Happy Birthday, Thobe

On May 23, 2008, Thobe Allen Monday turned 4 years old. I can't believe that he is 4 years old now. He is such a funny boy. He really amazes me. He has also done really well learning Spanish. His vocabulary in both languages really impresses me. I just think he's a phenomenal kid.

Thobe had a really great birthday this year. We all got up early and had him open his presents. He got a lot of Superman clothes and pajamas (Superman is his favorite super hero), an Iron Man toy that Alden got him with his own money, and a little kitty cat that meows whenever you pet it. Thobe loved the cat and named it kitty cat (a rather creative namer as you can see--he also has another cat that his Sunbeams teacher gave him that he named Gato--cat in Spanish). He takes his cats everywhere and likes to pretend that he's a cat too. I love to hear him meow and meow. I made another attempt at a superhero cake and made a Superman cake with a Superman cupcakes. Perhaps my favorite present that he got was one from Alden. Alden used his birthday money to buy his brother an Iron Man toy. I think Thobe as thrilled to get it as Alden was to give it.

Later that morning, Michael had a meeting in Columbus. We all piled in the car with him and drove down there too. We went to COSI, a huge children's science museum, while Daddy went to his meeting. The boys had a great time, especially at the Kid Play area. After that, we checked into a hotel with a big swimming pool. For some reason, I forgot to pack Michael's swimming suit, so while he went shopping with Hyrum for a swimming suit, the boys and I went swimming. We were having a fun time in the FREEZING cold water until I turned around and saw Alden struggling to stay afloat. I'm not completely sure what happened, but I am sure that it terrified both of us. He held on to me tighter than he ever has before. For some reason after that, Alden wanted to get out, so we met Michael up in the hotel room and went out to eat at the California Pizza Kitchen (this was probably more of a Happy Birthday dinner for Mom and Dad rather than Thobe, but I think we all had a nice time). When we got back to the hotel, Alden & I went down to the lobby to see if they had some sort of crib for Hyrum. While I was waiting to talk to the attendant, Alden said to the guy next to us, "I almost drowned today." The guy didn't hear him, so Alden turned to me and gave me a big hug and said, "Mom, you're my hero because you saved me. Thank you, Mom!" Although Alden has said a whole lot of endearing things to me, this was by far the sweetest. I don't know that I've ever been a hero before.

The next morning, Michael and I took the kids to our friends The Ballstaeds' house and then we went to the temple (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints has temples where members who meet special requirements go to make covenants with God and do service in behalf of others. There are few places on the Earth where I feel the peace I feel when I go to the temple. For more information, go to http://www.lds.org/temples/purpose/0,11298,1897-1,00.html)
We had a really nice time and the kids, as always, enjoyed spending time with the Ballstaed girls.

After that, we drove to Toledo where Grandpa and Abuelita were waiting to wish Thobe happy birthday. They gave Thobe a toy called "Baseball Guys." It has a mat that is shaped like a baseball diamond and then has a scoreboard and a bunch of little baseball players that you can set on the field. Whenever Thobe plays with it, he doesn't want to do anything else. It doesn't matter what other alternative he has, he says, "No, I want to watch my baseball game." I can only imagine what he sees in his mind. He loves the toy. The only thing comparable to his Baseball guys that day was going to a real baseball game where we got to see the Toledo Mudhens. Grandpa somehow got both Alden and Thobe's birthday on the big board and arranged to have Muddy come over and wish Thobe a Happy Birthday. I can't imagine anything much better than that for Thobe. He was absolutely thrilled.

Hyrum found a new friend at the game--a twenty something girl that sat a few seats down from us. For some reason, Hyrum took a real liking to her and only wanted to sit with her. Michael thought he would tease Alden a little and said, "Oh look, Alden, Hyrum found a new mom." This did not set well with Alden. He marched right over to the girl, grabbed Hyrum from her lap, told her that Hyrum was our baby, and then wobbily yet determined marched right back with one arm wrapped tightly around Hyrum's belly and the other wrapped around his neck. We all got quite a kick out of that.

I hope Thobe knows how glad we are that he is in our family and how much we love him. His laid back happy manner brightens our day and reminds us not to take things quite so seriously. He is such a blessing in our lives, and I love him with all my heart! Happy Birthday, Thobs.

