December Photo Project: Day Twenty-five

I just watched my mom pull out of the driveway and head home and commented to Mondo that this has been a really great two days. We had such a good time in Muleshoe last night with his family, playing cards, unwrapping presents, eating and laughing. Then today it was a three part wave of gift opening, more food, a visit to the movies and then dinner over here. The family, the fun, the memories have all been things that make me warm and fuzzy inside. I'm sad to know that it's over for another year and almost can't wait to see what next year brings. Having Christmas with a child brings a whole new element to the holidays and each year, seeing Matthew understand things more, makes it more memorable and more fun for us as well.
Gift giving was done in waves because of the huge amount of presents Matthew had to unwrap. After opening three or four, he stopped to play with the Imagitex jungle he got. We had to explore all the animals, various levels of jungle and buttons and put all the spiders, snakes and the parrot in their appropriate places. When he was done exploring that it was time to move on to the wireless computer system he got. That sounds fancier than it really is -- it's a Leap Frog learning system that has a wireless keyboard and mouse that work with a console that plug into the TV. The game cartridges teaching letter recognition, number recognition, shapes and patterns, most of which he can do without too much trouble, but it's all done using a computer keyboard so he also learns how to use a mouse and a keyboard. He navigated his way around things without too much trouble and quickly found his favorite games, which occupied the better part of his day.

Part two of the gift giving took place at my mom's right before lunch and also involved play time with the new treasures. After opening each present, he investigated what it was, opened it and played with it when necessary and then was ready for the next gift. We also are blessed with a child who seems to understand that he is lucky and thankful for what he has because he stopped several times today and offered a heartfelt thank you to us and to my mom for the gifts.

Tonight saw round three of the gift giving and this round brought about the gifts that will stretch his imagination and exploration. Mondo and I got him a doctor's kit and a fireman's kit, both of which contain all the necessary goods to make work easier -- a stethascope, thermometer, blood pressure cuff...fireman's helmet, axe, fire extinguisher, all of which come in handy and work extremely well with the fire truck Santa brought.

I don't know where we're going to store all the goods Matthew got this year, but it has been so much fun watching him play with everything. Blessings, blessings, blessings.

December Photo Project: Day Twenty-four

The weather reports said we had a 60% chance of snow yesterday and just when it seemed like we were going to miss out, the rain turned to sleet and the sleet turned to snow. It's not much, only about an inch, but it has blown and blown and blown all night and made some pretty significant snow drifts in places. This morning Matthew and I headed out to get goodies for Santa and when I opened the front door and saw a snow drift as big as my child I decided an alternate route needed to be sought out. After we returned and got the baking out of the way, Matthew and I headed out to play in the drifts. Matthew started out very tentative, not really wanting to do much, but the more we played the more adventurous he became. I'm really enjoying my Christmas break with him this year, lots of memories and good times being had by both of us. Merry Christmas!

December Photo Project: Day Twenty-three

I watched Challenge on the Food Network last night and they were making gingerbread houses. Contestants were all ages and the gingerbread houses took all sorts of shapes and forms. I watched, impressed that even young children could fashion such masterpieces out of things edible. Today Matthew and I tried our hand at a gingerbread house and for the first attempt I'd say it wasn't bad. We're a long way off from even considering entering the Food Network's next competition, but it was still fun putting it all together. I don't know what we're supposed to do with it now that it's finished, but it was fun putting it up anyway.

December Photo Project: Day Twenty-one and Twenty-two

Inspiration has taken a back seat and my excuse is that the last two days of my vacation have been spent working my tail off. Yesterday morning I began cleaning the walls and base boards of the kitchen, a job long over due and quite disgusting. I was then offered a much needed break to go and look at beds for Matthew. My mom, Matthew and I all headed over to Portales where we found a bed and found that my car was too small to transport it back to town. I then drove Mom and Matthew back to town, traded vehicles and went back to Portales. By the time I got home and did some more housework, the day was shot and pictures weren't. Yesterday's picture is a couple of days old and is all about Mother Nature. The first picture is of Matthew playing outside in the 60 degree weather. We started out playing golf and then moved to a game of baseball, except the bat was his putter and the baseball was one of the golf balls. I love baseball no matter how we decide to make it happen. The other picture is of a flock of geese that make their way over our house every evening around 4 p.m. I love to see them and hear them as they go off to parts unknown.

