lemonade

This seems to happen whenever we have Allie over.

What a great cousin!

the buzz

because this kept happening

Jared wanted this

and Carter thought he'd like one too

don't they look awesome?

Claire shows off the hair

Dad giving Jared his buzz cut

Carter contemplates a mohawk

Dad has some fun with Carter

graduation

Claire was so excited about her pre-school graduation. Her school went all out. Caps and gowns, a slide show and a reception following. Three times the day of the graduation: mom, we are going to have cake there! Two times on the drive there: mom, I can't wait to have my graduation cake. The moment I saw her after the ceremony: mom, can I have my cake now? On the way home: my favorite part was the cake. It didn't surprise me a bit.

family fun in the smokies

To celebrate school being out we headed up to the Smokies. We finally stayed at our condo at the indoor water park. We enjoyed the water park 2 times but missed the opening of the outdoor park by one day. The wave runner was the favorite. Allen learned lots of tricks from the life guard and he is now wondering if a wave runner instead of a pool would better suit our family. We hiked up to a waterfall. 30 seconds in Claire declared that she did not like hikes because her legs were tired. 60 seconds in she asked if we were there yet. After the hike we went into good old Gatlinburg and found all the yummy candy places and pick out treats. The kids got their picture taken with some birds. We hit the shops in Pigeon Forge and of course road some go-carts. We ate our treats at night as we played games. It was a perfect trip right in our own back yard.

dancing queen

Claire had her long awaited ballet recital. She was excited, she wasn't nervous, she loved her tutu, she smiled the whole time, and she looked beautiful.

fire

Carter and Jared have been begging to have this night forever.

Why did we wait so long?

It was perfect.

brotherly love

Carter again showed us what an awesome older brother he is. The boys are going to play in a basketball league this summer. We weren't sure how they would split the ages but figured they would probably not be on the same team. Allen came home and told Carter that the age group was 8-10 so Carter and Jared would be on the same team. You would have thought that Carter had just won the lottery. He was so excited-"Yes! That's awesome! We finally get to play together!!" Now I know that this is not a normal reaction for an older brother. But it is a normal reaction for Carter. For as long as I can remember Carter has loved being with his brother (and the other way around). He never treats him like anything less than a best friend. When Carter has friends over he never thinks about not including Jared. As he and his friend run outside to play I will hear Carter yell, "come on Jared, we are going outside now". I have tried to convey to Jared how lucky he is and I think he gets it. In fact, at bedtime of the day of finding out they were on the same team, Carter expressed to me (in front of Jared) that he was so happy about them playing together that he tried really hard all day to not argue with Jared. When I asked him why, he tried to put it into words, but had a hard time, and finally said, "I don't know, I just love him so much".

As I think about this love Carter has for his younger brother, it reminds me of my older sister, Lisa. We were the same age apart as my boys-2 years. When I think back on my childhood and teenage years I remember feeling this same kind of love. I felt like I was never excluded from her and her friends and that she truly looked at me as a friend, an equal. I felt like she really did like to spend time with me.(If this is untrue Lisa, don't tell me, let me live the dream.) So maybe this is where Carter gets this wonderful trait, from his Aunt Lisa.