Scooters and Grandparents...

It seems to me that when we have guests I frequently forget to pull out my camera as frequently as I need to. Such was the case this last weekend, too. Matt's parents came to visit for a few days, to celebrate a belated Christmas of sorts, and the weekend was much more full than the pictures will show. We played a lot of games, attended one of Aaron's basketball games, rode the scooters from Santa, enjoyed lots of food, and exchanged Christmas presents.

 

Aaron found a great opponent in his Grandpa Lane when playing Sequence States and Capitals.

Miss Kellie really enjoyed her scooter. We were so lucky the snow finally melted enough and the weather warmed up enough to ride them outside.

Caleb also loved to ride!

Aaron was fun to watch because he really got moving and maneuvered the scooter as if he had been riding it all his life.

I think the 3 kids on their 3 scooters had a good time!

Humoring Kellie...

Kellie, my cute little 3 year old daughter (who has been sick with fever, pink eye, sinus infections, and 2 ear infections) is finally not contagious and starting to perk up a bit. When my kids are sick, I typically would do just about anything to help them feel better. That is probably why, when I told her to get ready to take Caleb to Preschool, and she came back a few minutes later looking like this,  I smiled, shook my head a bit and let her escort Caleb to Preschool looking like a Diva. I just couldn't bear to disappoint her and make her take it off when she was so proud of herself. (I didn't even redo her fuzzy hairdo!) Caleb's teachers and classmates ooohed and aaahed over her, and she behaved like quite the royal princess.  What can I say, but I love her... goofiness and all. :)

 

LOVING my LEVI!

I am LOVING my LEVI! Here he is at almost 5 months old. He is such a sweet boy to have around. He is VERY  ticklish and loves to laugh. I love that every time he laughs he gets the hiccups. It just cracks me up! The kids enjoy hugging and squeezing him and watching him giggle.

He is already sleeping through the night... about an 8 hour stretch. Bless him. Momma really needs it!

At his 4 month checkup earlier this month he weighed 17 lbs, 1 ounce and was 25 1/2 inches long. (not quite 2 foot 2!) He is big, strong, healthy, and a joy to have in our family.

He recently started cereals and although he is still learning to swallow, it is not going too badly. He is definitely a fan of food (as you can tell, he hasn't missed too many meals...) and I look forward to offering him a bigger variety soon, preferably things with more flavor than that bland rice cereal.

Here is a play by play of his first feeding...

 

Anxiously anticipating that first bite... look he's even salivating!

Hmmm... not too sure? What is this stuff?

Thanks Mom... food makes me sleepy...

Pink Eye... Poor Caleb!

Last Saturday Caleb woke up with a tiny bit of dried gunk in the corner of his eye. By 11:00 he had full blown pussy discharge (at which point we took him into the doctor) and by bedtime his eye was almost swollen shut. I was amazed at how quickly it came on and am only posting the pictures that are not gooey and disgusting. Poor guy!

Playground Invasion!

Every now and then my kids do or say something that gives me such a delightful inner giggle that I have to force myself to sit down and write it down so I don't forget it. Some day I'm sure they will read these notes and roll their eyes, proclaim that it's all a lie- (they would never be so silly)-, and be secretly pleased that I cared enough to preserve the memories of their childhood. But I digress...

This week's chuckle was provided by Aaron.

Last weekend he told me that he had started a "Secret Agent Club" at school during recess. They all have secret code names . He is ANT(like the bug, he says) I 1, someone else is ANT(like the bug, he says) I 2, etc. Before you can ask, I have to say that I have absolutely no idea how he came up with those names, he's too creative for his own good, I guess.

My first big chuckle came after announcing the names...

Aaron: "Mom, what does ANTI mean?"
I explained that it means you're against something, or it is the opposite of something.
He then responded that he was "anti- a lot of things" and I had to smile again.

Today...
Aaron: The agents are doing well... we found lots of clues today, Mom.
Julie: Clues? What clues?
Aaron:The clues that are leading us to find the ALIEN KING.
Julie:What ALIEN KING?
Aaron: (in a hushed voice...) Well YOU know he's just pretend...
(normal voice again) but my agents found all the clues I made and hid all over the playground.
They're going to lead us right to him Mom, I know it!

I can't wait to hear how this saga unfolds...

Caleb's confused... (again)

CALEB: Mom, Why do they call this juice WHITE grape juice, if it is made with GREEN grapes?

Help! I'm a Math Failure...

I am not a "math person".  (Ironic that I am married to a math educator, I know...) I do very well when it comes to managing what I term "household math", which includes managing the checkbook, measurements for cooking, counting kids to make sure I haven't lost one of them, etc.

Obviously, I knew the day would come when my kids homework would surpass my talents in math. I'm okay with that, especially since we have a math guru in house. I just never suspected that day would come as early as 2ND  GRADE.

Matt is in Florida for business and so it was up to me to help Aaron with his homework this week.  They are adding 3 numbers together- pretty easy, something I should be able to do. As I was reviewing the worksheet however, I realized that the example they provided was different than anything I had ever seen before. I had to call my sister, then my husband for help. As I'm dialing, I can't help but feel a little chumpish, I mean after all, this is only 2ND GRADE MATH.

After reviewing the example with my sister- it hit me. These kids are not allowed to carry numbers, which is how I was taught to add.. They work the problem left to right- starting with the tens column, then moving to the ones. After totaling the tens, they total the ones and then add those two numbers together.  Not really hard- just completely backwards to everything I was ever taught. It seems so crazy, and I admit I had a hard time wrapping my mind around it.

Later that night Matt told me they do it this way so that the kids don't miss the concept of place value. Okay, um sure, if you say so- I am not the one with a Masters degree in Math Education.

Nevertheless, the experience left me feeling a bit peeved. I should be able to do 2ND GRADE math without a tutor. When did simple math change and evolve into something I didn't even recognize? I must be getting old. I'll just take my outdated, ancient methods and go sit between my floppy disks, leg warmers and cassette tapes. (sigh)

Julie's Birthday

This is a couple of days late, I hope Julie will forgive me...

It's Julie's birthday, and it's a big one this year. She's starting a new decade. In honor of this landmark, here's a few more things about Julie:

Julie is an amazing mom. She works hard to keep all four kids happy and going in the right direction. Whether she's running from one school to another or taking care of a newborn while maintaining order in our home, she seems able to do it all.

One of Aaron's favorite things about his mom is that "she makes yummy dinners."

Caleb says that he likes it when his mom gets him drinks.

Kellie "says" one of her favorite things is when her mom makes soup.

Levi just likes his mom.

We love you, Julie! We hope your day was great.

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!