~ What Matthew has taught me of late ~

Mama, when I grow up, I’m going to…
• Be a firefighter, and ride the big fire truck, and you can ride the other truck, okay?? Then we’ll go to the house and put out the fire!
• Be big, BIG, BIG. And then I can reach up there, right mama?
• Drive really, really fast! Go faster, mama!!
• Play the piano, and your trumpet. (He means clarinet.) Listen mama, it’s the Pink Panther song! (Goes to the piano and plays the song!)
• Be the Conductor, just like on Thomas. Do you want to be Junior??

And the phone… oh my goodness! I know all children love using the phone. It is imitation, it is learning, it is developing communication skills, it is (or rather – was) grabbing the phone cord and wrapping it around your finger so you could see it change color. In our house, we have two phones: one is a cell phone for work and the other is my personal cell phone. (We do not have a land line. Why pay all that money plus the cell phone bill?) The other day Matthew and I had a phone conversation while we were both in the living room at Mom and Dad’s house. He had one cell phone, I had the other, and he got to call me. (Mom helped him dial the right numbers.) Since both phones have the same provider of services it was all “free” time. We both had so much fun, and the laughter was great!

Click picture for artist nod. Another development in my poor child’s twisted sense of humor… Animaniacs. Do you remember this animated series from the early to late ‘90’s? (Music) “It’s time for Animaniacs, and we’re zany to the max, so just sit back and relax, you’ll laugh ‘till you collapse, we’re Animaniacs!” We now own volumes 1 & 2 of this series… and the third volume will be out later this year. I loved it when I was a kid… and now Matthew loves it too! He has decided that he will be Wakko, Uncle Paul is Yakko, and I am Dot. He will even wear his hat backwards like Wakko does. It is just too cute!

Matthew has taught me that life is good. I have begun planning a trip to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for our summer vacation. We are going to camp, and hike, and swim. I wonder sometimes, as I look at different websites, am I crazy? It will be a 4.5 year old boy with his mom out camping for 3 or 4 days. Do I really want to do this? And the answer is… YES! I am feeling like a kid again myself just thinking about it. (No comments necessary from the peanut gang who would remind me I am still a kid, thank you very much!) We’ll borrow a tent, air mattress, sleeping bags, and cooler. And the campsite fees are next to nothing!! I think this is one vacation that will be very easy to swing. If I can keep the sand out of the cameras, I should be able to get some good pictures to share also.

One final piece of news… Sassy has a new home! She moved to a farm last Saturday, and I am sure she is enjoying the new lifestyle. I came to the realization that we were just not home enough to adequately meet her needs… so I spread the word that I was looking for a good home. One came forward and we have lived through the last week without our beloved girl. It is really different. I think Matthew is handling it better than I am! I miss her greeting me when I walk into the house, and staring at you with those pleading eyes to throw her the tennis ball just one more time!! On the flip side, there has been an amazing release: I don’t worry about how long I will be gone from the house. I don’t worry if plans suddenly change and I don’t have the opportunity to provide her some exercise. I don’t worry that Matthew will pull on her coat and Sassy will retaliate. (Really – I wouldn’t blame her either – Matthew is a strong little stinker and I have difficulty at times… just imagine how it would be for a dog!)

That’s all for now, folks. With Easter right around the corner, I am sure the next posting will have pictures of all the things we did with the extended family that day. (Unless I post between now and then; which is highly unlikely!) Until then, God Bless each and every one of you!

May the Luck o' the Irish...

Bring us SPRING!!! Happy St. Patrick's Day to all - and happy birthday to those special family members celebrating today, too!!

Maybe it's just me... but turning the clocks forward three weeks earlier than "normal" (couldn't they just pick a time and stick to it?!?!?!) and seeing the daylight doing its thing, makes my body think the warmer weather should be here too. And it is most decidedly NOT.

Okay... so we are in Michigan, in March. I get that, just like everyone reading this gets it. (Yes, yes, we know Val - get on with it! Okay - getting on with it...) I know that we go from severe cold to insanely warm and back again in the span of a few hours. I know that our winter this year has really been nothing to complain about. (Unless, of course, you want to complain about the lack of snow!) But Thursday morning, and this morning, when I let the dog out, there it was on the ground... snow. Now that we are getting into the days of longer light (or is it just later light - because it is now pitch black when I get up in the mornings??) I look for warmer weather to come along too.

I even think that Matthew is in the same boat. Thursday morning, as we were leaving the house, he stops on the step (I almost knock him over!) and says "Mama... winter came back. There's snow!" When we got to Mom and Dad's, I told Dad about what Matthew said, and then Matthew asked why it was winter again. So the lessons about seasons has now started. He knows that winter means snow, and that spring comes after winter. Now he knows that spring means rain and mud. Soon enough it will be time to teach him about summer and fall.

Everyone is continuing to do well. It appears we have gotten over all the drama of the past few weeks and things are settling into a new pattern. (At least I hope so!!) I am working to find some freeware that will allow me to do video editing and such so I can post more "live" Matthew action here for all to see. I think that is about everything for now. Enjoy the new pictures (they were taken just last week!) And if there is anything you want to hear about that I'm not posting, take a few minutes, leave a comment to let me know! Happy March and warm Spring feelings are sent your way from us!! ~ Valerie & Matthew

Oh... the DRAMA!!!!!

I used to joke around that I never had any drama in my life. It was in the lives of my friends and I lived vicariously through that. Well wouldn't you know it?? The moment I get to a place where I've resolved that life is good, the drama begins!! (Side note - picture is Matthew with his cousins at a recent family dinner.)

• I was seeing a guy - that's over.
• Work staffing was getting sorted out - it's confused again.
• Everyone with colds was on the mend - family is in the hospital. (And now everything is fine again.)
• Have plans for a quiet weekend - life gets in the way.
  

Are we in some type of zero-sum game here? There is a set amount of drama in the world and the total sum never changes... just who has what amount of it?? I've decided I am just going to laugh about it, and remember the blessings that God has granted to me in my life! (One of those blessings is the ability to laugh - even when I want to cry instead.)

Biggest blessing - Matthew of course! I was at Mom and Dad's last night for dinner, getting there after the meal had already started. It is so wonderful to hear my little boy's voice ringing out "Is that you mama?" And when I answer yes, to hear him tell Grandpa and Grandma, "My mama is here!" Then it was time to receive the directions for going into the dining room to sit down and eat, because it is dinner time. What a riot!!

So one of the things that I have really been wanting to do is get some video of Matthew on the site. I can tell stories here, and post pictures... but I thought it would be really cool to actually let you see him in action. I have been looking into it for a while now and finally took the time to figure out how it all works. (Without having to use You Tube!!! Big bonus here!!!)

I have a digital camera that also captures video - the quality is not exactly the best in the world... but it IS good enough to get the point across. We finally celebrated Christmas with my friend Sheri and her family just after mid-February. While we thought we were taking pictures the camera was actually set to video capture - so what you see is really candid. Click on the picture and you will be linked to my web album where the video is actually posted. (You just need to hit the back arrow after the video is over to get back to this site. - Or close a window... not sure how it will open in your individual web browser!)