Not even going there...

LOL, didn't want to start the topic of Bad Blogger! It's been another month and I haven't even taken the time to blog. Geez! It's a multitude of things but all that make me either not want to blog or not have the time to blog. Enough with the excuses because we all know that my memory sucks. So this is memory outlet... I must get better at blogging about the kids at least.

So Carson... he is as fun as ever. His vocabulary is increasing all the time and it's so fun to watch him come up with different things. Last night we were sitting at the dinner table and he always wants to drink pop. I know bad bad bad... toxic poison right mom? LOL why do kids always want what they should not have? Anyway... he had a glass of milk and kept asking Jason if he could have his pop. Kenedey says, "Carson, this is pop right here in your cup." So Carson goes to his cup looks in it and says, "oh, ok..." he takes a drink and makes that ahhh sound like he liked what he just drank... then looks at us all and says.... "that not pop... that mulk" We all about died laughing like we thought we had him and then he throws that at us! Yeah he's no dummy.

I have been really bad about taking pics so these are from 2 weeks ago when we did a photograph with the leprechaun at the Irish Hills festival... more pics to come soon!

He has really taken a liking to the show the Wonder Pets. He runs through the house yelling in his deep voice... "wunda pets on... wunda pets comin' on"! So excited! Then he can sing most of the song that opens the show. For me it's a guaranteed 1/2 hour break from Carson! Undivided attention to the wonder pets! Thank You Wonder Pets. Outside of that he spends a ton of time saying things like.. "kari... come ere" (must repeat like 4 times)... and yeah he calls me Kari most of the time! He gets this really excited look on his face and says, "hey ken, you play cars a me?" he like tilts his little head and drops his jaw and this excited voice... how can you tell him no?

School is going great for Kenedey. Last week she went to 6th grade camp and had a great time. She tells me she enjoyed archery the most (little Stephanie!). They also had a crud war where they got flour, shaving cream, bird seed and spaghetti noodles and got to just make a mess of each other. Sounds like a blast to me! When they were done they all had to go jump in the lake to clean off! Can you imagine 100+ 6th graders in that lake and what the water must have looked like... EWWW!

She is playing the trombone and seems to really enjoy that. Carson really likes her to play it, he just giggles at her. The dog on the other hand... is SCARED.TO.DEATH. of that thing, causes him to shake and hide... does.not.like.it!!!

Car is still doing great with being potty trained. I don't think he has had any accidents. Worst part though... he goes in there and takes his pants completely off because he climbs on the toilet backwards(this does help with aim ;). Then when he's done, he gets down washes his hands and comes out.. yeah what did he forget? To put the pants back on. I know its tough, but half the time he runs around half naked. Were working on this... frustrating! He has no shame either, say someone comes to the door... oh yeah he full force runs to the door and says, "I got it" Naked or not! So warning if you come to our door... yes, we do have clothes for our son... however... he thinks its WAY too much work to put the pants back on after doing his bathroom business... ugh!

More difficult than Kindergarten

Wow it's been a month... BAD Blogger!!!

Well today was a turning point for Miss Kenedey. She started her first day as a sixth grader in Middle School! She was beyond excited, nervous, anxious all in one!

It was bittersweet as I watched her load the bus this morning and that bus pull away from home. I think it was more tear jerking than her going off to Kindergarten was. I think when she was in Kindergarten I was just so excited that she was excited about her independence and not clinging to mom that I was so elated she did so well then.

But today, she was so happy... and so grown up. :-( I'm beyond proud of that little girl, but she's just not a little girl. I remember so much about 6th grade myself and I know that's coming for her too. She got right up and showered this morning, applied deodorant, did her OWN hair (then thankfully asked me to help her get the pony tail higher)... thankfully for my own reasons... she really can't do her OWN hair can she?! Once again, bittersweet! She does it all herself, and I just sit and wait for her to come out and show me how cute she is!

She is such a little Sheri and got all dressed up for her first day! She really did look cute. Sorry the pics aren't the greatest, the lighting sucked, it was foggy out.