Antics of Alden

Alden is such an engaging boy. He is always telling fun stories and asking such interesting questions. The other day we were walking around Walmart, and Alden said, "First we were an angel and then we came to Earth and were a baby. Someday when we're old, we'll die, and then we'll be an angel again, and then we'll be a baby again." I then told him that I didn't know if we'd ever be a baby again, and that after we die we'd be a Spirit, kind of like an angel, and then we'd be judged by what we did when we were alive, and then Heavenly Father would decide if we were good enough to live with our families forever. I told him that because of Jesus Christ, if we are good, we'll get to live with our families and Jesus Christ forever, but if we're bad, then we won't get to live with our families and Jesus Christ forever. Alden got a very serious look on his face and said, "Mom, I'm never going to clean the basement slow again" (can you tell we have issues with him not cleaning as quick as I would like him to). I explained that I didn't think that cleaning the basement slowly would keep him from living with our family forever, but I did tell him that it is important to do what Michael and I tell him. It was so cute.

For the past month and a half, his class has been gearing up for a special mother's day celebration. He has been very excited about it and made me a very sweet invitation. He told me one day during all this preparation, "Mom, I chose you to be my mommy when I was in heaven." I said, "Oh Alden thank you, I'm so glad. Was it because I'm so silly?"

"No," he said, "I saw you and thought 'I love you because you're so beautiful.'" Do you think my heart melted? (I'm a real beauty in the picture with my snow hat and blankets, don't ya think?)

I went to his Mother's Day celebration last week. It was the best mother's day present ever. Alden and his class learned three songs about love and sang them to us while we sat in our kindergartener's seat and put on a tissue paper flower that they made for us. We then opened a package that he and his teacher had made that had a special letter that Alden wrote to me, a book about mothers, a scrapbook that had pictures of Alden and projects that he did from each month that he was in school. His teacher also put together a book called, "I am an author," that had much of the writing that Alden did over the past year. It was so neat to see his improvement and have everything in a special book that he made for me. His teacher also had him paint a flower pot and plant a flower for me and had each of the kids in her class frost and decorate a two cookies--one for them and one for their mom. Then she showed a video that some high school students put together that had each child in her class tell the camera why they love their mom. The DVD is in a weird format; otherwise, I would post it here. Yes, Alden has an amazing teacher. Not only does she do neat projects, but her kids really learn. I can't believe the improvement that Alden and his classmates have made. I read with the kids once a week, and all of these little kindergarteners can read! When I first started volunteering at the beginning of the year, many of them didn't even know their ABCs. It's really remarkable. I am a big fan of Mrs. Curl!

Tenatious Thobe

Thobe is so much fun right now. We never know quite what he's going to say or do. We can usually guess that he'll say or do something that has to do with the Buckeyes, the Cougars, or the Rockets. He is such a sports fan. He loves it! When my parents came to visit, they brought Thobe another BYU shirt. He couldn't be happier. He'll wear it and wear it and wear it and then cries when we won't let him wear it for three days in a row, and he has to take it off. His only consolation is that he can wear a Buckeye, Rockets, or Mudhens shirt. He's a nut. While he has an affinity for the above mentioned sports teams, he also strongly dislikes the Bats, the Yankees, the Utes, and most of all the Wolverines and the Skies. As most of you know, the Wolverines are from Michigan and are the rivals of the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Skies, however, are the worst team of all. They are the team that Thobe has created that are even worse than the Wolverines. Their colors are gray and white, and they are very, very bad. Thobe even cheers for the Wolverines over the Skies. The other day, after Thobe was recovering from a cold and had just made a mess in his night-night pants, I noticed that he had a stuffy nose. I said, "Oh Thobe, you have a buger in your nose."

"Yes," Thobe responded. "The Wolverines put that buger in my nose."

I laughed out loud and began changing his pull-ups that he wore that night. I said, "Oh Thobe, you've got poop in your night night pants!"

"Oh yeah," he said. "The Skies put that poop on my bum."

What a crazy boy! He spends much of his day hitting a baseball or lining his dinosaurs up to play football. He also loves to go outside and play basketball with his basketball hoop and ball. He really is a good little shooter and has started dribbling a basketball too (something that I think is pretty remarkable considering that he's only 3). He also loves cats and often pretends that he is actually a cat. I think he's so cute when he talks in his little kitty voice and meows throughout the house. He makes me laugh. He also loves doing Joy School with his friends Annie and Eliza Talbot. They have a lot of fun together. We also signed Thobe up for a gymnastics class and a baseball class at the YMCA. He's enjoyed both classes a lot.

