Matthew's new way to say goodbye

Matthew thinks it's REALLY funny to tell people he doesn't like them (and giggle). Todd has decided to not let this bother him and will often say, "I don't like you either!"

Yesterday morning, Matthew saw Todd leaving. Todd says, "I don't like you." And, Matthew responds, "I don't like you too!" And he runs over and gives Todd a big hug. It was pretty cute :)

Halloween 2008

Friday night trick-or-treating? Could it get any better than that? See, we have an awesome neighborhood (in case I haven't said that a few thousand times already). Amanda was a cheetah, Matthew was Spiderman (or, Spider Matthew), Allison was a doctor, and Julia was "Clark, the flying raving rabbid who doesn't ever actually go crazy with plungers and flies with a red cape". She also thought about being "Dark Matter" (but I had to break it to her that it was theoretical and nobody actually knew what it was), a baked potato, granite (as in the rock), or a hobo. She settled on Clark and wore the bunny costume for at least the third year in a row. Doesn't that sound like Julia??? We had a block party with pizza, drinks, and games, a HAYRIDE, trick-or-treating, and then a chili-cook off. The kids had a blast. Well, all except Allison (who was running a 103 fever by Saturday and had started feeling tough Thursday night). She wanted off the hayride after about an hour (yet still managed to fill her bucket). Amanda did have a few breathing issues due to the hay, and when our friend driving the hayride said he'd stop to let her off at our house to run in and get her inhaler, she replied, "Great! But, I'm going to hit these two houses first before I get it." Yep, sounds like Amanda, right? Now, I should also point out that the hayride stopped at every house in the neighborhood. So, the kids barely had to walk for their Halloween goodies. Some houses even set up at the end of the driveway to make it even easier. See, awesome neighborhood. No crazy neighbors putting string in between your yard and theirs, no drug dealers, no neighbors suing other neighbors because their tree sheds leaves on their prized begonias, etc. And we have to leave this...but, whoever moves here will love it!

Amanda's breathing problems were never really much, Allison is feeling WAY better as of Sunday night, and the other two are just fine. We very much enjoyed that extra hour of sleep today....we should have that every weekend!

Thanks Cathy for the special Halloween cards - the kids LOVED them!!

Remember to vote Tuesday - it's a citizen's responsibility to register to vote and to have your vote counted. You are only allowed to complain when it's over if you took the time to have your vote counted!

I would also encourage people to look up the Fair Tax (http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer) Imagine having no federal income taxes and everyone paying an equal federal sales tax. Wow, wouldn't that solve some big squabbles about what is fair! What would the fair tax do? People below the poverty line pay NO tax, illegal immigrants pay taxes, billionaires lose their tax loopholes, and foreign producers pay a federal sales tax on good sold in the United States. Hmmm... that doesn't sound too bad, does it?

The book is a quick read and does a good job explaining why it is potentially a better way to fund our government than the current system run by the IRS. Did you that we spend nearly $500 BILLION a year to comply with a tax code that is constantly getting more confusing? That's a big blow to our economy. And, all of that is spent to collect no more than three times that amount in tax revenue. We need to find a better way.

Even if you don't agree with the idea of a national consumption tax, it's worth it to read the book just to learn about how our current income taxes were instituted and some really interesting details about how tax withholding came about. Don't just listen to the media - read the books (check them out for free at a library).

School Pictures 2008 !

Here are the latest school pictures. They all picked a different color background (except Matthew - they were just happy to get him without a blurred image).

Learning new letters

Matthew is really in full swing learning his letters. He spots them everywhere. "Look on that sign!", "Look at that cloud!", "Look on that shirt!"...etc. etc.

But, one thing we did not expect was for Matthew to excitedly exclaim one day, "Look, mom, what letter is that? Look! It's a 'J'!" I'll let you figure out where he was when he said this (no, he wasn't in the bathtub! And, he'd be insulted if you thought that!)

I don't know where on his progress reports that could be put, but it makes you see things in a whole different way when you try and figure out the world from a 4 1/2 -year old's point of view.

Hair cuts...by Matthew

Lesson Number 429:

NEVER LET A 4-YEAR OLD PLAY WITH SCISSORS BEHIND YOUR BACK. LITERALLY, BEHIND YOUR BACK. IT WON'T TAKE LONG FOR HIM TO REALIZE THERE IS HAIR THERE TO CUT, AND LOOK WHAT'S IN MY HAND!!! THE THING THAT ONE USES TO CUT HAIR! AND, WHAT NEAT SNIPPING NOISES THEY MAKE! THIS IS GREAT FUN!!!!

