Happy 3rd Birthday, John!

John's 3rd birthday party was a blast! We went to the local fire station, and the kids got to climb in the trucks, spray the water hose, and go for a short ride in the fire truck. John was beside himself with excitement!!! He kept running around with a huge smile on his face. After all, he had been looking forward to this day for 3 long weeks!

It's awfully hard to resist the temptation of just biting into a big cake that looks like a fire truck. Yes, his friends were playing on the playground behind him. But the sugary red goodness had a strong pull on John.

Maybe too strong of a pull... he couldn't resist! Actually, my mom told him to act like he was going to take a bite out of the cake, and she would take a picture. I guess that was just too much like an open invitation. Or maybe he's no good at "acting", and he's just better at "doing". Either way, he got the first bite!

John loves the movie Cars, so this larger-than-life Lightning McQueen blanket from Faith and Felix was right up his alley!

Enjoying another Cars gift...

I don't know why these pictures uploaded in the wrong order (it's so frustrating!)... but here John is, licking the batter from his birthday cake. He's always eager to "help cook", and since he was the birthday boy, he got to lick the batter!

John was so excited to open this gift from Evelyn! She got him a BIG "Mr. The King" (yes, another car from the Cars movie). That face tells it all!

Brad's parents sent Michigan State shirts for all the kiddos. Evelyn and Truman put theirs on right away! At first, Truman was trying to dress himself and put the shirt on like pants. Needless to say, that wasn't working very well. And he was screaming his frustration! So he's a much happier camper now that it's where it belongs!

John and Evelyn have their first duel with the new swords Brad made for John's birthday. They're made out of foam (insulation for pipes) and duct tape, and the kids love them!

John's birthday was wonderful... even better than I expected. It's great to see him growing and maturing, and watching his personality develop. I love his creativity, his enthusiasm for life, his funny sense of humor, and the way he observes everything around him.

Happy Birthday, John-Boy. We're so glad you're part of our family! We wouldn't be complete without you!

First Halloween

Although all of our kids have been alive for previous Halloweens, this is the first time we've actually let them know anything about what is going on. Evelyn has always been so sensitive, that we've had to go to extra measures to protect her.

But this year we built up the costumes and trick-or-treating for weeks beforehand. By the time Halloween day got here, they were so excited they could hardly contain themselves! Costumes and candy and face-painting, OH MY!!!

We took them around the neighborhood when it was still light out (before the spooky things started to make their rounds!), and they were beyond adorable as they ran from house to house. At the first 3 houses, no one was home... but the kids were still having so much fun running around in costumes that Evelyn was prompted to say, "This is a hundred-thousand-FUN!"

Sweet Birthday Prayer

Today is the last day that our John will be two. Tomorrow he wakes up a 3-year-old! So tonight when I was tucking the kids in bed (Brad is gone teaching the youth group at church), Evelyn and I each prayed a special prayer for John. Here is her prayer:

"Dear Lord, thank you for John that he is going to be three tomorrow. It is a special day and thank you for John. And please help John to grow up to be a good man and love you and find a beautiful lady and marry her. And her and John will both have hearts that love you. Amen."

I think that is just precious! Brad and I don't pray for their future spouses in front of them, so she wasn't praying any kind of prayer she's ever heard from us before. It's so beautiful to hear and see the things that come from the hearts and mouths of our kids.

"Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." --Matthew 12:34