Winter/Spring Classes

Tamara is taking her 1st Ballet/Jazz class each Monday at our local Y. We are benefiting from us being poor I suppose, because we are getting a discounted membership. As of which, we have been enjoying our PE time there when everyone else is as school and work. We pretty much get the pool all to ourselves on most days, there is definitely benefits to Homeschooling as well!

Tamara in her class, she is wearing the bright blue tu-tu, parents are NOT allowed to stay, in which we both were pretty bummed. But thankfully she did just fine anyhow.

Tamara showing off her moves from just the first day!

On the same Monday evenings at the Y, Liahona and Caleb are attempting swim lessons again. They have gone from the WORST in the class last year, to the BEST this year. We are hoping that they will finally pass Eel Class, and go to the real class they are suppose to be in. Wish them luck! =)

Liahona swimming to her teacher.

Caleb swimming to his teacher.

Just Monkeying Around

After Christmas sometime, we had another Family Outing to the Famous Omaha Zoo. It really is the best Zoo that we have ever been too. We are bummed that our year membership is ending this March, and we still have so much left to see. Hopefully the Spring weather comes soon, so we can finish viewing everything.

Wedding Dress Dress-Up

The other day I was doing my daily routine of cleaning the house, but this time I was attempting to clean and pick up my room, which seems to always be the messiest in the house....hmmm.......
Tamara came in and asked if she could help me, immediately I said, "Sure you can." =) While I was in my closest putting away clothes, she did the dusting, and this picture caught her eye, and said, "Mom your dress is so pretty." I told her that my wedding dress was hanging up in my closest, if she wanted to see it. Of course she said, "YES!" So as I am taking the dress out she says, "Mom try it on. Please Mommy, it's so beautiful!!" I sadly told her, "I'm sorry mommies body is a "little" bit bigger than what it use to be." That did not satisfy her and she kept pleading and begging.... I thought what the heck I will humor her, to please her, at least she will be happy that I tried right?

OK, so who would have known that after 8 1/2 years, and five pregnancies, and four kids later that one would be able to fit back into her wedding dress? It is one of the squishiest dresses that I have ever tried on. Needless to say, I am glad that I won't be needing to wear it again. I couldn't last longer than 30 minutes in it that's for sure.....
These pictures are FAR from being glamour shots by any means so don't look too closely. Remember I was cleaning.............=)

Here is Tammie Dressed up as a Bride. Wearing mommies accessories. She wanted to try on my dress and was sad when she realized it was a "little" too big for her. So she felt a little better as she got to at least try on mommies big hoop underskirt. She asked me, "When I get married can I wear your dress, because it is SO beautiful." I told her, "Sure, maybe someday you can."
I sent Eric a picture of me in my wedding dress to his cell phone, and when he came home, he surprised me with beautiful flowers and chocolates!

What a Great Day I had!!! =) Life couldn't get any better.

Our ER Run...

Ok so our kids are very calm and cautious for the most part. We have NEVER expreienced broken bones, or have had deep wounds...(knock on wood). So last week we were all in the living room winding down from the day of events. The boys were playing on the game cube, as the girls were cheering and watching away. Many of our mini blinds have broke, so we have pieces here and there around our house hoping to fix it sometime. So my kids have been playing with the plastic mini blind poles. And seeing that they haven't done anything dangerous with them I decided what the heck let them play with them, it makes them happy, right?

So Liahona was playing with one of the plastic poles that night as we were watching the boys play their game. She had it on her head, then on her feet, then in her mouth. The next thing we knew she was making these gagging sounds and had her hands around her throat like she was choking on something. (And for those that know me I HATE HATE HATE the choking thing.....) So I started talking in a loud voice, "Are you choking, Are you choking?" And she didn't respond for mintues and I kept repeating myself as I got louder and louder, getting all the more nervous of not knowing what happened. She finally squeezed out the words while still keeping her hands around her neck, "My throat, My throat!" Eric quickly came over by then and looked in her mouth. Blood was everywhere inside, it was hard to know what damage had been done. We got her to drink some water so we could see more clearly, which only made her scream in pain. 