He didn't get any that we could see- not that you'd be able to tell with my hairstyle (or lack therof).

Rally Foundation

I wrote a few weeks back about the little girl in our neighborhood named Hailey who had been diagonsed with brain cancer. She's still in the hospital and has started chemo. A few of us went today to visit her, and she's just such a sweet little girl. It's hard to believe that cancer can happen to kids like this, but it does. There are a lot of kids this happens to.

One of the things her parents have asked for is to consider making a donation to the Rally Foundation. Pediatric cancer is the number one disease killer of chilren agest 0-20. Pediatric cancer is not the same as adult cancer and research for it is underfunded. The link below will take you to the Rally page.

http://www.active.com/donate/rallyletters/haileytrainer

Please consider a donation (any amount is appreciated) to this very worthwhile cause. Thanks :)

A Message From Erin

What could this possibly mean???

(Congratulations Erin, Amanda, and Alex! This will be cousin number 10 for the Linskey kids, and will be the second one next year - cousin number 9, courtesy of Uncle Brian and Aunt Tarra, is due in mid-March!)

More Soccer Pictures

Here are some more soccer pictures - you'll notice that sometimes Matthew is more interested in modern dance moves, looking for butterflies, and (gasp!) illegal watering than soccer. Hey, at least he's not cutting into a gas line! Yes, we have gas lines in Atlanta - they really stink. 1 out of maybe 10 gas stations in our area has gas - and when there is gas you have a gas line that extends for 30-40 cars, can last an hour (minimum), and result in traffic accidents, fist fights, and displays of language that would embarass a sailor. And, there is usually either a $20 or $40 limit (figure in $4.20-$4.40 per gallon and you can understand why this is not really helping much!) They say that it should be better "by the end of the week". They also said this last week, and the week before. Ohh well, guess we gotta use less gas (Wow! What an idea!) I'll see if I can take a picture of a gas line (the problem is, there are so few stations with gas that even that is a hard thing to find!)

Help a little girl in our neighborhood

Hi everyone. A little girl in our neighborhood has been diagnosed with brain cancer. Hailey just turned 9 months old last Wednesday, and two days later underwent brain surgery. Her family has a website so friends, family, and neighbors can track her progress. What they have asked for is prayers. And, what's amazing is that they have asked for prayers for the other kids in the ICU with Hailey. These are really great people.

I know not everyone does that sort of thing, but please take a few mintues to read her story.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/haileyanntrainer

Thanks :)

Busting faces and drunk chipmunks

How's that for a catchy title?!?

Did you know that oak, which is a kind of wood, is hard? It's really hard when you dive into it with your face. Did you know that little boys can scream louder than little girls when they bust their faces by diving into things made of oak? It's true!

First, let it be known that Mom had no involvement in this at all. In fact, nobody even told mom about Matthew busting his face. She found out about it when she went to talk to Matthew and noticed that he suddenly bore a striking resemblence to a Star Trek Klingon. Where was mom? She was out trying to make people get fat (a.k.a accompanying Amanda on her quest to sell overpriced cheesecakes and other artery-clogging treats to our neighbors who will buy just about anything from a neighbor kid). Did I mention that we have fantastic neighbors...they are the best neighbors in the world! ANYWAY, mom wasn't home. Dad was home upstairs folding laundry. This is 100% true. Todd folds laundry. Seriously. He will tell you it's because I am too lazy to do it. This of course is completely false since I find any aspect of the laundering process to be a stimulating and almost transcendental experience that I for one look forward to with wanton abandon. Yes, I'm too lazy to do it and I really hate it. But, in my defense, I do often do it. Just not today. So, Matthew was with his sister Allison watching Jimmy Neutron. Apparently, he got carried away reenacting some scene and subsequently dove into the television stand. Other than his resemblence to some kind of shovel-nosed alien, he's fine.

In other mostly unrelated news, we saw a chipmunk chasing his tail. This is no joke - it was literally running in circles chasing its tail. According to the neighbor (a doctor - so you know he's a credible witness), the lawn had been sprayed with a combination of fertilizer, bug killer and possibly beer today and we all figured the little guy just got a little too much of it in his system. Sadly, we don't have a picture of that. But, even if we did, would you believe it?

