Week Rundown (11/27/2011-12/03/2011)

Sunday

I woke up early, got ready, and took Malachi to church with me. This morning was Men's Prayer Breakfast. However, when we arrived at church, we found that the battery was dead in the van I drive. Come to find out, one of the kids had turned on the back dome lights over the week, and it had drained all the juice from the battery. I finally got the van jumped and we ate breakfast.
The kids and I rested during the afternoon while Lydia worked on her homework, then it was back to church for evening services.


Monday

After having five days off with no work or school, things were back to normal, however... a bit hectic. Lydia came home with Malachi before I got off work, so that she could focus on some of her homework. I picked up Mysia and stopped by the store to pick up some things we had ran out of over the weekend.

Lydia had Thanksgiving casserole made by the time I arrived home. We ate and then the kids watched a movie before going to bed.


Tuesday

After work, I picked up Abigail and we met Lydia and the kids at home. We ate supper and got the kids ready for bed. Abigail was our sitter for the night so Lydia and I could go out. We attended an activity for Lydia's college honors society at the bowling alley. It was fun, and we got to enjoy a free game of bowling.

During our second game of bowling, I got a call from Abigail. Malachi had wet the bed, she helped change him and the bed, but he was throwing a huge fit and wouldn't calm down. Lydia tried talking to him over the phone, it wasn't working. We rushed home.

Come to find out, Abigail had given him pajama bottoms and a regular t-shirt. It bothered him, but he was too 'out of it' to explain it to her. He couldn't go to sleep with everything not being 'just right'.  Ugh..... kids!!!


Wednesday

Tonight was church. Lydia had homework, and we stayed up late.


Thursday

We were supposed to have discipleship this evening, but to Lydia's relief, it was cancelled. Lydia had to focus on homework. The kids and I watched a movie, I made chocolate pudding, then we got ready for bed.


Friday

Today was my day off. The kids had daycare and school, and Lydia had school and work. I stayed home and worked on things around the house. For the afternoon, I met Lydia for lunch at her work. We hadn't the chance to meet up for lunch in a while, so it was nice.

This evening, we had our friends, the Hailes, over for supper and fellowship. We ate, played games, and visited. The kids enjoyed having other kids over, and we enjoyed the company as well! It was past the kids' bedtime when they left, but it was an enjoyable time... we didn't care!


Saturday

We got up and had a slow morning. The house was in order, so we just relaxed. We had the Copelands over for lunch. We visited and watched several updates of MythBusters.

I had to leave for the Christmas Concert hosted by my work (the radio station). I was in charge of the slide presentation for the entire concert. Lydia and the kids attended our Sunday School Class' Christmas party. They had fun, eating and exchanging gifts.

At the end of the concert, I had the privilege of going on stage with all the artists and singing along with the other bass singers (including my boss). We sang three Christmas carols for the audience. Talk about fun!!!


~Matt

Late again...

Yup... are you surprised? I am running late on making posts! I haven't even gotten my "week runthrough" posted yet! And yes, that frustrates me!

There has been a lot going on, and I've neglected posting yet again. I could go on with excuses (holidays approaching, busy at work, busy at home, etc), but I won't. ;)

To see some of the stuff I've been up to, you can log onto my work's website (http://kwfc.org)

Anyway, I'll see if I can post more soon! By the way, only a two and a half weeks until Christmas!!!

~Matt

An Example of True Giving...

This evening I got to witness the true "Christmas Spirit" while shopping at the grocery store after work. It was amazing…

While in line, there was a man paying for his groceries in at the cashier next to me. He was short $100 for his total. Without hesitation, the man behind him pulled out a hundred dollar bill and gave it to the cashier!!! Wow!

After they left, the cashier and the sacking lady were both still in shock. They admitted that they couldn't believe what had just happened. It sent goose-bumps along my arms and a chill up my spine. What an uplifting experience!

Things like that truly make this the most wonderful time of the year!!!

~Matt

Week Rundown (11/20/2011-11/26/2011)

Sunday

After church services and vans, we had a nice afternoon at home.. Abigail joined us, and we ate lunch, watched some tv, and visited. The kids took some good naps, and fought over Abigail's attention before we headed back to church this evening.


Monday

Tonight was a restful one. We had a good supper, and watched tv. We also got some things done around the house..


Tuesday

Since the many are gearing up for Thanksgiving, and will be traveling tomorrow, our church moved Wednesday evening services to tonight. So when we all got home, we ate quick supper and headed to church. The services were simple, and the kids sat with us. It was nice to sit in the main auditorium and hear pastor preach for mid-week services.


