Great times

Well, Josh seemed to have a very fun birthday. He was able to go sailing for most of the day all by himself. He said it was perfect! How often is it 55 degrees and sunny on Dec. 29 in Indiana? The kids and I went to see Charlotte's Web at the movie theater and then out for ice cream. Very fun! Josh and I later went out for a dinner at a great little Italian place that we just discovered. Fantastic.

Yesterday, we all got up early and drove to Batesville to visit our good friends. All the kids were off playing with several friends while Josh and I got to relax and hang out with our friends, Jane and Greg. We played some Uechre, caught up on the local gossip and went for a long, long walk through the woods. Jane then had all the kids and their friends and parents over to her house so that we could all eat dinner and have some more fun. Perfect! We drove home late last night and are now ready for a mellow New Years.

Here's Quincy with his Batesville buddies, Max and Josh.

Great times

Well, Josh seemed to have a very fun birthday. He was able to go sailing for most of the day all by himself. He said it was perfect! How often is it 55 degrees and sunny on Dec. 29 in Indiana? The kids and I went to see Charlotte's Web at the movie theater and then out for ice cream. Very fun! Josh and I later went out for a dinner at a great little Italian place that we just discovered. Fantastic.

Yesterday, we all got up early and drove to Batesville to visit our good friends. All the kids were off playing with several friends while Josh and I got to relax and hang out with our friends, Jane and Greg. We played some Uechre, caught up on the local gossip and went for a long, long walk through the woods. Jane then had all the kids and their friends and parents over to her house so that we could all eat dinner and have some more fun. Perfect! We drove home late last night and are now ready for a mellow New Years.

Here's Quincy with his Batesville buddies, Max and Josh.

Happy Birthdays!

It's Josh's birthday! He's the ripe old age of 36 today! Whew! Glad I'm not that old.... Hope you have a great day, Josh! Taba and Calvin made him breakfast in bed to start his day, eggs, toast, pancakes and coffee...

It's also my sister's birthday today! Happy Birthday, Sarah! We can't even post her age... let's just say that she should stop now while she's still in her 30's!

Back to work!

Well, we have been lazy around here long enough this week! Today, we needed to get back to work. I actually had to work at my job this morning for a 1/2 day, so Josh was home with the kids since his office is on "shut down" until after New Years. So, needless to say, he had a "to-do" list to take care of while I was at work. He did it with flying colors! He and his dad did some serious wiring in our kitchen and installed some pendant lights over our breakfast bar! We love it! He also did a little painting and some trim work on our cabinets. Fantastic! The kids had a great time playing with the neighbors for a lot of outside time today since once again, the temperatures were well above normal.

Vacation Days

After many hours of board games, video games and trying out their "Heelies", it was time to get the kids outside for some serious exercise. So.... we went ice skating today. Very fun! We discovered a very nice rink right here in town and had a great time. Josh and I were exhausted from holding up Max and Calvin but they all improved with time and no falls were too serious.

So many gifts...

Unbelievable how many gifts one family of 6 can accumulate! I have spent the morning, trying to pick up the packaging and the wrapping paper, and find a place for all the new cool things we all received for Christmas! What a fun couple of days! The kids are all happily playing with their new toys and electronics and frantically going from one thing to the next, trying to decide how to get in the most fun in the shortest amount of time. Yesterday, after opening and playing with the gifts from Santa, we drove to Ft. Wayne for the afternoon and evening to spend Christmas day with Josh's mom, grandma and brother. We had a nice ham dinner and got to open even more gifts. We drove back home late last night through some slushy, wet "snow" and now get to stay home and relax for the next few days.

Merry Christmas everyone!

We are caught up in the frenzy of all the new toys and things to play with but I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and put up a few pictures from last night... I'll post ones from this morning a little later. After a nice, lazy Christmas Eve around home yesterday, we went to the family Mass at church where Calvin got to take up the gifts with the other 2nd graders, and all the kids (well, Quincy was too "cool" to participate) got to proceed around the darkened church with flashlights and the priest and then re-enact the Nativity during the Gospel. Very entertaining for all. After Mass, we met Grandpa here at home, ate dinner and then opened gifts. Everyone loved everything they got and had a ball, Max, of course, being the most enthusiastic of the bunch!

The Fun Has Begun...

