Or I'll Huff and I'll Puff...

Allison and Amanda had a great time at their princess party last Saturday. We had about 15 little rugra.. er, sweet darling children attend our party for about 2 hours. The games and respective winners included:

Bean Bag Toss - Alan Fackrel, age 7. He is about a foot taller than everyone else, and the gold medal wouldn't fit over his head.

Kiss the Frog - Tie between Allison, age 5 and Coker age 6. Allison still can be seen wearing her medal.

Ditch the Witch - Cooper, age 2. It was a real contest between sweet little Cooper and Coker; the kid who was menacingly pointing his finger in the crying faces of those that were stuck with the apple when the music stopped and shouting "ditch the witch, ditch the witch!

A good time was had by all. Thank you notes for all the giffs are "in the mail" (not yet written, but the intent to do so is still strong)

Grilled Cheese Fungus

I decided that Nathan had taken his last lap around the table and Jacob had thrown his grilled cheese sandwich across the table for the last time and both were done with lunch for today. I always try not to waste food so I began to finish Jacobs sandwich. As I am about to take the last bite, Nathan informs me that since I had asked him to stay in his chair and Jacob had thrown his sandwich on the floor, that he picked it up with his feet, grabbed it with his hands and then handed it back to Jacob, who then threw it across the table. I looked down at the sandwich in my hands. . .

I always knew Brazil nuts were good for something.

Now, instead of picking them out of the trail mix and throwing them away, we can have the increased mobility and balance provided by six toes.

A message for Cameron.

Sky from Jokake says hi.

He's doing a remodel here at our office. I recognized him from when he did the build out of the office of my previous employ. I don't think he recognized me, and I didn't refresh his memory because my previous employer made that job not so fun for him.

Nice guy. You should grow your hair out and spike it up like his.

Courtney didn't like the last picture

Maybe she will appreciate this one.



Or this other one. If you don't like any of those, you may need to consult w/ the genius sister in law.

Change of Scenery

Sorry Colm, she only deserves 3 days of ridicule for staying in bed.

I'm wide awake, it's morning.

Someone had a tough time getting out of bed this morning. I was picking up the house (it looked like we had a party here last night) and it came time to make the bed, but somebody wouldn't budge.

A little health concern

The State Fair season is upon us and it is time for our annual plea to people on this blog. PLEASE DO NOT GO ON THE TILT-A-WHIRL this year. There are some definite health hazards in store. First, it is very hard to tell if there has been antiseptic spray to cleanse the riding car--and you do not know if it was done by a certified professional or just the itinerant "sawdust-spreader" that they hire as they come into town.
Realistically, we can avoid a lot of problems if we use this practical safety guide:
1. Don't pay good money for the ride.
2. If you do, take lots of anti-biotics.
3. If you are in line, watch out for barfing fair-goers.
4. If the ride is next to the chile dog stand, stand way back.

Enjoy the fair.

Halloween starts a little early this year.

In Spanish

I was helping a friend with her preschool on Tuesday and they start their day with the pledge of allegiance. At the end of the pledge Nathan turned to me and said, "I don't know this one, it must be in Spanish". So if any of you could translate the following words into English, Nathan might find it helpful: pledge, allegiance, republic, nation, indivisible (I cant tell if these big words threw him off, or if it is because the pledge tends to be slured into sentences that sound like big long words.)

My Favorite Part of the Party

On our way home last night we asked every one what their favorite part of the princess party was. Nathan's favorite part was the CD player he gave to Allison, Dad's favorite part was playing with balls downstairs, Jacobs favorite part was, "Baa" and mine of course was. . .

Result of the Carter Family Photo Fiasco

All I got from conference was my two front teeth.

I'll give you all two chances to guess who has two bottom teeth growing in...

... and no, it's not Aubrey (I hope).

Family Picture

As much as I like the most recent Carter Family Photo (this is isn't it, but it's all I could find), it is missing a few of us and so I give you.... the Carter Family Photo Fiasco!