Finally

I have so much catching up to do. I have been so busy with photography and I am STILL not caught up. I need like a 24 hour period of pure inspiration and persistence to finish all the wedding proofing I have to do. It’s so tedious… and fun too, but they are such important photos that I have to really WORK hard to make sure they are just perfect!

This past weekend Jason’s dad came up and him, Kenedey and Jason all went to Lake Erie to do some Walleye fishing. From what they tell me, apparently Kenedey caught the first walleye (and it was a keeper), also she caught the second one, that one was too small though and had to be thrown back. Bummer.

Carson is staying busy. He had his 2 year check up today. For record keeping sake, he weighs 31 lbs and is 35 inches long. I think he is definitely taller than Kenedey was at that age. I don’t remember specifically, but I do remember when she was 4, she was 40 lbs and 40 inches and he still has 2 years… so yeah he is for sure bigger than she was. I will have to do some digging to find out her stats at 2.

He was not a big fan of Dr. Rao today. Sometimes he is… other times… not.so.much! Kenedey was always excited to see Dr. Tim, but then again, they are two totally different personalities!

Biggest news around here: Carson has POTTY-TRAINED himself! We really haven’t done much to help him at all. We have been introducing the potty and letting him know it was there probably over the past 3 months, but I was just kinda waiting on HIM to give me the signal that he was ready. He does awesome in the pooping department which I know is usually the part with boys that is really tough to get them to do. Not Carson… he thinks it is SO cool. Although… he likes to sit on the BIG potty and not the potty chair so that he can sit backwards on the toilet… and you know what… at this point… whatever works is fine by me. I just keep a package of Clorox wipes in my purse for when we are in public and make sure its clean before we put him on. On our way to the doctor today he told me that he went potty… I was like GREAT… IN THE carseat… ewwww. Well, I got him out full expecting that he had an accident and I was pleasantly surpised that he was DRY! Whoo Hoo… so we headed inside and he reminded me he had to go “pod-ee”! So cute! I am such a PROUD momma! I think the key with both of my kids and getting them potty trained was just waiting for THEM to be ready. Carson is even staying dry at night. I am putting a diaper on him, but he has woken up dry 5 days in a row. WAY.TO.GO.CARSON!!!!!

Some of the cute things he is doing and saying right now:

When you ask him a question, before he answers, he rolls his eyes up and says… ummmm… then answers yep or nope!
When we pull in the driveway he yells out… “wur-ooommme” or were home! So cute.
When anyone asks him, “How are you Carson?” He replies, “cute”… no clue where he got that!
Still adores Mater, Cars and the gang… I think Guido is his favorite this month.
Really likes Dowa and Boots! Aka: Dora
When we take him for walks in the evenings, he INSISTS that I carry him… drives me nuts. Hello kid, we are walking to wear you and the dog out… why am I carrying you?
He is finally going to bed at a better time. We had some trouble with our schedule… mostly my fault. But he is usually in bed by 10pm and up by 9… that works well for mommy!
Still has a “binket”, aka blue blanket. He’s not super attached to it, however… he WILL NOT let me put a towel on him to get him out of the tub. He wants to be wrapped in the blanket. Drives.me.nuts.
Lastly, this one is the cutest: He can count in Spanish… kind of. I guess that’s what Dora does for you. When you tell him to count by saying, “Uno”… he fires back with, “cot-tro, cin-co, see-s” I LOVE IT!!!

Kenedey has been doing a lot of babysitting. It’s really nice to be able to have her help out, and I think she really enjoys it. All of her friends are doing a lot of babysitting so she asked if she could too, and so far it has gone great! She even had to deal with a flood in the bathroom one day last week! She plunged it, called my grandpa and that was that… she took care of it! As always… she makes us so proud. We are finally getting her room finished and all her new furniture in there… wow WHAT.A.JOB. Only one more thing to get, she wants a desk to put her laptop and stuff on. So that’s what’s next.

