Week Rundown! (12/22/13 - 12/28/13)

Malachi was still sick on Sunday morning. Lydia stayed home with him while Mysia and I ran the church van and attended morning church services. Malachi was feeling much better after a nap during the afternoon. I stayed home during the evening services. I thought I could take advantage of the situation and get some rest... yeah right. Malachi was definitely over his sickness.

The kids didn't have school on Monday, so they went to work with me for the first part of the day. I had a lot to get accomplished too. Thankfully, Granny took them after lunch. Once off work, we visited for a bit and then came home. We watched the "Nativity Story" before bed. The kids were inquisitive during the entire movie, and we enjoyed the topics and discussion it brought

Even though it was Christmas Eve on Tuesday, it was our Christmas at home. We got up, got dressed, ate a quick breakfast and tore into the gifts! Actually, we took turns. Mysia's main gift from us was part of a scavenger hunt that took her around the house. Malachi got several boxes of Legos that kept us busy for most of the afternoon. Gampa Keim came over for a visit and we ate supper before heading off to the candle-light services at church. On our way home, we tried looking at houses decorated with Christmas lights... Sadly, there weren't very many this year.

Christmas day finally arrived! We got up, ate breakfast, and found what was in our stockings. We then packed gifts and headed over to my parent's house. We visited, played, ate a big dinner, and then opened up gifts. Mysia got some boots she's been wanting, and a nice winter coat. Malachi got a radio-control car! We had fun, and came home tired!

Lydia went into work on Thursday. We dropped her off and the kids went into the office with me so I could get a few things done before I had the rest of the week off on vacation. We headed over to my parent's house to say hi to my brother Ben and his family. The cousins played  for a bit, I talked technology with my brother, and then we came home. Mysia and Malachi played outside for a bit until time to pick up Lydia from work. We spent the evening getting things done around the house and resting.

I spent Friday at home with the kids while Lydia went to work. I want to say I got to spend a lazy time, but there were things to do. Of course, the kids kept me busy as well. They got to play outside for a bit after naps. We ate supper and then spent the evening playing games with my parents and siblings... staying up late!

We slept in an extra hour on Saturday, then it was time for weekend chores. We spent some Christmas money and went to see "Despicable Me 2". It was a fun family film. Then we went to McDonalds before coming home. The evening was spent packing up the Christmas decorations!

~Matt

Week Rundown! (12/15/13 - 12/21/13)

I ran the church vans Sunday morning. Malachi performed with his age group during the morning services. He did very well, and didn't miss a thing! The afternoon was spent at church helping with the older children's practice for their evening program. I was to be one of the speakers, and even Mysia had a solo part. It was a long afternoon. The program went well that evening.

We woke up Monday knowing it was going to be a busy day. Lydia met with some of the PTA at school when we dropped off the kids. She was helping send out an order of jellies that the many of the kids sold to raise funds for the school. I went with Lydia as she visited the doctor to follow up on the tachycardia attack she had last week. She's doing fine, and we're still mystified on what's causing her to have the attacks. We ate lunch together and then both of us went to work. When I got off, I picked up the kids and took Mysia to piano lessons. We then picked up Lydia and took her to the chiropractor appointment. That evening we attended our taekwando class Christmas party. We ate and had a fun gift exchange.

On Tuesday, Lydia did the grocery shopping and took the kids to the store to do some Christmas shopping. We had a nice evening at home.

I sold my car on Wednesday. Malachi brought home a gingerbread house he had made at school. It was heavily decorated. There was a lot of thought in the construction. Malachi says that the gingerbread man represents me... The man is falling down after trying to decorate the house with lights! That evening was a bit rushed, but we made it to church services on time. Lydia and Mysia were tired when we got home.

On Thursday, I had a dentist appointment late afternoon. Lydia and I did a little Christmas shopping before picking up the kids. We ate supper and then I took Mysia and Malachi shopping for Lydia's gifts. Lydia baked cookies all evening. They turned out great!

The kids got to spend most of the day with me in my office since school was out. They spent the afternoon with Granny and Granddad before coming home. We watched movies and baked cookies. Before bed, Malachi started acting a bit odd. Sure enough, he was running a temperature. Since he wasn't feeling good, we let him and Mysia fall asleep on the couch. In fact, we all spent the night there!

Since Malachi was sick, Saturday ended up being a lazy day. We had received frozen rain, so there wasn't any urge to go anywhere either. We watched tv, and got things done around the house. It was much like a holiday for everyone but poor Malachi. Just when we thought he was getting better, he started vomiting in the later afternoon. Unfortunately, it continued through the rest of the evening.