Today has been somewhat of a repeat of yesterday. I took Matthew to school and ran a few errands this morning and then fought with the bed frame and tried to set up Matthew's new bed. When this failed I began working on my dossier, which was also a failure for most of the day. My picture from today is of Nero, our husky-mix dog, who got to pay the vet a visit this morning. His nose has been peeling for months now and I kept thinking and hoping it was going to get better. When I bonked him on the nose the other day on accident and it started bleeding I decided it wasn't getting any better and it was time to see the vet. She said he has some sort of auto immune disorder and sent me home with $80 worth of medicine for him. I may be playing the fool here, but I hate to think that Nero is suffering, his nose looks really painful. I have to give him these pills 3 times a day and I think he'd be just as happy eating them with his meals, but I spruced up the first batch with some peanut butter. He was thrilled to have the treat and to choke down three pills.

December Photo Project: Day Twenty

I can't believe there are only 5 more days until Christmas, where has the time gone?! This holiday season, and every holiday season for at least the past 16 years, I am thankful for family. Christmas Day 1992 my sister and I flew to England to be with my Dad who was very sick. Three weeks later we lost him and the holidays have been tough ever since, especially for my mother. I am blessed to have a Mom who is always there for me and who is supportive. She is always there when I need her and is always eager to have Matthew. Last night she sat with Matthew while Mondo and I went to his Christmas party. When we got home the two of them were snuggled in watching a movie and soon after our return, they enjoyed some books together. My mom is an avid reader and I hope that's something Matthew picks up from his "Baba" because Mondo and I aren't readers.

I am also thankful for my sister, who always keeps us guessing about where she's going and what she's doing. Secretly there's a part of me that would like to be the adventurer like she is. I am thankful for my loving and supportive husband. I don't know how he puts up with me some days, but I love him more now than I did when we met. He's amazing, strong and so fabulous to watch with Matthew. I love sneaking moments when he doesn't know I'm watching and seeing him and Matthew interacting together.

And finally, there aren't enough words to express my love and feelings for the amazing miracle that blessed us nearly four years ago. Matthew is everything I hoped for and more of what I didn't know I wanted or needed. His amazing smile, wonderful personality, keen sense of humor and pleasant demeanor make him the bundle that I call son, and I couldn't ask for anything more.

I am thankful for what I have and miss what I have lost. Merry Christmas to friends and family near and far. I love you and I'm glad to have you in my life.

December Photo Project: Day Nineteen

We spent part of our Friday night going to the annual Christmas light/nativity scene at the zoo. Last year was the first year we went and we really enjoyed it. This year they added to it and allowed viewing at more of the exhibits. It's kind of hard to see the animals in the dark, but there is enough light to see them moving about in their cages. It's actually fun to go at night and see the animals because they are more active. The event is free and they offer hot chocolate to everyone, which makes it even better. After we were done we headed out and looked at Christmas lights. It was so much fun to have Christmas music playing in the car and to drive around with the ones I love looking at the lights. What made it even more fun was the excitement Matthew had for every house he saw decorated with lights. At one point I was driving and the little voice in the back said, "slow down, you're driving too fast." So followed orders and slowed down so he could see the lights. Then he said, "when I tell you to stop, you stop." Of course we had to stop outside the next two houses and analyze everything they had in their front yards, but it was entertaining to hear Matthew and my mom point things out, so it was worth it. Christmas is so much this year because Matthew gets it!

December Photo Project: Day Eighteen

Today was Matthew's Christmas party and I was lucky enough to get off of work early enough to attend the festivities. The kids had a gift exchange, well really a gifting to the classroom and then sat down to enjoy WAY too much sugar. After the kids were sufficiently stuffed they began making their way in my direction and asking me to read the books they received from one of their teachers. Before I knew it I was swarmed by three and four year olds coated in cookie, candy and chip residue. Within about 30 minutes of all of this I was ready to go, but couldn't convince Matthew. Finally, an hour later he was ready to go. Now I'm happy to be home, but ready for a nap!