We decided to take her to the ER, since all the doctors offices and urgent care places were closed for the evening. THe ER was completely busy that night, they couldn't get her seen for many hours. And it was already 9:30 when they got there. And Eric had to be up at 4:30 in the morning for school the next day. And at that point Liahona had finally calmed down, and was very tired; probably from being so worn out from all the crying previously. So we decided that they should come back home and we would call the doctor's office first thing in the morning to get her throat checked out. All night long she was crying and was in pain, we felt really bad for her. Since Eric is a Nurse he knew that the ER really wouldn't be able to help out much anyways, because they were not a ENT doctor and would be able to do anything without ones approval, and one would not be around to help until the morning anyways. The ER would only give us some meds to help with the pain. And we already had medicine at home anyways.

So after a LONG night of helping Liahona to be as comfortable as possible with all the pain in her mouth, we got up first thing in the morning to see the docotor at 9:00, and of course they refered us to the ENT specialists. Of which we had to go striaght from the doctors to this ENT appointment. Dragging all my other kids with me I was pleased with how well they all behaved. At this point Liahona had not eaten or could drink anything, the pain was still too intense. The ENT doctor finally was able to look in  Liahona mouth, and it was now 11:30.   He was able to deterime what exactly happened:  The plastic pole ripped the archway that connected to her uvula. Ripping not only the right side of the archway, but also part of her uvula. Making the the rest of her uvula to hang down really low. The options that were given were to: either stitch the archway back together to pull back up her uvula, or to just let it heal naturally which could take up to 3weeks. And if we went with the natural healing way and if her uvula was still too long after 3 weeks, then we would have to schedule a surgery to trim it. We decided to go the way of the fewest surgeries, and have her mouth heal on it's own.

She started to eat and drink again within a couple of days from the accident. And now she is feeling much better. She says the only time her throat hurts is when she coughs and yawns. So we are in good shape! To think it could have been much worse if behind her uvula was damaged!?!? Thankgoodness it wasn't!!! Sheesh!!!

Traditions, Traditions, Traditions....

For Christmas we wake up at the crack of dawn.....................
(this is the view of our backyard)

The kids have to walk in order of age, out to the Christmas tree..........
(Montey crawled to lead the way, and the other kids didn't dare pass him.)

We take out and play with all of our new toys...........

And then we take out and play with all of our new games.............We tell all sorts of different and funny stories.......................

And finally we finish our Christmas Morning snuggled together watching a new movie..........

Memories, Love, Happiness = Lots of Fun!!

Christmas Pictures

Our Santa Baby.....
(I got Montey to keep his hat on.) Our Christmas Girlies.......

Our Christmas Boys..............

more pictures and news coming soon............

Mathison 2008 Christmas Letter

?What it's Christmas Already?

Where does all the time go, can you believe it is here?
Things creep up on us so fast, hard to really make things last.
Thanksgiving seemed like it was yesterday,
And now it's come and gone away.
Hooray for Christmas Trees, Candy Canes, and Time to Play.
I hope that Christmas won't just be like another day.
This is such a special time of year.
I'm sure of which we all hold so dear.

So much has happened, where to begin.....

Montey is now 7months old, and crawling about.
He is so cute from his toes to his snout.
His siblings love to carry him around.
Even as they fall to the ground.
How many teeth could there be?
Inside his mouth there are 3 times 3.

Tamara who is currently 4, actually seems more like Fourteen.
Mostly because she likes looking and being treated like a queen.
Her personality shines through, in every way;
Whether playing with her dolls, or styling her hair for the day.
It never fails,
Almost every week she has to paint her nails.
We keep thinking how did we get a girl like this?
By any chance, was it Tanya's teenage wish?


And Liahona well, being six, is still quite a good helper.
She loves doing chores; including setting things up for supper.
Where does she like to be most of all?
In our school room working on her artistic wall.
She still loves to draw and paint in every way.
She could just do this everyday.
Her happy and cheerful face,
Always seems to help keep everyone in their place.


Caleb has doubled the fact of him being an all sports fan.
Not knowing any names he would probably call them all Dan.
However he knows the names and mascots from watching almost every game.
He likes to choose and guess which team will win all the big fame.
Whatever sport his Father is watching,
Caleb will run there, without even stopping.
He would like to play football someday,
In spite of us telling telling him, no way!


