Happy Holidays, everyone!  Now that you're done laughing about getting my christmas card so early (sorry to anyone i may have forgotten), here's the answers to my VandenHeuvel crossword puzzle (and more pictures).  Click on read more to see the answers & more pictures!

Here's the cute pict of all the kids we went bowling with.  Left to right Megan, Anna, Abby, Jakob & Josie. 

 PS to Aunt Michelle- the shirt jakob is wearing is an Old Navy one from you.  He LOVES it & calls it his Hot Wheels sweatshirt cause of the flames on the arms!!!  

Ok, so it's been a long while since I've posted anything out here.  Maverick is 5 months old if that tells you anything.  So per request I figured I would toss our Halloween pics out.  Camden loved it this year.  He was Spiderman and loved going from house to house asking for candy.  He thought that was pretty cool.

He surprisingly did great putting on his costume and sitting still to put on all the face paint.  He'll be 3 at Christmas, so for a 2 and a half year old to sit that still was pretty cool. 

Maverick "dressed up" as a giraffe and was very cute.  He was asleep two houses in, so he was great.  And the giraffe costume was heacy enough that it kept him nice and warm all night.

Click read more to see the pics a little bigger.

Today the kids & i went bowling.  It was the first time for Jakob and Josie's second time.  We met up with 3 other families at the bowling alley.  The kids were all really good & did great on the bowling alley.  We only had 2 minor accidents.  Jakob wasn't watching where he was going & fell down the little step.  He was walking backwards ... something he should never do.  And poor little Abby tried to lift a ball that was a little too heavy for her & fell over with it & bonked her face. 

Jakob was so excited to throw the ball down the alley.  A few times we had to guide him to the correct lane, but other than that, he did great!  In the beginning, he stayed up by the alley & did a sort of dance while the ball slowly rolled down the lane.  By the 5th frame, he was getting tired & liked the air blower better.  

Josie did great, too. It was her second time, so she acted like she was a pro bowler.  Of course, she got the high score with the kids (77), which only strengthened her belief that she was the best.  UGH!  But, i'm happy to report that she was her sassy self at the bowling alley.  She talked with all the other kids & grown-ups we went with.  SO, that was good.

 Here's the pict of jakob liking the blower.  We all enjoyed pizza & root beer, too.  I know the kids had fun bowling, but they may have had more fun drinking the root beer with everyone just as much (or maybe more).  I do have a picture of all the kids, so stay tuned for that one ... it's really cute!!  

My mom & dad surprised us with a visit to the bowling alley, too.  They wanted to see the kids in action.  After bowling we went to their house.  Jakob rode with them & fell asleep on the way (it's a 10 minute drive).  He was beat!  All that bowling really wore the kids out.  We might have to do this more often!

It's been a long time since i've blogged.  Sorry to all who actually read this.  We've been really busy with Halloween and then Josie's birthday.  I'm so glad both things are over.  Our Halloween candy is all gone (because i was so tired of the kids asking for it and then getting crazy if i said no).  I sent it ALL to work with Mark one morning.  A few days later, jakob asked where his suckers went (in his super-cute way of asking anything).  I told him i threw them away because they were crying about it too much.  Then he started to cry, so i said "see--that's why it's gone".  He stopped crying & that was the last i heard about the Halloween candy.  Josie didn't say much, thank goodness.  She's so incredibly candy crazy!!  She wanted to spend all her birthday money on candy.  i didn't let her, of course.  She spent it on a new webkinz & an over-priced wedding dress for her webkinz.  We made her put half in the bank, too.  She was fine with saving half, but i had to convince her that she should put it in the bank instead of in HER bank.  At least she's starting to get the concept of money. 

So, i have a cute Josie story i'm going to share.  It's so funny!  She has her moments of being sassy/mean (especially to jakob).  A few days ago, her & jakob were being really, really good.  The day before she had been quite sassy.  So, i told the kids that i was so happy that they were playing nice & i hoped santa or an elf was watching them play nice.  Then, i looked out our kitchen window (i was just innocently looking at all the leaves in our backyard).  Josie said "mom, what are you looking at?  Do you see an elf?".  So, i thought i'd play it a little & said "yah, i thought i saw something by the tree."  Josie ran to the window yelling "which tree, which tree?!"  I told her i thought i saw something by the hammock tree (that was kind of vague, since there's 2 trees to choose from). 

