Ben is 10!!!

February is our busy birthday month with both Abby and Ben's birthdays.  We had a combined family celebration for Ben and Abby with Nana, Gramps, and Uncle Jeff on Friday.  We had pizza, opened presents, and then had cup cakes and ice cream.  Ben got lucky and was able to open all his gifts that night, since the actual day of his birthday would be too busy.  Abby dressed up as a Birthday Princess for most of the evening.  She is really enjoying being 4.  She tells everyone we see - even the checkers in the grocery store...it's funny.

Ben and Princess Abby

Blowing out candles (we only used 1 for Abby this time since she had a hard time with her 4 on her birthday).

As part of Ben's gift, Mike and I bought him two tickets to see the Harlem Globetrotters the next evening.  I'm the lucky one who got to go with him because Mike was stuck at home trying to finish homework for his Master's. 

 Ben bought a Globetrotter ball with money he got for his birthday.  After the game he was able to have a couple of the players and the coach sign it.  Ben really enjoyed the evening.  The Globetrotters have really great skills, but they were also very amusing. 

 Monday night I made Ben's requested birthday dinner (homemade macaroni and cheese) since he wouldn't be home for dinner on his birthday.  Yesterday (his birthday) I took cookies up to his classroom in the afternoon.  After school he had just enough time to come home, have a quick snack, do his homework, change and then head off to basketball practice.  Then Mike took him straight from practice up to the church to get his car checked in for his Pinewood Derby.  Abby and Jessie were sick yesterday, so they stay home, but Josh and I met them when it was time for the Derby to start.  Ben's car didn't win, but he had fun anyway.  I brought cup cakes for refreshments and everyone sang Happy Birthday (this is why we celebrated on Friday...).  I think overall he had a great birthday!

Things about Ben right now:

1.  He's really into basketball right now.  He loves playing it and is getting good.  He also enjoys watching it on t.v. and playing a NBA game on the iPod.

2.  He likes his airsoft guns and just got a new 'sniper riffle' for his birthday.  It's nice we have a big back yard that borders a greenbelt that he can shoot all he wants. 

3.  He is an early riser and stays busy all day. 

4.  He often comes home with jokes/riddles that he likes to tell.  I can't say they are always funny, but I usually laugh because he is so into telling it and thinking they are funny himself.

5.  He is still sweet at heart and can be a really sweet big brother to Abby (as you can see in the birthday photos above).  He loves to make her laugh (and of course he loves the attention she gives him). 

It's so exciting (and scarey sometimes, too) to see my children growing and maturing and turning into really great people.  We are all so blessed to have Ben as a member of our family.  We love you, Ben!



Abby Turns 4!

It was Abby's birthday on Friday.  She'd been counting down from 'nine sleeps', so to her it seemed to take forever.  She was so excited about her birthday when she woke up, but it didn't take too long before she asked, "when does my birthday start?".  I had to explain to her that the other kids had to go to school for the day and we wouldn't have her cake and presents until after dinner.  I felt so bad!  Anyway, she still had a good day.  [She got to have lunch all alone with Mommy and Daddy the day before (since Mike was working from home) and she chose to get McDonald's (wouldn't be our first choice, but I think that's what most 4 years olds would choose).]  After we got ready for the day, Abby and I played the game Mouse Trap.  Then we went ice skating (during their lunch break special noon - 2:00) and had a great time.  It was so nice because there were A LOT fewer people there than the day we went over the holiday break.  We just hung out at home the rest of the afternoon until the kids came home from school.  I made homemade macaroni and cheese and broccoli (per Abby's request) for dinner and then we had her birthday cake and ice cream for dessert.  It's a good thing kids are so easily pleased. Abby had told me she wanted a doggy cake.  I thought maybe just a cute dog face, but she wanted body and all. So, early in the week, I drew a dog on a piece of paper and then she told me how she wanted it colored.  Well, as you'll see from the photo of the cake below, I'm not much of an artist when it comes to a dog.  At least she wanted it to be very colorful which makes it almost look like it's suppose to have been drawn by a 4 year old...  After cake, she opened presents, of course.  It was so fun to see her face light up when she'd open a gift, or when we brought it out of the closet.  The simplest things made her smile and get so excited.  I think she had a really great birthday!

Things about Abby right now:

1.  She's really good at recognizing her letters, both capital and lower case, and their sounds.

2.  She's a good counter and recognizes most of the number up to 9.

3.  She's very determined.

4.  She's also very stubborn.

5.  She definitely knows how to work the system with Mommy (okay, I've turned soft or maybe just lazy in some of my parenting...)

6.  She still doesn't like to go to bed, but she has gotten better.  She uses the excuse that she's scared, so I usually have to sit on her bed until she's almost asleep (even though Josh sleeps in the same room).

7.  She knows how to handle her brothers.

8.  She loves watching tv, playing Wii, playing games on the computer and would do that all day if I let her. 

9.  She loves board games.

10.  She's very athletic and loves riding scooters (especially her new one with streamers and a bell "just like Jayme and Alaina's", Abby says), bikes, kicking the soccer ball, trying to play basketball, running, skipping, etc.

