Need I say anything at all?

Cool Guys!!

4:30 a.m.: I hear crying from Brandon, so I go in and comfort him, give him milk and tell him to go back to sleep
4:30 to 5:30: I hear Brandon playing in his crib
5:30: Brandon decides he doesn't like his crib again and protests... Kimball wakes up... and we all head out to the living room to "start our day"...

By the time that lunchtime rolled around, we had about 50 meltdowns, all classified under the "I'm so tired I don't know what to do but have a meltdown" category. Now my angels are both sleeping peacefully, after a good lunch. As I sat down to the computer just now, the first thing I noticed was my camera. I picked it up, not remembering if I had taken any pictures recently, and found these pictures. We took the about a week ago in the evening. We were all in the living room playing and enjoying the evening and Kimball and Brandon found two of Dad's hats on the couch. These were good moments, and they help remind me to keep my cool in the "not-so-good" moments, like this morning.
I am so grateful that I have learned parenting techniques and tools to help me discipline my children without yelling, spanking, or giving long-winded lectures. I'm sure my blood pressure has benefited from these parenting tools... as well as my marriage for I have more energy at the end of the day to spend with Mike.

Lookin good Brandon!

Like father, like son!

Kimball with dad

These two boys look more and more alike
every day... except for their hair colors

Sweet boy!

Anchor

I saw this song posted on Camilla's Blog, a friend of mine from BYUI and thought that I would share it as well. The song is Anchor by Mindy Gledhill. It has become one of my favorite songs... Click here to listen, and just press play on the i-pod when the page loads. Enjoy!

"The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands"

There is a little book that is changing my perspective on being a wife, a book that my father has been urging me to read for the last 4 years. Written by Dr. Laura Schlessinger, who hosts a nationally syndicated talk show, this book is a jewel. Why? Here is a quote from the introduction, just to give you a taste of the message of this book:

"Most of the women who complain that they are not getting what they want from heir husbands should stop and look at how disrespectful and disdainful they are of them. They should look at what they put their time and energy into at the expense of him and their marriage. It would be a stunner for them to realize that they try harder to impress strangers than they try to impress the person who is supposed to be the most important to them (pg xvi of intoduction)."

My marriage to Mike is what I have always described as strong, we work as a team and have enjoyed strength in this unity. Yet there has been something missing, and I couldn't quite pin it down. I never realized what the missing element was until now. I have been putting other obligations and priorities before the man that I married, even putting my children before our marriage. As it says in the book "You had a husband long before you had children." I have been changing little things about my behavior and have noticed these little changes reciprocated in my relationship with my husband. Some of the ideas for making sure that Mike is my priority are:

• Temple trips
• Date nights
  
• A call of affection during the day
• A simple love note
• A kiss at the door
• Putting on a nice outfit while at home in the day, instead of pj's
  
• Request his opinion on family matters more often
• A comment of appreciation for something well done on his part
• A hug
• A home cooked meal
  
• A backrub
• Turn off the TV and just enjoy good conversation and laughter with him
• Listen to him, respond and act interested in his interests
• Express real problems maturely, instead of complaining
• Tell him how he can improve, don't nag!
  

Mike needs to know that he is my priority and that I don't want to change him, instead of feeling that he isn't good enough, or that I wish he would do things differently.I want to be able to keep a healthy perspective towards my marriage, to know that in order to "get" that I must give. More importantly, I should give for the pure joy of giving, not to "get" anything out of it. I love my man, he would conquer the world to bring me caffeine free Dr. Pepper at a simple request! He loves me and our children and supports us in all things, allowing me to stay home with the kiddos... what more could I desire?

P.S. Has anyone else read this book?

Crazy Matusek Christmas!

Our Christmas celebration started in Rexburg on the Friday after Thanksgiving. We were able to enjoy a frigid night at Smith Park with Corey and Daymi. With a donation of one toy per person for admission, we enjoyed hot chocolate, live music, and a picture with Santa. Kimball enjoyed the snow a little bit too much, he kept on stuffing it into his mouth and burying his face in the snowy ground... brrrr! We spent the next few weeks in December trying to enjoy the season. Mike was busy with classes and Tiff kept busy with the boys and choir performances. It was a wonderful season, how grateful we are for the special spirit of this time as we remember Christ and his birth and life!

To kick off our Christmas week, we went skating for FHE on the Monday before Christmas. The boys loved it. Kimball tried skating, but after a short time he decided to ditch the skates and go for a stroller.

Brandon was so fun to watch as we skated around, he got so excited when we would go fast!
Tuesday night was met with yet another family adventure.... Bowling! This is one of Kimball's favorite activities, and he does well for a 2 year old. Wednesday was not adventure-less, we saw our first 3D movie with the Bakers and left the 4 kiddos with a sitter. 3D headaches... not so good, but the movie was pretty good.
Thursday we made Gingerbread cookies, our family tradition. They turned out moist and delicious... better yet were the caramels that my mom sent that day, YUMMO! I had to sneak one of my Grandma's caramels, because they had black walnuts in them. Thursday we went to my Grandma Moore's for their annual Christmas Dinner/Program. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves there. Here is a pic of Grandpa opening a gift and of my aunt Debbie.

