitely something we need to continue working on, but its exciting!

~Matt


"If you can't convince them, confuse them."

Movie Night (Monday, 12/07/09)

I made tuna-helper for supper... it was good! While we ate, we watched the movie "Big" starring Tom Hanks. Lydia had never watched it before, and it had been a long time since I had. Made me wish I had an apartment with a soda machine, pinball machine, huge trampoline, and cool toys.... Man, looked like so much fun. I can do without the bunk-bed though!

Just like all the other nights of the previous week, we put the kids to bed, and Lydia focused on her homework. These classes have really been stressing her out! I try to stay up, but I end up falling asleep and snoring on the couch! She then sends me to bed so she can focus! lol!

~Matt


"Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film."

Quick Sunday Post (Sunday, 12/06/09)

Yup, this is going to be a short post!!

- Did vans for Church

- Attended Sunday morning services

- Got treated to lunch at McDonald's with family by our associate Pastor and his wife. Their daughter Kristi will be marrying Lydia's brother Silas on the 21st!!!! I worked on a special graphic that will be put on business cards for the wedding!

- Went back to the church, kids took naps, the we had choir practice.

- Attended evening services, it was our turn to watch the toddlers.

- Went home, put the kids down, Lydia did home work, I tried to stay up (didn't happen)

~Matt


"Time is the best teacher; unfortunately it kills all of its students."

Sleeping In, Groceries, Game Night (Saturday, 12/05/09)

It was supposed to be a restful day. Like usual, when the kids woke up, I turned on the tv and went to bed. Well, when I finally got up, we discovered that they got peaches out of the refrigerator and ate an early breakfast. But the biggest discovery was that Malachi had gotten into the Styrofoam from the box to our the village church. He tore it up into little pieces. It was like snow covering the living and dinning room floors! I couldn't sweep it up... the movement from the broom just swooshed the particles away. So, I brought out the vacuum! That worked really well, until the hose got clogged! Ugh!

Lydia tried to catch up on homework while I worked on the grocery list. After lunch and the kids went down for nap, I headed off to the store for groceries. It wasn't too long of a list, so it was a pretty quick trip.

While I was gone, Lydia had the tv on (for background noise, she says), and the Celtic Women were on PBS. They braked for a bit to talk about the program, encouraging viewers to call in to support their local station. During that time, Malachi woke up from his nap and came into living room to greet Lydia. As he walked away, headed towards his room, the program continued and one of the women was singing solo. Lydia said that he froze in his tracks! Needless to say, when I got home and the program was finishing, Malachi was sitting on the couch, glued to the tv. He hadn't moved the entire time! He was in awe. In fact, he said that the girls were "pretty"! Amazing what can come from a two year-old! 

I unloaded the groceries, we got into the car, and rushed to the church. Time was running out, we were having our friends Doug & Mary over for a 'game night', and I had to get the church van for Sunday morning!

We made it home in time, and were still trying to get everything ready when Doug and Mary arrived. We talked, ate, and played Cranium. The kids played some of their games and watched a movie.

What a day!

~Matt


"Age is a very high price to pay for maturity."

Ladies Banquet (Friday, 12/04/09)

Lydia picked me up from work and we headed home (an every day occurrence it seems). I made supper for myself and the kids while Lydia got ready to head to our church's ladies banquet! Uncle Dallas and Sam stopped by for a bit and gave the kids huge pencils, you know... the perfect things to whack each other with. They stayed for a while to visit.

After they left, I fed the kids and allowed them to play for a bit before I gave them showers and put them to bed. I ended up working on a few things on the computer until Lydia came home. She had really enjoyed the banquet.

~Matt


"For as long as I can remember, I've had amnesia."

Christmas Decorating... Part 2 (Thursday, 12/03/09)

After I got off work, we stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up some garland. Ended up buying LED ribbon instead... go figure!

I pulled out the rest of the ornaments and Lydia straightened up the tree. When she was finished, we had the kids get ready for bed. Then I sat down and did the hooking, letting the kids and Lydia hang them up.It didn't take too long for them to get all the ornaments up. Malachi had to have a little help, especially making sure that he didn't hang them all up on one branch! Mysia was, again, very specific on where certain ornaments were placed.

It was a bit latter than usual when they got put into bed, but at least the tree was up!

~Matt


"Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how popular it remains?

Tech Post: Yahoo Picture Problems!!!

I was having problems with my pictures I sent to Wal-Mart, they were pixelated! We'd pick them up, after ordering them on the internet, and they'd be low quality. It was making me upset. These pictures were to be used for the grow-with-me calendar we give out to the grandparents for Christmas!

I couldn't figure it out. For the past three months the pictures had turned out poorly, and I was starting to wonder if Wal-Mart was getting cheap on their services. I knew I had set up the pictures correctly, but why were they coming out so bad.

One of the reasons it bothered me was the fact that I'm a professional graphic designer, and my photos are turning out poorly! Photography is a part of my field, touching up those photos... even more so!

Well this last time, I called my brother BJ, and asked if his turned out as bad as ours. (We order a copy for them to pick up at their Wal-Mart) He said it turned out bad too. So I decided to send him the email of the picture, and when I did, I noticed that it was smaller than I had originally saved it.

That didn't make sense! You see, I make the file, shoot over email to Lydia, she uploads it and orders it! Come to find out, when sending it from yahoo, the picture shrunk!

When attaching pictures to yahoo, it gives you an option on the image size: Small, Medium, and Original. I didn't know that! Go figure!

So if you are a yahoo user, and didn't know this fact..... now you do! 

~Matt


"Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film."

Fun Night at Master Clubs (Wednesday, 12/02/09)

Wednesday evening we had fun night at Master Clubs at church. This time was a bit different. Us teachers brought games from home, and the kids got to play them for the first half of the evening. Then it was devotion time and then snacks before heading upstairs to go over the Christmas music for the program.

Then it was back home, and Lydia did more homework after the kids went to bed. Do you sense a theme here?

~Matt


"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines."

Christmas Decorating... Part 1 (Tuesday, 12/01/09)

I'll start of this blog post with an update on Malachi. I'm happy to report that he put on his shoes himself, and on the correct feet! He's a smart little guy!

It was Tuesday, and we knew we needed to get that tree decorated! But first things first... our house was a disaster! We had came back from our trp, and pretty much neglected the house as we unpacked. But most of all, toys were everywhere! We spent a good amount of the evening picking up and straightening the kids' rooms!

Since it was getting late, Lydia suggested we put up their individual Christmas trees, and then see about the main tree. It was a good idea. Malachi's tree was first, and he did a wonderful job for a two year-old. His tree is covered in blue ornaments, in which he tried hanging several up on the same branch! Mysia's tree was next. She fawned over every pink ornament, and each had a very special place.

