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!