Happy Birthday Carter!

Ten years ago today we were blessed with this little bundle of joy...

Taylor & Carter

One Year Old

Two Years Old

Carter & Grandpa in his truck. Carter loves cars, truck, motorcycles, you name it and he can usually tell you the make and model of most vehicles driving down the road. In his spare time, he likes to draw maps and will spend hours looking at maps on Google if we let him.

Lauren (1 year old), Grandpa McDougall, & Carter (3 years old)

Dave & Carter....Carter loves to ride four wheelers.

Carter (4 years old) actually liked this nasty (but healthy) green drink that Dave & I drink for breakfast!

Carter with his cousins, Matthew and Nathan

Carter, Halli, & Lauren

ARRRRR...

5 years old

Carter (6 years old) & Grandma Matheny

Carter loves to be silly and make other people laugh.

7 years old

Lauren (6 years, Taylor 10 years, Carter 8 years old)

9 years old

We hope his birthday is AWESOME! We love you bud!

The joys of learning to play a new instrument!

Taylor is in band this year and learning to play the oboe. Today was her first day to practice at home. This is what Maggie thought of the whole thing... (Keep in mind that Maggie does not bark or howl much at all. She is usually quiet.)

Don't you wish you could listen to this every morning? I'm sure you are extremely jealous! LOL

And the Festivities Go On...

On Tuesday, we celebrated Taylor's birthday with our family...

She blew out all but one candle...should we be worried? :)

Friday night she had a slumber party. She invited 4 girls over...we set up a tent in the back yard and they slept out there. They were up until 3:00 a.m. giggling, screaming, jumping on the trampoline, etc. when finally (after we had been out 3 times and nicely asked them to calm down and go to sleep) Dave firmly said, "knock it off or you're coming in!" They went to sleep, but not for long, as they were up at 7:00 a.m. They had a blast but Dave & I are exhausted!

Perfect Pretzels

Lauren's Reading Group is reading a book called Perfect Pretzels. She wanted to make pretzels for her class using the recipe and directions out of her book. So, with very little help from mom she measured, mixed, kneaded, and rolled pretzels for her class. They actually turned out really good and were very easy. Think she'll be teacher's pet?

Perfect Pretzels

Ingredients:
one package yeast
1 1/2 cups very warm water
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg, beaten
salt

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix yeast and water together and set aside. In a larger bowl, mix flour, salt, and sugar together. Add yeast to flour mixture and stir until blended. Put dough on floured surface and knead until smooth.

Break dough into twelve small pieces. Roll into ropes and twist into pretzel shapes. Use cooking spray or oil to grease the baking sheet. Beat the egg with a fork in a small bowl. Brush pretzels with beaten egg. Sprinkle pretzels with salt.

Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes 1 dozen pretzels.

Happy Birthday Taylor!

Today Taylor is 12 years old! I can't believe it...how the time flies. I hope her day is as special as she is! Here are some things you may not know about Taylor and a trip down memory lane....

~Two weeks old on her blessing day~

~One Year Old!~

Taylor's always had a bit of a goofy side, like her dad!

Taylor has always been a "Daddy's Girl".

~Two Years Old~

~Four Years Old~

Taylor is gentle and kind.

~Lauren & Taylor~

Taylor has always had the greatest laugh.

Riding four wheelers with Grandpa McDougall.

Taylor loves her Uncle Chad (my brother).

We love Disney!

Taylor LOVES dogs...she wants to be an ER vet when she grows up.

Taylor's never been afraid to touch bugs, lizards, frogs, you name it...if you look closely you'll see her holding a frog in this picture.

Taylor would love to have a horse she could call her own! She's a natural!

We love you Taylor!

A Quick Funny...

Today, after school, Carter & I were working on a project he is doing for school. He is researching the city of Lubbock, TX. He has to find out things like how it originated, climate, popular sites, where it is in relation to Austin, population, local restaurants etc. Then they are supposed to create a "model" of their city in a shoe box. They are calling it "Texas in a box". They have to decorate the outside of the shoebox to fit the characteristics of their city. Then collect or make objects to represent each category of information that was researched. So, I was helping him do his research on the computer when he turned to me and said, "I'm learning right now!" He was so pleased with himself and I couldn't help but chuckle because it was so cute. I'm so glad he's a part of our family.

This was taken last May at a special "Mother's Day Tea" at his school.

* Update on his eye...it is an infection, not a allergic reaction and the medicine is starting to help. It looks much better today.

Adrianne! (You know, from Rocky)

Yesterday, Carter woke up with his eye all swollen up. I asked him if he had hit in on something or gotten hit. He said no. As the day progressed, his eyelid started to get red. So, I took him to the doctor and he is either having an allergic reaction to something or his eye lid is infected. She is treating him for both and put him on an antibiotic and benadryl. He said he was sick of kids at school asking him what was wrong with his eye. I told him it made him look tough and to tell them they should see the other guy! :)
Poor little fella...

Suspicious Person Alert

We've had a suspicious person lurking around our neck of the woods. She's been seen chasing stray cats and sneaking cookies. Not to mention she is armed with an incredibly cute smile. If you have any information on this person of interest please contact your local authorities!