Matthew's infamous glasses

 
 
Matthew has been wearing glasses since his 4th birthday. Since that time, we have come to know the people at EyeMasters very well! Matthew is very hard on his glasses. We always buy the warranty and we always use the warranty! I remember having to buy Matthew a new pair of glasses a few months after he first got them because he decided to "polish" them on a large rock at school. It seems that every few weeks, we have to get them adjusted because he sat on them, or the eye pads fall off.

On our trip, we had just finished riding a roller coaster when I looked down at Matthew and noticed that his glasses had cracked. The seal was broken and humidity (I guess?) had helped spread the layered glass apart. You can see the unsealing on the second picture before they cracked from the pressure. Yes, another trip to EyeMasters! Normally, this is Bryon's job. I hadn't been in the store in ages. I happened to be going by there this weekend, so I offered to take them in.

The saleslady, who I have never seen before, walked over and looked at the glasses that had been unsealed and cracked. She pondered them for a minute and said, "This is a really strange question, but do these glasses, by chance, belong to Matthew -------?" Lauren and I busted out laughing! Then the saleslady laughed and said, "I have seen this pair of glasses a lot!" Yes, we take the free repair promise very seriously!

How many glasses do you think we will go through before he is off the payroll?

Birthday weekend and a low key week.

 
 
 
I had a wonderful 32nd birthday weekend! My mother went all out and made a fabulous meal Sunday afternoon, complete with princess balloons, table cloth, and napkins! Matthew and Thomas made up a song for me and I felt very special all day long.

To the tune of "Awesome God"
Our Mom is the best mom e-ver
She never lets us down
Even on her 32nd birthday
Ye-a-a-a-ah

I have next to nothing to do this week which is a real first for this summer. Four weeks from tomorrow, school starts, so I want to savor every second of all three home with me.

Matthew's 35

 
And now, without futher ado....Matthew's 35!

1. Matthew was born 2 minutes until midnight. My doctor told me I could choose his birthday!
2. He was my smallest baby at 7lbs.11 oz. He hates this fact! ;)
3. Matthew could turn on the phone, TV, and push the panic alarm on my car keys at 8 months old.
4. He could name different cars by looking at them by 16 months. He also knew which set of keys belonged to whom (me, my brother, Bryon, my parents) by 16 months.
5. He popped my car out of gear at 25 months and I watched in a panic as it rolled down the driveway with him still in it!
6. While in my sister's care, he ran down the center aisle of church, completely naken from the waist down, at 3 years old.
7. He is a man's boy, but a total mama's boy! He is very affectionate with me, Aunt Lauren, and Nana.
8. He loves school more than anyone I know. He cried last Columbus Day because he couldn't go to school. He is counting down the days until school starts next month!
9. Matthew is very athletic and does well at any sport he tries.
10. He loves to read. He is really into Harry Potter this summer!
11. He usually remembers anything we tell him after being told once.
12. Matthew loves geography and loves studying maps. When he was 4, he could tell me all the countries in South America.
13. He is attracted to babies. He is extremely gentle around them. Matthew adores James and his baby cousin on Bryon's side of the family.
14. Matthew loves being useful and gets a big ego boost if an adult asks him for help.
15. Matthew gets a kick out of funny sounding words. As a 9 months old, he would bust out laughing if he heard the word, "Gooshigooa!" As he got older, he thought "budget" and "student" were hilarious words!
16. Matthew write and illustrates beautiful books.
17. Of my three, he is definitely my biggest rascal. He gets in trouble much more than the others, but apologizes freely when he knows that he has done something wrong. This is one of my favorite qualities about him!
18. He is incredibly driven. I never have to push him to do anything. Whatever he tries, he wants to do it better or faster than anyone else. He remembered that there were Red Cross levels given out at swim lessons. Before the first day, he told me that his goal was to get to level 4 because a 5th grader got to that level last year. He made it to level 5! I love watching this aspect of his personality kick in!
19. He has more energy than I ever thought a child could have! He dropped his naps at 25 months and never looked back. We have to make him go to bed at night! Even at that, I find him in his room, when I am going to bed, reading. He can go to school all day, go to piano lessons, do homework, play a sporting event, and be ready for the next activity. He is very much like his Daddy this way! He isn't hyper, just a big ball of energy!
20. When Thomas was 5 days old, Matthew learned how to jump out of his bed (hence the end of naps). I combatted this by putting him to bed wearing tight Wranglers so he couldn't swing his leg over. This worked for a few days until he learned to take his Wranglers off after I put him down! He went from 3 hour naps and 12 hour nights to no naps and maybe 10 hours of sleep a night with a newborn in the house!
21. He adores Mary Beth. She can do no wrong in his eyes! He is also a wonderful big brother to Thomas about 90% of the time. The other 10% of the time? Well, he is only human! He does love sharing a bed with Thomas. The worst punishment I can give to Matthew is to tell him that he has to sleep in his room alone!
22. Last year, my parents took him to Washington D.C.-- A trip he still talks about daily. When the security man asked him if he was travelling for business or pleasure, he replied very seriously, "business". This kid is serious about travelling!
23. His favorite foods are spaghetti and broccoli.
24. He has the loudest voice of any child I know. I never worried about losing Matthew because I could hear him a mile away!
25. He is fast! He isn't slow at anything. I never have to tell him to keep up. One time he was getting his hair cut, and the barber told me with a very thick Texas accent, "It's kinda lahk cutting the hahr off a jack rabbit!"
26. He is a daredevil. He is also a leader. The words "alpha male" come to mind!
27. He won't go to sleep at night without me tucking him in. He also has to sleep with the closet light on, which Thomas thinks is silly!
28. He reminds me a lot of my Dad. They have similar temperaments and are built the same way. He also reminds me of my brother, Michael, who Matthew idolizes.
29. He never stops thirsting for knowlege. He loves writing book reports or looking things up in the encyclopedia.
30. One of my biggest regrets is that I wasn't blogging when he was a toddler. He made us roll on the floor with laughter every single day! He said hilarious things daily that are now lost in time.
31. He is very self assured and has never told me that someone or something hurt his feelings.
32. He recalls things that happened to him when he was 2 or 3 with lots of detail. Things that we haven't talked about in years! This attribute is a little scary! ;)
33. His favorite shows are Hannah Montana, High School Musical, and Drake and Josh.
34. He wants to be a gastroenterologist when he grows up. Referring to number 15, I think he mainly likes the way it sounds.
35. Going on number 30, Matthew has (and has always had) a wonderful grasp of the English language. He uses adult sarcasm and wit and it all makes sense! He easily converses with adults.

