James' Prayer

Before every meal we say a short prayer asking the Lord to bless our day and our food. We mention anything that is special for that day and after Tim says this prayer we both say "amen". In preparation for the prayer James is asked to fold his hands and bow his head because "Daddy is going to pray now". After we finish James is asked to pray also saying "Lord bless this food for Jesus sake amen". Recently he has developed his own prayer. He closes his eyes, lowers his head and says in a somewhat subdued voice "Hem, Hem, Hem, E-eem!" I'm not sure what he is praying for but it is fairly consistent. He also listens for when Daddy or Grandpa are about to finish praying and Amens loudly just before they have a chance to. Hmmm...

Our Vacation

I know this is a really long time in coming. I've been so busy and worn out since we got back. Today I've had a small burst of energy though. This past week Mom and I organized my attic and got every thing together for a garage sale which we then had on Fri and Sat. It went really well and with the money we made from it we are getting a double stroller along with some other baby things that will come in handy now that we will have two.

I don't think we could have fit a flea in our car.

As for our vacation... All in all we had a great time even though it was not at all how I had envisioned our first family vacation. The time we were able to spend together just as a family was great, something we don't do a lot at home between Tim's three jobs and hanging out with our friends and family. The weather did not cooperate with our plans at all. It started raining before we left Harrison and continued to rain for the majority of the trip. We set up camp in the rain and ended up six days later taking it down in the rain and hail. We never were able to start a camp fire. One evening we were awakened by the sound of growling and scratching on the side of our tent. Tim yelled at the creature and only to anger it, he shined a light at it and poked at the side of the tent with a hotdog stick. By this time we figured out it was a raccoon, but we were too late the monster had already torn a hole into the side of our tent. Saturday and Sunday there was talk of tornadoes so we headed to find a hotel. All this sounds like we had a terrible time but we really didn't . We were able to visit the zoo, the City Museum, the Childrens Magic House Museum, as well as Grant's Farm. It was great, but I have to say I am still quite a homebody. Here are a few of the promised pictures.

James was not pleased that I made him stay in the car while we set up camp.

The hotel was sooo nice and dry.

Ishies!

If you look closely you will see a penguin in the background. I thought Tim was capturing them with us in the side line, um I guess not. :)

Yes, I was horrified as he smeared paint through his hair.

Playing in the water area at the magic museum. I love the smock!

Outside of the City museum.

Lack of Posting Causes Public Outcry...

Alright...I suppose it has been way too long since I posted and unfortunately I'm not sure I have any pictures to post at the moment so I will give you an update on life.

The day after tomorrow we leave for our first family vacation. While originally we planned on driving out to Savannah, GA we changed our minds and are heading up to St. Louis for about a week instead. A lot less time traveling, a lot less gas, etc. etc. We are planning if we have time to visit the Zoo, Grants Farm, the Art Museum, the History Museum, the Botanical Gardens, the City Museum and Aquarium, the Science Center and the Magic House Children's Museum. We aren't planning any shopping and a few of these won't be all day experiences so we'll probably get it all done. There is a nice state park about 40 mi. away from downtown and also a county park we may be able to stay at for a few nights right in town. I'm so excited about taking James camping. I love being a Mommy. Today I went out and bought all of our groceries for the trip as well as the last few camping supplies needed. Can you believe I'm so excited about camping? We found a nice big two room tent on a garage sale and have borrowed an air mattress from Mom and Dad. What more could we want? I've been making lists and checking them twice, I'm telling you its true, you really do eventually turn into your mother. :) Tomorrow I must do laundry one last time before we leave, pack all of our clothes, groceries, camping gear etc., clean the car (Tim already rid it of debris today) and get the house ready to sit empty for 7 days (i.e. clean it to some degree: remove trash, clean fridge, do all dishes, sweep floors). This said I think I will skip my Bible study tomorrow. I'm so excited you'd think I'd never left town before. When I get back I promise to post lots of pictures.