Many Prayers Needed

We received one of those phone calls last night. The kind that you know is bringing bad news. We found out that a very good friend of Josh's from Notre Dame was involved in a horrific car accident with her family while traveling to Florida for the Holidays. All members of the family were badly injured but the worst part was that their youngest, a three year old boy named Sean, was killed. Sue (Josh's friend) was driving and remains in critical condition. She does not even know yet about the death of her son. Can you imagine the horror that she will soon be waking up to? The other two children have head injuries, one possibly may have brain damage, in addition to various broken bones. Sue's husband has multiple broken bones but unfortunately, is the one that must take care of everyone else and break the news to Sue. Please pray for this wonderful family as they try to heal and make sense of this tragedy. I am including the Christmas card that we just received from Sue and Dan and a link to the article about the accident.

Happy Birthday, Josh!

It's the big 3-9 for Josh today! He got to celebrate early, and I mean early, by taking Quincy to swim team practice at 4:45 a.m. today! I offered to take over this duty but Josh insisted that he didn't mind doing it. He looks awfully tired now, however. He spent the rest of his day at work but did come home to a big pot of black-eyed pea soup, homemade cornbread, salad and cake. He even got a cake from his marketing co-workers. This is sometime totally new to him, something never done by fellow engineers. The kids and I gave him a big remote-control speed boat to play with out on our lake and he is very excited for the ice to melt so he can try it out.

Lost in a Book

I received Dan Brown's newest book as a Christmas gift the other day. I am now so caught up in the book that I can hardly do anything else. My entire day has consisted of reading this book except when I took a brief break to run the kids to Wal-Mart to spend their Christmas gift cards. The kids haven't seemed to mind a bit that I am completely preoccupied. They have just played games and read their own books all day as well. Max is completely caught up in Diary of a Wimpy Kid and finished it today. Hopefully, I can finish this book quickly so I can get back to the real world...

Fantastic Family Time

We really had a great time celebrating Christmas these past couple of days.

My family arrived yesterday morning and we proceeded to eat our way through and into today.

We had a great time exchanging gifts, playing games, watching the kids, and eating all of the yummy food that everyone brought.

We did manage to also get in a nice long walk through the neighborhood with the two dogs yesterday afternoon before it got too cold and too dark.

After everyone left today, the Shenk family just enjoyed a very quiet day at home. Most of us read our new books all day in front of the fire while watching the snow fall outside. Just perfect!

Building and Playing

Max had us all up by 6:30 this morning so that he could see what Santa brought.

We dove into our day early but sure had a great one. The kids were thrilled with all of their gifts and spent the remainder of the day playing with them. For Max, that meant building a hut out of his new cardboard building set, building a police station out of Legos, and building a robot out of a tin can.

For Calvin, that meant building the Empire State building out of an architecture puzzle set, building the foundation of a miniature brick house, and dreaming of what he will soon make with his brand new and REAL lathe.

For Tabitha, that meant making all of us some lemon sorbet in her new ice cream maker, counting her money and gift cards to see just how close she is to buying her own Kindle, and playing some Scrabble with dad while wearing her new Snuggie. For Quincy, that meant trying to fill his new XBox hard drive every minute of the day... when he wasn't baking a pumpkin pie for tomorrow's Christmas dinner.

Josh and I just enjoyed playing with the kids and helping them in their new endeavors. I also spent the morning trying out my new Photoshop software. We will celebrate more Christmas tomorrow with my family.

A Wonderful Christmas Eve

We are back home, safe and sound after a drive up to Fort Wayne for the day. We had perfect driving conditions, a very nice lunch and gift opening with Josh's family, and a pleasant drive home. We opened our gifts from each other this evening, let the kids play with their new toys for awhile and now have everyone tucked soundly in bed - waiting for Santa's arrival. Merry Christmas to all!

Almost There!

I think that we are actually going to make it to Christmas without too many kids going onto the "naughty list" and driving their mother crazy!
It was significantly warmer outside today and finally without precipitation. I was able to battle the crowds at the grocery store to get all of the fixin's that I need for our Christmas dinner. I then proceeded to make two more Bûche de Noël cakes while the kids enjoyed the warmer weather and played outside.

While Quincy was at swim team practice, I took the three younger kids to see the new Chipmunks' movie. Very cute. Everyone is now playing board games while Tabitha is at basketball practice. Josh is on his way home from Mexico. He initially had a delay leaving Mexico but has now made it safely to Detroit and things are looking good for his flight to Indianapolis to leave on time.
Tomorrow, we head to Josh's mom's house for Christmas with the Greene family.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Oodles of Friends

We had a great day today! We woke up to yet another snowy morning with a steady snow fall until about 10:30. It then cleared up nicely and allowed our good friends to come for a visit from Indianapolis. Teresa is a good friend from high school and she arrived with her four girls in tow. Our kids love to play together and all had a wonderful time. Quincy was at swim team practice at the Natatorium in Indianapolis for most of the day so we left Tabitha in charge while Teresa and I went out to lunch. We had a good visit and the kids had a ball. After the Bostwicks got back on the road to go home, we headed over to a local good friend's house for dinner. Once again, the kids had a great time playing together while Kelly and I sat and visited. Everyone is now wiped out and ready for bed.