We had the first of our Christmas celebrations today with my immediate family all coming to our house to celebrate together. We had a great time with all 18. Lots of gifts, eating, drinking, and fun. Here are some pictures of the "kids' table", the kids anxiously awaiting the grown ups to finish eating so the gift opening could begin, and grandma showing off her new Notre Dame cap.

Reader of the Week

From the school newspaper...

2nd Grade Party

I got to be one of the helpers at Calvin's Christmas party today. They had a great time eating Rice Krispie treats, candy canes and sipping juice while playing Bingo for prizes. Very fun! I was thrilled to finish work this morning because I am now off for a whole week. Josh will also be off all of next week and after tomorrow, the kids will be off for 2 weeks! Very exciting! We look forward to some lazy days around home. I drove to Indianapolis yesterday to meet my friend, Kelly, for lunch. She was awesome enough to bring my new, beautiful kitchen island that I had ordered from Romweber, our favorite furniture factory in Batesville, so that I was able to add this new piece to our home before our Christmas guests arrive. We had a nice lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Thanks Kelly!

The Life of a 6th Grader is Hard...

While the other kids were outside enjoying more unseasonably warm temperatures and playing with the neighbors' cat, poor Quincy is working his tail off this week to finish up two major projects that are due at the end of the semester. One project is a 3 minute Powerpoint presentation on Belarus for Social Studies and one is a 2 week menu and exercise plan to learn about nutrition in Science class. Lots of work but he's almost finished!

Bouncin' and shakin'

Max and Calvin are in a pre-Christmas frenzy! This morning, they are literally bouncing around the basement while they sort and shake the gifts under the tree! Wow! This is going to be a long week of much excitement!

We had a nice weekend with lots of Christmas prep going on. The kids loved their craft gift making class on Saturday. Quincy then went on to play a basketball game, which they lost. Saturday evening, the whole family attended a high school basketball game where Quincy's basketball league was highlighted at half time.

The kids have school until Friday, then the fun begins!

Christmas Preparations

The kids are counting down the days until Christmas as we try to keep them entertained with activities. Each year, I make them each a "Countdown" book where they do one activity or worksheet each day until Christmas. This is my attempt to preempt the constant question of "How many more days until Christmas?" Here you can see Calvin and Max filling "goodie" bags with Christmas treats for Max to take to his class party on Friday. Tabitha is busy wrapping a big gift for her cousin, Alex. This morning, all 4 of the kids are at a Christmas craft class at the local community center where they will make and wrap various Christmas gifts. They couldn't wait to go and it gives Josh and I time to do some things at home. I am not being as productive as I would like as I am under the weather with a bad cold. Josh and I did get to go out last night with some friends for sushi! Love it!

Christmas Music

This morning, I got to go and watch Quincy and Tabitha's All School Concert. This was a concert for the band, orchestra and choir at their school. In a school of just over 400 kids, 260 are in the music program! Just amazing and they really do a great job! Quincy plays the drums in the beginning band, Taba plays the flute and then Tabitha also sings in the choir. Very fun!

Le Tresor des Requins Sanglants

I have no idea what that means but apparently Max and Calvin do. Their French club put on an end of the semester play this morning about Les Pirates and Le Tresor. Calvin was a pirate and Max was a shark. They really did a nice job and seemed to have fun. Josh could understand much of what they were saying so he was able to laugh in the right places much more than I could. Tonight is the first band concert for Tabitha and Quincy.

Back home again in Indiana....

Wow! We really, really had a great time in Cancun! The sun was wonderful, our hotel was perfect, and the relaxation time away from the kids was "priceless"! We loved walking along the beach, basking in the sun by the lagoon, eating seafood til we thought we would explode, shopping at all the various jewelry and souvenir spots, getting massages at the hotel's spa, and sipping margaritas whenever we felt like it! It was quite windy while we were there so we never really got into the ocean other than to stroll along the edge, but the 80 degree temperatures were perfect. Ahhhh.... back to reality... Grandma seemed to have held up well with the kids. Grandpa helped out some with shuttling to various activities which was very nice. Taba had a choir concert, Quincy had a basketball game, and Tabitha and Calvin had a field trip to the Purdue Christmas show on Friday. They all seemed to have had a great time. Max was a little ill after dinner on Saturday but since it was Daddy's car that he threw up in and not Grandma's, that was okay. Now it's time for the final push toward Christmas!

A postcard from Cancun...

Having a great time! Loving the 80 degree temperatures! Kids?... What kids?

