March 2008 Archives

She may be sweet, but she for sure is sassy!  And, she's two, so she knows it all.

This week, it seems like it's been a week of Carter-ism's and words of wisdom.  Here are some highlights:

"Actually ..."
  "Actually, Mommy, I'm not hungry," when I gave her green beans instead of peaches.
  "That's pink, actually," when she got a treat.
  "Actually, Mommy, I'm not tired," when it was bedtime, and she was asleep within 20 minutes!

"Mommy, you need to be nice to Daddy,"
  When we were talking loudly, because he was in the living room and I was in the kitchen.  Not arguing, just talking loud to hear one another, Carter says to be nice!

"Where we at?"
  With a thoughtful look around, she asks about our location, as if she knows where "Target," or "Des Moines" is!

"Everything ... I want everything in the world ..."
  On the car ride to Menard's, Carter began to whine in the backseat.  I asked her what was wrong, and she boo-hoo'ed.  I asked her what she wanted, thinking she'd say a toy or book.  No, not even close!

"Daddy, shut up!"
  I know where this came from - she was being obnoxious earlier in the week, and I (QUIETLY!!) said to Andy, "Shut up, Carter," being silly.  Apparently she heard, or maybe I accidentally said it again.  During a game with Andy, Rory, Andy and I, she said, "Daddy, shut up!" and got hauled to bed.  She also said it again at Menard's, to Andy, out of nowhere.  I jumped on her, and we both agreed neither of us would say it again.  At least it wasn't, "Mommy's a b * * * h!" at McDonald's - yeah, that's happened, too!

So sweet and wonderful, but so sassy and two!!

Since we didn't get the blizzard or monsoons, or the forest-fires or deadly hurricanes weather forecasters thought might hit the area, we celebrated with a trip to the park! 

Little girl, big slide

Barely able to reach that step!

Watch out for trolls under the bridge!

Peek-A-Boo!

Excited about the big-girl swing, and mad I wouldn't swing "too high!"

The view from the top!

We got some groceries this afternoon, and when I grabbed the bread, Carter enlightened me, "Duckies eat bread, Mommy."  So we took our whole-grain wheat bread to share with our ducky friends at the pond! 

Duckies do eat bread!

And so do Carter's!

We read a story (Dr. Suess's "If I Ran The Circus," for about the 900th time!) and laid down for nap.

Then she was gone! 

Where'd she go?!?

It may be an unconventional way to sleep, but she sure is cute doing it!

The best part of being the youngest in a group of friends, especially loving and trendy ones, are the fabulous hand-me-down's!

Natalie and Mackenzie have always taken such good care of us!  Natalie will let Kenz know when things are ready "for Baby Carter," and they end up at our house!  "Lucky" doesn't begin to cover it.  "Blessed" and "Thankful" are a nice start, though!  Thanks, guys!  We love ya!

We don't usually go this far, but as you can see, Carter loves Natalie's hand-me-down's! 
H O T   M E S S !

We got to celebrate Easter again with Grandma and Grandpa!  Carter ate up all the attention as she colored eggs!  She and Cousin Courtney had their annual egg hunt, and the girls played while we all got to catch up and spend time together!

Happy Easter!  Hopefully yours was as fun-filled and family-packed as ours!

The naughty look + dye = no good!

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket," they'll turn pink and blue!  Ahh cha cha!

Courtney was slow to warm up to the egg hunt, but Carter was all over it from the start!

"Shhh ... be vewy, vewy quiet ... we're hunting wabbit eggs!"

Courtney found a sweet-spot, filled with eggs!

Carter shows off her booty of eggs!

Eggs hunters!

Now that you two have found your goodies, it's time to take stock of your riches!

Our sweet little Big Girls!

After running around searching for eggs and having Easter dinner (complete with wearing ice cream), the girls took a much-needed dip to clean up .. and, of course, to play!

Squeaky clean!

Horsy rides from Andy ...

... and Corey ...

