The Kids... (An update!)

Malachi has been doing a lot of growing up. He's becoming more of a talker and tries to express what he wants. Of course, Mysia, being the big sister, tries to explain his actions and tries to be his personal translator for us. This can cause some frustration for both Malachi and us at times, but we're working on it.

The other day, I was busy doing something around the table, and he comes up, puts the big juice bottle on the table and says, "More Daddy!" He had opened the fridge on his own and got it out! I couldn't help but laugh. He is so smart!

He's funny to watch too. His face will sometime have a quizzical look to it when he's trying to figure something out, or when he's determined about something. Both he and Mysia will fight over our attention, but especially mine.

When we got the fridge last week, he wanted nothing more than to get his own water out of the door dispenser. Well, he played with it, and it soaked his shirt. He wasn't too happy about it either, and wanted his shirt taken off. I told him no, that he'll have to keep it on, and that's what he gets for playing with it after we told him no. He didn't like it, but you know what? He hasn't messed with it since!

Of course, just the other day, Mysia has hit the halfway mark of the year until her birthday. She is now 4-1/2 years old. She's growing up so fast! She probably takes after me in the talking department.. she is definitely not short of words. The thing is, when she thinks of something, she has to say it right then and there. If not, she might forget what she was going to say. This means that she'll interrupt you most of the time, and she is very adamant at getting your attention and getting her point across.

Oh, and don't interrupt her. The best way to put it, she's like one of those portable cd players... remember, if you bump them, they may start the track over again. Well, if you interrupt Mysia, she starts back at the beginning! She has a one-track mind. It's funny, but it can be a little frustrating at time too! Ha!

~Matt

Sketch of the kids!

Okay... Now to provide some of my work I've done recently. This is a sketch (or trace) of Malachi and Mysia. Just some fun I've been having with my tablet!

I hoping to show off some more work that I've done here soon. So keep an eye on this blog. (Oh, I'm sure this one will be posted on facebook as well!)

~Matt

Quick Weekend Overview (07/25/09-07/26/09)

Since the weekend ties together, I'll make this post a two-day overview!

Saturday:

We had quartet practice in the new auditorium at 9 in the morning. They wanted to test out the new sound system, and figured our quartet would work fine. It was pretty neat! After that, our church choir had practice… we wear gearing up in preparation of using the new auditorium come Sunday! Everyone was excited.

We went home, ate a small lunch and took naps… all of us. When we woke up, Lydia made blueberry cobbler and I cut up cucumbers. We then headed out to the Mitchell's house (Greg is our quartet's lead singer). We talked, ate, watched a movie, and had a good time. In fact, we stayed there until 9pm!

Sunday:

Our first services in the new auditorium! And we had over 300 in attendance! It was packed! Talk about exciting…. The entire day was awesome!

~Matt

Another Vacation Day, Along with Injury (Friday, 07/24/09)

No sickness! Yay! Just another vacation day!

Lydia got up and went to give plasma, I watched the kids. I had them help me pick up the living room, and then I put in a movie we picked up from RedBox… "Tinkerbell". It had Mysia glued. However, poor Malachi was happy to have Mysia home since she had gone to daycare without him the past two days. Since she was watching the movie, he pestered her. He wanted to play. I got to be referee, and after the movie was finished, we all played.

When Lydia arrived back home, I let Mysia play on the computer. There was a game promoted by the movie, so I set it up for her. Come to find out, it was too difficult for her age, and Lydia ended up playing it. I left for my doctor's appointment. Unfortunately, I got mixed up, and the appointment was actually scheduled for the following Friday! Ooops! So I headed off to pick up a few grocery items from Wal-Mart. When I came back home, the kids were already down for their naps, and Lydia was playing Mysia's game. I mentioned I was going to lay down for a nap, and Lydia was so intent in the game that she didn't hear me! Poor Lydia!

Later in the afternoon, we went outside and let the kids play. As it got closer to 5, I got the grill going for hamburgers. While the hamburgers were cooking, Mysia pointed out that there was a big bug under their "fort". Sure enough, right in the corner, near where they climb up the ladder, there was a wasp nest about the size of a peach seed. I told the kids to go sit with Lydia on the swing, as I went in to get the bug spray. All we had was roach and ant killer, but I knew it would do. I went and sprayed the nest. There was a wasp on there, and I got him too. But he decided to fly toward me! I tried to run away, and tripped over my feet. I ended up falling down, catching myself by landing on my thumb on my left hand. I heard cracks, mostly from my legs, and a sharp pain shoot up my hand and arm. It hurt!

I cradled my hand and walked over to Lydia. Sure enough, my hand started to swell around my thumb. I couldn't move my thumb… and the pain was intense. I initially thought I broke it. Lydia asked if we should go get it checked out, but I told her I'd rather wait. I wanted to see if I had just jammed it.

I ended up babying my thumb the entire evening. It continually throbbed with pain. I found I couldn't do much with my left hand. After supper, I was able to bend my thumb at the "top knuckle" and it popped. There was a shot of immense pain and relief at the same time.

