Better late than never to share our celebrations of our favorite boy’s birthday! Carter turned 9 on April 21. He celebrated with crepes, tacos, and (non taco) Costa Vida, along with finally seeing the Mario movie (did NOT disappoint, btw) and his very favorite activity: a soccer game!

Carter really does love soccer! He loves to kick his soccer balls around the yard and house. He is always excited to go to practice, and bummed if he has to miss it for some reason. And he REALLY likes that his team is really good. They were completely undefeated in the fall! Carter is getting better too! He usually plays defense and makes some pretty good kicks and blocks. We’re always proud of him!

Another of Carter’s current loves is Pokemon and amassing/trading Pokemon cards. He has them organized in fancy binders and boxes, as well as stashed basically everywhere he might go. Thanks to the fact that the third graders 25 years ago were loving the same exact thing, I am pleased to report that I am not completely lost as to what he’s up to. He comes home with some pretty impressive cards, and apparently has some pretty impressive cards to offer, because he has, on occasion, come home with some money. He also loves getting almanac type books from the library and book fair that tell him all about the different Pokemon. He loves finding the Pokemon on his cards in his books and learning about how strong and powerful they are. It is a classic-Carter moment to be surrounded by Pokemon cards all over the floor poring intently over each one.

Carter was also on the school math team again this year. He loved going to meetings on Fridays and doing fun and tricky math problems. He was also on a Battle of the Books team that took 4th place in the school for the 3rd and 4th grade division!

Other things Carter loves doing include: video games–Animal Crossing is a new favorite; Rubik’s Cubes, though not quite as much as last year; riding scooters, bikes, and skateboards; and playing with friends. He likes playing the piano (sometimes more than others) and played a BEAUTIFUL piece in church a couple of months ago! He’s also working on learning Hedwig’s Theme, and it is sounding really good!

Carter is just about the greatest boy you’ll ever meet! He is kind, sincere, enthusiastic, fun, hard-working, good-looking, and every other good thing you can imagine! We love him more than everything!