WDW 2007

 
 
 
 
There is so much to say about our trip! We had so much fun with our extended family. I had never taken a trip before with Bryon's parents and sister. The cousins had fun together and I truly enjoyed spending time with my in law family.

I loved the ages that my kids were for the trip. Matthew loved all of the thrill rides but wasn't too cool to leave his Mickey Mouse ears behind. He went one day from 6 in the morning until 2 the next morning during extended hours!

Thomas loved all of the thrill rides. He was only too short for one of the rides. He particularly loved Everest and Space Mountain. He also loved Playhouse Disney, Winnie the Pooh, and dancing with the Moroccan belly dancer at Epcot.

ME's favorite two things were watching Beauty and the Beast at MGM and eating lunch with the princesses at Cinderella's castle.

I loved all of the thrill rides (Everest, Soarin', and Rockin' Roller Coaster the most) as well as the shows, Beauty and the Beast and Lion King.

The trip was fast and furious. No rest for the weary! I was proud of the kids and adored watching their little faces taking it all in. They all kept up the fast pace without complaining which made the trip easy breezy.

We can't wait to go back! I am going to keep updating this post with new pictures throughout the day.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Disney!

 
I completely planned on doing Matthew's 35 things last week but got way too busy getting ready for our trip to Disney World! We got back tonight and I can't wait to look through my pictures and write about our experience after a good night sleep. We had a magical time! I will write Matthew's things after an update about our trip!

35 things about Thomas

 


