Wednesday

Since I had the day off of work and Mysia didn't have school, Malachi stayed home from daycare as well. It was a sort of "daddy and kid day". Lydia got up early and went to work since she didn't have college classes due to the holiday weekend. The kids and I ate breakfast, cleaned rooms, and got played a bit. I let them watch some tv while I made a quick lunch. Lydia came home, ate, and then we all headed to a funeral.

A dear friend of the family had passed away on Saturday, Jack Paris. He was my Sunday School teacher when I was in 6th grade, and was the director of the juniors class as well. He and his wife, Betty, were dear to our hearts as we were kids. He had several battles due to his health, and I'm happy to know he is pain free right now! The funeral was good, and our kids behaved very well.

On the way home we picked up some ice cream cones for the kids. They both took naps (me too) while Lydia went back to work. After naps, we played with play-dough. Lydia brought home pizza, and Aunt Adria joined us later that evening. Lydia made two apple pies in preparation for tomorrow.


Thursday

Thanksgiving Day! The kid didn't sleep in, and neither did we! We got up and watched the parade, and got ready. Adria had spent the night, so she got to partake in our getting ready for thanksgiving.

We made it to Lydia's Aunt and Uncle's house by noon for the feast. Oh... it was delicious! We had turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cheese ball, pies, cheese, crackers... and oh, so much more! We talked, visited, watched tv, and even enjoyed the outdoors! The kids got to play outside since the weather decided to cooperate and give us some warm temps!

We stayed until 6ish, and then headed home. We then decided to turn on some Christmas music and set up the tree. Even though we have an artificial one, it's not the easiest thing to set up and decorate. However, we did it. The kids did an awesome job hanging up the ornaments and getting all decked out. We then watched some tv specials before going to bed.


Friday

I had planned on 'starting the day' with hitting some 'black Friday' sales at midnight this morning, but gave it all up by falling asleep. Oh well! We spent the morning doing different things. The kids played, I got some projects done on the computer, and Lydia focused on some homework. I did the grocery shopping while the kids napped, and then we ate a late lunch. I was planning on taking them to Silver Dollar City to meet up with my folks and brother's family. But they were tired and getting ready to leave by the time we were getting ready to head on down there.

The kids and I ended up putting up the Nativity and Christmas village while watching some Christmas movie classics. After leaving Silver Dollar City, they all stopped by our house and visited for a bit. The cousins played nicely.


Saturday

We got up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and then went over to my parents' house. Today was my dad's birthday, so us guys went shooting. Unfortunately, it was raining, so we only got to shoot for about an hour before we gave up and headed back.

We then ate Cashew Chicken for lunch and visited. Us guys went to the mall so my dad could pick up a shirt and tie while the ladies went to the thrift store to do some shopping. Malachi was a very energetic, but well-behaved for me. Mysia did well for Lydia.

Back at my folk's, we ate cake and visited some more before saying our good-byes. We then did some shopping before heading home and going to bed.

~Matt

Forgetting Thanksgiving…?

Okay, it's now time for a rant. I've been working on this idea for the past month (or year?). A note of caution, this post is purely my personal opinion. If you don't agree, that's fine. If you do, thanks!

Always, at this time of year, we hear of people complaining about how Thanksgiving is being looked over. There are countless emails and status posts about "Christmas" starting too early, and how it gets earlier every year. Sure enough, stores bring out the decorations before October 31! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they start shelving them right after the 4th of July.

The sad part is that we as costumers like or not, help with this push. We want to get a head start on things so that we aren't running around like idiots the closer Christmas day gets, but yet we always do. It's not always that we're forgetting Thanksgiving, but that we're trying to get a head on the planning. But is it worth it?

Thanksgiving gets pushed back in peoples mind. It's more of a milestone on the calendar that shows us the start of the Christmas hype, than a day of true thankfulness. There is one thing good though, it's one holiday that hasn't been totally commercialized. However, it's just not celebrated properly anymore.

This year, something has taken place that makes me upset... Black Friday has been pushed up to Thanksgiving Day!  I think it's a shame for people to have to work on Thursday, and I feel sorry for them. I'm not shaming the employees, but the companies themselves. The almighty dollar, or the 'love' of it. Many people agree that no one should work on Thursday, and that those working should be home with family. However, I'm guessing many will partake in the early 'Black Friday' sales that evening. If we really believe workers should be home with their families, how about the customers stay home too? I'd like to make a push for all who hold dear to the true meaning of Thanksgiving to boycott the 'Black Friday' sales starting on that day!

There are so many thoughts on keeping this day a true day of Thankfulness. What will be your part?

 
~Matt