Matthew – Page 6 – Terry Family Shenanigans

Friendsgiving 2019

Last year four families from our baseball family got together for a Friendsgiving. We did it again this year. It is a fun time. The kids like it because there is a group of them to play and all of them have at least one buddy. We are all very different families but we get along really well and enjoy each others company. Everyone brings a few appetizers and we visit and hang out for a few hours then eat a dinner together. Then play games and visit some more.

This year there was minute to win it games that we all did. We divided into five teams and each team rotated between five games. There was potato rolling, apple stacking noodle fishing, cotton ball flipping and cookie eating contests. The winner of each team wrote their name down on a paper. After all the teams finished we went to each game and the five winners from each team played the game. Those people earned a laminated turkey medal. Then the winner of each of those games played against each other in a final championship game. The final championship game ended up being Cam, Matthew, Jake, Allison, and Frank (his mom actually one but requested a proxy for the championship game). They each had a paper plate with 10 candy corns on it that were covered in whip cream so you couldn’t see them. Whoever found all ten and put them on a napkin next to their plate-without using your hands of course- was the winner. The kids loved it. Jake was the winner and he got another laminated turkey medal for his efforts.

It was a nice relaxing enjoyable evening. The friends that have done it every year are moving to Poland this summer for a couple years. One of the rest of us will have to try and live up to the Friendsgiving tradition while they are gone.

I have been waiting to post this post to add some fun pictures to it…long story short-they aren’t coming. So take my word for it, we had a fun time and looked ridiculous doing it.

Matthew and Dad’s Birthday Race 2019

Matthew and Ryan race every year around his birthday to see if it is the year that Matthew can beat his dad yet. He is getting closer, we had to do a photo finish this year.

Halloween Festivities

Usually by Halloween day arrives I am more than happy to be done with it. The kids dress up and it is fun but you can only go to so many parties that the purpose is to get candy before it gets old. The girls school had a trunk or treat, our church had a trunk or treat, there was class parties, we were invited by some friends to go to a community party, our neighbors have a party (its for adults but still Halloween themed). It is all very fun and the kids love it but my small introvert social bucket is over flowing by the time Halloween comes.

We did our usual Halloween tradition with the McDonalds. There whole family came over to have pizza and witch’s brew (home made root beer) for dinner then we go trick or treating together afterwards. Allison invited her friend Hailey and her family to come with us too. Matthew went on his own with his friends. Allison was a little put out thinking she would have to wait for the slow people in our group to go trick or treating and not get as much candy as she wanted. Her costume was a giant rooster that made it a little tricky to get around in so she actually ended up being the slowest person. The amount of candy did not seem to be affected though. She ‘won’ her own prize for the most candy collected when her bag weighed in at 14 pounds. Matthew had a mere 9 pounds and was totally embarrassed he was beaten by his sister. Emilee didn’t weigh hers but I’m sure she had a few pounds as well. I felt like I was going to get diabetes just sitting in the room with all of it. Of course there was a giant trading of candy session when we all got back to get rid of the candy they didn’t like. I think they all thought Halloween was a big success. Ryan has been taking several large handfuls to work since Halloween to help protect our children’s pancreas’. It was a fun night.

We have a TEENAGER in the house!!

Matthew turned 13th this past week! He is an official teenager. I can’t believe it. He is also a wonderful, caring, kind, smart, fun, talented young man.

I have thought a lot about Matthew this week. It really is true how fast the time goes by. The saying, “The days are long but the years or short” comes to my mind a lot. The memories of having him at the hospital and becoming parents for the first time, holding him for the first time, bringing him home. Thousands of little memories from playtime, bath time, snuggle time, all his firsts. His little running waddle, and cute laugh. There are lots of things about him that have changed as he has grown up but lots of things that are still the same. He has been sweet and loving from day one. He has a tender heart and treats people kindly. I have learned a lot from being Matthew’s mom. I am so grateful Heavenly Father trusted me with him. I hope I can be the mom he deserves. I have told Matthew a few times that I think he has an ‘old soul’. Aside from the fact that he likes peppermint and werthers candy and wears his pajamas tucked in with his slippers and housecoat like your typical grandpa, his ability to reason, and ponder, and internalize concepts and ideas is beyond his years. Sometimes beyond my years. The gospel makes sense to him and Ryan says, “Wrests easily on his shoulders.” I hope that continues to grow and develop and be true as he does. You are a good person Matthew. I am proud of you!

