One Is A Big Number

Everyone is the age of their heart. ~Guatemalan Proverb

Birthdays at our house seem to be a week long celebration!

Wesley turned the big 1 year!

Here's how his celebration went:

Car Seat Turned Around in the Car (Hallelujah!). Everyone is excited about this one.

Wesley's favorite Costco Chicken Noodle Soup for Lunch

We dumped all the golf balls on the kitchen floor for Wesley to play with for hours.

Having quiet reading time in the afternoon like Grandma Hollie in his favorite basket

Balloons (need I say more?)

Birthday Cake from the famous Seattle Bakery from Grandma and Grandpa Matthews (notice the 2 binkies hidden in the cake!)

Don't think about the calories Wesley!

Big Boy Toys!

This picture shows a typical birthday party at the Matthews

To quote Preston - "This is how we roll"

A Cure For All Things

There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them. ~Sylvia Plath

I need a house with a nice bath so I can "wash" all my problems down the drain!

A bath from the master causes a pond to appear on our kitchen floor.

Lucky Wesley gets to enjoy a bath every morning - but I would need one too if I sat the night in a diaper ;)

You Are My Sonshine

Boys are beyond the range of anyone's sure understanding, at least when they are between the ages of 12 months and 90 years. ~James Thurber

Yes Preston is wearing the same pajamas for 2 days in a row.... it's how we roll in this house. We LOVE pajamas! Remember pajamas day is every Monday & Wednesday (and sometimes Tuesday & Thursday) oh, and occasionally Friday and Saturday!

What a great life!

May We Take Your Order?

"Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they're looking for ideas." ~Paula Poundstone

This is our back up plan in case Tom can't find a job:

They are very friendly when taking your order

Very attentive listeners:


Are so efficient they get bored:

Very secure and excellent accountants:

Contact us for their resumes!

Caught Ya!

The fastest way to succeed is to look as if you're playing by other people's rules, while quietly playing by your own. ~Michael Korda

Dad's Rule: No Eating on the Couch

Mom's Rule: Don't let dad see you eating on the couch

At such a young age we give our children mixed signals!! No Consistency!

This little guy obviously knows he is guilty!

Hansens Cabin - January 2009

A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you've been taking. ~Earl Wilson

What a blessing to have a place to run away to! (we actually have 2 places, lucky us)

Some highlights of this trip to the Hansen Cabin:

1.) Learning to be creative (the cabin high chair)

2.) It's Fun Having Bed Head All Weekend Long

3.) Enjoying Nature and Cool Crisp Clean Air:

4.) Sporling (Exploring)

5.) Snuggling AND not wearing makeup (me, not Tom :))

6.) Being a BIG older brother

7.) Having 3 BOYS in the cabin makes life crazy & a BLAST

Chomp Chomp!

Adam and Eve had many advantages, but the principal one was that they escaped teething. ~Mark Twain

Tom has some concerns about the size of Wesley's teeth.

All the better to BITE you with Tom!

He will have a cute smile like his moms.

After thousands of dollars and braces :)

Those good ol' Hansen genes shining through my children.

As Every Cat Owner Knows, Nobody Owns A Cat

Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms. ~George Eliot

Our little Kitty Lily can teach us all something about Patience

Especially when it comes to children

She is such a good kitty. Meow!

When I was looking for a quote I found this one and thought it was cute:

Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth! ~Anne Tyler, The Accidental Tourist

More Change? Seriously?

If you're in a bad situation, don't worry it'll change. If you're in a good situation, don't worry it'll change. ~John A. Simone, Sr.

These days change is all over the Matthews House.

Ups and Downs.

I'll just cut to it - Tom was laid off this week.

WHAT???

Yes it's true.

We feel really good about it - like something really exciting is going to come out of this.

We have a couple of months of savings and if Tom still doesn't have a job

We will be living at the Hansen or Matthews hotel :)

Life is good. We have HOPE and so should you.

keep us in your prayers.

Good news soon to follow!

Change is Hard..... Change is Good

"The Lord Works In Mysterious Ways"

so said the bishop of our ward a week ago when he called me into his office (keep in mind this is RIGHT after I taught my lesson on Virtue). I was called to be the Relief Society Secretary.

I honestly felt very numb about the whole thing - no real emotions about it. I miraculously shed only 5 little tears. I will miss the leaders I worked with TONS, I will miss the girls TONS, but I like being a secretary......

Onward and Forward I go - onto the next thing.

Our chance to work in so many areas with so many different people is something I really appreciate about our church.

I'll be back to Young Womens.

"The only thing constant is change" ~ Thomas S. Monson

Thomas Lawrence Matthews Turns 32

A man's work is from sun to sun, but a mother's work is never done. ~Author Unknown

Confused that Tom's birthday quote is about mothers? It's because his mother went

ALL OUT

for her Tommy Toes 32nd Birthday!

When we arrived the sign on the door read:

An Adventure to a Vietnamese Grocer in Seattke, Hours and Hours of Time, Tons of $$, A House Smelled Like Yuck!

All for the Love of her Son

Jan made Tom's favorite Vietnamese Pho

It was delicious!

Then she made a Pumpkin Trifle

Wesley was practicing blowing out candles.

There's no doubt how much his mother loves Tom.

We all love him so much.

You bring laughter to our lives.

Good advice.

Always ready for a party.

You are a good example of unselfish service to others.

We love you so much Tommy Toes.

Putting Dad In His Place

By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong. ~Charles Wadsworth

Preston: "Thomas Lawrence Matthews you are silly"

Our little Preston is starting to tease his father.....

Don't you love full circle moments?

I LOVE them!

Monster Truck Show

I looked forever and couldn't find a quote for this post. I'm not sure how I feel about this whole "Monster Truck" thing. Here is my own personal quote:

"Sometimes the fear we feel as mothers is valid - even when we are laughed at."

It was a bittersweet time. Preston loved it so much!

But so you better understand the quote above and the feeling of this post - Before the boys left for the evening I asked B if anyone ever gets hurt and he laughed and said they have protective barriers up. Well, a little boy was killed this evening by a flying piece of metal from one of the trucks.

There were No protective barriers. It really was a freak accident.... but..... scary

I'm going to end this post with a favorite quote of my mother's:

"Men seek adventure; women seek security"

Can You Guess What This Is?

It's a Sea Anemone!

"Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else."

It's Over! It's Over!

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:10

Several nights of sleepless nights. Pages and pages of research. Going over and over trying to memorize. Hours and Hours of talking with my mom. Cutting and taping handouts. Sweating and Sweating.

I taught the Young Women in our ward today about Chastity.

Anyone who has had that task can understand my feelings: It's Over :)

One day I hope it will become easier to teach.

Here is the Handout I gave. My mom gave the same lesson and we gave the same handout. My mom said this was the nicest handout she ever gave.

Party At Our House

At every party there are two kinds of people - those who want to go home and those who don't. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other. ~Ann Landers

I saw this quote and just had to post it. It is the epitome of Branden and Heidi's coming to our house on Friday's for a party!

We love to party! Here are pictures of one of our Fridays.

A couple of years ago Tom and I were watching our favorite kids while their parents went somewhere on a trip. One evening I walked outside to get the mail and noticed that every light was on in the house and you could hear laughter.

I thought to myself how if I was a stranger walking by I would think: what a fun house - I wish i could go inside.

And I realized I wanted a house like that. And hopefully I always will (I am married to Tom!)

Laughter and fun are always good!