... and Kevin, the "wild horse" of the pack!

Our sweet girls with their sweet Easter bunnies

Carter, Aunt Katie, Uncle Kevin and Cousin Courtney

Aunt Amber, Carter, Uncle Corey and Cousin Courtney

Uncle Brian, Carter, Aunt Anna and Cousin Courtney

Today we celebrated Easter with Grandma and Poppy.  We dyed eggs, which looked like a mess, but was actually pretty clean!  And we enjoyed a tasty and fun Easter basket of love!

One orange egg and one clean Carter ... it's early in the game!

Carter double-dips!

The green egg is pretty and impressive, but that hand!  Wow!

 And the arm!  You know it's a successful day when you're more dirty than clean!

Part of Grandma and Poppy's Easter treat: a Dora cupcake and ring that Carter loved!

She also got a wind-up rabbit and bunny, who chased each other around the table!

It's the first day of spring!  Bring on the pool trips and warm afternoons! 

From the tippy-top of our pony tails to the bottoms of our new flip-flops, we're 100% ready for spring!

My, how much changes in a year!  Remember last year, when Carter was terrified of the Easter Bunny?  This year ... totally loved him!  She gave him a high five and blew him a kiss!  

So mature!

So cute!  They even have matching rosy cheeks!

Yeah!  3 Cheers for US!

Proof the we do rock!

Remember the days when she wasn't really attached to anything in particular?  She's always been a blankie-girl, but now she needs certain blankies, and she has a near-melt down without bear!

Carter and Bear share snack.  Hey, at least she's sharing!

YUMMY!

HEAVEN KNOWS I can't measure!  So this is a daddy-trait! 

Measuring for curtains???

"25 ... that's right ..." she said!

This is the real reason we came to Minnesota: so Andy could purchase his garage shelving system.  

This thing is a beast!  He spent more on this masterpiece than Janine, Mackenzie, Kelsey and I did combined at Christmas!!  But it's worth it to organize our disastrous garage, and Andy did his research so it's exactly what he wanted!

Shelves, shelves and more shelves!  But not enough L-bracket/footings that Andy needed.  I guess we'll just have to come back!!

Carter, atop our goodies!  A day of IKEA shopping is a day well spent!

We'd planned to go to the zoo, but I didn't figure 30 degrees into our trip plans.  Come on .. it's spring break!  It should be warm!

Instead, we went to the Minnesota Children's Museum.  Sesame Street was the touring exhibit!  Holy Smokes!  

Carter at 123 Sesame Street

In the "Move!  Bend!  Fly!" exhibit, Carter got to surf!  Such skills!!

The naughty-grin at the exit mural!

For lunch, we had Subway and Carter enjoyed chicken nuggets and a cookie.  It's vacation - go wild!

After naps and a scouting adventure to IKEA, we had the best guacamole and Mexican at Chevy's.  Duck, Carter and Daddy had a nice time!

It seems like everyone was going somewhere on spring break.  Heaven forbid we be out of the loop, so the Chalupa's packed up and headed for a weekend of fun in Minnesota.

Yes, I know most people go somewhere warm for break.  We're not ones for convention!  Maybe next year we'll go to the beach in Florida.  

The car's packed, everyone's tummy if filled, and we've got BEAR.  Let's roll!

First stop: The Mall of America for Carter-brand fun!  She loved playing in Lego Land!

Like Daddy, like Carter.  Both enjoyed building!  Note: she was the only girl building anything!

On the carousel, Carter picked the bunny to ride.  Very Easter'ish.

Carter and Mommy rode "Swiper's Sweepers," where, at the turn of the oval track, she was flung into me.  Giggle, giggle, giggle!

She was able to ride the "Azule Adventure" train on her own!  Big girl!

Having fun on Carter's Fun Day!

What a Daddy's Girl!

But totally a Mommy's Girl, too!  Is that possible?!?

On Dora's Magic Bus (think Adventure Land's Shooting Star), Carter and Daddy went wild, throwing hands in the air, riding crazy!