Usually about a month or so before his birthday Matthew brings me a list of what he wants to do, who he wants to invite, and what he wants for his birthday. He has it all planned out. This year he didn’t do that and when I asked he kept saying he didn’t have anything he could think of that he wanted. He did know exactly what he wanted to eat though. We had shrimp at home the day before and the day of his birthday we went to his favorite Mexican restaurant- K-machos, followed by a chocolate chip cookie cake. His appetite is definitely getting closer to a teenagers. It has almost doubled lately. He is very hopeful that means his growth spurt is going to start soon.

He did ask if he could have the home phone be HIS phone. Ryan and I decided to let him try it out. I told him I was going to write up a phone contract for him to sign. He also got a throwing net for baseball and a Royals sweatshirt. We watched him play in his last football game of the season before heading to dinner. I think he had a good day.

Just found out he can have his own phone.
I filled his room with over 150 balloons.
The last football game of the season was on his birthday. He is excited that this will be the last time he has to wear jeans for game days.

Matthew’s 7th Grade Football Career.

Matthew is #14 on the right side of the screen. He ends up on the left side of the screen at the end of the play.

Even though that video is hilarious, it does not show the good high lights of his football plays. Aside from getting trucked a few times, he learned a lot, tried hard and did a good job. he scored several touch downs, his longest being a kick return for 70 yards. He intercepted several throws and ran many yards. His tackling improved a lot too. It was fun to watch him and I took a deep breath when his last game ended and he survived without a major injury.

Matthew’s First Sewing Project

All on his very own at the end of last year Matthew picked on of his electives to be FACTS this year. The first half of the class is sewing and the second half is cooking. After learning the basics, the sewing project they were supposed to do was this back pack. I think he did pretty good. He said he got a ‘B’ on it. I would have given him and ‘A’.

Fall Baseball Final Tournament

Matthew had his last couple of tournaments the past few weeks. Between football and baseball he was not able to put as much practice time into baseball as he wanted. His hitting was showing it towards the mid and end of the season. His last week before the final tournament he made sure he got in some batting practice everyday even if just for 20 minutes. It made a difference though. He had several good hits, including a line drive walk off hit that got them into the playoffs and they ended up winning the whole tournament. It was a great way for the team to end the season. Now with football being done too he isn’t going to know what to do with himself until basketball starts in January. Just kidding, I am sure he will train for baseball as much as he can.

While the boys are playing baseball there is a twitter contest that the parents have won seven times in a row. The memes are from some of the pics that we posted to twitter. Leading us to our eighth twitter win and keeping our undefeated reign in tact.

One of our games we had some really bad calls from the umpires, which happens sometimes. That’s part of baseball and you have to move on. These particular umpires were soooo bad it almost seemed blatant and comical (if it hadn’t have ended up costing us the game). They had three calls in particular that were awful. Our camera mom got one on camera. I didn’t tweet them publicly but I made a few meme’s of my own that I put on our behind the scenes team chat group.

This is the play, Matthew was called out but was clearly safe with time to spare.

Fall Baseball In Full Swing

Matthew had a tournament the other weekend. I didn’t go because I got to watch Allison cheer. One of the moms took some pictures for me though. They didn’t win the tournament, they didn’t play at their top abilities but there were some good plays including a few double plays that Matthew helped with.

Matt gets the force at second…
Throws to first…
Out at first! Double Play!!
Matt and his best bud Reece.
Cheering on his teammates
You can’t tell right now, but I love baseball.

Allison helps Matthew work on his people skills.

I mentioned in a recent post that Allison had been picking a few fights with Matthew. She started the first one by making the statement that cheerleading is harder than football. Shortly after that she picked another fight by claiming she new more about Harry Potter than Matthew did. The next morning at breakfast Matthew was sitting at the table eating and Allison skipped down the stairs placed a piece of paper in front of Matthew, smiled, and sat down to start eating her own breakfast. Matthew leaned over to see what it said.

To clarify the meaning of this note, I will explain a few things. Last year for Valentine’s Day Allison made a huge Valentine’s box with a giant rooster on the front with the help of her Grandpa Jones. A few kids in her class called her Rooster and she decided to adopt the nickname. None of us call her rooster at home but she refers to herself often as ‘The Rooster’. Matthew’s nickname on his baseball team is Cheetah. A lot of the parents will say ‘Go Cheetah’ to cheer him on. Allison decided to say ‘Go Cheetoh’ instead of cheetah when she cheers for him. She gets a kick out of Matthew shaking his head or rolling his eyes at her while he walk up to the plate. So, she decided to leave this note for him next to his breakfast with all nicknames covered. Matthew took the bait and immediately started arguing with her that cheetahs would eat a rooster in a second. Allison had her responses ready to go and kept them coming no matter how crazy Matthew claimed they were. I think she accomplished her mission to get some attention from Matthew.

