Kyler Story - 4 years ago

Wow - 2 months has passed since updating. Oops! Sorry! Life is busy and WE ARE FINALLY IN OUR NEW HOUSE!!! Update and pictures soon! But first, wanted to share a cute Kyler story. I was digging through old emails at work and found one I had written 4 years ago when Kyler was 2 1/2. I read it to Kyler yesterday and he got the biggest kick out of it. Myles just figured out how to get out of his bed at night too so hopefully we don't have a repeat! Enjoy....

19Jan05:

(Kyler 2 years old)Here's a Kyler story sure to bring a smile to your face…
This morning, when I was ready to leave for work, I noticed Kyler's light on but the door closed. I didn't even bother opening the door because I knew what it meant - he was downstairs. He's pretty smart for a two-year-old - he thinks by closing his door, I'll think he's sleeping…well maybe if he learns how to turn off the light!
Anyway, I head downstairs to see what awaits me. I see a million lights on and the TV is blaring. I round the corner and see Kyler wide awake and POURING WATER from a water bottle (that he had filled) into Mattie's cage. Mattie, Kyler, the floor, and the cage were all soaking wet.

Then, I round another corner into the kitchen and see chocolate milk ALL over the floor- including the rug. He managed to get a little bit into a bowl full of fruity pebbles that he had also gotten out (BY CUTTING OPEN THE BAG WITH SCISSORS - HOW SCARY IS THAT?????). Plus, there were markers and a coloring book spread out all over the table and my recipe cards that had been on the counter were all over the living room, among all his other toys. Yikes! What a MESS! I'm sure he was up half the night!

The best part? I still got to go to work and leave the mess for Kyle. Oh was he happy with me! There a DEFINITELY perks to being a working mom! :-)

Needless to say, I headed straight to Wal-Mart after work and got a child-proof door knob for his room. I'm sure he will scream all night begging to get out!

Merry Christmas!

For those of you that think you deserve to get a Christmas card in the mail from the Matthias family....this will have to do! I'm absolutely terrible at sending them out! :)

Have a very merry Christmas!

December ~ Inspection Passed!

Today is an exciting day in the world of our new house - we passed our inspection. No, not the official "move-in" inspection, but we get to finish the drywall! Next week we'll have finishers in doing mud/tape and texture. After that....paint! It's very exciting to be at this point. Kyle and my dad were SO happy that the inspection went so well. Mr. Inspector found NOTHING wrong!

Here are a couple pics of the dry-walled house. It's really starting to feel like a home!

Family room on the main floor.....this has changed since this pic as well...we now have a fireplace!

Our kitchen....love the arch to the dining room! :)

In other Matthias news....Myles is finally officially a walker! It's been several weeks now and he is quite steady! He is almost running already. Once they start, they just don't stop, do they!

Macy has definitely learned how to pose for pictures. When I try to take her picture these days, I get this way-to-grown-up little smirk. It's just hilarous to me!

Kyler and Curren had their Christmas concert on December 1st. Kyler looked so cute in his little Christmas tie! Funny thing is, if anyone reading this goes to Orchard, you'll often see Kyler in a tie and vest. He just loves to look nice! :)

Curren was involved in a "Lego League" competition last Saturday. It was a high-enery competition for 9-14 year olds in Cedar Falls. Curren's team has been preparing at least twice a week since September. They built a little robot and programmed it to complete "missions." They also did a presentation (complete with a rap about global warming and a PowerPoint), and were judged on their technical skills and teamwork. There were about 20 teams competing from the Cedar Valley and the exciting news was that Curren's team WON! Below is what was read off before the annouced the "Champion's Award." Yes, mom's eyes did tear up when they annouced that the winners were the Universal Robots from Denver! Way to go, Curren! Good luck at the state competition!

