the rest of Carter's birthday

Carter's actual birthday fell on President's Day this year. We had a mostly fun lunch at Red Robin... but they were out of helium that day. No helium?? Don't all the kids that eat at Red Robin walk out with a balloon? I wanted to tell the hostess to drive to Party City and pick up a helium tank. Carter had been talking about his "ba-woons" all morning. Oh well.

 watching the wait staff sing "Happy Birthday" to him

 my smile is goofy, but his is too cute :)

 Carter's amazing birthday cake made by my friend, Lisa

 a Sesame Street theme... yes, he's had an Elmo cake for 3 years now...

 Grayson decorated this Happy Birthday sign for Carter that we hung on the front door. You can see that he did the same characters in his picture that were on the cake!

 Carter with Aunt Laura

 Nana and Gramps gave Grayson and Carter "honorary zookeeper" statuses... their names will be up in the zoo by their animals. So fun!! Carter is with the chimps, and Grayson is with the rhinos. Here they are with their animal pics.

 Nana made Carter his beautiful "Carter is 3" book. What a great way to look back on all he has done this past year!!

Blowing out his 3 candles...

Happy birthday, sweet boy. We love you!!

"KU won't Mizz-you"

I just went to the best basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse that I have ever witnessed in my 33 years. It was set-up to be a GREAT game from many angles... both KU and Mizzou are battling for the Big 12 conference title, it is the last time they'll ever play each other here since Mizzou is leaving for the SEC, and finallly, KU and Mizzou hate each other. Literally, we despise them. Oh, and did I mention that KU should have won in Columbia earlier this year... they blew an 8 point lead with two minutes to go.

So, there was a lot at stake. :)

I think the entire game raised my blood pressure and scarred my eardrums. But it was A-MAZ-ING!!!

the student section and their newspapers as MU was being announced

they introduced the "new" Centennial Jay (CJ, for short!!)

I can't decide if he's cute or kinda dorky... he is from 1912

At halftime with Mom... and we were sooo nervous!!

Jerry and Dad

 KU made some key free-throws towards the end

 A cool stat: KU never led in the 2nd half, but went on to win the game. Here we're tied with 10 seconds to go... Allen Fieldhouse was so loud, I can't believe the roof didn't blow off!! :)

 We won!! We won!!

It was so fun to watch Bill Self right as the buzzer went off... he pumped his fist into the air and had the biggest grin. Awesome!!

"it's okay...everybody loses here"

And that, my friends, was one of the best signs I saw in the student section of Allen Fieldhouse at the KU vs. Texas Tech basketball game.

The 'Hawks put on a show... winning by 20 or 30-something... and it was a game that you could actually enjoy, rather than be nervous about the outcome. We went with our dear friends, Jason and Alison, and enjoyed walking around on Mass St. in Lawrence before the game. The four of us had a yummy BBQ dinner and then headed to the Fieldhouse. There is really nothing like watching a game there... amazing! :)

 watching their warm-up routine

 Jerry and Jason

 the cheerleaders had pink pompoms that night...

 Alison and me

 love this ;)

check out the score -- with 4 minutes to go!

my boy, T-Rob!

happy birthday, carter-crunch!

I always say it, but it is so truly hard to believe that our baby is 3. Three?? Where did the time go??

Some fun Carter facts:

He is all boy. Loves balls, his bike, trucks, trains, and now legos!

When he prays at night, he always prays for "no spiders" and that he "can sleep well."

He talks a lot... we just can't always understand it all.

Currently his "t" sound is a "k" (Carter=Car-ker) and his "th" sound is a "y" (that=yat).

He hasn't slept a full night in his own bed in forever. Seriously.

Every night, in the middle of the night, he runs into our room and hops in bed between us.

At least he brings his pillow and his bear with him. :)

On that note, he is still completely in love with Bear.

He loves to say the "God is Great" prayer before meals.

He loves games.

In the mornings, he always asks me, "What do we have today, Mom?"

(Which means, what are we going to do today Mom?)

He loves going to the zoo, meeting Nana for lunch, and going to the carwash.

He loves playing marbles ("mah-bels") at Nana's.

His favorite TV show is Olivia on PBS.

We are so blessed by this sweet 3 year old!!

snowmen?? yes, please!

We FINALLY got snow here in Kansas... it only took until mid-February for it to happen. Needless to say, the boys were soooo excited! Grayson wanted to play in the snow before school, but his mean mom made him wait until after school to get all cold and wet. :) They started playing in the fluffy white stuff and then Jerry got home and joined them! Enjoy the pics!

indoor soccer action

It's been awhile since I've posted some indoor soccer pics... the Wichita Knights are playing a second indoor season before outdoor resumes. Today they had back-to-back games! They were full of energy, some good playing time, and some yelling cheering parents along the sidelines and in the bleachers. Grayson is #9 and here are a few action shots!

 Coaches Chad and Casey talk with the boys at halftime -- G looks a little animated :)

 #14 had been bugging Grayson all game... playing dirty, shoving, etc. Finally, Jerry yelled from the bleachers (after an intentional shove from the kid), "Don't take that, Grayson!!" G got a mad, yet determined look on his face, and played hard the rest of the game. I think that is the first time I've seen Jerry begin to get angry at a game... oh my :)

The Knights won!! Yay!!

Grayson shoots -- he scores!!

did you watch? {the voice}

Last night after the SuperBowl, a fairly new show called "The Voice" was on NBC. One of the contestants, Chris Mann, who is from Wichita, was on... and he rocked the show!! He is a friend of my brother, David, and he went to the same middle and high school that we all went to. Anyway, there was a great piece about Chris with his parents, specifically about how his mom has fought through a bout with cancer in the past year. He then went onstage to sing, and the judges loved him. Here is Chris' snippet from last night -- I'm not a fan of music in a different language, but this was a GORGEOUS song!! Enjoy.

grayson and the giant potato

Grayson had an indoor soccer game this morning and it was so much fun. His team played great, and came together as a team... coming from behind to win, 9-7. Nana and Gramps came to cheer him on, and afterwards we went to TJ's Burger Bar for lunch (per Gramps' request). Grayson had been telling us just how starving he was after his game... so, he ordered this ginormous baked potato with cheese, bacon, sour cream, and butter.

He ended up eating almost all of it... crazy!! Maybe he's making up for lost time?? Or just enjoying his calories. (I'm jealous!!) 

But, as a parent, it's been so fun to see him have a love for soccer, enjoy playing a team sport with his buddies, and get somewhat aggressive. Yes, we love seeing him be aggressive in soccer. Soccer only. ;)

He's also pretty proud of his battle wounds from the game. He walked off the turf this morning with his knee all burned and bleeding. Part of him wants to be so tough and act like he's all that, and then later he's almost in tears because his knee hurts so much.

Ahhh... the life of an almost 7 year old. I thought just the little girls were dramatic. Not so!