For most of his life, Thobe has been a huge Mommy's boy. A year or so ago he told me that I was his mom and that Michael is Alden's dad. Michael didn't like that comment so much. Lately, however, this has changed. He is really a daddy's boy. Both he and Hyrum cry and cry when Michael leaves for work (I promise I don't beat them while he's gone). The other night we were trying to get Thobe to bed. Michael was watching a game, so I told him that I would take Thobe up to bed. Thobe wrapped his arms around Michael's neck and said that he wanted his Papi. I said to Thobe, "Thobe, I love you so much. Don't you love me too?"

He looked at me in all seriousness and announced, "I love my daddy a lot, and I love you a little bit."

He often misses Alden while he's at school. A week or so ago, we went to Alden's school to walk around the track with Alden and his class. We had a great time seeing the kids from his class and spending time with Alden. When we left and Alden went back to his classroom, Thobe was heartbroken. He cried and cried and cried. "I want my friend Alden! I want my friend Alden." When he settled down, he told me, "I have one friend, Mom. His name is Daddy. I want my Daddy friend." He also is very protective of Hyrum. I can tell that he loves him very much too.

Despite these types of statements, I know that Thobe loves me too. Ever since Mother's Day he comes up to me and says, "Happy Mother's Day, Mommy. I love you so much." He is such a sweet boy. I'm so grateful to be his mommy.

It's weird to look at this picture and see a glimpse of myself. Thobe has the Thomas tongue just like his momma.

Hazardous Hyrum

I must say that I think that Hyrum is the cutest thing in the world. His little smile really lights up my whole world. When he smiles he crinkles up nose and sometimes blows air in and out of it. It's so dang cute and heartwarming. He has a deep dimple in his left cheek that makes his smile even more captivating. He also loves to snuggle and loves to give kisses. He often says, "Kisses," and then attacks his victims with an open mouth. I love those mushy kisses. He is a boy through and through and loves balls (no surprise with Michael as his dad and Alden & Thobe as his brothers) and is impossible to keep clean. I think his dirty face and soiled shirt make him even more endearing. He's absolutely adorable.




Despite is sweetness and cuteness, he horrifies me. He climbs up anything he can. When he reaches his destination, he either makes a mess--one day he poured out two entire boxes of cereal onto the table, or he tries to climb higher. The other day I heard him screaming and came down to find him on top of computer desk with his foot stuck in the scanner of our printer because he was trying to climb it. He is constantly shaking hands with danger whether he's standing on the edge of the top of the stairs or on the edge of the table. He is absolutely a monkey--I called him a monkey the other day (I actually call him a monkey at least 20 times a day), and Thobe said, "Hyrum is a bad monkey, huh Mom?" He actually is just a curious little monkey. Unfortunately, his curiousness has caused my heart to stop beating on several occasions the past few days. Lately I have been trying to get my yard into shape. Hyrum's favorite place in the entire world is to be outside. I usually just work wherever he plays, and we're good to go, and GO Hyrum does. One day, I looked up just in time to see his little feet disappear under our neighbor's garage (our neighbors keep their garage open about 3 inches so their cat can come and go as he pleases--Hyrum can fit through there, but I don't even think Thobe can). Fortunately, I was able to quickly lure him out of there, but... HE'S A MONKEY! The next day Michael was mowing the lawn, and I was pulling weeds. The boys were playing in the backyard. Suddenly Alden came running to where I was and yelled, "Mom, Hyrum is heading straight for the water." Our neighbors, several houses down, have a lake in their backyard. It seemed fairly far away to me when we first moved in, but Hyrum can make it over there in a few seconds flat. I dropped everything and dashed over to the lake. It looked as though something had fallen into the water not too far from shore because of the ripple of the water. The water was murky, so I couldn't tell if it was Hyrum, but I didn't know. I was just getting ready to dive in when Michael stopped the lawn mower and said that Hyrum had gone into the forest. Talk about a heart stopper. If this was the worst thing that happened, I wouldn't feel too terrible, but two days ago, a man rang on my doorbell and asked me if I had a little guy. My heart again began to pound, especially when I saw his vehicle parked at a bit of an angle as though he had just slammed on his breaks. He told me that Hyrum had been playing with balls in the street--IN THE STREET! First of all, I had no idea that he was even outside, let alone playing in the street. The man told me that Hyrum was now out back. I quickly thanked the man and sprinted to the backyard. I didn't see him anywhere and was terrified that he'd gone over to the lake. I screamed his name, and the man came around the house again and showed me that Hyrum was contently playing with our bird feeder on our deck (he likes to pull the seeds out of it and eat them or throw them or mostly regularly, dump them). I took him in the house and was only slightly annoyed when he poured out another box of cereal onto the entry way floor. That night I didn't want to put him in his crib. I just wanted to hold him close to me as I thanked my Heavenly Father for protecting my baby that day. As a mother, I am so grateful for the hand of the Lord and am convinced that God has sent his angels on numerous occasions to protect these precious souls that he has entrusted to me. It is my prayer that I can do a better job to keep my precious boys safe and teach them the things that they need to know to be happy.