December Photo Project: Day Seventeen

It would seem that my DPP pictures run in themes. First I did the two part series on icicles, now I'm working on sleep. Yesterday's photo showed Mondo trying to enjoy a nap on the couch, but the three year old in the house doing everything he could to make sure Dad didn't sleep. Today's picture shows the three year old asleep in the chair thanks to Dad (see how it comes full circle).

When I got up this morning I made my way through the living room and saw the quilt in the chair and began wondering when Mondo had gotten up in the night and why because the quilt wasn't in the chair when we went to bed. As I reached for the light I realized that there was a person under the quilt and after my initial shock, realized it was Matthew. I sat and enjoyed my ritualistic cup of tea and Good Morning America and Matthew never stirred. Okay, he stirred once, but only to reposition himself into a comfier position. During the first part of the stir he put his hand under his chin and reminded me of Mondo, that's how he sleeps. Then Matthew slung his hand over his head and there was me, that's how I sleep. He looked so cute I couldn't help but take a picture.

Even with the TV going, dryer on, computer starting up and mom flashing pictures in front of him he stayed asleep. When I woke him up and asked how he had gotten into the living room he explained that Dad had taken him in there because he was scared of the monsters in his room. Those darn monsters have been disturbing sleep for all of the Del Toro's for about a week. It's time for some monster busting so everyone can enjoy a full night's sleep.

December Photo Project: Day Sixteen

December Photo Project: Day Fifteen

Sunrise this morning from our office window.

December Photo Project: Day Fourteen

I am on the ball this morning. I'll probably be late to work, but it's worth it to know I have posted my DPP picture before the day is done! Last night Matthew took his first candy off the advent calendar that my sister and I used to use. My grandma made it and has been around for as long as I can remember. It was always a treat, literally, to be able to pick a candy of the calendar as we eagerly counted down to Christmas. Of course my favorite advent day was Christmas Eve because my mom always put a small package on the calendar for me and my sister and I was excited because we got to open something. I'm surprised my mom cut loose with the calendar, but thrilled to have it in the house and to pass on the tradition to Matthew. Now to find something for the 24!

December Photo Project: Day Thirteen

Matthew officially decided he was a big boy yesterday afternoon and threw his "higher" (pacifier) in the trash. He told us that he wanted to be a grown up and that he didn't need his higher anymore. We have been trying to get him to give this up for months and months, Mondo trying harder than me, with no luck. Then all of a sudden, out of the blue Matthew makes the decision and throws not one, but two of them in the trash. He went to bed without one and I convinced him that he was a big boy and didn't need one at nap time today. To celebrate this milestone Dad said he could get a toy while we were at Walmart. I'm not thrilled with the decision, but it's what he really wanted -- a giant machine gun complete with lights and sounds. The gun is almost as big as he is, but he goes and finds it every time we go to Walmart. He also explained that he wanted to be a grown up and pay for it, so I handed him the debit card and he made the transaction. My baby isn't a baby anymore and I'm having a tough time coming to terms with all this growing up in such a short amount of time!

December Photo Project: Day Twelve

Matthew woke up sick yesterday and has done a whole lot of nothing the last 24 hours. His day has basically centered around juice and cartoons. He doesn't have much of an appetite and doesn't seem too interested in getting dressed and doing anything. I guess boredom caught up with him after nap time today, though because I caught him sprawled out in the chair, watching cartoons and casting and reeling in his practice lure.

December Photo Project: Day Eleven

Today's picture is not the most exiciting picture I've ever taken, but it pretty well explains my life right now. The state of New Mexico requires teachers to submit a professional dossier before the completion of their fifth year of teaching. Basically it's a VERY detailed and lengthy paper on your teaching practices and it includes references and work samples. There are three sections, each requiring different information, different work from students, work with colleagues, blah, blah, blah. I have been working on this since September and at any given point since then it can look like a trash can threw up in our office. Papers, documents, resources are all strewn about in an effort to get to the finish line. While there is no set deadline, I have a self imposed deadline of Christmas, so I have taken a couple of days off of work this week to try and make the mad dash to the end. The end is in sight, but it still isn't complete. Today's effort was a little lacluster, but I have officially finished the first section and made the corrections. The next two sections should be easier to finish and my Christmas vacation should be dossier free. Now if you'll just send good vibes my way and pray that state says the ENTIRE dossier meets expectations so I don't have to redo anything.