Lydia and I were planning on going to a concert that evening, but we were tired. So, after getting the kids in bed that night, I worked a bit more on the DVD of last Sunday night's service, as I had been doing throughout the day. But that didn't last long, and I gave up in favor of going to bed.

~Matt

Still sick, and mourning over another celebrity! (Thursday, 7/23/09)

I was still sick, but feeling a bit better. Malachi was too. In fact, he was feeling pretty good! He stayed home with me again, but boy, was he all over the place. On the other hand, I dealt with stomach cramps….

That afternoon, I found out, thanks to Lydia hearing it on the news, that Gidget passed away. Gidget was the Taco Bell dog in the 90's ads. Famous for the quote, "¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!" I had a lot of fun on facebook with the news, relating on how we ought to honor Gidget with the same fanfare as everyone did with Michael Jackson. In know, I'm ornery, but I just couldn't resist!

~Matt

Sick Day! (Wednesday, 7/22/09)

I woke up to Malachi crying again. This time it was 3am, I wasn't feeling too good either. He had vomited again, so I cleaned it up and put him bed with us again. He slept pretty well. However, my stomach wasn't doing so good.

Paulette was going to stay with Malachi, but since I wasn't feeling so well, I ended up calling in sick so I could fight this off. I knew it would be a miserable day at the office if I went in. It was just Malachi and I at home. Lydia went ahead and took Mysia to daycare and headed off to school. She had a final in her second class.

Malachi had diarrhea. And both Malachi and I found out that broccoli is not something you eat the night before you get sick! Yuck... on all levels!

When Lydia got home, I was ready to take a nap! Lydia ended up going to church with Mysia, as I stayed home with Malachi.

~Matt

Malachi Sick, and a New Refrigerator (Tuesday, 7/21/09)

Malachi woke up around 3:30 in the morning. He had vomited.... yuck! I cleaned it up, and put him back to bed, but he didn't want to stay there. I then tried sleeping on the floor next to his bed so that he would go to sleep. He liked that idea, but wanted to sleep on the floor with me. We tried that for a few minutes, but I couldn't get very comfortable so I grabbed him and put him in bed with me. That worked out great, and he went to sleep.

When it was time to get up, he was wired and running around. Lydia and I decided he was obviously well enough to go to daycare. So we packed him up, along with Mysia, and went into our daily routine.

While at work, I got a call from our company's photography department. They wanted to see if Malachi could come in around 3 for a photo-shoot. I told them it would be fine. Unfortunately, when Lydia was on the way the way over, Malachi vomited all over himself in the car seat. I had to call and cancel. Paulette watched him and Mysia while Lydia picked me up for work at 5pm.

Oh, back on Monday, I had mentioned to several of my coworkers that our refrigerator was going out. One coworker said that she and her husband had one in their garage that they wanted to get rid of. There was only one "catch". We had to take the two frozen turkeys along with it! I didn't argue! After supper, Sam picked me up with his truck and we ran over to pick up the refrigerator.

Sam helped me bring it in the house, and we cleaned it up. Okay... Lydia cleaned it up, while I unloaded the old fridge. While we were doing this, my grandma and uncle showed up to give us more garden cucumbers. They stayed for a while, as we moved the new refrigerator in place.

Malachi was still sick, and we tried to get him to bed at a decent time. If only we new what Wednesday would hold!

~Matt

Monday, 7/20/09

A typical Monday at work!

After work, Lydia and I headed over to her Lycia's house to drop of the kids for several hours. We used this chance to go give plasma together. Wahoo! Unfortunately, they couldn't get my vein, so I got deferred for eight weeks. Kind of a bummer!

When we arrived home we put the kids to bed. That was pretty much it!

~Matt

Farewell to Titus, and Teen Camp Review (Sunday, 7/19/09)

Picked up the teens… they were excited about what had happened at camp. They all shared the same thought, they wished it hadn't ended. It was a good sign that camp had went very well. They were so excited that it was contagious. They made me look forward to the evening services!

After morning services we headed over to Lydia's folks' house for lunch. It was the last day to have Titus in town, so we wanted to spend some more time with him. Paulette had made spaghetti, a family favorite of theirs. We visited for a while, then watched Madagascar 2, which had Malachi and Mysia captivated for a while. We didn't have choir practice, but left a little early for church so we could grab a good seat.

Since it was teen camp night... it was a bit crowed for evening services. I set up the video camera to capture as much as I could. Well, the service was over 90 minutes long, much longer then my tape would hold. So I caught some of it with my digital camera as well.

The service was so good! You could tell the teens had come back on fire, and they weren't ready to have it quenched! In fact, during the service, you could tell that the spirit was moving throughout the entire congregation. It was one of the best services I've ever been to! Even though it was longer then most services, it was well worth it! I'm glad I captured it on video!

When we got home, it was late, and the kids were already out. So we just went to bed.

