Happy 5th Birthday Carter!!!

Carter's birthday was Tuesday the 22nd, also the first day of Fall, something he loves to mention! After school, his Aunt Anna baked cupcakes and we met them as well as my in-laws at the playground for a few hours. Pop-pop showed up for a few mins as a special surprise. We hadn't seen him in a few weeks b/c he was wrapping up his radiation treatments. The kids were so excited to see him.

For dinner, Carter requested his favorite meal, ribs. Before he was born, I had never made ribs in my life. My brother Mike, now a southerner and fantastic cook helped me over the phone and now we have them a few times a year. This time, I accidentally bought country ribs (not knowing there was a difference). I cooked them the same way I normally do by putting a dry rub on, then grill them till crispy, wrap in foil and bake at about 300 for 2-3 hrs, add bbq sauce for last 20 mins in oven. And presto....Yummo!!! They turned out great. The country ribs are less expensive and have a lot more meat on the bone. So, it was a good mistake b/c I'll buy those fron now on. Carter also requested corn on the cob, but the local farm where we usually buy the corn was not selling it that day, so he settled for frozen corn. :-) We also had waffle fries and he asked for milkshakes rather than cake this year for desert. What a feast! He ate his dinner on the special red plate. This was a gift from a friend when he was born. We pull it out on special occasions and then mark on the back to remember them by.

Here he is sporting his new lizard watch. One of his gifts was a watch with hands b/c he wanted to learn to tell time.

After dinner, he opened the motorcycle toy and dinosaur set. You'll notice...he's wearing all red. He dresses himself now and he said since it was his bday and red's his favorite color he wanted to wear all his red clothes today!

I made chocolate milkshakes with m&m's and Jeremy started a fire in the fire pit so we could have desert outside.My parents came back from SC that night and stopped by to give Carter some birthday hugs!

I can't believe he's five! I remember the doctor announcing "it's a boy" and holding him for the first time. What a great day. Carter's changed our lives forever and I really am blessed to have him. I would say his favorite things in life are his dad and trucks. He works so hard and has since he was little. I've always been amazed at how focused for such a young kid he is, especially if Jeremy is with him. He still gets up at the crack of dawn to say goodbye to dad every morning. He loves his bike and soccer, as well as dirt and anything with an engine. He can't wait to play on the soccer team at school next year. Happy Birthday Carter. We love you to pieces!!