Ya Happy Now?

Due to harassment from a certain family member, I'm blogging again, but this time with a broken finger. (Thanks KB!) 

Yes, I know.  My last post was in March. But really, there hasn't been much to talk about. With the exception of baseball season, going to Disneyworld, winning a baseball tournament, breaking my finger, and oh yeah, giving birth to a three year old girl, there hasn't been much to write about.  Anyway, the picture below is the "proof" I was required to show.  If you look close you'll see that little piece of bone kind of floating out there.  That's supposed to be attached. The ligament from the tip of my finger ripped out from the next bone up and took a piece of the bone with it.  Hopefully when I go back to the doctor next week, it will be healing properly.  If it's not, than I will have to have surgery on it. That would suck.

Anyway, that's all for now.  I know it's short, but it's getting late so get over it!

Talk to you soon. Maybe!



Spring is Here

Well, here we are again. Another spring approaching. And Mike talking about, you guessed it, baseball season! Oh well. When your life revolves around your kids' sports seasons, that's the way it goes. Some interesting news, though. I was only going to manage Aaron's T-ball team this season and just assistant coach whatever team Matthew got drafted to. When one of the major league teams became available this year, they asked me to manage it. I declined. Only because Matthew really wanted to try to get on another team. So I told them that I was just going to go where Matthew goes and coach there. But I also told them if they couldn't find anyone else and there won't be a Cubs team because of it, I would do it. Well, do I really have to tell you what happens next? I got the call on Monday. "Uh, Mike? Tryouts are Saturday and we don't have a manager for the Cubs." Fast forward to this morning, Collin, Matthew and I were at tryouts evaluating prospects for the 2012 Cubs. It's all good. Must be part of the plan. The only thing that stinks is the Cubs came in second place last season (they lost the championship game to Collin, myself and the Braves!) so they get second to last pick in the draft this year. And when I say they, I now mean me. There is some pretty decent talent coming up this year, so it won't be too bad. Of course, this is the view from behind my rose colored glasses. We'll see how not too bad it is come June!

Just a quick side note. Just a peak into a Saturday night at the Mattia house. Aaron is playing NCAA 12 football on the Xbox while I'm sitting on the couch writing this. After a play, he says, "I'm gonna go medieval on your hiney!" Meanwhile, Collin is on the love seat across from me. On his laptop he is typing in words on some Google program that speaks whatever you say. A very monotone sounding female says, "Aaron, you smell like pooh". "Aaron picks his nose". Ahh, who says technology has killed good quality family time?

Anyway, in other news, Collin and Matthew both were selected "Distinguished Students" for their scores on Delaware Comprehensive tests, or something like that. Whatever it was, they scored high on it and are being recognized, along with a bunch of other brainiacs, by the school board on Monday evening.

We found out yesterday that Collin was selected to the National Junior Honor Society. Now he's got to keep his grades up and do some community service hours. Should look good on a college application, though. Super proud!

Had a really good time a couple of weeks ago seeing everyone. Can't wait for the next one. Still waiting for some pictures to be posted on someone else's blog! By the way, I did not take anyone else's doggy bag. Great idea though. If I were smart enough to think of it myself, I might have done it. Good food will make you do strange things! Anyway, please let us know when and where the next one is. Doesn't matter to us.

Talk to you soon.

I'm Back!

Alright. I'm back. Sorry it's been soooo long. Just haven't had the urge to write. Had some stuff to write about, just not the gumption. Or gumtion. One of the two. Whatever it is, I lacked it. But I'm here now, so here goes.

Christmas was GREAT! Loved having everyone over to celebrate. Enjoyed all the food (shocking, I know) and especially loved the gift exchange thingy. Can't remember the exact name right now. I think it was a Yankee gift exchange, but I'm not positive. Whatever it was called, it was fun. I was going to write another poem like I did last year, but I never did. Oh well.

