What's New With The Carter Family

Jem's annual NCA Christmas Concert was held this past Monday.... it was called "Star of Wonder" and the kiddos (as usual) did an amazing job! The kids sang 8 songs throughout the play. Here is a short clip of the last carol medley....and in case you can't spot Jem, he's the one in the white vest and pants :) After the concert the kids went back to their classrooms...where I snapped this picture of Jem in front of the class Christmas Tree!

Last weekend, the Skinners and I popped on over to Lundeen Park to take some "sister" photos. We were there only a short time 15-20 minutes maybe....and it was a little bit on the chilly side..... but boy, were River and Piper troopers! River smiled and posed and posed and smiled while Piper gave her best "I am not smiling" look LOL. They are two VERY special girls, and no, I'm not partial because they are my nieces *wink* . I think we got a couple of sweet shots....here are a few of my favorites ! And now for the two I had printed up to hang on my wall...... (This last one is my personal favorite! I love the sweetness on River's face as she cuddles close her baby sister.....).

Last night, Jem called us into his room....and told us that he would like to perform a 'song' he wrote! What was it called? Well he hadn't thought about that... LOL .... he just knew the keys and knew how to play it. So we listened. It was incredibly cute! I told him that I would print off some music paper and he could write his song down so that he would always remember it. So he did :) Now he DOES know where each note goes, but for some reason he didn't apply it on the above written version haha. He was in too much of a hurry I suppose! And he did come up with a title....Exited (no c) people. I had him perform the song again today, just so I could record it and share it on the blog! To listen to it, just click below.....

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!

As you may have read in a post earlier this year, Brandon began making wine last year. He started with an "Apple Wine"... and went from whole apples, to crushed apples, to some kind of fermenting mush, to actual wine that he bottled! Today we added a label to one of the bottles...and we had to document this special moment on film!

The weather experts have been predicting that this winter is going to be an especially cold one... that we should expect record cold weather, and more snow than we got last year (which was none). So it came as no surprise when, during the week of Thanksgiving, we had both of those predictions come true! The temperatures dipped into the low teens (can you say brrrrrrrr!) and the snow fell over the course of a few days! Jem was so excited to see the snow coming down...and on the first day he was waiting for Brandon to get home from work....and he had a special surprise, just for him.... haha can you guess what it was? Check out the video below...but remember.... "Dude, that was the face!" Over a 24 hour period, we went from this... ....to this..... .....to this! Jem was especially excited to go sledding down the road the next morning....and had a blast going down this semi-fast hill :) Check out this video of Jem sledding down the hill....can you say, "Super Fun!"?

We are ever so thankful that the powers that be FINALLY created a "Super Mario" costume.... because when given the choice as to what he wanted to be this year, MARIO was by far the preferred costume! All of you who know my son, know how engrossed and completely obsessed Jem is with all things "Mario". He eats, sleeps, dreams, thinks Mario....all day, every day. It was only fitting that he become Mario too! I love how he really seemed to capture the spirit of this fictional video character.... I wouldn't want to mess with Mario! Hold him back! This was a great Halloween - and my little Mario was the cutest superhero canvassing our neighborhood! "It's - a - Maaaaa ri oooooo"!