Happy 3rd Birthday, Carson!

Carson age 8 months (November 2007)

I've been such a slacker this year. . . I think Carson's 2nd birthday was three posts ago! Just kidding. It was four.

This year, when I asked him what kind of birthday cake he wanted, he said, "twucks, twailoos, an' mooses." The room slowly faded out and I had this amazing vision of a beautiful cake I would make which would artfully tie together these three necessities. And then I thought to myself, "Self, when will you accomplish this?" The answer was blunt and dismal, yet surprisingly relieving: "As soon as you call Albertson's and order it!" Well, the one in their picture looked better than the one we got, but in the end, it had a truck, a trailer, AND a moose (that we found in the playroom, washed off, and slapped on top of the cake).

VOILA!

This is his new John Deere Gator. . .

. . . that he refused to drive himself. Thanks, Dillon, for the ride!

So anyway, let's NOT take the "just call Albertson's" approach to reviewing a Year of Carson and celebrate his accomplishments over the past 12 months:

Carson has spent the last TWELVE months pursuing his car obsession. He has perfected the art of seeking out the BEST surface available in any environment on which to slowly move his cars back and forth. When visiting our local furniture retailer recently (for a new mattress set--GREAT news, but not for this post. . . )for example, Carson suggested we purchase a certain couch. Why? Because it had bumps. Now this may not make sense to the casual observer, but to we his parents, this was no mystery. Bumps make carplay all the rage!

Here he is with the car Papa Foof sent him for his birthday.
He played with it literally for HOURS!

Here, he and his friend Dillon found a ladder turned on its side and guess what?
It made the PERFECT road!

Carson has spent the better part of his 3rd year (or is it his 2nd--I get confused by this--has he just completed his second year or his third year? But he just turned 3? See my confusion????) anyway, I'm getting off-topic here. He has spent the better part of this last year learning the craft of stealth. Stealth? Stealth. This is how it's done: First, you sweetly tell your parents goodnight. You say your prayers, full of stuff about Jesus and being a good boy. THEN, when Mom and Dad have left the room, you pause. You listen. You wait. When all is silent, you gently push back your covers, and test the silence with one foot and then the other. Finally, you fully emerge from your sad, lonely little twin-sized bed and head for the greener, warmer, and cozier pastures of your big sister's full-sized bed. Doesn't matter that she doesn't want you there, that your very presence rumples the smoothness of a bed fit for a princess. You cast the stuffed animals and perfectly-placed pillows aside with one sturdy sweep, and slowly climb under the covers. Unfortunately for Carson, his giggles and Annie's shrieks usually give him away, but more often than not, I go in and move him back to his bed before I collapse into mine. They look so cozy, but they wake up more slowly in the morning if they're in separate beds. I look at it as a "pay now, play later" situation.

How cute is that?

Carson also became a big brother this last year. Now, that is a pretty big deal. He's all over that until Rhett approaches the DMZ surrounding his (Carson's) cars. Whenever I hear the door of the playroom shut following this sound: "WETT! Stay away from my CARS!", I know what has happened. Carson has dragged Rhett by his heels out of the playroom and has shut the door. I know what we'll be learning during year #4: sharing! Most of the time, however, he is really quite cute with his little brother. It's really been fun to watch.

Twinner jammies!

The best part about the past year is how much more Carson has been able to do with us. Here are some random pictures:

He and Annie slept outside in the back yard
with Dad (and Jack) a number of times.

Frolicking with Jack (and Uncle Tim and Annie) in the Great Salt Lake.

Jack and Carson have become quite close.

He was excited to help his dad
any time a tractor or skidster was involved.

He has gotten quite brave on the horse.

And he was most helpful with the raking of the leaves.

Here he is hanging out with Maisey in the dog house.
Boy's best friend! (well for a few minutes, anyway)

And although it would appear that he and the potty
weren't the best of pals,
this last year also saw him potty-trained.
In less than a week.
That's my boy!

In all seriousness, however, he is growing up to be quite the cutie pie. He is VERY funny, VERY handsome, VERY flirtatious, and VERY sweet. He absolutely loves his family, his grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, friends, and neighbors. We are so lucky to have such a happy and funny son.

Happy Birthday, little man!
We LOVE you!

UPDATE!!

I left the date for when I first began the Christmas post, so it doesn't show up as new, but scroll down for the Droubay Family Christmas report!! AND stay tuned. . . I'm in a bloggin' mood lately. . .

Funny Annie. . . Again

So tonite we were cleaning the house and Annie was telling me about someone who was being "ornery" and (I know this is not very nice) I said "well, she comes by it honestly so cut her some slack" more to make Ryan laugh than anything. And Annie looked at me innocently and wide-eyed and said, "well, Mom, I TRY to cut her some slack,
but she doesn't WANT any of the slack!"

I thought that was pretty funny,
even if I had to portray myself so in such an un-Christlike way to share it.

( Again, I didn't really mean it,
I just wanted to make Ryan laugh)

really

Adios Holiday Season. . .

I hope the rest of you were able to enjoy your couple of weeks of holiday blitz--I'd call it bliss, but we all know it's really alot more than that. For us, it included NOT getting up for school, staying up probably a little too late, eating meals at Grandma and Grandpa's, new toys, too many Christmas cookies, and a whole lotta movie watching and cuddling on the couch. It was great. So, let's take a quick photo-tour of the Droubay Christmas Holiday 2010:

Here we are baking cookies.
What do you think of our sprinkling talents?

