Peter got into the flour jar... what a little stinker!!  But who can resist that smile  :)

I took the boys with a good friend of mine to Dollinger's Pumpkin Patch and they each got to pick out a  pumpkin.  James wanted to carve a smiley face in his and so we did; but I put stars on the other side ;)  Stars for our Christian friends and a pumpkin face for our secular friends.  Ha!  But, James really liked the smile and so there it sits, smiling at all our friends :)

This photo I tried to adjust the brightness... didn't work so hot.  Ah well... there they are.

Happy Birthday to James!!

"How old are you James?"

 On September 24, James turned 4 years old.  What a big boy :)  He is a sweet boy whose imagination has grown by leaps and bounds... literally.  He is always racing his cars and crashing them up, hollering and running at the same time.  He loves to go outside and help his Daddy and jumps at the chance to ride in Daddy's big truck.  It's fun to watch him become more academic too.  He's always loved to look at books, but now he will sit and do independent work with colouring or the like. He started Sunday school this year and loves it! Sure it's only been 2 classes, but his face brightens up and now he loves to go to church. :)  And when we pass by a playground on the way to the grocery store, he always points and says "when I'm 5 I can go to school, right?"  One day he will be off to school... where does the time go... And for now we just have to make a point to savour the days of year number 4.  We love you, little James!

"Happy birthday dear James, Happy Birthday to you!"

How much do you want to bet he wishes for a truck?

So, if you're wondering who decorated the cake, it was Jerry, all the way!  It was fun to watch him build it and try to get it all right.  I think he did a fabulous job!  And so did James :)  So did Lucas... On Sunday after church, Lucas decided he wanted a piece.  He managed to take the whole thing out of the fridge, but the cake  slipped off just before he could get it on the table :(.  Sad day with no air bags to cushion the fall.

It must have been a busy day, because I'm sure the truck videos Jerry's watching are far from this boring :)

Camping... Shawnee National Forest, Trail of Tears

So we finally went camping.  We've had all the gear, except the tent, ever since we were married, and we hoped to go every year.  Well, this year we bought the tent and went!  It was great :)  We spent 2 nights, 1 day, and probably spent more time packing, setting up, taking down and packing again, than we spent time enjoying ourselves; but, it was still fabulous!!  The boys enjoyed it too, even though there wasn't much for them to do.  I think they enjoyed it because of the excitement of something different.

We traveled about 5 1/2 hours south, close to the border of Illinois.   After about 4 hours of cornfields and soybeans, the terrain finally became interesting.  The above photo is a shot a t a rest area beside a lake I can't remember the name of.  Very beautiful!  

Our little man... Peter!  He had a great time too, though I had to keep a constant eye on him to keep him from eating EVERYthing.

Our Tahoe was loaded to the gills with all our gear so there wasn't much room for toys.  The boys made their own fun trying to take rides in the bike trailer and pedaling back and forth in front of our campsite.

Here's our camp site.  The most fabulous you will find in Illinois, I'm sure.  Major selling point is the 3 walled cabin complete with fireplace.  Also, it was very private and quiet.  Downside, very hilly (hard for us people who are out of shape, to pedal) and no water holes for swimming or for fishing.  Great hiking trails, but not so great for little ones.

Old fire tower

Check out this look :)

Putting the Dirksen cup to good use :)

A few more snapshots of the peeps.