~Matt

Week Rundown! (12/08/13 - 12/14/13)

We all got up early and headed in to church. Lydia and the kids were with me during my van route. The choir performed our Christmas Cantata during the morning services. For the afternoon, we took naps and then headed back to church for evening services. Before bed, we watched "Cricket On The Hearth". The kids were excited to hear the news that school had been canceled for the following day.

I got up Monday morning and got to work early. Lydia stayed home with the kids since they didn't have school due to the icy conditions. She used some of the time for study since her final is Tuesday. That afternoon we went to the dentist for our bi-yearly check-up and cleaning. It started snowing again, and the kids enjoyed playing in it for a wile before supper. Through the evening, we watched the snow pile up on everything!!! The kids took showers and we ate pizza for supper.

Tuesday was interesting. School was closed, but both Lydia and I had to work, so we dropped the kids off at the Boys & Girls Club. We had received over 5 inches on top of what we got over the weekend, so traveling through it was a task. We even got stuck for a bit in the parking lot! Lydia dropped me off and then headed to work. Because of the snow. We watched "Home Alone 2" before bed.

Lydia woke up early Wednesday morning to find her heart racing. She was having another tachycardia attack. She tried many things to bring it down, including shocking her body by walking out into the cold air. Nothing was working. We were able to drop the kids off at school and head in to the ER. She was admitted and they immediately set up an IV to give her medication to restart her heart. Once her heart rate normalized, they did a chest x-Ray and released her. Since she was feeling fine, I dropped her off at her work (at her request) and headed to my own job! I got of a bit early, picked the kids up and dropped them off at Granny's. They spend the evening with them and had fun. Lydia and I headed to Branson to watch the Jubilee Christmas Concert. It was great!

We were a little tired on Thursday, but got up and around. The kids went to school and had a good day. Lydia found out that the doctor was able to reschedule her sleep test for sleep apnea for the evening. Once we got home, we ate supper and Lydia got ready and left. The kids did their homework, and I let them watch a movie after showers before bedtime. Lydia got plugged up and sleep study.

I woke up on Friday with a text from Lydia, she was on her way home. The sleep study went well, but she won't know the results for a couple of weeks. Shortly afterwards, we received calls notifying us that the public schools were cancelled due to the freezing rain that was coming down. Lydia arrived home safely, and we scrambled around trying to figure what to do. The kids ended up coming to the office with me for the day while Lydia went to her workplace. That evening, we ate cashew chicken and watched "It's A Wonderful Life" before bed.

We woke up Saturday, ate breakfast, and headed to church for the children's Christmas party and program practice. The roads were still a bit slick from a bit more snow, but we made it safely. I was selected to be a narrator for the older kids' program. Malachi did well in his practice, and was excited to receive an awesome church shirt as a gift. All the kids had lunch and went over their performance. After we got home later that afternoon, we grabbed our stuff and headed down to Branson. Our friends, the Mitchells, got us in to Silver Dollar City as their guests! We had fun riding a few rides, viewing the Christmas lights, and watched the show "A Christmas Carol". The weather was very cold, but the park wasn't too crowded. The kids even got to see Santa again this year (a tradition since Mysia was a baby). By the time we got home, we were tired. However, it was a wonderful day!

~Matt

Week Rundown! (12/01/13 - 12/07/13)

I ran the church van Sunday morning. Lydia and the kids rode with me after services and then we had a restful afternoon at home. We attended the Ozarks Gospel Showcase later in the afternoon. It was the "Christmas Edition". We went out for dinner and enjoyed the rest of the evening at home.

Since we're down to one vehicle, Monday was a new challenge for us. We left, dropped the kids off at school, I took Lydia to her work, and then heading into my job. I met the tow truck at the bank to pick up the car and take to the auto mechanic.

Tuesday turned out pretty well. We're still trying to get used to one vehicle. Lydia dropped us off before heading to classes. She picked up the kids afterwards and they got to spend the evening with their Aunt Lycia and Uncle Jordan. Lydia and I attended KWFC employee Christmas party. We ate at Colton's and enjoyed the fellowship. Once back home, we went to bed!

Wednesday was a rush. We came home and ate real quick before heading to church. Time was short to get ready, but we made it in time. The kids worked on decorating bags for the elderly in the nursing home as part of their craft time.

