Twice in one week?!

That's right...I'm actually posting twice in one week! Not b/c I have a whole lot to say, just trying to to be better at the whole blogging thing :)

Wasn't the sunshine wonderful this afternoon? Katie had softball practice so Hannah & I took her to that while Nick & Em went mushroom hunting w/ Shane...since he's a "guy", I have no pictures to chronicle their great adventure (lol) but they did come home w/ enough mushrooms for a maybe an appetizer for the 6 of us! The best part is Nick & Em both found some on their own...Em more so than Nick but she's got 3 years on him :)

Hannah is back under house arrest for the next two weeks...once AGAIN, caught hiding papers w/ bad grades in her backpack...I am so absolutely frustrated w/ her that I can barely stand it. We stopped "punishing" her for bad papers months ago (mind you, the "punishment" was no TV that night which she barely watches TV anyway) so the fact that she's pulled this just shows me we're dealing w/ a respect issue...so, other than her birthday party this Saturday, no fun stuff - including the very coveted trip to Wal-mart w/ Mom. I'm open to any advice on this one!

We have a busy weekend coming up - Soccer game & big "triple threat" birthday party at the Y on Saturday then Beasley Easter & a First Communion open house on Sunday. Let's hope the nice weather holds out for it all!

Kate's Birthday & Easter Weekend

Our Miss Katie finally hit the double digits last week...only happens once in a lifetime! We had Shane's family over for cake & ice cream the night of her b-day...white cake w/ strawberry icing and neopolitan (sp?) ice cream at the birthday girl's request. This weekend is the big "triple threat" birthday party at the YMCA - all 3 girls have invited the girls in their classes plus some special friends & family...yes, we're talking about over 30 nine and ten year-old girls!

Katie & her new swimsuit - can't wait to see her at the Y!

Kate is also getting her ears pierced as part of turning 10 - trust me, this took extensive campaigning on my part b/c her dad was pretty adamant that she wait until 13...whatever! I gave him a slight heart attack when I (teasingly) told him she would probably be dating by then ;)

We also have a new member in our family...Sadie, our 1-yr old Springer Spaniel - currently in the house but will soon be joining our mini-daschaund Hershey as soon as we "re-model" the dog kennel w/ a new concrete floor. We lost our first springer Buster the week of St. Patrick's Day and didn't expect to have another one for a few more months but my aunt had another breeder call her needing a home for Miss Sadie...we love her!

We celebrated Easter yesterday with Shane's family (lots of together time this week!) - my fam is next week...the Easter Bunny was pretty generous w/ our kids - but not too much candy - then we went to Mass. Miss Em had an upset belly about halfway thru the service though...probably the 2 hardboiled eggs that she had for breakfast that had been in her Easter basket overnight - which, according to her father, should be safe...again, whatever! After Mass, we came home so I could fix my taco layer dip & spinach salad w/ hot bacon dressing before heading to Shane's aunt's house for a late lunch...way too much good food but that's an ok problem to have! I ate enough that I didn't eat dinner...

This week is fairly low-key for us...hopefully some soccer & softball practices if the rain ever stops then the birthday party & Beasley Easter lunch this coming weekend...hope everyone has a good week!

Looking at a busy April...

Hands down, April is one of the busiest months of the year in the Matthews household...spring sports seasons are starting, all three of the girls' birthdays are celebrated, two weekends of Easter (Shane's fam then mine) along w/ all of the normal chaos of school, work & fun...I usually feel like I totally earn Mothers' Day when May roles around!

I just spent a good chunk of the last hour calling the girls AND boys (yes, we're co-ed this season) that will be on Hannah & Emily's U10 soccer team...no, I'm not the coach - Shane is :) there's no way I can coach in the spring w/ Kate playing softball and Nick playing Tball...my role in the spring is logistics coordinator/taxi driver/cheerleader/photographer - multi-tasking at its best! Shane's biggest challenge will not be winning games - I think we have a pretty strong team - it will be keeping our boy-crazy twins focused on the game and not the boys on the field! Coach Dad already struggles w/ his little girls growing up so this season should be fairly entertaining :)

As I mentioned, all 3 girls have April b-days...Kate's at the beginning & the twins at the end. We have cake & ice cream the night of their b-days and the birthday girl(s) pick what we have for dinner. This usually means two stops at local fast food restaurants for Hannah & Emily because, heaven help us, we can't agree on one meal - that would be crazy! They also pick their themes - last year we had a puppy party for Kate and High School Musical/Hannah Montana for the twins - teenage drama at its best. Each birthday kid also picks what flavor of cake, icing & ice cream they want...we've had some interesting combos over the years. Usually, we go every-other year on the party w/ friends - this is a party year so I suggested a combo party at the YMCA - throw the kids in the pool and let them get tired :) We're having a beach monkey theme and the girls are going to invite all of the girls from their classes plus some special guests so we're looking at 35+ kids being invited...I know they won't all come but still...the thought of 35 little girls is pretty scary!!