Tanya is still doing quite well with schooling the kids.
We are all finding it to be super fun, no matter all the bids.
We pull through just like everyone else,
Through hard days, or bad days in spite of ourselves.
Life has been full, life has been fun,
Even if our time in Nebraska is not quite done.
We have adjusted to life in the Mid-West,
This has been an interesting family Test.

Eric keeps plugging through school work day after day,
Still wishing for more time to play.
He is enjoying the program of Nurse Anesthesia, even though we stand out in a flash.
With us being the only ones NOT from Nebraska, we really truly clash.
There were so many things we did not know,
Like why in the heck do people wear red...it just seemed to grow?
Why it was for the Corn Huskers of course,
I mean do people really look good in red, that's just gross.
Fan or not, living here it just wouldn't seem right,
To not have a family portrait with a nice Husker sight.

From our Family to yours, We would like to wish you a Happy Husker Holiday.
Merry Christmas to you, we often think of you.

With Much Love,
The Mathison Family:Eric. Tanya. Caleb. Liahona. Tamara. Montey.
(P.S
I did not get this Eric approved,
because he may think that I was a little rude.
I'm just being a little tease,
so no one needs to be upset, Please! =)

Our Thanksgiving

The kids Thanksgiving creations that they made with our friends that came over for Thanksgiving. We had a great time visiting, chatting and eating away. Nothing beats food, fun and friends at Thanksgiving Time!!!!

Our Family Getaway. We drove to Omaha the day after Thanksgiving and stayed at a hotel, and had a PARTY! The kids of course had a blast, they LOVE the hotel family getaways. This was a two bedroom room, in a nice Hilton Hotel, thanks to our family hook-ups. It was the perfect set up to have the kids watch their cartoons in one room in their wet swim suits, while Eric and I stayed dry and warm watching our Gonzaga Ball game... YOU GO ZAGS!! by the way I placed a picture of me being all nice and sick for you, so viewers beware. It was a bummer that I have been sick for all the fun Thanksgiving festivities.

Our Fall ..Falling... Breaking down Season

Our cute little boy now sitting all on his own. I could resist a quick snap shot. I love babies little bottoms..... I know call me weird, but they are just TOO CUTE!!!

Four Little Mokeys in the Tub....but no one bonked their heads, and no doctors were called. (All in their swim trunks aka Underwear, except for Montey obviously.) So we have been very preoccupied with our following

Fall Fun-ness.....

1. Our Van of only 8months which we just bought Late February of this year, gave us a run for our money. With the wonderful surprise of a dying- to died transmission all within 45mins. Which just so happened to transpire while on a fun Home school outing, on the way home from an Air and Space Museum. Prayers sure work that's all I have to say. A week and a half later and not to mention 2500 dollar later we got our van back.
2. Our computer was turned off for an evening rest, with no avail to turn back on. Thinking that all our photos back as far as Monety's birth in April were all gone, our hearts sank. All those memories lost for good. However, we were in luck that it was not the motherboard that had crashed as Best Buy had said. We got a second opinion (It pays to take time to look around). We found a simple computer store nearby, and told us that it was just the power supply. 24 hours later we were cruising on the Internet, with 200 more dollars out of our pockets.
3. Then thinking great? Trials come in threes right? We thought perhaps that means we are pregnant, seeing that we have had 2 kids close together before, why not again? Yet thankfully that was not the case seeing that I am personally not physically nor mentally ready for another child after just having one 6months ago. We were in fact given our 3rd blow. Our Neon, Eric's car, decided after all these years of having it to break down as well. Eric wanted to try to figure out what was wrong and fix it, to help save us money, but with no free time it was at no go. So we took our 2nd broken down car in. 24 hours later Eric had his car back, and with 500 more dollars out of our pockets............

You are probably thinking wow they must have a lot of money to be able to pay for these things to get fixed, right? Two words for you guys "Students Loans" and boy do they come in handy!!!
We will be killing ourselves later in paying them off but a man’s got to do what a man's got to do.

Our Halloween

(Too lazy, and tired to write about our Halloween. I'll write more about that later, it's just been those kind of months if you know what I mean???.....)

Plump Pumpkins= Montey & best bud Lance

Sassy Tinkerbell= Tamara

Likable Lion= Liahona

Stringy Spiderman= Caleb