We LOVE Christmas!!!

News stations reported that there was a thunder-like disturbance resonating from the northern Atlanta suburbs earlier today. Was it a fight at a gas station? Was it the sound of Lake Lanier finally filling up after our rain last night? Was it exuberant Badger fans on their way to Orlando? No, it was none of those. It was instead the sound of 4 kids jumping up and down in unrestrained exuberance. Santa brought a Wii. You can't find a Wii, according to mom. In fact, some of dad's coworkers were wondering if Santa might be bribed to get any Wiis he may have obtained. Hypothetically. In case you fell into a well or have been asleep for the last few years, Wii is a really neat game system. It's very interactive in a way that no other gaming systems are. This means that you can literally get injured playing video games. And, they are the kind of injuries normally only seen by people reenacting Packer plays in their livings rooms after consuming a lot of beer. But maybe not this season, in which case the injuries were more related to punching holes in walls. Especially on Monday night.

We're playing Wii sports baseball right now. This is thoroughly confusing Bucky, who keeps thinking we're either throwing him a ball or trying to hit him. See, Allison is pitching and dad is hitting. To a dog, or anyone staring in our window, this would look really odd. Now, we switched to bowling. Anyway, it's really cool. Santa rocks.

We also opened our other gifts. And, holy Bakugan! That is what Matthew is playing. He is walking around with his Bakugan figures. He has set up his Bakugan game. He will probably sleep with Bakugan. Yes, he is happy. If you want to know what Bakugan is, ask any boy ages 4-10.

The kids were all thrilled to get pajamas and outfits- we really BADLY needed them. We have been lax in our clothes shopping of late. Now, Matthew won't have to wear any hand-me-downs from Allison (although he looked stunning in her Easter dress).

Amanda received a purse and candy from her good friend Yumina in Japan! According to Amanda, "It's the best!!! Thank you Yumina!!"

Then, there were games. We got a lot of games. Zingo is AWESOME! And, we love the ones that make us think. We got a few movies - WallE, Kung Fu Panda, and Horton Hears a Who. And, we got some Nintendo and Wii games (wow!!!) We also got some gift cards and coloring books and a great bubble maker. Allison has proclaimed that this is the best Christmas EVER.

And, mom even got a present from the kids. She got a Nuvi 360 GPS. She is currently trying to figure out how to program it with voices from Monty Python. Just picture John Cleese yelling, "What are you doing! I told you to turn right you daft imbecile!" Dad shopped for himself and bought himself a handheld GPS. Apparently, mom and dad decided that we should start planning ahead for when we can't figure out where we are.

So, thank you to everyone who sent us such great presents and gifts and cards and everything!!

Merry Christmas !!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone (at least to everyone who celebrates Christmas). If you don't celebrate it, then instead Happy December 25th.



We'll open presents tomorrow. Today, we made some sugar cookies for Santa (and some for our neighbors Mr. Paul and Miss Betty, and their daughter and son-in-law). Ohh, and the kids ate a lot of frosting. This could explain why they went running up and down the hill for 10 minutes (our hill is at about a 60 degree angle for those who have not yet visited us). They sang a few Christmas songs (Jingle Bell Rock, and Reindeer Rap). Matthew dazzled us with his dancing moves that rivaled Steve Martin in "The Jerk". Right now, we are watching the Grinch.

We did have a new feature in our pre-Christmas festivities. The girls wrote last Friday to Santa asking if they could have an elf. See, all these kids at school have written to elves and then (magically) these elves appear in their houses. Magically. The elves turn into stuffed animals during the day, and at night make their "secret reports" to Santa. And, they also do mischief. Our elf has hung himself from ceiling fans (by his clothes, not to kill himself!), turned chairs over, put chairs on tables, etc.. Some in the house have wondered out loud if our little elf might do good and nice things (like baking cookies or cakes or cleaning up bedrooms) instead of mischief. I said that I didn't think our elf, Eugene, was that kind of elf. Those helpful elves have to stay at the north pole. The elves that get to come to houses are sort of like elves-in-training or delinquent elves. Anyway, when Allison first read the letter from Eugene (see above picture of Allison and Eugene)explaining how this was his first house and how he hoped he wouldn't do too much damage, she couldn't pronounce his name. She called him "Egu". Mom also had trouble, and Allison has to keep correcting her when she refers to Eugene the Elf as "Egu the Elf". Mom is really dumb. Sadly, Eugene will be hitching a ride with Santa tonight and heading back to the north pole. We hope he can find our house next Christmas, wherever that will be!

