Sugar is Sweet and so is Maple Surple

This past Tuesday I was able to chaperone Emma's class field trip to see how maple syrup was made. I was so glad to be able to go with her. For one thing, I didn't really know much about the process, and was eager to see it. I also wanted to see what Emma was like in her school environment. Mostly, I just wanted to spend time with her.

I felt like the paparazzi with all the pictures I snapped. At least I didn't embarrass Emma. Well, with the camera that is. I'm sure something I said or did was embarrassing. That's just part of being a mom, right? I know she didn't want to sit with me on the bus, but I was allowed to sit in the next seat over. Thanks, Emma.

Craft time! Making wooden name badges with "thumb-print" animals.

Emma learned all about the children's job in making syrup during the pioneer days. You can bet she loved this, but if there is any doubt, see this post. :)

Learning how to tap a tree. It was all very hands on. Well, for the kids. I could only watch. And take a ba-zillion pictures.

Here we are at "Bryan's sugar shack" watching the cooking process for the syrup. This is not Bryan. This is Bob. I don't know that there really is a Bryan.

One taste? That's it? No little sample bottles? No maple sugar candy? No pancake breakfast? You TEASE!

Springtime Cheer!

Look what came in the mail today! A box of springtime cheer from my dear friend Lindsey.

Pretty cheery, huh? I thought it could not get any better, but then I opened it.

I know, even cheerier, right? I had to restrain myself from ripping into the chocolates before I took a picture. They are delectable by the way.

Oh, I almost forgot. One of my favorite parts...

You see, it just wouldn't be Lindsey without magazine scraps. She has quite a talent of crafting with magazine pictures, so when I saw this in the bottom of the box, my heart ached. I miss my dear friend so much. Not for long though. She is coming to visit in a couple of weeks, flying from all the way out in Oregon. I can't wait! But, until then, looks like I'll be sipping coffee with Josh, reading some new books, and writing notes about how cute my girls are in their spring shirts dancing to all sorts of new music.

THANKS SO MUCH, LINDSEY!!!

Winning Weekend!

This past weekend Josh and I, along with a hundred other students and staff from the Jackson New Tribes Bible Institute campus traveled about 360 miles to our other Bible Institute campus in Waukesha, WI.

Why the trip you ask? Well, for a little healthy competition. We went for our field day, to take home the tribal cup that has been in their possession for the last TEN years!

The students practiced so much! Josh was one of the coaches for the volleyball team, so we were there to support them. I am really proud of all of them!

It was a lot of fun! I did miss the girls, even though they were in good hands. A weekend away from my cuties is a long time!

Oh, and before I forget. We won. That's right, baby. We have the trophy now! Woohoo!

Riding out to Waukesha. We had such a great time!

Waukesha was so hospitable and welcoming! :)

I think this picture of coach Josh and coach Clint is SO funny. :)

All of the teams did so great! Check out Ryan flying through the air!

They were a little excited to finally have the trophy again after a decade!

Can't forget our "JaXoN" mascot! :)

Waukesha is so beautiful!

Just for Laughs...

...No time to write. We are busy packing for our trip to Wisconsin. I am so excited!

I thought I would leave you with this. Jo Jo is a girl after my own heart. :)

Larry, Mo and Curly

I live with a couple of knuckle-heads. Here is photographic documentation. They started out this way, and it is in no way a result of my parenting.

Or, at least, that is what I tell myself so I can sleep at night.

A Little of Her Father in Her

Josie is often referred to as a little Tamara. She looks a lot like me when I was little. She likes Sonny the most out of all the girls, and I LOVED dogs when I was a girl. She also loves to be cuddled (me too!), and hugs just about everyone she has the slightest feelings for (guilty of that as well! What can I say? I am a hugger. I realize there are those of you who are not, and I apologize for getting you before you had a chance to duck out of the way!).

Although she is a lot like me, there are some glaringly obvious Josh-isms too. Besides her innate desire to stick out her tongue when the camera is out just like Josh , and her deep love of the oreo like Josh, she now also is an indoor soccer player (something you will probably never see me do, as I lack the coordination to walk and chew gum at the same time, let alone kick a ball while running!).

