Mamma Mia!

So, I've been considering what to post. I was getting ready to tell all about being in the Sandy Maceys on Monday and watching a guy fill his cart sooo full of Spring water ($1.99 a case), that the cart literally buckled and broke, the wheel bent under, and the cases of water went toppling all over the place. What did I do? Stood and stared. Gee, here's your sign...

I've been feeling all conflicted about something, though, and figured I'd ask the opinion of all the 2 or 3 folks who might read this. :) I watched Mamma Mia last week. I'll preface this by saying that I'd heard a bunch of people talk about this movie who absolutely loved it and couldn't say enough about it. One person said she saw it 3 times in the theater. All these women where raving about this show and what a great chick-flick it was. So my sister and were all pumped up and hoping to see it in the theater. Yah, because of 7 children between the two of us and crazy schedules, we didn't even come close to the movie theater. My brother in law surprised my sister and bought it for her the day it came out on DVD. She watched it then lent it to me - waiting to tell me her opinion til I'd seen it.

So here's my take: I'm not fully sure what I think. I had a REALLY hard time watching/hearing Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan sing. Yikes. I struggled with the lovely Meryl Streep wearing overalls and hippie hair. I had to keep reminding myself that it was a musical and it was supposed to be over-acted and campy. "Think of Music Man. Think of Bye Bye Birdie..." I just kept telling myself. I really liked the gal who played Sophie and thought she was darling. But c'mon, Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan. I struggled a bit through the show, but I love, love, love ABBA, so I made it. Then when it was all over, I turned to Steve (who earned a ton of amazing husband points for watching it with me) and said, "I think I kinda liked it." I told Steve I'd watch it again (at some point) and do the "sing along." I know my husband loves me and would do a lot for me, but I do have to make the pretty safe assumption that he won't be watching it again with me - sing along or not. So, anyone seen it? What do you think?

Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Tomorrow Matthew will be 10 years old! I'm not sure quite how this happened...I blinked...and now he's turning 10. He joined our little family in the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday January 19. The minute the doctor handed him to me, I knew my life would never be the same. Matt was a sweet and mellow baby. He smiled easily and was a snuggler.

As a toddler, he was strong willed and independent, but we could usually reason and cooperate with him. Maybe as a result of that, he has been a wheeler and a dealer from a very young age. It was pretty funny to have this little kid trying to strike up a deal about just about anything. There was a time when we worried a little about the future of that little guy. He got a "Little Tykes" grocery cart for Christmas right before he turned one. He loved that blasted cart! We took many long walks collecting rocks, sticks, and leaves in his cart. If there was anything that we couldn't find (keys, mail,etc.), we'd know that the first place to check was Matthew's grocery cart. We kinda feared that he was headed toward a life full of ambitions of becoming a homeless man, but can happily report that his obsession did wane with time. :)

The month after Matt turned 5, he was diagnosed with a blood disorder. It was a frightening time for our family and lasted just over a year - after about 15 months it corrected itself. During that time, our Matthew proved to be such a strong and brave little boy. He was young and doesn't remember all the details, but I hope that he never forgets what he went through, and how courageous he was.

People who know Matthew sometimes wonder how he became such an entrepreneur. The answer: 'don't have any idea. The boy came to this world with a fascination for math, money, and numbers. He went into Kindergarten able to count from 1 to 100 backward and forward. He could count by 5's, 10's, and 20's. Sure the teacher was impressed until she learned that it was because he loved to count money. I mentioned before that he has like 6 different versions of Monopoly - and I wasn't exaggerating. He adores that game! Again, 'don't quite know where that came from as neither of his parents particularly like the game.

Matthew is just a great kid. He's kind, thoughtful, and generous. He is a good friend and genuinely cares about others and their feelings. He is talented and a wonderful student. We often have adults that come in contact with Matt (teachers, leaders, friends' parents) compliment us on what a good kid he is. I do have to admit, that he is just like any other kid and acts better for other people than his own folks, but truly, Matthew is just a wonderful son. He is a fantastic big brother - his sisters adore him and think that the very sun rises and sets on his shoulders.

Matthew, we love you so much!! We are so proud of you and are so grateful to be your parents. Happy Birthday, Buddy!

December

December came and went in nothing short of a whirlwind! We had a wonderful month. Instead of attempting to catch up on all that I didn't quite get around to posting then, I figured I'd just do a quick summary.
At the beginning of the month, Steve's dad came to Utah to visit. Since it's been about a gajillion years since we've gone anywhere, we decided to have a little mini-vacation and spend several days in Salt Lake with him. It was so good to spend time with Grandpa - we had a fantastic time.
One afternoon we went to the Children's Museum at the Gateway. I guess it's now called Discovery Gateway. (I'm old school and think about the old one off Beck Street. My brother was an "exhibit explainer" there, afterall.) The kids had a ball!

The kids made frame-by-frame movies, pretended to broadcast the news, checked out a Life Flight helicopter, did plays, and played in the little child-sized town.

We only wish that Steve's dad had been able to stay longer! The time flew by too fast, and before we knew it, we were dropping him at the airport. Come back soon, Grandpa!

Every year I overwhelm myself with plans of everything I'm going to do for Christmas. This year we tried to be realistic and enjoy the whole season more. Steve then ended up getting pneumonia about a week and a half before Christmas, so we did end up cutting some less important things out and it actually ended up being kind of a good thing. - Cutting out the unnecessary, not the pneumonia.

Matt and Rachel were so excited to make cookies for Santa. Funny though, they always peter out after a batch or two. It generally ends up that the kids are flitting around the house playing and I am in the kitchen making cookies for the big red guy. (You're welcome, Santa :))

The Fosters have a wonderful tradition of eating a big feast of Mexican food on Christmas Eve. We've been doing it also since Steve and I were newlyweds. For the last few years my sister and her family have joined us for dinner. I wish I'd have taken some shots of the food. YUM!

Christmas day was wonderful. We just stayed home all day, hung out in our jammies, played, and ate a great dinner. Matthew became the proud owner of his 5th or 6th Monopoly game. The boy is obsessed with Monopoly and has been since he was 4. He has many different versions of it as a board game and on CD rom. This new one is the World Edition and has electronic banking. So, we all played a rousing game that afternoon. Matthew won.

Bailey got some cute toys, but the Sesame Street pop up toy was her favorite. She couldn't quit giggling. Funny stuff.

Santa Claus brought Rachel a beauty salon and she loves it. She spent the day doing her hair and trying to convince Matt to play with her. (Not with a whole lot of luck.)

One of the absolute favorites of the day was the enormous dollhouse that Daddy built for his girls. Rachel adores it and has played with it every day since Christmas.

We had a wonderful holiday and hope for great things in this new year.