Shane & I had to face reality last week when Katie watched the "I'm becoming a woman" video at school...in the 4th grade. OMG - I thought I was going to have to pick Shane up off the floor when she brought the paper home for us to approve her watching the video. He had the most stricken look on his face that I had to laugh....no dad is ever prepared for his little girl to grow up and I think Shane might be worse than most! He won't even let me get Kate's ears pierced for her 10th birthday...I told him if she was old enough for "the video", she was old enough for earrings!!! I'm still working on him so we'll see. When we got home from school the day she watched it, she had her little bag of "samples" so she & I went in her room and had our "woman" talk...it was killing Han & Em that they couldn't hear what we were talking about! She had a little book for her plus one for me (thank you, I like instructions!), so we agreed to read them then get back together if there were any questions...her only comment was "This seems pretty gross Mom" - I would have to agree! Can I also point out that Shane totally lucked out when our families merged - he only has to have "the talk" w/ Nick but I get to have it w/ all three girls...doesn't seem quite fair does it?!

Its time for me to get the kiddos in bed...they seem pretty tired after a day at the Y's Spring Break camp - works for me!

I'm back!

So, once again, I've been guilted into updating my blog by my friend Jen...who shouldn't have to remind me right?!! I was working on my blog background last week and my computer froze up which just irritated me so I boycotted my own blog!

Our life has been fairly busy but nothing compared to what we're heading into - spring sports season! Kate/softball, Hannah & Em/soccer and Nick/Tball will keep us running for most of April & May but I'm thrilled that they want to be involved...I'm sure I'll have pics to post like crazy so stay tuned for those. I'm not coaching at all this season so I'll be able to be a spectator again :)

Shane & I put the kids' trampoline together a couple of weekends ago - nothing like giving them this great Christmas present in a huge box then telling them "ok, now we wait for spring!" Shane & the kids got the whole project started but then I was called in as "muscle" (hahaha) to get the legs on & the net up...but before we put on the net, I had to perform some "quality control" procedures:

Shane & his work crew

Yaaay - our parents are the greatest!

What I don't have a picture of is the giant bump in the center of Nick's forehead after it was introduced to our neighbor's elbow later in the afternoon courtesy of the trampoline...Shane brought him in to me and said "Mom, I think he's going to have quite the goose egg" so I gave him a ice pack and he sat at the kitchen table....in walks Katie who hadn't been outside at the time and she asked Nick what happened...he proceeded to tell her he had a "chicken leg" on his head! After I stopped laughing, I reminded him it was called a "goose egg", not a "chicken leg"....oh the things kids say!

All of the kids have had some fun lately...the twins went to Evansville to see/hear the Philharmonic Orchestra with their classes, Kate went to New Harmony w/ her class, all of the girls had a "Just Say No" bowling party and Nick had his spring music program...this all occurred on back to back to back to back days...and Nick was sporting the aforementioned goose egg at his program. I believe the highlight of the twins' trip (unfortunately) was the puker on the bus on the way home due to overeating at the Black Buggy - soooo glad I didn't end up volunteering to chaperone that trip!

We had a good night tonight too...bummer that Shane wasn't here but he's still attending Dale Carnegie Leadership Training on Tuesdays thru April/May...the kids all needed "stuff" for their upcoming sports so we headed to Hibbets for cleats for Kate & Nick and pants for Nick...we're not sure what color Kate will need yet so we're holding off. Hannah's soccer cleats now fit Emily and Kate's fit Hannah so at least I got by w/ only buying 2 pairs. After that, we headed to Mr. Gatti's for pizza & salad then to Walmart for new soccer balls for the twins. The kids were all soooo well behaved everywhere that we went that we felt we deserved Scoops ice cream on the way home...it was our first Scoops of the season and it was wonderful! I managed to be good and avoid the "real" ice cream by having some raspberry Dole whip - not a big sacrafice if you ask me b/c its delicious!

So, now I'm enjoying the quiet house w/ all kids in bed...ahhhh, lovin' life!