Happy Birthday, Alden!

On May 15th, 2008, Alden Jefferson Monday turned 6 years old. It's so hard to believe that six years ago Alden came into mine and Michael's life and changed it forever. He really is so special to me, and I love him so much. He makes me laugh. He has told everyone he sees that he is now six years old. "I used to be five," he says, " but on May 15th, I turned into six." It always makes me smile. This year to celebrate Alden's birthday, we had a party at gymnastics facility called Gym Stars here in Lima. I tried to talk Alden into something a little less expensive, but his friends Jack and Austin, had their parties at Gym Stars, so he really wanted his party to be there too. It was rather cute. Several weeks before his birthday, I made several other suggestions of places where we might have his party. He responded with a bit of sadness that he'd be happy to have his party at one of my suggestions. I then asked him, "Where do you really want to have your party?"

"At Gym Stars," he replied while looking at the floor.

Can you blame me for having it there? He really wants to make Michael and me happy, even if it means sacrificing something he really wants. He's such a good boy.




I'm really glad that we had the party where he wanted to have it. We had such a great time and so did the kids. The place was huge and had trampolines, balance beams, a bouncy floor to run and jump on, bars to hang from, and even a pit of foam balls that the kids could jump into. The party preparation and clean up was minimal. I even got very ambitious and made Spiderman cupcakes with spiders and spiderwebs (for those of you who know me well, you know that these cupcakes are a major accomplishment for me--usually when I try to decorate something with frosting it looks, well, kind of like Hyrum might have been trying to decorate them). We also bought a Spiderman pinata and had the kids break it. We had 22 kids total. It was crazy and a lot of fun. We invited all the kids from his school class (Alden said that all the kids were his friends and couldn't think of anyone that he wouldn't want to invite) and all the kids around his age from church (including a few friends in Bowling Green). Alden got more presents than any kid ever needs, but he loved every minute of it.





On his actual birthday, we also had a nice day. Alden got a Batman costume (he loves dressing up) and a Batman watch. He also got a lot of clothes, which he needed desperately. I made another batch of the cool Spiderman cupcakes and took them to Alden's school for everyone in his class and then that night we went up to Toledo to have dinner with Alden's birthday buddy--Abuelita. Alden was born on her 59th birthday. We were able to have dinner with all of Michael's uncles and his aunt on his dad's side as well as many of his cousins. It was a very fun and special night. I think Alden really loved being one of the guests of honor. Again, he announced to everyone that day that it was his birthday and that he was now six years old.





Alden & his Abuelita--Happy Birthday!











Grandpa Monday, Uncle John Czarnecki, Kathy, Uncle Wayne Monday, Cousin Nick Monday, & Aunt Elaine Czarnecki.









Uncle Ronald Monday with his daughters, Becky & Eva.











I just want to reiterate what a great blessing it is for me to be Alden's mom. I am truly grateful for him. He is truly one of the greatest blessings in my life.

