Christmas Day 2009

Aaron picked out a giant  teddy bear to give to Levi. I think Levi is enjoying his big new friend!

Kellie loved making cookies for Santa!

HMMM... cookies...

Santa brought all the kids scooters for Christmas.
(Levi will need to grow into his a bit...) :)

Kellie got a tutu from Caleb and she loved it!

 

Caleb and Grandma J making a graham cracker house. (He dumped at least one whole jar of sprinkles on it!)

Kellie and Julie's house. (Note the cinnamon bear windows and gummy bear porch roof)

Matt and Aaron's house.

Grandpa and Levi enjoy a short snooze.

Play Doh is great!

Kellie thinks so too!

Aaron reading, as usual...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Santa came to Preschool!

Santa came to Preschool! Kellie and Levi took a turn sitting on Santa's lap, but unfortunately Caleb was too nervous to get too close. I ended up sitting next to Santa with Caleb on my lap. He then whispered to me what he wanted for Christmas, and then I told Santa.  (Obviously I couldn't take a picture with him on my lap...)

 

Aaron's letter to Santa

Yesterday was the last day of school until the new year, so of course the kids brought home all their papers and assignments from this semester. Looking through these papers I found Aaron's letter to Santa. It didn't photograph very well, so I thought I'd retype it here, (spelling errors and all) for you to see.

December 10th, 2009

Dear Santa Claws,

     I really liked the presents you gave me last year. Is Rudolph real? We are making reindeer food for your reindeer. Am I on the good list? We are getting ready for you.Is there a big snow storm up there? I'm really looking forward to seeing you! Christmas is a time to be thinking about Jeasus. Christmas is fun to me. As they say, "Peace on earth." But the best part is you!

                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                  Aaron Christiansen

Pictures, Holiday 2009

 

 

Caleb Christiansen, FOOD CRITIC

Caleb is going through a phase where he thinks he is a customer in a restaurant and can "order" anything he wants to eat at mealtimes. No, he doesn't really place an order, but he does often tell me what dishes he will and won't eat and what I should have prepared instead. He is getting to be too opinionated for his own good.

I had this conversation with him yesterday at lunch time.

CALEB: What's for lunch?

ME: I'm making soup.

CALEB: What kind of soup?

ME: Chicken Noodle

CALEB: Is it YOUR soup, or DAD'S SOUP?

ME: What do you mean, MY soup or DAD'S soup? What is MY soup?

CALEB: You know... YOUR soup uses vegetables from the fridge and noodles from the freezer and tastes really awful...DAD's soup is the one that comes in a CAN.

ME: (Trying not to laugh...) I take it you would prefer "DAD's" soup?

CALEB: Yes. I think it's healthier for me.
(Whenever he doesn't want to eat what I've prepared he tells me that it's not healthy for him...)

ME: (shaking my head) I love you, CALEB.

CALEB: I know...

P.S. I happen to like the homemade soup better, and no one else has ever complained! Caleb must be crazy!

TURKEY BOW!

Kellie was so excited to wear her cute TURKEY BOW that her Aunt Jerri bought for her! She looked pretty cute if I do say so myself!

HAPPY (LATE) THANKSGIVING!

Preschool Pie Party!

 

For Thanksgiving, Caleb's Preschool class had fun putting on a Pie Party for all of the families. The kids sang a few songs and had even made the pies and applesauce themselves! Luckily, Matt was able to take off from work a bit early to attend. It was adorable!

Caleb's confused... and I don't really blame him!

CALEB: How do you spell "I"?
MOM: Um... it's just a big letter "I"... unless you're talking about the kind of eye that you find on your face and you use to see- in that case it's spelled E-Y-E.
CALEB: C? My name starts with C!
MOM: No Caleb, That's a different kind of "C". Your name starts with the LETTER C, the kind of see that you do with your eyes is spelled with an "S", it's spelled S-E-E.
CALEB: (sounding confused...) So the EYE on my face isn't spelled with an "I" and I SEE, but not with the LETTER C.
MOM: That's right.
CALEB: I think you're teasing me, Mom! "C" doesn't start with "S" and "I" doesn't start with "E"! You're so silly!

sigh...

Cryptic SNORTING...

Kellie is a little bit behind in her speech. This is partly due to the recurring ear infections she has had and also because she is the 3rd child and her brothers tend to talk for her. Although her speech is llimited right now, she understands everything, is very good at pointing and making her wants and wishes known. It is an ongoing struggle to encourage her to talk, although she is making progress and her verbal skills are slowly expanding.

Last night as we were trying to put her to bed she kept saying, "NO!" followed by a shake of her head and then a really loud snort. 