Later that day I picked Matthew up for an eye appointment. I reviewed the last three arguments him and Allison have had and asked what he thought she might be trying to accomplish by attacking three of the biggest hobbies in Matthew’s life right now. I saw a little light bulb go off and we brainstormed some ways for him to make her attention seeking more positive. I have noticed several time that he has gone out of his way to give her positive attention and acknowledge her accomplishments. He told me he is an Allison Whisperer now. I told him he is on his way but still needs to practice.

Ryan and I both remind him a lot how much his sisters look up to him and try and be like him. It is a little easier for him and Emilee to get along. I think the bigger age difference decreases the competitiveness between them. Matthew and Allison argue more but I see glimpses of a good relationship between them. It is really important to me that they take care of each other and enjoy each other. I am close with my siblings, especially my sisters. I feel like in a lot of ways we got closer when we were older after we didn’t live at home anymore. I am grateful for that but one of my regrets is that I didn’t develop that more when we were growing up. I tell my kids all the time to take advantage of the years that they live together now and enjoy each other because when they grow up it won’t be like it is now, and they won’t see each other as much, even if they live by each other. I don’t know how much they understand that now, its kind of hard to imagine an adult life when you are a kid but hopefully it will sink in a little.

The School Year Begins

Emilee is liking 1st grade a lot so far. She tells me it is way shorter than school was last year. She does really well getting on the bus and going to school without stressing as much as she did last year too. She is starting to go to gymnastics again, she is in the same class as her friend Laney. She still loves playing with her stuffed animals, legos, and drawing and coloring. She is still really tall and fast. She gets a little sad that none of her friends live really close to our house but we try and have play dates for them to come over. She hates waking up in the morning but is getting better at it. She is the pickiest eater I know. What she does and doesn’t like to eat changes daily, there is no way to keep track of it. Watermelon and strawberries are her least favorite and she takes it as a personal attack if they are even in the same room as her. She is still a sweat heart and loves animals. She is always willing to help Allison with Peanut. She can clean her room and do a lot of things on her own but she is a master at getting someone else to ‘help her’ so she doesn’t have to do it all. She loves riding her scooter or bike outside. She is still a huge momma’s girl but her soft spot for dad has grown a lot the past year.

Allison is doing her best to enjoy cheerleading with only one good arm. She is very frustrated that she still has to wear her brace but loves wearing her cheerleading outfit enough to stick with it. Games have started now too which she has fun at too. She is missing gymnastics a lot too but she is cleared to go back on November 25th so she is already counting down the days. She often recruits a friend or two to go ask people to walk their dogs to earn a little extra money. She also makes and sells slime on a regular basis. She is always looking for a way to earn a dollar. She spends a lot of time taking care of Peanut and does a great job. He loves to snuggle with her and ‘pops’ when he sees her because he is excited. She is still witty and sharp as a tack. She likes to know what is going on with everyone and everything. She has been showing her peacemaker/caring side more lately. If someone is upset she tries to think of ways to help cheer them up. She enjoys being older but will never be old enough. Her and her dad went to a fishing daddy/daughter activity. She is very competitive but also kind. She decided to do Girl Scouts again this year. She is always very fashion aware and is relieved that it is time to get a new vest for Girl Scouts so she doesn’t have to wear ‘the hideous sash’ instead. She loves that she is old enough to go to a friends or walk around the neighborhood a little on her own. She is fun to talk to and always has an interesting perspective on things. She is a very good cook as well. She is liking school but doesn’t like to admit it.

Matthew is getting busier and busier. He decided to play football in addition to baseball again this year. He has a two hour practice Monday through Friday or a game for football. He still tries to squeeze in as much time at NBA to practice his hitting and fielding when he can. He also decided to do a nine week basketball camp to help him get better at basketball. He is often found sleeping on the couch at 8:30 at night with ice packs laying on various parts of his body. He is a social boy and likes to try new things. He has a little bit of a teenager attitude starting but is still a sweet kid. When he isn’t playing or practicing a sport he loves to play with the kids on the street. A new boy named Jack moved in a few weeks ago to join the possy. They often get a game of wiffle ball, football, tag, or basketball going after school. I tell him he has an old soul, which I love. He thinks and ponders about things and likes to think through the process of how something will work. He is a gifted boy with an infectious smile when he wants to use it.

On the way TO pracitce
Matthew, Jack and Finn heading to school.

Ryan and I decided that we were going to do another game of Jeopardy with the kids to help them remember some basic, not hard, general and sometimes very specific rules to being a successful happy person now and in the future. They were all excited to play but at some point throughout the game they lost their temper, pronounced something completely unfair, or the game was wrong and stupid. They missed the point that it is supposed to be fun and better than having a lecture for an hour.