Our Hawaiian Vacation

What a fabulous trip!!! I'll try to keep my summary fairly brief but get comfortable anyway :)

I was very apprehensive heading to Shane's parents' house last Wednesday night to drop the kids off...I really thought Nick & Hannah would have a hard time w/ us leaving b/c they had both expressed their "displeasure" w/ us leaving them for a week...but they all surprised me! If anyone was teary eye'd leaving, it was Shane & I! The kids were all so excited to be staying w/ Papa Ed & Gma Theresa that we were pretty well dismissed...which was much better than tears!

Shane & I made good time to Nashville...stopping only briefly in Evansville at Target for swim trunks for Shane and Henderson at Rally's for dinner to go. We, along w/ Mom & Scott, were so excited about vacation that we didn't exactly get to bed early but it still wasn't hard getting up the next morning at 6:30am. The car came to pick us up at 7:30 and we were off to the airport...here's Mom & I in the backseat...

We got to Dallas w/ no problems but quickly found out we now had a 3 hour layover instead of a 1 hour so we killed time shopping & getting a bite to eat...by 4ish, we were back in the air headed for Honolulu! A quick note - if you ever have to be on an 8-hr flight, definitely go first class :) Free drinks, great menu to choose from and seats that lay allllll the way back - WOO HOO!! Have I mentioned how absolutely AWESOME my parents are for taking Shane & I on this trip??!! Shane & I in the airport:

I have to mention Shane's "star encounter" w/ Stacy David - Stacy hosts the Speed Channel's "Gearz" show which is in any "car guy's" top 5 TV show list...he was a little star struck but managed to "talk shop" for the shuttle ride to our terminal!! This may have been the absolute highlight of Shane's entire trip!!!!

I can't even tell you what time we landed in Honolulu but we headed to our hotel in Wakiki and grabbed a bite to eat then crashed into bed...of course, Shane & I woke up fairly early the next morning (Friday) given that our bodies were still on Indiana time (5 hours ahead of Hawaii)...it was still pitch black outside which is what it looked like when we arrived so we were dying to see what the island looked like...we weren't disappointed! Here's the view of Wakiki Beach from our hotel balcony:

Our time on Oahu was spent shopping, eating, walking on the beach, touring Pearl Harbor and taking a road trip in these cool little "mini coupes" which were glorified, 2-seater mopeds that didn't go over 35 mph...a real treat on the hills :) Wakiki was VERY tourist'y...crowded but still fun. We enjoyed meals at Jimmy Buffet's, California Pizza Kitchen, Duke's WaveRunner (we think thats what it was called!), Atlantis and at our hotel...hello, $30/person for a buffet breakfast...we loved the coffee/tea bar at the hotel though!

Scott, Me & Mom at the USS Arizona Memorial @ Pearl Harbor (note: height doesn't exactly run in our family!!)

Oil on the water surface from the USS Arizona below...so sad.

Scott & Shane @ Jimmy Buffet's restaurant

Shane & I in our mini-coupe

On Sunday, we grabbed a flight to Kauai which is a smaller, less tourist'y island to the west of Oahu. We had a rental car which was good since there was nothing within walking distance of the Hilton Resort...this was our favorite part of the trip because there were less people and the "Garden Island" was absolutely beautiful! One of the mountains on Kauai is the "wettest place on Earth" b/c it gets in excess of 450 inches of rain every year - wow!

Again, we spent time eating & shopping (two of my faves!!) but we also did a lot of sightseeing including Hanalei (for those of you who know the song "Puff the Magic Dragon" by Peter, Paul & Mary!), and some absolutely beautiful beaches w/ huge waves! On Tuesday, Mom & Scott went on an ATV tour for the afternoon so Shane & I were total slugs and laid by the pool alllll afternoon - the first time all vacation that we did that for more than an hour...I told him I didn't like the fact that the tan I came to Hawaii with was fading! The weather was great the entire time we were there but the water (both beach & pool) was freezing - I only got in the pool to cool off [quickly] then went straight back to my lounge chair :)

Shane trying out the pool slide

On Wednesday, our last day (boooo!), Shane & I went on a "zip line" adventure - nothing like being 100+ feet in the air zipping between these skinny pine trees on a cable! We had a blast though - although I knew I wasn't going to fall, the 40 mph gusts of wind we were having that morning still made crossing rope bridges and standing on itsy bitsy tree platforms a little freaky!!! We were in the air for 2+ hours and absolutely loved the entire experience - our guides, Hillary & Matt, were awesome which was a bonus too.