Unfortunately, by the time we were done with their trees, it was decided that it was time for them to go to bed. Lydia and I stayed up, she had homework to do, and I worked on some more graphic design stuff!

~Matt


"The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."

Still Tired (Monday, 11/30/09)

Well, it was back to a normal schedule once again! Mondays are always that way.

The plan was to decorate our pre-lit tree that evening... But that didn't happen. Lydia had homework to do and I tried to tend to the our pre-lit tree.

Oh, and I'm starting to not like pre-lit anything! When we set up our tree a few weeks ago, we found out that the very top portion didn't work!

So I spent a good hour going through the entire strand, to no avail! I tested every bulb! I replaced the bad ones with good ones, still nothing. I even changed the fuses! So after the kids went to bed, I ran to the store and bought two 20 bulb strands at $1.50 each to put up there. It looks good now, but I'll tell you what.... I'm starting to hate Christmas lights!

Anyway, fact is.... we didn't get the tree decorated. Perhaps the following evening..?

~Matt


"Consciousness: That annoying time between naps."

Sunday Singin' (11/29/09)

I was the one scheduled to bring the devotion for our church's monthly Men's Prayer Breakfast. That meant that I had to be up and at 'em once again early in the morning. The thing is, I was so tired from the trip the night before! I had already gotten out of doing the vans for that morning, I knew I was going to be tired, and didn't want to drive a bunch of kids around town in that state of being. I was picked up by my friend Doug that morning, and we went to church.

The breakfast was great, and the devotion went well. I just hung around the church until Sunday School started.

After church, we went home for lunch. We got Papa Murphy's. It was great. Lydia was wore out, and so were the kids. I went back to the church to practice with the quartet. After practice, we headed out to Monett, MO. We were invited to sing at Temple Baptist for their fifth Sunday sing. It turned out very good. We even ended our part with "Christmas With A Capital 'C'". Unfortunately, I had left my video camera at home, so I missed getting it on tape!

By the time I got home I was tired!!!

~Matt


"Don't take life too seriously, you won't get out alive."

The Return Home (Saturday, 11/28/09)

The alarm went off at 7:30... time to get up and at 'em! We got the kids dressed and got everything else together. The plan was to meet at McDonald's at 8. So we did! The cool part was that it had an indoor play-place for the kids. That meant they were able to wear out a bit before we hit the road. Lydia and I also gave the theirDramamine medicine too, and knew it would kick in about the time we packed in the car. Sure enough, after our goodbyes and farewells, we loaded up and the kids went to sleep!Ahhhh... quiet!

The entire way home we drove as a caravan, my parents in front, Sam and Abigail in his truck following, and our car bringing up the rear. I drove most of the trip, and Lydia tried to catch up on sleep.. We stopped several times when Malachi said he had to go to potty, which was fine with us! However, there was one time when we passed one of the many cow farms that Lydia asked the kids if they needed to go, thinking it was one of them and forgetting about the cow I had just pointed out. Well, that made Malachi say he had to go, so off to find a gas station we went!

For lunch we stopped at Subway... we were around the halfway point of our trip. While we were waiting in line for the food, I tried to update myfacebook status. Ugh! No bars! That was frustrating. After we ate, we took the kids outside (since it was soooo nice) and let them run around and play for a few minutes in the field behind Subway. As soon as we stepped back there, my phone started receiving texts... full bars! Go figure! We ran and chased each other around until we were wore out. We loaded into the car and off we went.

Not even two miles down the road, I noticed I had lost my bluetooth earpiece for my cell. Great....! I told Sam, and we turned around to quickly find it. My fear was that it was somewhere lost in the field. When we reached the parking spaces at Subway, Sam almost ran over it! It must have fallen  of me when I was loading Malachi in the car. Whew!

On and on we drove. Past cotton fields, cattle farms, and small towns. As it started getting dark, we knew we were drawing close to home. We stopped at the McDonald's inCoffeeville , Kansas for a bathroom break and some shakes. We were two hours away from home! Lydia was willing to drive, but I told her I'd let her take over on the last hour of the trip, Joplin. And that's what we did. That gave me an hour power-nap so that I'd be charged a bit to unload the car when we reached home.

When finally home, Lydia gave the kids showers and I took everything out of our car. It wasn't easy, but I finally got it done. Lydia and I both crashed! What a trip!

~Matt


Why they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?

Black Friday (11/27/09)

My cell rang... It was Sam. It was also 6:50am! He had called to let me know that they had slept in, missed the opening time, and that Staples had already sold out of the 1 TB external hard drive I had given him money to purchase. I was bummed, but then he told me that it was offered online, and I could possibly still purchase it. So I got up, woke Lydia up, and went to my laptop.

Lydia hurried up and got dressed and went with Ana to Wal-Mart and Target. BJ woke up as well, and we both browsed online on our laptops. I was able to purchase the hard drive, so I was happy. When our wives returned, they had also been able to purchase several of the items they had set out to get. Lydia was able to get some games and movies for the kids for Christmas.

I got a chance to go across the street to the an antique store I had never been in before. It was neat looking around, but everything was very expensive. However, I did find something that perked my interest... aBlackwood Brothers LP cover caught my eye. I dug it out, and sure enough, there was some great songs on it! Unfortunately, the LP was missing!!! They just had the cover. How disappointing!
 
After lunchtime, we put the kids down for a nap, and us married grandkids went to an old-time Diner across the street. The weather was nice, and sitting under the sun (next to the window) was too much. So we moved to another table. After ordering, we had a nice long wait. So we talked and talked. It was so much fun! It had been such a long time since all of us had gotten together. Although the food was a bit expensive, and we had to wait forever, it was worth it.

My grandparents had a game for us to play....Barrel of Monkeys!!! Each of us were given a barrel with 12 monkeys in it. The challenge was to pick up all the monkeys before anyone else! Bot, was it hard.... I didn't win, but I did have fun trying.

Before going to bed, we packed up our vehicles. It was sad to realize that the end of our trip was already near. My uncle Larry had brought his flat screentv , and Sam had just bought Ice Age 3 that morning, so we watched the movie. II was running in and out during the first half of it, but I still got the idea of the plot. After the movie, we put the kids to bed and went to bed ourselves. The following day was to be our return home.

~Matt


"The sole purpose of a child's middle name, is so he can tell when he's really in trouble."

Family Reunion Concert

Here is a photo of us grandkids and great-grandkids singing on Thanksgiving Day!

~Matt

Thanksgiving Day (11/26/09)

I woke up around 8:30... I could hear talking. Others were awake. So I told Lydia to get up, and I went and took a quick shower. It felt soooo good! That ten hour trip was so long.