We heard that Santa was on his way. We've checked NORAD to make sure the kids are in bed on time. He's getting close! Here's the link for you to track him: http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html

Matthew has nice rosy cheeks as he is going to bed. When dad asked him why his face was so red, he calmly answered, "I just pooped." He's a charming package.

Merry Christmas to everyone :)


(Ohh, and as you can see in the picture, Allison got an early Christmas present...her other front tooth!)

Piano Recital

Here is video of Amanda playing "Over the Rainbow" at her recital a few weeks ago :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXJBqHEbrfk

Happy Holidays from The Linskeys!

Happy Holidays for the second consecutive year from Georgia! We enjoy Atlanta, but sadly we will have to say goodbye next summer and say hello to our new home in….Rochester, New York. Yes, another Navy town!!! Who knew! Todd will be running the NOSC (Navy Operational Support Center). It’s similar to his current job and he’d have been an idiot to say no to it. On the upside, there is no drought and really almost no chance of being hit by hurricanes or earthquakes. But, if anyone has a spare snow blower they would be willing to lend us please give us a call. So, what else is new? Todd has started running in races and finished his first half-marathon in October. He seems to like it, or he just really needs to get away from us. Kelly, bored with lying around now that the kids are all in various forms of school and longing for a change, had an appendectomy in the spring. That was about the only truly exciting thing she did all year. Most of the time, she is the chauffer and events coordinator for the kids. Sometimes, (sit down for this) she subs at Matthew’s preschool. Yeah, picture that! But, what you really want to hear about is the kids. So, here is what they were up to this year…



Amanda – age 11, 6th grader (argh!!!! MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!), future zoologist, learned that “Webkinz are finally getting boring, never try to rename your teacher’s chair, never let your sisters near your stuff, never let Matthew pretend to be a tulip, and mom and dad are starting to get stupid.” Yes, we’re almost there! She’s still in Girl Scouts, did swim team (“for the last time!”), sings in chorus, and plays piano. Her favorite subject? Nintendo and Pokemon. Bet you didn’t know they taught that in school. Actually, it’s science (where does she get that from?!?) For Christmas, she’d love…a new pokemon game. She would also like Allison, Julia, and Matthew to get Pokemon games. And Bucky, mom, and dad too. But, she’d play them for us if we didn’t want them. She’d also like a cellphone (because about half of the kids at her school have one – but she is so not getting one and just asks us to laugh at our reaction) and as many books as she can fit into her room.



Julia – age 9, 4th grader, wants to maybe be a lawyer, and definitely doesn’t want to be “the dude who eats all the weird food on the travel channel”. Me neither, Julia. This year, Julia learned long division, and, “like, other things.” She’s tried new sports (softball and basketball) and continued others (swimming, “car exercising”, and being blonde). Like her older sister, she has joined chorus and is a junior girl scout. This year, she learned, “Don’t sleep next to a sick person, don’t wind up the dog or ignore him when he has to go outside or feed him cheese, don’t take great-grandmothers on walks through poison ivy, never name trees, and don’t help your brother put on makeup or make him wear a tutu.” She would like a Cosmic Catch and Boom Blox for Christmas. Although they sound like diseases, I think they are actually games.



Allison – age 7, 2nd grader, future 2nd grade teacher or “cash cab prize girl”, Allison is our PGP – Princess Grumpy Pants. She got over her disappointment of not playing tackle football and instead played soccer and basketball. She is planning to try softball in the spring. She is our jock and seems to do well in sports. But,outside of sports, she often falls on her face (a.k.a “tripping on air”). Her most often uttered phrase? “I’m okay.” She also loves to sing…anywhere, anytime, and often as loud as she can. Allison’s other claim to fame is that she has the best hand-writing of all the Linskey kids combined. It might not be grammatically perfect, but it’s sure pretty! When she’s not being a jock, falling down, or singing she’s usually playing or “being a Brownie”. This year, she learned, “Geometry, trying not to fall in midair, not tormenting the dog…much, not telling classmates who your parents are voting for, and don’t get hit in the face by a basketball.” For Christmas, she’d like her other front tooth, a cell-phone, and a Pokemon ball.