1. He was my hardest pregnancy, but easiest labor and baby.
2. Thomas was born on my Dad's birthday.
3. He was 15 days early and weighed 9lbs 3 oz. I weighed the same amount at birth!
4. His first word was "abre", because Matthew was really into Dora the Explorer when Thomas was learning how to talk.
5. He didn't walk until 15 months!
6. Thomas had beautiful blonde curls as a toddler.
7. If anyone describes Thomas, usually the first adjective is "sweet". His gentle spirit and easy nature are a huge blessing to me. He gives me the warm fuzzies on a daily basis!
8. He is very laid back. He wanted to learn how to swim without having to kick his feet.
9. He has two imaginary friends, "Gobi" and "Kingy". He told me yesterday that the were both born in Africa on the border of "A-ja" (asia) and when his imagination started having plane flights, they moved to Texas.
10. He loves watching sports. Many times, he will turn the channel from a cartoon to ESPN. He knows a lot of sports trivia.
11. Other people's feelings are very important to Thomas. He cries every time Matthew gets in trouble, and will often ask to do his punishment for him.
12. He still sucks his thumb when he is tired.
13. Thomas has a gift for numbers. He will look at my digital clock that says 8:47 and say "It's 13 minutes until 9!" He adds numbers in his head easily and will beat Matthew at math quizzes!
14. Thomas taught himself how to read last fall.
15. He is in the 90% and 95% for height and weight.
16. Thomas is very fair skinned and gets freckles on his face every summer.
17. He looked a ton like my sister when he was a toddler.
18. Thomas hates to say he is sorry when someone tells him to say it. He has a bit of a stubborn streak!
19. He has been beating me at Memory since he was 3.
20. Thomas loves to go anywhere and hates to stay at home if someone is leaving.
21. He wants to be just like "Buddy". They still sleep in the same bed.
22. I would say that he likes to be babied every bit as much as Mary Beth.
23. He has a dimple in the middle of his nose. He loves to say that it is where God kissed him right before he was born.
24. Thomas's favorite city is Seattle. The Seahawks are his favorite team. Everytime he hears the word "Seattle" his face brightens up.
25. His favorite foods are spinach and broccoli. He really savors his food. Lauren says that when the rest of her class enjoyed socializing during lunch, Thomas would be savoring each bite with a huge smile on his face! He adored having his aunt for a teacher this year!
26. He likes his food hot and his drinks cold. Not a big fan of lukewarm anything.
27. He talks about God a lot. He loves God and always puts him first. When he's counting he'll say "God, 0, 1, 2, 3..." and he'll say his favorite people are "God, Buddy, Mommy, Daddy, Emmy, etc."
28. He has been blessed with very sweet friends.
29. He is incredibly loving to Mary Beth and me. He calls us "his grills".
30. I would bet that he is the messiest eater on the planet. After each meal, there is a heap of food on the table, under the table, on his clothes, and around his mouth.
31. Every time he has the ball in any sport he has played, he giggles during the entire posession.
32. One of his biggest quirks is that he is extremely literal. I can't ever generalize in his presence. There have been countless times that I have called his sport "baseball" only to get a funny expression from Thomas, "You mean T-Ball?" I can't say "We will leave in a few mintues". He wants to know exactly how many minutes. I could give a hundred examples of this, but if I told him that, he would say, "You mean one hundred?"
33. We call him "Thomas", "T", "Sweet T", "T-sters", "T-Bone", "Tom Tom", "T-man", and "Thomas O'Baumas".
34. He love to rhyme. I will say, "It's time for bed." He will say, "Bed chicken dead!"
35. Thomas likes everything to be fair. He walked in and told me that he had to have exactly 35 things just like Emmy.

35 things about Mary Beth

 

I haven't written much about the kids in a while and thought I would try to write 25 things about each of the kids. For this series, the last shall be first!



1. She was born on 8-12 and weighed 8-13.
2. She was born on my great aunt's 90th birthday during a "cool front" in August. The high was in the upper 80s!
3. She has never been prone to fits. If she is unhappy, she will stick out her bottom lip and drop whatever is in her hand without saying a word.
4. Her first word (other than the usuals) was "football".
5. She has been a very easy and happy child.
6. Of all my kids, she is the social butterfly. She has never met a stranger! She begs me to take her to the nursery during church so she can hang with her homies.
7. She has one dimple on her left cheek.
8. ME has the taste buds of a 40 year old woman. Her favorite foods are raw tomatoes (which she eats like apples), guacamole, spinach, and hard boiled eggs!
9. She was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney reflux at 18 months and had surgery to repair it in April.
10. Dancing is one of her favorite pastimes. The morning after her surgery, she looked at me and said, "I want to DANCE!"
11. She likes being the center of attention and will fight anyone for it.
12. She speaks very well for her age and puts together huge sentences all the time.
13. Her favorite TV show is "Charlie and Lola" which she pronounces with a British accent.
14. My mother made her a blanket when she was a year old. She got super attached to it during her first kidney hospitalization. We are never far away from "Bibi". She has one green bibi and one pink bibi which she calls the "other bibi". She puts a corner of the blanket in her mouth along with her thumb, and makes a noise like "nanananananana" as fast as she can!
15. She is very bossy and loves to point her finger when she is driving a point home.
16. The boys, "my Thomas" and "Buddy", let her boss them around all the time. They mean everything to her and she loves to be with them more than anything. She also adores "my Jamesy" and loves to mother him, much to his delight (and chagrin!)
17. She has great fake laughs and fake cries. She even will admit to them. "Sorry, Mom. That was a fake cry." She usually pulls out the fake cry if one of the boys is crying. (See number 11.)
18. She is my most affectionate child and will sit on my lap longer than the boys ever would.
19. I think she looks a lot like I did as a little girl.
20. She isn't afraid of anything.
21. She has tiny hands and feet. She is also petite for her age as she is in the 30%-40% for height and weight.
22. She thinks the boys friends are her friends too and is just as happy wrestling and watching football as playing with dolls.
23. She is really into clothes and changes her outfit many times a day.
24. If I nod or shake my head in response to her, she says, "Mommy, talk to me!"
25. She has long, blonde, curly hair which can look beautiful....or totally messy! During those messy moments, it has been described by close friends and family as looking like a birds nest, crazy Britney Spears hair, late 80s perm, etc. During bad hair days, she wears her hair in a bun!
26. No tube of lipstick,powder compact, or nail polish is safe in the path of Mary Beth.
27. We still call her, "Emmy", "Emmy Lou", "Emmy Lou Who", "Mary Elizabeth", "Emmy Lou Lou", "Sister Sue", and of course, "Mary Beth". Who knows what she will eventually be!
28. She is a huge mooch. She loves eating or drinking whatever everyone else has. I pop the top of a Diet Coke, and she comes running!
29. She still sleeps in her crib. She hasn't tried to climb out, so we aren't pushing the issue!
30. She is very neat and like cleaning messes. She likes getting a new napkin after every wipe and will clean up toys for the boys.
31. She has a high energy level and can go all day without a nap and be happy.
32. She starts losing her voice when she is tired. I love her hoarse voice!
33. she.is.vare.prety (From Thomas)
34. She was introduced to "coffee milk" at a young age. My aunt gave me some coffee syrup, made only in Rhode Island, one year and ME fell head over heels in love. My aunt stocks my mom up and ME gets her coffee milk every morning!
35. She has been a dream come true for almost 3 years!