Abby - we're so glad that you joined our family 4 years ago.  We love you!

Ice Skating:

Playing Mouse Trap:

Her rainbow doggy cake: 

Opening presents: 

Holiday Fun

Happy 2011!  We had a good year here at the Matyas home.  As usual, it feels like it went by quickly.  We had a great Christmas and New Year's and break off from school (16 days to be exact, and Mike had 11 days off of work).  When the kids went back to school this past Monday, I'm not sure I was really ready to get back to a schedule and have them gone all day.  They got along so well over break that I wasn't itching to get them out of the house.  Here's a recap of some of the things that we did.

Ben and Josh participated in a little play that the Primary put on for the Ward Christmas Party.  Ben was one of the Three Wise Men and Josh a shepard.

Christmas card photo shoot. If you got our Christmas card, you'll recognize the group photo at the end of the head shots. 

Josh made gingerbread houses with graham crackers at school and convinced me that we needed to do the same here at home.  Each of the kids made their own little house and then nibbled on them over the following week of Christmas.

Christmas Eve morning we headed over to Mike's parents' house (Steve and Beckie) for brunch.  Afterwards, we opened our stockings that Beckie puts together for each of us every year and then the kids opened their presents from their grandparents and uncles.  Steve had to work that afternoon and evening, that is why we did it in the morning this year. We headed home around 4:30 p.m. after enjoying a relaxing day of playing with new toys and games, family time, and of course yummy snacks!  We enjoyed a quiet evening at home and just before bed read the story of Christ's birth from the bible as one last reminder to us all the real reason we celebrate Christmas.  Christmas day we opened presents in the morning, had a nice big homemade breakfast, and then enjoyed time together as we all played with our new 'toys'.  We headed over to Mike's parents' house for a nice Christmas dinner with his parents and brothers, Dave and Jeff.  It was a wonderful relaxing day!

Tuesday after Christmas we headed to the Pacific Science Center in the afternoon.  We bought a membership this year while my Mom was visiting in November.  Mike and Jessie were hoping to go to the Harry Potter exhibit, but it was sold out.  We spent the majority of our time in the MindBender Mansion exhibit (just like last time...) trying to figure out the puzzles.  It was fun to be there as a whole family.  Afterwards, we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner (which actually turned out to be a dissappointment.  None of us were very impressed by our food.  I guess we won't be going back any time soon.)  This day was actually the day of our 16th Wedding Anniversary.  It was a great day!

Thursday after Christmas I took the kids ice skating at the Everett Comcast Center for the very first time.  I haven't been skating since college.  There were lots of falls and some tears by the younger kids, but after the first hour, everyone was able to skate without holding onto the wall and we really enjoyed the second hour.  Everyone (but Ben) is already wondering when we can go back!

For New Year's Eve, we had a nice dinner of steak, clams, and shrimp here at home.  Then, Jessie went to her youth party at her Young Women President's home.  Jessie actually organized the entire event for one of her young woman personal progress projects.  She had to decide what they were going to do, distribute food assignments, make invitations, and more.  She did a wonderful job and she said that everyone had fun!  At home, Abby ended up falling asleep early (for her...) on the couch, so Mike, the boys, and I played nerf basketball for a while and then a game of Scrabble.  It was a great night! None of this might sound especially exciting to all of you, but enjoying time with my husband and my kids is my favorite way to spend my time (at least most of the time :) ). 

I hope all my family and friends also had a nice Christmas and New Year and here's wishing all of you a GREAT 2011!!

It's Looking A Lot Like Christmas...

We got out the tree, decorations, and Christmas music and decorated on Friday.  I usually like to wait until at least December 1st, but the snow really got us looking forward to Christmas this year!

Thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year.  We had a great, relaxing day.  The kids played in the fresh snow first thing in the morning and then the feast was served at noon.  Mike's parents, Steve and Beckie, and his two brothers, Dave and Jeff, joined us.   Our turkey, pear-pecan stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, brussel sprouts and carrots, rolls, and cranberry salad served with sparkling cider was soooo good.  Pumpkin pie, apple pie, and pumpkin cheesecake ended the bountiful feast.  We couldn't have asked for better food for the day!  After we rolled away from the tables, we played games, LEGOs, and Wii and watched our traditional Elf movie to get us looking forward to Christmas.  Snacks in the afternoon and the feast all over again for a late dinner was more than we needed, but it's only one day, right?  We enjoyed our day of relaxing, eating, and spending time with family.  We have SO much to be thankful for, too many things to list.  Family is at the top, though, so I hope all our family, no matter where they are, know how much we love and appreciate them - we are so thankful for you!

Snow

As always, snow is a big deal around here, especially if we get it as early as November.  Last year, we didn't get any, so the kids were so excited (so was I)!  Unfortunately, I'm terrible at documenting things with the camera, so I only got photos of the snow early on Monday.  We did get more snow than these photos show.  It was a lot of fun sledding in our own yard and coming in for hot chocolate afterwards.  It even snowed again for a fresh 2 inches for Thanksgiving morning.  It was weird having a white Thanksgiving.  Maybe this is a sign for a white Christmas....who knows.