Tomorrow after the second session of General Conference, at 3:00 p.m., just before dinner we are taking a family photo at Carl & Brooke's. It is imperative that everyone attend and that the following attire be worn:

Boys: Light blue polo or dress shirt, preferably short sleeved. Go for this color, and no darker than this color.

Girls: White polo shirt or blouse, preferably short sleeved

See you there!

Funny boys

I don't know who teaches them this stuff, but they sure have fun being silly.

Nathan found my extendable fork and decided he thought it was "hilarious" to use it to eat pancakes.

Watching Conference

We are not watching General Conference with Greg or Carl today, but I am guessing that we would be seeing a lot more of this. Wake Up! It is tough to listen with your eyes closed.

PETA hates me.

To find out why, check my site.

What does the tooth fair do with all those teeth?

At Nathan's school last week they talked all about teeth
There was a slip of paper in his cubby today that read:
What does the tooth fairy do with all those teeth?
Nathan said, "She puts them on her head, she puts them in her pocket"

Just thought you would all like to know where your childhood teeth went.

Ebay Powerseller 2006!!!!!

I have attained Ebay excellence! With Courtney's account I have now obtained 100% feedback on 120 transactions. Six Sigma could take a lesson from me. The picture will show the requirements for the Ebay Powerseller!

Springerville Unit 3: 2006 Power Project of the Year

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association's Springerville Unit 3 earns POWER's highest honor

Check out this article:

http://www.powermag.com/archive_article.asp?a=34-CS_PY&y=2006&m=september

This is how I really answered....

How Nate really proposed.

Men Holding Hands

I know I shouldn't tease, because some of "the wives" (I won't mention any names) tried this little game and couldn't even balance on the yoga balls, let alone try to make each other fall off.

Then again, we may have just been trying to avoid this:

How Warren Jeffs was caught...

Pirates are Old School

What's so new about pirates? If you recall, I have consistently worn my Cap'n Jack hat since May!

AARGH!

How to Make a Hollow Book

I believe Cameron has a few books that are waiting to be hollowed out. I thought this article might give him a few good tips.

Once it's finished, I have some pez dispensers you could hide in there and see how long it takes Nathan to find them.

Hoist the Jolly Roger!

Robert Boos
azcentral.com
Sept. 18, 2006 10:31 AM

"Avast, me hearties, and send up the flag!Lend a little swagger to your speech this Tuesday -- September 19 is "International Talk Like a Pirate Day." Aye, matie, it's true, if the legend according to their website is accurate. One summer day ten years ago, two scallywags from Oregon, John Baur and Mark Summers, were playing racquetball. And for reasons they don't even understand they began shouting their encouraging platitudes to each other in pirate-speak. Because, you know, pirates and racquetball go hand-in-hand. The banter was such jolly fun, the pair decided it needed it's own day of celebration. "

Yard by yard

The yard is full of trenches but at least they got the street sign in. Look for a grand opening in about a month!

I saw this magazine at the pediatrician's office...

They're a shoe-in for this cute kid contest.

We're Back....

...in action. Cameron got a chair in the kitchen, so 4 calls to Qwest tech support and 3 hours later, we have internet access. The short of it is that Best Buy sold us a bad modem, but I was able to recover the firmware and make it work. Happy Surfing, Robyn!! BTB, it is Robyn's job to get all of our past due posts up on the blog. If someone knows how to edit this and link to that post, feel free...