After dressing, I greeted everyone that was there. Lydia and Mysia then took showers and Malachi woke up. He was a bit shy at first, but once he discovered all the toys, all was well!

We started the day talking and visiting, and getting ready for the Thanksgiving supper. There was a lot to do, and the women-folk were at it! Us guys did the predictable... we pulled out our laptops! lol! Actually, I started working on the list for the concert for that evening.

Dinner was fantastic! We had tons of turkey and pumpkin pie! –That's what counts to me! It was all good!

We all got dressed and tried to hurry off to the church for pictures. Unfortunately, Lydia had forgotten to pack her makeup, so we had to make a run to Wal-Mart first! Can you believe it? Even on vacation we can't keep from that place!

When we made it to the church, Sam was already setting up the sound equipment for the concert. He was trying to make sure it was all up and ready. For the next hour we did pictures. Big family, individual families, siblings, cousins, grandkids, great-grandkids... etc. Things ran pretty smoothly considering how many shots were taken and how many of us where there.

After the pictures were completed, it was time for the concert. My grandparents had invited friends and guests to watch, as us grandkids put on a show. We started out a little rough. We didn't have time for a sound check, and my siblings and I started it out. Not saying we did horribly, but the blend wasn't there. But as time went on, and different ones came up to do their song or skit, we were able to do some tweaking to get things to work out. The birthday boys, my dad and his twin brother, did ventriloquist acts... which was enjoyable for all the kids. My two cousins who are in the military did a patriotic poem and sang. There were two highlights of the concert... one was when my aunt Joy came up and embarrassed the birthday boys by singing them a song. And the second was at the end when all of us grandkids got on stage and sang "Amazing Grace" as a mini-choir.

When we got back to my grandparent's place they pulled out photo albums they've been putting together for us. We spent the rest of the evening going through them! Talk about memories...

Most everyone went to bed except for us older grandkids. We stayed up and browsed online to see what Black Friday specials were worth looking at. Lydia had a list of things she was thinking about getting. We had fun talking and browsing. But as it got later and later, Lydia and I decided to go to bed. She was planning on getting up and going to Wal-Mart (once again) around 7 in the morning.

Whew! What a day!

~Matt


"Birthdays are good for you - the more you have the longer you live."

The Start of Our Trip (11/25/09)

This was it. One month before Christmas! That means that I have a short time to listen to all my Christmas music! Wow.



Well, Wednesday was also the day of my vacation and the start of our our Thanksgiving trip. It was finally here. So much to do!

We woke up, sleepy from the night before. We got the kids ready for daycare and left the house. We dropped them off, and then I dropped Lydia off at college. My day had just started. I ran over to Sam's Club and bought some snacks for us to eat on our trip. It turned out to be a little bit more expensive then I had expected.

My next stop was to the $3 car wash. While there, I clean and vacuumed the car. Boy, did it need the cleaning. I won't go into detail on what I found around the kids' car-seats, but I'll say that it was a good thing I decided to clean up the car!

I stopped by one of the gas stations and aired up all the tires, including the spare. I wanted to be ready.

I then returned home. Time to load up. I had a checklist of things I needed to take. Once I gathered everything together, I started packing it into the trunk. At first I thought I had enough room, but as things started to crowd, I found that I'd have to really pack it in! I was almost finished and ready to leave to pick up the kids when Lydia called. She had gotten out of class early! Great....

So I rushed over and picked up the kids and packed them into the car, then off to OTC to pick Lydia up. From there we headed over to my parent's house. They had already left earlier that day,  but Sam was going to caravan with us. He was loading his truck when we arrived. I made everyone take bathroom breaks, and helped Sam so we could leave.

We hit the road before 3pm. As we headed out of town, listening to the local radio station that plays Christmas music 24/7, they mentioned that snow was in the forecast for Monday! Yippee!

Two hours into the trip, Malachi got sick. A sucker and soda don't mix well I guess. So we pulled over and cleaned him up. It wasn't much, but we knew that we'd better get some Dramamine for motion sickness. Five minutes later, while driving down the road, I notice white things hitting Sam's truck behind me. Sam calls me on my cell as I again pull over. The trunk hadn't closed properly and I lost our cups and plastic utensils! Go figure!

The trip was long. We let the kids watch a movie after supper and darkness was upon us. We made it into Medicine Lodge around 9pm, and took a quick bathroom break at my Larry & Betty's house. M&M were asleep in the car, and Sam was wearing out, so we didn't stay long to visit. We wanted to make it in as soon as possible so we could sleep. Sam finally caved in and let me drive his truck so he could get a little rest. So I drove for about an hour and a half before we switched, and I gave Lydia relief. She was tiring too. I guess classes had really taken toll on both of them!

Well, we finally arrived in Garden City, Kansas sometime before 2am. Sam and I unloaded or vehicles and then crashed in our assigned beds and fell fast asleep.

~Matt

Tech note: The GPS units that I got worked well during our trip! It was neat that it kept right with us.... even telling how fast we were going!


"The only knowledge that can hurt you is the knowledge you don't have."

Getting Ready For Our Trip (Nov. 23 & 24, 2009)

Yup... we were planning on a trip over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. It wasn't a 'small' trip either. We were heading out to south-western Kansas... to a town called Garden City. My grandparents on my dad's side live there, and that's where my dad grew up. Our trip was for the celebration of birthdays of both my dad and his twin brother. They were turning 50 on Thanksgiving day!

Monday was a busy day for me. Work and then quartet practice. I was anticipating not working on Wednesday, that it made the day a little slow!

Tuesday was pretty much the same way... I couldn't wait to get off work! We packed the clothes for the trip and Lydia worked on homework for class on Wednesday. We both got to bed a little late. But there were so much stuff to get ready......

~Matt


"Sometimes the best helping hand you can give is a good, firm push."

Pinewood Derby (11/21/09)

This was it... the yearly Pinewood Derby at Hillside. This was one of the big activities for the kids. Everyone is given a kit that includes instructions, 4 nails, 4 wheels, and a block of wood. It is then up to the imagination of the kid's parents to figure out what to make out of this block.

Once again, I was faced with this challenge. No... it was a double challenge. I got the responsibility making both Mysia and Malachi's cars.

Mysia wanted a purple and pink race car, no question about it. Malachi, on the other hand, just wanted a block on wheels to play with. I decided, after encouraging Malachi, that we make an old fashioned fire truck. We also only painted each vehicle with one color (a lot easier).

On Saturday morning, Lydia and I woke up and got ready. I tried to make sure we grabbed everything. Taking the church van, we picked up M&M and then started picking up the van kids. I thought we were going to be at least 15 minutes late to church, but we actually made it there with 20 minutes to spare!

