Book Worm

He loves books and is an amazing reading. Right now he is reading "The Hobbit". Next I think I will move him unto "The Lord of the Ring" series. This shot reminds me of an old "on the set" shot.

School Time

This is Daniel's first year in school ever. He is only going two days a week but is excited to be with his buddy Parker featured in the second window. Excited for all my boys. Excited for the year. Looking forward to their growth and mine. :)

Matthew's Ghost..haha!

Trying to experiment with flash and get use to what it does at different settings. I wanted some movement but also some sharp focused parts. The boys were playing around so I pulled out the gear.....an new batteries since my flash wasn't firing properly at Skate Night! :( Anyway, this is what I got and love it. Matthew said he looks like a ghost. Fun stuff.

A much needed nap!!

Not only was he up late every night we were at camp but after we got home yesterday from our 6 hour drive he slept at a friends house and was up until 1am. He is an early bird and those kind of late nights always do him in. I made him lay down, though he picked the carpet in between the coffee table and couch, and he took over a 2 hour nap.

Honor Roll

 

The both got honor roll for both semesters which got them the presidential award too. Great job guys. I love how the are both already untucked and without a tie. hahaha 

Mrs. Collins

Today was Matthew's last day of his first year at charter school. His first teacher in public charter school was Mrs. Collins. She was the best. Not only was she the perfect fit for Matthew and a wonderful person to work with but she was God fearing and a total encouragement. I remember my fourth grade teacher and how awesome she was and I have no doubt Matthew will always remember her too.  There were times he called her mom and then called me Mrs. Collins. Funny.

Matthew's Animation

By far one of the neatest gifts ever! Eddie called me from Israel asking if the boys would like this. I said it was probably too advanced. Boy was I wrong and I am so glad he got it anyway. Matthew has been at the computer ALL day today working on different videos with Lego people and that clay slug you see next to the computer. The website is Klutz. So very cool!! Here is one of Matthew first tries at it. The ones he did today were amazing and SO creative!!

Love Never Dies

It reads..."My love for you will never die." How sweet is that? Matthew made this for me at school. Oh the little things that I missed when they were home. I love his school. I love his teacher. I am excited for him to be there all the way through High School. Some would say public school is the wrong choice. Some would say I am compromising. I say it is the perfect choice for him and me and my family. Yes, there are things I will miss with them NOT being home but God is the one who gives us all things particularly our love for each other that will never die. I love him....Matthew and my God!

Hard work

So the boys were being their normal selves during Monday school and goofing off so I told Jon, the owner of the home we are in, to put them to work. Yep, they got to dig up the grass and weeds in the front yard. Fun, fun, fun! Matthew looks less than thrilled but he actually worked the hardest and ended up getting the largest frozen yogurt too. Jon ended up treating them. Unfortunately we are still up doing  Matthew's work to turn in tomorrow. Last weeks Sea World adventure threw us a bit off. :/ 14 more days of school left. Yes!

Best Picture Bible....

...EVER, hands down! Jesse got this from someone for his birthday and the boys love it! Matthew pours over it in the morning during breakfast and I think he is going to finish it soon. Look how thick it is! What a great way for them to absorb all the best action filled stories ever....bible stories! This would be a sure winner as a present for any kid!

Too Much Fun!

Jesse and Matthew are something else! They have WAY too much fun together. See that blank piece of paper in front of him? Yep, this is why he needs to be in the 5 day program. The room in the background is where Matthew works so they can still hear and see each other but Matthew finished super early today and decided to lounge on the couch and tell Jesse jokes. I love their friendship but they laugh the entire way through school. One time they past a note in school AT HOME?  Really! 

Matthew's 10 on 1-4-11

Whenever one of our boys turns ten they get to go on a camping trip with Eddie to Joshua tree. This year was Matthew's turn. They sleep in the back of the car, have a breakfast cookout in the morning with little smokies, and go for rock climbing hikes...as well as a bit of extra special devotion time with papa.