Allison & Manda Photo Op

Allison and Amanda had a photo shoot last week. All of their pix can be found at:

http://promotionalimaging.com/gallery2/main.php

Click on "View Proofs Here" (blue box)

Password = Cartergirls

Poppie's newzzzzz

Truly.
I have been hanging around Cameron and Robyn much too long and they have tainted me with their "scofflaw" lifestyle. So I get up this morning early to write down the license plate number of my pickup (yes, I had to make a second trip to get the last two digits of the VIN) and I have a PARKING TICKET for parking right in front of my home. We have a construction zone going on here and I parked just like I usually do...but now some Barney Fife cop came after 8 pm and before 5 am and nabbed me.
I will get even....just watch. Next time they call me to donate to the policeman's ball--I will rear back in my lounger chair and laugh. Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha. AH-ha-ha-ha-ha. Take that $27 and shove it my copper-badged friends. Who did this? Ponch or John? Barney or Goober? Have they nothing to do but comb the cul-de-sacs looking for innocent victims? I am a first-time offender FCOL!

All the things Robyn & Cameron need to post.

#1 The Halloween napkin story
#2 Beach photos
#3 Beach stories
#4 Huge swollen ankle story
#5 Pictures of swollen ankle
#6 "My comedian is cooler than your comedian" story
#7 "Why I didn't vote on Prop 401"
#8 Robyn's grand prize ribbon from a gymnastics meet (she did a perfect twist flip).
#9 The time Cameron found a huge wad of money in a Walmart parking lot.
#10 "Did someone leave the shower on all day?"


* 8-10 may or may not have been made up by me.

The Breakdown

In honor of the 100th post on the blog which we owe our gratitude to Nick for pointing out, I have done a breakdown of how many posts each of the Contributors have created. Here is the breakdown:

Cameron - 7
Aubrey - 26
Colman - 15
Scrap Happy - 3
Carlos - 14
Courtney - 16
robyn - 10
QuilterB - 0
BigNathan - 0
Nick - 10


I think these stats tell us 2 things.

#1 - Some of you need to be creating posts a little more often.

#2 - I am a little bit out of control.

Fall Makeover

If you don't like the new colors, please drop a polite and none-too-harsh complaint into the comment box.

Who said I was hard-headed?

Actually, I was hard-hatted. Here is a picture of me while working for Bechtel on the Springerville Project. We built the structure in the background.I t started generating electricity on July 21 of this year, so feel free to plug in all of your electronic gizmos!

BTB, this is the 100th posting on the Carter Family Blog!

Poppie's newzzzzz

Poppie's newzzzzz

Is it my birthday?

My favorite moment of the weekend up at the cabin was during a rousing game of Guesstures, when Brooke looked up from her sewing and asked "Is it my birthday?" Sorry for keeping you up so late, Brooke.

In close second was Carl's depiction of "energetic."

Poppie's newzzzzz

We are adding a fourth bathroom!
As part of our extensive yard-makeover, the Carter home in Scottsdale will have a fourth bathroom for guests. It is a PORTAPOTTY! Let's just say that this structure will grace our construction site for about six weeks while the worker's get busy with our landscape project.
Actually, I am OK with it....I am not one to invite sweaty strangers to our commode. It is a good thing--and I suppose that if a non-stranger wants to enjoy the experience of that system--go for it!

Who is up for an adventure?

So I think that we should buy a castle.



Please visit the following two websites for more information on this opportunity.

Royal Castle Estate
Historic Property

I really think that this could be a great thing for our entire family. Imagine all of the things we could do if we all lived in this castle... If you don't want to share it, there are plenty of 3 bedroom bungalows that we could each have, and then just hang out in the castle. We could rent it out. Aubrey's Dad could paint it and sell the paintings. We could stage sword fights there, and maybe even open up a theme park. There are a million other possibilities. What do you think?

The apple, I mean peach, of my eye...

I have been getting a lot of flack for not posting my Easy Peach Cobbler recipe....here it is! Hope your peaches aren't moldy yet!

12 Fresh Peaches
1 c. water
1 c. white sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1-18.25 oz. pkg. white cake mix
1-8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1/2 c. butter

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Spread peaches evenly onto 9"x13" baking dish. Combine water and sugar, stir to dissolve. Pour over peaches. Sprinkle cinnamon over slices followed by cake mix. Top cake mix with pats of cream cheese. Dot cobbler with butter.

