For the Readers, From Carter

I know what you are all thinking. You are thinking that I, Carter, have been very under-represented on the blog lately (and Mom wonders why readership has been so low!). But, because I care about you, the reader, I have decided to take matters into my own hands. Perhaps you were thinking that there was not much to report, but on the contrary, I have been a very busy boy. As you can imagine, living with this family that I do, I have my hands full trying to teach and train them up. Which is why I joined the local Cub Scouts. I figure it is never too early to begin setting that example of good citizenship, and besides, girls are suckers for a man in uniform...

Along with my responsibilites to the community, I have also taken it upon myself to teach my dad a few things about the guitar. Dad really learns a lot from our little sessions together...


He especially likes this special technique...
He's not quite the natural that I am, but he'll get the hang of it.

Another thing I spend a lot of time doing is eating. I like to eat.
Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I find contraband. You know, the stuff Mom won't let me have. I've learned that the best place to find that is under the kitchen table. I've also learned that you have to act quick. If you find something good, you have to shove it all in, try to act natural and hope that Mom doesn't notice. I'm not sure what clued her in this time...
Just another shot of me with the guitar. I like to get in plenty of practice myself.

And, the latest development...



Wonder why they are all blurry? That's because I am too-fast-for-the-flash, yep, that's me.

Well, Mom says I have to go to bed now. Just wait till she sees all the great reviews this post gets, then she'll know what the readers really want...
Yep, that's me!
Signing off,
Carter

Corn Mazes and Birthday Wishes

Sydney celebrated her fourth birthday back in October. Her birthday fell on a Wednesday which means Scouts around here, and no Daddy, Spencer or Tyler. So Sam, Carter and I sang Happy Birthday to Sydney and celebrated with some little bug cakes. Sydney was a really good sport.


Saturday found us at the corn maze for a real Family Birthday Celebration. Here we are at the beginning of the maze. We try to be normal, but it is just too difficult...
and off we go...
Dead end...
Still happy and enthusiastic, and still trying to find our way out...
Still searching for the exit...
We walked and walked. The boys started making X's in the dirt at the intersections we had already been at in an effort to help us find our way. The only problem with that was the mean old man who kept wiping out the X's. Who would do such a thing? Probably the same man who forked over the cash to get everyone in in the first place. I think he wanted to make sure he got his moneys worth. After walking and walking we actually ended up at the beginning again. This time Spencer had a plan... we would always follow the left wall and eventually we would make it out of the maze.
Within 2 minutes we had found the exit...
Yay! We did it!
A photo op... Can't tell you how long it took to get this picture! Ever heard the expression, "like herding cats"?
After our fun at the farm, we went home to open gifts and eat cake. Here is our beautiful princess twirling, and twirling, and twirling...
The princess with her castle...

Of all my kids, it seems the hardest to watch Sydney get older. Maybe I have felt this way with all of them, but I really wish she would just slow down. Happy Birthday Sydney, I love you!

Halloween Fun

Halloween has come and gone, but the candy lives on forever. One of my friends told me that Halloween makes kids independent, because after Halloween they fix their own breakfast, lunch and dinner. What a profound truth.
We had a busy, but very exciting Halloween weekend with Steve's work party, a Trunk-R-Treat, and a Halloween party here at home. But, first things first, the costumed children...

For weeks before Halloween, Sydney had her Princess Dress out and was ready for the big day, but when I pulled out the Costume box she changed her mind and decided to be the Pooh Bear Pumpkin, which really only just fit. She was quite excited with her choice...

Tyler also decided early, and went for Harry Potter. I think he was most excited about being able to "dye" his hair. I thought he made a very good Harry, and I finally got my dark-haired child for a day.

Sam was feeling robotic this year and sported a lot of tin foil. This picture was taken at the school Halloween Parade which goes right by our house, pretty convenient, and lots of fun.


Spencer chose to be a Wizard this year and made his own hat...

Carter didn't get a choice, Mom just kept putting this fuzzy outfit with a really obnoxious hat on him. But, he knows when he's cute and hammed it up pretty good, resulting in lots of attention and smiles...
Saturday night we had a raucous party with lots of fun people. As part of the fun we decorated haunted houses (thanks to Sherry for the awesome idea)...
I love this picture of James, doesn't he look dapper...





And, last but not least, the yearly sorting of the candy bag. Last year Spencer made a graph on the computer with all of his totals, that's the kind of math we really enjoy around here.

Enough

Every year there is a Halloween Party at Steve's work. The children all get dressed up in their costumes and go from office to office, cubicle to cubicle collecting candy and showing off their "cuteness" or their "you look just like your Daddy-ness". They make a haul. Really, there is no need to go treat-or-treating in the great outdoors when you can get it all done in a warm, comfortable enviornment and in a fraction of the time.
There is one particularly profitable stop just a few doors down from Steve, at Scott's office. While everyone else had a little pumpkin bucket sitting on their desk with the usual Halloween fare, Scott had not one stack, but multiple stacks of king size candy bars and theater box candies on his desk. You know that phrase, "like a kid in a candy shop"? You should have seen my kids eyes light up when they walked into Scott's office, where he offered them not one, but two choices from his array of enticing treats.
Well, the kids made their selections and went on, enjoying the remainder of their trick-or-treating and some snacks and activities as well. On their way out, which required walking by Scott's office again, they were invited to choose yet another treat from Scott's desk. The boys were polite, but readily agreed. Sydney, on the other hand, looked at that stack of treats, looked at her heavily laden bag of treats and said, "I have enough." Steve and I looked at each other and wondered whose child this could be...

L'il pumpkins at the Pumpkin Patch

Still trying to catch up...
A few weeks ago Sydney, Carter and I joined some friends at a local pumpkin patch. It was a gorgeous day, and a very fun way to spend our afternoon. I wished that Rob was with me as I tried to take pictures though, because I still can't figure out how to do his cool bracketing thing on my camera (even though he showed me once) and I wondered if this view of the pumpkins would be cool with that technique. Guess I need to pull out my user's manual...

It was because I was fooling around with my camera (trying to figure out how to bracket) that these pictures turned out funky (I didn't realize I was on a different setting). Too bad, because they are really cute. This is Sydney with her cute friend Rachel posing on the hay bales...
Thankfully, I figured out something was wrong before I took these pictures of Syd and Carter. I think these two little red-heads look pretty cute among the pumpkins...


I was amazed that Sydney would feed the goats. It's amazing what a little positive peer pressure will do, Rachel showed her how it was done, and I guess when Sydney saw that Rachel survived, she figured it was okay.
Notice in this picture how Sydney is reigning Carter in? I wonder if this is a sign of things to come?