The new year is going well. Work is a little slow, but it always is this time of year. It will pick up soon. I say it's going well, because I'm one of the only ones who hasn't gotten sick. The stomach bug that is going around arrived at the Mattia house last Saturday night. Aaron, as luck would have it, was sleeping in our bed. I was ripped from a dead sleep to the sound of Aaron crying "Daddy!!" No sooner did I frantically sit up, then he cried "Daddy!" one more time and ralphed all over me, the bed, the floor and the nightstand. It was fantastic. My first reaction, still being not even completely awake yet, was to put my hand over his mouth and run for the bathroom. Well, that didn't work out too well. You know when your using a hose without a spray nozzle on it, and you put your thumb over the opening to make it spray farther? Well, there ya go. No need to elaborate. Then, as if that wasn't enough. After he was done puking, he looks up and says, "I need to poop!" At this point I had already stripped him down because he had barfed all over his pajamas. So I hurry and sit him on the toilet and let those fireworks commence. Not even a minute later, he cries out again. "I gotta puke!" So I hurry and wipe his butt and and put him back in "worshipping the porcelain god" position, so he can finish what he had started earlier. Well, this back and forth routine went on for the next fifteen minutes or so. And all the while I'm standing there with puke all over me still. At that point Linda walks in. She already wasn't feeling well earlier, and this put her over the edge. She runs in the other bathroom and proceeds in the same manner as Aaron just did. Wow! What a night! And the worst part was we were planning to have a special Superbowl dinner with tacos and pizza and then watch the big game. Well, those plans were done. And poor Aaron. He was already on an antibiotic for an ear infection before all this. He couldn't take his medicine for two days because he couldn't keep it down. So we had to take him back to the doctor to start his antibiotic all over again. And this time, he also has an eye infection, so he also gets drops for his eyes. Poor kid, I felt so bad for him. I told him that if he wanted a pony, right now would be a good time to ask for one!

Now fast forward one week. Everyone is better. Not counting the fact that Aaron's antibiotic gave him diarrhea. Go figure. So last night we go to Matthew's banquet for Pop Warner. All the players sit together and the parents sit at separate tables. Matthew's table had already gotten their food and we were just sitting down with ours when one of his teammates runs up to our table. "Coach Mattia! Matthew just puked!" Ding! Ding! Let round two begin! So I go get him and take him to the bathroom to clean up. After that we leave to go back home. He was so embarrassed. We told him don't worry about it. This will be one of those stories you'll tell for years to come. "One time, I threw up at my football banquet!" Plus, these are all football players. They barf at practice all the time. it's no big deal. Heck, they all went right back to eating not even five minutes after Matthew did it! I was supposed to be up on stage calling out the names of all the kids who qualified for Scholastic All-American (including Matthew!) but under the circumstances, the President of the league gave me a pass. After we got home, I decided to go back and see if I could still do my job. Turns out I wasn't too late to announce some names. The only reason I mention this is because when I'm announcing and I get to Matthew's name, just for fun I ask "Has anyone seen Matthew? The same boy who came running up to tell us Matthew was sick yells out "I saw him puke!" Too funny. Anyway, Matthew apparently has a different bug or something because he's feeling better now. Only twenty four hours later.

Report cards were good. Collin and Matthew both made honor roll. Aaron did well too but they don't give out actual grades in kindergarten.

Izzy is doing well. By well, I mean large. Nine months and seventy-five pounds. Poor guy gets "altered" on Wednesday. I took him to a local retirement home a couple of weeks ago to continue our goal to have him be a therapy dog. The residents love him! So does the staff. They told me to bring him back after his surgery for another visit. We're hoping the "altering" will calm him down some. Easier to keep training that way. Plus no one wants to see a seventy-five pound golden humping grandma in the middle of a game of bingo. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't get invited back!

Well, that's all for now. Talk to you in another two months! Just kidding!

Matthew is a Rock Star!

Wednesday evening, we went to Matthew's Christmas concert at school. For those of you who don't know, he plays the drums. He managed to be selected "Percussion Leader" in the 6th grade band this year. He also learned to play the bells. That's what they call it. I think it's more of an xylophone. But anyway, Matthew really took it. So much in fact, that he learned some Christmas songs on his own by practicing them here at home. He played them for his instructor, and his instructor liked them so much, he told Matthew that during the brief intermission between the 6th grade and 7th grade concert, Matthew will now be playing a solo. Frosty The Snowman. Hence, the video. The first few seconds of it are cut off. Our camera sucks. You hit record, and like 10 seconds later it starts. Also, some lady steps in front of me and temporarily blocks the view. But you can still here him playing. And you can hear the roar of the crowd when he's done. I told him to kick the bells over and raise his fists in the air when he was done, but he didn't. I don't know how he expects to be a rock star without showing a little attitude, but whatever. He told us afterwards that he was so nervous that his knees were shaking! But I guess he summoned his inner Jimi Hendricks and pushed through it! Super proud of him. I warned him that life as he knew it was done. The chicks were going to be all over him now. But so far, no luck. I told him he should have kicked those bells over. Rock on dudes!

