What's New With The Carter Family

She sometimes drives me NUTS - like how she waits to let "ME" know it's time to go potty or she needs water, the SECOND I sit my butt down on the couch for the first time all day.   Never mind that Brandon has been sitting there, AVAILABLE,  for the last hour.  No, she waits for me.  Ahhhh....silly dog :)   Snickers has so much love for our family and has been our "little girl" for the last 8 years.   She's learned to tolerate a new family member (Fin - who gives her a little TOO much love sometimes), and put up with all of us.  So even though you make me crazy sometimes.....I love you snickerdoodle.  XoXoX.

  Finley is now 13 months old.  Time is flying by.  She is a little spitfire, who can't sit still.  She's always moving, and loves to make noise!  She adores the dog, and will pick up it's toy to play with her.  She acts like a mini me - attitude and all.  I can't wait for her to find her words, as she likes to "yell" to get what she wants.  Her favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and if I put it on for her (and only a specific episode -- "Goofy Baby") she will sit quietly and watch it. Ahhh, sometimes we all need some quiet time, don't we?   She says lots of things, but "dada" is her favorite word.  She uses it for daddy and brother and even her uncle Justin.  She says "moh" for more, and "oh wow" and "Yeah!".  Of course she is very proficient at "no, no!"  She loves to join in with the family, whether it's sitting with us at mealtimes, or copying us when we're laughing.  It...

Day 11: Dreams... Today I was supposed to photograph something that represented the dreams of my loved one... and while I was prepared to get my camera out later in the day and do just that - something surprising happened :) So let's just say that this post is now no longer about dreams. Sorry. I decided to just go with the flow, and document my 'surprise' instead. What is it, you ask? Hmmm.... well, let's start at the beginning. My husband is away on a business trip. Gone for what, 7 days already? And he'll be gone a while more. He won't be here on Valentine's day, which makes me sadder than sad. Don't ask me why. It's not like we ever celebrate "valentine's day" anyway. But the fact that I CAN'T even if I decided I WANTED TO makes me feel bad. Boy, I really miss my Brandon. This week has gone by very slowly for us. Thank goodness I've been busy, because I imagine it would have been much worse. I'm thankful for my great fam...

Day 6: Who THEY Love: Besides you, who is the apple of his eye? Easy peasy....it's Snickers ! We got her when Jem had just turned 3, and he's loved her like crazy ever since! The doodle (as we affectionately call her) loves him too....just in small doses :) She is getting on in years you know, she just turned 6 (which in dog years makes her 42), and obviously feels like she is the OLDER sibling in the relationship. She doesn't always DO what Jem wants....but he has ways of making her bend to his will. For example, to get this picture (and have her STAY on the bed for more than 3 seconds) he had to employ one of his many tricks - bribery . Jem: "Snickers, do you want a treat? Do you? Do you?" Well what do you know. She sat. She posed. And yes, she got her treat. This photo was taken just before bedtime, so I used an external flash (pointed at the ceiling) to light up my subjects. My camera settings were as follows: Aperture 2.2, SS 1/100, ISO 400 .

I'm sorry it's been a whole month since my last post...as always, December-January is fun, hectic and family filled - so even though I've taken a bunch of pictures, I haven't gotten around to posting them yet. Here is the first of many "catch ups" - Christmas day! We spent Christmas day at our house, with my father in law flying up from Idaho and my Sister In Law and her family driving a mere mile down the road. Have I mentioned how much I love that they've moved to Lake Stevens now? :) It was a great, relaxing Christmas...full of food, funny movies and a "Special Concert" to end the night with. More on the concert at a later date....for now, here are the pictures of the gift opening! We hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

Last week our little girl got to spend the day at the groomers, getting .... well .... groomed :) I absolutely LOVE these days, because: A) I get a 4 -6 hour break from remembering to take her out to go potty; and B) She always comes home looking so pretty! I decided to take a "Before" and "After" picture of her, so you all can see that my little girl truly DOES come home with a new attitude, as well as a spiffy new hairdo! Doesn't she look SO much happier? Just so.....bouncy? Look at little girl's smile! She feels as good as she looks :) Thank you Dog Day Afternoon, for rejuvinating my tired, shaggy dog. We'll see you in 4 months time for another pick-me-up!

We sure do love our little girl :) And she sure loves her toys! This one in particular has been her favorite for some time now....we've even had it in 3 different colors! She likes to whack it against the floor (mock killing it I assume) and bite it until the squeaker stops squeaking. Ahhhh....Snickers really loves her toys!

Here are a couple of very random pictures LOL. They were taken on a rare sunny winter's day....when I decided to go up into Jem's room (which is the only room in the house to get the morning sun) and sit and read for a bit. While I was up there I decided to take a photo of Jem's books...which were piled up nice and neatly on his chest of drawers. These books were a gift for Christmas, and he absolutely LOVES them - you will find him in bed every night, with his booklight clipped to one of these books, reading them over and over again :) The sight of them in his room just reminds me of him :) And of course I am never alone in this house, even when all of my people are gone :) My companion, Snickers, is always by my side. On this day she found herself a nice spot in the warm sunshine - right on Jem's chair! She looked so cute and sweet that (of course!) I had to snap her picture :) I love my little snickerdoodles!

Sorry it's taken so long to get some Christmas pics up here! It's been a busy holiday season for sure....but I hope you enjoy these Christmas day photos :) Jem and River took turns opening their presents......and let's just say, that even in a year where the kids got less, it took A LONG TIME to open everything up! When Jem opened up this Wii Clone Wars game from Aunt Sarah & Uncle Justin, we knew they'd picked a winner! River lovingly holds on to her Bambi II movie :) A patient Jem watches his cousin open a gift... ...that is proving to be a challenge! Out come the teeth! Even little miss snickerdoodles gets in on the action!

Have you ever seen a dog so fine? Look at that pretty girl..........and all it took was a visit to the doggy stylist! Money well spent, or so Snickers thinks :)