December Photo Project: Day Nine and Ten

Okay, I missed yesterday, but I have a good excuse. I am taking a master's class so the district will let me keep my job. :-) Our school district has made it mandatory that everyone have a master's degree within five years or something along those lines. So I had class last night and no opportunity to take or post a picture. So the first picture is of Matthew writing his first Christmas letter to Santa. It's an old photo, but still cute, I think. I also like how we arrived at the photo.

One night recently Matthew said to me, "Mom, I can ask you a question?"

I wasn't sure where we were headed and just assumed he was going to ask for something to eat, but this is what came next: "Santa is coming to town?"

So our conversation centered around Santa and how he was going to get in to deliver the presents. I then asked if he wanted to write a letter to Santa so that he knew what to deliver. Thus our very first Dear Santa letter. For the record, Matthew has asked for a red firetruck for himself, a yellow firetruck for Mom and a jungle for Dad. I have it on good authority that all of that is going to happen. ;-)

The photo for today is of the ice on the window of the car this morning. The afternoons are shaping up to be quite decent, but the mornings are frigid. Yesterday we were in single digits, negative 1 with the wind chill. It was slightly more respectable today with a balmy 19 when I left for school this morning. I wish the picture was better, and like to think it would be if I shot it with my 35mm, but it's the best I could get with my digital.

December Photo Project: Day Eight

The sun is out right now for the first time in days. I think this may be a weather tease because rumor has it that a storm is going to hit tomorrow which is going to make the bottom fall out of the thermometer again and perhaps leave some snow. I don't know if it's true, but I am glad to finally see the sun and temperatures above 30, even if it means the wind is going to blow 90 mph today. Here are some pictures from this morning, before the sun made its appearance.

December Photo Project: Day Seven

Once again I found myself with a cool photo opportunity and no camera, and once again it involved birds. I'm starting to smell conspiracy! We had an assembly at school today that was the coolest thing ever. Usually I find assemblies to be a waste of time and they're pretty lame generally. When I heard that we had one today from the Fraternal Order of Eagles I couldn't imagine that it would be anything worth getting out of class for. I WAS WRONG!

This group was from Georgia and is part of SOAR - Save Our American Raptors. They brought a variety of different raptors, owls, hawks, eagles, falcon and a turkey vulture. Not only did we get to see them up close and learn all about them, they flew a couple of them right over our heads. I mean like within inches of your head! It was so cool!!

Okay, but that's not my photo, just thinking about how nice it would have been to talk about it and have a photo, but no camera. We did have a camera for our visit with Santa, though, and that is today's DPP entry. Matthew got to visit with Santa and let him know that he wants a red firetruck for Christmas. While we waited for the photographer lady to get the camera ready Matthew and Santa also talked about other things including the Texas Tech Red Raiders, which is when we were able to capture Santa and Matthew Gettin' Their Guns Up! Apparently Santa is a Tech fan too.

December Photo Project: Day Six

Last night we kept with our annual holiday tradition and camped out in my mom's shop window and watched the Christmas Light Parade. It becomes more fun each year because Matthew gets it and he enjoys it, which makes it more enjoyable for me too. Last night's parade was scheduled to start at six and I would have just made it in time after our trip to Lubbock, but I got a call when I was about 10 minutes outside of town informing me that the parade had already started. I didn't get to see much of it, it was about half way through when I got to town, but it was still nice to see and fun to hear Matthew's reactions. Christmas really is more fun with a little one in the house.

December Photo Project: Day Five

Today has been one of those days that has been spent mostly in fits of laughter as I enjoyed a shopping trip to Lubbock with a couple of friends. There probably should be some sort of law about the three of us getting together, but sadly no one has made or enforced such a law yet. And sadly, Lubbock probably paid the price!!

