Sunday, April 24, 2016

Quiet week with lots of walks

Carter has been on a Birthday money spending spree! He is getting to the age where he really likes to pick out some stuff for himself. This is when he had pink eye also (I'm sure you can tell which eye!) He picked out some really cool Lego sets and of course, a Nerf gun. Thanks again to everyone who spoiled him! He received a card from Grandma Bonnie this Monday with some money. Thanks Bonnie! His mind is racing. What else could he possibly need?
Spring has been gorgeous for the last couple weeks. It's rainy and possibly snowy now. That's okay though. I want a nice green yard! We've taken a lot of walks lately. Carter and Kyle were at baseball practice, so Ave, Teague, Laney, and I went for a walk. We stopped and grabbed our buddy Duke too.
3 weirdos checking out what's going on outside.
It was a whopping 55 degrees out last weekend. Avery thought this was tank top/skort weather. She, Teague, and I walked on the trail to Father Sheehan park. We met Carter and Kyle there.
They always have to throw rocks in the water when we go this way.
Only Ave could pull off the stripes of every color look.
Teague had to take a little rest. I tickled his neck to make him smile. This is pretty cute.
These kids love to swing! That's pure joy on Teague's face!
My big boy looks pretty happy too!
Avers gets some major air!
A nice walk home on the trail. We fed the ducks and checked out the moon.
All this exercise wears a girl out. I like her t-shirt/slipper combo. She is almost done with dance, and we started softball last week. I'm helping coach her team. Her first practice was really fun!
Carter had practice at Clark's Park the other day. These two came with me and played for 2 hours.
Terri had her 50th Birthday on Earth Day, the 22nd! Avery made her a huge sign that we all signed. Teague is doing a pretty good job with his name!
Terr would hate if I posted a picture of her, but here is her cake. Jordan and I made a nice 50 on top.
I decorated with streamers. Ave blew up Star Wars balloons. She had me only hang up blue and green since it was Earth Day. Happy Birthday to Auntie Terri!
Kyle has been telling the kids how cool it would be to get a Millennium Falcon. Well he got his wish. Carter and Ave pitched in some money for it. Avery just loves to build stuff. She and Kyle did a great job with it.
Avery watched the New Star Wars movie and thought the girl Jedi, Rey, was really cool. She asked me to fix her hair like Rey's, so we did. I was never a huge Star Wars fan, but I'm getting into it. It's very interesting! There are worse things than liking Star Wars, Super Heroes, boy bands, Harry Potter etc...
Ave, Laney, and I took a girls' walk yesterday before it started to rain. We found a random daffodil on the trail in the middle of a bunch of dead grass. It was very pretty!
She really wanted some good pictures of it!
I had to put this up for Uncle Carl. I saw this meme yesterday on Facebook, and it reminded me of all the times Dad tried to put out your eye. I know two times for sure - the arrow and the helicopter! Glad you have both eyeballs. We all had a good laugh at it!
The finished Millennium Falcon. It is huge! They love it!

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Carter Robert is 9!