~Matt

A Day of Puns and One-liners.... Plus Other Things. (Saturday, 07/18/09)

Saturday was a fun day for me when it came to facebook! I kept putting up puns & one-liners as my status…. I know it probably annoyed several people, especially Lydia, but I had a blast!

Quartet practice was early and quick. Sam had a bunch of mowing to catch up on since he was gone at church camp all week, and Noah had voice lessons at 11. So, we basically ran through all the songs that we have included in our presentations, and ran over a few that we've thought about adding.

When the guys left, I made a quick lunch and put the kids down for nap. I took the chance to mow the lawn. I had neglected it for over a week!

By the time I was done mowing, the kids were awake, so I washed grapes and we watched a movie. Lydia tried to work on her homework.

Before supper, I decided it would fun to go for a walk around the neighboring streets. It had been a while since we've done that. Lydia and I each grabbed a wagon, Lydia pulling Mysia, and myself pulling Malachi. Even though we walked for 30 or more minutes, the kids weren't ready to go inside when we walked into the front yard. Mysia exclaimed that she was wanting to go again, and Malachi said, "yeah!"

After supper, we went and got the church van, then gave the kids baths, and went to bed.

~Matt

Another Vacation Day (Friday, 07/17/09)

Yep… another three-day weekend! And it was promising to be busy! But hey, if it's gonna be fun, busy is good!

We woke up at normal time. We knew the kids wouldn't let us sleep in. We got ready and headed to go give plasma. Right now, every little bit helps.

It was such a beautiful day, and we headed over to the park to meet with another couple and their kids. They attend our church, and we've been wanting our daughters to have a play date since they're the same age. Their other daughter is also the same age as Malachi, so it really worked out good.

Well, the park we planned to meet at was crowded. So we headed of to Nathanael Greene Park. While there, we fed the ducks, geese, and fish at the lake then headed over to the playground equipment. We spent several hours there, talking and letting the kids play, before we headed off to Taco Bell for lunch.

Malachi and Mysia didn't get a nap at all! And we still had one more place to visit before heading home… State Farm. Yep, we had to meet to review our policy. Thankfully they had toys, and both kids traded my iPod off and on between themselves (watching a movie) while we talked.

When we arrived home, we were a bit tired. So we just sat around for a bit before eating supper and getting ready to go to another visitation at one of the funeral homes in town. One of my 2nd-3rd grade Sunday school teachers had passed away. So we went to the visitation to give support to his family. While there, we were able to meet up with some old acquaintances and friends.

Even though we were tired, we still had grocery shopping to do, so off to Wal-Mart we went! Not the best place to go when you're tired, and your kids are super-tired, but it had to be done! While there, we used the family restroom, and Malachi wanted to set on the small toilet. So we put him up there, and he went!

We decided that since they had been very good while shopping, we'd get them a small toy. So we grabbed Malachi a HotWheels car, it was only 97¢! Now, finding something around the same price for Mysia was hard. There was nothing under $5!  We went down every kid isle… we didn't know what to do. Then Lydia came upon a great idea. She asked Mysia if she wanted lip gloss…. Boy, did that work! Mysia picked out some pink lip-gloss that had a little bracelet attached, and it was only $1.

~Matt

Another Visit From Titus (Thursday, 7/16/09)

Titus visited us again! He came over for a short visit, before I got home from work. He again kept an eye on the kids while Lydia came and picked me up.

The kids had definitely warmed up to him… of course, it helps that he gets down and lets them crawl all over him!  In fact, they didn't want him to leave!

He didn't get to stay as long as the last time, but we were glad he stopped by to visit!

After supper, I spent some time playing hotwheels with the kids while Lydia did some homework. Malachi and Mysia love ramming the cars together… and they fought over the cars at times, even though we have at least 25!
 
~Matt

Lunch with Mom and more! (Wednesday, 7/15/09)

My mom came and had lunch with me at work. Even though the food from the cafeteria wasn't the best, we had a good lunch. She got to meat some more of my coworkers, and we tried getting a picture taken. Her batteries were dead for her camera, but I had some at my desk, and we were able to get a few shots.

One of my coworkers mentioned to me that she was shocked to see me having lunch with another woman (besides Lydia). It wasn't until after I introduced my mom that she understood! I never thought that I could cause rumors at work…. I wonder what would have happened if I had hugged my mom several times during lunch….!

That was the highlight of my workday. Lydia picked me up from work and I gobbled down my supper before we left for church.

On Sunday, a coworker's husband passed away. She works as a temporary proofer here at work, and she is a dear lady. We both love the same type of music, and she's a wonderful Christian woman. Well, on the way to church, we stopped by the funeral home for the visitation of her husband since the funeral would be during work hours on Thursday. I ran in, leaving Lydia and the kids in the car, gave her a hug, talked for a small bit, and told her I was praying for her and her family. I didn't stay in there for long. There was already several people lining up to talk with her, and with my family in the car, I figured it would be best to be on my way.