People busting faces and drunk chipmunks chasing their tails...just another day in Georgia.

(P.S. The other pictures of Matthew sleeping were taken pre-Klingon - he fell asleep last night on top of our couch pillows ...these are somehow more comfortable than his bed).

Our First Baseball Game

Yes, hard to believe, but today we actually (as a family) attended our FIRST major league baseball game. Before the game started, Amanda asked how long it would last. I said 2 1/2 hours or so. After 4 hours, and 12 innings (I think this is when they were on their 9th of 10 different pitchers) we decided to leave. It was tied 4-4 up until the 14th inning (and the Braves lost 7-4). While it's more fun for the home team to win, we aren't really Braves fans so we weren't devestated by the loss. And, the kids all got a hat (did you know they make scratch'n'sniff hats now?) It was also perfect weather for baseball...if you happened to be playing baseball on the surface of the sun. At the start of the game, it was 85. By the time we left, 89. The extra humidity was free. We did manage to "sneak" into some seats not far from home plate later in the game, when the sun had broiled us to perfection (the usher told us to go ahead because the people had left - and because we probably looked that pathetic?) It was also "bark in the park" day. We could have brought Bucky! I point this out because, prior to leaving, the kids all asked if anyone ever brought their dogs to baseball games. I said, "No, of course you can't. They'd never allow it." Did I get some "Wow, how dumb are you!?!" stares when we saw countless dogs entering the stadium! How was I supposed to know they did this - they never did this at Milwaukee County Stadium 15 years ago (which was the last time I went to a baseball game). I did, however, point out that this was (unbeknownst to me) the ONLY day that people were actually allowed to do this.

There's only a few more weeks left in the season, and the Brewers aren't coming to play again, so I guess we might luck out and be able to catch a game next year. Aside from the annoying "tomahawk chop", it was fun (that to me is like nails on a chalkboard, or having to listen to the Michigan fight song for any reason). Shudder!

Have a great week :) Down here we're all hoping Ike swings North and pummels Florida (so that we can get some rain out of the deal). Keep your fingers crossed (sorry Florida, but we really need the rain!)

Soccer and Hurricanes - it's Autumn-ish in Georgia!

Here are some pictures that I finally downloaded of the first day of school and soccer. It's basically autumn in Georgia (which means it's still in the 90s for at least two more months). Our leaves don't actually fall until Christmas. It's all really odd.

Anyway, about Soccer! Matthew had a more successful soccer practice this weekend- no crying, only some self-assaulting like last practice (and, again, he was one of many doing it), and he seemed to enjoy it a lot more. If we don't have a hurricane next week, we'll have a game!

Speaking of hurricanes...we are torn. We really want the hurricane (because that means a lot of rain - which we need - we had 5 inches from Fay alone and that one basically smacked Florida instead of Georgia). Gustav shut us out, so we have to hope Hanna delivers (or, Ike - which is the next one coming that just formed in the mid-Atlantic). We just don't want anything to blow off our brand new roof that was really expensive. No, I don't watch the weather channel 24/7 or worship Jim Cantore. Check http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ - the National Hurricane Center - and you too can keep track of all this weather excitement. Still think I'm nuts? You'd keep track of this stuff too if you ever moved into a house five days before a hurricane hit while pregnant and your husband was out of town for a month (2003 - Hurricane Isabel in Maryland). They can do a lot of damage even if they don't hit you directly...