Great Sunday!

Boy did Aaron and I have a big day on Sunday! We snagged two tickets to the Redskins/Jets game at FedEx Field. Had a great time. Redskins lost, but what's new, right? Didn't make any difference. Had a fantastic time with my little buddy anyway. The tickets were awesome! Club level. Front row parking spot. And the price was very reasonable. Free, courtesy of Schell Brothers. That's the guys who did the Extreme Makeover house. They have four season tickets, and I got two of them this week.

Aaron was high fiving people around us when the Skins made a good play. And please, save your breath, I'll say it for you. "Not many high fives that day" I know, but it was still fun to watch. I think the best part was getting our picture with two of the Hogettes. Aaron had no idea what was going on. He kept asking me why those guys are dressed up like old ladies! Didn't even try explaining about offensive lineman, hogs, yadda, yadda, yadda. As far as he knows, him and dad went to a football game and got a picture taken with transvestite swine. Oh well. Being in this family, he'll learn what the Hogs were soon enough.

That was the first time I ever been to FedEx field. Very large, very LOUD. The 12th man was alive and well yesterday. I remember going to a few games at RFK, but that was YEARS ago. Back when they didn't suck so bad. In fact, they were actually quite good. Superbowl caliber if I recall. But I digress. I guess I'm just oozing burgundy and gold again. Somebody get me a towel.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in a couple of weeks!

Talk to you soon.

Christmas is Here

Well, here we go. The Christmas season has officially begun. We started setting the tree up (as you can see) Saturday afternoon after I got home from a job. Then we finished it Sunday after breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I'm still debating on whether or not to put up any lights outside this year. We usually put lights on all the trees down the driveway, but I'm not sure I'm feeling it this year. We'll see.

We really enjoyed seeing everyone Sunday morning. We definitely need to do that more often. The boys always have a good time with that. Matthew likes being in charge of all the names in the hat as well. Please don't forget to send along your wish list. I emailed ours yesterday. Check your emails. We are all looking forward to having everyone over this year. Still trying to figure out what will be on the menu. We'll figure it out soon.

In other news, this year's first report cards came home last week. Not too shabby. Collin and Matthew both made honor roll. Aaron did well also, but there's no honor roll in kindergarten! Proud of our boys.

Enjoying our time off. No practices during the week. No games on Saturdays. LOVE IT! I know it's short lived, but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. Well, that's all for now. Merry Christmas! Now go be jolly or something!

11/17/11 Update

Wow! It's been almost a month since I posted last? Holy cow. Well anyway, the latest football update is, we're done. Our 8-0 season is in the crapper. We lost to Laurel so we didn't get to go to regionals in New Jersey. But we still made the playoffs in the Henlopen conference, which is basically the whole state of Delaware. We had a first round bye for that tournament, but when we did play, we lost big. I think our boys were just done. Had enough. Ready to move on to other things. Holidays, girls, who knows. All I know is the team I saw play those last two games, was not the same team I saw the previous eight. No fire. Oh well. It was a good run.


In other news, the episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition that we are in airs tomorrow night. That's Friday November 18th at 8:00. I'm pretty sure you won't see me on camera. I don't remember ever seeing cameras filming me, but I guess you never know. But you should definitely see our work. All the pimped out closets, that's us. Should be interesting to watch. I'm very curious to see how they play up the fact that the build happened right in the middle of Hurricane Irene. The state made them shut down the job for safety reasons during the storm. First time in the show's history that that has happened. Can't wait to watch.


And for the biggest news item, Collin turns thirteen Saturday. I think for the first time in my life, I don't know what to say. There is no possible way he's thirteen already! Oh, the fun years we have ahead of us. They say that your kids will repay you for all the bad stuff you did as a child. Luckily, I was a very good kid. Now Linda on the other hand? Well, I won't get into all that. I'll just say that I'm going to get paid back for all the bad stuff she did. Totally not fair.

Anyway, that's all for now. Oh wait. There is one more thing. I'm going to see if my writing stills wields the same power it did before. Here goes. Habitants of Princess Anne. I command you to come to Delaware for Thanksgiving. That is all.

