Grey Friday

Last night I slept on the couch. No, no, no. The marriage is good, but John is sick. I am the last man, uh, woman standing. All that pie helped fortify my immune system I guess. I don't think our family has ever been sick for so long. I think it's been 6 weeks now that at least one person has been sick at all times. I sent Julia around with the Clorox wipes the other day. She must have missed Daddy's door knob. Oops.

My mom and I spent a good deal of time on Thursday making our shopping plans. We were pumped up and ready to go. Toys R Us opened at 9 pm and I was going to knock out the Christmas shopping for the kids in one night. Buy one get one free and 60% off are words promising enough to make me wait a couple hours longer to put on my couch pants. (That's my clever name for my stretchy lounge pants because all I want to do when I have them on is lay on the couch.)

We pulled into the parking lot around 9 and I think the car itself started to hyperventilate. The line to get in was ri-freakin-diculous. Needless to say, I never stepped foot inside the store and my couch pants were in use sooner than planned. Bitter sweet.

Black Friday shopping in 2012?

No thank you.

Please remind me, because I always forget how terrible it is. Every. Single. Year.

Although, I did manage to get a really great coat (that I needed!) from Old Navy for only $5. I did not, however, get up at 4 am to get it. I ran in on our way to The Muppet Movie. (Which I did not wear my couch pants to. Very tempting though.)

Maybe Black Friday isn't so bad after all. I suppose it's really not a black and white issue for me.

Mahna Mahnam

I'm supposed to be doing some work for church and all I can think of is Mahna Mahnam! We went to see The Muppet Movie today and loved it! The only thing that would have made it better is John being with us. The bug that has passed from one kid to another all week long finally got the better of him though. All the kids are well and I'm hoping that by tomorrow he will be well too. I'm keeping my distance and praying that I don't get a turn. There's nobody to take care of me! I'll leave you with this....

John David's Bible Quiz Tournament

John David is quizzing this year for the first time with a middle school team from Elkhart. He's memorizing Hebrews which is neat because that's the first book John and I both memorized too. So far he can quote the first nine chapters! We're so proud of him!!

This past weekend his team traveled to a tournament here in Indiana. John and I couldn't go, but my parents made the drive and watched him all day and then brought him home. His team won first place and he placed 6th individually. His teammates placed 2nd and 4th!

Here he is holding the first place team trophy.

John David, Lauren, and Jonathon.

This picture cracks me up. These are the kids who placed individually. First through fourth place earned trophies and fifth through eighth got ribbons. That was bad enough for this poor guy who wanted a trophy so badly, but insult was added to injury when he was given the PINK sixth place ribbon. Hahahaha!

He was longing for one of those trophies. Maybe next time, buddy!

Here's the team with their coach, Miss Barbara. She's an amazing lady and loves these kids a lot. We will always be so grateful for all she's investing in our boy!

We LOVE you, John David! You make us so proud!

Playing Around

I put a slip and slide out this summer in Tulsa. I nearly died of heat stroke putting the stupid thing out and then they only wanted to play for about 10 minutes. I made them do it longer. I'm awesome. The first picture depicts their reluctance to go along with my demands.

Watching a cartoon together.

Julia hitched a ride on Joshua's tricycle.

Aulora was wearing a new fairy costume.

The Girls Visit Chicago

In honor of their birthdays, both of the girls got to go to Chicago and spend a couple of days with my parents about a month ago. They went shopping for new dolls at the American Girl Doll Store, ate at The Grand Luxe, and took a HUGE bubble bath. Can you say spoiled??

(Can you tell which one is which?)

Pictures with Gran

John's parents and his brother, Matthew, came for a short visit a few weeks ago. Before they left, I took some pictures of the kids with Gran on the front porch. If I had been thinking clearly at all, I would have taken pictures with D and Matthew too! Oops!

Brothers

These two may be more than seven years apart, but they really love each other! Joshua has a trundle bed in his room and every single night he asks if "Dohn David" can sleep with him. And recently John David began giving Joshua Lego lessons. Joshua gets SO excited over the little creations they make together. This past weekend John David went on a Bible Quiz trip. When he came back he gave Joshua a Hot Wheels car he bought for him with his own money. I can't wait to see what they'll be like as teenagers and young adults!

John David's 11th Birthday

John David turned 11 on October 28th and we celebrated with a small Angry Birds party. He was especially excited about his ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.

He got a big Lego book that had them entertained for quite a while.

There was a lot of Club Penguin Wii going on in the basement.

Happy Birthday, John David!!

We love you SO much!

(And of course we have to add the traditional birthday spanking video!)