4-year old Soccer

I thought I had seen everything. But, that was before I signed Matthew up for 4-year old soccer.
So, what is 4-year old soccer exactly? There are about 7-8 kids on the team. The 4-year olds show up, and they are maybe happy to be there or maybe not. They run around, are distracted by everything ("Ohh, look, a dog! Ohh, and dirt! Lets FEED the dog dirt! Yeah! ") and are kicking whatever balls they can find into the net. This is fun, because everyone has their own ball and everyone scores a goal EVERY SINGLE TIME. While waiting their turn, they do interesting things to keep themselves entertained. They do group hugs (which was actually really cute, and only a few of them fell down). They also practiced hitting ...themselves. Yes, just like it sounds, they chose a portion of their body and with each mini-blow would each say "ow!" Picture 6 kids in a row doing this hitting various portions of their body. So, they practice this and scoring goals for a little while and then have a GAME. Yes, this is a for-real actual 5-on-5 game with a goalie and everything. Now, picture that before playing the game everyone has a ball, everyone always kicks this ball, and nobody else takes it away because it belongs to them. THEN, we have the game. This is where there is only ONE ball, and everyone is trying to get it. If you have it, someone else will take it. You will do almost ANYTHING to get it back. First, you will try to tackle it. This results in the whistle, because (of course) one is not allowed to touch the ball. Only the goalie can do that. But, what's a goalie? You always scored before with no obstacles. Now, there's a guy who can block you. But, it gets worse. Not only can he touch the ball...he gets to kick it far away from you. So, you have to run all the way back to get your ball again. Soon, you learn that you can get to the ball pretty fast, especially if you push or trip the other players also trying to get to it. OOPS! this incurs the whistle. You can't do this. Unless it's an accident. Sometimes, you just fall down. And, nobody is there to really help you up. Sometimes, your shoes may fall off.

Matthew only cried about 4 times. He wasn't the only one, and he did pretty well during the game but came off the field sobbing when he saw me at the end. Poor kid. He had been upset on the field mainly because (1) another player (from his own team!) came in front of him to take HIS ball to score the goal and (2) when the player did this he DIDN'T SCORE. Matthew stood behind the boy and literally hung his head and the tears just streamed down his cheeks. He only fell a few times, he only grabbed the ball with his hands once, and he did like the fact that they got a treat at the end. When I asked him if he liked it, he said no. But, later he was proud to show off his "baseball" jersey with his name on it to Dad.

It was fun to watch, and hopefully we'll have some good pictures in the coming weeks....

"A Presint"...by Allison Linskey

"Ounc thar wus a gril how will help her mom for good so then her mom will pay her then she will bui her mom one thing. But, she wonts a tiger, fish, crocdil, and tocan.

The End"

(Written and illustrated by Allison for mom sometime today)

So, this girl (we'll assume it's Allison) will help me but I have to pay her to buy me something, but only after she gets what she wants first?

New Rules for Solitaire!

You think you know how to play solitaire? Try playing with Matthew. He's really helpful, and has all sorts of helpful tips that will make your game interesting. For example, he will point out which cards are "wrong". Face cards are wrong, Jokers are wrong. He will remove all the black cards from your deck because he only likes the red cards (but, only the red number cards because the face cards, even the RED face cards, are just "wrong"). And by remove I mean he will pick them up from in front of you and won't give them back. Cathy took her game to a new level of difficulty with Matthew helping her out.

Lesson # 428: Never play Solitaire with a 4-year old. Just give them some scissors to run with, ply them with candy, or give them their own deck (if you are lucky enough to have a spare). You could try playing in the bathroom, but even that probably wouldn't work. Lesson #47 taught us that. To refresh your memory...

Lesson #47: "If you are in the bathroom, you must be doing something completely interesting and exciting that demands observation and attention by anyone in the house under the age of 10. This includes your children, your children's friends, your pets, random neighbor pets, and anyone else who might be passing on the street." Lesson #47 also applies to when you are in the shower.

5-hour rule?

Some people believe in the 5 second rule. Some people think there's a 5 minute rule. But, in Matthew's world, he has a trick that makes food good no matter how long it has been on the floor.

Lesson # 427: If you blow on it, it doesn't matter how long a piece of food has been on the floor because that will make it okay to eat. It will no longer be dirty if you blow on it. So don't throw it away, blow on it.

(The following lesson was demonstrated to us when, while eating Fruit Loops one morning for quite a long time, Matthew noticed that there was some that had fallen to the floor. Cathy picked it up and put it on the counter. I picked it up to throw it away. Matthew looked at me and sternly said, "No, it's not dirty. Blow on it." And he was quite serious. And, after blowing on it, he took it out of my hand and ate it!)

Our 2008 Summer Trip (a.k.a "Who goes on a 1-month road trip? That's nuts!")

