Monday, December 10, 2012

my big five-year-old.

Carson turned FIVE last month! We sort of celebrated his birthday for a couple of weeks straight: we had a little party back when Ryker and the aunts were here, then there was his actual birth day, and then we went to a Christmas party at the hospital for Carson's final celebration.

Carson's birthday fell during the Thanksgiving break from school, so he was home with us all day. We went to the YMCA in the morning (and a birthday song played when I swiped his card!) and made our candy Thanksgiving turkeys that afternoon. His choice for dinner was tortellini, the same meal I always had for my birthday dinner as a kid! Birthday magic must have been working, because Rick got home early enough to have dinner with us and play a baseball game afterwards. (We got Carson bases for a gift!)



Carson is the kind of kid you just really want to spend lots of time with. He often wakes up a little early, and he and I sometimes lay in bed having some interesting conversations. For example, yesterday morning we were discussing homonyms like to, too and two. This really is fascinating to him. You can start talking about any subject like that, and he is all ears and soaks it up like a sponge.
Carson is an amazing older brother. He takes care of Isla so well and begs for her to be allowed to lay in bed with him when he goes to sleep. I can even tell him he's in charge of watching her while I take a shower! He and Everett play so well together, and he is amazing at the clean-up, especially when he is earning a "point" for each item he picks up! Carson tries hard to be patient with Faye, and sometimes she lets him read her books before her nap.
Whenever I haven't heard from Carson for a while, I know he's laying on the floor somewhere with a good book. Nate the Great, A to Z Mysteries, and the Boxcar Children are the current favorites.
Carson does have a "sneaky" side. He loves to play tricks on people and often sneaks away with my phone or his dad's iPad. I had just said, "where is Carson?" at the grocery store today when he jumped out from behind a display to scare me. One time his sneakiness got him into a bit of trouble when my phone ended up in his backpack at school!
Carson loves sports. He was cheering pretty wildly while watching the Packer highlights this morning. He is so fun to play baseball with in the backyard. He can always tell you where the force-outs are, etc.
I am continually amazed with how well Carson is doing with piano lessons. I remember getting so frustrated with piano as a kid, but Carson patiently keeps practicing and asks for help when he needs it.
It is pretty entertaining to quiz Carson and find out what funny things he has memorized. He can tell you what street most of the kids in his class live on, for example.
Carson had his five-year checkup today and is in about the 25th percentile, just like he usually was as a baby. I really don't know what I would do without my Carson. We love him so much!

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Pappy came.

Back during Superstorm Sandy time, Pappy was here for a visit. I had a nice long list of jobs for him to do around the house, and the kids were excited to have Pappy all to themselves.

The most anticipated event with Pappy was the big campout! The boys got to sleep in a tent in the backyard. They made it all night long, and they even slept in! We had to wake them up the next morning to get ready for church.
Faye girl with her hot dog the night of the camp out.
The funny thing was, the night the boys camped out it was actually cold here in San Antonio! The cold obviously doesn't bother Everett.
I did finally put pajamas on him. :)
(And I always tuck his shirt way in on purpose because it's just cute.)
You know they love s'mores!

Pappy spent the majority of a day changing out an old chandelier for a new light fixture that I love! (Will have to take a picture.) He also added extra shelves above our washer and dryer, which provides awesome storage. Thanks to his canceled flight, he was also able to probably safe Faye's life by adding extra bars to the outdoor stair rail going up above the garage. She loves to go up there to look for the neighbors' dogs, but she used to be able to fit her whole body between the rails. Scary! 
He finished up the job in the dark, with some nice little helpers. 
There are so many times when I wish I had my dad close by! We are glad he could come for a few days and hope he comes back soon.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Sisters!

One of my favorite things is when Faye holds (clutches really tightly) Isla and sings to her. 

I can't say she has never whacked her just for fun, but overall Faye loves her baby sister.
 














We hope these two sisters will be the best of friends!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Halloween

The past couple of Halloweens, my favorite thing has been to plan and make costumes for the kids. This October, the boys brought home costumes from a friend's house and announced that we didn't need to make any; they had found the perfect ones to use! I was a little heart broken that they wanted to abandon our plans, but I think I should just be grateful that I didn't stay up all night making costumes while nursing a newborn. :) 

Carson, the pirate, at a friend's Halloween party.
Faye wore the Elmo costume that I made for Everett last year. This girl loves sweets, that is for sure.  If she's in the other room and hears any sort of crinkling sound from where I am, she immediately calls out, "WHAT EATING, MOMMY??"
Isla at the Halloween party. I guess we could call her a mummy? Or baby burrito? What this girl loves is to be wrapped up, real tight.
Halloween bingo.
Picking out pumpkins. (All right, to be honest, we left the 30 dollar pumpkins and went straight to HEB from the patch to buy 4 dollar pumpkins.)
Everett had planned for months to be a pumpkin for Halloween, which I thought was so cute.
And what this boy loves is playing outside. He is just really good at playing.
On Halloween, Isla wore the peacock costume I made for Faye last year.
Everett ended up borrowing a bat costume, which I will admit was very cute. The coziness of the costume would have been great anywhere else, but he was a little hot here! (80 degrees today. In December. Yuck.)
Pirate holds peacock.
Grandma GJ sent us these wonderful stick-ins to make the pumpkins into Mr. Potato Head characters. No carving involved! Perfect!
When we were getting ready to go trick-or-treat, Faye had some sort of major tantrum, and it was decided that she was too tired to go out. So, Pappy, who was visiting at the time stayed home to put her to bed while I went out with the boys. But then Faye realized that she was missing out on some fun, and she decided to come out anyway. So here they come!
Me and my peacock.
We went up and back down a section of our street, and just when I was getting worried they would want to stay out all night and/or cry when I told them no, Carson announced, "I think we should go home." And home we went.
I think she was glad she came!

Isla, trying to be a ghost for Halloween. This happens a lot, actually, when she spits up while lying on her tummy! Poor girl.