Love,
Josh and Heidi

Reader of the Week!

Tabitha was named Reader of the Week this week and received a free book from the librarian at school. Apparently, she has completed and passed 38 Reading Counts tests and is in the library every day except when it is closed on Wednesdays. She is thrilled and she is the most "readingest" kid that I have ever met! Josh and I are busily preparing to leave the kids with grandma for 4 days while we take a much needed break in Cancun!! We leave on Thursday and will be thinking of you while we're basking in the sun!

Parades and Caroling...

Christmas is a'comin' for sure! We had a crazy busy weekend but.... since Josh was in charge, there are no pictures to show for it. I had to go to Indianapolis for a seminar on back pain, so Josh had to do all the kid running this weekend. Quincy had a basketball game in which he apparently did very well (his coach made a point to come up to us in church on Sunday evening, to make sure that we knew how well he did), Tabitha went downtown with her school choir to provide Christmas caroling for the shoppers, Calvin had his First Reconciliation at church (Max got to tag along on that one), and on Saturday afternoon, Calvin, Max and Josh helped to assemble a float for their Y Guides troop. Sunday afternoon was the Christmas parade downtown where the boys got to ride on their float and throw treats to the crowd. They loved it, despite the cold! On Sunday evening, we all went to an Advent Wreath ceremony at church where we made a wreath for our home and ate lots of Christmas cookies. Very fun except that we never even considered the fact that they would use real greenery for the wreaths! Tabitha is very allergic to this and suffered through water eyes and a stuffy nose just to participate. Sorry kiddo! I felt very old at my seminar because when I walked in, my "baby" cousin was there! She is 11 years younger than me and I still think of her as a kid despite the fact that she is a physical therapist as well and graduated from St. Louis U 3 years ago! Anyway, it was very fun to catch up with her and work with her as a peer!

Michael Phelps and I....

Okay, not really. I didn't even get to see him but I did get the opportunity to volunteer at the US Open Swim Meet today which was held at Purdue but hosted by Quincy's swim club. It was amazing to watch the strength and speed of those elite athletes! Unfortunately, Michael was swimming this evening and not this afternoon while I was on the deck. Certainly a fun thing to be involved in! It is continuing to look more and more like Christmas around here. Today was very cold, windy and even a little snowy! Max is so excited to see that it is finally December. He has just been dying to begin the "countdown" til Christmas!

A Day Off

Josh took the day off of work today since he had some days to use before the end of the year and since I was off also, we had a great time! Got so much accomplished! With the extent of my "t0-do" list, I think Josh will be thrilled to go back to work in the morning! We put up some new light fixtures, hung window treatments in the dining room, sealed some windows in the basement, and then made use of yet another warm day by putting up our Christmas decorations. We also took time for Josh to get a haircut and for the two of us to go out to lunch. I'm not that much of a slave driver! The kids loved having Daddy take them and pick them up from school and activities! Calvin has a new friend these days... a girl, Annika, from his class, calls him every night and they talk for up to 30 minutes at a time!

A Max observation...

Max told me this morning that the only problem with having a bunk bed is that if the guy who sleeps on the top bunk gets sick and throws up during the night, the guy on the bottom bunk will get "puked on".

Fun Weekend!

We just got back from a great time with the extended family! We spent all day and night Thursday with Josh's mom and grandmother. Had a nice time catching up and stuffing ourselves silly. On Friday morning, I was able to join my friend, Teresa, for breakfast in Ft. Wayne. She was there from New Hampshire to visit her family but will soon be moving to Indianapolis so we are looking forward to being able to get together a bit more than once a year in the upcoming months. Friday afternoon, we drove to a park outside of Columbus, OH where we met my parents and siblings for a long weekend. We had a great time! Did a lot of eating, lots of card and game playing, swimming, and due to the gorgeous, unseasonably warm temperatures, lots of outside activities including walking, tennis, basketball, shuffleboard, walking on the beach, and sailing Josh's remote control sail boat. Very nice! Everyone had a great time and the kids are now comfortably exhausted and in their own beds.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! I know we are thankful for all we have. We are off to a 4 day weekend with grandparents and cousins!

Our Big Ones!

Look how big Quincy and Tabitha are getting! Here are their latest school pictures.

Wild Weekend!

