My Answer Is "YES!" (06/28/2011)

I told Mysia and Malachi that it was time for showers, and for them to
get their pajamas in preparation. Like always, I had planned to have
Malachi take his first.


There is reasons for it. For one, Mysia takes longer in the shower,
which usually means no warm water for Malachi. Another is that I can
quickly get him in and out, leaving me little left to do since Lydia
usually helps Mysia in what little help she needs.

Well, Mysia came back to me asking if she could take her shower first.
I looked her in the eyes and calmly said no. She then got a bit of
attitude and said that it was no fair, storming off from the room. As
she did so, she proclaimed that all my answers where "no".

Now I couldn't let that be the case! What a horrible father I would be
if that was so, it couldn't be true! So, with that in mind, I called
for her to come back.

Reluctantly, she walked back into the living room. I then asked her to
ask me a different question. She replied with a slow "okay..." I told
her to ask that she may take her shower last. She looked at me
strange, and quietly repeated the question.

With the most jovial tone I could muster, I replied, "YES!" she gave
me a dirty look. I then continued by telling her that see... I could
answer with yes!

I don't think she appreciated my sincere effort....!

~Matt

Week Rundown! (06/19/11 - 06/25/11)

Sunday

I woke up a bit tired, but I dragged myself out of bed. I was tired. Before I headed out to run the church van, the kids gave me Father's Day cards.

During the afternoon, we ate lunch and played with play-dough the kids had made. After making many weird objects, we took quick naps before heading to church.

Lydia and I were in charge of the toddlers during the evening services, it was a class full of boys including Malachi. We let them play outside, taught them a lesson, and then let them play with some of that home-made play-dough. After services we took part in the birthday/anniversary dinner. It was Mexican themed. Yum! Of course, when we got home and got the kids ready for bed, they said they were still hungry! It never ends...


Monday

Mysia woke us up around 5:30am with her vomiting on the bathroom floor. Obviously something she ate didn't agree with her stomach. I had a bit of an upset stomach as well, but it didn't affect me as much as it did Mysia! She went back to bed, and was feeling better by the time to leave. She wasn't as energetic as usual, but I took her to daycamp anyway.

Around noon, Lydia got the call to pick Mysia up. She had thrown up in the bus on the way to lunch. Lydia ended up staying home with her the rest of the day. Mysia slept for 5 hours, and was alseep when I came home.

We had a restful evening, but Malachi was a bit hyper! But that's nothing too new!


Tuesday

Lydia took Malachi to daycare and I dropped Mysia off at Granny's house. She had to be 24 hours over her sickness before she could go back to daycamp. She was fine, and she got to be Aunt Abigail's buddy for the day.

For the evening, we talked, watched tv, read books, then the kids went to bed. Lydia worked on homework, and I dozed off!


Wednesday

Everything was back to schedule and the day went by pretty fast. Since I'm working longer hours Mon-Thurs so that I have Fridays as half day, it makes it a rush to get to church! I come home, eat real quick, and then we leave!

Both kids were tired after church services, and it didn't take them long to go to bed. It didn't take us long either!


Thursday

The day went by pretty good. The week was almost over!

For the evening, we had our friend Doug over, since his wife was gone to help in youth camp. We ate and visited. After the kids went to bed, he and I played the Wii until we were both yawning! He creamed me on several of the Resort games, but I got him on a few as well. Lydia did homework.... ;)


Friday

I took the van to the car wash to get in nice and ready for the trip on Saturday. I got it all vacuumed out, and it looked great. Well, as I went through the wash, the brushes snagged the edge of the back bummer of the van and ripped it off! I heard a noise, so when coming out of the wash, I parked the van and discovered the plastic pumper almost completely off! I tried to 'snap' it back on, but it fell off twice before I could get home. I was able to re-screw it on when it fell off the third time.

Lydia met me at home, we ate a short lunch and headed out to the mall to do some quick looking at some charm brackets (to get an idea at the cost). We then picked up the kids and stopped by the hardware store to grab some washers so I could fix that bumper. I'm happy to say that it is now secure!

We had a good supper, and I finally got my chance to mow the lawn. It was really needing it! After mowing, I brought out the weed-eater and started it. Come to find out, the part that connects the motor to the handle was broken! Go figure!