Bake 45 min. until golden brown. (just a note, it took about 1 1/2 hours in my oven for some reason...make sure you watch it.)

Addie's choice.

I asked Adeline what she wanted to be for halloween. She either sneezed or said," A seal." I am assuming she meant the animal, not the singer. I tried to tell her that this costume may be a bit warm in Arizona in October... she doesn't care though. I wonder where she got this love of seals from?

Can it at least be children we know?

While I do thank you for not having to look at moldy bread anymore, we have better pictures of these Carter kids in Halloween costumes. Any previews of Landon or Addie are welcome.

Banishing the mold.

Once again, my main motivation for posting is to not have to look at the former post anymore - this time it's the mold. This little dinosaur baby isn't a blood relation at all, but I'd rather look at this picture than moldy bread, so there you go.

This is what Carlos ate for lunch today.

Yummy!

We have a scrapper in our midst...

The Carter Family: Careful what you wish for!

Careful what you wish for!

Poppie's newzzzzz
I met with a very nice landscape architect and told him that we hated our yard layout and told him we had in mind to have a lot more fun and utility than we had. I told him the first thing I want to hear people say was "you have got to be kidding me."

I reviewed the plans, loved the design, saved a few dollars up from denying myself of all luxuries and got the bid. My wish was granted! The first thing out of my mouth was "you have got to be kidding me."

Now, the next time I wish, it will be that people say, "you have a great yard--how did you make it look so beautiful and spend so little?"

Can I put that genie back into the bottle and make the second wish now?

Poppie's newzzzzz

Poppie's newzzzzz

Oh Suzannah! Oh, don't you cry for me.
For I'm going to Alabamy with a banjo on my knee.

For those of you who just love the musical flavor of the day, we have a new banjo in the family. Come to find out, it has five strings--one for each finger, I suppose. In short order, there will be some "pickin' and grinnin'" going on--although we have asked those who pick without a banjo being on the scene--please have some disgression.

So, I guess we wait for the CD of the yodeling banjo player? We hope it will be a nice diversion for us all.

Happy Birthday Colman!!!

Twenty Six!!

I will never forget the summer of 1980 when Colman was born. This is partly because I had a new baby brother, but mostly because his birth kept me from going camping with Dad and Nick. Nick, however, still got to go (w/ Jonathan Updike), and came back with tales of a witch's cave that was near the campsite. Oh how sad (and jealous) I was...but of course happy that I had a little brother to wrestle and play with.

Well, Colman has turned out to be a good brother and friend to all of us. I guess I am no worse off having missed out on the witch's cave. I have been in plenty of caves since that time (many with Colman), but never found a witch. Mostly it has been just stinky air,dripping water, small spaces, and some salamanders that once surprised the heck out of us.

I think that we should use this opportunity to tell some of the things we like and admire about Colman, and I will start:

1. Colman was always up for a good game of TFB, especially in the winter time.
2. You could count on Colman whenever you wanted to call a baseball card "Trading Session", even if we never actually traded cards. As a note - when we did actually make a trade, Nick always "gypped us" out of our good cards.
3. He has more talent than I do at just about everything except for basketball, but that is only because I am slightly taller than he is.
4. He's Michael. (and Nick is Fredo)
5. Colman can sing a great "Space Oddity". We are looking forward to hearing that one again soon and getting it on video.

Please feel free to continue the list. Happy Birthday Colman!

The Carter Family

In the country of Carter, we have three new applicants for adoption/temporary asylum. Troy, Tiffany and Audrey Hill were over last night, were comfortable and were served a nice dinner to entice them over from the dark side. This poor little family has been neglected by their other family members who live too far away.
The formal adoption will be approved upon finding what kind of dishes she can bring to complete the meals provided. She is encouraged to raid her mother's recipe files and make them available to any interested party.

Nice kids, friends to our kids and a beautiful little girl that fits right in.