I adjusted the M&M's cars, adding weights and straightening up the wheels. We entered the cars in, and then tried to help calm all the kids down. We're teachers, so that's our responsibility... to make sure the kids don't kill each other! lol!

The races went well. Mysia and Malachi both got quite a bit of run time on their cars, and even got to race each other. For lunch we ate corndogs and french fries... yum! I did the devotion, and Malachi won an award for car design!

It was a neat activity, and like always.... it was fun!

I posted pictures on facebook!

~Matt


"Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said."

Date Night (11/20/09)

Finallly...! It had been a while!

Friday night, I was able to take Lydia out for a 'Date Night'! Well, actually, seeing that she's been doing the driving lately (since it's a pain for us to be constantly adjusting the seats), I guess I should say that she took me out!

Our first stop was to drop M&M off with their aunt Lycia. They spent all night with her! Whoo-hoo! Lydia and I then headed off to church to pick up the van since I'd be driving for the Church's children's activity on Saturday morning.

After dropping the van off at home, we headed downtown to a place called Riad Mediterranean Cuisine. Lyida had heard that their food was good, so we decided to try it. We picked the Gyro Platter from the menu... it was great! We also had two glasses of Dr Pepper to go with the meal. The atmosphere was neat, and we had a window view of the downtown square.

Seeing that it was getting late, we decided to hurry off and head to the mall. There were some winter clothes Lydia was wanting to pick up for the kids. We didn't have much time before the mall closed, so it was a quick shopping trip.

On our way home, we picked up a movie from redbox to watch. I had a great time out with my beautiful date!

~Matt


"Insanity is hereditary. You get it from your kids."

Mysia's Tongue - UPDATE

For those who may have been wondering, I'm happy to report that Mysia's tongue has healed. The sore is gone!

Boy... are we glad. Having a four year-old girl in pain because of a huge sore in her mouth, is not fun! Hopefully, we won't go through that again!

Gargling salt water really seamed to help the most! So I need to keep that in mind, just in case!

~Matt


"God heals, and the Doctor takes the Fee"

A Week In Review (Nov 16-19)

This is basically a rundown of our evenings, since during the day I go to work, Lydia to school, and the kids to daycare.


Monday
Us guys (and Abigail) had quartet practice at the church. We're trying to get ready for our singing in Monett, MO on the 29th! We're also running over a few Christmas songs, but we're not to sure if they'll be included in the program. We shall see!


Tuesday
We visited my with my parents for a while. Sam and Dad showed me a little on how to work that map program that works with the GPS I had recently bought. Mysia and Malachi played with Abigail, and listened to Christmas music!
Afterwards we over and visited with Lydia's mom. Lycia and her boyfriend Samson was there, so we got to visit with them as well. They had just finished putting up and decorating their tree!

Wednesday
We had Master Clubs at church, as usual. There were several more kids than usual, and many were a bit rowdy! But, that's what hapens when you get a bunch of kids in one room!

Thursday
We watched a movie... ELF. We had seen it before, but it had been a while. And yes, we are starting in on the Christmas movies! Yippee! I'm looking forward to "White Christmas"!

~Matt


"I do not need a parachute to skydive. I only need a parachute to skydive twice."

Sunday (Nov 15, 2009)

Sunday was yet another busy one. Because of the sore in Mysia's mouth, Lydia decided to keep Mysia home. Since we didn't know what was really causing it, Lydia wanted to keep her from passing anything to the other kids.

That left me taking Malachi with me during the van route. Rush, rush, rush.... and we made it to church in time to meet with the others in the van ministry. We ate breakfast and Malachi was very well behaved.

Now Evangelist Ronnie Warren was to be at our church during the morning services, and since I'm his web designer, I wanted to be sure to get as much pictures and video as I could. So I was trying to be sure the van route would be quick and we'd be back at church with time to spare.... yeah right. This ended up being the week that we was going everywhere.

I ended up getting to church 10 minutes late. But I was still able to catch most of the Sunday School service! Ronie was great, and really did a good job presenting the message as well. I'll be posting some of the videos on youtube soon.

That afternoon, Malachi and I stayed at church to help with the kids in getting their Pinewood Derby cars cut and painted. Unfortunately, I don't think I was much of a help. After an hour, I ended up taking Malachi in one of the back rooms so he could nap. The guy was so tired, he slept almost all the way till time for choir practice!

Lydia went ahead and brought Mysia to church for the evening service, which was a good thing! That's when we found out the news that her brother Silas and his fiance Kristi moved up their wedding date to December!
How exciting!

~Matt


"We never really grow up, we only learn how to 'act' in public."

Christmas Lights and More! (Saturday, 11/14/09)

Ahhhhh... Saturday! Our day of rest. At least... for the first part of the day!

One of the things I like to do on Saturdays is sleeping in... and I have found a solution on doing so. When the kids wake up, I make their juice, give them a little breakfast, turn the tv on, and go back to bed for an hour or more! Hey... It works!

That's what we did Saturday... it was nice. With Lydia staying up and doing her homework, and I trying to stay up out of consideration, being able to sleep in is soooo nice! However, I will admit that I don't stay up as long as Lydia... I end up dosing, and she tells me to go on to bed! lol

After sleeping in, we did the morning routine of getting ready for the day. I worked on a couple of videos I had put on my laptop, both home videos from the camcorder and some from VHS. I also cleared away some of the 'computer/work junk' that had started piling up near the desk in the living room. Lydia worked on the grocery list and homework. The kids played and I even had them on Mario Kart 64 for about 45 minutes. I'm teaching them how to play. See.... I'm such a cool daddy!

Later in the afternoon, toward the end of M&M's naps, Lycia and Jordin stopped by for a visit. Jordin is Titus' girlfriend, and it was nice to finally meet her! We talked, visited, and tried to get Mysia and Malachi to stop being shy. (I don't think they got that from me)

Malachi was excited that I brought in the tree from the shed later that afternoon. He was trying to help me out as I set it up in the living room. Now if you think we're crazy, setting up the tree before Thanksgiving.... hear me out. It has been our personal tradition to bring it out two weeks before, and just enjoy the tree without the decorations. We will put them on after Thanksgiving! The tree is beautiful to admire with just the lights. That's one thing nice about a pre-lit tree... except for this year, and the top of the tree was out. Not only that, we were out of spare Christmas lightbulbs!

While Lydia and Malachi left for the grocery store, Mysia and I tried pulling out the outdoor lights. Since the weather was so nice and it was going to get cold, I knew it would be a good time to get them out. However, those lights made me mad. The strands were all messed up and not working!

