School pics

Here are Carter's school pictures from 1st grade.  We aren't buying any so these are just the proofs.  This is what Carter considers his best smile.

Breakfast with Santa

Every year Robert's group puts on a breakfast with Santa for all of the partners and their employees.  This year was at the Fieldstone Grill; very conveniently located only a few minutes from our house.  It's a great opportunity.  Always fun to catch up and there were 170 people this year!

At 6 1/2 and almost 9 years old, both of my kids still believe in Santa Claus.  That morning the kids both sat down to write their lists.  Carter was decisive - writing only two things: Lego Star Wars and a lizard starter kit.  Yes, he wants a pet lizard, a leopard gecko most likely.  Heck, with a dog, three rats, and one hamster, why not add a lizard to the mix?! ;)  Teah wrote a list, but after much consideration decided to just ask Santa to surprise her.

Gone are the days when they were young and scared of Santa.  Now they both just hop right on up and tell him what he needs to know.  These innocent days are fleeting I'm sure, so I'm enjoying every minute of it!  Here are a few pictures from the event.  One of my favorite details are the kids name tags, which they wrote themselves.  Teah has been very happy to learn cursive this year in 3rd grade.

Let's Go Redwings!

Last weekend we went on the annual trip with Robert's group to the Redwings game.  We hop on a bus with good colleagues and friends from Kalamazoo with some cans of beer and a box of wine to share and head over to The Joe in Detroit (for you non-michiganders it's about a 2 1/2 hr. road trip).  It was a great time.  I love love love the feel of a live hockey game.  It's the chill in the air, the smell of the ice, and the sounds - oh the sounds.  The sounds of the sticks on the ice and the puck being hit and the glass being pounded.  The excitement in the arena is usually palpable.  We were in a box with food and drinks, but also with seats that opened up to the rest of the stadium.  It's a great opportunity that the group offers for sure!  This year we were happy to invite Robert's parents to come along with us as it was his Dad's 60th birthday.  Happy Birthday Tom!

 

The game wasn't a great one, but at least the score was close at the end, so there was still that excitement of pulling the goalie and hoping for a last minute goal.  Alas, the Wings lost, but fun was had by all.

Our Thanksgiving Trip

I already posted about our dramatic sledding adventures during our trip to NY over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Here's the rest.

There was a drive through Canada.

 

A hotel stay with a mountain of bubbles in the hot tub (?!) and a fun indoor pool.  We were able to take advantage of those two of the mornings before we headed over to Bob and Linda's house.

There was breakfast in the hotel (kids in jammies) - sometimes by the fire


Good conversation and GREAT food.  I should've taken pictures of the great food.  Linda is an amazing cook and hostess and we not only had a huge Thanksgiving feast, but a huge feast every night including homemade meatballs and smoked ribs, chicken, and pork.  Delicious!


There were DOGS!



We brought with us our annual tradition of frosting Turkey cookies (shaped like hands).  Since I forgot the hand shaped cookie cutter, we had to do it the old fashioned way by tracing the kids hands and cutting them out with a knife.  The amount of effort that took meant we had lots of other shapes this year as well!






There was sleeping on the floor with Pandy and playing the iPad during downtime.


Many things I didn't take pictures of - like mall shopping at midnight on Black Friday, playing in the snow, and a trip to the local game store.  Much FUN was had!

And on the way home there was a beautiful sunset.

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

At almost 6 1/2 years old Carter lost both of his front teeth.  Here is the first one down on December 4th.

He lost the first one in the afternoon at school and didn't tell anyone!  He just put it in his backpack and went about his day.  His teacher didn't even know he had lost it at school.  I think he was a bit unsure of what to do and didn't want all of the attention.  When I picked him up that day and noticed his tooth was missing he had a crying jag in the van on the way home, so I think he was feeling a bit strange about the whole ordeal of losing the tooth at school.

Not long and that second tooth was barely hanging in there...



























With the help of a friend bumping into him approximately 32 seconds into indoor recess yesterday (December 12th) the second one was out!  This occasion called for the big camera.

And now we have a TOOTHLESS GRIN!!  I love it.

He likes to stick his tongue through the hole :)

Let me add that I had to bribe him to let me take this picture.  One good picture for an hours playtime on the iPod.  He got the better end of the deal, but it's a great picture, so maybe not.  Thanks Robert for the tickling.  His real smile is soooo much better than his fake one.

Also, for the record Teah lost her front teeth at 6 1/2 years old as well.  It was the summer after Kindergarten for her and Carter is halfway through 1st grade.