Wednesday afternoon, we headed to the airport around 4pm to head back to Honolulu...then to Dallas...then to Nashville...then drive home....whew! We finally got home at 7:30pm Thursday evening so we calculated that we had been traveling for almost 24 hours w/ only about 4hrs of sleep on the plane between Honolulu & Dallas...but were then too wired from the caffeine we'd been consuming that we didn't get to bed until around 11:30...at that point, total exhaustion took over!

While we had a fab time and would do it again in a heartbeat, we totally missed our kiddos - we talked to them every night (but one) and were a little bummed each time we hung up...but we know they had a great "vacation" from us too! The first two nights were w/ my in-laws, the weekend was w/ Aunt Anna & her clan then the last four days were here at home w/ my step-mom & Dad...thank goodness for our family! Though everyone said they totally understand why people have kids when they're young :)

So, its back to the real world tomorrow...I know the alarm will ring entirely too early in the morning!!

Angel Andon

Never has someone I barely know touch me as much as Chelsa Knepp has...she and her family (husband Ryan & son Brycen) have recently experienced what no family should have to endure - having a precious baby born after already becoming an angel. Courtney Owens has created a memorial blog for Andon and has encouraged other bloggers to dedicate today's Valentines Day posts to the love of life...I choose my family, for without them, I would be so much less than I am...

My husband Shane - hands down the best dad...EVER! He raised his three daughters as a single parent for many years...imagine, 3 girls under the age of 3...and all they knew was love, adventure and security. He packed those girls wherever he went and oh, the stories he can tell! Single-handedly, the most wonderful man in my life! Bless his perseverance, dedication and sense of right.

Our oldest daughter, Katie - we always say that Kate marches to the beat of a drummer the rest of us have never heard of! Bless her creativity, imagination and heart.

Our oldest twin, Hannah - we will have our hands full in the next few years as our "social butterfly" spreads her wings to their fullest! Bless her outgoing personality, love of a "good time" and fashion sense.

Our little twin, Emily - she may be small but she's certainly mighty...in heart, in energy and in mouthiness! Bless her intelligence, energy and fearlessness.

Our little guy, Nick - as the only son in a houseful of girls, Nick can giggle like a girl but he's also a boy to the core...loves to wrestle w/ Dad, hang out in the shop and be dirty 24/7. Bless his quick smile, love for all things race cars and many "love you Mom"s.

For all that I am blessed with, I thank the Lord every day...and for all the Knepp family has been thru, I pray for them every day. Celebrate life every day - no matter the stress or headaches that you have; cherish those that matter...

Catching up...again

Wow - I'm getting realllly bad about keeping up w/ this blog! As my friend Jen stated in her email to me entitled "Harassment"...as in she was harassing me about updating my blog! So Jen - here's to my new found commitment to keeping Matthews Madness more current!

Life has been pretty crazy lately but that's really not anything new around here...the snow days & school delays got a little out of hand and totally messed w/ everyone's schedules...needless to say - I'm one happy momma now that we're back on track.

Our twins had a sleepover this past Friday night so we had not 2, but 4 eight-yr-olds running around here...madness :) I was going to take them to the movies but decided that sitting for two hours for a movie then coming home didn't make for the best "time for bed" scenario so we decided to take in a WHS game instead. I took the "sleepover" girls w/ me and Shane brought our other two...we could have all fit in our Tahoe but we knew Kate & Nick would be ready to leave the game before the other girls would. On our way from dinner to the game, those 4 girls were hilarious in the car - extremely loud but funny anyway. I just cranked up the "Kids Bops" to drown them out :)

Emily, Shaina, Lauren & Hannah

Lauren & Hannah playing dress up

Shaina & Emily getting ready for bed

Both of our guests had things going on w/ their families Saturday morning so they weren't able to stay long but really, that was ok b/c I also had a busy Saturday. Our Rotary Club has a Gala Fundraiser every year and this was my 3rd year planning it...Saturday night, we had a "Beautiful Italian Night" at Mulligans and raised a lot of money for our Rotary projects. Afterwards, Shane & I met up w/ my bro-in-law Dave who will heading back to Afghanistan later this week..here's Dave & our kids - they all luuuuuuvvvv Uncle Dave!

I'm absolutely stoked that our vacation to Hawaii is coming up so quickly...only a week from Thursday...woo hoo!!! Even though our weather today was pretty fabulous! After dinner tonight, we took the dogs for a walk for some much needed exercise...for all of us :) Let's just hope it hangs around for awhile...