Champion's Award: This most prestigious award goes to the team who, in the big picture, is the
strongest in all of the categories combined. The Champion's Award winner is the
total package-the embodiment of the FIRST LEGO League vision. The Champion's Award encompasses five key elements of the Technical and Team Presentation Awards - Robot Design, Robot Performance, Project Presentation, and teamwork, as well as honoring the team's understanding and practice of Gracious Professionalism, exemplifying FLL Values and their understanding of the true meaning of FIRST and FIRST LEGO League. The FLL experience is more than building robots or attending competitions. lt begins with the robot, but most importantly, it is defined by how the children unite to form a team. The program impacts each of them as individuals and as team members. This award celebrates the ultimate success of the
FIRST mission and FLL Values. It measures how the children inspire others about the accessibility and excitement of science, technology, and engineering while demonstrating respect, encouragement, and continued gracious professionalism. The winning team is
given the honor of serving as a valued role model for FIRST and the FIRST LEGO League Program.

Mother's Milk

Okay...so this was too cute. I thought about emailing this cute little story out to all you nursing moms, but since it's been so long since I updated, thought I'd share it here.

House is progressing, kids are growing. Same story, just a different day! I promise, I'll post a real update soon, but for now, this will have to do. I am actually copying this from Tara Thomas' blog (the KWWL news anchor from the KWWL.com site...did I mention I was a blog stalker!?!?)

Mother's Milk
For all the nursing moms out there...
Students in an advanced biology class were taking their mid-term exam. The last question was, 'Name seven advantages of mother's milk,' worth 70 points or none at all.

One student wrote:
1.) It is perfect formula for the child.
2.) It provides immunity against several diseases.
3.) It is always the right temperature.
4.) It is inexpensive.
5.) It bonds the child to mother and vice versa.
6.) It is always available as needed.

And then, the student was stuck. Finally, in desperation just before the bell indicating the end of the test rang, he wrote...

7.) It comes in cute containers.

He got an A.

House Update ~ October

Wow - I think I start every post the same. Where has the time gone??? Life continues to be busy for us. Progress on the house continues. Unfortunately it's at the point that you can work all day (or all week) and not actually SEE progress that has been made. My sister stopped by this afternoon....she was also here last weekend. I asked her if it looked different and she looked around and said "not really." Case in point. Electrical and plumbing....you can work on it ALL day and not see results. Oh well, it all has to get done and they have been working SO hard!

Since the last post, we have siding on about half the house, all the windows in, all but one of the outside doors in (there are FIVE of them...can you believe it???), lots of plumbing and electrical done, and the garage doors are in. The biggest change of all is that we now have CONCRETE in the basement, garage, and gym! It was SO exciting when they poured that last week! The kids have a great time playing in the gym...and I love not having to worry about where they are at or what they can get in to. Although, the floor is pretty hard obviously. My dad suggested helments...we'll see about that. :)

Here are a few pictures of the house since last post. I'm hoping to do an update on the kids soon. I have some stories to share and have to show off pictures of Baby Handsome's first haircut. He looks like such a little man!

Here is a picture of Curren in front of his window. You'll notice that the window frame is stained! That was my project last week. We LOVE the stain and it's so nice to have that done and not have to worry about it!


Another accomplishment from the past few weeks...basement steps! This is a picture from the upstairs. I'm really hoping that the kids don't decide that it's the perfect opportunity to sled down two flights on a sleeping bag or something.... The gym! Four kids, four different directions! I love it! You can also see how the family room will be open to the gym (someday). Can't wait to live here! :)

The front of the house. All the siding, soffit, and fascia is done on the second story. The brick layer is supposed to come this week to do that as well. I'm so excited to see how that wil look! Stay tuned!

