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!!!  

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!!!!!

August is flying by for us.  I can't believe school is going to start in 12 days.  More on that in another blog.  This time i'm going to blog about our recent vacation.  Yes, mark & i braved it once again & took the kids to a cottage we rented on Legend Lake.  We had a good time.  The days were warm, the nights were cool.  We left on a friday at noon. My mom & dad came saturday after lunch (because they had to stop at the casino on the way -- they couldn't just drive by it without stopping!).  They stayed til tuesday, so we had a lot of fun with them.  We had a campfire almost every night, but i'm sad (and embarassed) to say that i couldn't even stay up past 10.  Neither could any of the rest of us, but still.  There was a meteor shower going on & the peak was at midnight.  I saw 2 shooting stars & really, really wanted to stay up til 12, but no such luck.  The kids did good going to bed & sleeping.  Almost every night around 7/730, jakob would tell me he wanted to go to bed.  Josie stayed up til about 830/9 most nights.  They slept pretty late in the morning, too, around 730/8.   We spent a lot of time in the water.  It was a little chilly, but that didn't stop the kids from going in.  Pict on left is my dad in his snorkel gear & jakob with his shark floatie.  The kids did great in the water.  Josie didn't complain too much about getting water on her face.  She just got out & wiped her face when it would get wet.  Jakob was a little too brave for me.  If he had his round floatie around him, he'd float out past the dock, where he couldn't touch.  It didn't bother him, but josie would yell "jakob, come back to shore".  She yelled at him about it more then i did.  This year we got out the rowboat, too.  Jakob refused to go in it.  He didn't want to have anything to do with the life jacket.  Unfortunately, that meant i didn't go in it, too.  Every time i was going to go, jakob screamed for me not to go.  Oh well.  Josie had some awesome boat rides with my dad & mark.  She LOVED it!  The pict below is her doing her sailor salute & she would do this march walk with her hand up like that.  She went in the rowboat every chance she got.  Mark was a little tired of rowing it by the end of the week, but oh well.  It was good exercise for him. 

On wednesday, our friends nick & sally came up with their kids, both a year younger then ours.  The kids were so happy to have other kids to play with.  Mark & i were happy to have some adult conversation while the kids played with each other.  Josie & valerie made a huge sand castle and all 4 kids had fun in the water.  The highlight of their visit was that the kids were playing together so nice that the adults played cards.  Yes, that's right.  We had about 3 hands of Hearts before the kids realized we weren't paying attention to them.  Sally & i were thrilled.  It was like we hit a milestone with our kids.  We might be able to start having a life again.  Nick & sally stayed til 10!  Yikes!  Jakob made it til 9, then he told me it was time for bed.  Josie was still raring to go when they left at 10, but mark & i were beat.  In fact, we all slept in the same room & mark was asleep before josie was!  On thursday, mark's mom & dad came up for dinner.  It was a nice surprise to see them.  The kids were so excited to show them around the cottage & show the beach & fish.  Speaking of fish.  My highlight is always feeding all the bluegill at the end of the dock.  Mark did his fair share of fishing.  He caught a good-sized northern & a few other nice fish.  He didn't keep any.  The kids did a little fishing, too.  They liked casting without a hook on, but they weren't too excited about actually catching a fish.  They did enjoy catching fish in their nets.  Jakob caught his first fish with his fishing pole.  It was hilarious.  At the end of the dock, there were a TON of bluegill & 3 bullheads swimming around.  mark was really worried about catching a bullhead.  Josie tried for a fish first.  She caught a bluegill as soon as her hook (with a worm) dropped in.  As you can see in the pict of her, she was scared of the flopping fish.  She had more fun catching a fish last year.  I"m not sure why, but whatever.  Next came jakob's turn.  Mark got him all ready & wouldn't you know it, jakob caught the bullhead.  Mark was so irritated & i couldn't stop laughing!  Mark had quite a time getting the hook out of jakob's darn fish.  Thankfully, it was the smaller of the 3.  The one bullhead was huge!  We spent the last day cleaning.  Actually, mark did all the cleaning (or most of it, anyway) and i occupied jakob.  Josie played her gameboy almost all morning.  She slept til after 9, too.  That has to be a record for her.  It was a nice week, but we were happy to get home, too.  I"m still tired & we've been home almost a week.  I think it doesn't help that the olympics are on & i'm hooked on them.  I can't stop watching & i keep staying up really late (ok, 1030) to stay glued to the tv.  UGH!