Saturday

Well, it was an early morning for us. We got up around 5, packed lunch and things into the van, and headed to my parent's house to pick them up. We then made the 2-1/2 hour trip to Beaver Lake, Arkansas. We attended a Paasch Family Reunion at a cabin near the lake. Not all the family could make it, but we did have a good visit. Thankfully, there was a room with toys! Mysia and Malachi kept pretty busy playing, which gave us a good chance to visit without them getting to cranky.

We left for Springfield around 5, and got to my parent's house by 8. We then swam in the pool and visited a bit before going home and to bed.

~Matt

Week Rundown! (06/6/11 - 06/18/11)

(yes... this post is late)

Sunday

I was low on the vans.

Went to parents house to celebrate Father's Day with my dad. We ate pizza, visited, and then played in the pool!

Great evening services. Got to hear the presentation by our own missionary from our church, Daniel Elliot to Mongolia! After services, we ate some ice cream and went to bed.


Monday

Today was back to our normal schedule. Mysia is liking her daycamp, and they are keeping her active.

Had a relaxing evening.


Tuesday

Nothing out of the ordinary happened today. Got to bed on time!


Wednesday

I came home from work, we ate a quick supper and headed out for church.
Went grocery shopping after church, got food for the weekend as well!


Thursday

Today I sold the car. A guy from down the street bought it with the intention of fixing it. I'm just glad to have it out of the driveway.

This evening, Gary/Gampa (Lydia's dad) came over for a Father's Day supper. We had spaghetti for supper. The kids brought out their school accomplishments, and bombarded him with "look at this". He played Mario Kart Wii with Lydia and the kids. They sure gave him a good challenge!

Before bed, I packed the van with all my camping and fishing gear!


Friday

I went to work early so that I could answer phones and 'man' the station while my co-workers managed the KWFC Golf Tournament. Lydia took Mysia to day camp and got to work later than normal.

I got off at noon, headed to pick up Doug and pack his camping things in the van, then we picked up Malachi from daycare. We had to stop by Walmart to grab a few things, including a fishing license for me. Then it was off to the campsite!

We got there safely, set up the tent, and piled all of our stuff in it! We then headed out to the lake to fish off the dock for a bit. We didn't catch a thing, but enjoyed the time. Malachi did pretty good casting his line, but I spent a lot of time untangling it. We then went for a swim in the lake, and got good and chilled. Back at the camp site, we ate a hearty supper... grilled porkchops!

Us guys that brought our boys got a treat, we were taken out on the lake. Malachi sure did enjoy the boat ride!

Lydia got off at noon as well, and spent the afternoon with her friend Courtney, and picking Mysia up at 4. She spent the evening with Mary and they stayed up until 3am talking.

Malachi and I went to bed before midnight, slept well thanks to the fan!


Saturday

We woke up before 6. Malachi was charged and ready to go. He was all around the campground. We ate breakfast and visited. Malachi played. After eating, we headed out to one of the lake docks to fish. I spent most of the time un-tangling Malachi's line, and he played with his friend Clayton. Fishing lasted a little over an hour, and then we headed to the 'beach' part of the lake to swim. We built a sand castle, played in the water, got sand everywhere.... Yuck. Malachi would occasionally give out a few huge burps, which meant that he had gulped down some of the lake water!

Lydia and Mysia had spent the night with Mary. Lydia had an early appointment at Biolife, but came back to spend time with Mary for most of the day.

We made it back to the camp site in time to watch the preparation of lunch. Frying fish smelt sooooo good! Before we ate, we listened to a devotion given to us men and boys. Malachi fell asleep before the devotion was finished, so I knew that he was almost ready to go home. We ate lunch and visited for quite a while, then packed the rest of the stuff up and headed toward town.

It didn't take too long for Malachi to fall asleep after hitting the road. We dropped Doug off at his house, and met the girls there. They were just starting to eat their lunch, so we sat and watched "Tangled" before heading home. I unloaded the van and Lydia gave Malachi a shower. It was then my turn, and boy, did it feel good to be clean. I then worked on the church bulletin for Sunday while watching some tv with the family. The kids went to bed and I went to church to get the bulletin printed.

I didn't stay up too late after getting back home. I was ready for bed!!!

Hey, you're cute....! - I know...!