September Update

September 8th. Doesn't it feel like October out there? I don't know where summer went, but it sure disappeared in a hurry! I just wanted to post some pictures of the kids. Cute stories to share that really give a glimpse into each one's personality. No wonder I am exhausted every night when I go to bed! (warning - if you have a weak stomach, you'll want to pass quickly over Kyler's)

CURREN
When we started our house earlier this summer, Curren found a baby painted turtle by the side of the gravel road. So all summer long, the turtle has lived in a small aquarium on our kitchen counter. All summer long, Curren has searched for a "playmate" for his turtle, wandering around the pond. For a few weeks now, I have told them that if he didn't find one by the end of the summer, I would let him order one off the internet. He had done the research and found that they cost $25. I agreed to this but made a MAJOR mistake....I didn't realize the shipping would be SO expensive! Just a warning out there to check the shipping if you ever plan to order a live animal over the internet! I definitely learned my lesson. Anyway, we ordered the turtle last week and Curren was so sweet and excited to order it and wait for it's arrival. I have to admit, it is really cute to see the two turtles together (the new one is the smaller one below). They already seem to like each other. I'm just hoping we don't have a tank full of turtle eggs someday.....does any one know how to tell if turtles are male or female? I guess we'll find out sooner or later...
KYLER
Poor Kyler. I apologize if this picture makes your stomach quesy. It definitely made mine quesy earlier today! I was in the kitchen sorting through the food pantry when Kyler walked into the kitchen, blood all over the side of his face and head. He was at the house after school and him and the neighbor boy (also in kindergarten) were playing and the neighbor boy was swinging a golf club and accidently hit Kyler in the head. Trying to decide if I should take him to the ER or urgent care, or do anything at all was a major deal, but in the end, I drove to Heidi's house and to my mom's house and talked to my doctor's nurse on the phone and all is well. Anyway, the amazing part in all of this is how tough Kyler is. He was quite proud of himself that he did not cry. Heidi was washing the wound out in the sink and asked him if he cried and he said, "No. I didn't cry. I'm six!" Wow - he is so tough. He's had stiches on his face 4 times since he was two and he's never acted like he's in a lot of pain. I'm very thankful that everything turned out okay tonight- I didn't really want to take him to the ER again (can anyone say...DHS??) and we are thankful that he was not hurt more severly. It was just a few inches from his temple or from the front of his face. It makes me shiver at the thought of what could have been....

MYLES

Myles is becoming much more adventurous! Even though he STILL is not walking (14.5 months!!), he can get into everything! He can climb onto the couch, onto the dining room chairs, and into the BATHTUB! This was him tonight when he decided to join Kyler in the tub while I was checking my email. There's a reason why we have to keep the bathroom door closed at all times. At least this time it was the bathtub - usually when he escapes to the bathroom, he goes straight for the toilet. Ugh.....

MACY

This is Macy and her favorite cereal. She has PERFECT English most of the time, but some things are too cute to correct. Her favorite cereal is "Dirty Bubbles." To most people, they are know as Fruity Pebbles, but every time she says it, it brings a smile to our face. :) Last Friday we were at a picnic for work and she was explaining to one of my co-workers that she was drinking "Princess Juice." It was actually a can of Diet Pepsi but we won't tell her that....

My kids are the best! We are so blessed! Have a great week!

Shingles!!!!!

This weekend was a HUGE weekend for us! We had lots of help and were able to get most of the shingles on the house! We were hot, sweaty, dirty, and tired but it was so worth it! A great way for Kyle to celebrate his 30th birthday! :)

Here are some pics of the way we spent our long weekend....

Kyle and my dad on Friday....excited to start shingling!

Thank you SO MUCH to the family and friends that helped us out!

Mom and Dad...Heidi and Aaron...

Cliff...

Heather....

Joe....

the boys.... Kyle and I....

Some pics of all the work we accomplished!....

The (almost) finished roof! Doesn't it look great! Couldn't have done it without our awesome family and friends! Thanks again!!!!

and I don't have a picture, but a thank you to Grandma Barb and Grandpa Bill who were on kid duty!

When the kids did hang out at the house with us, this is where they stayed.....in the "pig pen!" It has worked out great!

I have more to share, but it's going to have to wait. I'm exhausted! Have a great week!