Josie started playing on an indoor soccer team at the YMCA. Josh is the assistant coach. After a couple of practices, Saturday was her first game. Her team, also known as the Smurfs, won!!! It was so much fun to watch.

Josie taking some warm up shots. She did score a goal during this game, but for the other team! I guess she really is more like her mother! :)

Look at her kicking! She is the fastest on her team. That girl can run! This is not just proud Mama talking. She is FAST!

She is getting to be such a big girl!

A Little Bit of Prairie Life...

Last week at Emma's school they had a dress up day. It is reading month, and in honor of that, students were asked to dress up as their favorite book character. Emma picked, you guessed it, Laura Ingles.

When Emma was three, the love affair started with prairie life. We were living on Berry Rd. at a missionary house that had the whole Little House series. I read them all to Emma (except Farmer Boy, b/c who wants to read a story about a boy? I know, I know, it's every one's FAVORITE. I'll read it one day!). Ever since then we have played pretend prairie girl a whole lot, and every time we eat maple syrup Emma suggests we pour it on snow.

I wish you could have seen the day she learned there was a tv show. She was so excited she cried. :)

So, it was no surprise she picked to dress as Laura. My only problem is we had nothing to wear! Luckily our neighbor girl has an affinity for prairie girl culture as well.

Such a pioneer. I don't even mind when she calls me "Ma". :)

Spring is in the Air!

Friday afternoon I walked home from work with the girls from school, and I just couldn't make them go inside! It was GORGEOUS! The yard was still a little soggy, and had a couple of puppy land mines (if you catch my drift) left from when it was snowy and Sonny just ran out, went where ever, and then ran back in. So, with that in mind, we stuck to the sidewalks. Luckily our yard is 90% cement anyhow (never thought I'd LIKE that fact) so we played with chalk. Addie eventually tired, so she napped. Emma and Josie, in their few years on this earth, have learned that when you have a warm day in March, you make the most of it! Although the rest of the weekend was rainy and cool, Friday is how I choose to remember the weekend. :)

Please read this! 78 degrees baby! That's it FORTY degrees warmer than today!!!

Taking advantage of sunlight, I did a little photo shoot of the girls.


Oh, they melt my heart! So sweet!

Tulips already! Okay, these are potted and usually indoors, but they were begging me to go outside too.

We even opened the windows! :)

Ah, The Life of a Dog...

...Just laying around. No laundry to do, no carpool to drive, no worries or cares. I wonder if I could do it...

...naaah. I would get bored too easily. Besides, laying on the floor is not that great anyhow.

David Crowder Band Concert!

We had a BLAST last Thursday at the concert! Josh and I rode with Clint and Keisa and met Chris and Mindy, and Brad and Rachel there. Upon walking in, I felt...old. Now, let me tell you one thing. I actually, am not old at all, but being surrounded by youth groups, and college students started to make me feel old. Well, I spotted some gray haired people, and then I relaxed. :)

The Glorious Unseen opened first. They were okay. I actually like them, but it was a little mellow for an opening act I think.

The David Crowder Band was AWESOME! It was actually like a big praise and worship fest. We just sang with them. (They were SO smart to have the words displayed! Loved it!)

After our awesome concert, and most of us running into people we haven't seen in a while (Like Josh and his old high school classmate, or Keisa and a guy she knew when she lived in Papua New Guinea as an MK!!!) we went for some frozen custard at Culver's. It was great because we have a friend who works there. It was so fun to see her in her little blue visor! :)

So, I am a lame-o who did not bring my camera, but Rachel gave me full permission to steal her photos from the night, and if you would like to see her blog post about it, you can go here.

I LOVE this picture. Not only is it a great pic of some of my closest friends on this earth, but Josh looks 19 in this picture and that makes me giggle, as he is FAR from 19. :)

Excellent!

I just thought it was a really cool picture with the lights and hands in the air. That round thing in the back is where they projected all the words.

I won!