When we arrived at church, it was exciting to see that more had been done to the new auditorium. The pews had been mounted into the floor, and they had the nice chandelier put in at the entrance! Service was great, and everyone is excited about the new building. Only a few weeks to go!

Before heading home, we ran by my grandma's house. She had a bag of cucumbers from her garden waiting for us, and we had her birthday gift. We sat and visited for a while, and Mysia ate cookies while Malachi played with Grandma's hand-held back massager.

~Matt

Visit by Titus (Tuesday, 7/14/09)

Lydia's brother, Titus, came over for a visit. He showed up around 3pm, and visited with Lydia and the kids. Since they're hungry when they get home, Lydia made supper earlier then normal. Titus watched Mysia and Malachi at home while Lydia picked me up from work. When I got home, Lydia left to go give plasma. I ate!

I then tried to set up the main computer for Titus so that he could log into his email and then get a facebook account set up. But for some reason, Firefox and Internet Explorer wouldn't run. Every time I loaded them, they would crash! Boy, was I getting angry. I then tried Apple's Saffari, and it worked! I don't know if there was a glitch or what, but later on, I got the other programs to run, go figure!

By the time Lydia got back, Titus had to leave. We then got the kids showered and put to bed. Lydia then went into her homework, and I worked on more home videos until we decided to head for bed.

I'm hoping that I'll get those home videos done before the weekend is over, but we'll see!!!
 
~Matt

Monday, 7/13/09

A typical Monday!

After work, Lydia brought me home, and surprised me with homemade zucchini muffins! Yum!

I had requested to make supper, so I made my favorite, lemon pepper fish fillets! I had to hurry and get it made before Lydia left for Ladies' Bible Study.

The kids and I watched "Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Movie" before I sent them to bed.

I worked on some logos and home videos on my computer… but that's pretty much it!

~Matt

Church Workday (Saturday, 07/11/09)

Another busy day! Aren't they all?

I woke up early and Sam picked me up. We headed to the church. It was a scheduled workday, and they had asked all who could help to arrive around 8. There was much to be done. I helped place the cement parking blocks until lunch. Others power-washed the buildings and parking lot, leveled dirt, and cleaned the new auditorium. After lunch, I helped inside polishing the wooden doors, the cross above the baptistery, and took pictures of other people working.

I also got examine the new pews that were being installed! Pastor mentioned that they were going to try and get the occupancy permit sometime this week, so there was a lot to get completed!

I arrived home around 3, much to Lydia's relief. They were trying to watch Disney's The Wild on tv, but the reception was bad. So I messed around with it, and was able to get the channel to come in. (I'm not too keen on the digital conversion). After the movie was over, they played another, Dr. Doolittle. So we watched that while eating supper.

We were still lazy after that movie had finished, so I put in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe since we hadn't finished it from Friday.

Afterwards, it was baths and showers before bedtime!

~Matt

Vacation and the start of my 3-day weekend! (Friday, 07/10/09)

I have (or had) 6 days of vacation to use before Mid-August. So I asked my boss if it was okay if instead of taking those six days all together in one week, I could take the next six Fridays off, giving me six three-day weekends. I told him it would allow me to get most of my work done during each four days, and he wouldn't have me gone for such a long period, in which he'd have to reassign my work. He agreed, and told me he'd look into it. The following day, I was given the okay!

That being said, Friday was my first of six three-day weekends I'll get to have!

First thing we did after waking up and getting breakfast, was head over to BioLife to give plasma. It's an extra way to get some cash, so we've been doing it when we can. They recently opened up a new building, and at times they have free child care while you give plasma. We decided to try it out, and were pleased. The play area for the kids is secure, and nicely outfitted. The kids had a great time in there while we were plugged up to the machines.

We put in "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" when we got home. The kids watched it while I worked on some home videos and Lydia worked on some of her stuff. Lydia left at 11:30 to go have lunch with one of her friends, so I made one of my favorite foods. Now if any of my coworkers read this, I didn't eat potted meat. We had none! I made lemon pepper fish fillets! And oh, where they good! I fed the kids and we all took naps. Malachi was put in his own bed, but since I decided that I was going to crash on the couch, I gave Mysia the option of sleeping on the floor in the living room. She thought that would be cool, and it saved me from fussing with her to take a nap. I knew she'd want to stay up and play, and I didn't want her to keep Malachi from napping. It also turned out well, because to her it made me a "cool" daddy. Just because I let her sleep on the floor! ....on the floor!!!! Crazy kid!

When Lydia got back, we packed into the car and headed on an hour-long drive. Our destination was Circle of Hope, a Christian girls ranch that Lydia's sister, Adria, works on staff. They have horses, chickens, cows, ponies, longhorns, dogs, and cats. Mysia was thrilled that one kitten was gentle and allowed it to hold it. In fact, Mysia had that kitten in her arms for most of the time we were there. She was so fond of that thing.

