Trains...

Carter is becoming quite the little train fanatic. A lot of our playtime lately has been spent in his new playroom building tracks and talking to Thomas (the train, that is). Here is his latest creation...

Simple pleasure

We think Carter has finally mastered his utensil skills! He successfully fed himself an entire container of yogurt without flipping the spoon upside down and spilling its contents. Ah, simple pleasures! :)

Spoon is loaded with yogurt and ready for takeoff...

...spoon is nearing destination...

...we have a successful landing...
...and a happy kid! :)

Pantry raid...

Carter loves raiding the kitchen pantry. Most things are out of his reach, but we find ourselves having to move things up a few shelves every couple of weeks as Carter finds more creative ways to reach things.

Tonight Carter disappeared into the pantry while I was getting dinner ready. I asked him a few times what he was up to in there and he said: "I'm packing pop for Daddy". A few minutes later, he opened the pantry door and pushed out a basket filled with Diet Mt Dew. He looked at me and said: "Daddy will be so excited"! Sure enough, Kyle was thrilled to find a basket filled with his favorite pop when he got home from work.

Pop for Daddy!

The other day Carter also let himself into the pantry while I was getting dressed. When I came downstairs he had graciously "set the table" -- there was one granola bar at each place setting. Such a great helper! :)

Granola bar anyone?

Vikes Lose

Not much else to say -- Carter's reaction here says it all! Better luck next year Vikes...

NO!!!!

3-day weekend...

We love 3-day weekends! With Kyle off work for MLK Day on Monday, we were able to enjoy a lot of family time.

Friday evening we entertained some of my old co-workers from Pulte and K.Hovnanian, along with their significant others and kids. It was wonderful to catch-up with them, and Carter had a great time playing with Avery (7) and Kennedy (9). They were great little playmates, which allowed the adults to have some time for adult conversation.

We headed to my parents' house in Stillwater Saturday morning for a delicious birthday brunch for two of my sisters, who both celebrated birthdays this month. Happy Birthday month to Jesse (25) and Casey (31)!! It is always fun when we have the opportunity to get the whole bunch of us together, and we were lucky enough to have my grandparents drive in from New Richmond to celebrate, too.

Sunday was dedicated to Vikings football, which we watched with the neighbors and our good friends, the Minnichs, both of whom have kids. Though the kids are a bit younger than Carter, he still had fun sharing all of his toys with them.

Carter was early to bed both Saturday and Sunday night (since naps seem to be a rarity these days, bedtime seems to be earlier and earlier), so Kyle and I took advantage by having my sister and brother-in-law over to play Wii. Jess and John have the new Super Mario Bros game, which we played for hours upon hours. I bet this is the laziest couple of nights we've had in a long time, but it sure was a blast!

We didn't get a ton of pictures this weekend, but here are a few. Now that I am back to blogging once a week, I need to get better about having my camera out more often!!

Being a goofball :)
Go Vikes!!
Look at that concentration playing Wii!!

Cabin fever

Oh how we miss the warm summer months! We are so excited for the mornings when we can wake-up and head straight outdoors after breakfast -- whether it be going on a long walk, playing in the backyard, spending hours at the park, splashing around at the Splash Pad, or heading North to the cabin. I know it is only January, but we are already getting restless being stuck inside on these long winter days.

Today, Carter and I decided to get out of the house and head to a favorite spot: the Maple Grove Maze. Carter loves jumping in the ball pit, playing on the indoor equipment and going down the slide.

As great as it is for Carter to get all of his energy out at these indoor gyms, there's nothing quite like a little fresh air -- come on warm summer months -- we're ready!

Ice Cream anyone??

Down the slide...
...and into the ball pit!

Dreaming of the summer months! (July 2009)

OCD?

Lately, we have noticed that Carter loves to line things up in a very specific order -- toy trucks, train set pieces, and most recently his coloring crayons/markers. Kyle and I were talking in the kitchen this evening while Carter was coloring in the family room -- or so we thought. Here is the scene we found: