Christmas in October?

For the past few weeks we've been putting together a care package for Sam's brother, Rod. Rod is in the Army and he's been in Afghanistan since the beginning of this year. We all wrote letters, we bought all sorts of candy. Fern wrote a letter and included some of Rod's favorite treats and some Halloween decorations. After filling up the box, there was a little bit of room left at the top. I stewed and fretted about what to put in the open space. Then it hit me: nougat! I usually only make nougat at Christmas time, but for Rod, I'd go crazy and make it in October. If you haven't tried homemade nougat, it tastes just like a Big Hunk candy bar. Simple, but totally addictive!

We made it a family affair on Monday night to cut and wrap the nougat. Here is Sam teaching Carson how to cut the strips of nougat into squares.


Carson loved helping, he was totally focused!


Cameron participated by sitting at the counter.


Parker ate nerds, talked on his phone, and looked at everything with a magnifying glass. OH! Guess what Parker thought a magnifying glass was called? A "mine-to-find" glass! I'm not even kidding! He said it really fast and finally Sam and I asked him to say it slowly and that's what he said! We have since corrected the nut.


Sam cut the nougat into strips. I hate this part of the process. It hurts my delicate (whimpy) hands.


And I wrapped the nougat. Yes, I kept this ridiculous face the whole time. Nougat will do that to ya!


I don't know if Rod ever checks the blog from Afghanistan, but if he does....Expect the package in about 1 1/2 weeks Rod! We love you!!!

On to other items in the news...
Because I still feel like I'm 21, and probably act it, I am having a hard time believing that I'm the mother of a cub scout. Seriously. For years I have known this day was coming, and coming, and coming (3 boys), but I'm tripping out.


He loves belonging to scouts! He thinks he's pretty hot stuff because he gets to go to church meetings now instead of mom or dad. Let's hope we can keep his enthusiasm!

I found a great spot for Cameron today. He sat in front of my mirror for a good 30 minutes. It was sweet because in order to look at me he had to turn left, which is one of his exercises. He didn't even fall over when he suddenly looked at me so I think we're making progress.


I was dying because I was taking a video of him while he was sitting by the mirror. Across the hall from my room is the bathroom. While I'm taking a video, Parker runs into the bathroom, yells at me that he's tall enough to go potty without using a stool, and then let's rip a big ol' fart. Then he laughs hysterically and yells at me that he farted. Well, there goes my tender video of Cameron. I'd post it, but Parker would kill me when he got older. Besides, I panned the camera over to him and he was still going potty so it shows skin. Oops. My kids definitely keep me laughing.

Check out this picture. I was working and I turned around to look at Cameron in his jumper and this is how he looked:


He wasn't jumping, he was just standing there. He looked like a puppet!

Sam story:
Have you ever had someone ring your doorbell and you answered the door to find Halloween treats on your porch but nobody is there? Underneath the treats is a Halloween poem about being "spooked" and you have to return the favor by spooking someone else? Yeah me either.

No, just kidding, that happened to us the other night. So tonight Sam was on his way to deliver some treats to some neighbors. One house he was going to go to wasn't going to work out because they were outside. So Sam called me from his cell phone and asked for another suggestion. I told him to go to our friends, Karadie and Paul. He readily agreed.

I then formulated a wonderful plan. I called Karadie's cell phone and told her Sam was on his way and I told her to go outside and hide so she could scare the (ya know) out of Sam. She was all over this plan like a kid in a candy store.

It's important to note that Karadie has a very large dog named Bruce. Sam left the treats and was quickly leaving the scene when Karadie let Bruce chase down Sam. Well, "chase" is probably dramatic, but even if a big Boxer like Bruce was WALKING behind me in the dark I'd probably have a quickened heartbeat! After a few moments Sam stopped and turned around, which stopped Bruce from his hunt. Karadie emerged from the dark, laughing really hard. Sam put two and two together, because he's smart like that, and then they all decided to get ME back!

They soaked a rag in ketchup and whatever else they could find that was red. Sam came walking in my front door holding this 'bloody' rag over his hand. He had a horrified, and TOTALLY realistic look on his face and he said "Bruce just about took my finger off!!!" and he walked into the bathroom. I fell, hook...line....sinker. Carson and Parker were right next to Sam's side and asking a thousand questions and Sam was all frustrated to the point where Parker almost started crying. Sam pushed everyone out of the bathroom and locked the door!

My parents happened to be at my house, good thing because they were going to have to watch the boys while we went to the hospital!