I am super excited to share that I won a radio contest last week! What did I win? Four tickets to the David Crowder Band concert tonight, and four cds! Now, I have to share this. I was really wanting to go to this concert, but there was no way in the world we would be able to go on our limited missionary budget. $40 is not doable right now. I saw the contest on the radio's website and I prayed to the Lord, that He would make some way for us to go. He answered my prayers, and we won! Not only did we win, but we got a call the same day from friends of ours inviting us to go with them, because they won four tickets from a different radio station! So, I want to testify that the Lord cares about the little things too. I am getting super excited! I've been listening to them all day!

Thanks to my friend Rachel for teaching me how to post a video. I hope you enjoy. This is my favorite song of theirs. :)

Piano Lessons, Passing Out, and a Pathetic Pooch...

Emma had her first official piano lesson on Monday. She has been learning things here and there from Grandpa and her Daddy, but this was the first actual scheduled lesson. Our upstairs neighbor has agreed to teach her for use of our piano for her to practice. Honestly, I think we are getting the better deal, as she is an amazingly talented pianist, and it is like having a free, private concert in our own home. :)

Just learning...

A little blurry, but you get the idea.

Upon uploading these pictures to my computer so I can blog about Emma's lesson, I found another picture. Now, I'd first like to say that I don't normally like to post pictures of my backside, or really any pictures that are embarrassing of me (unless you have seen this post, which is also kind of embarrassing), but this was too funny and I could not pass it up.

It seems that I must have passed out on Monday night of sheer exhaustion. Or, maybe I was just too lazy to get ready for bed. Either way, Josh took this picture of me, laying on top of a pile of blankets, my boots on the couch (*gasp!), and my face smooshed. I can tell you it was not that comfortable, or at least when I awoke in that position.

Nice.

The only thing that brings me comfort, is that my dog is just as dorky as I am. No, I rephrase, he is dorkier.

I see those eyes open, you pathetic, desperate for attention fur ball, and I love you for it!

If Music Be the Food of Love, Sing On!

Josh and I were invited by our friends Richard and Joyce to join them for dinner and an evening with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra! We had such a wonderful time. First we went to this little Italian Restaurant off of M-50 Giglio's (or something like that) and we had wonderful food and even more wonderful conversation.

After dinner we went to the Potter Center and enjoyed an awesome evening full of Gershwin, and Berlin and Rodgers and Dickau. It was a lovely night full of beautiful music! We had such a great time with our friends as well. Thanks guys!

All gussied up with my funny valentine. :)

Josh also brought me these, with a lovely gift from the Swan Creek Candle Co.

Tulips are my favorite flower.

What a magnificent creation from an Almighty Creator!

MMMMMMMMM...

What is that I smell coming from the Mathew kitchen?

Oh, yeah. Homemade muffins.

From scratch of course, with big juicy blueberries.

You know you want one. :)

Two Times Two

This year we had a double birthday party for Addie and Brooke. They are just a month a part, and both turned two, so we had a mini birthday bash for them, Elmo style.

The birthday girls in their matching dresses Keisa made them!

This is my favorite picture of the night. It captures her personality so well!

Ready for cake!

Yummy Elmo!

New Things Happening at the Mathew House.

This past week has been a long one. By last Wednesday afternoon, I was not feeling that well. I stayed home from youth group that night and just slept, I went to the doctor the next day where he confirmed I had Strep throat AND a sinus infection! By Friday Emma had it, and then Saturday and Sunday Josh got a stomach flu, which I caught on Monday. CRAZY sick week. But, we are all back to almost 100%.

Today I spend a good five hours at the Kellogg eye center with Emma and Josie. I am excited to share that Emma's script has not changed, and her eyes are doing better at not crossing with her glasses off. Also, Josie does not need glasses right now!

I also wanted to share how much Emma is learning in Kindergarten. She is reading words out of any book she picks up! She is also writing a lot. She wrote me a note for the first time this week. I cried! I am so proud of her!

Well, that pretty much wraps up our week. What have all of you been doing to keep busy?

Spending some time watching The Lord of the Beans. :)

My own silly little bean doesn't need glasses!

Emma's note she wrote me. She also drew a picture of us as "heart shaped balloons, with our stings holding hands". So funny, that girl!