Napping

I just can't get enough of Carter when he's sleeping. Here are two recent naps. In the first I was trying to get a shot of his grimy fingernails and didn't quite succeed. The second was taken after he protested a nap, watched a bit of a movie and crashed on our bed. Mason is equally precious when asleep, but, unlike Carter, he will wake at the slightest hint of someone else breathing while in his presence. Carter is a locomotion sleeper -- he can sleep while a train chugs through his room.


*** Taken today, when I went in to wake Carter. When I asked him why he slept on the floor he said, "Because I wanted to." Oh. Of course.

Boys' Club

Carter: "Guys, I need some privacy. But Mason can come in...

Is this cool, Mace?"

Mason: "Yeaaah!"

We have lots of dance parties

The Carter Mix

• Free and Easy Down the Road -- Dierks Bentley
• Our Song -- Taylor Swift ("Mom, our favorite song is on the radio!!!" he yells when it plays)
• Small Town Southern Man -- Alan Jackson
• I Believe in a Thing Called Love -- The Darkness
• Shift Work -- Kenny Chesney and George Strait
• Should Have Been a Cowboy -- Toby Keith
• Summertime -- DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
• If You're Going through Hell -- Rodney Atkins (didn't know who sang that till I googled)
• All My Friends Say -- Luke Bryan (ditto about the googling)
• International Harvester -- Craig Morgan

So. This is an interesting list you're saying to yourself. One of them has hell in the title. Another smoothly winks as it almost uses an expletive (Shift Work). Another is by THE DARKNESS for goodness sakes. Who are his parents? More importantly, where are his parents? We're here, singing along with him. Loudly.

Me: (singing) All my friends saaaay...

Mason: yeah, yeah, yeah

Oh dear.

Cinder Pit

Just after Christmas we made a drive up to the mountains north of Phoenix for some sledding at the Cinder Pit. The slope was crowded and icy, so we moved on to a field for some fun in the snow.

Like the hats Erik and I are wearing? They're from the Lake Placid Olympics, from 1980 -- THE YEAR I WAS BORN.

Isn't Mason yummy in the snow suit by the way?

Chawwwlie!

Makes us miss the Ol' Country, and our friends' kids there.

click here for video...

Carter's Hallelujah Chorus

A few days ago, after listening to the DJ Jazzy Jeff' and the Fresh Prince's "Summertime" (yes, Erik bought it for Carter because Carter has decided he likes rap and Erik thought this was more wholesome than newer rap...) the London Philiharmonic Orchestra and Choir came on performing the Hallelujah Chorus. As it was playing, Carter asked, me what they were saying.

I told him "hallelujah."

Carter: "Oh, ha-way-wu... WHAT were they saying?"

Me: "Ha-lay-loo-yah"

Carter (after thinking for a minute): "Oh. Ha-way-BOO-yah."

Me: "No, Carter, Ha-lay-loo-yah."

To which Carter replied, "I know, Mom, but I say Ha-way-BOO-yah."

I blame the rap music. BOO-YAH.

SMOOSH!

This IS the desert, but...

We had a lot of rain in November and December. The first picture is a tree that blew over just outside our building. It was so funny because we were out and about in the morning, came back for the boys' nap and on our way back out in the afternoon the tree was down.

The second two pictures are from the greenbelt just behind our complex. Normally it's a dry wash, where we go out to play and where people walk their dogs. After a few days of rain, it was like a little river.

Everyone here was all abuzz about the rain. We were kind of like, "Ah, it's just rain." But then again, we've been in England for two years where it rains A LOT. :)

Mason's DuRag (sp?)

We have Uncle Dude and Kristen to thank for this one. They so generously brought Erik and I each a DuRag from Walgreen's (yes, Walgreen's) the other night. Mason definitely had the most fun wearing one of them. And, yes, it appears that he is kissing the oven, floor and cabinet... not sure why. I still laugh out loud every time I watch this! (Please excuse Carter's nudity... they were about to get into the bath when we put the cool head gear on Mason). :)

Bed Jumping

Last night, before bedtime, the boys did some leaping into Daddy's arms from our bed. Carter started and then Mason HAD to join in. They were both so excited, and so trusting! Carter would jump to Erik, full steam ahead, and Mason would just step off the bed for Erik to catch him. They loved it. We succeeded in getting Carter suitably riled up before going to sleep. He was really tired before the jumping; afterward he couldn't stay in bed. Oh well. :)

Bath Snorkeling

Love these smiles

Tonto Natural Bridge National Park

The day after Thanksgiving we took a day trip north of Phoenix to Payson where we ate lunch at the Beeline Cafe and then found our way to Tonto Natural Bridge National Park. I have lots of pictures of this beautiful place. We hiked down quite a ways to the bottom of the "bridge" which was sort of like a cave/tunnel. It was spectacular and a perfect place for two boys who like to climb, explore and throw rocks. I hope the pictures demonstrate how big and beautiful this place was.The approach to the cave. See how little the people are in the bottom right corner. This place was huge!

