Henry Holte

I love him!

Henry is our climber and he often gets himself in predicaments like this.  It's not uncommon for us to forget to pull the chairs away from the table when we're done and come back to find him standing on the table.  We've tried pushing the chairs all the way in, but he either gets stuck and has to be rescued or he still gets on the table and has to be rescued.  We've found that the only way to keep him off the table is to keep only two chairs in the dining room and to pull those chairs out and put one in front of the sliding door and the other up against the green wall next to the light switch.  If the chair is too far to the right by the built ins he'll climb the shelves.  He hasn't figured out how to get out of the crib yet but I'm sure it won't be long since he has seen Carter climb into the crib a few times.  It helps to keep slippery socks on him to keep the climbing controlled but the socks have slowed down learning to walk.   

Take a Guess...More Fishing

This winter Landon had a couple trips out of town for work and Carter reely missed him and their time fishing together.  I suggested that Landon bring Carter back a special prize after his long trips away, even something small would do, like a matchbox car or a pack of temporary tattoos.  He went with a rod and reel instead.  I guess every two year old needs his own ice fishing rod.

 Carter's first fish with his new rod.

 What a trio Landon, Carter, and Abby are.

 Carter has the easy job, holding down the gear.

Fishing in the "ice house" with Henry.  What an imagination.  The day after this was taken a little boy I sometimes watch came over for a few hours.  Carter got out the ice house and fishing gear and was showing Bode how to ice fish.  Carter takes fishing very seriously and within minutes the boys were on the ground in a fight like no other I have ever seen, all because Bode was fishing incorrectly.  I laughed a little only because Carter was so very upset that his friend was not pretend fishing right.  

I probably shouldn't show these next pictures.  We do not encourage our sons to play with knives but this was bound to happen.  We almost always have a cutting board and fillet knife on the workbench in the garage.  There is also usually a bucket in front of the workbench for guts that doubles as a stool.  It is also not uncommon to see a fish or bird, depending on the season, laying on the cutting board waiting to be cleaned.  Carter obviously knows the routine and was prepared to help do his part cleaning fish.  Like I've said before, probably more than once, Carter is Landon's mini.  And that is okay because I'm confident that everything Landon is teaching him will help make my CarterMan a compassionate, polite, devoted, loving, responsible, funny, caring, trustworthy, hard working, honest man that knows how to clean a fish.

Carter's 3rd Birthday!

I can't believe our little Chicken Noodle, Noodle Doodle, Monster Man, Carter Man, Turkey Noodle is 3. I gave the little man the choice between cupcakes or a big cake and he chose a big cake with blue for the writing.  I thought I had a picture of the cake but I can't find it.  It said "Carter is 3!".  However, that was quickly covered up with blue scribbles because Carter thought he needed to write something too.   

Carter with his cake, eyeing the frosting, patiently waiting for his turn to decorate.

 Showing off some of his presents. 

 The handlebars from CARTER'S NEW BIG KID BIKE!

 We thought it might be fun to Skype with my Mom and Dale while we sang Happy Birthday and had cake. I also thought my Mom and Dale needed to see the cake Carter decorated.  It would have been a good idea if I had used a regular pan instead of non-stick and if I had used less Pam.  Next time I'll leave the cake on the table and lift the laptop.  I'm not sure if my Mom and Dale flinched as the cake fell out.  I can only imagine it was similar to when you hit a bird with a car.  You know there is a windshield, but you still flinch.  It only took an hour to get it all cleaned up, and it still works.  Surprisingly we both had a good laugh about it.  No sense in getting worked up about a little frosting in the laptop and internet modem (that I had just replaced).

 What is a Birthday without a cake?  Carter gave me the "what the heck is this mess" look when I put the cake back in the pan and stuck three candles in it.

 But he still blew them out.

 Kirsten:  "We can still eat it.  It's not like it fell on the floor."

Landon:  "Do we have ice cream?"

Kirsten:  "No."

Landon:  "You dropped the cake on the computer and we don't even have ice cream?!?"

I think Landon might have been more upset about the cake than Carter.  We did eat it, most of it anyway.  Luckily, our boys don't seem to get too excited about cake.  I think they'd rather have grapes or cantaloupe; which is fine with me, more for Landon and I.

 Carter got a shaving kit just like his Daddy's and he shaved like he had been doing it for years.  What a little mini Landon.

Henry's 1st Birthday!

Can you believe it? Henry is already one! The time flew by. We didn't have a Birthday party for Henry, just had cake and homemade vanilla ice cream on the 16th. Landon and I both took the day off and stayed home to marvel at the little wonder we created.My cake decorating skills at their finest.

Henry ate his cake but didn't really seem to enjoy the cake like his Mom and Dad did. Carter didn't finish his piece or his ice cream, something I wasn't really upset about. What kid really needs a piece of cake and ice cream at 8 o'clock at night?
In the end he wasn't all that messy.
Getting all cleaned up.My Mom, Aunt Mickey, and Cousin Dalton came up for the weekend before Henry's birthday and brought a few presents. Just like at Christmas, Henry didn't get to open any of his presents, nor does he get to play with them. Carter is very much in the "mine" stage and only shares on occasion, when no one is looking of course.