Boy.. did I feel discouraged. I called Lydia and told her about my dilemma! She said she'd pick up a few more sets. What a sweetheart of a wife!

She got home, we unpacked the groceries, and got the kids ready for bed. I caved in and promised Mysia she could watch one of the animated Christmas movies, so they watched Frosty the Snowman as I went outside to decorate the house.

By then, it was dark. But that didn't matter. I'm hanging up lights! It didn't take me too long to complete either! However, it's the first time I was ever bit by mosquitoes when hanging up Christmas lights!

Oh, and for those who live in town.... it's no good to drive by and see them just yet. I won't be turning them on until after Thanksgiving!

~Matt



"Politicians and diapers have one thing in common. They should both be changed regularly, and for the same reason."

Poor Mysia....

Over the length of the week, Mysia had been complaining about her tongue hurting. It was really brought to Lydia's attention Thursday late afternoon after daycare. Mysia had a sore on the left side of her tongue. It was bad. Poor Mysia would cry when trying to eat. So yogurt and milk was the remedy.

She still has the sore, and it is doing much better now. She's been gargling salt water, which seems to be helping a lot.

One good thing about all of this... she's stopped sucking her thumb (a habit we've been trying very hard to break)!

~Matt


Pun of the Post: "If something 'goes without saying,' why do people still say it?"

Graphic Design: Logo fun

Several months ago, I was playing raround with some retro logo ideas. This is what I came up with!

~Matt

Tech Post: My Laptop A GPS Unit!

For a few years, I had thought it would be cool to own a GPS unit. It would help when running the vans for the church, and it would be nice to have if we ever traveled anywhere. It definitely would have been nice for our Anniversary Get-A Way back in September.

About a year ago, I had read on a tech blogs that there were "USB dongles" that would turn your computer into a GPS unit. What a cool idea. But I didn't think that it would really be worth it, so I didn't really give it too much thought.

God has allowed us the finances and to be able to travel to Kansas this Thanksgiving weekend for a "family reunion" on my dad's side. We're excited, and it gave me the thought that the USB GPS/Laptop idea would be nice. So to the internet I went!!!

I did a google search and found one for $25! Wow... not bad! Especially since it came bundled with a map program (2008). Most of the others included a map more than $70! I was excited about the product, but I decided to get a second opinion. I emailed my brother BJ...

He liked it, but did his own research and found one that was for 2009 for only $5 more! Now that's a deal! "DeLorme Earthmate GPS LT-40 - GPS kit" I spoke to my dad, and ended up ordering two, one for Sam and I.

Well, they came in on Monday. I installed it, and from the dinning room table it works! I did say that my house was moving 0.02 miles, so I wonder if it's floating away! lol! I'm hoping to try it out Sunday during the van route! It'll be cool!

~Matt



Pun of the Post: "When filling out an application, in the part that says "If an emergency, notify:" I put "DOCTOR". What's my mother going to do?."

Internet Problems

Last Wednesday (11/4), Lydia called me around 3 to let me know that our DSL internet was not working. She had tried everything to get it going. All the lights would work on the DSL modem, but the internet lights would blink instead of being steadily on. She was getting really frustrated, mostly due to the fact that she had a lot of homework to do. And that's the main problem... most of her stuff for college is on the internet! So, there is more proof that we can't live without it!

It still wasn't working by the time she picked me up that evening from work, but we headed straight to church, so I didn't get to look at it until we got home later that night. Sure enough, it still wasn't working! We put the kids to bed and Lydia headed off to McDonald's to take advantage of their WIFI, while I called AT&T.

So much happened during my time on the phone with their customer support... it drives me crazy just thinking about it! Needless to say, I spent an hour doing things like changing the modem password, restarting my computer several times, restarting the DSL modem, unplugging and replugging the phone cords.... nothing worked. Our "session"ended and she put me on hold to talk to a "level 2" technician.

20 minutes of waiting, I finally got to talk to "Chan" from "Cow-lih-forn-ya"... yeah sure! And I'm from the moon! Anyway, besides trying to translate what I was saying, and figuring out what he wanted, it was found out that the problem was on their end. He told me that they'd put a ticket out for a guy to come and look at the lines, etc. I asked when it would be done, he asked what time it was here and I said 10:30. He says, "Oooo, that is very late." (I knew he wasn't in California!)

He assured me that it would be fixed in the morning, sometime around 8 (so he said), and gave me the ticket number and a 1-800 to call. Almost two hours on the phone!!!!! Lydia got back at midnight, and only had a few more things to do at school the next day.

When we woke up the next morning, it was early, and of course, it still wasn't working. So off to our places we went.

I had a dentist appointment at 3, and got off early for that. It turned out that the dentist had messed up on the chart and I didn't need anything done. It was nice that now I didn't have to pay for anything, but not nice in the fact that I took of work for nothing!

Anyway.... the internet still wasn't working! ARG! So when I got home, I called. Got a lady from St. Louis, and I could actually understand her! She did some tests and said that the problem was on their side, that a router needed reset! DUH!!! I asked her how come it wasn't fixed earlier as promised, and she said that they had to confirm it, and wasn't able to until just right then! (yeah right)

I then asked how long it would take. She said it would be fixed within 24 hours? What??? I wasn't happy.. She reassured me that it's company policy that that say that, but is should be fixed sooner. I asked if they could call me when it's up and running, and she said that it was something that they always do.

I got off the phone, and wasn't happy. But what could I do? We figured that Lydia would end up having to go back to McDonald's to complete any online homework she had.

Frustrated... I sat down at my laptop to complete some of the projects I had been working on. About twenty minutes later, I noticed that the weather was on my desktop! We had internet!

So far no more problems!

UPDATE: As of the posting of this, I still haven't received a call saying that my internet is working again! ARG!

~Matt


Pun of the Post: "God must love stupid people. He made SO many....."

Sorry for the delay...

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted in the past several days. I've been busy! But don't work, I'm still keeping log of what's been going on. So hopefully soon, I'll be able to get them completed and posted!

So yes, I'm still alive. Just keeping busy!

~Matt

Digital Transmission...

I miss analog tv......

You may ask why, and that's fine. I'll explain my position.

A year ago, our box tv died. So we forked over the money and bought a flat-screen digital tv. Some stations in our town were already broadcasting digital transmissions, and it was neat, but also very problematic. On the git-go, we noticed that occasionally when something disrupted the signal, the screen would pixelize and we'd loose audio and video. How annoying!

We had the tv situated in a certain postion in our living room and was able to get most stations. However, I wasn't too satisfied with the arrangement and I changed things around. Unfortunately, we lost half of our channels.

We also have problems with the train. Every time one passes by, it disrupts the reception! Arg!

