ELEVEN! WHAT!?!

CARTER AND CARSON ARE 11!!! How and when did that happen. Sometimes the days seem so long, but then sometimes I wonder how I have been a mother for 11 years already. I will never forget when they brought my first little baby to me, red hair and all. All the nurses were commenting on the red hair, which quickly went away, but kissing Carter for the first time was heaven, to be followed one minute later by another little angel. Being a mother is the strangest of things. It brings out more emotions than anything else I have ever experienced. It is one of the only things that can so frustrating most of the time, but so worth it when you get that good, really good, 10% or less of the time. Those good times make up for EVERYTHING bad that you go through. In one day I can feel every emotion. Total and complete love, as much love as I as a human can possibly feel, total frustration, total failure, total pride, exhaustion, adrenaline, etc. I can catch puke with the best of them, wipe a poopy butt like a pro, clean a urine soaked toilet like a champ, and cook a WHOLE lot of food. And still... they are only 11. I cannot wait to see what the future holds. Oh how I love them!!!

Carter is super independent. He is sooooooooo much like his dad, it is almost scary. The only difference is the maturity levels. I look at Carter and my heart wants to burst at the amazing man that I know he will be. He is smart, and geeky, and creative, and cute, and thoughtful, and so much more. Just today, while playing conference bingo, I saw a mother by herself trying to keep 3 younger boys quiet. I said to Carter, "Let me see your board." Without a question, he gives it to me and watches as I go give it to the mom with all our candy we had left in the bag. She was so grateful, and he just smiled at me, no anger or frustration that I just gave his board away. He has a heart the size of Texas. He would give the shirt off his back to anyone, and do it gracefully. I told him once that we needed to get together some of his clothes for a family that needed his size. I told him to grab jeans without holes, a good pair of shoes, pjs, t-shirts, etc. Without question, he gets a bag and starts putting all those things in. He was putting some of his favorite things in there, knowing it was for a good cause. He is just amazing like that!
Carter is very responsible (when he wants to be) The other day Cael decided to walk home without waiting for his brothers. After searching the whole school and recruiting 5 teachers to help him, he decided to run home and see if he was there. He ran through the door and saw Cael (that was getting his butt chewed by me by the way) and said, "Oh good. You are safe. I have to go back to the school and tell Carson and Caden to come home!" and out the door he ran. No anger at Cael. No frustration. Just relief that he was safe, and was so willing to run home and back to school to tell his brothers. He is such a great helper when we need him to be. He is dedicated and amazing! He has already told us that he wants to go to the temple on his 12th bday. It happens to fall on a Sunday (of course) so he wants to go as soon as possible after that. He is a total "deacon", in all its glory! He doesn't know how to talk to girls, unless he's helping them with something and then he has no problem, and I'm ok with that. He loves sports and is WAY too aggressive in everything but football where he is way timid. Kinda backwards, but I know he will be a great athlete when he gets control of his body. He loves to eat good food. He's not much for frozen or processed. He likes to be healthy. He will eat just about everything I make. He is always checking on me to make sure I am taking good enough care of myself (Just like his dad) He asks me before meals if I have tested my sugars, and if I feel ok, and if I need him to grab something. He is VERY concerned for me, more so than he already is for everyone else. I most definitely see a love for his mother!!! He is super uncomfortable with "snuggling" but wants to ALL the time. It's kinda funny. He will come stand way too close and in my personal space and just look like a beat puppy dog. If I try to hug him he will stiffin even more. But he loves the hugs, so I tease him that he needs to practice giving hugs more, and make him hug me even more. I tell him that when he marries a girl just like his dad did, he will need to know how to just hug her and kiss her all the time, just like his dad! He loves when I tell him how much like his dad he is, because he knows that he has one of the best dads in the world! He is very proud to be like Chet, and I love that I have my "Little McCoy"!!! He is starting to "mature" and it is kicking my butt! Carter's way of dealing is to be angry. He will freak out about just about anything at the craziest times. It's almost funny... almost! Sometimes we record him and show him later and he just gets weirded out telling us he doesn't even believe the video! But he always comes back and gives me an awkward hug!