Ha! I hope the title of this blog post got your attention! It was part of a conversation that happened Saturday while at Silver Dollar City. And no... I'm not the one that was called "cute".

We were waiting in line for one of the shows. Mysia and Malachi were running around while Lydia and I kept the place in line. Malachi was being his normal self; jumping, hopping, and being all boy. The lady behind us looked at him and said, "Hey, you're cute!" Without missing a beat, and not even looking up at her, his reply was "I know!"

lol!

I guess he gets told that all the time, so a 'thank you" just isn't the response that comes to his mind. To him, it's a obviously a fact!

~Matt

Week Rundown! (06/5/11 - 06/11/11)

Sunday

I had the church van from yesterday, so it made it nice just heading to church. The morning services were good. My parents took the kids for the afternoon, so Lydia and I had a peaceful time at home.

We had a teachers meeting after evening services. We're gearing up for VBS already, and it doesn't start until the first of August! But boy, it's gonna be fun!


Monday

Today was Lydia's first day of summer semester in college and Mysia's first day at summer day camp since the school year had ended... It also meant a change of schedule. Malachi has no change in daycare, but since Mysia has to be dropped off no earlier than 9, my work schedule had to be changed. Not only that, but office hours has changed where we only work a half a day on Friday. So, my days are longer and a bit later!

Well, Lydia dropped off Malachi at daycare and headed into school. I dropped off Mysia and headed to work.

Lydia picked up the kids and came home. By the time I got home, they were already eating. I ate real quick and went to quartet practice. While I was gone, Lydia got the kids ready for bed and read them stories.


Tuesday

Lydia headed off to work, but dropped Malachi off at daycare first. I dropped Mysia off at her day camp and then headed into work.

Lydia picked up the kids and got home before me. I arrived after work, and ate supper. I then headed out to go shooting with Sam and my dad until dark. Lydia stayed with the kids, got them ready for bed, and then worked on homework.

I watched a little bit of tv after arriving back home. Then we went to bed.


Wednesday

The main part of the day went by fast. Since I have been working past 6, Lydia picked up the kids, made supper and fed the kids, then met me work. We headed straight to church for the evening services. Afterwards, we stopped by the store and Lydia picked up some ice cream cones... Once we got home, we realized that we left the van at my work, so we had to turn around and go get it. So much for saving too much gas!


Thursday

We went for a walk around the neighborhood after supper. It was nice weather. Malachi rode in the wagon while I pulled it. Mysia, however, ditched the idea of riding with him and chose to push her toy baby stroller the entire walk.

Back at home, we ate some ice cream and then watched a few episodes of Andy Griffith Show before bed.


Friday

With our new schedules, Lydia and I both work half days on Fridays for the summer! It makes for a pretty nice start of the weekend. Since it was swimming day for Mysia at her summer camp she's attending, we took Malachi with us to pick her up. Basically, we just signed her out and joined in the public pool for swimming. After a hot, humid week... the pool was very enjoyable!

We swam and swam for several hours. Of course, Mysia had been in the pool for several hours earlier, so she was wearing out. Malachi had obviously had a long day too, so we left and picked up some pizza on the way home. We ate and watched tv and then put the kids to bed before 7!

Lydia was working on homework, but I was dead tired, so I went to bed before 8! Lydia ended up finishing her projects and got to bed later.


Saturday

The kids and I woke up refreshed. Lydia got up and headed in to Bio-Life to give plasma. While she was gone the kids cleaned up their rooms and I cleaned up around the house. We then turned on Netflix, letting them watch RugRats and other cartoons while I worked on a few projects. When Lydia came home, we got ready and left for Silver Dollar City.

Boy, it was a pretty good day to go to the theme park. Perhaps a little hot and humid at times, but we kept cool. We made sure to ride some specific rides and then attend one of the shows. The kids were well behaved over-all, and we had an enjoyable time.

One of the last rides we decided to go on before leaving was "Fire-In-The-Hole". It's not the kids' favorite ride, since it's a bit frightful, being an indoor roller-coaster that's in the dark for most of the ride. Malachi wasn't really wanting to ride it, but since he was with me, he was okay for the most part. We had hoped to all ride at the same time, but Malachi and I ended up on the train ahead of Lydia and Mysia. The ride was going good, and Malachi was not afraid... until the right before the last drop in the ride. We heard the words "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" and then an alarm sounded, the ride jerked to a stop, and all the lights came on. We waited for 5 or more minutes before an attended found us, then had to wait longer for them to secure our train with a chain before letting us off.