Great fun was had by all this weekend! Josh and I were able to participate in some good college football tailgating and fun while we watched Purdue beat IU. Since we were with a Purdue crowd, it was very exciting. Seven kids hung out at our house during the day with Georgia, our friend's 14 year old, in charge of the bunch. They all seemed to have a great time and neither the house nor the children sustained any structural damage. Today was much calmer with church, Sunday school, Max having a friend over to play, and putting up blinds in all the bedrooms and bathrooms. Very nice!

Shakespeare and Football

Josh and I went to see "Richard III" last night in one of Purdue's small theaters. Very entertaining. Today, we are headed to the Purdue/IU game with some friends from Batesville. The kids will hang out here and, hopefully not destroy the house in the process, with their friends from Batesville. Should be a fun day for all! Quincy's team lost their basketball game this morning but they were pretty proud of how they played in the second half so that was okay. Calvin poses here with his cross country team at the last practice of the year.

It's Animation!

That was the name of Quincy's sixth grade music program last night. (Quincy is behind the guy with the Popeye hat) They really did a great job! It was an all music show with theme songs from cartoons since the beginning of television. Very cute. It was amazing to see that some of these kids have some real acting and singing talent. Gone are the days when everyone is little and just looks good up there because they're cute, now you can see what these kids are going to excel at as they grow up. Very interesting and entertaining. Quincy had a comic relief speaking part where he introduced the "commercials". It has rained solidly now for the past 33 hours. There is water standing on all the roads and it is cold! Yuck! I hate winter! Josh was supposed to be home by now but has been delayed so many times, I have lost track. Yuck!

Pull Up to the Bar

Our new breakfast bar has to be the best addition to our remodeled kitchen. The kids just love to hang out there while I cook or to eat their breakfasts and lunches there. We love it. Josh is in Atlantic City this week "for business". Do you believe that? Tonight is Quincy's 6th grade program - he has a speaking part in the play they are putting on. Very exciting! I'm off to do some more of my Christmas shopping...

Sucked in...

Well, I did it. I accepted the position of rehab manager at work that they have been asking me to take since I started. Because of my previous experience as manager in Austin, the VP has been begging me to do this, but as much as I like management (bossing people around), I have been reluctant to do so. Last week, they made me a great financial incentive and met all of my demands so.... here I am. I have vowed to still work no more than the 19 hours a week that I am currently working and my boss agrees to back me up on this so, we'll see how it all works out. Wish me luck! We feel like we have a fairly calm week around our house this week except for the fact that Josh will be out of town for most of it. Cross country is over, Lego League is over, volleyball is over.... Josh took yesterday off and just got lots of little projects done around the house. I think he thoroughly enjoyed having the house completely to himself all day! He never gets that! He discovered that he has vacation days to use before the end of the year so he will be doing this several times. He also spent several hours looking at new cars. Still hasn't decided exactly what he wants, but I think he's getting there.

Cousins, cross country, robots and space! Wow!

Big, big day at our house! Calvin ran in the Junior Olympic State Championship today with his cross country team. He ran 1500 meters in a time of about 9 minutes. He placed 7 out of 8 but got a medal because the top 10 in each age group got a medal. He was so excited and loved every minute of it! Josh loved it too because he got to help out, relive his own cross country days and do it all in the same location that he used to run in Ft. Wayne! Tabitha had her Lego League competition today which they have been working towards for months. Her team designed and built a robot out of Lego's with nanotechnology and discussed its possible applications to biomedical engineering and cochlear implants. Wow! Pretty impressive. The competition was against 28 other teams in grades 2 through 8 and lasted for about 6 hours with various rounds demonstrating how their robots could perform various tasks. Taba's team placed 22nd. She had a great time and was very proud of their robot. My sister and her family were here visiting so that Quincy and my niece, Penny, could also spend the day on Purdue's campus at their Fall Space Day. This was a program for 600 interested kids aged 3rd through 8th grade where they heard from astronauts and participated in various activities to learn all about space and how things fly. They thought it was fantastic and couldn't wait to tell us all about everything they did. Max got to stay home with his other two cousins and play all afternoon so he had a great time too. Very fun but we're all exhausted...

Indian Summer

All of a sudden, we have had been having some beautiful warm days again! I know we shouldn't get used to it but we sure love it while it's here. The kids couldn't wait to get outside and play this afternoon after school. Calvin even thought it was warm enough for shorts! I was able to get the painting finished in the the kitchen today and just love the way it looks! What a fun project this has been. Now, we just need to decide on a new floor...