Week Rundown! (12/23/12 - 12/29/12)

This was Christmas week... all planned out to spend with family. We thought we had things scheduled and nothing could go wrong, but we were incorrect. Thankfully it turned out fine. Since so much happened, I'm sure I'll leave something out!

Sunday afternoon we visited with Lydia's family at her mom's house. We exchanged some gifts and got to visit around the dinner table. The kids played some games, and they even got a bit of a nap before church services that evening. After church, we watched "It's a Wonderful Life".

We decided to wake up and have our 'family' Christmas on Monday. Mysia and Malachi didn't mind at all! They both got quite a bit of gifts. Mysia's favorite was a diary, and Malachi's was his Lego blocks! We spent most of the day letting the kids enjoy their gifts and watching some Christmas videos. We attended the Candlelight Service at our church. Mysia and Malachi were excited that they got to hold a candle. Malachi kept trying to see how hot it was by waving his hand over the top! Oh boy...!

Christmas day was fun! We headed over to my parents' house to hang out with my family. We opened gifts, ate dinner, and played games. The cousins had a blast playing and watching videos.

On Wednesday, Lydia went into work for a full day and I dropped the kids off with my folks before heading into my work for a few hours. After lunch, the kids and I headed home for naps and supper before we all went back to my folks' to once again hang out. Things were going good until Malachi started complaining about a tummy ache. We left for home, and Lydia was smart enough to ask to borrow the 'puke bucket' just in case. Sure enough, half-way home, Malachi used the bucket. This led to an interesting night for both him and I. We both camped out on the bottom bunk of his bunk-bed with the "puke bucket' nearby. He was able to rest, as I tried to find a comfortable position to sleep. By early morning, I got a report from my sister via text that the 'bug' had hit their house. Uh oh!

Thursday morning came, and I was pooped. I hadn't slept comfortably... however, Malachi was up and at it. It was like he hadn't been sick at all! He was asking for breakfast with no hint of complaining. We decided to stay home for the day to make  sure that we were all okay. Over at my parents' house, several were recovering from their sickness. We did go over and hang out later that evening.

Friday was fun as well. In the morning Lydia took a tax test (since she's an accountant) and I went into work for a few hours. We then headed back over to my parents' house for lunch. We visited for a few hours then headed back to the house. Sam and Abigail agreed to babysit the cousins while Lydia and I took BJ and Ana to Branson for a double-date. We had a great time. The kids were asleep when we returned.

Our nephew Elijah had spent the night with Malachi, and both boys were up playing on Saturday morning. Mysia was trying to make sure they kept out of trouble (a great big sister, of course). We let them watch some cartoons and have breakfast before we headed back over to my parents' house that afternoon. That evening, we went to Incredible Pizza for supper. After eating the buffet and chasing the kids around the arcade, we headed home for showers and bed before Church in the morning.

What a week!


~Matt

Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas day!

Week Rundown! (12/16/12 - 12/22/12)

Mysia still had a slight fever Sunday morning, so Lydia stayed home with her while Malachi rode with me on the Church van. Lydia took the chance to get some rest as well.

Mysia had to be 24 hours free of the fever before returning to school, so I took off and stayed home with both kids, just to be safe. Well, I had no worries.... they were definitely fine! We played games, watched a movie, and made a mess with play-dough!

We also took the kids shopping to let them get each other gifts, along with gifts for us parents. Boy, was that an interesting experience! Lydia and both agree that we'll have to figure out another way to go about an activity like that in the years to come.

For most of the week, each evening was filled with food preparation... mostly sweets! Of course, Lydia was the one in charge, and stayed up late just to get the baking completed. My duty was gift wrapping!

We had some snow flurries on Thursday morning, which brought excitement to our household. Unfortunately, it didn't amount to anything. That afternoon, I got the opportunity to attend the holiday party at Mysia's class. It was the last school-day of the year, so Mysia and her classmates were excited!

Since Mysia was out of school on Friday, I took the day off. Lydia went ahead and went to work, while I took them to the eye doctor. Both did great with their eye exams. We had lunch with Lydia and then took naps at home. That evening we enjoyed a great visit with our friends Noah and Courtney! Besides supper, we talked and played several games on the Wii.

On Saturday, we met up with Lydia's family for a breakfast at Hemingway's in Bass Pro Shops. It was good getting to catch up. We then were invited to meet up with our friends, the Mitchells, at Silver Dollar City. They were gracious in getting us in with extra tickets that came with their season passes. It was a surprise for Mysia and Malachi, who had been wanting to go 'so bad'. While there, we got to ride a few rides, see two great shows, and visit with Santa. Malachi's biggest thrill was being able to see the huge Christmas tree!


~Matt

Week Rundown! (12/09/12 - 12/15/12)

Our church had their Christmas Cantata on Sunday morning. Since I'm in choir, I was a part of it! The drama that went along with the cantata was well done and really made the presentation great.