Our trip started with a trip to University Medical Center and with three Master's Degree having women getting lost at said hospital. We went to visit a friend who recently had a baby who was placed in the neonatal intensive care unit, more on that in a minute. We walked into the hospital, which at that point was more like a ghost town. The only people we saw were the people who walked in ahead of us and then for the next 10 minutes we walked around with not a clue about where we were, where we were going or how to get there. At one point I even said we should have left a trail of bread crumbs because I wasn't so sure we were going to make it back to the car. Not only did we find the car, but we were able to get a hold of Stephanie who directed us to the correct entrance and then walked us to the NICU.

This was my first trip to a neonatal intensive care unit and in all honesty it's a trip I could have gone my whole life without making and been just fine! Stephanie had her baby on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week and soon learned that Zachary has Epidermolysis Bullosa Simplex, a disorder that causes blisters to form on his skin if anything rubs on it. We stopped by the hospital to see mamma and baby Zachary and getting in was also an experience unlike any I've ever had. Stephanie literally had to teach me how to wash my hands before going in to see him. We stood and washed our hands for 3 minutes and if you don't think that's a big deal, stand at your bathroom sink and scrub for 3 minutes and see how you feel. After scrubbing and scrubbing I was sure we must be about done and when I looked at the timer on the sink it flashed in red numbers: 42 seconds! Seriously?! I've only been doing this for 42 seconds?!! I won't have to wash my hands for a week now because they are so clean.

When we walked in the babies were in their incubators and I tried not to gawk, but this was all so new to me it was hard not to. There were some teeny tiny babies in there and I just wanted to hold and love on all of them. After rounding a couple of corners we got to Zachary's little nook and I watched as Mom talked and cleaned and loved on him. He's such a sweet little boy with gorgeous eyes and I'm sorry he's going through this, but he seemed to be taking everything in stride. He was warm and dry and Mom was about to feed him, just what every baby needs. So today's picture is of Zachary -- the little trooper of the day. Stay strong Stephanie and you keep being cute and cuddly Zachary, it was nice to meet you!

December Photo Project: Day Four

I've been looking at other blog sites that are participating in the December Photo Project and I have to say that I'm really impressed by the talent people have. It was nice to see the variety of pictures and the creativity. I also think that this project may have given me the opportunity or the excuse to get out and work on some more creative photos, something I really haven't done in a while. During my newspaper days creative photography was something I did on a regular basis, but since I left that world I haven't done much. Most of my photography these days centers around my favorite subject, Matthew. The other thing I've relized in the four days since the DPP started, is that I have to carry my camera around with me so I don't miss those impromptu photo opportunities, which is what happened tonight when I picked Matthew up from school. There were about a bazillion birds circling, dancing and diving south of his school and I loved how they all looked, but had no camera with me. So note to self, put the camera in your purse so you're prepared!!

Tonights picture is a continuation of the icicle theme from yesterday. While much of the snow melted today, it didn't get warm enough to get rid of it all and the icicles are growing, looming overhead as we come and go from the house. I liked the humor and perhaps a little bit of the irony that we have icicles on our icicles.

December Photo Project: Day Three

I was a little surprised to find snow on the ground when I woke up this morning and even more surprised to see the blizzard-like conditions that quickly followed. We have had snow ALL day today and I'm really hoping we'll at least have a delay tomorrow. It was tough being out with all that snow. All I could think about was my warm house, my slippers and a blanket. It was still snowing when I got home and I really wanted to get a picture of Matthew catching snowflakes on his tongue, but an itty bitty tongue and itty bitty flakes made that a no go. While we were out freezing things off though, Matthew found some "ice cubes" on the picnic table that he had fun playing with. I always enjoyed playing with the icicles too, knocking them off the house was my favorite part. I don't so much enjoy snow and icicles now because it means that it's cold and I really don't like the cold. My ideal weather situation would be 80 degrees year round. I wouldn't mind the snow so much if there were a way to enjoy the beauty of it while also enjoy the temperatures of the tropics. At any rate, here's today's picture, Matthew knocking the icicles off the picnic table while framed by the icicles on the lawn chair.

