Happy Big 5 Carter!

Today was Carterbug's Birthday! The big 5. He has been so excited to be able to have a Transformer Party. I am one of those mom's that doesn't do well with the big parties. I did it once with Katlyn, and I was grouchy and all the girls fought!!! Ticked me off. All that time and money for nothing special, and so we pretty much just do Birthdays with the 5 of us now. Anyway, Carter isn't much for sweets, but loves my cinnamon rolls. So, that's what we had, and pizza of course he loves that too! He set the table with all the Transformer loot.
Then, we all sat down to a dinner of Little Ceasars $5 pizza!
Present time! He actually picked out most of the things that he got. Pathetic I know. He picked out these things called "blendy pens" that he saw on T.V. and they stink at the blending part, but he colored all 10 of the pictures that came with them already. A Transformer was hiding in the bag, and a huge puzzle. Easy to please little boy!
We stuck 5 candles in the cinnamon roll that Carter picked and he smiled a huge smile while we sang Happy Birthday. I love this little guy!
I don't know how this started, but this is how he always eats his cinnamon rolls! All in all it was a great little party. Carter is Mike's hero! We can't believe that he is already 5 and going to go to Katlyn's school this year. He is by far the easiest going guy around this house. Happy Birthday Carter. We love ya!

Carter the Artist/Architect?

This is Carter's new thing that he LOVES to do. He draws many, many pictures every day. He works very hard on them, and they take quite a long time to complete!
Some are Robots. Others are Spider Monkeys. He even has an Optimus Prime. He even drew one with him holding my hand! What a sweet boy! When all the hard hours of drawing are done, he goes looking for the scissors and tape to put them up for all to see. These pics are taken in our family room, and anyone that comes over gets a complete tour. He insisted on posing with his "B" that Nana made for him. This is his favorite blanket. He sleeps with it every night. It's not quite an obsession, and so Mike has let him keep it, but he does love it, which I am o.k. with. So, this is the artist in him.
Now on to the architect side. Carter loves his legos. He builds all kinds of things with them. The awesome thing is that they are all completely symmetrical. He's very good at it. These are usually Transformers. He made a computer the other day.
I had to document these and so that he could see them when he gets older. So, hopefully he will use these talents one day and get filthy rich and support his old mother and father! I love this boy. He is my easy going child, for the most part. He loves unconditionally and teaches us every day to stop and just love being together at home!
I had to post this one, because this is Gage's favorite thing to do. He waits, waits, and waits some more, until finally Carter is done with his masterpieces and then he moves in!!! His convoy of trucks and trailers come and demolish the prized pieces, and he laughs his evil laugh. Don't think that Carter just takes it though. He may be scrawny for his age, but he can still take either of his siblings down! Brotherly love!

Happy 4th of July!

We headed over to Eagar for the 4th this year, and it was a lot of fun! This is the best picture I could get of the kids at the parade. If you know my boys, you won't be surprised. They all waited patiently for everything to start, which was a little tough because it was hot!!!
Mike and all the OLD LADIES! I don't know how he scored this seat, but I thought it was cute. My Aunt Sylvia came from New Mexico for her 20 year reunion, and wouldn't even get on her float. Mike kept threatening to throw her up on it! The others are my mom on the left next to Mike, my Grandma's sister below her, my Grandma below Mike and my cousin Shaina. We don't get to see these guys all that often, and so it's a lot of fun to get to spend some time with them.
These guys were so patient waiting for some candy. Carter is missing in the picture, but if you know him you know why. This kid does not like candy. He would rather have chips and ketsup any day. He was happy to sit under the shade in a comfortable chair, and eat crushed ice. Gage on the other hand was scrappin' up all the candy he could, and Katlyn was sweet to help.
This was the best float of the parade. It says "kickin' ass ranch" on the side, and "haulin' ass" on the back. It was hilarious. Honestly though the parade was the best one we have had in a while. Very patriotic! I love that. They had some military helicopters fly down mainstreet in the middle of it, and it was really great. I always get teary eyed at stuff like that. The thought of what the military does for all of us just gets me. We are all so lucky to live in this country!
I had to post this one last picture of my Dad and my Grandpa. My Grandpa is getting up there in age, but he still cuts a rug at all the dances in town and in Greer! Funny, he loves it but I have never once seen my Dad dance! I love my Grandpa! He served in the Korean war, and although he doesn't talk about it much I know that he's proud that he did it, and we are proud of him. I am also thankful that my Dad has always taught us to be patriotic, and to show love for our country. I love these guys!!!!

Gage & Bryson playing outside. Gage rarely wore pants or shoes. The weather was amazing. It clouded up and rained every afternoon!
We spent an evening at Brandy & Trent's friends cabin, and the kids went a little wild. Gage almost got that head stand down!
Brandy's friends had 5 boys! They were very creative and rigged up this zip-line. Katlyn braved it, and we were pretty proud!
Carter tried out Papa's whip that he brought home from Africa. I was just waiting for an eye to get popped out!
Here's everyone just relaxing. Carters legos were a hit. They all made guns and chased eachother around for hours. All in all it was a very fun weekend. I love the weather up there this time of year, and there is nothing like being able to relax, let the kids run and play and not worry about them, and visit with our family.