dressed up for church

 

carter family christmas party 2012

it's not christmas until we have the carter family party and the acting out of the nativity.

clara was a very reluctant angel this year.

amelia was a very excited shepherd.

 

isaac played a most believable wiseman

and jared was a very sweet sheep

the whole gang dressed up

amelia's birthday #7

on december 21st, we celebrated amelia's 7th birthday!  she had made a list of all the things she wanted to do.  waking up still sick was not on her list, but that is what occured.  but we tried to make the best of it.

can't believe this was us 6 years ago (on amelia's 1st birthday).  my kids are getting too big, too fast!

first up was kneaders french toast and hot chocolate for breakfast with mom and dad.

then after a little shopping for new snow boots and a new coat, we were back at home and amelia took a long nap (like 5 hours long).  i woke her up to open some presents and have cake and ice cream.

with her new leappad explorer

presents from grandma and grandpa carter

 

 

getting ready to blow out the candles. 

amelia and clara try on their new outfits

i love my amelia.  she is such a kind and caring little girl.  she is full of love and has great artistic abilities!

kids christmas sing 2012

isaac singing...

jared singing

amelia singing

motab christmas concert with tom brokaw and alphie boe

saturday night, nathan and i went with another couple to the christmas concert at temple square.  it was quite an enjoyable concert and we had fun on our date.

although it was quite cold outside, the views of the temple from the conference center were amazing.

really wish this picture was more clear.... bummer!

grandma carter's work christmas party

saturday morning we went to grandma carter's work christmas party at hollywood connection.  the kids always have a great time.  this year, santa clause was there and the kids all got to let him know what they wanted for christmas.

amelia kept forgetting what she wanted for christmas and i had to keep reminding her.

 

isaac thought he was a little too cool for sitting on santa's lap.

jared was pretty sure he was too old to sit on santa's lap, but i made him anyway.

clara refused to sit on santa's lap or to even look at him.

all of us except dad.

then while the older kids watched a magic show, nathan and i took clara on a couple of rides.  she wasn't sure about them at first but warmed up quickly.

and proof that nathan was with us (and I got half a smile!!!)

before going to watch "wreck it ralph" (which was a really cute show) all of the kids and nathan jumped on one final ride.

it was a fun morning!

just a short train ride from here

this past saturday, the utah transit authority was offering free rides (with a canned food donation) on their front-runner south line.  so we met up with pa at the american fork station and rode the train to provo.  we had planned to get off the train in provo and walk over to the mall, but the line to get back on the train was really long.  the weather was quite cold so we just decided to stay on the train and ride back to af.

the train was over-full so most of our group stood the whole time.  no one looks too thrilled in this picture, but everyone did seem to enjoy the ride.

clara and i on the train.  nathan was with us, but i don't have a picture to prove it.

a little present

the other day I cam home to this cute little present on my dresser.  she picked the grass and the weed "yellow flower plant" for me at school, asked for a cup from her teacher, and then brought it home to put on the finishing touches.  she also chose the orange pipe cleaner because that's my favorite color.  i'm one lucky girl to have such an thoughtful daughter.

The past week or so...

love it when I find stuff like this taped in random places.

this past saturday, nathan took the boys to the byu game.  jared got himself a new hat.

clara though that she needed to try on daddy's hat

nathan and i, along with the kids went to dinner with his parents.  the children were all crazy and i was happy to finally leave.

and just a random shot of myself in my office

saturday morning haircuts

since, nathan was out of town and the kids had already completed most of their chores the night before, our saturday morning started pretty slow, except that clara and amelia woke up with runny noses and sore throats.  clara had been working on her cold for a few days, but amelia's symptoms were new.  isaac complained about a cough but didn't seem to act much worse for wear.

while the kids finished up their remaining chores, i decided to tackle a few things i needed to get done that day starting with haircuts.  all of my kids were in desperate need of haircuts!  the boys are easy, like clockwork.  a few years ago i learned to cut their hair and have done it for them ever since.  the girls are a different story.  i've trimmed their hair but never done anything major with them.  what to do, especially since they weren't feeling well.  i briefly contemplated taking them somewhere and then thought to myself, i can do this.  so i googled a couple of haircut videos, watched them and got to work.

first up was amelia.  she has needed some serious hair help for a little while.  her hair is so thin that as it grows out it looks really straggly in the back.  so i decided that a stacked a-line bob would be perfect.

here's how it turned out:

 

 

i knew clara wasn't going to hold still for very long so i need something a little simpler and opted for more of a blunt a-line bob for her.  i did attempt to undercut the back a little but didn't get very far with her moving and called it good after getting just the middle done.

 

for being an amateur i think they turned out pretty well.  maybe i've missed my true calling in life :).

a friday night dinner without dad

nathan was out of town this past weekend at a scout training program, so friday night found me and the kids at home by ourselves.

normally, we chill on friday night and then saturday we get up and clean the house.  i decided to mix things up a bit so that we could chill on saturday instead.  i told the kids that if they got 3/4 of their chores done before 7 pm, we would go get some dinner and watch movies.  they all jumped on board and finished up early.

so we got in the car and set off, but no one could agree on where to eat.  i made a quick decision - something i remember as a child with my family.  instead of driving aimlessly hoping to finally settle on a place, i asked amelia what she wanted.  we went there and got her 2 burritos.

next, it was the boys.  they wanted chili cheese dogs. so i drove a little further down the road.  boys taken care of!

now for myself and clara. i chose a place that was on our route back home.  yummy!

and by the way, i did share that delicious concrete mixer with everyone once we got back home and everyone ate their dinners :).

isaac's derby

last night isaac participated in our ward's pine wood derby.  because nathan has been super busy and left to go out of town on wednesday, pa helped him make his car truck yesterday afternoon.  (we like to do things last minute around here...)

he didn't come in first place, but he wasn't dead last either. so, in my book that is a successful derby!

happy halloween

yesterday was a great day.  i took the day off of work so that i could do whatever i wanted.  my day looked like this:

put make-up on my cute little witch for the halloween parade at school.

then, dressed up my littlest spook and drew some whiskers. 

then i went shopping at kohls and bought myself some new clothes!
after that, lunch at kneaders

then off to the school for the halloween parade

took amelia with me to get a pedicure.  she loved it!

back home to trick or treat and then some yummy birthday dinner at goodwood.
then a quick trip to see pa and nana where we grabbed a picture of all the kids: