First Snow

Woohoo! We got about four inches of snow last night. I quickly grabbed the boys' new snow shovels from the Christmas present stash and they were thrilled. They have been begging for snow shovels - silly boys. We managed to hold off the fun until after church and a quick lunch and then the fun was on!

It iced all day yesterday and started snowing in the late afternoon/evening.

 By morning, we had this! Ryan was off to shovel for church.

 Nate helping Daddy.

 Our friend, Ethan, helped shovel our drive and sidewalk with Ben.

 Good friends make for quicker and more enjoyable work.

 After church - time for snowball fights.

 Clearing a path.

 See Nate? He cleared his own path.

 Trying to find a way to sled. No luck. Better invest in something this year.

Minivan Express

Tonight we added some extra fun to our family tradition of driving around looking at Christmas lights. Auntie Lynn comes every Monday and brings books to read. We invited Maren along with us and Auntie Lynn brought the Polar Express book. We shared dinner and then the boys started reading while I cleaned up the kitchen as they always do.

When they got to the end of the story there were two tickets with the boys' names on them.

They changed into their jammies, we made some hot coffee and apple cider and took along Maren's caramel popcorn!

And we're off!

Best lights in Wichita!

 My boys were in awe (and so was I)!

 Yeah for new family traditions. 

Turning THREE is so very BLUE

Nate turned THREE on December 9 and we hosted an all-blue party in his honor. He loves all things blue right now, no matter what it is! We had tons of fun.

He woke up to blue decor and a present picked out by his brother!

 He loved it.

 After naps he found some presents from mom and dad.

 His own reading/rocking chair and some books - one of which was blue.

 And a new lego set.

 After dinner we had our friends over to celebrate!

 BLUE!

 Hot cocoa (with milk and cocoa/sugar of course) and hot apple cider.

Blue cake.
Ben insisted we buy this spray on icing. It was kinda fun, but it felt weird to spray paint a cake. But, it was blue!

 

He needed some help blowing out the candle.

 He is so loved! Our home was full!

 

 Opening presents got exhausting (note the thumb). He may be three, but he is still my little boy and it was past his bedtime.

Bible Study Program

I still can't believe my boys are big enough to participate in "programs!" They had their Christmas program for Community Bible Study last week. I loved all 15 minutes of it! And Ryan was able to come, so that made it even more special!

They were marching in like "soldiers in the army of the Lord." Nate was hilarious! I wish I had video. His teacher's face cracks me up!

 My big boy on the end!

 Ben (green) and his best buddy Jackson (white sweater) holding hands! Those boys are joined at the hip!

 Clapping is serious business.

Warning: This is the grandparent version of this video. It is 10 minutes long!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from the Carters. We have so very much to be thankful for this year!

We have made it a tradition to host all the World Impact and Christ the Victor Church people that are not from around here and aren't traveling for Thanksgiving. We potluck all the traditional items and this year we did paper/plastic. It was fabulous! We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people around us!

All ready for our guests! The boys colored the name tags.

While Ryan was carving the turkey, we heard Lynette calling from down the hall, (in what sounded like a panicked voice), "Someone with a camera come quick! Someone bring a camera!" This is what we found.

 (Im)Patiently waiting for dessert to be served. 

 My Thanksgiving masterpiece.

 The kids played while the grown-ups watched football and let the food settle.

 My boys found a quiet moment with Auntie Lynn.

 Snuggling a one week old!

 Getting to watch Charlie Brown in new pjs after everyone left.

 Hard to get a sweet smile anymore.

  My sweet sillies.

Fall Fun

Recently, a few different people have asked me if I am balancing work and time with my boys well. I haven't really felt too stressed, but it is a busy time for me. There always has to be a healthy balance. The boys come along with a lot of work I do, but I have to make a conscious effort to just play sometimes. So, today, when I felt like staying home in my slippers, we got out and had some fun instead! We started the morning at our local nature center. We just learned that they offer a free class for 3-5 year olds. Perfect. The boys loved it. We learned about leaves and trees!

Those leaves just weren't enough. So we came back to World Impact to make our own pile of leaves to play in. We called up some friends, but only Jackson could come. Actually, at this age, smaller numbers are usually better, less chaotic. We took the golf cart off-roading and the little giggles were infectious.

I love fall. I love all the leaves changing. I love that my boys have a group of amazing and close friends. I love just having a good time!

 

 

 

 

 

A friend gave them all a cookie which they insisted they eat "because of all their hard work." 

Along with playing, we did actually rake 3 large trashcans of leaves and dump them to compost.