Inside the cave.

See Erik and Mason, tiny in the middle of the picture. (Mason's wearing a bright blue fleece jacket).







Carter and I "rescuing" people in the cave. He was a little too busy to take this picture with me; too many people needed his help.

Thanksgiving After-Party

Apples on the floor before bed time. Erik and I stuffed ourselves but the boys still had room after all the turkey.

Music in his underoos

With Mason, the adoring (and rocking!) fan.

Carter's First Day of School!!!

Carter was so excited about his first day of school. He couldn't wait to put on his uniform and go. We were nervous that he would have a meltdown and not want us to leave, but he just waved from the play ground and said, "Bye Dad! Bye Mom!" and then gave us a thumb's up. It happened that his first day was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving so they had a party in class. Carter made a handprint turkey and underneath it said, "I'm thankful for candy!" As other kids were leaving school behind Carter I saw that theirs said, "I'm thankful for Mom and Dad" or "I'm thankful for Grandma and Grandpa." Not Carter. His loyalty is for candy.

Carter quotes

"Yeah, cool dude, rock it!"
Yelled out the window, to an unidentified neighbor, while driving through the parking lot of our complex. We had all the windows down and were listening to rockin' music.

"That's what I'm talking about, baby!"
After opening our mail box and seeing we had mail. Our first visit to the mail box and it was full... of coupons. He didn't care. It seemed like a lot of fun stuff to him. He pulled out each piece individually.

"Mason, watch, I'm shooting rockets out of my nose!"
On the couch, with pillows thrown everywhere, while he and Mason jumped and played. It should be noted that Carter was wearing his new HotWheels sunglasses, which have been on his face pretty much nonstop since we bought them at Target yesterday.

HAPPY (30th!) BIRTHDAY ERIK!!!!

Happy Birthday, honey!

I love you!!!

Fun Outside

A few days ago we spent a good amount of time (maybe 2 hours) playing outside at Mom's. Here are a few shots. There are lots of Mason; I couldn't pick just one. I love his little face.

Getting ready to pet Smokey, the neighbor's cat. Carter calls him "Sokey." The boys love him.

Mason spent most of the time outside playing in this toy car loaned from the neighbors across the street. He will get in, close the door, wave bye-bye, steer for a minute then get back out. The process repeats many, many times. Hours of entertainment.

At the Zoo

Happy to be back blogging. Here are some shots from yesterday's visit to the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, MO. Mom and I took the boys for an afternoon outing and it was great. Carter was intent on seeing the elephants which the zoo-folk cleverly placed all the way in the back of the zoo so you had the pleasure of viewing half of the other animals on your way up and the other half on your way down. Until we got to the elephants, Carter was like, "Yeah, cool monkey Mom. I want to see the elephant," and "No I don't want to see the cheetahs, just the elephant." Of course, once we saw the elephants, including the baby, it was, "Where's the lion, Mom?" Ah, the attention span of our 3 1/2 year old. We were majorly bummed because the train around the zoo closed about 2.5 seconds before we got to the depot, so we didn't get a chance to ride around. Carter was upset, until we offered an ice cream cone as a consolation.

Carter contemplating petting a goat at the petting zoo.

Inside the giraffe house, seeing the big animals for the first time.

We went to the giraffe feeding platform and got to feed them. Look at that tongue!

Me feeding while taking a picture.

After I fed the giraffe he turned his head and exhaled right onto Mason and Mom. This is all I could capture on the camera. Mom was more freaked than Mason. :)

Watching the lions.

"Wow!"

Every time I ask Carter to take a picture with me now, this is what he does. I'm not complaining.

A-MERRRRR-ICA!

**I don't know if the title reads like I want it to, but think of the chorus to "America the Beautiful." :)**

So, we've been here for over a month and I haven't posted once. Just a quick update from Charleston. It's been lovely. It's hot. And humid. And wonderful.

Here are shots from our beach trip with Jess and Doug. I say trip, but it's only a 20 minute drive.

Building a sandcastle with Uncle Doug.

Love his profile. Look at that sweet little curl in the back!

Family picture. Miranda July swimsuit. I'm a nerd.