This whole ordeal freaked Malachi out. For me, it was awesome! We ended up walking the tracks for half of the ride with it all lit up! You see, I grew up riding this landmark in the theme park, and getting to see the insides was a super plus!!! It sure made my day! And I would have taken pictures with my iPhone if it was for a boy tightly clinging to my neck!

Since Lydia and Mysia were in the train behind us, they went through the same situation. Mysia freaked out a bit as well! They didn't get the chance to walk as much of the ride as we did.

After leaving the park, we headed to McDonald's to pick up supper and went to my parents' house. There we swam in their pool for a few hours. We then ate sherbet and visited before going home and getting ready for bed.

~Matt

Week Rundown! (05/29/11 - 06/4/11)

Sunday

My church van route was a bit longer than normal, but it gave me a full van, so it made it worth it! The morning services were good. Lydia helped in one of the children Sunday school classes, and then helped in nursery, so it was a bit unusual sitting without her.

We spent most of the afternoon at my parents' house. We ate and visited. After 3, we headed over to the cemetery to view the grave-site of my Grandpa Taylor. We sang hymns and arranged flowers on the tombstone.

We then attended the family viewing of Lydia's grandmother at the funeral home. Many of the family had arrived, and we visited a bit before heading home. Mysia was more emotional than we expected. But it gave us a chance to talk to her about how Grandma McAdoo was now better.

The rest evening was spent resting in our nice air-conditioning house. I continued working on that video presentation, completing it on DVD before going to bed.


Monday

We enjoyed a lazy morning, then quickly became rushed as we got ready to head out for a big lunch with Lydia's extended family. We tried to get things ready and prepared so we didn't have much to do before the visitation tonight.

We stopped to Walmart before heading to the family picnic. We picked up a few things, including new church shoes for Mysia. At the picnic, most of the family was there. We all visited, ate lunch, and visited some more. The kids played and played.

As the evening drew near, we headed home to change for the funeral visitation. Once we got to the funeral home, we sat and visited with those who came in. The visitation lasted over several hours. Once we returned home, we got ready for bed.


Tuesday

I took the day off from work so that I could attend the funeral of Lydia's grandma with the family. It was a good service, and even our kids behaved! The message was good, and we once again reminded how sweet Grandma McAdoo was! It's amazing how neat a true Christian is when they know that the time to leave for heaven is drawing near. She was ready to go!

After the funeral service, we when to the grave-site and said our last goodbyes. We then headed back to the church for lunch with the family. The food was delicious, and we got to visit with the extended family some more. Several were getting ready to make the long trip back to their homes.

Once home, we all took naps. Ahhh... it felt soooo good! Afterwards, we went outside until time for supper. The rest of the evening was relaxing.


Wednesday

Today was back to work, school, and daycare for us all. This evening, supper was quick, and then we headed out to visit the Resurrection Cemetery before heading to church. The cemetery is owned by one of the local hospitals, and there is a memorial dedicated to the babies lost during miscarriages. We laid three flowers there for our three angel-babies.


Thursday

Today was Mysia's last full school day of the year, she was excited. Malachi was excited with the fact that we told him that he wouldn't have to go to daycare tomorrow, and that he'd spend the day with us.

After supper, I decided to go ahead and mow the lawn again. The yard had all dried, and the grass was already growing fast. I figured it'd be a good idea to really tackle it see if the mower would mulch it better than the last time. While mowing, Lydia and the kids decided to come outside too. Lydia worked on her rose bush and the kids played. It was then time for showers and bed.


Friday

Lydia and I both took the day off from work. We got up and dressed and headed to Mysia's school for her Kindergarten graduation. I'm glad we got there early and got our seats! It was held in the cafeteria, and it got crowed quickly! The bad part was that most of the parents were noisy, and that the kids were behaving better than they were during ceremony. I felt sorry for the kindergarten teachers... They would get the kids graduating to behave, and then parents would disrupt!

We went home for the afternoon, ate lunch, and then took naps! Afterwards, we picked up Abigail and went to the YMCA to swim! We spent several hours playing in the water. We all had a blast for sure!