Matthew – age 4 1/2, future Transformer or “Spiderman wearing a costume”, able to create letters with his body …and other things, has had a great year. Most importantly, he talks more! Although you may think this is bad, it is good. Check our blog for some more interesting conversations he has had with us that, sadly, can’t be put in the Christmas letter. Matthew likes snowflakes, going to two schools, playing soccer (which strongly resembles interpretive dance), and constantly finding new ways to make us laugh. He does not like getting hurt, having surgery, being in time out, or walking into things. This year, he learned, “Moms who go to the hospital don’t always bring home babies, never give the dog the phone, don’t cook by myself…ever, don’t try and crash your sister’s sleepover party, don’t change your underwear in front of your sister’s girl scout troop, and if you hug the prize machine at the dentist sometimes people will give you prizes just because you are so cute.” Since nobody delivered last year, he still wants a lifetime supply of Betty Crocker blueberry and double chocolate muffins. New for his list this year is “Bakugan.” Ohh, and everything he sees in any children’s toy catalog ever made and any toy store he happens to trick you into going to.



“Bucky” (seen frequently chewing on a metal sprinkler) is 83+ pounds of raw… inertness. We think he may have either horse, beaver, squirrel, or possibly trilobite DNA mixed in the chocolate lab. His favorite toy? Anything that you don’t want him to destroy…and hickory nuts. He ate our rake, he killed the grill brush, he really loves hoses, and as if that wasn’t enough…he chews up razor sharp chunks of hickory nuts for everyone to step on. He leaves them on the couch at night for us to find like little presents (where he hides them? No idea!) He’s actually a good dog and very lovable...in the way that a horse sitting on your foot is lovable.

We’ve had a few brave visitors this year, but we wish there were more. It’s not that far! Yes, we do still have a drought, but the water company doubled our water bills to make up for lower water usage so we’ve pretty much just given up on being “water responsible".

Have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!

Todd, Kelly, Amanda, Julia, Allison, Matthew, and “Bucky”

Catnap

Matthew fell asleep last night around 6pm (it was a long Monday apparently). He slept for about an hour or two, woke up and came down to sit with dad. After he was more awake, he looked at Todd and asked, "Am I going to school now?"

He thought he'd had a good night's sleep! Since he gets up for school when it's dark, it's often hard to know for sure if it's day or night!

Matthew's Special Doctor

While waiting for Allison to finish her appointment at the dentist, I was trying to keep Matthew occupied.

I said, "Matthew, guess where you're going tomorrow?"

Matthew said, "Where?"

I answered, "The doctor."

He looked scared, so I added,
"It's the boys doctor."

Matthew thought about this for a second and then quickly asked,
"Is that the penis tickling doctor?"


Yes, Matthew, it is. It's the pediatric urologist. It's Matthew's surgical follow-up to see if he is all done with surgeries or if he requires more plumbing modifications.

Deep Thoughts...from Matthew

Last night, the kids were playing a little rough. At one point, some pushing was involved. Apparently, Allison pushed Matthew. He turned to her and stated most seriously,

"Allison, if you push anybody they could get hurt or dead."

He paused briefly in reflection and added,

"I don't think I'm dead though."

Sick LGBs and Basketball

We had a sick LGB this weekend ("Little Grumpy...Boy"). He's actually better, fever-free after hitting 104.7 Wednesday, but passed out and is two hours into an afternoon nap right now. This probably isn't much different than his dad since football is on.

We had our first basketball games this weekend. Both the girls had fun, I think they both lost, but whatever! I attached a few pics to show the action. I will point out that most of the pictures were blurred, so that's why they look so boring (that and I have the photography skills of a gerbil).

My MINIONS!

Allison and Julia were having an argument one morning. Julia was telling Allison she forgot to do something. Even if it's true, Allison's response to any bossing around from her older sisters is almost always, "You're not the boss of me!" So, that's what she said back to Julia. I added, "Julia's right, you know, you did forget to do that." Allison said, "Yeah, but she's not my boss." I responded back, "No, but she's my minion." Allison thought for a minute and stated, quite seriously, "Ohh, and dad is your minion too."

Todd, upon hearing this declaration, just shook his head and answered with a resounding, "No, I'm not."

After I finished laughing, I simply responded, "Yeah, when have you ever known dad to listen to anything I say!"

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!