The Three Fs--Furniture, Flowers, Fun

Michael and I, since the day we were married, have been, well frugal is a nice word, but let's face it, we're cheapies. We didn't get a cell phone until a couple years ago. We told people that we didn't want to be slaves to our cell phones, but in all actuality, we just didn't want to pay another bill. We always try to get the best deal on something. I have a difficult time buying anything unless I've researched it to death and feel like I'm getting a good deal on it. Our philosophy has been if it works, why replace it? Michael drove his 1992 Ford Tempo that he got when he got home from his mission until just last year. It worked some of the time. When he worked in his big Vegas firm one of his co-workers, who Michael was giving a ride to a meeting or lunch, told him, "Mike the man who drives this old thing is a man that is very comfortable with who he is." He may have been trying to be nice, but Michael knew that he was pointing out a fact that he already knew, we're cheap. Anyway, this needlessly long introduction leads us to our furniture. Our main furniture set has been the furniture that Michael had in law school. Don't get me wrong--it is a fine couch and love seat, and something that I've grown very fond of; however, from all our moving around and from three little boys, this set has seen better days. When we moved into our house, we felt it was time to get new furniture and asked the people moving us in to move the couch and love seat into our basement. The love seat went down rather difficultly, so much that the love seat movers seriously doubted that they'd be able to get the couch down, which actually was a good thing. After a year of having the love seat in the basement and a beat up old couch in the living room upstairs, Michael and I bought our first furniture as a couple. Hooray! We have been eying this particular set for over a year now and finally got it for a deal that we could live with. We are so excited about it. The room isn't exactly how we want it yet, but I thought I'd post a few of the pictures of our first major furniture purchase as a couple. Maybe we can trick a few people into believing that we're not as cheap as we actually are.




Also on Mother's Day, Michael got me two BEAUTIFUL flower baskets to hang on our front porch. I really think it adds to our house and LOVE them! When we were driving away to go to church on Sunday morning, I was expressing my delight at their beauty. My sweet little Alden piped up from the back, "Those flowers are so beautiful, Mom, just like you!" I'm so lucky to have my family. I really love them!!!!

A Visit from Grandpa and Grandma

On April 22, 2008, my mom and dad got on a plane in Las Vegas, Nevada, and flew to Columbus, Ohio, to visit us! We were so excited to have them here and loved every minute of their visit. Unfortunately, my mom was sick for part of her stay, but fortunately, she was able to recover while she was here, and I'm pretty sure she enjoyed her stay. My dad, on the other hand, stayed very busy with various projects around the house. He was so sweet and nice to install our not- so- pretty- stiff- plastic- shield on our banister (we made a horrifying discovery a few months ago--Hyrum can fit through the rails on our banister. One Step Ahead sells a plastic banister shield that, although not pretty, protects little Hyrum's body from squeezing through the banister and plummeting to his death on our hard wood floor below). Thanks to my dad, I sleep a lot better at night with that shield up. He also hung a very beautiful and heavy mirror in our bedroom. This might not seem like a big deal, but the mirror had no hanging hardware on the back of it. My dad, the amazing fix-it man that he is, not only came up with a way to hang the mirror, but also creatively devised and attached hardware to the mirror to hang that beastly thing to our wall. I wish that I had some of his smarts. He also did 100 other odds and ends around the house that I really appreciate.


Even though I greatly appreciated all the hard work that they did, my favorite part of having them here, besides being able to talk to them all day and hang out with them, was having them play with the kids. Alden, Thobe, and Hyrum thought having their grandparents here was the greatest. Alden was very excited when we came to his school to eat lunch with him and loved doing his homework every day with Grandma. Thobe loved to play baseball with Grandpa. When my dad wasn't working on all the projects, he was playing baseball with Thobe. Thobe brought my dad the bat and would pitch the ball, and Grandpa would hit it. They played like that for hours in various locations. Whether they were watching Gun Smoke (Thobe remembered Gun Smoke from my parents' visit in November and kept reminding my dad that he did like Gun Smoke), running around outside, or just sitting around the living room, Thobe and Grandpa played a lot of baseball. I guess Thobe was just getting my dad ready for his first baseball game. Michael's parents came and visited us in Lima and took us all out to the Packard Grille (my parents really enjoyed this), and then we went up to Toledo where we went to a Mudhen's game. Hyrum also loved having Grandpa and Grandma here. His favorite word now is Grandpa. He followed my dad everywhere and loved jabbering to my mom in the car. It makes me so happy to see how much my kids love their Grandpa and Grandma, and that although the distance is great, their love for them is also strong and secure.

We love you, Grandpa and Grandma!!! Thanks so much for coming!!!! We miss you!