The Joseph fam had a fun weekend getting geared up for Christmas. Our precious new friend Jennifer came over to hang out with the family on Friday night (that is her in the picture with the kids). Then on Saturday morning I went to a Christmas brunch with some ladies here in town while Kevin played with the kids at home (all 4 of them--I know--super-Dad!). Saturday evening we went to dinner at TGI Friday's with Holly and another teacher friend from the international school. After dinner we went to the high school students' choir and band concert and got to listen to some wonderful Christmas music. It did so much to help it feel even more like Christmas! Throughout the evening Kevin and I kept asking each other what was wrong with our kids--they were so calm and well-behaved both at the restaurant and the concert! The loved the teachers who were with us and were really excited to hear Christmas music, which I think was part of the reason for their exceptional behavior. But whatever the reason, it sure made the evening enjoyable for Kevin and me!
On Sunday evening we did our usual family night with pizza--and we had a guest. One of the other families here is also having a hard time finding babysitters, so they brought their little two year old over to play with our four for a few hours so they could go to dinner and get coffee. Unfortunately their little one had a hard time, but we all made it through two hours at least to give his parents a little bit of a date night!
We're back to our regular weekly routine again today. Classes and homeschool for the kids. I heard a funny story from one of my Chinese friends at school today. She was embarassed to tell me about her weekend visit to the hospital. She had eaten fish for dinner while at her family's house, and accidentally got a bone stuck in her throat! They were able to get it out and no damage was done, thank goodness. She said the only thing that made her feel better was the fact that the doctor at the hospital told her that people come in all the time with the same problem! They had a special instrument and everything for removing fish bones from the throat!
Jennifer came over for dinner again tonight and entertained the kids by playing hide and seek throughout the apartment before we ate. We think she's even going to be brave enough to hopefully watch all four next week for Kevin and me to have a date night! We're pretty pumped and hope that it works out!