Now if any person who is reading this thinks that Mysia needs a kitten, and is getting the notion to go buy her one... STOP! Lydia and I are not cat lovers. I'm sorry, but we're not. We hope to someday get a dog, but even that is something we are not looking into for the time being. That being said, let me go back to my story........

Malachi was thrilled to be able to roam around and look at all the animals. The first things that really caught his attention were the geese, ducks, chickens, hens, roosters.... and boy, what a racket! I made sure that Malachi stayed back far enough so that he wouldn't loose a finger. Every time one of the roosters crowed, Malachi would echo back! It was so funny!

Another thing that Malachi got to do was feed the calves. They had a great big bottle of milk that they feed them, and he got to hold it through the fence. It was funny o watch them fight over the bottle while Malachi was trying to hold it. I was afraid that Malachi would try the bottle, but I guess he knew better. Mysia just stood back with the kitten in her arms and watched. She wasn't about to let that thing go!

Lydia decided to get on one of the horses. Once up there, she was short enough that they had to adjust the stirrups up as far as they could go. We was finally able to get Malachi interested to sit on a horse. However, it had to be with mommy! After Lydia was done, I decided to go ahead and get on. They then had to adjust the stirrups once again! I wasn't on there long before Malachi wanted up with me. So we rode a round for quite a while, and he didn't want down when I decided it was time to get off. So, we put him on there all by himself as they led the horse to the hitching post.

It was beginning to sprinkle, so we headed indoors, and not much later they had supper prepared. We ate, enjoyed some conversation, and then headed home. Like usual, we gave the kids showers, and put them to bed.

I got to talk to my brother BJ for an hour. Come to find out, he obviously keeps up with this blog! He asked on whether I had heard from the police on those guys who egged my house on Wednesday. Unfortunately, I haven't. But I'm sure I scared them good enough! Anyway, BJ and I had a good talk, mostly about the Scripture. By the time we got off, it was bedtime!

~Matt

Tests, Grocery Shopping, and a Movie (Thursday, 7/9/09)

It was a busy day, mostly for Lydia. She had to take two tests in her classes at college. She was pretty much ready for it, but she was a bit stressed out about them! She's excited though... she only has two more weeks until this semester is over! So far, she is pulling a 4.0 in all of her classes too! Go Lydia!!!!

Nothing too unusual happened to me at work, except that I keep pretty busy all day. I did find out something interesting on the news though! Of course, if you are like me, you're probably tired of any news of Michael Jackson, but this one is worth reading! If you haven't heard, no one but his family knows where MJ's body is! There are all sorts speculation on where it might be, but that's it. Here's the funny part. The authorities have one part of his body, and they're using it for the autopsy, hoping to find out what killed him. Know what it is? His BRAIN! Ha!

Well, even though we don't know if he used it... we know he at least had one!

Anyway, Lydia picked me up from work at 5, she had several sandwiches awaiting for me in the car. I ate one by the time we pulled into Wal-Mart. Yep, we were there to do our weekly run for groceries! To make things easier while we shop, Lydia takes a cart with one kid, and I take another cart with the other kid. That way, we can divide things up a bit, and go grab the items needed. Cell phones have become very helpful when on our food runs! While shopping, Mysia wanted everything, and Malachi wanted down.

When we arrived home, we unloaded the groceries and put them up. Malachi wanted held, and Mysia wanted attention, so I got on the floor and they tackled me. Lydia, in the meantime, crashed on the couch. I guess those test wore her out!

After giving the kids their baths and put to bed, Lydia and I decided to watch "The Incredible Hulk". We had borrowed it from Sam several months back and hadn't gotten around to watch it. I didn't care for the Hulk movie that had been made a several years back, so I wasn't too keen on watching this one, even though I had heard it was better. Well, we gave it a shot, and I'll agree... it is definitely better then their first attempt! The movie wasn't as fun as "Iron Man", but it did entertain.
 
~Matt

Video Fun… Our House Egged and a Wild Pursuit! (Wednesday, 7/8/09)

Wednesday was an interesting day, especially that evening! But first, here's what happened that morning….

I had recorded our quartet from Sunday evening, and wanted to see how well it turned out. So, as we were getting ready in the morning, I took out the video camera. I rewound the tape to the beginning, pushed play, and set it on the table as I got my breakfast ready. Malachi and Mysia gathered around the camera and watched. Of course, they fought as they both tried to view the small screen!

After a while, they would occasionally loose interest, and go off to do something before coming back to view what was happening on the video. Well, to my surprise, when our quartet started singing "Step Into The Water", Malachi rushed over and started singing along!

Now Malachi talks a bit, but not in full sentences or complicated words. But here he was, singing the entire chorus with no problem!!!! Go figure! I wish I could have gotten it on video, but of course, he was watching it off the video camera!