Well, we'll see what happens!

Three Little Monkeys Sittin' In The Tree...

Ok. About a third of the wood is stacked. Ran out of daylight. And as promised, here are the boy's school pictures. Aaron kinda looks like an innocent little orphan. He looks like he's saying "Please take me home". Matthew, in case you can't tell, is wearing his New York Giants jersey. He was adopted. Collin, on the other hand, is wearing a Redskins t-shirt. Smart boy. But that hair. Sheesh. What a mop. He's since got it cut. He no longer looks like a founding member of The Monkeys. Although he does still like to monkey around. Sorry. Couldn't resist. Talk to you soon.

8-0 Baby!

Well, it's official. The Cape Vikings Pee Wees are 8-0! They beat Laurel today 16-0. Sixth shut-out of the season. We play again Saturday to see who is top dog in the state and moves on to regionals. Depending on who wins a game Wednesday night, we may play the same Laurel team again Saturday. We'll have to wait and see. Matthew blocked his tail off today. Really proud of him. If anyone wants to see some smash mouth football, be at Milford High School at 3:00 on Saturday. If you live in, oh I don't know, Maine, you may want to leave a little early to get there on time. If you can't make it, I'll let you know how it goes.

We got this year's school pictures for all the boys. I'll try to post them later tonight. Right now, I've got to go stack all the firewood I split last Sunday. If I don't get it all done today, I'll be hosting a wood stacking party tomorrow. All the fresh air and sunshine you can handle. Party starts promptly at 9:00 a.m. Bring a friend. Or two.

Interesting Week. And It's Only Thursday

Matthew's team won Saturday. We beat Milford 24-0. Our defense's fifth shut-out of the season. One game to go against arch rival Laurel. Laurel's pee-wee team hasn't lost a regular season game in like eleven seasons. They were the eastern region champs last season. The boys' goal is to be the team to break the streak. I'll let you know how it goes.



BREAKING NEWS!!



This just in. Collin's formerly underachieving football team (0-4 record) won their first game today! It wasn't pretty, but we'll take it. Hopefully this will give them some much needed confidence. We'll have to wait and see.


Tuesday I went on a field trip with Matthew to Philadelphia. We went to the Franklin Institute. Good trip, but a two and a half hour school bus ride, each way, with a bunch of sixth graders, it was a long day. The best part, for me anyway, was on the way there. We were still on I-76 and had just entered Philly. We were passing some pretty run down row houses. Graffiti on the buildings, old cars, trash, the usual. All the kids were looking out the windows when one of them yelled out, "Look, it's the ghetto!" I almost fell off my seat. You can really tell we live in the country.


One more story and I'll leave you alone. I promise. After dinner tonight, Aaron decided he wanted to play a game on the Wii. He picked out a game that he saw his brothers frequently play. You're an alien and you go around shooting all the humans. Not the most educational game in the world, but whatever. Anyway, he told Linda that he'll turn down the sound so he can't hear the bad words that they say in the game. Mind you, the rating on this game is teen, not mature. Linda asked him "What words do they say?" Aaron said "I can't say them. It's words that Daddy says". Ok. Now before you go on the "see I told you so" kick, the word they say is dumbass. Not the most offensive word I've ever used. In fact, it's kind of a term of endearment in our house. When one of the boys does something stupid that we all get a good laugh at, sometimes I'll say, jokingly of course, "You little dumbass!" And then we all laugh some more. I'm going to chalk it up to having all boys. I don't think a little girl would take her Dad calling her a little dumbass very well. But with boys, it's like "Yeah, I AM a little dumbass! Now who wants to pull my finger?"

Ok. I lied. I do have one more story. Not really a story. More of a gripe. Tuesday, after the field trip, Matthew and I were on our way to football practice. We were flicking through the stations, when I came across a slow song. It sounded familiar when I first heard it, so I stopped on it for a second. That's when we realized. It was a really bad version of Silent Night! That's right. Christmas music! It was Tuesday, OCTOBER 18TH!!! Are you kidding me?! It was like I was living in Bizarro World or something. Who in the world would want to listen to Christmas music in October? Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas music. We play it a lot in our house. But not until December! Hopefully the program manager of that station will look back in January, after listening to three months of Christmas music and say, "Man, that WAS a bad idea. Everyone was right. I really AM a dumbass." We can only hope. Happy Holidays everyone!!