July 29, 2012

Ohhh, the Agony!

This is what happens when someone gets left behind.  It is only a very short clip of what usually lasts 15 minutes, sometimes longer.  And he doesn't forget.  Several times that day he told me that his dad and Uncle Casey didn't take him fishing.  After his nap, still upset, he asked "are Landon and Casey home?"  He was mad enough that he wouldn't even call Landon "Dad".  When they finally came home the first thing Carter said was "You didn't take me fishing!"  Then he grabbed his tackle box and rod and put them in the boat so he would be ready to go the next time.

Carter Shaving

I know there are a lot of pictures to this post.  But is important to post all of them so you get how serious shaving is at our house.  Carter got a shaving kit for his birthday and he saves about once a week.

Sometimes he shaves in the shower, but he's such a neat freak that I don't worry about the mess he'll make if he shaves at the sink.  Lately he's been shaving on Thursday or Friday nights so that he is all cleaned up when his 'girltwend', Avery, comes home for the weekend.  (Avery is the neighbors daughter in law).  It is very important that I tell Avery that he shaved if I talk to her before he does.  

The Boys

Cowboy Carter on his horse with his cowboy hat and cowboy sandals.

Henry finally learned how to climb up onto the couch so he thinks he's pretty hot stuff now.

Another Weekend (or 4 year) Project

April 7, 2008

We decided to cut down this cottonwood because it made a mess out of the backyard with all those sticky yellow pods.  Abby's kennel was right next to it and she would be covered with pods every spring.  Four years later Landon decided he needed a weekend project and started cutting out the stump; which at the top was about 2' across.  As most of you know, just because the stump is 2' across doesn't mean that the roots are only 2' across.  The hole was about 8' across and 2' deep.  It took more than a weekend but he got it done.  Luckily we haven't had much rain this spring and he got the hole filled in before it became too much of a mess.  

April 15, 2012

Henry Easter Egg Dyeing

 We went to Watford City for Easter this year and Grandma Karen was a little excited about dyeing eggs.  Three boys had four dye kits and 3 dozen eggs to dye.  Henry started fully clothed.  I'm not sure who gave him a glass mug and a metal spoon but wasn't long before the cup was chipped and the dye spilled all over Landon.  Then Henry tried blue.

After the egg was finished dyeing he decided to mush it a bit...

 

or a lot.  He is definitely a destructive little boy.  This was his last egg.

Done and ready for a bath.

Easter Egg Dyeing, Round 1

 On the Thursday before Easter, while Henry was napping, we invited Carolyn over to dye Easter Eggs.  Knowing that we'd have more to dye in Watford City I decided we would only dye a dozen.  My neat freak stayed pretty clean and only spilled a little.

 Carter with the finished product.

Carter and Carolyn.  

Carolyn is Carter's go to gal.  She is our next door neighbor and he absolutely adores her.  She and her husband, Dave, have two grown boys, Leif and Lars, 24ish and 22ish, who both live out of town.  Carolyn fell in love with the boys almost as soon as we brought them home.  They are usually the first ones to see new haircuts, new boots, booboos, pet worms, etc. and can always be counted on to watch the boys, whether planned in advance or at the last minute.  Carolyn stayed with Carter when I went into labor with Henry.  She even called the hospital at 4 am to check on us (we were sound asleep with our 4 hour old little man).  Anytime I make cookies Carter has to take some over and visit which usually ends up with him eating the next meal over there.  It isn't uncommon for me to go over to pick him up and find him sitting on the counter eating snack mix or dried apricots.  He'll eat anything Carolyn makes and is always on his best behavior when he is visiting (so she says, I have my doubts some days though).  They do manicures together, Carter helps Dave clean the boat or the garage, he helps water Carolyn's flowers, they read books, play with toys, look at pictures from their trip to Hawaii, tell fishing stories...Carter and Henry are even the ring bearers in Leif and Avery's wedding in June.  I'm fairly certain I won't have to look very far if Carter ever runs away; I'm sure he'll be at the Sorensen's.  We are blessed to have such wonderful people for neighbors.  I just hope that someday Carter really understands and appreciates what a special lady Carolyn is.

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.