Thursday, April 16, 2020

Carter at 8

Carter at 8....oh, where do I begin.  Carter is and has always been our family comedian he loves jokes and silliness and making people laugh and happy.  He's so much more than just that though.  I always tell him that his brain is an amazing place because I seriously do not know how he comes up with things and works math problems so quickly.  I am also continually impressed with the way he thinks.  Sometimes when I ask him to explain things, I'm surprised at the way he has thought them through.  It makes perfect sense to hear him explain, but it's just not the way that I would think of as the common explanation.  He loves math which probably explains this.  He also enjoys science.  He enjoys reading, but complains that taking the time to discuss or analyze what he read is "wasting my time."   
I say that Carter is a solid muscle.  He loves to run and climb.  He's strong and fast.  He wanted weights to keep in his room and makes himself use them each day.  He is constantly coming up with fitness challenges for our family (he currently has us all in a push up challenge-totally his idea).  No one loves a competition as much as our Carter.  This could be part of the reason he enjoys basketball and soccer as much as he does! He played both again this year and did fantastic.  
Carter is a master at Monopoly.  Of course, this is a game that he loves to play despite it taking hours to compete a game.  He loves all of it-the real estate, the money, the numbers.  It's right up his alley.
Carter is still our tender-hearted boy.  Nothing can upset him faster than someone getting hurt.  He hurts for them.  Carter is emotionally involved in everything he does.  This is wonderful because everything fun is SO wonderfully fun for him.  The only downside to this is that he also feels the sadness, but he usually has a fun joke to make everyone happy again if someone gets in trouble or hurt.  
Carter is a great big brother to Nora Kate and Clayton, although it's funny how different his relationship is with NK...I think because they have basically grown up SO close in age.  And he's a great little brother to Dawson.  He and Dawson still share a room, and I honestly think he would be so lonely if he had to have a room alone.  I mean, he only lived alone for 12 months after all.  
Carter did awesome with our transition to home/hybrid schooling this year.  He has great friends at school and at church.  Carter is very social and makes friends easily.  He's very outgoing and I imagine he's a fun friend to have.  
We love our sweet, tender-hearting, strong, competitive, fun loving, joke telling, climbing, running, soccer playing, basketball shooting, fishing kind, math brained, compassionate Carter.
We had planned that this year for the first time ever we would combine Dawson and Carter's birthday parties since they share a lot of the same groups of friends at school (like siblings in both boys' grades) and have a laser tag party, but because we are still under a Stay at Home Order due to the Corona Virus we cannot schedule the party or have the party until the order is lifted.  This was really disappointing but he made the most of his special day and really enjoyed it at home with our family.  
Here are some pictures from celebrating his birthday at home and then a few pictures of him from the past year.  


We put candles in everything on his birthday...even his pb toast. (Don't worry he had more than just that for breakfast though)

Our very sweet and thoughtful friends, drove by for a drive by party to visit from their car 6 feet away (as required) and to deliver bday gifts for Carter.  This made his day! And all the kids loved seeing some friends even if only from a distance.


The kids know how much Carter loves a good joke.  They took a big box and wrapped up a weight to trick him into thinking it was a heavy gift...he thought it was hilarious.
Success!

Carter mentioned how he wished he could have his very own cake to eat for his birthday.  Since all we have is time with this stay at home order, I surprised him and baked a simple cake just for him.  He was thrilled!!!  (as a disclaimer, he did not eat the whole thing!)

The real birthday cake!


a big lego set of the International Space Station!

our neighbor knows that Carter is a complete rock lover.  She gave him these rocks from Lake Superior in Michigan.  Perfect gift.

A HOVER BOARD! He was thrilled!

And now for just a few pictures from the last year...

As I mentioned Carter has done great with our homeschooling. Here he is working.

BEACH BUM
Loves the sand and sea!

Always having fun

Four leaf clover spotter

First time in a plane this summer.
LOVED it...especially flying back in lots of turbulence.

Another beach pic!

Tree climber

A recent art project for our garden.

Soccer rocker!

Always doing silly stuff

Slime Camp last summer...he loved it! 

Lego Master

Skeleton pjs to match Clayton at Halloween.

I love our sweet, sweet Carter so very much.  I cannot believe you're 8, but we think you are so great at eight!

An Interview with 8 Year Old Carter

When Carter turned three we started asking him the same 20 "interview" questions each year on his birthday.  We have done this each year, and it's fun to see how much the answers change. So this year is Carter's 5th interview!  

So...here's an interview with Carter on his 8th birthday! 