Sam wouldn't unlock the door, I finally had to get a key and unlock it myself. I opened the door and Sam threw the rag into the sink and said "just kidding!"

Ooooohhhhh! ha ha ha ha ha! I laughed so dang hard, it was HYSTERICAL! He deserves an Oscar for his acting....or maybe I'm just really naive, but it was FUNNY! Way to go Sam-I-Am, you got the best of me for sure!

First Snow

We got the first snow of the season this weekend. The kids were all excited to get out the snow gear and have fun, but by the time we got around to it, the snow melted. Par for the course I suppose.


I sat Cameron by the front door and let him enjoy the moment. He was loving it!


I'll be loving it when he no longer has a helmet to reflect the flash!


Today was our ward's primary program. It was lots of fun and my kids did awesome! Parker had his line perfectly memorized and Carson did a great job with his talk. Carson was looking very dapper because we bought him a suit. I forgot to take a picture and Sam said "I'm sure he'll wear the suit next Sunday and you can get a picture then." So true. Not as fun, but it's true.

Tonight we went to Cody and Meridith's house for cousins dinner. The theme...Mexican. As I was making my Mexican dish I had the feeling that I should call Nalani and ask her what she was making. I ignored my feelings (bad girl) and proceeded to make my potluck item: shredded chicken, black beans, corn, salsa....and other ingredients in the crock pot which would eventually turn into burritos. We arrived to Cody's house at the same time as Nalani. I said "Hey, what did you make?" and she said "it's shredded chicken that you put in the crock pot with black beans, corn, salsa......" I just started laughing and said "we made the same thing!" Next cousins dinner, I will check with Nalani first!!

It was grubbing food and I'm still so full. After dinner Cody and Meridith did fried ice cream for dessert. It was really good, and good for you I'm sure. :)

They also had a pinata which the kids loved! You can never go wrong with pinatas....just remember, don't put pixie sticks in your pinata. They explode and a fine sugar powder will coat everything! Remember that Sam??

I like Cody's face in this picture. He's way into it!


Success!!!


I know Parker, I love Rolos too!


Um....I don't love them THAT much. Sheesh.

8 Years Ago Today...

Eight years ago today I was a changed person.

Changing from Carrie Clark to Carrie Sweet was easy. I was no longer a crazy single, I became a crazy couple with Sam. I felt like most everything was the same in my life, except I had a constant companion by my side and some new in-laws to hang out with. However, I was still Carrie.

But, eight years ago I became a Mom. Becoming a mom was entirely different. I grew up in a hurry because I realized the amazing impact my new status in life was going to have on a perfect, innocent, beautiful baby boy. I knew that what I said and what I did had a direct impact upon this bundle of joy. It was exciting and freakishly scary at the same time.

I honestly remember holding Carson in the hospital room and feeling so under-qualified for this new role/title. I had hardly ever been around babies in my life and I didn't have the first clue how to take care of them.

Eight years later I can recall that moment and feel so incredibly blessed because Heavenly Father knew what I was going through and so he sent me the most incredible son. He basically went easy on me!

Enough about me. Let's talk about Carson.


Carson was a great baby and that hasn't changed over the years. He is tender and he shows his affection easily. Sometimes his prayers at night make me get a tear in my eye because I can't believe how thoughtful he is. He prays for people he loves and he remembers their struggles. Even if I feel like I've been a bad mom that day, he is so thankful in his prayers for the wonderful day he's had.

Carson is eager to help with anything at all, especially if it means working together with his mom or dad.

Carson is smart. School has been pretty easy for him so far. The only time he ever gets in trouble is because he's a little too social. Oh well, there are definitely worse things to be in trouble for!

In his class this year they do something called "Catch of the Day" and once a week one of the kids gets spotlighted. Every classmate fills out a series of questions relating to the person being spotlighted. One question was something like "one thing I like about ________" When Carson was the Catch of the Day, I'll bet 75% of the kids wrote something like "One thing I like about Carson is he's a good friend to everyone and he's so nice." That made me so happy that he's kind to others!

When Carson feels appreciated, he loves to "pay it forward" and make others feel the same way. Tonight when we were driving home from dinner, I said "Let's all say something we love about Carson." so Sam, Parker, and myself all said what we loved about Carson. When we were done, Carson said "Now I'm going to tell each of you what I love about you!!" and he did.

Carson has a bazillion good traits, but I'd have to say my favorite one is how kind he is to his siblings...most of the time. He can get Cameron to smile and laugh better than anybody in this family. If Parker is feeling down, he does anything it takes to get Parker smiling again.