Photo Project: Day Two

Okay, finding things to take pictures of may be more challenging than I thought. My life involves a two mile stretch of road that takes me from my house to school and back. Grading papers, playing stupid Facebook games and spending time my guys pretty well takes care of my day and if I photograph that, the 24 days leading to Christmas are all going to look the same. I had the camera with me today when we got haircuts and while that isn't groundbreaking news, I did manage to capture some cute photos at the beauty shop, so I'm going to cheat a little bit and post a few pictures because trying to decide which is better and which to post is too hard, especially since I'm sitting her shivering and longing for the electric blanket. Hope tomorrow brings about something exciting to shoot.

Joining the fun

Last year a friend of mine posted pictures on her blog every day as part of a December photo project. I loved looking at her blog to see what she was doing and was envious that I couldn't participate because my blog site didn't allow pictures unless I paid for the premium package. Haley turned me on to this blog site and now I'm going to make it my goal to participate as well. The photo project as that participants post a photo a day until Christmas and more information can be found here http://www.tredways.org/december-photo-project/ For my first picture I'm cheating a little bit and posting a picture of the snow we had on Sunday. Snow days are few and far between around here and I have to show the snowball fight between Matthew and his dad. I'll make sure and post new photos each day from here on out. I look forward to the challenge and seeing what everyone else is posting.

Unconditional love

Last night Matthew and I were sitting in the living room and randomly, out of the blue, this is the coversation we had:

Matthew: "Mom, you can still keep me when I am old?"
Me: "Of course honey, I'll keep you forever because I love you."
Matthew: "But you keep me when I'm old"
Me: "Yes honey, I'll keep you when you're old."
Matthew: "But I just farted!"

Just when I was figuring out the terms of our contract and agreeing to them, he changed the rules. I guess I'm still bound by contract, even though there may be gas involved. Raising a boy is nothing like growing up with a sister. Boys are a different breed!

3=development of imagination and mood swings you would not believe

I've been trying to figure out what to blog about. It seems I have lots of little snipits, but nothing that I ever feel is worthy of a single blog. I have friends who blog regularly and I'm so envious. I just feel like my life isn't interesting enough to write weekly. I either need to stop blogging or get a life. I think the latter is probably a better idea. At any rate, here are the snipits compiled into one, disjointed blog:

One look at my son and you can see that the apple doesn't fall from the tree, unfortunately the apple isn't anywhere near my orchard. Matthew is the spitting image of his dad and when I'm out shopping with him I'm sure people figure I either a) adopted him, b) I'm babysitting or c) I stole him and I'm stocking up on goods before heading for the border. The only thing I have to show for my efforts is the scar from the C-section. I was room and board for 9 months and that's it! Over the last couple of years though I have noticed a Matthews family resemblance and as Matthew gets older it seems he looks like his father and acts like his Auntie Vicky. That's not a bad thing, except he seems to have picked up one of her finer characteristics...gagging. When we were little family outings could be a bit of an adventure because Vicky was VERY particular about what public bathrooms she would use. If we walked into a bathroom and it was dirty she wouldn't even stop, she turned right around and walked out. But cleanliness wasn't the only factor in bathroom picking (apparently). If it was clean, but smelled funny, that was an automatic trip out the door. And funny didn't necessarily mean in that bad, gross smelling bathroom way. We could walk into a clean bathroom that smelled like Pine Sol, had that just been cleaned smell, and sometimes that was too much to take and out she went.

Well, my darling son seems to have inherited his aunt's over active sense of smell and her gag reflex. Matthew can smell anything, I mean anything, before most normal people are even aware of a faint scent. I think there are probably dogs that envy his sense of smell. That's great when the smell is something lovely like cookies baking, or chocolate, but if it's anything that's off, look out! Cows, grain in the grain elevator doing whatever it does in there, and public bathrooms are quickly becoming our mortal enemies. As soon as he smells these we are greeted with, "it stinks in here," followed by a never ending stream of gags. The other day I took him into the Walmart bathroom because he had to take care of some business and before we even had his shorts down he was complaining of the smell and gagging. I hadn't noticed that it smelled until he pointed it out. I agree, it wasn't the best smell in the world, but I could deal with it, especially if it meant that I had business to take care of. Quick pit stop and we were bolting out the door, never hearing the end of how badly it smelled in there.

