Confistawhat?

For Christmas, Matthew received his heart's desire from Santa. He got a Game Boy Micro with a Pokemon game! He has been playing it continually for 2 days, but yesterday, he got in trouble for a little 'attitude' problem and his Game Boy was taken away for today. This morning, Matt was telling me how disappointed he was that his Game Boy was confisticated.

I think he meant confiscated. :-)

Well, I guess you can read it that way!

Today I was reminded of something hysterical that happened this summer!

While Matt and I were shopping for school clothes at the mall, Matt's attention was drawn to the wall of T-shirts emblazoned with sassy sayings. He was reading and chuckling at all of the "Blame my brother" and "My dog ate my homework" shirts when he came across a shirt and was adament that, "Mom, you just have to get it - it's perfect for you!" Since I hadn't really considered any of those shirts appropriate for a mother of four little boys, I was curious to see what had captured Matt's attention in this way.

The shirt read:

"Too many boys, too little time."

Maybe it was applicable after all! :-)

Mr. Smartie Pants

I know that everyone thinks their children are gifted. Today, though, we got some news that PROVES Matt is as smart as we have always thought he was. In the third grade, the kids take their first standardized test - the 'Cognative Abilities Test'. There is no preparation for it, it is just a general test to determine children's natural abilities. I was shocked, and thrilled to receive the results today. Matthew scored in the 99th percentile NATIONALLY! That was for verbal ability - we always tease Matt about talking too much. :-) There were two other sections of the test, non-verbal ability and quantitative ability. He scored in the 92nd percentile and the 89th percentile in those - both well above the national averages. His composite score (so his overall ability) was in the 97th percentile. I am just so proud of him!

The world according to Matthew

As the oldest brother, Matthew enjoys a certain amount of hero-status among his younger brothers. They often ask him questions and he enjoys giving long lectures to them - mostly on things like Pokemon attacks and the characters in Star Wars, etc... In the last 3rd grade book order, Matthew purchased the All new, 2007, Guiness book of World Records. As a trivia buff, these sorts of useless facts are just the type of thing Matthew enjoys collecting in that brain of his. In the car this afternoon, Matthew was explaining some of his new-found knowledge to William. Since we have twins, multiple birth families are of some interest to us. In Matt's book there was a woman who gave birth to SEVEN babies at one time. "You know what that's called, Will?" Asked Matt. "It's called 7-up-lets." I think the family might need to be alerted to this fact, since they've probably been calling their children septuplets. Also, I think the Coca-cola company might like to know they could possibly use this family as advertisement for their popular soft drink! :-)

Grandma's house . . .

Matthew is upstairs in bed - he has been sick the past 2 days. I just went up to talk to him about our Thanksgiving plans. Warren and I just decided that we would go visit family in UT and ID for Thanksgiving. Then, since this year is our 10 year anniversary the day before Thanksgiving, Warren and I are going to take a little trip to AZ for 4 days and leave our children with our families. Since 4 rambunctious little boys are a tall order for anyone, we decided to split them up. The older two boys are staying in ID with Warren's mom, and the twins will stay in UT with my mom. As I was talking to Matt about this plan he said, "I just love staying with both my grandma's!

At Grandma Julie's:
She has lots of movies,
She tickles me,
She takes us places,
She's nice,
We get to see Grandpa...

But at Grandma G's:
She has that great big garden,
She has those apple trees,
She puts Torani syrup in our milk,
We get to sleep downstairs,
There is a soda machine,
She has horses and cows...

If I had to choose, I really can't decide. I love staying with both my Grandma's so much!"

The building of a testimony

In Primary, the children have the opportunity each week to share an experience that "Likened the scriptures unto themselves."

This week, we had an experience that Matt wanted to share. Since he recently turned 8, he has started fasting. Typically, we fast on the first Sunday of each month, and any other time we feel we need/want to. Matthew was able to fast in both August and September. His Aunt Megan has been terribly ill - she almost died and has been in total kidney failure and on dialysis for the past 6 weeks. They were beginning to search for a kidney donor. So, in August our family, along with extended family and friends of Megan had a massive fast for her health. This was Matthew's first opportunity to fast. In September, Matt also decided to fast for Aunt Megan. This past week, we received a tearful telephone call relaying the miraculous news that, against all odds, Megan's kidney's have regained much of their function. They are putting her on 2 day/week dialysis and in 2 weeks re-evaluating. If her numbers have stayed the same, she gets to come off dialysis and will most likely not need a transplant. When I sat down to dinner with my boys and shared the news, Matthew excitedly pointed out that it was probably because of all of the fasting and prayers on behalf of Megan that she is recovering in such a way. I had to agree. I love to see these types of spiritual experiences in my children's lives. This is the way testimonies are born, and the way they grow. I am so thankful for these moments!

In Primary, Matthew shared a scripture about fasting, and told the story of his Aunt Megan recovering. It was so sweet and he did such a great job! More than one person came up to me afterwards to tell me how impressed they were with my son. I am proud of him, as well!

Matt's favorite books

Matthew is an amazing reader. He loves school and learning. We have quite the challenge, finding books that are at his level, without being too grown-up. With lots of help from his school librarian, and our local librarians, we have found some really fabulous books. I am particularly glad for the recommendations, as I preview most of what he reads. I thought it would be fun to compile a list of Matthew's current favorite books and series of books.
Here are a few:

The Deltora Quest series by Emily Rodda
Magyk by Angie Sage
Flyte by Angie Sage
Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins
The Lion Boy trilogy by Zizou Corder
Silverwing
The entire Harry Potter series by J.K. Rawlings
The Animorphs series by K.A. Applegate
The Secrets of Droon series

Many, many non-fiction books. Matthew sounds like an encyclopedia because he enjoys reading encyclopedias. :-)

He also loves books like The Guiness book of World Records and various children's almanacs.

Marvelous Matthew!

This is a spot to record funny, smart, amazing things Matthew does and says. He was born on July 23, 1998.