Prayers for the Nations

Matthew went to VBS with a good friend today. When he got in the car, he had a list of nations and was given the task of praying for these nations. Matthew, focused and intense as always, felt the need to do it all in the car and have Thomas do every other prayer to cut down the work load. Their prayers were hilarious:

Mexico:
Thomas: "Dear God, help the people in Mexico. Thank you that Texas is free from Mexico."
Matthew: "Yes, Lord. Thank you that Santa Ana had 13 days of glory before he defeated the Texans at the Alamo. Then, thank you that Sam Houston crushed him at San Jacinto."

(I guess they really were listening during the Alamo tour!)


Canada:
Matthew: "Thank you for Canada. Especially for the provinces of Saskatchewan, British Colombia, Alberta, Quebec, and Ontario. They are so blessed because Gordon Lightfoot is from Canada. Help him to continue singing well."

Greenland:
Thomas: "Dear God, please melt some of the ice for the people of Greenland so they can have a really fun summer."

USA:
Matthew: "Thank Goodness, it's time to pray for us!"

"Dear God, thank you for our country. Please Lord, when the people are down, help pick them up. When they are dry, fill their cup." (Church song plagerism? You decide!)

Miquelon: (Ever heard of this place? Me neither!)
Thomas: "Dear God, thank you for Mequelon. Please help them to be really good at sports this year."

Guatamala:
Matthew: "Dear God, thank you for Guttenmala."
********interrupt prayer***************
"Matthew, it is pronounced 'Watamala'"
*********chuckle, chuckle, chuckle**********
"Dear God, thank you for making 'Watamala' have such a funny sounding name!"

Unfortunately, it was time to get out of the car at this point. I wish we could have driven a while longer!

A window away from nature

 
I promise that this is the last backyard blog for a while, but I had to share this. While we were in San Antonio, a cardinal made her nest in my Japanese maple tree one foot from my bathroom window!

The kids and I have had a front row seat to a great nature lesson. Every morning, I slowly open the shutters to see our mother-to-be. She is usually sleeping! If we get too close, she starts squawking and the Daddy cardinal flies over to the window to make sure everything is OK.

I feel pretty protective of the nest as well. Our bugman, who comes once a month, started up his truck and I ran outside to make sure he didn't get close to the nest. I have also taken less baths (don't worry, I am taking showers ;) because my presense worries Mama Cardinal.

As Matthew says, we are having "twin cardinals", so we anxiously await the day that the two babies are born. I adore cardinals and love how I always see the male and female together. Plus, since Thomas's obsession with "red" began at the age of three, he has always loved cardinals more than any bird.

I hope they always use this nest!

How the Garden Grows

I was looking through old pictures the other day and found these taken of my garden three months ago. I can't believe how things have changed! I took some pictures of how things look now while Bryon was mowing on Saturday. Overall, I have been happy with the results, although I am already thinking of things I want to change for next year. It has been a challenging year with all of our rain. You can see several spots in the yard that are going to have to have better drainage next year. I can't complain too much, though, as our water bill is 1/3 what it was last summer!

End of March