The day of excitement came on Thursday... we got snow! The kids were excited (me too). Lydia got to spend the latter part of the  afternoon with me in my office since she got done with classes by 2:30. By the time we got the kids, the weather was getting awful. It took us 45 minutes to get home! While Lydia fixed supper, the kids and I went outside to enjoy the falling snow. I tried shoveling while the Mysia and Malachi played. The kids rejoiced when we were notified that schools were closed for Friday! While eating supper, we watched the live television performance of the "Sound Of Music". Then it was off to bed.

It was too treacherous to venture onto the roads on Friday, so we made it a snow-day! We listened to Christmas music for the entire morning. The kids were excited, and after breakfast, they played for an hour in the snow. Once back inside, we had hot chocolate, cleaned rooms, and then played a long game of Monopoly. We ate lunch and Lydia won. Mysia and Malachi took a short nap. Once back up, they played with crafts and went back outside in the snow before it got dark.

We stayed home and watched Christmas cartoons Saturday morning. We also did some cleaning and some crafts with the kids. They also got to play outside in the snow. I brought them along with me to work so I could record my show for Sunday afternoon, and afterwards they got to sled down the big hill. I videoing them when they crashed onto the asphalt. Poor Malachi walked away with a goose-egg on his forehead. Once home, Lydia made supper and they watched movies. I attended our church's cantata practice for choir that evening.

~Matt

Week Rundown! (11/24/13 - 11/30/13)

On Sunday morning, Malachi and I attended the Men's Prayer Breakfast at church. I then ran the church van for morning services. Malachi spent the afternoon with Granny and Granddad. Mysia watched some her favorite tv shows at home with us. After evening services we came home and got ready for bed.

Monday was back to school and work. I took the van in to the shop to get it looked at, and everything seemed to be fine. Once home, we packed up some food and headed out to visit with Lydia's extended family... Her Uncle Richard's retirement party!

Tuesday was the last day of school of the week for the kids. That evening, we came home and had pizza for supper. We attended midweek services at church (it was moved from Wednesday since many travel). We stopped by the store before heading home and bed. Lydia had homework to do.

The kids woke up early on Wednesday and cleaned their rooms before Lydia and I got up from bed. We had breakfast and Lydia left for work. The kids spent the morning watching Garfield before we did some housework. They did crafts and had fun with play-dough before lunch. I then had them take naps. The afternoon was spent playing Mario on the Wii and games on the Nook tablet. I was able to get a few home projects done on the computer. Lydia was able to come home early, so we started on the turkey preparation! Yum! We spent the evening watching "Chitty, Chitty, Bang-Bang" and playing Mario Kart Wii together.

On Thanksgiving Day, we got up early and put the turkey in oven at 5am. I went back to sleep, but Lydia stayed up and finished her homework that would be due next week. Once the kids woke up, we made breakfast and turned on the parade. We were disappointed with some of the "musical performances" that came on, but enjoyed the parade and floats. Once ready and packed, we headed to my parents' house. We spent the day eating, visiting, and playing. The kids played with their cousins. Of course, I got a chance to play some computer games with my brothers! Yes, when it comes to technology and games... we've never grown up. Where do you think our kids get it from? :) We also played some family games and the kids watched a few movies before we came home an went to bed. What a fun day!

I was planning on us sleeping in on Friday, but agreed to get up early and do some Black Friday shopping with my dad. He picked me up and we stood in line outside at Bass Pro Shops. They had ammo on sale, and he wanted to take advantage of the offer. While waiting, we got donuts, coffee, and sang to by a mixed quartet! There was a rush to grab the product and then try to get out. Overall, it was fun! But once home... I crashed in bed. Lydia got up and went to her chiropractor, then I went into work for a few hours. The kids watched tv and played, and then after lunch the Lydia and Mysia went to the mall with Granny, Abigail and Ana. Granddad, Ben, and his two boys came over. The boys played all afternoon. Ben and I played a few computer games, and talked tech with my dad. I made a run to the bank and my car died. I abandoned it for the day, hoping that I can take it to the shop next week. After supper, Lydia and I, along with the kids, brought out the Christmas decorations! Our living room was transformed into a winter wonderland... watched Frosty the Snowman and the sequel, then it was bedtime.

We woke up tired on Saturday, but we ate a quick breakfast and headed out to taekwando practice. Afterwards, we decided to spend the rest of the day Christmas shopping. We went to several stores around Springfield. We had a late lunch and HuHot and still had places to go before we finally headed home. Lydia and I were pooped... but the kids were energetic. They took showers and we watched some classic Christmas cartoons before sending them to bed.

~Matt