Earlier this week Carson wanted to spend his birthday money at Walmart. He had $20 to spend. Parker wasn't saying much, but he wasn't too happy that Carson got to buy fun things and he didn't. Carson bought a watch and a toy, which came to $18.96. With his $1.04 left, he asked me if he could buy a treat. I told him he could, so he picked out a fancy sucker that came to $1.03 and we went home with his "goods" and a penney left over. Again, Parker wasn't smiling, but he wasn't saying anything out loud. Once we were home, Carson was taking his treasures out of his bags and as he pulled out the sucker, he said "Now Parker, I actually bought this for you because I could tell you were having a hard time!" and he gave the sucker to Parker, who was absolutely overjoyed beyond belief!

I immediately emailed my mom and Sam with the story, I couldn't believe it! To be totally honest, when I was 8 and my little brother Curtis was 4, I'm pretty sure I would have never done the same thing. I would have been selfish and then made fun of Curtis for not getting anything (Sorry Curtis!).

I think my kids are going to teach me more than I teach them.

So today....
Yeah, the balloons say "Congrats". At least they don't say R.I.P or something like that! I just told Carson it means "Congrats on being 8!"


We asked Carson what he wanted to do tonight and he said "go to Burger King for dinner, then go to the aquarium, then come home and have rice krispie treats with peanut butter M&M's in them, and open presents." so that's what we did!

Aquarium:




Burger King:


Rice Krispie treats with PB M&M's...we totally started eating them before I remembered to light candles and sing Happy Birthday to Carson. Ummmm, I never said I was a GREAT mom!



Presents:


Here's hoping that my next post isn't about the bone Carson broke while riding his scooter. I think I just jinxed myself.

Thanks Carson for the awesome day! I think we have sufficiently celebrated your big #8 and Parker is quite plum tuckered!


Next big day.....BAPTISM! Oh man, I think I'm starting to feel old.

Crap, I still need to buy all of Carson's cub scout stuff....this will be my life for the next SEVERAL years since I have all boys. Say a little prayer for me...

Best Rolls Ever!

These are the best rolls I've ever made:


They come from a new cookbook that my friend Cathy picked up for me. Thanks Cathy! Even better, is that Cathy has the same cookbook so I can call her and say "look at page so and so..." and I can ask her for her opinion on all sorts of culinary issues.

Example...today I called her and asked her if I could substitute 2% milk for the whole milk in these rolls. She said "yes" so I did.

Rich and Tender American Dinner Rolls
From "The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook"

1 1/4 cups whole milk, warm (or 2%....)
10 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg, lightly beaten
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar or honey (I used sugar because honey is expensive!)
1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) instand or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1. Whisk the milk, 8 tablespoons of butter, and egg together in a bowl. Mix 4 cups of the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt together in a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. With mixer on low speed, add the milk mixture and mix until dough comes together, about 1 minute.

2. Increase speed to medium-low and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If, after 5 minutes, more flour is needed, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough clears the side of the bowl but sticks to the bottom.

3. Turn dough out onto counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise until double in size, about 1 hour.

4. Divide dough into 24 even pieces. Round each piece into a ball (or whatever shape suits your fancy). Space balls evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet and wrap loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap (I did two pans of 12 rolls because I didn't want them touching). Let rolls rise until nearly doubled in size, about 30 to 60 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush rolls with remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and bake until golden, 20 - 25 minutes. Let the rolls cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then serve warm.

Seriously, these rolls were heavenly! They were so soft and flavorful, I think I had like 6 with dinner. Go make 'em now!

Tylered

Sometimes Parker says "I'm tylered" or "I'm tidered" when he means to say "tired".

Tonight I decided to look at every blog on my links list. That was a crazy idea because guess how long it took me??? 2 hours! All of a sudden I looked at the clock and freaked out. I still have to wrap birthday presents for Carson and watch my TIVO'd episode of "Dancing with the Stars." Oh, did anyone see the coverage of Misty Mae snapping her achilles tendon? To quote funny chick Lindsay....It made my bum tickle it did!

What's this?








That is a birthday dinner menu that Carson picked out for my mom to cook on Monday night. He even told her EXACTLY how he wanted the cupcake/brownies to be decorated and he picked out the tablecloth. He thought he was going easy on her when he said "for the frosting on the brownies, I want a ribbon around the edge, but it won't be hard because you don't have to tie a bow or anything..." Oh boy, I'm a little nervous. Oh yeah, he specifically requested that my dad do the scrambled eggs because "he knows how to do it right"

Thanks mom and dad for being so good to your grandson! Carson's birthday isn't actually until Thursday, but my parents are going to Indiana tomorrow so they wanted to celebrate early.


