Matejka Mayhem: 2010

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Pumpkin Patch ... Kindergarten style

Unfortunately, school budget cuts means no more field trips, which means no trip to the pumpkin patch for the Kindergarteners. It was a huge bummer, but some great parents stepped up, and brought the field trip to the school, by providing pumpkins, hay bales and all sorts of decorations to make it a really great morning for the kids!

The kids rotated stations, learning about sorting, the life cycle of the pumpkin, racing with a pumpkin on their head and all sorts of other fun things! They had a great time, and Max loved every minute of it!

october 15, 2009

Singing her heart out ...

One of Katelyn's favorite things to do is sing! So, she has always signed up for Choir since being in Middle School. This year it was a little harder, because she had to select it as her elective, so she wouldn't be able to choose any other electives all year. She weighed it all out and decided it would be worth it to continue on in Choir. She really enjoys her teacher who has a great deal energy and always gives us a good laugh during the performances! She gets very excited for them ;)

Here is Katelyn at one of her first performances of the year.

october 15, 2009

Blake's Turn at My Gym!

Soooo, Blake wasn't so sure about My Gym. Regardless of the fact that Max, Grant and Katelyn loved it, he did not want the teachers to talk to him, much less touch him! In fact, one of his first times at My Gym, Miss Lauren, tried to use him in her demonstration of a log roll. He did it, but burst out crying in the middle of it! Miss Lauren thought it was funny to later ask him if he wanted to do a log roll. I think we all thought it was hilarious, except Blake!

One of the teachers even mentioned that it wouldn't be right for me to have 4 perfect kids! LOL! We all know Blake is perfect, though ;) And she was totally kidding! It just took him some time to warm up, and he is definitely more of a momma's boy than Max ever was!

I'm very proud of him though ... he is now learning to sit at circle time without being in my lap (of course, his back has to be touching my leg), when asked his name at the beginning, says it on his own (then jumps in my lap), and he runs around on his own (making sure I'm nearby!), but he definitely looks forward to his time there and will even talk to the teacher once ~~a month~~ in awhile!

october 15, 2009

Now for a little volleyball!

One of the highlights of the fall was Katelyn making the 7th grade volleyball team! Out of over 100+ girls, she was one of 12 (I think!) girls that were on the team! It was pretty exciting, and although she felt a little unsure of herself at times, she learned sooooo much and had a great time! She is such a hard worker and was always working to improve her skills. Would even drag me to the gym to practice with her! Definitely made me miss getting to play volleyball (and also reminded me how old I am! Geesh!!).

Are you ready for some flag football???

Grant sure was! Grant has been developing a greater love for football, and this year informed Steve that he wanted to play for Centennial some day! Wonder if he'll be saying that once he starts tackle! Yikes! He had a great time this year in flag football ... as always enjoys playing with friends and had some good plays.

In this game, he had an interception and a couple "tackles."

Here's the interception:

That was fun!!!

Getting the flag ...

after him!!

october 1, 2009

Grant Matejka 4 Historian!

I'm so thankful my kids aren't like me ... I would have never attempted half of the stuff they attempt! Like running for student body! Pass a school constitution test? NO WAY! Get up in front of the whole school? NO WAY! Give a speech? NO WAY! I get sick just thinking of doing something like that!

Thankfully, they aren't like me, and challenge themselves to do things like run for student body! This year, Grant ran for Historian! He came up with his poster idea and speech all on his own, and while he didn't win, we are so proud of him for going for it!!

Speech time ... "Vote for me, because I rock!" ;)

cool sign!

Unlike me, Grant isn't in the bathroom throwing up ... just hamming it up with his friends before his speech:

So thankful that Grant has had some great friends from Kindergarten through 5th grade ... I hope they all stay friends forever!

Sweet Haylee ...

Caleb:

Cairo:

september 24, 2009

My love - hate relationship with Legos

LEGOS:

My Hate Relationship: I get so tired of picking them up, vacuuming them up, stepping of them in my bare feet and just overall seeing them all over the place!

My Love Relationship: The hours of fun they provide for my kids, and the incredible creativeness that comes out when they are in their hands! I honestly am sooooo amazed at what Grant can come up with when he sits with Legos for any period of time! Here are a few pictures of his creations. I can't even imagine coming up with some of the stuff he does ... I need directions that I can follow step by step!

Bathroom project

I have found a new love ... monsters! They are so cute and cuddly (LOL!). The boys' bedroom is a monster theme (granted, I still haven't finished painting the walls), but when I saw this shower curtain, it was a must-have!

I thought it would be fun to create my own wall art and decals, so after several hours of work, I created these paper art canvases and wall/mirror decals! It was a lot of fun, and I love how it turned out!

Crazy thing ... that wall color has been the best color I've ever picked. The last 4 shower curtains I've had (yes, I love shower curtains too!) have all matched perfectly!!! Great color!

Our USC Neighbors

Well, obviously, we don't like our neighbor ... he is a USC fan, you know! Ha, ha ... I jest! We do love them, and we love a little bit of practical joking with them! Mitch got a little fed up after Steve encouraged Gavin (Mitch's son) to go home and say, "Go Big Red," and he doesn't just say it once in awhile ... he says it all the time!

So, one night as we were hanging out, Steve happened to walk by the front door ... wondering if there was a firetruck outside because of all the lights, he walked to the window to see this:

Man, I really don't know how we're going to top this! Still haven't thought of anything good!

september 13, 2009

been saving Grant's jeans since 2nd grade

Really, this is how bad I am about getting stuff done! I've been holding onto these jeans since Grant's 2nd grade year in school because I wanted to scrapbook about it! Grant would unexplainably have holes in his jeans just a week or two into getting a new pair! It was ridiculous! Finally I figured out he was sliding on the cement and doing other crazy stuff.

What got him to quit, you ask? Well, I got so sick of it, I told him he would be buying his next pair of jeans if I saw anymore holes in his new jeans. Funny, I never saw holes again! Hoping Max doesn't follow in his brother's footsteps!

PS: I didn't throw them away ... just cut them off and made shorts for Max for outdoor play!

first day of school ... and Kindergarten for Max ... sniff, sniff!

Actually, I wasn't sad about Max going to Kindergarten because he was soooooo excited! If any of my kids were ready for Kindergarten, Max was the MOST! Even though I went back and forth about sending him (he was still 4!), he was so ready and has been doing incredibly well! The teachers even questioned whether he was really 4! LOL! I guess that's the joy of having older siblings that like to teach!! So, the first day was an exciting day!

Here they are at the front door ... so cute :)

And with their backpacks ...

The obligatory front of school sign picture. I really wish the school had involved me in the building process ... I would have strongly recommended they have this wall NOT facing East! Come on people ... harsh lighting in the AM!!!! I've finally learned to turn them to an angle, so at least they can halfway open their eyes!!