Grandma Moore opening a gift

The whole gang enjoying the Christmas program

Brandon on Amy's lap. Carson with the red headpiece (he was Joseph). Kirsten and Trevor on Amy's right.

Christmas Eve we started a new tradition, now that Kimball is old enough to participate. We had him set out cookies and milk for Santa along with a letter to him. We then read a book about the symbols of Christmas and what they can mean to us. When he went to bed, Mike and I "helped" Santa out and arranged the gifts under the tree.
Christmas Morning was fabulous! There was a special spirit in our home! We enjoyed a simple pancake breakfast. After clearing the table, we brought out the violin and the keyboard, the scriptures and the music in preparation for our annual Christmas Devotional. We enjoyed helping Kimball learn for fully what Christmas is truly about. Here is our family by the tree after the Devotional.
Brandon was excited for gifts....
As was his brother Kimball!
By the end of opening all the gifts, Brandon was tuckered out, and had to lay down on the job:) It was so cute, he opened that gift laying down... funny kid!

I hope your Christmas season was as enjoyable and memorable as our own. May 2010 hold such enjoyment and memories is our wish to all...

Cookies and new bangs??

A friend of mine, Steph, gave me a trim the other night. I have been wanting to cut my hair short for a while, but I've worked so hard to grow it out that I have held back on the short hair thing. I needed a change though, so I went with bangs, just wondering what everyone thinks... and the only pics I have right now of them are from the night we made Christmas sugar cookies... hence the title of the post:)

Santa Monster

These are my favorite posts, where I get to brag about my kids... actually this post is more directed at having a spirited laugh at the little things Kimball thinks and says. Ok, first of all today Kimball was playing with play dough while I was cooking Macaroni (the Moore version) and he was of course having a ball (and making a mess). He was using a measuring cup as a tool in his play dough creativity. He took a large ball of orange play dough, stuffed one end into the cup, and formed the other end into a very interesting and dynamic shape. Then he caught my attention by saying "Mom, look! I built a Blimp!" Then he proceeded to make what I took to be blimp sounds (not quite sure because I have never heard one... but apparently Kimball has) and said that his blimp was flying around. The blimp was then attacked by a giant pizza cutter (another tool in his creativity). He has quite an imagination!

The next story about my little man that I would like to share occurred on Friday. We were in the car driving down Yellowstone Hwy in Pocatello and we passed a certain business that keeps a moving Gorilla figure in front of their store. They had dressed this Gorilla up as Santa, and Kimball had taken notice of this change in the Gorilla's attire. Kimball pointed his two year old finger out the window and shouted "Oh! Santa is a monster, mom!!" Then he laughed and added as an afterthought "Silly Santa monster!"

Kids say the darndest things...

Reflections

At the beginning of the year, shortly after moving to Pocatello, I was asked by a new found friend at church if I would like to be part a women's chorus called "Reflections". I was delighted to accept her invitation. I was told that to come to practice every Wednesday at 9:00 a.m., and that I would be able to bring my children (a sweet lady, Robin, watches the children of some of the chorus members in the basement of the chorus director). At my first practice, I came to understand more about this group of women. First of all, they love music and they are very talented! From what I have seen, Dede, the director, organized this group for two main reasons:

1. Her love and enjoyment of music
2. To serve others and bring that joy to her community

I have sung with these women now for almost a year, and have come to look forward with great anticipation to every practice and performance. I do not yet know everyone's names in the group, sadly enough, but I still feel it an honor to sing with them. We performed last week at the Veteran's home and at the Highland Hills and Hillcrest (Nursing Homes/Retirement Communities) and for a Teachers Club. This week we will be performing at Cottonwood Cove and Ridgewind (also Retirement Homes) and at the Women's Prison. Music is a light in my life, and what a blessing it is to see this light reflected in the eyes of those for whom we perform.

Sledding with the Bakers

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum!

Daddy and Kimball and Brandon setting up the tree. Brandon was bringing branches to Mike, as was Kimball! Such great helpers... We really wanted to get a real tree, especially seeing how we were invited by our wonderful neighbors, the Bakers, to go cut down a tree with them. You know how it goes in college... tight budget. Our tree is getting flimsy after years of use from Mike's parents and now us, we will need a new one after this year.
Mommy got in on the Christmas tree action after dinner was in the oven...
Kimball put the tree on the star, but it fell off...
So mommy helped him out and got it back up there...
And finally, the finished masterpiece!

I am skipping an important Holiday, I know! We did celebrate Thanksgiving, and had a wonderful vacation at my brother's house in Rexburg (Thanks Corey and Daymi!), but I forgot my camera. Therefore I have no documentation of our Holidays and am skipping on to Christmas (perhaps I'll post in a week or so, when I get the pics from Daymi that we took on her camera). We decorated our tree and home today with our decorations, a small collection from our almost four years of marriage. I don't know if I can take a month of trying to keep Brandon away from the tree! Not even 10 minutes after we had finished the tree, he had already pulled down 4 decorations, climbed all around it, pulled at the tree skirt, and lost an ornament hook! His middle name should be changed to trouble...

Anyways, our tradition is to buy one new tree decoration each year. We are trying to think of a good decoration for this year, any good ideas on where to look for unique tree decorations around the Pocatello/Southeast Idaho area?