Arrrggggg Matey! Captain Carter is SIX!!!

We can't believe our little pirate turned 6, but he sure had a lot of fun doing it! He had a friend party on Saturday, (his actual birthday) and had a family party on Sunday. I love that he came up with the theme, and it was really fun making decorations and coming up with a pirate treasure hunt.

Pirate Ship Cupcakes for his friend party

Carter's crew


Family party

Treasure Chest

The guest of honor with Carter's birthday surprise!!!

BUNNIES!

All smiles...do you think he liked them?? :)

Pretty excited!

The kids love the new bunnies- they named them sweetie and polka dot!

Black and Blue...and a little purple

Nick's been busy out in the garage working on a "birthday surprise" for Carter, and Coleson collided with a piece of plywood. The poor kids got his first shiner. :( Nick walked in with screaming Coleson, and Nick was as white as a ghost. He thought that Coleson's eye was bleeding, but it was just the scrape next to the eye. It was hard to get him calmed down because the tears were stinging his cut, which led to more tears, more crying...you get the pictures. He calmed down and let us put a little ice on it, and he was running around, getting into trouble in no time.

It looks way worse today....picture plum colored skin all around his eye.

Cheesers!!!

Oh wow, they make me smile! They definitely keep life exciting!


I can't stop laughing at this one...he does it every time I take a picture now!

Just one for now...

She's Creative!!!

I am so glad that Miss Ava Jean is following in her mama's footsteps in the art department. She loves to draw, do crafts, decorate her bedroom (if you can call it that!) and TAKE PICTURES!!! I have my old Sony camera that she has take over, and you better believe that I will teach her everything that I know. She's been asking me lately when she can start assisting me at weddings! I told her when she's 14, but she wasn't satisfied with that!
Ava and I made a Native American woman from the Hopi tribe for Creative Arts Week. I was amazed at all of the details and ideas that she came up with. I think it turned out pretty darn cute! I also got to help at school when the kids made their pueblos. They did such a great job, and it was really fun to watch them work together.

Weighing the damage

This week's destruction includes, but is not limited to, the following:

- One toilet- dropping the lid of the tank into the tank will lead to a large crack in the tank, and therefore, you will need to replace the entire toilet. New toilet- $150
- Marker on the kitchen cupboard DOES come off with 1 magic eraser- $1.00
- Sidewalk chalk on the wall will come off with water on a rag- free.
- One telephone base- ripping the phone off of the base repeatedly will cause the phone to no longer charge on the base, which leads to 4 very dead phones. $75.00
- One vase- Used for decorative purposes, but not a necessity, so it will not be replaced.
- One completely cleaned, labeled and organized closet- torn apart, clothes pulled down, toys thrown in a large pile, blankets everywhere- 2 hours of my time.

Due to this constant destruction and lack of respect for one's personal property, this mama NEEDS a vacation!

On a more serious note: none of the breaking, ripping, tearing, coloring or destroying could ever make me love my amazing kids any less. I know it's a phase,(a very, very long one)and they will be slowing down the destruction very soon...at least I hope so!

Easter Gratitude

I'm so amazed that God gave up his child so that mine can be saved and live eternally. What a blessing, and what a sacrifice.

Cinnamon Goodness

Okay people, grab a recipe card and a pen, because you're gonna want to write this one down. It's way too good not to share!

***CINNAMON BUN PANCAKES***

dry-

• 1 1/2 c. flour


• 1/2 tsp. salt


• 1 tbsp. cinnamon


• 3 tbsp. sugar


• 4 tsp. baking pwdr.

wet-

• 2 eggs- beaten


• 2 tbsp. corn syrup (can substitute regular syrup)


• 1 tbsp. vanilla


• 1 c. milk


• 1/4 c. butter


• *Beat wet ingredients well, then add to dry ingredients and mix well. Drop about 1/3 cup batter onto pre-heated, pre-greased griddle. Serve with warm icing.

ICING:

• 1 c. pwdr. sugar


• 1/4 c. melted butter


• 1 tbsp. maple syrup


• 1/4 c milk (I use a little less for a thicker icing)


• *Combine and pour over pancakes.

These will be a new family favorite, and they aren't much harder than regular pancakes. My kids gobble these up, and Nick and I are loving them too. I know, they aren't the healthiest breakfast item, but they are sooooooo yummy! Let me know what you think!

Little Boy Bedrooms

Weston and Coleson's room is pretty much done...well, it's actually been done for about 2 weeks, but I wanted to keep all of you in suspense! I love decorating little boy rooms, even more than little girl rooms. Little girl rooms are so obvious to me, but boy rooms are challenging, and I'm always up for a good challenge!

The finished product I painted this to match their bedding...can you say copy cat Pottery Barn?? ABC decor- the "N" hasn't made it's way up there yet.

Some storage bins that I found and painted...they were actually mini American Girl doll houses before I got my hands on them.

Cute little boy bedding- it's called Backyard Friends and it's from Target, if anyone wants to know.

I painted their dresser and bookshelf cream. The natural wood that matched with their cribs wasn't looking so hot with the bunk bed color.

I also did a little painting in Carter's room last week. Nick filled some nail holes in the lighter color, without realizing that I am fresh out of touch up paint. I just painted the 3 light walls the same color as the darker wall, and all is well again in Carterland.

BEFORE I painted

AFTER

Auntie Felicia gave the boys these cute little backpacks a few months ago, and they absolutely love them. The keep all kinds of fun things in there, and Coleson will wear the thing ALL DAY LONG. So cute!

We've come a long way since this post, which was last year at this time. I can now get them all to look at me and smile at the same time! I've been waiting for this day for a long time!

Because of you...

-Because of you, our little "bonus", I am the mother of four. (Which was not the plan!) -Because of you, I am in the 1% of moms who get the experience of having twins. -Because of you, I know how it feels to almost lose a child...to feel helpless and terrified. I said goodbye before you were airlifted, wondering if I would ever see you again. -Because of you I heard your daddy sobbing, so scared that you weren't going to make it. -Because of you, I thank God for the two little blessings that we got to bring home and welcome into our family. -Because of you, I now know that an out of control child isn't always due to lack of parenting! -Because of you, I know how to get gum out of hair, nail polish off of the kitchen table, white-out off of clothes, Sharpie off of bedroom furniture and powdered sugar out of carpet. -Because of you, I know how to put the computer keys back on, how to childproof things that I never thought needed to be childproofed and how to glue lamps back together. -Because of you, I need to have eyes in the back of my head, running shoes on at all times, ears that can hear a pin drop and the patience of Job. -Because of you, I am learning that I need to develop a new way of parenting, because you just require something a little different than the other three. -Because of you, I need to do laundry every day so that your "awesome shirt" is ready when you go looking for it. -Because of you, I can't sleep past 6:15 am. Even if you sleep longer, I am now programmed to wake up that early. It's not always fun, but I get a lot more done...because of you. -Because of you, I know what an incredibly smart man is like as a little boy....because I know that you will do great things one day with that amazing mind God has given you. -Because of you, I know that I can be so in love with someone that drives me absolutely crazy!

AWESOME SHIRT

YEP! (The secret is peanut butter)