FIRST DAY!

Sadie couldn't wait for school to start this year!

She was ready for the big "K". I warned her that it would be a different school with different kids and teachers, not wanting to be unprepared for the changes she would face. When I asked if she was nervous or worried, she confidently told me "Nope, I'm excited!" I'm glad she gets that from her dad. I would have been a nervous wreck!

Sadie has been to a whole week of school now and she loves it. I'm glad its just for a half day though, because I would miss her too much. (Plus, since its PM class I don't have to get up as early!)

It has been an adjustment for me to get used to the Charter School's Montessori way of teaching. I am used to traditional teaching but since

1) We have heard so many good things about the school from people we know and trust

2) They have some of the best test scores in the district

3) Admission is by chance "lottery" drawing (except siblings of current students get first priority) and we happened to get a "lucky number"

we thought we should give it a try.

Sadie is our first and our "guinea pig". Being the oldest in my family, I've been there too. I know Sadie will do great. Hopefully I will too.

Recipes!

My sister-in-law started a recipe networking blog! I am really excited because I love to get new recipes and also because I am hoping to learn how to cook more ethnic foods. Patty is a great cook and since she is originally from Mexico she has some great Mexican recipes. Some of the other members are also from other countries and I am hoping they will also post something I can try. :) If you are interested in becoming an author as well please leave a comment and we will send you an invitation. Anyone with yummy recipes to share is welcome!

http://ourownfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/

"Its always an adventure with the Carters"

Jenni's comment on a previous post is a perfect title for this post. Our trip to Lake Hogan was a complete disaster. There was good mixed with the bad, but really, there wasn't much more that could have gone wrong on this trip. The 5th wheel had electrical problems, the Tahoe lost its power steering, the boat had a serious electrical fire, the boat had mechanical problems (unrelated to the fire) and wouldn't start in the middle of the lake causing us to need to find someone to tow us back, the Truck towing the 5th wheel wouldn't start.... sheesh! So now we are back, Jason is working on fixing the power steering in the Tahoe, the Truck is at the dealership, we still need to take the boat in and call the manufacturer of the 5th wheel. Aren't vacations supposed to be relaxing?!

Anyway, here are some pictures of the FUN we had in between all that:

Week at the Coast Post #2

As promised, I have stolen pictures from my brother-in-law's blog and my sister-in-law's facebook to bring you this next post:

Fishing

Isn't this picture of a Ling Cod's mouth great! Great catch Chris!

My fisherman

Now those are manly hands!

Family

Zackary

Sadie

Cameron, Maddi and Todd enjoy smores

Madison, Noah and Chase on the beach

Cameron and Maddi

Brenden's sand race car (ok, so he isn't family but isn't that car awesome!)

Braden, probably throwing sand or rocks if I had to guess

Mackenzie would not let Papa out of her sight!

Some of the Carter cousins together

The 60's Era Hippies' Party!

We had a fun time tie-dying shirts for this event. The costumes were great!

I still have to laugh when i look at my father-in-law's costume. It was great! How can he go from this

to this

to this!

The decor was awesome as always

And the chefs did a wonderful job as well!

Can't wait for next year!!!

We recently got back from a WEEK LONG vacation at the Coast! It was awesome! It was the first whole week Jason has taken off since he started his business. We were able to camp with most of Jason's family. His parents, Chris' family, Nathan's family, Jen's family and the Bellante's also joined the Carter family for a day or two as well. We had lots of beach time, Jason went on a couple fishing trips, went to the light house, to the river, to the park, to the annual Anchor Bay party (this year was Hippie's theme), etc., etc. Here are a few pics:


Braden

Bruiser

Mackenzie

Blue eyes :)

Sadie and Zackary boxing on wii while the babies take naps

Cameron and Sadie at the fish house with the catch of the day



Beach time!



On trail to the town behind the campground

Braden's obsession

Beautiful day at the river

Splashing with cousins

LOVING the Ocean!

Beach Babe

The grand kids take a walk with Nana on the beach

Stay tuned for more pics that I copy from Chris' blog. Or just visit his blog yourself. ;) See Chris and Traci link to the right.

On the Delta

Since my camera is retarded, I saved these pictures a friend took to my computer from Facebook. Is there a way to copy them with better resolution?

Don't you love that hair and those glasses?!