Things have been pretty exciting around here. This past weekend was a long weekend for the kids. They got out early on Thursday and no school on Friday because of parent/teacher conferences. Then Monday was a Holiday because of Martin Luther King JR day. Monday night we were invited to friend Sheri's house. The kids had home made pizza while the adults had fondue. It was so much fun. While we were there Sheri got a phone call from the school district to let us know that school was being canceled on Tuesday because of "possible" flurries. I could not believe it, it wasn't even snowing yet and they had already canceled school. But hey, the kids were excited. I bet the people from up north would burst out laughing when they here something like that. I remember living in Holland and I don't think school was
EVER canceled because of snow. Oh well, the kids had fun playing in it. It was funny, because I was still in bed when I hear Joel getting up and opening his bedroom door to go to the bathroom and I hear his say "YES". He was so excited. So I got out of bed got all the kids dressed and went outside. It did snow off and on for the rest of the morning but it really didn't stick. But there was enough snow (or should I say Ice) for Joel to make a small snowman.
Josiah didn't really know what to do. He looked like the little Michelin man in his blue jacket and his red gloves. He loves playing outside so he was in heaven. He was so upset when I had to take him in.
Then yesterday was my "official" laundry day. I had been trying to do laundry all week but I finally got to finish most of it. So while I was folding my laundry Josiah came and sat on the bed with me. We had a lot of fun just playing. I guess he was really tired because at around noon I look over at him and he had fallen asleep with his "Night-Night" (his blue blanket) and his car. So of course I had to take some pictures.
It is Monday and you know what that means...LAUNDRY! So after I did about one or two loads this morning I ran out of detergent so we had to go to the store and get some. So after we dropped Jesse off at school we ran into Wal-Mart (well, we spent about an hour in there just looking at "stuff"). So when we got home, Josiah decided to be my little helper. He put all the clothes that were in the washing machine in the dryer, which he thought was so much fun. And then I pushed the hamper by the washing machine and he helped me put the dirty laundry in there. He thought that was a blast. Everytime he put a sock or a shirt in he just laughed. So I had to run and get my camera. So here are are the pictures.
Our Josiah is getting so big. He has figured out what coloring is. He loves to sit at the table with Riley while she is coloring. So the other day I just had to take some pictures of him coloring. He is really growing up fast. He is 19 months now and also has a big vocabulary now. He loves to walk around the house calling everybodies names, especially the kids.
Now this weekend was a big weekend for the kids. Their uncle Kerry moved right across the street from our subdivision. They are so excited, especially Joel. We can walk over to his house anytime we wanted to. Uncle Kerry has already watched them for us:) We had to go pick up Joel's birthday picture from the mall and he offered to watch them for us. We were nice to him and took Josiah with us, just in case he needed a diaper change. (Hey, we want him to watch them again for us!) So after we got home, we got in the van (I know, we should have walked but it was COLD!) and went to see his appartment. It is pretty nice, except for the smell in his refrigerator/freezer. It is pretty bad. Anybody have any tips on how to get an AWFUL smell out of the refrigerator/freezer? I mean it is BAD!! I believe he said that there is an Arm and Hammer box in there but that is just not going to do it. Any ideas... I welcome them. 
Then today after church we invited Callie over for lunch. We like to invite her over for lunch after church, especially on the 3rd Sunday of each month because we do nursery together with her. But today was also her birthday. So we stopped at the Pig and got some fried chicken with some green beans and broccoli salad (which not good at all). And the kids also wanted me to get a cake. So after lunch we found some cake candles, put them on the cake and sang happy birthday to her. We love you, Mrs. Callie and hope you had a nice lunch:)
So this morning while Joel and Riley were at school, Jesse wanted to work on his perler beads. So we make the crocodile. He did it all by himself. I just helped him count the beads and showed him where some of them would go. It is hard!
Poor Josiah, now that school has started again he has to get used to getting up early again. He got his blanket out and his "Gus-Gus" and just layed on the floor. 
Another tradition we do is light the Advent Calendar. Again, the kids each take a turn lighting it and then Terry asks one of the kids a question about Advent or the Christmas story.This is another activity the kids really enjoy. 
And then finally we do the "