Well, I got tired of missing out on channels like PBS. So while at Wal-Mart I bought an extension for the antenna.I'm happy to report... it works!!!

I still have problems with the train, but I don't think I can stop that! Go figure!

~Matt

Internet Churches?

I read an article about Online Churches. These aren't churches that just have a website for members to meet up during the week, but churches that are strictly online only. That means this is not a local church you can physically congregate with, but one that meets online.

A new thing, some of them go so far as to have a button on there site to accept Christ as their Savior and become a believer! Not only that, but even baptismals are done on your own.....

Although, I admit it's a neat concept, especially for those in countries where it's illegal to meet for church. Or those in remote places. I can even see it helping missionaries who long for those home services. But, I don't think just meeting online is going to really cut it.

You can call me a stick in the mud I guess. But just interacting socially online with other folks, while at a computer, is not the best way to grow as a Christian. I feel that one needs to be physically present with other believers. A true "local" body of believers.

I don't have any real answer on whether this would be wrong or right. For example, foreign missionaries are members of their sending church, and they don't get to physically attend for several years at a time while they're on the field.  With that in mind, technically, even us laymen are missionaries to our own local area. Remember, the 'great commission' applies to all believers! So would it be wrong and un-scriptural to be a member of an online assembly of fellow believer?

Anyway, I see this bit of news as a good discussion piece amongst fellow Christians.

~Matt


Pun of the Post: "Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle."

Skating, B-day Party, Grocery Shopping... and more!

Wow... Saturday (10/31/09) was a busy day!

We got up, and were out the door by 7:25 in the morning. I had the church van, and was in charge of picking up kids for the skating party that started at 9! Talk about rushing! Lydia was so tired that she napped in the passenger seat!

Our church had rented out Skateland for two hours... I had the privilege of being in charge of what music got played. So I had made a list of fast moving, upbeat, SG music. Samuel was in charge of the games, and used my list of songs to fit them in. It worked out well.

Mysia and Malachi had a great time skating. Both fell several times, but got used to it pretty quick. It was fun watching them and helping. Malachi ended up skating with Lydia for most of the time. At times, he is definitely a mama's boy! Mysia got to skate with both her Uncle Sam and Aunt Abigail quite a bit as well. Mysia was my partner during the game of "four corners". We almost won!

After taking everyone home and got home ourselves, we quickly put the kids to bed for a nap. We knew time would be short before rushing off to Abigail's birthday party at 2pm. Boy, were we right! Before heading over to the park where the party was held, I made a mad dash into WalMart to grab the gift for her. Unfortunately, it was a mad-house in there!

Speaking of how full it was, there was also some interesting characters there! Come to find out, WalMart allows it's employees to dress up. I ran into Jack Sparrow and a vampire that worked there while getting the gift! But the most interesting sight was after I finished purchasing the gift! As I was walking out, a VERY pregnant woman, WalMart employee, wearing a short, bright lime-green dress, walked by in front of me. I couldn't help but staring. She had this striped stockings on, that where bright, rainbow colored. Her hair was short with mini pony-tail braids in them. Then she turned around.... "She" had an beard! An unkept beard!!! I just stopped and stood there. A man standing nearby, looked at me and said, "yep, that's my thought too!" lol!

Anyway, we headed over to Doling Park where Abigail's party had already started. She had friends from church and her homeschool Co-op there. It was quite a crowd of teens!!! Mysia and Malachi played on the equipment, while the teens played the games that were organized for the event! Abigail ended up with a number of gifts. By the time 5 came around, we were ready to go. The kids were wearing down, and so were we!

When we arrived at home, Mysia got her bath while Malachi and I attended the front door for trick-or-treaters. Lydia and I also used this time to finalize the grocery list. It was decided upon that I would do the grocery run when the list was completed... oh... what... fun...! But while we were doing so, I decided to pop on an old VHS, it was shows from the late 80's. It was a hoot! The commercials were just as funny as the tv shows!

I left for WalMart around 8:30... the store wasn't as crowded as earlier in the afternoon. It was quiet, and there were some strange characters roaming the isles. Other than that, nothing too out of the ordinary. Grocery shopping didn't take me too long, and soon I was back at home watching more 80's tv shows with Lydia... oooo... scary!!

~Matt


Pun of the Post: "A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience."

Sump-pump Worries!

After all the rain we had on Thursday, I was sad to find out Friday morning that the sump-pump was again running overtime! Arg! How I hate having to go under the house to grab whatever is keeping the thing going!

This time, I came up with a plan! I had noticed on my last trip under the house that the electrical cord for the pump went up under the floor of the sink. That meant that it was plugged up somewhere there. I remembered seeing a few thing plugged up under the sink when installing my garbage disposal about a year ago, and I knew one of them was the dishwasher.

So, I looked under the sink, unplugged one, and sure enough... the sump-pump stopped. Well, that would at least give me a while so the sump-pump doesn't overheat or something. So Friday night, after work, I plugged it back up. Everything seemed to go pretty well, it would pump and then stop on its own. I then started hoping that whatever it was that was blogging the pump from stopping got "washed" off to the side or something.

Saturday morning, the pump was running "overtime" again, so I unplugged it. I decided to wait for a while this time, hoping that maybe I can get that piece "washed" away.

This time I waited until Sunday night. Sure enough, after 15 minutes of pumping all the water out of under our house, it stopped on it's own! Hooray!

Unfortunately, I woke up this morning with the sump-pump continuously running and no water coming out! ARG! I guess I'll have to go under there sometime soon!

~Matt


Pun of the Post: "If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried."

I WON!

As some of you know, I love local history. I visit sites that deal with current events around the city, since some may deal with the history as well. Sure enough, that one of the sites I visit frequently started trivia contests on the history of Springfield.

Well, On October 20th, they had a blog post that sparked my interest! It was a local contest to win free tickets for several places here in town. It dealt with a trivia question on local history, one I knew quite well! So I emailed my answer.

Last night I got an email announcing that I was the winner! Sure enough, they posted it on the blog this morning!!!

I won free admission for two to Dickerson Park Zoo, Discovery Center, Wild Animal Safari, Fantastic Caverns, and Missouri Sports Hall of Fame!

Now, here's my question... are the tickets one place, or all of them? I guess I'll find out when I get them in the mail!

~Matt


Pun of the Post: "Insanity is hereditary. You get it from your kids.."

Carving Pumpkins

Yesterday (10/27) was a busy day. Like usual, the kids went to daycare, I went to work, and Lydia went to classes at college.

After picking me up from work at 6, we headed headed over to Washington Park here in town to meet up with some if Lydia's classmates. They had scheduled a get-together for some food and pumpkin carving, that way they could all meet around outside the school setting.