Day One

Day one of Josh being gone... Day one of Christmas vacation.... Whew! I'm worn out! This seems to be a weird year for Christmas break. The kids have so many days off BEFORE Christmas. It's brutal. They are dying for the big day to arrive and need to be constantly reminded that they have to wait! Every time Quincy walks by the Christmas tree, he suggests that we open just one gift NOW. Max just bounces around the house telling me how he can't wait until Friday morning. Tabitha and Calvin seem to just be suspended in time where they can do nothing but hover around me and wait. It's exhausting! We did get some play time in the snow again this morning until it just got too warm, wet and muddy. Calvin and Tabitha also did some cooking today, to complete the recipes that I had placed in their countdown books. Cooking is not nearly as much fun when Josh is not here to do the cleaning up part! Quincy had a swim team pizza party and is now hanging out at a friend's house. The rest of us are just killing time until Thursday...

Feliz Navidad!

We sent Josh off to Mexico this afternoon so he can finish up a project that he has brewing there. Hopefully, he will make it back by Wednesday evening as scheduled or it will be a Mexican Christmas for him and a lonely one for us!

Max and Calvin swam in their first swim meet of the year today. It was Max's first meet ever and Calvin's first in the last three years. It was a huge meet held in the Indiana University Natatorium. A bit daunting but well-organized and full of places to sit and watch. Max got disqualified in his first event when his goggles slid down to his chin and he floundered a bit in a free-style sort of way rather than the breast stroke that he was supposed to be swimming. He was heart-broken when the judge explained that he had been DQ'd and shed some tears but his coach quickly restored him to a good mood and by the time he won his heat in his freestyle event, he was pretty darn happy. He ended up with 12th place for freestyle out of 25 kids so he was pretty happy. Calvin didn't place in his 100m backstroke but he did get a 16th place out of 30 kids in breast stroke so he walked away happy as well. Grandma Greene and Josh's brother and his family also attended the meet so we made quite a day out of it. The pretty drive through the rolling hills of Brown County brought us back home safely and ready for a quiet evening.

Dad was In Charge

We woke up to a beautiful snowy morning! Not too cold but a couple of inches of snow on the ground and snow still falling. It was perfect for playing outside and building forts, having snow ball fights, etc.



The kids played in the snow for hours and had a great time. For a brief period of time, I left Josh to keep an eye on the kids while I went upstairs to take a shower.... This is the video he had to show me afterwards...



Max built a fort and we went out to admire it, he told us that it was built to look like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

He then proceeded to try to build an Eiffel Tower although it didn't work quite so well.

After all of the snow play, the three boys decided to get in the hot tub to warm up. They had a great time continuing their snow ball fight in the warm coziness of the hot tub.


Coco lets me know that she is ready to come back in the house after her play time...

Christmas Break!

What an exciting day today! The kids all had parties and fun activities to celebrate the end of the semester and the beginning of Christmas break. They were bouncing off the walls from the minute they woke up. I did my morning walking before joining my French friend for coffee. She has asked me to sit and talk to her for at least an hour each week so that I can help her with her English. Her English is really quite good and has improved dramatically since she moved here but she wants me to correct her mistakes and to teach her the colloquialisms that are used so frequently. We had a very enjoyable conversation time before joining more friends for lunch at our local winery. Our group of friends decided that we needed to get out for lunch before we are inundated with children for the next two weeks. We had a wonderful meal and conversation before going our separate ways.

When the kids got home from school (with their loot from various parties), we delivered our cookie boxes and then just hung out with friends and relaxed. We all love vacation!


The big news in our lives today was that our part of France received snow last night! They got 5 cm of snow in some places and were just stunned! Schools were cancelled, roads were closed and everyone just shut down. They NEVER get snow so this was a very big deal. My kids are so jealous that they never got snow while we were living there!


Here are a few pictures that I got off from the Ouest France website.

It's A Wonderful Life

Tabitha's 8th grade class put on their performance of It's a Wonderful Life this morning. Taba was the superintendent angel and did a great job. Very confident and good stage presence. She did call the other angel, Clarence, by his real name of Peter at one point though. Everyone chuckled over that one. The show was great, the kids had obviously worked quite hard at this. The lighting was so dark however that I did not get any good pictures or video.

After watching the show and running a multitude of errands, it was time for me to buckle down and get my cookies all boxed up and ready to go out to teachers, friends and neighbors.

18 boxes later, we are all set to spread our Christmas cheer.
Quincy had his big swim meet tonight and did a good job. He placed second in several events. Unfortunately, his team did not win however as more than half the team was missing due to final exams. The girls won however, they always do.
The kids only have school tomorrow before they will be off for the next two weeks for Christmas break. They are so excited, they can hardly think straight!