Carson is... Carson! He is a mini Kimber in so many ways. He is witty and friendly, and like Carter, he LOVES to help people. He is a GREAT older brother. He is soooooooooo good with the babies. He loves little kids. He can play with any little kid, and they all love him. He is very self conscious, and proceeds only when he has thought something through. It's easy for me to get mad when he does something wrong, because I know that he thought it all through and made the decision anyways. He likes to be sarcastic and funny, but in a joe cool way. He was leaning against the truck drinking water and Chet says, where Cars can't hear, "He is just joe cool, huh!" Cars sees me looking at him so he gets a questioning look on his face and mouths what. I winked and motioned I love you with my hand and he gets a little smile and gives me the teenage head nod, like yeah me too. He has no problem giving me 20 hugs a day. He loves when I hug and kiss him, and he gives them back freely. His hair is the most important thing in the mornings. He is very serious about his hair. He still has me do it sometimes and has no shame in it. He loves to dress in style, but not with the brands, but the styles. He loves anything basketball. He just got a hoop in the new house and uses it about 4 hours a day. He is sassy and can make Chet's blood boil in record time. I just get him, so he never ruffles me like he does Chet. He thinks that he knows everything, and will argue and argue until you shut him down. Chet always says he will be a great lawyer. He loves to make money. He is always willing to do anything that makes him money. He cannot wait to start a lawn/yard business. He cannot wait to start earning this year to pay for scout camp. I told him he would get his first cell phone when he got his eagle award. He is full force ahead on getting that done now that he is 11 and can start. It's all about being social for him. He will talk to anyone about anything, and he is really good at carrying on a conversation with adults. Carson LOVES, LOVES, and I mean LOVES to cook! He likes meat and meat and meat. He has just gotten into making a few pieces of bacon everyday. He loves to cook dinner and mostly loves to chop everything up. He eats very different from the rest of the family. He loves anything spicy and meaty. He is good fruit and veggie eater (apples, oranges, watermelon, bell peppers, sweet peppers, asparagus, artichokes, etc) too. Carson is opposite of Carter in that when he is "dealing with maturing" he will just cry. He cries so easy. He will start crying and tell me that I am such a bad mom and so mean and that I don't really care about him, and then 5 minutes later he is hugging me and telling me thanks for everything and how much he loves me and what a great mother I am. I try to stay even with it all. Both boys. I've got a lot to learn!!!

As for presents this year, neither boy had anything really that they could think of that they wanted. Mostly clothing! Carter wanted UA, and Cars likes the Jordan brand, but more because it's basketball. I got him a bunch of And 1 outfits, and he is tickled pink! I asked him just now if he was happy with his presents (money, clothes, posters, gum, drink mixes (just the add to a water bottle great value kind), and slip on shoes, and a Jordan warm up jacket. He said he LOVED his presents. So easy. Carter got most of the same except for shoes and jacket he got under armour and then a hymn book for his scriptures and a subscription to Sports Illustrated. I think he was very happy too. They both picked bacon, sausage, and cinnamon rolls with orange juice for breakfast, and then took 4 of their best friends to Pizza Hut with the family for dinner. They laughed and had a great time being 11 year old geeks. For lunch Cars wanted fish and chips from A&W brought to school, and Carter wanted the family to go out to Smiling Moose (healthy sub shop). They got an ice cream cake from DQ to share with their friends.

Eleven years ago when I became a mother was one of the best days of my life. I make mistakes everyday, and I try harder every day. I love them more than I thought possible, and I hope that they grow to be the amazing young men I can see waiting to bust forth. I don't know what I did to get these amazing boys, but it must have been something good, because they are just the best!!! I love them to the moon and back!!!

Conference

Today was stake conference. We just moved last week and things are a little chaotic at our house. We are also watching 2 boys for our friends for the weekend. So we had 7 boys ages 12-4. Chet and I were worried. They asked if we could do conference bingo like we do for general conference. We ran and got some candy. It was AWESOME!!! All 7 boys were little angels playing bingo the entire time. The 12 yr old told me that was the shortest conference he had ever been to. SO funny! But, the funniest part of the day. A guy was talking and said that he was deaf in one ear and 30% deaf in the other. He was called to be the executive secretary and was very scared because that requires calling on the phone. He said that after 2 hours of holding the phone to his one ear, it gets really sore. Carson was sitting next to me and he looks right to me and says, "You should know EXACTLY how that feels!" We were both laughing so hard people were looking at us. I felt bad, but oh my goodness, it was just classic. I love that little, not so little anymore, boy!!