1. What is your favorite color? blue


2. What is your favorite toy? my tablet



3. What is your favorite fruit? peaches!
4. What is your favorite tv show? Frozen 2...well, I like it but it's not my favorite! (He added that disclaimer in there because he frequently refers to Frozen 2 as a "girl movie")
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Steak and Blueberries (then I said, I know you love those foods but like in a lunch box, what's your favorite) "oh, a peanut butter sandwich"
6. What is your favorite outfit or things to wear? My new Captain America Suit because I really like it
7. What is your favorite game? Monopoly
8. What is your favorite snack? Candy...or actually a  banana
9. What is your favorite animal? Eagle
10. What is your favorite song? It's a Cat Flushing the Toilet by Perry Gripp
11. What is your favorite book? Harry Potter
12. Who is your best friend? Our family, Henry, Sutton, and Carson
13. What is your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? ride my bike and play football or 10 thousand

15. What is your favorite drink? Coke (made a super silly face becaues he knows he doesn't get to drink coke, then seriously responded) Orange Soda

16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Lovie and Blankie 

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? 
Cinnamon Rolls and Waffles that Daddy Makes

19.  What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pepperroi Pizza and cake! or warm brownies with ice cream

20. What do you want to be when you grow up?  uhhhhhh, ummmmm a farmer

 Just for the fun of comparison, here are the responses he gave the previous 4 years.  The answers in red are how he responded on his 3rd birthday and the answers in green are his responses from when he turned 4; the blue responses are from when he turned five, the purple are from when he turned six, and the orange responses are from when he turned seven!!

1. What is your favorite color? 
blue
blue
blue
blue
blue

2. What is your favorite toy?
My tablet
switch
Nintendo ds
  Paper air planes, sandbox, Wii Tanks
Dump trucks

3. What is your favorite fruit? 
strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries and blackberries
grapes, raspberries, blueberries
grapes 
Apples, bananas, every kind of fruit, and blueberries
blueberries

4. What is your favorite tv show? 
Spy Kids movie I watched with Daddy, and Wild Kratts
Word Girl
Word Girl
Word World
Octonauts

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? 
For lunch, like no cake or ice cream? In my lunchbox I like peanut butter sandwiches and Cliff Bars with chocolate chip.
Grapes and a peanut butter sandwich or a meat sandwich
Grapes and a peanut butter sandwich…with NO jelly
Bananas
Bananas (It's odd to me that he said Bananas for lunch 2 years in a row...he always has fruit with his lunch, but not always bananas!)
6. What is your favorite outfit or things to wear?
My hockey shirt and my shirt I got at the aquarium 
Gym shorts and a soft shirt
Pajamas!
The shirt where the bears mouth zips open
Shorts!  Soft shirts
7. What is your favorite game? 
War 
Switch Games
Plinko, connect 4, and uno
Mouse Trap
Don’t Break The Ice

8. What is your favorite snack?
 Cliff Bars
Graham Cracker
Grapes and bananas

Crackers
Blueberries

9. What is your favorite animal? 
Dog
lizard
A lizard

Rhinos
elephants.......or the crested screamer (this is a bird at the zoo that for some reason Carter just thinks is hilarious because of it's name)

10. What is your favorite song?
My Lighthouse
Pumpin Up Music like you play for me before soccer games
That one that goes “This is my commandment that you love one another that your joy may be full!”

Itsy Bitsy Spider and NOT I'm So Fancy! That's a girl song like Nora Kate!
 Itsy Bitsy Spider

11. What is your favorite book?
All the I Survived Books
Round Robin...that bird is so funny she eats TOOOO much
 Junie B. Jones…she’s so funny
SHARKS!
Eye Spy

12. Who is your best friend? 
Halston, Joshua, Henry, McKennon, and actually Dawson, Nora Kate, and Clayton, and everybody in this family.
Harper, Barrett, Mrs. Johnson, everyone in my class, and all of my soccer team are my friends too
Harper
Harper
Mommy and Daddy.  Nora Kate and Dawson.  And “my Charlie” and Harper...she likes walking with me (three days a week on Dawson's school days he gets to walk in to drop off Dawson and Harper is always there too...so I think that's what this was about!
13. What is your favorite cereal? 
Lucky Charms and Apple Cheerios
Lucky Charms
Lucky Charms
Remember that time we had the circles that were all colors? Me: Fruit Loops? Carter: YES! Those!
Lucky Charms 
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? 
play soccer
Go to Port St. Joe...that's the best outside thing you can do
Swing or catch grasshoppers
Play on the playset!
Playing in water, chalking, and bubbles!!!

15. What is your favorite drink?
Sprite
Sprite 
Apple juice
Apple juice and caprisuns!
juice

16. What is your favorite holiday? 
Christmas and Easter
Christmas
 Thanksgiving, no I mean Christmas
Christmas...AND Halloween-remember we get all that CANDY?!
I don't know! Not rainy days?

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? 
Lovie and Blanket
Lovie and my Blanket
LOVIE
LOVIE!
My Lovie! 

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? 
Waffles and pancakes
Chocolate chip waffles, blueberries, pancakes, bagels
Grapes and Strudels
Bananas, Bagels, and healthy food (hah!)
Candy (laughing) Bananas.  

19.  What do you want for dinner on your birthday?
Ice Cream and Cake....and pizza
CAKE HAHA and maybe Mr. Gatties 
CAKE HAHA
Waffles
CAKE!  Green beans and corn and cheese pizza

20. What do you want to be when you grow up?
That's the hard question...a fisherman.
A fisherman and a golfer
 I don’t know. Maybe a…farmer, or I could change my mind.  Or maybe I’ll be an astronaut or I COULD even make video games like for a ds.  
 A farmer that’s a police man too  Why? I just do! And police mans can drive fast! Oh, no I changed it.  I'm going to be MY Daddy when I grow up...REMEMBER? I told you that!

“a Mommy” Why? Mommy washes dishes.....and I'm going to drive a Monster truck when we live on Dawson's farm!