Christmas

Today

My boys after a long day of work...all a little dirty...but that's ok!!!
Raking leaves

Sam sitting and 'standing guard' of the neighbor's house. He had to run to Home Depot in the middle of his window replacement project. Sam was making sure that no burglars go in.
Clean windows!!!
I was trying to find a way to summarize our day. It was perfect weather and a wonderfully productive day. I wish we could have had more like it this fall.

HALLOWEEN

Father of the Year

Jason is the den leader of Ben's scout troop. I'm so proud of both of them:)

Off to the pumpkin patch...

Taking our pumpkins to the car.

Which one should we get?

A photo opp:)

Today we went to Retzlaff's Pumpkn Farm. It ended up being a very nice day--the sun was finally out!! It was a great day:)

Tooth Fairy

Today Sam went to the dentist and had 2 teeth pulled. He's excited that the tooth fairy is coming tonight:)

Birthday and Soccer

Today was Ben's first soccer game!!

Friday night we had a few boys over for a birthday party. I now realize why I only have 2 kids!!!! Actually MOST of the boys were really well behaved:)

Catch up...again!!!

The first day of school- Ben's in 3rd grade and Sam in K5.

Ben's family birthday party.

Geocaching at Govenor Dodge State park with the family.

After walking 3 miles to the the cave (it's right behind us) for a geocache.

Makin whoopee......pies

While we were in Maine I had some Whoopee Pie ice cream...let me just say heaven in a cone!! Ever since I have been thinking about whoopee pies. While at WIU my friend Janet's mom would send her (and a few extra for me) whoopee pies. Mom Wagner had given me the reciepe a long time ago...yet I'd never made them. So I decided that we should make them today. Sam helped me make the cookies. Then the boys played outside while the cookies cooled. I applies the creamy whipped 'heaven' to the middle and here they are!! Not bad for my first try!!!!

Our last week

Here is Ben with his version of the painting.

On Wednesday we went to the Art musuem. Here the boys are coloring their version of the picture The Gardner.

Investigating the pond with Candee, Alex and Marlee

Monday...we painted rocks and had a picnic with Marlee and Alex.

The boys went to visit Grandpa Buck and Grandma June in Savanna, IL last week. They were lucky enough to get to spend the WHOLE week with grandma and grandpa. We had a nice Hawaiian dinner when grandma and grandpa brought the boys back.

It's our last week of summer before school starts next week. We've been trying to do something fun each day.

A Day at the Park

The boys looking at the boats.

We walked ALL the way out to the lighthouse...my friend Sally and I with 4 boys...and there was no railing...

At the lighthouse

'Surfing' at the playground

'Surfing'

A summer day

Ben holding Elvis.
Sam holding George.
The boys decided to have a carwash today!!!

The vacation quiz...

One of the things we did on vacation was keep track of where we saw liscense plates from. We saw plates from 35 states (well technically 34 states and the District of Columbia).
So..the quiz is.... which state did we not see a liscense plate from?

A. Wisconsin
B. Arizona
C. Mississippi

Please make sure to leave your vote in the comment section. ALSO... please make sure to leave your name.

Final pictures from the trip!

More Boothbay and then Salem

Some pictures from Maine

And we're off...almost

We leave tomorrow a.m. (Monday) morning for vacation to Maine. Make sure to check back often for updates and pictures. We plan on having a vacation contest again this year. So stay tuned:)

Baseball

Tonight we decided to play baseball in the backyard. The game was complete with a soccer net and football helmet. It was a lot of fun and everyone played:) Jason even knocked a couple balls into the park!!!