Happy Birthday Cole!

Just six days after Penny's birthday we get to celebrate Cole's birthday.  And then Halloween!  It makes for a very eventful October.

Cole was very excited to open his presents

And the girls were excited about getting pictures with him on his special day.

Cole got some great new toys, so he postponed eating cake until after he had time to check them all out.

Finally we made it back to the cake - a Spiderman ice cream cake.  Penny made the cake, I did the decorating.

Happy Birthday to Cole...

He got all the candles... eventually.

His new drill and pattern set has been a big hit, along with his Rescue Hero action figures.

The next day I took Cole to his 3 year doctor appointment, which went well, with no health issues to worry about.  He is 40 inches (95% height) and 39 pounds (95% weight).  The doctor predicted, based on Penny's and my height and Cole's current measurements, that Cole will be at least 6 feet tall when he grows up.  Kind of crazy to think about that!

Happy Birthday Penny!

Penny's birthday was on Monday, so we celebrated appropriately with a Cardinals double decker cookie cake! 

Penny also picked out a nice Cardinals sweatshirt for his gift - we all went together so he could try it on in person before purchasing it.

And Cole is already practicing celebrating his birthday, which is just 6 days after Penny's.

He, too, is excited about baseball and often carries around his glove and ball wherever he goes.

Train Museum with Friends

Last weekend a college friend of mine and her family came up from Arkansas to visit us.

Being that both of our boys LOVE trains, we decided a trip to the train museum was in order.  First stop: watching the circus train go round and round.

It was a bit of a rainy morning, but the kids still had a great time - not too crowded as a result.

Cole and Sam especially loved the trolly ride - we rode on a 99 year old electric trolley still traveling on train tracks around the museum

Love this picture of the girls and me!

Cole's eyes tell his happiness.  Such colorful leaves on the trees in the background too.

Saying, "Choo choo," on the tram ride back down to the main building.

Both Mead and Cole took turns as "captain" of the tram.

One more detour to see the circus train.

And that night we ended our day with a trip to Ted Drewes - a must-do for every visitor to St. Louis.  Yum!

Glad you guys were able to come see us, Kristen!  Hopefully we can do it again before too long.

School Events

The girls' school has kept us busy with attending various events.  First they had a special chapel with George Robertston as the guest speaker.

The first graders got to present an acrostic poem about the school using the words, "Covenant Pelicans."

Laine was "C" for Cardinals Day.

Then we had grandparents day, and both girls were able to perform a song on the platform with their classes.  Mead was especially excited and waved to Daddy out in the audience.

The pre-K and J.K. classes sang, "If You Love God and You Know It," clap your hands, stomp your feet, say Amen.  It was very cute, especially since they showed such enthusiasm.

Laine's class sang "The Perfect Ten," about the 10 Commandments.

Laine did a wonderful job, remembering all the hand motions and words as she sang.

At the end all the students came up to the front to sing "Amazing Grace," the school's theme song.  Fun to capture both Mead and Laine in the same photo here.

These are some photos from the school's Fall Festival a couple weekends ago.

Everyone had fun going for rides in the trailer being pulled by a huge farm tractor, silly faces, crowded spaces, and all!

Our latest adventures

In no particular order, here's a few shots of what we've been up to lately...

Mead was so tired one night that she fell asleep like this!

Fort building on a morning the kids had late start at school.

Cole and Mead looking handsome and cute as ever!

Getting ready for Halloween - trying on costumes to make sure they fit.

Double decker piggy back ride!

Disney on Ice

Last weekend I took the girls to see Disney on Ice. 

 I had been considering taking them the past couple times it's been in town but kept waiting for them to be a little older.

We had a great time - they did a 100 year review, so there were lots of different characters to see.

The girls recognized most of them, and have been anxious to watch the movies of those they didn't know until they saw them on ice.

Lots of cool effects, 

lots of princesses and others skating,

and even some fireworks!  Very fun!!

Kid pics

Laine got ahold of the camera on pig-roasting day, and managed to get several cute shots of Mead and Cole.  Enjoy!

Grumpy faces..

Goofy faces!

Good times :-)

Oh, and here's Penny basting the finished product - we fed around 300 people with this pig.  It was delicious!