Carter's Dance Moves

Carter seems to think it is summer and insists on wearing swim trunks or shorts and white undershirts everyday. And I can understand it. The only time he leaves the 68 degree house is to go to the babysitters on Monday and Tuesday or to check tip ups with Landon any other day of the week (and that requires snowpants, so who cares about shorts). Today when he came home from fishing the first thing he did was strip down and go find shorts and a t-shirt. So every day this is how he dresses and this is what we do. We listen to "mukick" or "mookick", not sure on the spelling, and dance. He's not the best dancer and if he had more arms he'd look like the little purple octupus that twirls in Finding Nemo. Luckily, we're over the opening music from the Aladdin soundtrack. I've had about all I can take of Arabian Nights.

Carter's New Do

Who'd have thought that Carter having to go pee would have ended with his 2nd hair cut in 3 days. I was showering when Carter had to go pee. He peed, then started digging in the bathroom drawers. He combed his hair (had to show me), babbled some nonsense about brushing his teeth, left the bathroom, came back, left again, came back followed by Landon to show me his hair. He even threw away the hair and put the razor back. Now he wants to put his hair back on. While I was getting dressed he got into the bathtub finger paints and was painting his belly. It appears he can no longer be left unattended.

Henry the WildChild

Carter's Day in Town

This morning Carter was a little on the wild side. I was planning on going to work for a couple hours and then hitting the grocery stores and getting back home by 12. Jokingly, Landon asked Carter if he wanted to go to work with me and play with the kitties. I asked Carter if he'd rather stay home and build "tent forts" with his Dad. Work and the kitties won so it was to town we went. The last time Carter was in town was in August, and that was just for a minute; so going to town is a big deal. Carter is mostly potty trained but I figured I had to pack a bag just in case because if I didn't he'd have an accident, the first in weeks. And pack a snack, and the toilet seat topper for little ones, and my grocery list, and my coupons, and my "save the earth" cloth grocery bags, and my bag, and my checkbook, and my coveralls in case we have a flat tire, and bibs for Carter in case we have a flat tire (it is only 6 degrees today, and snowing), and Mr. Potato Head, and...30 minutes later we're ready to head to town. I worked for a little over an hour while Carter played with the kitties, played with Henry's work toys, wandered around the lumber yard, and ate about a pound of chocolate and candy canes with "Uncle" Mark. Then we went to the first grocery store. Then we went to...
See Santa!
Carter snuggled right up to Santa and told him that he wanted a tractor, which I'm sure Santa can take care of for him. Every year Santa comes to Farm Equipment Sales, the local John Deere dealer, for a couple hours for pictures. We've never been to FES to see Santa, we always wait until it is closer to Christmas and go see him at Pehlke's Furniture. I figured since Carter was in town with me we'd go see Santa early, a special treat for his special day with Mom. Henry will have to wait to see Santa at Pehlke's (I was not neglecting Henry, but I refuse to drive back into town and pay another $14.99 for a picture of Henry and Santa). After Santa we met Cindy for lunch at Subway and then hit the other grocery store and headed home. It wasn't a very exciting trip into town, but it was a great day for Carter.

HE EATS!!

Henry has finally started eating. He's been eating two meals a day now for about the last two weeks. I weened him and that may have been the final nudge to get him to eat. So far he likes everything we've given him but since he didn't start eating food when most kids do he's probably a bit behind on the finger foods, although, he's quickly catching up.
Last night was the first night Carter wanted to help, so I gave him a jar and a spoon and let him have a go at feeding his little brother. He did pretty good, but I'm sure that is because he did the "Mother mouth" when he was feeding him. I've found that I have to clench my jaw to keep from doing it and looking like a complete clown. I was a little worried that Carter would put the spoon too far in Henry's mouth, but it all went well. Guess I can cross one more thing off my chore list.

The Gateway, Best Dam Bar by a Dam Site

On Saturday, October 22nd, one of the oldest establishments in the Glasgow Fort Peck area burnt to the ground. The call went out at about 11:30am (just after Landon and Wyatt got back from a morning deer hunt) that there was a structure fire at the Gateway. About 7 minutes later the Fort Peck Fire Department told dispatch that Fort Peck 1 was en route with Holte, Lott, and Scanlan (other men to quickly follow). The Gateway is only a few minutes, about 3 miles at most, from the Town of Fort Peck. Around here all the fire departments work together since they are all volunteers. Valley County's Long Run Fire Department was also paged and responded within about 30 minutes (Glasgow, Long Run's base, is 20 miles away, so 30 minutes isn't that long). The Fort Peck Fire Department had a great turnout with 11 out of 13 members responding to the fire; one fireman and the chief were out of town.
Not long after the first page and by the time the fire departments started spraying water the building was completely engulfed. There was nothing the firemen could do to save the bar and the fire even spread to some fields but was quickly put out in spite of the wind we had that day. The firemen put the fire out quite quick but it continued to smolder and some firemen spent the night on scene until the fire marshal could conduct his investigation on Sunday.
Our favorite fireman.

Only one man was hurt in the fire when he (the bar owner) ran back in for some keys. He suffered from smoke inhalation and was flown to Billings and spent a few days in ICU. Last we heard he was out of ICU but still in the hospital. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The Gateway was used for everything, Bachelor/Bachelorette parties, Senior Citizens meals, Christmas parties, Walleye's Unlimited Tournament rules meetings, The Thunder from Down Under, and the list goes on and on. It will be missed by many. I didn't take any of these pictures and other than the first one, I don't know who took them.