From Patch to Porch

We went to a local orchard to pick out our pumpkins.  We took a little hayride out to the patch to pick out our pumpkins.  It was pretty chilly and my kids were really not dressed for the occasion.  I had envisioned cute pictures in the patch with cute fall outfits.  Instead I got soccer jerseys and flip flops.  Oh well.  We had a great time.  We had to go through huge mud puddles on the way out there and the kids thought that was the best part.

 jumping off the haystack

 My kids are always so disgusted by the goop inside of the pumpkins. They never want to touch it.  It makes me laugh every time.

We opted for old school jack-o-lanterns this year. We normally do two intricate pumpkins and it takes us over an hour.  Tonight is took us maybe 20 minutes. love that.

 Cassidy's, Lacey's, Aidan's, and Nick's

We loved having Nick, Granny, Martha and Grandpa Arden joining in on the fun!

Big Sister...Finally!

Cassidy has waited for so long to be a big sister.  She told everyone she met that she was going to be a big sister.  The day finally came!  She is off to a great start!  She is always checking on Brynlee, helping to change her diaper, she talks to her when she is crying to calm her down, and helps pick out her clothes.  She gives her lots of kisses and always wants to hold her.  I love to watch her with Brynlee.

 

Try to focus on what Cassidy is saying.  She says some pretty cute things but the other kids talk over her some of the time. 

Congratulations from Lacey

Lacey wrote me a letter and brought it to the hospital today.  It is another sweet letter.  I so love them!

Translation:

From Lacey To Mom
Congratulations mom.  I am proud of you.  I love our new baby. What are we going to name the baby?  I was thinking that we can name her Rebecca.  I love that name. Can we mom? I hope we can. It is an option. You can think about that name.  We are the greatest family in the world. I love you.


What sweetie pie pie. And it is true we are the greatest family in the world.

First days!

The kids were a little too excited about school this morning. Aidan was up at 2:30 complaining he couldn't sleep. After helping him fall back asleep Cassidy woke me to tell me their was a monster that didn't like her. Then Lacey woke up at 5:30 to tell me it was almost 6:30 a.m. and we would need to get up soon. Then she continued to tell me every 15 minutes how much time left. All the kids somehow ended up in my bed too. Finally we all just got up even though I had 20 minutes until my alarm was to go off. I'm happy they were excited.  They both seem to have good teachers and have at least on of their favorite friends in their class.  It should be a great school year for both of them.

Cassidy has been waiting to start preschool for so long.  She associates going to preschool to becoming a big sister.  When she woke up this morning she asked if she was going to be a big sister today.  Sadly, not yet.  She loved being able to say in her weekly schedule that she had school.  She feels so big.  I can't believe I am sending another one off to preschool but I love to see how they enjoy having something all their own to be excited about and proud of.  She has mostly kids from our ward in her class so the transition will be very easy for her.

Cassidy with her carpool buddy and new favorite person in the world, Mary.

She had songs to sing to us, stories to tell, crafts to show us. and snacks to tell us about when she got home.  She had THE biggest smile on her face. 

Tennis pros

Aidan and Lacey took tennis lessons over the summer.  It was a crazy hot summer but we all endured the lessons well.  We had our camping chairs, snacks, and water for the spectators and then a fan/spray bottle, and water bottles for the players.  After a few lessons we realized the coach was our neighbors son.

Lacey had great form to start but just couldn't connect with the ball.  It would take her five swings to finally hit the ball.  Aidan had great form but too much power.  He was hitting it to the fence each time.  After a few lessons though they both improved drastically.  They played with larger balls that were mostly nerf.  They were called Quick Start balls.  I guess they are all the rage in Europe and the coach claims that is why European tennis players are better than Americans.  The coach was really good with the kids.  He was fun, patient but stern.  It didn't take long for the coach to find out that Grandpa Carter was tennis player and that the kids now felt ready to play against him.  I think that was both of the kids goal, to beat Grandpa.  The last tennis lesson of the summer was exciting for the kids because the coach had put all sorts of prizes on one half of the court.  Stuffed animals, toys, candy, snacks etc.  He had the kids hit the ball over the net and which ever prize they hit with the ball or hit closest to, they would win.  Each kid one like 3 things.  Also this summer they were featured in the local paper.  Lacey was quoted in the article.  It was exciting for them.

Trying to keep up with the big kids.

I was so happy to see them love tennis and that they actually have some skill in it.  Ryan has been good to take them to play tennis to keep up their skills.  Hopefully we will keep with Carter tradition and become a tennis playing family as well.

Lacey's note to Ryan

Ryan took Aidan to El Salvador for the temple open house.  They spent 3 days there.  Lacey handled Aidan going with no problem.  I think going to a different country made her nervous.  On the boys way back they got stuck in Atlanta and couldn't make it back to Louisville.  Ryan was planning to leave the next morning alone to go to Seattle for his brother's sealing.  Well, instead of bringing Aidan home he decided to catch a flight to Seattle and take Aidan with him from Atlanta.  When Lacey heard of this, she was ticked.  This was her letter she immediately wrote to Ryan once she heard the change of plans.

Dear Daddy,

You are in trouble because you let Aidan go to El Salvador and Seattle. That isn't fair at all.  Cassidy went to one (Seattle-last summer).  I went to zero. Aidan went to two. That is not fare at all. Cutey pants! Love, Lacey

I love her spelling of words and most of all that she ended by calling Ryan a cutey pants.  So Lacey!  She is now planning some trip alone with Ryan.

Fourth of July

I absolutely love the fourth of July.  I think I just love the colors of it.  I love the clothes and the festive food. I love decorating the house and even the kids bikes.  I just can't get enough of red white and blue!  Someday I am going to have a party that will look like this:

I want to have all the fun colorful decorations, creative food, a bunch of friends over, sparklers, corn hole, all the works!  Someday!

I made one craft this year to add to my decor. There were many others I wanted to do but this is all I could get out of me this year.

We went to the Pancake breakfast this morning but it rained the whole time.  We were under a pavilion but we decided to cancel the parade portion.  I know the kids would have still done it but it was more the parents who weren't too excited about it. 

I told the kids we would do our own parade in our neighborhood once the rain stopped.  So here is our small parade.

  

  

 Due to the catastrophe we had with Lacey riding her bike into a tree at last year's parade we opted for a scooter this year.

 What a cutie pie huh?

We went to see Rio at the cheap theater and then did a little shopping afterwards.  We had a really fun afternoon.  Then we met some friends at the park where we would watch fireworks.  Cassidy is terrified of fireworks.  All our kids have gone through this at her age so we were prepared.  We use Ryan's shooting headset that drowns out the noises.  She had to have them on as soon as we were packing up to get in the car to go see the fireworks and I don't think she took them off till she was safe back in her house.  She did fall asleep on the way over to the park.  She had just had a purple popsicle hence the purple lips.  I had to pull over to take the pic because she looked so cute!

The kids had fun playing together while waiting for the fireworks. 

   

The fireworks were pretty good too.  Cassidy didn't cry at all.  She did sit on my lap the whole time though.  She loved the pretty colors and oohed and aahed over them.  One time though when a firework was louder than the others she said, "That one hurt my feelings." 

We had a good day.  We missed our Ryan though.  This was the 11th anniversary of our first kiss.  Aaahhh!