Obviously I don't have any idea what it's like to raise a girl, but I can tell you that raising a boy has been eye opening for me. I have a sister, hung around with girls growing up and didn't know the first thing about boys until one came into my life three years ago. Now I'm frantically searching for the owner's manual on boys because they are certainly different critters than girls. Take for instance our most recent bout of "boyism." Matthew has been swimming in the backyard pool and most evenings he decides this on a whim while we're sitting outside watching life pass us by. The first time he decided he wanted to swim I told him to take his shirt and shorts off with the idea that he could just swim in his underwear. He had other plans and stripped down, thus beginning many a night skinny dipping. So Sunday we were at the public pool in Portales and we had been swimming for at least a couple of hours when my friend starts making weird sounds and pointing. When I look at what she's pointing at I see Matthew standing in ankle deep water peeling his swim trunks off. Mondo was able to get to him before I could and before he was completely stripped down. When I asked him what he was doing, he simply answered that he wanted to swim. Apparently he had a sudden desire to swim like he does at home. Note to self: Keep a spare pair of trunks outside and try to discourage skinny dipping because it may come back to haunt you.

Matthew hasn't been 3 for very long, two months to be exact, but there have been times in those two months that I find myself wondering if he'll make it two 4. We didn't really deal with terrible twos, but three is a completely different story. On the positive side of things, his vocabulary and ability to string sentences together has grown significantly in the last few months. He's more willing to try new things, from unusual foods (he insisted on having crab while we were on vacation) to finally dunking his head under the water at the pool. We're still working on potty training, but we no longer have to shell out $20 a payday for diapers. But probably my favorite thing right now is the development of his imagination. Matthew has had an interest in pirates for quite some time now and that interest has blossomed into more life like pirate play. One day he found Mondo's belt laying around and he picked it up and asked me to wrap it around him so he could tuck his sword into it. Very Johnny Depp and Pirate's of the Carribbean!

The other night he was using some boxes I had gotten in the mail to make a tent and talked about how he was going camping. He also hauled his table and chairs into the living room so he could make a train. Some how the train evaporated into something else and soon he and Auntie Vicky were going on a safari. Yesterday morning when I asked him to put his table and chairs back in his room he told me he couldn't because he needed to leave his castle there. That night he was camped out on top of the table, strategically placed on the couch, and he was the king. There seems to be no end to his imagination and it is always an adventure for me to see where he's going.

On the negative side of things, three has brought with it some monumental moodiness! Matthew can have a mood swing faster than I do when I'm PMSing and that's not a good thing. A friend of mine recently talked about the moodiness of her daughter and several other friends with children the same age have agreed that something happens at three that brings out the best and worst in them. Someone said there isn't much difference between three and thirteen. God help me if I have to do this again when he's a teenager! One minute we're playing and life is grand and the next he's got a thought that sounds good only to him. When we discourage the thought for whatever reason he's a blubbering mess. If he's tired too, then we blubbering and a temper tantrum. Good times!

Finally, I said to my family just tonight that after 20+ years of cussing I'm finding that I'm going to have to edit what comes out of my mouth or be prepared to field phone calls from his teachers. Today I was innocently talking to a friend on the phone and a little voice tells me not to say s*&t. I honestly hadn't cussed at that point, but was slapped in the face with the fact that he listens to and takes in everything. I wonder how much one of those bleepers like they use on TV will cost. That might be easier than censoring myself.