So I guess that is this week’s catch up! I am trying my best to get back in the swing of this!

Just a few short hours left...

for the contest!

You will find these same details listed in the post below (I just copied and pasted). I have the names of all of you have emailed me to enter and the few of you who have left a comment to enter the contest! This post is just a recap and reminder for you to enter:

I have a new camera and I would like to get some more experience with it! So if you have been waiting to schedule a shoot and just haven't made the time or just haven't done it... now is your chance to get a free session... if you win this contest!What's in it for you if you win? well.... how about a free session ($50 value), 1 free 8x10, 1 free 5x7 and 8 free wallets! Also, 20% off any other prints you order! What a deal!Your shoot can include as many subjects as you choose, your choice of location, and pretty much anything goes!Rules: the session must be complete by August 6th. Its wedding season and we must stay on track. Also, your order must be placed within 5 days after your gallery is posted and payment is due when the order is placed. Lastly, it must be within a 50 mile radius of my home in Brooklyn, Michigan.All you have to do to enter the contest is; either leave a comment on the blog here, OR email me @ karicarpenter2002@yahoo.com Here is how we will choose a winner. I will write everyone who either emails me or leaves a comment here on a piece of paper. Then I will have my kids draw 1 name out of a bowl. Whoever's name is chosen, I will contact and get your session scheduled right away! The contest begins @ 9 pm Thurs. July 24, 2008 and ends @ midnight on Monday, July 28th, 2008! Good luck to all of you who enter!!! Tell all your friends about the contest and if we have a good turn out (at least 15 entrants), you all just might recieve a little bonus!

Another weekend gone!

Well usually it's a bummer that the weekend has ended. However, not this time for me. This weekend being over only means that it's ONE more day until Kenedey comes home! She will be home @ 11:05 tomorrow night and I CAN'T WAIT! I had my cousins little girl this weekend (Lauren) who is 3. Her and Carson had a great time together. They didn't fight as much as I thought they would! A few spats here and there, but nothing serious!

On Friday I took Carson to try to get some pictures of him. I took like 80 some pictures (really not that many for me) but I only like about 2 of them. I am so not good at photographing my own toddler! Oh well! I at least got something new for the wall! He's quite the little talker these days and is repeating EVERYTHING. We really have to watch what we say.

Have a great week everyone! I know we will with our favorite girl coming home! WHOO HOO!!!

My newest project

Because it's wedding season, I have been helping out some brides and grooms by putting together these little slideshows. These make great gifts for your fiance' or whomever you want to have one made for! I have had a ton of fun making them. This one in particular, she put all the words on paper for me and choose songs and pictures, I just put it together with the music and into slideshow form! I love how it all came together! Congrats Tamilyn & Greg!!!

This ones for the girls....

and this one outta make my mom proud! My great-aunt Joyce lives just down and across the street from me. She called and wanted to know if we wanted some Zucchini... Heck yeah we do!

So, tonight Carson and I went for a walk down there to visit her and pick up some Zucchini. Aunt Joyce is that perfect little grandma type. She is the cutest and even more sweet. She gave me a couple of recipes to try out with the zucchini and since I love it, I jumped right in tonight. I have a new oven and I really haven't gotten a chance to do much baking in it... its summer who wants to warm up the kitchen more?

So here is the recipe, because it's so good I have to share it with you!

Zucchini Blueberry Bread (I even put a little nutritional turn on it)

3 eggs (beaten) *I used egg beaters

1 cup oil *I used coconut oil (because my mom says its better for you ;-)

3 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cup sugar

2 cups shredded zucchini *this was certified organic from A. Joyce's garden!!!

mix the above ingredients well

add:

3 cups flour *I used whole wheat

1 tsp salt

1tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 pt. blueberries *mine were organic ;-)

Bake @ 350 degrees for about 50 minutes

I made some mini muffins because there was so much batter left. They are a great little snack! I can't wait to see if Carson gives it the thumbs up or down tomorrow for snack! I'll let you know.