Carter's 10th Birthday

Carter is now a 10 year-old boy with a love of sports, music, friends! He is vivacious, loud, and crazy! From the day he was born, we've joked about his one volume (full blast), old-man hairline, and strong opinions. When he was not even 2, my sister and I went out to get me a new pair of sandals. The ones I had were very old and falling apart. Every time I tried on a new pair, Carter would say, "Nope!" or "Nuh-uh." He rejected everything I tried until I put my original pair back on. I walked out of the mall without a new pair of sandals.

My brother loves the time when Carter and Evan were both wanting something on the table. Carter grabbed it. When Evan was whining about not getting what he wanted, he said, "Too bad. So sad." It still makes me laugh out loud when I think of this, or when Wade tries to insert it into family exchanges. :)

Carter knows how to push every one's buttons, but also knows how to play with anyone at any age. He is a terrific person ready for fun at all times. He knows how to infuriate me, impress me, make me laugh, and make me doubt myself. Yes, he is all that wrapped up in a 4'11" and 95 pound body. Can you believe my skinny Carter is 95 pounds!?! He's discovered eating lately and has an insatiable appetite. He REALLY wants to be bigger than Evan and is always trying to catch up to his older brothers ("Anything you can do, I can do better" should be his theme song).

To have the luxury of attention on his birthday and the ability to choose his own meals brought:

Crepes for breakfast. Mmmmm!

That day entailed cleaning and yardwork. We tried to see if we could go to a minor league baseball game or do something really fun to celebrate, but with some major storms, we ended up going to CiCi's Pizza (you've got to try the Big Mac Pizza) and a movie. After checking in with parenting websites and friends, Steve took the boys to Captain America and I revisited my childhood by watching The Smurfs with the girls. :) Lizzie sang "La la lala la la...La lala la la" for 4 days!

His Sunday dinner was Filet Mignon utilizing the brander that we got from my brother, twice baked potatoes, grilled zucchini from the garden, and 2 different salads with Sunday surprize (a punch).


We did chocolate cupcakes filled with chocolate chip cream in the shape of a Y...


and the Lego men are to represent Carter and cousins who hiked it together the previous month.

This is not his year to have a party, but we invited some of his swimming buddies to go to downtown Naperville and swim at the beach. Naperville Nuts and Sweets again came to the rescue to sweeten up our day.