Fireworks and frogs

My favorite holiday is fast approaching and I'm not the only one who is excited. It seems Matthew is also a fan of the Fourth of July and he can't seem to get enough of the rockets red glare, as it were. Neighbors shooting off fireworks is cause to run to the door screaming and bouncing all the way that there are fireworks. We sat in the office the other night and watched as the neighbors set off Roman candles and various other sparkly and colorful fireworks for our viewing pleasure. Getting Matthew to bed after the mini display took some effort because every time he heard a pop after that he wanted to run to the window and see what was going on.
In addition to his enthusiasm it would seem my little party planner has our day, or at least part of it figured out, he just can't seem to wait until Saturday for all of this to take place. In Clovis we watch the fireworks at Greene Acres Lake (which is actually an oversized puddle in the middle of town). There is always music, food, friends and a great time as the community waits for the fireworks to begin. This year Matthew has repeatedly told me that we need to get hot dogs and watermelons and go to the pond to see the fireworks. He doesn't understand or seem to care that we are days too early for the display. I can't decide if today is the day to go shopping for groceries for the fourth or not. I'm afraid if I buy it, he's going to expect to enjoy it all tonight.
So the other night, in an attempt to feed my enthusiasm as well as Matthew's, we went to one of the 10,000 firework stands and spent a whopping $10 on fountains and a few other explosive devices. Nightfall seemed to take forever to arrive for both of us, but we finally made our way out to the driveway and set off what we had. Matthew was thrilled, screaming, jumping up and down, commenting about the colors, and of course saying, "let's do another one." I'm here to tell you that $10 doesn't go far when purchasing fireworks and trying to entertain the resident three year old, but it was fun and I'll be heading back to the fireworks stand for round two.

Butterscotch Israelites

This week at Vacation Bible School we've been learning about Moses, the Egyptians and the Israelites. Each day the kids have learned how God protected the Israelites and how the Israelites had to trust in the word of God.
Today's Bible story was how Moses parted the Red Sea and led the Israelites to the Promised Land. As part of the Bible study the kids went on a long walk, led by "Moses" and learned that God will always protect us. Our final destination of course was the Red Sea where Moses parted the sea and we arrived safely in the promised land.
Having survived the long walk and travel through the Red Sea we were able to head downstairs for snack time. Tonights snack followed our theme and featured Graham Crackers covered in blue frosting to represent the Red Sea. There were two crackers on the plate and in between the two pieces were butterscotch morsels to represent the Israelites and their passage through the sea. The kids quickly ate the snacks and headed back for seconds. Later, one little girl went up to the minister's wife and asked her what the people in the Bible story were called. Merry responded and the little girl quickly asked, "Can I have some more Israelites?" Henceforth and forever more butterscotch morsels will now be affectionately known as Israelites.

It's a pirate's life for me

A quiet evening sitting in the backyard quickly turned into a bigger adventure when Matthew used his Dollar Store shovel and rake to search for treasure. Recent rain and a small patch of dirt in front of the deck were the perfect place to start digging and in no time our little buccanneer had unearthed a real treasure, Nero's hidden rawhide bone. Between Captain Matthew and First Mate Nero, the two of them managed to get the bone out of the dirt, which prompted the first mate to start looking for a new hiding place. Poor Nero thought he'd hidden it in spot number 2, but Matthew pulled it out of the ground and thought he'd found a second treasure. After all the digging and re-burying Nero decided it was easier just to eat the treasure.

Is it time now?.....What about now?

We've booked our hotel and bought our tickets to Sea World, made plans for what we're going to do when we're in San Antonio and Corpus Christi and now I'm ready to go. The only problem is that we don't leave for another 3 weeks! I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas..."Is Santa coming today?" "Is it Christmas now?" "Can we open presents today?" "How about we just open one?" I'm ready to pack my suitcase and sit in the car until we can go, except it's a little hot, even with the windows down.

Problem solving 101

First I have to say thanks to my friend Haley for steering me in the direction of this web site for blogging. Secondly, anyone reading this should know that I only strive to be as good at blogging as Haley. If I'm lucky I get something posted once a month. Maybe now that I can add video and pictures here I'll be more faithful.

As I sit typing this Matthew is feverishly working on his :strucshun puzzle," a 15 piece wooden puzzle with construction vehicles on it. For some reason this has captured his attention and won't let go and he'll sit and solve and re-solve that puzzle over and over and over again. At this point he has it memorized and has no trouble piecing things together, but before that happened I sat one night and watched him problem solve to try and figure out what piece went where. I was absolutely fascinated to watch his mind work!

When I was in college my roommates had a son who was about the same age as Matthew and I remember Donnie commenting about his son's hands while he worked on something. I didn't get it because I was 20 something and didn't have kids, but I get it now. Watching your child work on something is magic even if it is for the 1,000 time.