Beep, Beep on the Big Rigs!

We even went through the Underwater Aquarium, which is super-neat!  Carter had fun in the aquarium.  She also got to "pet" a ray in the touch pool!  NEAT!

After an afternoon at the mall, we returned to our hotel for some relaxation and SWIMMING!

We're so thankful for a nice, sunny afternoon!  We got out the chalk and bubbles, and we played outside this afternoon.  It was super-windy, but wonderfully not snowy!  I guess you can't win 'em all!

Playing the shape game.  "Carter, stand on the purple triangle!" And off she'd go to her shape.  Then she'd say, "Mommy, go white star!" And I'd find my place!

Carts and I were home by 4:00, we made a yummy dinner, and we had time to take a walk/trike ride around the development!  Spring rules! 

No, we're not getting her started early!  But when we made Mushroom Beer Bread, and she posed like this (without cue!), I couldn't help but giggle and take a picture!

"Help" isn't exactly the word I'd use!  I'd use Carter's expression: "Look!  I made snow!"

I do have to agree: hats are fun!

Decked out Carter: in Mommy's heels and Andy's hat!  Trendy!

Stylish: our new summer hat, that has matching golf pants!  Bring on summer!

Andy found my prized teaching portfolio that I'd been unable to locate myself (5 years worth of STUFF is in that binder, and I was dreading recreating it!).  As a thanks, I brought him pink strawberry cheesecake Jelly Bellies.  

Friday evening, we were all sitting in the living room, cuddling and playing on the couch, snacking on Jelly Beans.  I remember Andy sealing the bag and putting them on the back of the couch.  At some point, I moved them to the end table.  

And then they were gone.

Saturday evening, Andy wanted his treat.  I put Carter to bed, and Andy and Andy searched this place over a dozen times, trying to find those Jelly Beans.  They found nothing.  After search one, I came up to check on Carter.  She was still awake, barely, and in her super-sweet-and-smiley bedtime mode.  I snuggled in, and asked her about the Jelly Beans.  I said, "Did you take Daddy's Jelly Beans?"  She smiled the sweetest little grin and shook her head yes.  I asked, "Did you eat Daddy's Jelly Beans?"  I got the same sweet-smiled nod and a giggle.  

This morning, Andy asked, and she said she knew where they were.  She led him on a wild-goose chase, peeking behind chairs and under toys, but finding nothing.  If she took them, she must have eaten them all (Andy thought there were "about 100" left) and the bag, too!  If she hid them, she's done an amazing job at it!  

Chalupas.net has been updated with a new look-and-feel along with an update of the blog software (Blojsom) it depends upon.  It has also been updated so that it renders properly when you are using Inernet Explorer 7.

Let me know if you see anything wrong...

Enjoy!

Andy

It's better than Triad and Swimming put together!  It's Friends Fun Day, and it's all Carter's been able to talk about all week!

Our friend Janine and her two sweet-tatos, Madisyn (6) and Carter (2) came from Garwin.  Our pal Mackenzie and her dolly Natalie (5) come from Marshalltown.  Our buddy Kelsey came from Coralville with her two little twin pickles, Grant and Collin (2).  We met at the house, had snack, reaquainted our little cherebs, and headed to Recess, the indoor play place!

Natalie and Grant's eye said it all when we entered the door: they got huge, and both had ear-to-ear grins!  We paid, and it was quickly sheer chaos!  Every baby for themselves!  We were able to stick fairly close together, meeting up at the toddler and kids tube-mazes, bounce pit, and airplanes.  After a couple hours of play, some juice and Sweet Tarts, we were all ready for lunch.

The boys and Kels hoofed it to Culver's; Carter wasn't having any of the waiting, so we went to Burger King with the clan.  Chicken nuggets, ice cream and crowns were enjoyed by all.

It got wild and crazy at times, but we had a super-fantastic day that doesn't happen nearly as often as it should!  Friends Fun Day was a blast because our friends (and our friends' babies!) are super-fantastic!  We love you guys!  Like Mackenzie said:  THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT.  