Karaoke at the Carters'

Left to right: Troy, Nick, Col, Cameron, and Nate (holding the apple juice)

I think we are getting a little too good at this karaoke thing.
Tonight we had several highs and even a few lows.

For most of the night the high score was held by Nick with "Happy Together". Nick was dethroned by Troy and I singing a chilling rendition of "It's Your Love". Later that score was topped by Troy singing, once again, "It's Your Love". I guess he really likes that song. It may have helped that he stopped after the first 6 words.

The Carter Family

You shoulda got 'em whilst they were hot--because now they're not! I just read at azcentral.com that the six Krispy Kreme stores in Arizona closed. Apparently, they went teats-up (that is a movie term, not a disrespectful commentary on my part) and did not have the dough to continue operations. I think it has been years since I had one of these. Oh, they were good, but drippy right down to the elbows with grease. I can only imagine the hole in people's lives when they consider how empty their lives are going to be without these thigh-packers.

Testing... testing...

okay, we'll see if this works this time! Just wanted to announce that Allison's last soccer game of the season is this evening at 6:30pm. So, if you're not busy and would like to come out to the Y and roast with us and see how cute she is in her soccer uniform, you're welcome!

A lesson on prepositional phrases.

in a chair
on the counter
beside the table
in the kitchen
after lunch
at the Carter residence
in Scottsdale
before I left for work
under much duress
after seeing how cute she is in this chair!

The ones who bake.

A lady at work today was talking about an LDS funeral she attended and in mentioning the food that was so generously provided she said, "What is the name of the ones who bake?"

I didn't quite understand, so she clarified saying "You know, the bakers. The group in your church that is in charge of cooking. Relief something?"

It IS an effective form of advertising!

We were driving down Camelback and 12th st today and Nathan said, "Mom look at that car on the roof, Wow!" We drove a little further past a wavy armed Uncle Sam and Nathan said, "Mom look at that guy, I want to go there."

I rest my case.

Crowded beach...glad we are here in AZ

Just saw this picture...Thank goodness we are not at the beach this summer - it's packed!! Hopefully next year won't be so crowded.

I met David Spade...

...'s Dad. Elipses can be dangerous things.

In college, I worked as a bank teller at Bank of America. You all know that David Spade is from Scottsdale. Well, his dad used to come in to our bank. He didn't have an account with us, but he cashed checks drawn on the bank. So, it was required that he place a fingerprint on each check that he cashed.

I guess he is estranged from David aka Dickie Roberts and Joe Dirt. But that didn't stop him from telling everyone within earshot who his son was!

The Carter Family

I told Brooke that my brother once saw Alan Hale, the captain on Gilligan's Island at a Prime Rib Restaurant in Los Angeles.

Brooke's reply: "That is nothing, I have been married to his look-alike for 33 years.

And all this time, I thought I looked like the young blond kid on The Dukes of Hazzard.

Go figure!

Wow Colman thats impressive

The only famous person I have ever run into was two characters from California Dreams (an imitation of Saved by the Bell that came out when they went off the air). I dont remember their names but I was at Disney land walking backward, and turned around right into the chest of the chinese girl and the slater like guy on the left. Of course it wasnt until later that day that I figured out why they looked familiar. Big stars I know.

Famous people I've seen this year.

Who: Sean Marion

Where: Costco

Interesting thing to note: He was about 4 feet taller than anyone else in the entire building.




Who: Steve Nash

Where: Target

Interesting thing to note: He's even greasier in person. He looked like he hadn't showered in 12 days and he asked me "Hey man, where do they keep the camping gear in this place?"




Who: Charles Barkley

Where: Home Depot

Interesting thing to note: He is the biggest man I have ever seen.









Who: Mike Tyson

Where: This morning driving in his car. He stopped next to me at a stoplight.

Interesting thing to note: I recognized him from his eye tattoo. He turned and stared at me and I almost peed my pants I was so scared.

Everyone say "hello" to Landon.

Pictures are up and they can be seen here.