Here are the sleeping quarters. This year it snowed and was FREEZING!! They got in the car pretty early but Eddie ended up waking around 10pm. Wide awake and a touch of claustrophobia he wasn't sure he was willing to hang in the car until morning. So, breaking tradition they went here to get a good nights sleep......

....Can you find the name in the beautiful comforter?

In the morning they went back to the camp sight to keep with tradition and eat a ymmuy breakfast in the freezing cold weather. 

Yes those white specks are snow. Brr! Notice Matthew's hands in his pockets.

    He has the best eyes!!...

    ....sometimes!!! :)

Him and Eddie have the same sense of humor!

My Matthew

Not sure when or why I started to say "My Matthew". I don't say it with any of the other boys. I miss him. We were so busy with the holidays and getting ready for Jesse's party and we haven't been going out on our date nights with the boys. Also, he got a special trip to Joshua Tree with Eddie for his birthday and I didn't get to be with him. I just feel like I haven't spent time with him in awhile. I was reading outside in my lawn chair while he was riding his bike but he said he was too tired to ride (because we have been so busy) so he decided to come sit with me instead. I was glad. The sun had just set and the clouds were a pinkish/orange. I like the color it cast on the two of them.

Quote of the Week

Matthew, " If Elvis Presley hadn't died he would still be alive."

Really?  We laughed so hard!

 It wasn't until a day later that we figured out he meant that he would be young enough to still be alive as opposed to someone who lived in the 1800's.

Matthew and Christopher.

They were enjoying each other's company!

Mud - Round 2

It was POURING and their hole filled up with water FAST! We aren't use to that in Ca. So I had to dig out their raincoats and insist they put boots on, which I also had to dig out. The shorts, well let's just say their legs froze!

This was their new game, jumping on the upside down sled and making it to the other side without landing in the freezing, muddy water.

Piece of cake for Matthew. Your turn Daniel.

Okay, let's try it from the other side. Matthew is patiently waiting to see Daniel succeed.

He just needs to steady the sled in the middle...

...wait, maybe it just needs to move over some more. Matthew, "I'm going inside!"

Back to the other side to "fix" it....

...and then edging along the fence to the "better" side...

He stood there for the longest time. He was audibly talking himself through it. "I go to gymnastics!" At  one point he slipped and almost fell in. Am I a horrible mom for secretly wishing he would fall in just so I could get a good "shot"?

Finally!!! In the course of his arranging the sleds he had put all three together for a sturdier hold. After his first successful attempt he went down to one sled and started "retalking" himself through it. "I did it with three!" He is persistent and brave! He insisted I leave because I was a distraction. He ate it and came to the house crying. I missed my shot!

Lego Store

Matthew's birthday is on Monday but we really wanted to give him his gift today, a trip to the Lego store. We wanted to go as a family since none of have ever been and Lego's seem to be a running theme in our house over the past year.  He got to pick whatever he wanted within a price range. Well I guess that isn't whatever he wanted especially since his first pick was almost  3 times what we were willing to spend.

Choose a brick...

Choose a head...

choose a body....

Choose a hat...

AND

choose an accessory, aka a weapon according to my boys!

His final choice. He started building it right when we arrived home. It has like 700 pieces. He should be busy for awhile.

Cereal Birthdays

Three of my boys have birthdays within the next 12 days. Our family tradition is to let them indulge in any sugary cereal they want for their birthday. They talk about which one they are going to pick all year long and it has finally come down to the wire. The first celebration is on Monday. I think the first pick may be Captain Crunch this year. Looks like last year was Cocoa Puffs for the first round. Here are a few pictures from last year as I reminisce though they are more focused on the gift then the cereal.

We thought a pocket knife would be a good "big" boy present.....

......but maybe we should have considered a different gift!

Books

Matthew loves to read and has been plowing through books over Christmas vacation. If it isn't computer/Wii games it is a book. What a nice balance. It helps that we don't have t.v. either. So glad we got rid of it.

I love this picture. Because he is a super fast reader, sometimes I think he reads paragraphs at a time, this picture is funny to me. It captures what he does in his mind.

A moment that REALLY matters

Yep, this is one we don't want to forget. He is SO funny.