Now for the fun story…

Later in the evening, after church and with the kids in bed, Lydia and I were sitting on the couch. She was doing her homework, and I was browsing the web. All of sudden, "BANG… BANG…….. BANG!!!!!!" I shot up! My first reaction was that someone was banging at the door, but that third bang came from the window, where an egg hit right above my head! I quickly opened up the door, and noticed a light colored suburban/bronco vehicle driving away. Ohhh… I was mad! Adrenaline rushed through my body!!! I quickly pulled out my keys and got in the car. I hurriedly backed out of the driveway and slowly followed in pursuit! No one eggs my house and gets away with it!!!!

The vehicle turned onto one of the main roads, and I followed. I took the chance to get up close to the bumper and called Lydia with my cell so she could write down the license plate number. I followed for a while, trailing their bumper, and the driver of the vehicle noticed… and pulled into a business. I drove slowly on, pulled into another business' driveway, turned my car around to face the street, and stopped. I knew they were eyeing my car. (I was far enough away so that they couldn't see the license plate or me)

They peeled out of the parking lot onto the street, and I followed. This time, I stayed a good distance away, but I knew they realized I was still following. They then quickly darted onto another side street, and I did the same. They slowed down and stopped at the next stop sign. I kept my distance, making sure that I could pull away if they decided to turn around or something. I just wanted to give them a good scare, and I believe it was working. They then peeled out again onto the next street and headed for the highway. As they came to a red light, they slowed down, I'm sure they were unsure what to do. They didn't know who was in my car, so I'm sure they were a bit frightened.

Now, I didn't know what to do either… I didn't want to pull up behind them and have them jump out egging my car! Thankfully, the light turned green when they came to the intersection, and the speed right though. The next intersection was the onramp for the highway, and they took it. That's when they really picked up speed! I bet they were going a hundred! They were almost out of my site when I got off the onramp. I sure wish there was a cop around…. They would have definitely gotten pulled over!! I could still see them, but let them go. I knew I had given them enough of a scare! I found the next exit and headed home.

I honestly believe they were roaming the streets, looking to egg houses with lights on. I'm sure they don't remember where I came from. I believe it was random. Our street is secluded and cut off in such a weird way, that I don't think it was intentional that they struck our, and I can pretty much say that they wouldn't be able to remember where it was.

When I returned home, I called the police, reported the license number, and they said they'd call me if anything came up. I then went outside and sprayed down the house. Lydia had already cleaned off the door during my pursuit.

Oh… what a fun night!

~Matt

Cucumbers! (Tuesday, 7/7/09)

My mom gave us cucumbers… she'd had got them from my grandma. You see, every year my grandma grows them in her garden, and has a bountiful supply. I love it! They taste so much better then the ones from the store! I will even take them to work and use them as a snack if we are given a lot. However, I don't think that we'll have that problem this year….

It was getting close to bedtime, the kids had played on the floor with me, wearing me out. Lydia and I were both tired. It was decided that Mysia would go first, so we put her in the bath. I decided to peel the cucumbers and set them on the table for us to eat. I told Mysia that after her bath, she could have some. Well, Malachi ate about a half of a cucumber, and I ate a whole one, then it was time for his shower. For a 1-1/2 year-old, he loves showers. Don't know why, but he does. By the time I got Malachi out and dressed, Mysia had eaten all the rest of the cucumbers!!!! Wow!

It looks like cucumbers aren't going to last long around here!
 
~Matt

New Daycare and Outside Fun! (Monday, 7/6/09)

First day of the kids' new daycare!

We weren't too pleased with the daycare we had been taking the kids to, so when we found out that the one near us was enrolling, we looked into it. Its ran by a Baptist church, ran almost like a school, and a whole lot cleaner! Lydia had worked for the daycare when she came back to the States many years ago, so she was thrilled to be able to get the kids going there. I like it because it has a better environment.

The kids came home with a report sheet that told what they ate, about any accidents, what activities they participated in, and how good their mood was. I'm impressed!

After work, I we ate, and then took the kids outside. It hasn't been as hot as expected this time of year! But we went ahead and set up the sprinkler. We had also bough another hose, so we had it pouring a little water down the slide. Lydia and I engaged in a little squirt gun fight…. I think I won! ;P

Malachi was not to keen on getting wet from the sprinkler again. So he stayed on the swing watching us play. After a while Lydia joined him. Mysia and I just had a blast. Yes, I'm still a kid! I love playing in that water.

After we were done, we went back into the house, gave the kids baths, and put to bed. Lydia and I decided to get to bed early, since we were so wore out from the week before.

~Matt

Independence Day Celebration (Sunday, 7/5/09)

It was to be a very busy day! Everything was geared up for the celebration that evening!

I ran the church van like every other Sunday, and the morning service was a blessing. However, after dropping the kids off, I headed back to the church for setup. Lydia had set aside a plate of food for me… but my main focus was getting the sound equipment ready. Noah had shown up with his brother Zeb, and they helped Greg, Sam and I get things ready. Our soundman from church, Jeff, made sure got us connected to the church's outside speakers.

