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