Abigail had agreed to watch the kids this evening while I took Lydia out on a date night. Lydia and I ate out, and then headed for Branson to see the live production of the Shepherd of the Hills. It was KWFC night, and we had a great time together.


Saturday

We got up earlier than normal for a Saturday and headed to church. I then drove the van to pick up kids for the church fishing activity. Our church had rented a pond that is stocked with fish. We spent several hours fishing. We also had a lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers.

After dropping everyone off, we went swimming in the pool at Granny's house. The cool water felt so good after being in the hot sun for the first part of the day. Once finished, we ate ice cream before heading home.

The evening was spent at home, we watched some tv, did some house pick up and laundry.

~Matt

Week Rundown! (05/22/11 - 05/28/11)

Yes... this is being posted well over a week late! But hey! At least I'm posting it! :P
-----------------


Sunday:

A fairly normal day at the beginning, the van route and Sunday services were good. For the evening services, Lydia and I had the toddlers. We had the kids outside for the first part, but then the weather started getting nasty, so we brought them in. The storm system that hit Joplin with the big tornado was heading toward us. For the rest of the evening, we got quite a bit of rain.

Thankfully, we didn't have any tornado warnings, but the weather was pretty severe.


Monday:

Early in the morning, around 3am, Lydia got the call that her grandma wasn't doing so well, so she went to the hospital for several hours.

The day was filled with severe wind and rain. Lightning was everywhere. The radio station tower took a pretty good hit, and made everyone jump! Lydia had jury duty and spent most of the day in the courthouse waiting.

For supper we ate Pizza and then hurried off to to the house of our friend Ben Winter. He has been a blessing to us... He was the guy who found our new car! Well, he agreed to replace the oil gasket on our van. He's a genius! Lydia visited with his wife Heather while the kids played and watched a movie.


Tuesday:

Mysia and Malachi was picked up by Granny and Grandad to go to Granddad's company picnic. By the pictures and what they've told us, they had a blast. Lydia and I took this chance to have a date night and go out for dinner. We decided to stop by the hospital first and visit Lydia's grandmother. We ate dinner at Olive Garden... yum! It was good food!

We arrived home in time as my parents dropped off the kids. We then gave them showers and went to b ed


Wednesday:

Mysia went on a field-trip with her school to the zoo. Even though we were under some severe storm warnings, they did fine. She reported that they had a good time.

This afternoon, Lydia's grandmother passed away. It was sad, but joyous news. She had told family that she was ready to go, and we're glad she went peacefully.

Tonight was church, so after supper we rushed there. During services, I sang a special, "The Last Sunday" that I thought would fit pretty good. We never know when our time here on earth is going to end, and I want to be ready.


Thursday:

A pretty normal day for the most part. After supper I went over and scanned photos of Lydia's grandma so that they could be put into a video presentation for the visitation next week. There were a lot to go through! I'm estimating over a hundred photos to sort, crop, adjust, etc. I'm gonna be busy for the next few days.


Friday:

Earlier this week, I had worked a few hours over, so I got to go home early. Lydia and I got some things done around the house, and supper ready with a short time. Our friends Doug and Mary came over for a visit. So we ate, played games, and watched a movie. The kids played games too. It was nice to have an evening of fun.


Saturday:

We slept in for a bit, but not too much. Our day was sure to be busy!

I got up before Lydia, so I set the kids up to the tv while I started breakfast. My project for today was the video presentation for Grandma McAdoo. Lydia decided to work on re-arranging the master bedroom. She had the kids take care of their own rooms.

After lunch, and while the kids took naps, I mowed the lawn. It really needed it. With all the rain we had, it prevented me from mowing earlier in the week and allowed the lawn to really grow. The grass was still a bit wet, and there were some puddles in the yard, but I got most of it mowed. I'm sure I'll need to do it again soon. There are clumps of cut grass throughout the yard!

~Matt

Puppy Bouquets!

Okay, it's been a while since I've made a true blog post. So why not get back into it with something 'Cute'?

Who could not resist reading about something as adorable as a bouquet of flowers made to resemble a puppy? It's just too much of a catch!

And just in case you're wondering... this is not something that was Photoshopped. It is an actual creation! Definitely something that would melt anyone's heart. If only I could be this creative!

If you doubt on whether this is real or not, check it out here! Oh, and by the way, I hope to post more often!

~Matt