We ran over several songs, hoping that we'd have no problems later on…

The evening service was a bit different from the norm. We did our VBS closing presentation. Each class did something special in regards to the theme, and Pastor's message was a rundown of each night showing Jesus' ministry and purpose here. Our auditorium was packed, we even had people sitting in folding chairs in the foyer! I asked our youth pastor how many was there for the services, and he said that they were unable to take an official count. He said that it's been estimated that there were over 400 in the building! We believe that it's a record!

After services, I ran down the hill behind the church. We set up the mics and pulled away the tarp from the piano. We started singing around 7:50pm. I estimated that we had about 55 minutes worth of songs, back to back. So with minimal talking, we ran through most of them!

Halfway into our program, we took a small break, and my brother-in-law Moses got a pie in the face! He was representing the boys for VBS, and we had lost on the penny march. But it all went for a good cause! Our church raised $1,040 in pennies, and they are going to go toward playground equipment for our new building! Hooray!

During our quartet's program, we had some sound problems. One of our speakers would crackle from time to time. At first I wondered if it was Noah's high notes or my low notes, but come to find out, we were just a little loud over all! Whoops! Once we figured out what was going on, things went a little smoother. However, toward the end, we were tired and getting wore out. Poor Noah was starving, he hadn't grabbed even a bite during our break!!!

Greg's daughter, Katy, sang the national anthem before the fireworks started! She did a great job. I found Lydia and the kids with her family. They were sitting on blankets on one of the hills. We had a great view of the fireworks. Malachi was a little scared at first, but as long as I had him sitting by my side, he was fine. Mysia enjoyed them too, and even though she started watching them with her hands on her ears, she made sure to comment on her favorites!

When it was all over, Lydia stayed on the blanket with the kids while I helped pack things up. All of our sound equipment went back into my car, and I also had to pack up our chairs (which we didn't use), and the empty cake pan.

We were one of the last to leave…. and Malachi had fallen asleep in Lydia's arms while I was putting things away. So when we got home, it took us no time to go to sleep!

Oh… before I forget…. They've estimated that there were aver 600 at the food, singing, and fireworks after the evening worship service! Wow… biggest crowd we've sang for so far!!!!

~Matt

Did a NY congressman read my blog?

Note: I'm still working on my posts for the past few days, but I could let this one wait!


Over the past few days the media has still been hyped up by Micheal Jackson. And I'm sure all of you know it too. Well, I ran across an article about a New York congressman Rep. Peter King who shares a lot of the same thoughts about all this media attention!

You would think that the media would mention more of our troops, especially those who have fallen, over this Independence Day weekend! Nope......

Here's what Kings said, "He was a pervert, a child molester; he was a pedophile. And to be giving this much coverage to him, day in and day out, what does it say about us as a country? I just think we're too politically correct. There's nothing good to say about this guy. But the bottom line is, would you let your child or grandchild be in the same room as Michael Jackson?"

Wow....

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, King defended his comments, saying Jackson had "admitted to sleeping with young boys, traveling with young boys ... That's the definition of pedophilia."


Anyway, I just thought I'd share!

~Matt

The 4th of July!

Just like the past several Saturdays, when the kids woke up, I put in a movie and went back to bed. However, this time, I didn't sleep in as long.

We scheduled an early Quartet practice since it was the 4th, and we knew that we all had things to do and things going on. But we also really needed the practice since we were to sing Sunday evening! Practice went well, and we actually tried to go over each song in the order that we were planning to do the program. We hit a few rough spots, but for the most part, we were satisfied on our practice.

After the guys left, Lydia and I ran to the grocery store with the kids. We tried our best to hurry. But there were many food items that we needed to get. Malachi was so tired, that he fell asleep sitting in the cart. The poor guy had a red mark on his forehead from the cart handle!

Once finished with the shopping, we rushed back to the house to quickly drop off the groceries. Mysia had fallen asleep in the car, so we just left both them in there as we went back and forth between the car and the house. Then it was off to the in-laws!

Lydia's brother Titus was back in the states from his being sent over to Afghanistan. He was able to come home (Springfield) for only a few weeks, so the family decided to have a get together in his honor on the forth! It was figured it would be most fitting, since most of the family is off on the holiday, and it being a Saturday as well.

We spent several hours there. We ate, visited, and let the kids play. There was some rain earlier in the morning, so we was afraid that it would cause us to be inside for the entire activity, but the sun popped out and it was actually a little hot at times! I got the change to listen to some of Titus' stories, and we all got to visit with each other. Since Mysia didn't get much of a nap, she took one during our time there.

Toward the end of our stay, they invited everyone in to present Titus with a gift, and celebrate him being home safe. It was very emotional. He asked us to remember the family of one of his fallen friends that had died in his arms. Here we had the privilege to celebrate Titus's safety, and yet there were other families that would be able to share the joy, as their sons/daughters sacrificed their lives. It was a humbling thought. I'm proud that our men and women would fight for our country, giving their best to be sure us at home are safe.

