Carter is 10!

Carter celebrated his 10th birthday last week! I can hardly believe that I've been a mother for a decade! We started the birthday celebrations the weekend before his birthday. As usual, he wanted to go to breakfast for his birthday so we had to go a few days before so we could do it on a Saturday. We went to a local place called The Maltby Cafe that was highly recommended. The food was amazing. Carter got a huge pancake breakfast - 4 pancakes, 4 scrambled eggs, 6 pieces of bacon and OJ. He ate the entire thing! He has turned into a typical boy bottomless pit with food the past few months.

The girls got yummy food too but especially loved their HUGE servings of hot chocolate. Allen got eggs benedict california style (with fresh tomato and avocado) and I got blackberry crepes with creme fraiche (where have you been all my life?!)

His actual birthday was on Tuesday. We woke up and had strawberry Nutella crepes for breakfast and then opened his presents before school.

He got a Broncos hat and invention kit from my parents, some scouting things from Allen's mom and a few treats, a Madden xbox game and an iPod touch from us. He's been wanting an iPod for a few years and we finally relented this year. I have very mixed feelings about taking this step and we have lots of rules in place regarding it but we have LOTS of travel coming up this year and we thought it would be a great for him to have during our trips. He was thrilled!

 After school he had piano lessons but we let him skip basketball practice so he could stay home and play with his new stuff. He requested his favorite chicken dish and chocolate eclair cake for dinner.

 Carter is such a fun and interesting kid to be the parent of. His curiosity knows no bounds and he is always excited to learn about and try new things. Sometimes I think he has NO fear of anything and he is anxious to try everything. He is very talkative and will talk your ear off about things that are interesting to him - especially sports, video games, books he reads and the places he wants to travel to. He is really polite and can carry on a conversation with anyone. Carter still has A LOT of initiative to do things on his own. Earlier this year he decided to read the Book of Mormon on the same schedule as Allen and the YM. He actually finished well before Allen did without ever receiving any prodding from us. He loves to play, watch and talk about all sports. He got really into football this year and loved watching games and talking strategy with Allen. He played soccer this fall after taking a couple years off and really loved the game and got really competitive. He is playing basketball this winter and is enjoying that too. He still loves to play the piano and is getting ready to participate in a competition this spring. He is only one level behind me and is getting so good! It is so fun to watch the years of lessons and practicing pay off! Carter loves to read and is doing well in school and loves to hang with his friends. He recently started chess club and is learning lots of good strategy and loves playing games when he can rope one of his parents into it.

Carter's great ambition is to become an anesthesiologist and he talks about going to medical school all the time. He is always trying to rope us into to taking him on trips and begs to go to some exotic location almost every day. It is hilarious! He still LOVES to tease his sisters and it sometimes drives me crazy! He is still super competitive but is getting better with sportsmanship a little bit at a time. We are incredibly grateful for the bright spirit that Carter is and the energy he brings to our family. We are grateful that he loves his sisters and stands up for them when needed. We love watching him grow up to be a great young man!