Mysia and Malachi were thrilled to be able to visit a new park, and played on the children's equipment for a good part of the time we was there. Even though it was dark, hey had the place lit up pretty well. After a while we moved to the big gazebo, and brought out the pumpkins. Lydia had purchased 3 big ones at the store for $10. They were heavy!!

The kids drew on them with markers for a bit, then I set down and helped them sketch on paper what they wanted. Malachi didn't care. So his looked more like a pumpkin from VeggieTales.

Mysia was a different story. She couldn't make up her mind. First it was a can, then a dog, and then Dora. Well, we did Dora last year, and I wasn't going to attempt that one again! So finally we picked a cat.

They wanted to play with the pumpkin "guts" more than anything! But we had fun.

~Matt


Pun of the Post: "One should never put off till tomorrow what you can avoid all together..."

Vector Avatar

Hey everyone!

As promised, I am going to share some more work I've been doing. This one is a bit more on the "fun" side, seeing it isn't a logo or flyer.

I'm sure some people have seen those vector looking avatars you can get made from your picture. These are prevalent in facebook ads, and I thought, "hey I can do this!". So for fun, I decided to try it on myself.

I didn't care for the picture, but it was the best I could find at the time. I have "flat" look. So I'm not too satisfied.

~Matt



Pun of the Post: "Regular naps prevent old age..... especially if you take them while driving."

Are You A Hillbilly?

I admit it... I am!  Perhaps not in the strictest sense, but close enough.

One of the things that I think of that qualify me as a hillbilly is the fact that I prefer to walk around barefoot. I enjoy it, and my feet do to! Even as a teen, I'd walk almost everywhere barefoot. The only times I put on shoes was when we had to go somewhere, and if I could, it would be without socks.

I think both Mysia and Malachi take after me. Both like walking around barefoot. The only time Mysia really likes wearing something on her feet is when its to dress up, or wear something new and "pretty".

Well, yesterday... Malachi decided to take off both his shoes and socks. We were getting ready to head out, and I had him bring them to me so I could put them back on to me. I asked him, "Are you a hillbilly?"

"No.." was his reply as he shook his head.

"Yes you are.." I continued. "You're a hillbilly."

"No.."

"Come on, say, 'I am a hillbilly'"

"No........... I Malachi!"


After that, I lost it! What a kid!

~Matt


Pun of the Post: "Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine."

Keeping Busy (and Steppin' Out update) 10/22/09

The past several weeks have been a bit hectic for me. I've been working quite a bit of overtime, and I am wearing out. Of course, last week's car trouble didn't help either!

I've also been working on some side projects (graphic design). I'll be sharing them when completed! So keep watching this blog!

Since I've been keeping busy... how may have noticed that as we near the holidays, schedules get tighter? Lydia and I have got a ton activities planned for the next several weeks, and that's just the start! I know as Thanksgiving draws nearer, we're gonna be busy!

Oh... and don't forget Christmas! So far, I've noticed that Wal-Mart, Lowes, and Bass Pro have already started bringing out the products and decorating! It's exciting, but sad that they skip Thanksgiving. But I guess I should be happy that they haven't really commercialized that Holiday....

Speaking of Christmas, our quartet (Steppin' Out) is going to be working on some Christmas material soon! We're also looking into some of the arrangements that Legacy Five did on their Christmas album... some great songs!

For those who may have not gotten the email or read the announcement on our facebook page, Steppin' Out is now looking for a high tenor. Noah has "stepped" down so that he can focus on his education. Currently, we're getting Abigail familiar with our regular line-up since she's a replacement until we can find another high tenor! If anyone knows anyone interested in singing with a local, part-time quartet, email us at steppinoutquartet@gmail.com

Anyway.... I'm going be having a new feature on my blog. Introducing the Pun of the Post! Since I have a document of over 500 puns and funny thoughts, I figure I'd share the wealth! So with every post on this blog, there will be a pun at the end! Just when my facebook friends thought my statuses were bad enough! lol! Hope you enjoy!

~Matt


Pun of the Post: "The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket."

The Roof Is Fixed (10/20/09)

Several weeks ago, like I mentioned in a previous blog post, we discovered we had a leak in our roof. We weren't too happy about it. But thinking that insurance might help, I called them. They told me that they'd send a guy out. Later, the installer called and told me that he estimated it would cost me no less than $500 for over half a day's work to fix our roof...!

Yuck!

So, I talked to some guys from church, and they said that should get on the roof and take a look myself, and that some roof tar would probably fix the problem if there is any visible. So I went and bought some roof tar.

Unfortunately, it rained. ALL WEEK! And there was no way I was going to climb on a wet roof to look around. So yesterday I was able to go go up there. As you can see in the picture, there was a hole. So I grabbed some duct tape and the tar... patched it up... and all finished!

Now to wait for a good rain to see if it worked!

Oh, and by the way... the tar was less than $3 at Wal-Mart...!!!!

~Matt

Malachi: Growing Up Fast

The picture was taken last Thursday night. Malachi wanted to sleep with all of his stuffed animals. Abigail was babysitting and let him sleep like that. That's how I found him when we got home. I took the picture and then moved the toys off the bed so he could sleep comfortably!

Sometimes, he can be a handful... but he's such a little man. He has no problem telling you what is on his mind. And his facial expressions are priceless!

Another feat we're proud of, is the fact that he is anxious to be potty-trained. We have not pushed him, he has been wanting to do this on his own! He's now wearing big-boy underwear and has been dry the past several days! The only time Malachi wets is during naps and when asleep at night, but for those occasions, he wears pull-ups! He's doing very well. Even at daycare and church! We're so proud of him!

On Saturday, I took him and Mysia with me to Wal-mart for grocery shopping (Lydia went out of town with some of the ladies from church). He did so good. He was excited to use the toilet at Wal-mart. Oh, and I'm thankful that Wal-Mart has a family restroom! It makes it so much easier!

~Matt

Blog update (10/18/09)

I know it's been a long time coming, but I finally updated the look of our blog. Not too drastic, but I hope that it has a more smooth, simplistic feel to it!

I've also updated the pictures on the side! Hoorah!

I know it's getting late, and I should be in bed, but I wanted to get this finished! Hopefully I can think of something good to blog about tomorrow! lol!

~Matt

A New Tech Blog (my brother's)

Benjamin, my brother, has started a tech blog called "Technology Bytes". The tagline reads: "articles about technological tangles and triumphs learned." He told me that he'll post whenever he has any experience to share.