It's definitely spring in Montana. We have had some absolutely gorgeous days and some horribly cold and windy days too. This one was a beauty. We played at C St park for a long time.
I love how pretty the sky was. Carter and I played football while Teague and Ave hit the playground. 
 Timeout for a cuddle with Lane.
 Teague has become really into Star Wars (Carter has too!) Sometimes he likes to dress in all black and be Emperor Palpatine. He's one of the bad guys.
There was quite a battle going on inside the other day. 
 Meanwhile, my girl and I were enjoying the sunshine. She looked supercute in her new Easter outfit we got her. She can really pull off a skort.
 There is nothing like evilly riding a bike with a light saber.
On Sunday, Papa took us on an adventure. We went on a trail that heads out to Rocker. It was a beautiful day for it. These guys were ready to go! 
 They brought binoculars to observe different animals. They were pretty sure they saw a beaver here. There were a lot of dams. Carter also brought a notebook to document their findings.
 It was nice to see Papa out and about again. We are very glad he got his hip fixed!
Me and my little explorers. 
 Rest stop
 Dad's sweatshirt kills me. He has to be one of the only people who still owns an XFL sweatshirt.
 She asked me to take this one. She's a goof. I'm pretty sure she led the way for the 3.5 miles!
We saw some very beautiful blue birds. This is a popular spot for them judging by the bird poop. 
 We saw 3 of them. Carter made sure to check our exact GPS location on my phone so he could write it down. Not sure where he learned that!
 I love a blue sky with big fluffy clouds. So pretty!
We went off road on our way back. We followed some old railroad tracks. We had a lot of fun! 
 Two brothers looking for gold and iron.
 Such fun. I only had to carry Teague for about 5 minutes. He was a trooper!
 Afterwards Papa took us to Mackenzie River. He wrote Dork Boy on Carter's cup while he was in the bathroom. Not sure who is the child in this relationship...
 It was so perfect out we decided to get out the chalk. We even made Kyle brave the sun for 5 minutes and draw something. He made an impressive LSU field.
We had glitter chalk, tie-dye chalk, and two new color packs. We had a good time! 
 I outlined Avery, and she filled it in. Her chalk twin looked pretty great!
Teague thought it was cool and wanted to do it too! 
Carter had to get in on the action! 
We have discovered the joy of Snapchat. Here is a Faceswap of me and Carter! It's scary, but it makes me laugh! 
 It's track and softball season so...let there be snow!
 More Snapchat fun! Teague makes a fine looking cop. Like father, like son!
 Ave has been a reading fool lately. I just bought her two more books at Hastings. She read all of Carter's chapter books in less than a week. This is how I usually find her every night now.
 Back to the sunshine!
It was almost 70 degrees last Friday. These two had to get out the swimsuits. 
 I looked up and realized there was not a cloud in the sky!
 They have been playing with the old cop car a lot lately. It becomes the "Ecto1" from Ghostbusters!
Someone named Carter was so excited for his Birthday. He could not wait! We let him open the card from the Vetter's when it arrived on the 9th. He knows he has the best family ever. Everyone spoiled him, and he's very thankful! 
 Time to take a walk to Papa's. We met up with Jord and Duke. Duke thinks he's really tough and has to confront all other dogs!
In typical Carter fashion, he promised all of 3rd grade a frosted sugar cookie. He also promised his teachers that he would bring them chocolate chip cookies. Therefore, we did a lot of baking and decorating on Saturday. 
They took a little break to blow bubbles outside. 
 The end result! He wanted cupcakes for his birthday party. That was fine with me! We baked them Saturday and frosted them Sunday.
Birthday party time! He has very nice friends. They had a good time playing laser tag and jumping!  
Teague and Liam really had fun! They must have ran a mile on their little legs and explored everything! 
 Time for the second game of laser tag - the 3rd graders let everyone else have a turn.
 Jordan was on a team with Liam and Teague. I'm positive they won!
 He loved it this year!
Nicole and Jordan looking tough. These two were ruthless! 
It was impossible to get a good picture of them playing on the inflatables. They were playing tag and were running and sweating like crazy! 
 Tre was it. Everyone else was hiding!
 Some of the wonderful guests - Connor, Liam, Nicole, Frank, and Nancy. We had a great turnout! I just realized I didn't get Callie in a picture. She came over Saturday. She frosted cupcakes, we took a walk, she spoiled all the kids, she's the best!
Austin entertaining Teague, Mason, and Madisyn with his stories. 
Connor dove through the picture to make them laugh. I love that Madisyn got right in the game to challenge the boys too. From L-R we have Connor (on floor), Will, Nate, Carter, Austin, Gavin, Madisyn, Preston, Kenny, and Tre. All great kids! 
 Opening presents. I should have had Kyle help him so I could take pictures. I didn't get many.
 He loved these Puma shorts from Nicole, Connor, and Austin.
He wore them on his Birthday to school! The cookies were a hit, and everyone sang to him. Then he came home to a card from Kelsie, Uncle JoJo, and Lincoln. He really liked being Carter the Great! 
He also opened presents from us, Grandma and Grandpa Barsness, and Great Grandma Bonnie. He absolutely loved everything. I seriously cannot thank everyone enough. He is very excited to pick out something on his own with the money he received. He looks good in all his new clothes, he's been reading his new books at bedtime, and we have been having fun putting Lego's together. Thanks again! 
Auntie Terri got him a cake so we could put a candle in. It's not easy to do in a cupcake! 
 He had a wonderful Birthday! I can't believe he's 9!

July - August 2019

My friend Michelle was in town from Las Vegas. Her brother and sister-in-law always have a fun barbecue for everyone here in town. Dana, Jas...