What's New With The Carter Family

Wow! Is it me, or are the birthdays just coming around SO FAST nowadays? I can't believe that I blinked and all of a sudden Jem turned 6! He is very definitely a big kid now...with that big kid know-how that he's only too willing to share with you! We asked him how we would like to celebrate his birthday this year, and he had 3 requests: go to build-a-bear workshop in the morning; eat lunch at Red Robin ('are they gonna sing me happy birthday and bring me ice-cream?'); and a birthday party at home with a 'movie' theatre theme. So that's what we did! The first picture shows his new 'bear', a mean old biker dog he called 'Woof Woof'. He had lots of fun making him and dressing him in all of his cool clothes (too bad he's not wearing his wicked cool sunglasses here). Then off we went to Red Robin for some lunch. The birthday boy ordered an apple juice, spaghetti and apples, and yes, he did get a happy birthday song from the waitstaff (and the...

Jem spent a little time this evening working on Valentines cards for two of his special gals - Grandma and Nunna. He used stickers and markers and glitter....he even used the Xyron sticker maker to make his own XOXOX and heart stickers :) Jem put lots of love into this project, and (hopefully!) Grandma and Nunna will be happy to receive some love in the mail from their little guy.....

You've just gotta love a snow day! They were predicting it.....and boy were they right! This morning I woke up to a few inches of snow on the ground, on houses, on cars, on the trees.... and to the wonderful news that Jem's school was shut for the day and that I didn't have to go to work! Yipee for us!!! Yipee for a snow day!!! Jem and I got dressed and headed out to play in the white stuff - it was perfect dry, fluffy snow - excellent snowman material! Look at how much fun the boys were having...and might have again tomorrow! Yep, you heard right! They are predicting more snow all week long - so we may be having another one of these fun days very soon :)

Here is Jem, at bedtime, reading Brandon one of his "BOB" books......how cool is that, our boy is becoming a reader!

Christmas 2007 has come and gone.....and what a Christmas it was! We had Brandon's mom and dad come up to visit for the week, and Brandon's sister and her family (who are now living nearby) helped us celebrate this special time of year. As you can see, we managed to take a family photo... but what you won't see is how we made it happen! It was an experience to say the least! First of all, I don't have a tripod. Scratch that. I didn't have a tripod until the next day *LOL* (it was my Christmas present from Justin). So to take this photo, I had Justin drive his car so that it was parallel to the house....then I asked him to roll his windows down....then I tried to balance my camera on the half rolled down window, using a mini 6" bendy tripod. Whew! It took lots a LONG time to get it just right....but I made it work! We managed to get a shot of the entire Carter/Skinner Clan :) Now if only someone had told me to wait a day.....

This year for Halloween, Jem got to wear a ninja turtle costume! He looked so adorable in it! It was a gift from his Uncle Con in Australia (during our recent visit), and Jem had been looking forward to wearing it ever since we got back home. We purchased a couple of accessories (a belt and sword) and he was all ready for a night of trick-or-treating in our neighborhood! His cousin River, and friend Carson were his companions.....they were dressed as Harry Potter and Hermione (from the Harry Potter movies). They went to almost all of the houses on our side of the development, and let's just say that A LOT of candy was brought back home!!!

I don't know where the time went......all of a sudden Jem is 5 1/2 years old and starting Kindergarten! What happened to my little boy? Didn't I just write on here a little while ago that he was starting Preschool? Could that really have been 2 years ago? Life moves so fast - because here I am, having to let him spend his day somewhere else, with someone else......aaaaah!!!!!! Even though Jem is ready and excited for Kindergarten to start, am I ready to let him go? He has met his new teacher, Mrs Sterling, and visited his new school, Northshore Christian Academy. He knows no one....but he is such a social child, I have no doubt he will make friends in no time at all. Look at how little he looks in these pictures, can he really be ready for school? He looks so handsome in his school uniform! Have a wonderful year in Kindergarten Jem - play, learn and above all, enjoy yourself!