After about the 5th or 6th snort we asked her if she wanted to go to bed.  Was she ready?
Kellie's response:"Yes."

Matt would try to pick her up.
Kellie's response:  Another "NO!" followed by a shake of her head and then a really loud snort. 

We offered her her pink piggy bank.
Kellie's response: Yet another "NO!" followed by a shake of her head and then another really loud snort. 

Clearly she was trying to tell us something, but we sat there clueless for several moments trying to decipher her emphatic snorting.

Eventually the light bulb came on for Matt and he started laughing. He then asked her if she wanted a piggy back ride up to her bedroom.
Kellie's response: "YES!" followed by enthusiastic clapping. 

After a roll of the eyes, and a brief thought of "ARE YOU SERIOUS?", I joined in the laughter, too.


All I can say is this... It's a good thing Matt was home because if I was alone I'd probably still be sitting here trying to decipher Kellie's cryptic snorting. Heaven help me!  I guess I've got to teach her to say, "OINK" instead!  (please pray that her speech picks up soon- this is literally getting ridiculous!) SNORT! :)

Zebras & Cows & Puppies & Trains!

 

 

 

Halloween was fun! The kids loved dressing up and we had fun at Caleb's Preschool party.

Aaron was a Dalmation.

Caleb was Thomas.

Kellie was a cow.

Levi stole the show as a baby zebra!

Levi's smile!

I finally got some pictures, even if they are a bit goofy!

Kellie's Birthday

The cake...

The Birthday girl's gifts...

a  jewelery box...

So pretty!

Kellie turns 3!

Kellie is 3 today. I know I say this for every birthday for each one of my kids, but I really have to wonder where the time went. Miss Kellie is such a special part of our lives and we are tremendously blessed to be a part of her life. 
Kellie is turning into quite the little "girly" girl. She has recently discovered the joys of play jewelery and you can frequently see her all dolled up in her pretty necklaces and bracelets and rings.

Kellie is still so curly. Her hair is actually down to the middle of her back when it is wet, but when the curls dry, they bounce up to her shoulders.

Kellie loves to play with the boys. She loves trains, dump trucks and  tractors almost as much as the boys, although she does sometimes play with them a bit differently. (I have caught her wrapping the trains up in a blanket and cuddling them like a baby!)

Kellie is still very much a Daddy's girl .I frequently tell her I love her, just to have her respond with her favorite word: "Dad", as if to remind me that Daddy loves her too!

Kellie is not talking a whole lot yet, which is kind a side effect of being the 3rd child, and also from all the ear infections she has had. However, she is learning to talk a little bit more all the time. She calls sheep, 'SHHHH-Beeps" and they say "BAAAAAAA-B". (ALL our sheep must be named BOB!)

Kellie loves to sing the Snowman and  Popcorn songs from Primary, and even knows all of the motions.

I am so blessed to have her. We love you Kellie! Happy Birthday!

Things that Make me Smile...

I love it when I remember to take time to smile at the little things... This weeks little things so far are:

1. Levi has started smiling! He is especially smiley right after he eats and has a full tummy. (Just like a man!) But every time I try to get a picture he furrows his eyebrows as if to say, "I don't think so, Mom!" As soon as I can catch one, I'll post it... beware Lady Babies...He's handsome!

2. Kellie has decided to like Taylor Swift, which is not surprising considering almost every radio station in Greeley plays it... A LOT. Kellie and I spend a good portion of the day in the car transporting kids to school, so she hears it quite a bit. One particular song about a girl who doesn't understand why the boy she likes is dating someone else has a line that goes like this..."...you belong with me-e-e, you belong with me." In true Kellie fashion she hums all the lyrics except the words ME and that one she belts out in her sweet Kellie voice. Cracks me up every time!

3. We have a Darius Rucker CD. Yesterday Aaron kept asking me to play the CAMEL song. Knowing that there is no "CAMEL" song on that CD, I was a bit puzzled. I started asking if he was talking about Christmas CD's, thinking that maybe he was referring to a camel in a nativity scene in one of the songs. (No I have not pulled my holiday music out yet... I wait until November... at least!) Anyways...He insisted it was Darius Rucker. I asked him to sing it. He said, in an exasperated tone, "You know, Mom! The one that he talks about his Grandpa CAMEL..." The song actually mentions a Grandpa CAMPBELL. Mystery solved. And yes I laughed. A LOT.

Levi's Blessing

Not only did we have Aaron's baptism this weekend, but we blessed our little Levi, too. I loved watching my boys have their special days! Levi is such a blessing to us and we are so grateful to have him in our family. We hope and pray that he will be a good little boy and that we will get to sit at his baptism in about 8 years! Welcome Levi!