Matthews turn in the spotlight

Matthew's turn in the spot light:

He adores math. It's one of his hobbies. (I didn't know math could be a hobby until now.). When he is bored he begs us to give him mental math problems to solve. He taught himself how to divide, multiply, and figure out square roots. For his birthday the only thing he wanted was a calculator of his very own. He will sit on his own and solve math equations for fun.

He's very artistic and has a knack for creating art. He loves to paint and sculpt.

He creates amazing sculptures out of 'found items' around the house. He constructs so many wondrous things. He and Sarah built a teeny Indian village out of bits of twigs, grass, pebbles, and leaves. They build a beensy campfire pit in the village with a spit suspended over the fire pit. On the spit hung a perfect little pot made by twisting grass around an acorn cap. He's so fantastic at thinking outside the box and inventing new things.

He begs me to read aloud to him at night. Right now we are reading a gripping and funny fantasy called "Heir Apparent". I recommend it whether you have kids or not. It's unique and well-written and very entertaining. It's definitely a keeper in our family library.

Matthew and the sensai slice cake with a samurai sword.

For his birthday we celebrated at a local martial arts dojo. (I won a free party package there, so we gave it to Matt.) They let him wear an honorary black belt (his mouth just about hit the floor when they put it on him). They let him cut the cake with a samurai sword (I bet the sword craftsman would cringe to know how his masterpiece was degraded to be used as a prop!). 

He has a heightened sense of justice and takes it upon himself to regulate the affairs of the populace around him. That can be a blessing and a curse...

He is such a great big brother. He reads to Daniel and Diego. He dances to make Diego laugh. He builds luxurious blanket forts and cushion palaces for Daniel to rule over and play in. 

Last week he turned his bedroom into a pioneer museum. He collected items from around the house and arranged them into displays. 

He turned his bed into a covered wagon and stocked it for a trip across America.

The other exhibits included pioneer clothing (from our re-enactment days), pioneer games, typical pioneer foods, and a collection of  appropriate books (clever boy, he even remembered to include Charles Dickens and Jane Austen alongside the pioneer trail journals we own!)