So, we started our trip by going to Iowa to visit with Grandma Irma, go to Aunt Jenny's wedding, and visit with all our cousins, aunts, uncles, and anyone else we could assault. That was followed by our arrival in Wisconsin to visit with Grandpa Terry & Grandma Jo, and Grandma Mary and Uncle Kevin, and Uncle Brian & Aunt Tarra, and every other cousin and extended relative who couldn't hide from us. Next, we headed east to Ocean City, New Jersey to spend a week with "Cousin" Cathy and Great Uncle Tom. It was, "Awesome, even if we did get sand in our butts!" according to the kids. We took the Cape May ferry and drove to Washington DC to meet Micah, the new son of Julia's godparents Niki and Dan (according to Julia, "Now I have a god-brother! That's so cool!") Matthew spent the night terrorizing Dan and Niki's neighbors by riding Talya's bike in his underwear. Dan got him back (see picture). The next day, we drove to Monticello and then took a scenic drive on the famed "Blue Ridge Parkway" (motto - "We can triple your travel time!"). It was actually very nice. We arrived home the next day, exactly 1 month and 1 day after leaving.

Remind me next year to take a shorter trip. Although, if we're moving, that alone will be our summer trip!

Back in Georgia

We're back home. Actually, we got back Sunday. But, I was pretty tired. I think that's the longest trip we've taken - over 1 month. The kids were ecstatic to be back in their beds. Bucky has been such a good dog the last few days - I think he actually missed us for those two weeks we were away from him.

I'll upload the pictures from the trip in the next few days. We went from Iowa to Wisconsin to New Jersey to Washington DC to Monticello and the Blue Ridge Parkway and then finally home to Georgia. Did you know the speed limit is only 45 on the Blue Ridge Parkway (we drove about 115 miles on it) and that it's so windy you mostly go about 30 if you are lucky and don't have a bunch of people in front of you stopping in the middle of the road to stare in awe when they could more easily pull into the scenice bypass to stare in awe??? That actually only happened about 4 times, but (seriously) stopping in the middle of the road??? Who does that when there isn't a deer or moose threatening suicide when there are clearly marked pullouts 20 feet ahead that actually have a better view? Incidentally, it's probably a fantastic route for motorcylists to take (there were at least 10 times as many cycles on that road as there were cars). Our camera battery died at Monticello so I think I might only have one picture from that and none of the Blue Ridge Parkway. But, it's pretty (and effectively triples your travel time).

The real "news" of the week is that we may be moving again next summer. Yes, we actually have time to plan it (or, more specifically, a deadline to finish our house projects). Todd was selected for a job running a NOSC (Navy Operational Support Center, or something like that) up in Rochester, New York. So, if anyone has any knowlege of Rochester or has lived there, we'd love to hear from you because (like everywhere else we've ever lived) we know nothing about it.

Have a great week :)

Wisconsin...and some sad news :(

We're now in Wisconsin! We have pictures, but I can't post them quite yet.

This post is mostly about some sad news - our aunt Nancy passed away on Thursday morning at the age of 74. Grandma Mary was with her at the end, and we were actually on our way to visit her when we learned that she was slipping away. The funeral was yesterday, which was coincidentally our 12th anniversary. It was a nice, simple service and (as Allison said) "She's in heaven now and will be happy with Jesus."

We'll be here for a few more days until we head out to the New Jersey shore for a week of lying around on the beach. I'll need it after the drive! Then again, since the kids will most likely be trying to find new places to hide sand in their respective orifices and/or drown themselves I guess I won't really be lying around ...

Awesome, Spectacular, Fun IOWA!!!

Those are the words used to describe Iowa. We drove up a few days ago and have been enjoying our time. According to Amanda, "If you want to go somewhere boring, Iowa is NOT the place to go."

On the way up, we saw 4 car accidents (one fatal) and had a trailer blow a tire next to us. According to Allison, "It was the worst day of my life!" Amanda quickly pointed out that the guy who died probably had the worst day of his life, not her. We also saw some pretty severe flooding. The worst was around Quincy, IL (we drove on the Missouri side). The road we traveled on was sandbagged to hold water back...and this was several miles from the river. We also drove through Cedar Rapids. The debris and damage was astonishing. But, everyone in town was out cleaning up. That's the midwest for you. There was flood damage in so many places here - there will be a lot of cleaning up and rebuilding.

In a few days we get to go to Aunt Jenny's wedding. The kids, however, were more excited to learn that the movie "Wall-E" is going to be in town on Friday. Matthew has been busy telling everyone this, including Bucky, the backyard trees, the swingset, and any random person that walks by. But, the really big reason why Friday is going to be "the best" is that all 10 cousins will be together again.

So, that's what we're up to now. We're off to walk to the library and then go through town. You can do this so easily here in Iowa. It's safe, it's friendly, it's just a nice place to be :)