I hoping that it'll be an interesting read from time to time. He's into technology more than I am, especially on the programming side of things. Since he's a programmer and can out-talk me in geek language, I think that counts!! Growing up, we weren't into sports, it was technology and computers. It still is. We were into the stuff before it was considered "cool"! Go figure! Anyway, because of it, we don't differ to much in the general topic of technology.

So if you are into technology and want a new blog to read, check it out!

~Matt

History Podcasts

Podcasts were something I never really got into. I had listened to a few over the years, but nothing that really grabbed my attention.

That is, until last week.

howstuffworks.com has a weekly podcast called "Stuff You Missed In History Class". I found it through iTunes, but it's also available on their website. It's like listening to a wikipedia article! I've been fascinated by the podcasts.

Of course, I'm interested in history and strange facts... I like filling my brain with odd and useless facts and information. It's a perfect fit for me. It's like the history channel in audio form! hehehe!

What's really cool, is the fact that I can listen to the podcasts while working! I'm not putting off my work to go read an article. Although, to be honest, some of podcasts make me want to do more research the topics talked about!

If anyone knows of other podcasts that are similar, and you think I'd enjoy them, let me know!

~Matt

Trouble Comes In Threes?

If it's true, and troubles/problems come in threes... then I should be good for a while! At least, I hope so!



Problem #1
Let me start off with several weeks ago. It had rained nice and hard. Nothing new around here! Anyway, the kids were in bed, we had the tv off, and we noticed that there was a dripping sound coming from the living room ceiling! Sure enough, there is a little water spot! When we went shopping over the weekend, I picked up some roof tar to see if that will work. However, because it's been raining... I haven't had the time to get up on the roof to fix the problem!!! (I don't want to climb around on a wet, slippery roof)

Problem #2
Our car has been shuttering...
After fixing the battery, the car has been acting up. It will shutter, then die. It would start back up, but it acted as if it had the chills! It got so bad, it was doing it quite often. So I took it over to a friend's house Monday night. He looked at it, tried a few things, but to no avail... it kept dying. I was not happy with my car. Tuesday morning I took it in to the autoshop for a diagnostic test. We need a new vacuum hose. It engine wasn't getting the gas it needed. Go figure. But at least the car is fixed!

Problem #3
Water was on the floor, near the sink. But it wasn't due to the rain. Our kitchen sink faucet was leaking, ruining what was underneath the sink, and getting on the floor. Something had to be done. A trip to Lowe's was in order. We picked up a new faucet... which isn't cheap, by the way! I took out the old one, and then installed the new one. This morning, no water on the floor! Hooray!



Well... that was the three problems. I still have to address number 1, but other than that.... NO MORE!


~Matt

More rain.. and lots of it!

Last Thursday we got a ton of rain... So much rain that the roads getting to our house were practically flooded! Our backyard was full once again, and the sump-pump underneath our house was working non-stop.

The sump-pump worried me. With as much rain as we got, I was pretty sure that I'd have to go underneath the house later on to get whatever junk out that had floated into it.

Friday night, I was still worried. The sump-pump was still going without stopping. But since water was still coming out, I figured there must enough for me not to worry. Still... that night, I dreamed about having to crawl underneath the house.

Saturday morning came around, and I was relieved to find that the sump-pump had stopped! Well, occasionally. It would come on every 10 minutes or so to drain whatever water was flowing. I was happy. I really didn't want to venture underneath the house.

Well, later that night, when we got back from picking up the church van, I noticed it was running and no water coming out! Great.....! My heart sank.

I announced to Lydia what I had to do. She asked me if I could do it the following day. Sunday? No way. It had to be that night.

So I donned my worse clothes, grabbed my headlamp, and headed outside. The ground was still wet, and I made sure there were no spiders or anything near the crawlspace entrance. The wolf spiders have gotten pretty big now that fall is here, including the legs- they're about the size of the palm of your hand. Also, slugs... the've been getting about 5-6 inches long. I see them on the side of the house from time to time! Yuck.

I had to get down there, and to do so, it's going feet first, face down, and sliding backwards. Not much fun. As I got in, I turned around, and was greeted by a snake coming towards me.

Now remember, it's after 10 at night, and all I have is the light on my forehead. So naturally, I take my pole I carry with me, and kill it real quick before identifying it. It was a harmless garter snake... so i felt bad. But my heart was in my throat!

After making the crawl to the sump-pump, I found it was just a little piece of wood keeping it running. I removed it, and all was well.

I got out from underneath the house, hosed my pants and boots off, and headed inside to take a shower!!!!

Now I'm praying for no more rain!!!!

~Matt

A Monday Post

Whoops. I have failed on updating this blog over the past week! So much has gone on! But not too much to report.

I have been working overtime, Lydia has been working at OTC, we've both been real tired! How's that for a run-down!

Lydia's homework has kept her busy, and she's been staying up late most of the week trying to get it done. I usually take that time and try and work on a project I have. Lately I've gotten quite a bit done. I hope to be sharing some of my work here on my blog when finished!

In other news, both kids have been doing well in daycare. Both are always excited to go, and they've been learning so much. Mysia has learned her months of the year in song.. something we're proud of.

I've also been working with Mysia on our home address in song, and she has it down pretty good. There are a few words she has trouble pronouncing properly, especially when she sings it fast, but we'll work on that as time goes by.

Malachi is a cuddle guy! He loves to sit and spend time with you. He's still very active, but likes to hang around even more. He wants to be right in the middle of whatever you are doing. He's talking more and more, and I can't wait to see what he'll be like as Christmas draws near. It's always a time of super excitement, thanks to Lydia and I, so we'll see what things the season will bring out in him!

I'll try and see what more I can share for my next post, but now I'm off to get some work done!

~Matt

News: Be Careful What You Review On Your Blog!

I don't know how many of you have read the news lately. I appears that the Federal Trade Commission is gonna be enforcing a new regulation that effects bloggers. Well... bloggers that review products, that is. Effective December 1st, if you blog a review about a product that was given to you by the company that put it out, you must put a disclaimer in your post saying so. If you don't, you could face a fine of up to  $11,000! However, it's mostly be a warning at first.

I think that it's interesting to say the least. I really didn't think that regulating blogs was something that could be enforced. But I guess if your are trying to promote a business of your own, or a service, and you are talking about the products of others, they can do anything.

One thing that this will do, is make the readers aware to see how critical a blogger will go when reviewing freebies. It could get very interesting.

Now, I know this doesn't really affect me much. I don't really get freebies to comment on. I mean... seriously, I just blog on family updates, and the weird things that come to mind at the time! I could give my input on logos I guess... but I'm trying to be critical of my own work. Ha!

But hey... if anyone who reads my blog has something for me to review, I'll do it! Just email me, and I'll get you my address!

~Matt

paaschcreativedesigns@yahoo.com