We recently acquired a Nintendo Wii.  Oh my gosh!  It is so much fun!  I"ve played before, so i knew it would be fun, but i didn't realize how addictive it would be.  Mark set it up yesterday (after he got all the fancy high definition cables we needed).  It's the Wii sports one, so it came with all the sports games:  bowling, baseball, golf, tennis & boxing.  We played it for 2 hours yesterday.  This picture shows josie boxing.  She was really hardcore with the boxing.  Although, she didn't get the first knockout of the family.  That would be me!  My arm is still a little sore from boxing (yah, i know i'm out of shape).  Here's a picture of Mark boxing, too. 

He almost had a picture of me boxing, but he was laughing too hard.  By the time he realized he should take my picture & stop laughing, the match was over & my opponent was knocked out!  That's right!  Look out! 

This morning, jakob woke up at 7 & came in our bed.  Ten minutes later, josie came in, too.  Jakob wanted to get up, so i said "ok, kids, let's get up".  Jakob & i got out of bed & josie said "no, i'll lay in here til dad gets up, then we can play the Wiiiiiiiiiii".  SHe can't just call it the Wii, it has to be Wiiiiiiii.  After mark & josie got up, i said i was going to take a shower (which means the kids watch a video or when mark is home - play video games).  Josie asked if i could wait til she was done eating breakfast.  I obliged her & had a cup of coffee while she ate her cereal. It didn't dawn on me that she had an ulterior motive, i thought she wanted to enjoy my morning grumpiness or something.  When she was done eating she said "Mom, why don't you go take a nice loooooooong shower now".  Then she looked over to mark & said, "ok, dad, let's play the Wiiiiiiiiiiiii".  She didn't want to waste my shower time eating & lose out on precious Wii time. 

Jakob doesn't like it too much.  He's not too good at it yet, so i'm sure that doesn't help.

So, does anyone have any suggestions on games the kids & i would like?  I know mark has suggestions for games he'll like, so i'm just looking for suggestions for me & the kids.  Anyone?  I was thinking Dance, dance revolution.  I think josie would love that game ... and it's probably really good exercise for us! 

I survived the first (and second) day of school ... and so did the kids.  Jakob's first day was only an hour long, it's normally 2 1/2 hours.  He went in the morning & he LOVED it.  He was so excited about going.  He had his Transformers backpack on & was waiting in the van for me before I had my shoes on.  I think his enthusiasm helped josie, too.  She was excited, too.  When we dropped jakob off, we had to play in the playground area a little while cause we were 5 minutes early (imagine that).  When his teacher opened the door for him to come in, he grabbed his backpack & yelled "i'm ready, i'm ready".  We walked to the school door & his teacher said to say good-bye to the moms.  He turned to me & said "bye" & ran in.  I was bent down for a hug & he didn't even give me a hug!  It was a surprise, considering he's such a mama's boy.  He was happy after school, too.  He seemed to have a great time.  Tomorrow is his first "real" day.  We'll see how that goes.  I think he'll do fine, i'm mostly worried about getting him to school by 8. Josie & i are not morning people.

Josie was quite nervous to go to school.  It didn't hit her until after lunch that she should probably be a little worried.  Then while we were waiting for the bus she said her belly hurt.  I told her my belly hurt, too.  That seemed to make her feel better.  When her bus came, she got right on & didn't look back.  She did great!  Jakob & i spent most of the afternoon at the mall & Target.  I couldn't just sit home thinking about her in school.  It made me feel even worse (and my belly hurt more) when i realized i forgot to put her nametag on her.  I know she's not a big talker in school, ok, she's not a talker at all.  So, i was imagining her standing in school & teachers were talking to her & she was just standing there, staring, and not speaking.  But, it turned out that she did just fine.  In fact, she was extremely excited when we picked her up from school.  She said she talked a little in school.  It seemed like they did a lot more learning & a lot less playing/free time & i think josie really liked that.  Even today she came home & was happy about everything she did.  She made me ask her questions to get anything out of her, but that's ok.  And i know everyone is wondering about her boy situation.  Well, let's just say today i asked her if she had a new boyfriend yet & SHE DOES!!!  No big surprise there.  I asked her which boy it was & she said the cute one missing his 2 top teeth!

 After josie's school day was finished, we had "back to school brownies" in the back yard.  It was 90 degrees out, but we still enjoyed the time.  I'm so relieved that the first days of school are over.  The anticipation was tough on me, but we all survived.  I think josie will have a great year, she seems to be made for kindergarten. Jakob will do well, i think.  He might miss me tomorrow, but i know he'll have fun & i'll miss him more!!!!!