Our girls: Madisyn, Carter and Natalie

Grant, future baseball player!

Collin and the ornery smile (I love it!)

The Terrible Two, Carter and Natalie, in the tube maze

Bomb's Away!  Look out Grant, here she comes!

Carter x2!  Carter J and Carter K, both goofy, silly, super-sweet and totally naughty!  But we love 'em!

Babies on the  plane!

We have a new BFF: Madisyn loved Carter, and Carter adored Madi!  So sweet!  I can't wait for more friend day's to hang out with Madi (and Carter and Janine!) more often!

HOOLA HOOP!

Double Trouble!  Collin and Grant rule the slides!

Carter and Mommy take a juice-box break! 
Do you see the tired in her eyes?!?

J U M P ! !

How many jumping beans fit in the pit?!?

Poor moles ... what'd they ever do to you guys ... 

Look at those cheesers!  Poor gators never stood a chance!

Cheesers with Crowns: Natalie, Carter, Madisyn and Carter

Natalie and Carter share ice cream ... and the love?!?

But not Carter!  She doesn't share ice cream with anyone!  And look at the look on her face!  That grin sums up her day: silly, mischievous, and exceptionally wonderful!

Rice Crispies!  Seriously, it should be a part of the food pyramid!

Just like a commercial for Crispy Rice!

Greasing the pan and everything else!

The best part: the taste testing!

Dear Madisyn, Other Carter, Natalie, Grant and Collin,

  I am so excited for our Friends Day!  It's all I've been able to talk about today!  Mom and I talked about what to expect this afternoon, and I've been driving her crazy all evening!  I can't wait to run a muck and go wild with my besties.  I'm counting the days!  

  Be ready, Recess!  Here we come!

  Love ya,
  Carter Kay
 

They may not be true siblings, but Carter and Sammy look alike and fight like true sib's!  They're one punch to the face away from being Hillary and Jami!!

Carter loves Sammy.  Sammy loves hot dogs and cheese.  Carter smells like hot dogs and cheese from lunch.  Everyone wins!!

Andy, Carter and I drove to Wellman for dinner with my school besties.  It was a wild ride getting there (warm weather + muddy backroads = no bueno!!), but it was worth the drive.  It's funny to think that 15 years ago, we were inseparable, but now we can only get together every few years.  Very strange, but a great night, none the less.

When we were kids, we always had a ball, no matter what we were doing!  Our kids, no exception!  Madison, Riley, Clay, Emma and Carter ran all over the house, giggling and having a ball!  

The picture doesn't do the story justice!  I was going to take 80 to the Kalona road, and go to Wellman that way.  Andy thought it was "back tracking," so he mapped an alternative, faster route.  Too bad the route was on dirt/mud roads!  It was 5 - 10 miles of "gun it!" "keep going!" and "you're almost there!"  We fish-tailed, and Carter giggled and yelled, "WOAH!" nearly the entire ride!

The girls, the ones who've been through it all (good, bad and ugly), and are still around!  Wow .. we are old!
Me, Staci Van Duyn, Carrie Lueck, Rachel Fishback and Lexi Stoops

Us kids, having kids, and catching back up years later.  It really seems like a lifetime ago.
Left to right: Madison Fishback (7), holding 2-month old Tessa Fishback, Clay Fishback (3), Carter Kay (2), Emma Lueck (2) and Riley Fishback (5)
Comparing the two photos, can you connect mommies to look-alike babies?!?

At our house, you do it with pudding!

Carter's flu has passed, but now she's oozing goopy junk.  Her nose is running, and she has a barky cough.  She's had some cough suppressant medicine, but she's still kinda barky.  

Really, that translates into a valid reason to make and eat butterscotch pudding!  

NAUGHTY FACE!

Mix it up, Carter!

Kind heart that she is, she had to try it ... taste control ... keeping others safe ...