Christmas Eve Eve is always spent at Ryan's Grandpa's cousin (did you get that?) Maxine's house. This is always ALWAYS interesting. This year, Annie got to be an angel and Carson said he wanted to be Joseph (even though he was the smallest kid there--but noone else was volunteering) but then he disappeared, so our 3rd cousin Logan was gracious enough to step in. The role of baby Jesus was played ever so well by none other than Rhett, who at age 6 months, did his very best to be the sweet newborn Son of God.

This party always marks the beginning of that 48-hour festival of food, family, fantasy, and fun known to this family as Christmas.

This was the coziest Christmas Eve scene:
Annie (who "isn't tired") fell asleep on the couch
and I just thought it was a total Kodak moment.
I still get warm fuzzies remembering how peaceful she looked all curled up.
The only thing missing was a blanket!

On Christmas Eve, we traditionally go to Ryan's parents for soup, shrimp, and an informal Christmas program that includes among other things reading the Nativity story, some Christmas carols, SEVERAL laughs, and . . .

. . .a new set of Christmas pajamas for the kiddos.

Oh man, I never thought the kids would go to sleep that night! They were so pumped, and with good reason. Why on earth would any parent expect children to sleep when they are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Jolly Old Elf and his sack-o-joy? For these children, the very thought of the Barbie computer and "twucks" and "twailoos" (that would be trucks and trailers) they'd asked for was nearly as exciting as Christmas morning itself.


A couple of years ago, I started taking pictures of the kids in the morning (in their Christmas pajamas) waiting for the "green light" from dad. Unfortunately, my so-so camera skills coupled with their Christmas morning ecstasy enabled me to only get ONE non-blurry picture--and although they appear a tad bit grumpy, I can assure you that only the opposite was true:

they were PSYCHED!

And who could blame them? Not only had Santa completely finished the plateful of delectable cookies (sprinkled and baked by the kids themselves), but he had left a note as well! WOW! Bonus points for Dad here, and I chuckled at the part where Santa gave them specific direction to try to be better. We'll just have to see if they heed his advice. . .


Another tradition we started several years ago (if I may digress from talking about my human children to type a tidbit about my beloved canine Jack) was to wrap Jack's Christmas gift in tissue paper and watch him go CrAzY while he opens it and plays with it for a few minutes.

This year was no different.

After a while, we made our way over to Ryan's parents to spend the rest of the day. It was really nice to watch the kids enjoy their grandparents (and the gifts they received there) and relax (and watch Star Trek) and EAT YUMMY FOOD! Thank goodness for Honey Baked Ham! Best served cold in this blogger's humble opinion. . .



While at Grandma's, Annie decided to set up shop with her new Barbie computer. It was hilarious. I don't know if you can tell by the picture, but she had quite the setup! It was funny to watch her arrange the table and bring over little holiday decorations to enhance the ambiance of her workspace!

Annie in her little office--she literally sat there for hours.
Easily the highlight of her Christmas!

Speaking of highlights, although he was totally thrilled with his trucks and trailers, books, and other toys, we could not pull Carson away from the Hess racing car that Grandma and Grandpa Foof sent out to him. It had a baby race car in the trunk. What is cooler than that for the boy who LOVES cars?

Here he is totally relaxed
(alongside another totally relaxed critter)
playing with his race car.

The highlight for Rhett (and us as well) was Grandma and Grandpa Droubay's gift. Around Christmas time, he was letting us know in his own special way that he was sick of his toys and anxious for the next challenge of childhood. However, he had made NO efforts to sit up or change his environment in any way. Therefore, we were perplexed. But no longer, he loves sitting in his chair and playing!

Cute Cute Cute!

The day after Christmas, we met up with Aunt Gretchen at Chuck-E-Cheese to hang out. She and Uncle Jeremy had flown out from New York to spend the holidays with Jeremy's family in Logan. Turns out, this was the perfect choice for that day. The kids absolutely loved it and got to see their aunt and uncle.

Here are Annie and Gretchen playing
what was MY favorite Chuck-E-Cheese game.
I totally rocked.

I don't know what game this was,
but I do know it was too hard for me!
Hand-eye coordination has never been my strong-suit. . .

During the week following Christmas, there were several moments that caught my attention as well as the lens of my camera:


First of all, this shot reminded me of the early Christmas present that Carson gave me: I had decided that my project for the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas would be to potty-train Carson. It took a day or two. SERIOUSLY. Best gift ever.

I kept trying to get pictures of all three kids. . .

And all three kids in Santa hats. Best I could do was this one!

The week between Christmas and New Years is one for relaxing.
Annie and Jack had this one down pat!

Rhett was going through this
ADORABLE
sticking-his-tongue-out phase.

Words are not necessary. But I DO know I'm biased. . .

Wonder if Santa is missing an elf?
Those "shoes" were actually Santa hats.
The creativity of this girl astounds me daily!

Another of our favorite holiday traditions includes dinner out on New Year's Eve with the Droubay family and then the par-tay at Oma and Opa's afterward. Here is Oma with the great-grandkids del Rico.



On New Year's Day, we go to Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Cox's for the Annual Cox Family Christmas Party. What a blast! We have a CraZy White Elephant gift exchange (complete with a white elephant, thank you very much) and the kids get to do a pinata. Awesome.

Swing, Carsie, swing!

Well, I sure hope you all enjoyed your holiday. We definitely made the most of ours. Best wishes for a happy new year (and I hope I get the next holiday/main event posted in less time than it took me to post this one. . . . )