That afternoon, the kids got to hang out with my folks as Lydia and I headed out to Branson. We were privileged to go and be a part in the audience of the Jubilee Christmas concert that was to be a part of a live video! Legacy Five, Greater Vision, and the Booth Brothers did an excellent job. I'm anxious to get the DVD!

Lydia had a few finals this week, and was so happy to be finished with classes! Hopefully, the break will bring down the stress.

Most of the evenings this week were spent watching Christmas movies! We still had housework and other things going on, but it was nice to sit and watch some of these classics as a family.

On Friday evening, we headed to church. Lydia and I attended the Christmas banquet while the kids partied up stairs with the other children.

Early Saturday morning, Mysia woke up with a high temperature (accompanied with a cough). Not fun. Lydia stayed home while I ran vans and took Malachi to the children's Christmas party at church. Lydia took advantage of the situation and got some rest, plus some things done around the house that she really wanted to get to. When I arrived back home later that afternoon, the kids napped while Lydia did some grocery shopping. There is holiday food preparation in the days ahead!

Next week is going to be hectic......!

~Matt

Week Rundown! (12/02/12 - 12/08/12)

Our afternoon was spent with the children at church. We all went Christmas caroling at one of the nursing homes in the area. It was fun, and interesting at the same time! My parents agreed to watch the kids Monday evening while Lydia and I attended my work's Christmas party! We had a great time....!

Lydia has been working on homework and gearing up for finals next week. So on for most evenings, she was doing a lot of studying. The kids watched a couple of Christmas movies throughout the week. On Thursday evening, I went to church to practice with the choir in preparation for our Christmas Cantata on Sunday.

One of the biggest highlights of the week was getting to go see "Joseph" at the Sight & Sound Theatre in Branson on Friday night. I was able to get tickets for the family, and mine was free through Baptist Bible College. The show was fantastic, both kids really enjoyed it. Mysia loved the drama, and Malachi loved the action.

Saturday was fun too! Unfortunately, Lydia had her first final during the afternoon, and missed attending the downtown Christmas parade. My mom agreed to tag along, so she had the thrill of watching the kids get excited throughout the parade! The weather was a bit cooler than last year, but it didn't stop Mysia and Malachi from running out and grabbing the candy thrown at them. In fact, they remembered that the more they shouted "Merry Christmas", the more likely the candy would come their way.

The weekend ended on a bittersweet note... I took the the family out to see Springfield's Live Nativity Pagent. It's their 35th year doing the presentation, and their last. We had tried to make it to the first showing of the evening, but it was too full by the time we got there, and they had closed the gate for entrance. We spent the next thirty minutes driving around looking at the Christmas lights in the area before returning to catch the very last show. To our surprise, we were able to get front row, and in the middle! We watched the entire production from the 'comfort' of our car. It wasn't easy for me though.... both kids wanted to sit on my lap for the entire thing! lol.

~Matt

Week Rundown! (11/25/12 - 12/01/12)

Sunday afternoon was pretty relaxing, the kids napped and then played with crafts before evening services. Afterwards, we went to my parents' house to celebrate Granddad's birthday!

On Monday, I had a day to myself to get projects and things done at home. The evening went pretty well, we watched a movie before bed.

Lydia woke up on Tuesday morning with her heart racing and eminence chest pains. Sure enough, she was having a tachycardia attack. She tried calming down and resting, hoping that it her heart beat would slow down. She even took a warm shower to see if it would calm her down. It didn't work. The kids and I rushed to get ready and I had Abigail pick up Mysia to drop her off at school at the right time. Lydia and I dropped off Malachi on our way to the ER. But as we neared the hospital, the pain stopped and her heart rate finally dropped. Come to find out, it seems that hitting the cold air as she left the house shocked her body back to normal... (according to the doctor). We're sure the prayers from others helped as well! Lydia bought a heart monitor before going into work, and kept a watch throughout the rest of the day.

Wednesday was pretty normal with the schedule.... Children services were back in swing! On Thursday, Lydia made homemade tortillas, with help from the kids. After supper, the kids took their showers before watching "Frosty" and going to bed.

Lydia did shopping while I picked up the kids after work on Friday. The kids watched a couple of Christmas movies.

On Saturday, we worked on things around the house. The kids worked hard on cleaning their rooms. Mysia got the chance to attend a birthday party for one of her friends from school, she also got to spend the night as a "Slumber party'. She had a fun time! However, once she figured out she could call us from their land-line, our cell phones were called multiple times.

I went to work for several hours to run the board in the early evening, then joined Lydia and Malachi at our Sunday School Class' Christmas party. We ate and visited. Malachi was a bit clingy later on in the evening, and when we got home, he admitted that he missed Mysia. Yes, I have silly kids!


~Matt