Today Parker started preschool....FINALLY! His buddy from soccer, Jacob, is also in his preschool class so that made the day a little less scary. When Parker got home today I asked him if he had fun. He said "Yes!" I asked him what he did and he said "I dunno, stuff." I need to have my lecture on "specific is terrific" with him.




Today I decorated my house for Halloween. Who would have made a cuter girl?
Parker, age 2:


Or Cameron, age 7 months:


I think Parker wins, hands down!

PT update:
Sam came with me to Cameron's physical therapy appointment today. We had a good experience with our therapist. She took her time and explained everything to us and was positive about Cameron's progress. I feel much better about the whole situation now. Unfortunately, I have a huge laundry list of exercises that we have to do with Cameron every day. UG! If anybody is bored, come "play" with Cameron and help me do some neck strengthening with him. It's amazing how a few messed up neck muscles can affect so many things. One example: Because of his neck, if he turns quickly to the left while sitting up, he falls down. Weak neck muscles or just milk-drunk? You decide!

Okay, I gotta go wrap some presents....soooooo tylered......

Idaho Falls...But We Didn't See Any Falls

On Friday my family traveled to the great metropolis of Idaho Falls. My sister-in-law's sister got married so we went up for her reception. Congratulations Traci and Jeff!!!

Because I'm lame, I didn't get a picture of the groom...however, I DID get a great shot of the bride! See her? She's between Darren and Susan's head. Squint and look harder, you'll see her.


Nothing like a good game of Phase 10 while at a wedding reception. Well, unless you drink, that probably makes everything seem fun or funny...at least that is what the commercials tell me. I came in last place on Phase 10, which is just fine. However, don't say the words "carrie lost" and "monopoly" in the same sentence or I may have to open up a can of 'Whoop A' on you.

A big THANKS to Nalani for the hotel room and another big THANKS to my parents for letting Carson sleep in your room!

My boys. Yes, Sam was tired. He fell fast asleep just after this picture was taken, jeans and all.


On Saturday we went to Menan, which is were my Dad was born and raised. This is one of the Menan Butte's. We used to hike up this butte when we were little chillins. This picture is taken from my dad's childhood house.


We then headed to Rexburg to have a birthday celebration for my nephew Kevin who turns 10 today, for Carson who turns 8 on Thursday, and for my brother's nephew Luke, who turns 4 on the 11th (I believe). Pinatas are one of my favorite birthday activities. I love watching the kids scramble!
Nut jobs.

The three birthday boys. Susan was smart because she put 10 candles on 1/3 of the cake, 8 candles on another 1/3, and 4 candles on the final 1/3. We lit the candles and the three boys blew out their own candles. Oh yeah, a big thanks to Traci because the birthday cake was actually left over wedding cake. SCORE!


Cameron was a little fussy because his first two teeth were cutting through his bottom gums this weekend. So, Sam took him outside to chill out. With the whole teeth thing, Cameron also discovered his tongue. See?!?!?


He was a trooper though, even while working on new teeth he could still ham it up for the camera!

After the party, we decided to go check out the site of the old Tetom Dam. The dam breaking, while tragic, changed the course of my life forever. My parents were living in Salt Lake and had decided to move into a house in Menan. The moving van was all packed and they were moving to Idaho the next morning. Well, the dam broke that day and washed away the house they were going to move into. So, instead we ended up in Ucon Idaho (by Idaho Falls). Who knows what would have happened if I grew up in Menan? Maybe I would have been a farmer. Shudder.

Besides being kind of cold, the outing was awesome and beautiful.


Just to prove something to my friend Ryan, I let Sam take pictures without people in them sometimes!


Next we headed to the Saint Anthony Sand Dunes. Very popular place for ATVs, college students, and city folk. I came here several times while going to Ricks College. It's a fun place for bonfires in the summer and sledding in the winter. Again, it was chilly, but we had fun and the kids got extremely dirty and sandy so overall, a success.


After watching my nephew Kevin jump off sand dunes, Sam decided he wanted to be like Kevin.


Saturday night we let the kids swim in the hotel pool. I don't know why I have even paid for THREE, yes THREE sessions of swim lessons for Parker because he almost drowned THREE times! Thanks to my dad for rescuing him the first time, and thanks to Sam for rescuing him the other two times. It left me frazzled, to say the least. I probably wasn't very fun to hang out with after that, so to my family, I totally apologize. Next time I'll bring a life jacket for him!