Spelling Bee Champ

I received a phone call just after school let out today. Tabitha won the school spelling bee today (this included the 4th through the 8th grade) and her teacher wanted my permission to then enter her name into the regional competition. Hurray! We'll see how far she can go!
Calvin had to present his project for literature class today. They are discussing Christmas' around the world and of course, Calvin chose to do France. For his visual aid, he opted to bring in a traditional French Bûche de Noël, a yule log cake. I made the cream-filled jelly-roll style cake yesterday and then last night, while I was at the swim meet, Josh and Calvin covered in a rolled chocolate fondant to make it look like a real log. They did a great job! It looked fantastic but they did not take a picture! Sorry! Instead, I am including a picture of one of the yule cakes that we enjoyed in France.

Anyway, he presented his project and cake today and everyone absolutely loved it. Tabitha is now determined to bring another yule log cake in on Friday for her class Christmas party.
Quincy shocked me this morning by asking for a comb for his hair! He has never felt the need to comb his hair as it is always so straight and so fine that it just falls into place, much like Josh's. Hmmmmm.... I wonder who he feels the need to comb his hair for???
I spent a wonderful day with my good friend, Jane. We drove into Cincinnati for some final Christmas shopping but mostly to enjoy a fantastic Indian lunch at a favorite restaurant of hers. Delicious and a beautiful day!

Tabitha whipped up some honest to goodness French dinner crepes for our dinner tonight. She made them perfectly with buckwheat flour, eggs, ham and cheese. They were paper thin and perfect!
Tomorrow evening is Quincy's big "cross town shoot out"! His small Catholic high school is swimming against the local public high school. The public school has a nationally ranked swimmer who is being hunted by the Olympic team but the rest of their team is not that good. We'll see how it all goes....

Last Concert, I Swear!

I know that this has just been string of concert videos lately but this is the last one, I promise. At least until the end of the school year... Yesterday, my mom and dad came down to attend the band and choir concert at the elementary school. Calvin provided some tunes on his trumpet while Tabitha sang with the choir.
Today, was yet another swim meet for Quincy's team. They sure compete a lot! I drove a car load of 6 boys down to Lawrenceburg where Quincy's team dominated the meet and Quincy got a first place in butterfly and a third in free-style. I had to put my physical therapy skills to work at one point when a girl on the team hurt her shoulder. Poor thing is going to have to sit out for a bit. Swimming is not easy on the shoulder tendons. After a huge victory, my car full of boys were pretty wound up so we had to listen to 45 minutes of Weird Al tunes and lots of bad singing the whole way home.

A Chorus Concert and Scholarship Applications

This afternoon, it was Quincy's turn to participate in his Christmas concert. He takes chorus as a required Freshmen class. He is not particularly fond of singing so he wasn't thrilled to take part this concert but he did a nice job.
Tabitha and I worked all afternoon on her scholarship applications for high school. Now that she has completed the Entrance exam, she can see if she qualifies for any academic scholarships. It was lots of work but good preparation for college applications in the future!

It's Santa!

Busy day today... After taking Tabitha to her four hour high school entrance exam, I attended a parent meeting for an hour and half. Learning all about the school where Quincy already goes. I felt like I should be there since we completely missed this whole process with Quincy. I just can't believe that we will have two kids in high school next year! Wow, where does that time go?

I then raced home to get Quincy off to his swim meet and pick up Josh and the little boys for a breakfast with Santa. The Country Club had a big buffet breakfast accompanied by some visiting with Santa. The boys loved it, especially Max who was grinning from ear to ear on Santa's lap.

After breakfast, we drove the 25 minutes down to Quincy's swim meet where we watched him race in a couple of events before heading home. This was a huge invitational meet where Quincy and his little school were way out of their league! I shouldn't say that, they did okay, sort of middle of the road but a bit difficult when they are used to winning. Tabitha and I did some Christmas shopping this afternoon and got all of our final ingredients for baking. Now that Quincy is home from his swim meet, Josh and I are heading out to two Christmas parties. Should be fun!

A Live Nativity

The march toward Christmas continues...

My walking friends and I finally gave up and began walking inside the YMCA this morning instead of putting in our four miles on the streets of our neighborhood. It's just gotten too cold. So, a'round and a'round the track we went. Not nearly as pleasant but still social and exercise.
I spent the rest of the day doing some serious baking for Christmas. I still have a ways to go but felt good about what I accomplished today. After swim team practice this afternoon, we joined Tabitha at a nearby church where they had a Live Nativity set up.

Taba's school choir sang at the event

while we enjoyed hot chocolate and checking out the kids and animals in the Nativity scene. We are certainly starting to feel the Holiday spirit!

A Blustery Day

Wow, today was a cold one! We woke up to temperatures in the teens after listening to the wind howl all night. Snow was falling and we had about an inch on the ground. The snow tapered off by mid-morning but the wind was unrelenting and the cold was just brutal. Yuck!
I spent my day in Cincinnati today, finishing up all of the shopping that is necessary for a family of six. The roads were clear and the crowds weren't bad so I can't complain. After getting the car unloaded just in time for the kids to come home on the bus, it was time to do my chauffeuring for the evening. Max had swim practice followed by his guitar lesson. Tabitha had basketball practice, Quincy had (and is still at) a swim meet, and Calvin went to a friend's house to play. I did manage to squeeze in a desperately needed haircut for myself before coming home to put the kids to bed. Josh is doing his marketing thing. Should be his last crazy evening for the week!