carter's bowling party

Carter celebrated with 4 of his sweet friends on his actual birthday. One of the perks of being in pre-K is that there's no school in the afternoon... making for a great time to go bowling! Oh, and we got Grayson out of school to help with the festivities. He was an awesome helper, and all the boys loved him. :)

 Blake, Paul, Carter, Caleb, and Mitchell

 all the boys were cheering for each other and just hung out together right around the lane... it was so cute!

 Caleb, Blake, and Carter have been in the same class the past 2 years

 the birthday parents :)

 Grayson was an amazing help the whole time! He kept handing the boys their bowling balls and would move the ramp over if they needed it. He did great!

 We served mini BlueBell ice cream cups with frosted sugar cookies. Yum!

 the moms: Kirsten, Traci, me, Katie, and Katie

(and thanks to my Mom for taking all the pics!)

It was a fun afternoon celebrating our big 5 year old!!

Happy birthday, Carter!

a pre-k birthday celebration

Carter took frosted sugar cookies (basketballs and Jayhawks) to school on Wednesday to celebrate his birthday! I got to join in on a little of the fun, too. We love his sweet teachers, Mrs. Waite and Mrs. McKay, and they made sure that Carter was really celebrated! It was also their 100th day of school, and all the kids (and teachers!) were allowed to dress up funny that day. There was lots going on!!

 Mrs. Waite lights the candle on Carter's birthday cookie

 he absolutely loves her (and we do, too!!)

 circle time talking about birthdays...

awww...sweet hugs for the birthday boy!

happy 5th birthday, carter!

Our sweet Carter Elliott turned 5 today! Wasn't he just born? We've had a great time over the past two days celebrating his sweet life. This morning he opened some gifts at breakfast...

 he was sooo excited -- and has some great bedhead! ;)

 Pete the Cat books have become a favorite of his

 sweet Grayson made Carter a cool necklace on the Rainbow Loom

 one of his gifts from us was to go to Build-a-Bear this morning

 he picked out a super-soft Camoflauge Bear and an NBA basketball outfit for him

A fun way to start the big #5!!
More pics to come...

jared and the jayhawks

Our good friend, Jared Estes, joined us for the KU vs. WVU basketball game in Lawrence yesterday afternoon. Jared is amazing. He and his wife, Paige, were in a car accident where they were hit by a drunk driver. Paige was killed, and Jared was severely burned. Jared was then a patient of Jerry's for several weeks at the rehab hospital back in 2005. We have stayed in contact with him, and he is an inspiration to us! We were thrilled when he said that he could come with us to root on the 'Hawks!

we got to Allen Fieldhouse early and had fun walking through the museum and doing the interactive games -- Grayson and Carter were ready with their radio microphones to call the last 10 seconds of the 2008 championship game against Memphis :)

 Jared and Carter waiting for the players to run through the tunnel and give high-fives

 Jerry and me

 Jared and Carter getting their radio personalities on :)

 our fam waiting for the players -- thanks for taking the the pic, Jared :)

 Carter giving Naadir Tharpe a high five and Grayson is in the background!

 an action shot of the boys playing a basketball game in the museum -- they love this one!

 Grayson is getting ready to give a biography report on Mario Chalmers at school, so he wanted me to take his pic in front of Mario's official jersey and shoes in the museum

 Rock Chalk, Jayhawk! What a fun game!

sledding!

The total snowfall for Wichita over this past week ended up being close to 9 inches! The boys had two snow days in a row! After Jerry got home from work one evening, we tied the saucers up to the back of his truck and took the boys sledding. They had a ball!

 Carter's on the left and Grayson is on the right

snow day!

It was a first... the schools here in Wichita called a snow day (meaning school was cancelled) before it even started snowing! When we woke up this morning, there was less than an inch on the ground. But, it has been snowing ever since, and we have LOTS! And it's still snowing...

As I posted on FB, our snow day means staying in your PJs until lunch, playing in the snow, yummy baked grilled cheese, watching a few episodes of the Brady Bunch, and of course, NO SCHOOL!

maybe they should join the circus?

Carter has recently been obsessed with Grayson's foam sword that he got at a birthday party. So much so that he saved $4 to buy himself one from Hobby Lobby. He and Grayson have been "swording" ever since. They have been having sword fights inside (because it's freezing and icy outside) and just recorded themselves doing "sword tricks". Enjoy :)

Grayson and I were in stitches after watching Carter's video, but Grayson ended up making one himself. A bit disturbing, but oh well...

Happy Monday! Go get a sword for yourself at Hobby Lobby! There are endless hours of fun to be had with it...