When we returned home, after picking up the church van, I packed up the sound equipment for Sunday. Malachi was worn out, so he was put to bed. Mysia, however, wanted to watch fireworks, so we decided to see if any were on tv. Sure enough, Macy's had their Forth of July special being broadcast. Mysia was thrilled. So we celebrated our country's freedom together on the couch in front of our flat-screen tv, in the comfort of our air-conditioned home!

~Matt

(pictures taken are on my facebook page)

My Holiday on Friday! (07/3/09)

Since Independence Day fell on Saturday, I was off work for Friday! Hooray!

However, the day was a blur!

The day was spent getting things done around the house. Mysia and Malachi's rooms were in need of major organization! Since we had VBS every evening all week, our house was not in anyway cleanest! Floors needed vacuumed, some needed mopped…

After all was done, it was time to head to church for the final evening of VBS.

~Matt

Get Your Passport Ready!

This week has been a very hectic one!! And I'm not kidding. We have had Vacation Bible School (VBS) all week!

I call it hectic because we've been running around! In the mornings, we've had to wakeup earlier than normal. We don't have time in the evening for the kids to take showers/baths, so we did them in the morning. Lydia and Mysia would go first, I'd go wake up Malachi, and when they were finished, it'd be our turn.

After rushing around getting our things together, we'd leave, drop the kids off at daycare, Lydia would drop me off at work, and then she'd head over to college! She'd then pick the kids up after her classes, run home, and baby-sit before time to pick me up at five. We'd head straight to church, eat there, and get ready for our classes.

Lydia was the teacher for the nursery, and she was glad she volunteered for that! She was able to do some homework here and there since she only had one child.

For me… it's a different story! I was the teacher for the primary boys. I'm so glad Greg decided to volunteer to be my helper!!!! Each night, we had no less then 11 boys, ages 5-8! Over half of the boys were a handful in their own right! Thankfully it all turned out good, and we were able to work with them.

The theme for the week was Passport To The Promised Land, and each night we took the kids to a time and place in the life of Christ.

Monday: Bethlehem
We learned about how the angel appeared to the shepherds, announcing the birth of Jesus.

Tuesday: Nazareth
Jesus, a son of a carpenter, is now a young boy working for his father. We also learned how he was missing for three days and found at the temple astounding the priests! (Note: could you imagine Mary and Joseph? Here they are given the responsibility to raise the Son of God on earth, and they loose him!)
 
Wednesday: Sea Of Galilee
After being announced by John the Baptist as the Lamb of God, Jesus, now starting his ministry, walks along the Sea of Galilee recruiting four fishermen to become "Fishers of Men".

Thursday: Capernaum
Jesus is a approached by a man who has a daughter who is dying. As he asks Jesus to come to his house, a servant runs u declaring that she is now dead. Jesus arrives at the house, states that she is not dead, is mocked by the crowd, but then tells the girl to "arise"… and she does!

Friday: Calvary
Jesus is tried, beaten, tortured, and hung on a cross to die. He loved us so much, he was willing to pay the price for our sin. All we have to do is accept. Then, on the third day in the tomb, he arose, just like he said!  Conquering death, having victory… sweet victory over sin!


~Matt

Stained Glass Design

Back in March, my pastor approached me, asking if I'd be interested in looking at a stained glass window design. I said sure!

Since our church is building a new auditorium, they have three windows for stained glass. The main/middle window will hold the original that was in our auditorium. However, the windows to the side needed to 'extend' the scene. That's where I was to come in.

The stained-glassmakers came up with an idea for those two windows, but my pastor didn't care for it. So he came to me. I worked with him over a week, trying to find a design that would fit his liking. We finally hit upon what he was wanting, and he gave the glasmakers my design.

What I did:
I took a picture of the building with the windows. Opened the file in Photoshop, placed the center window in place. Then I took my sketches and put them on the side windows and colored in the design, using the colors from the main window.

There are some of the special features about the windows. The main one is that it incorporates the church logo. Pastor had also asked me to include some more dogwood flowers. I knew that might be difficult, since the original one represented the Trinity. But after some thought, I added two to each side. That totaled seven, the number of completion!

On Tuesday of this week, it was installed! I'm sooo happy!

~Matt

“Asteroids”: Arcade Game to Major Movie?

This shocked me. I like reading news, both about movies and games, but never expected this! As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, one of the most popular video arcade games of all times, Asteroids, is going to be made into a movie by Universal….

Has Hollywood gone nuts?

Atari released "Asteroids" in 1979. The graphics were black and white vector objects. There was no plot. Just shoot the asteroids and the flying saucers with your spaceship while trying not to get shot at or crushed! Kids, and adults, spent hours playing this game!

So that leaves one to question. What will the movie plot be? There are no characters in the game besides the spaceship. The goal was to rack up points by destroying objects!

Oh, and get this, Universal was one of 4 movie studios fighting over the rights to make this movie!

This whole idea drives me mad. Now, just when you think it may be the end of Hollywood making good movies, you may be right! It was also reported that they're also planning on making movies from classic board games! Be expecting to hear about "Candyland" and "Battleship"! –No joke!
 
~Matt