Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Family Pictures

Before Curtis left, we made sure to get some family pictures taken.


We found a photographer on the web and she ended up taking some nice photos.
(Deanna Johnson at "A Day to Adore")










Xander climbed this tall fence all by himself without being bribed or anything!  He was rather proud of himself.


 Tayla was not cooperating at all that day!  She was really grumpy and refused to smile.  But Deanna still got some beautiful pictures of her.


 
You can look at all of our pictures at http://www.adaytoadore.com/photo/christensenfamily.

Friday, September 17, 2010

From one apple to another.

I wanted to spotlight Tayla today.  I feel like she gets left out too often.  Maybe it's because she's two and a half and hasn't had a lot to say yet. 

Here's how it went down.  We were eating apple slices at lunchtime and she got a build up of two of them and seemed to be just playing with them instead of eating them.

 Me: Tayla, eat your apples.

Tayla: No, I don't want to.  They're talking.

We repeated that conversation and then Xander decided to chime in.

Xander: Tayla, eat your apples.

Tayla: No, I don't want to.  They're talking.

Xander: If you don't eat them I will.

He gets up to supposedly go take her apple away and Tayla quickly takes a bite of one of her apples.

Tayla: (chomp, chomp) Ah, you're eating me!



I love that she is becoming so vocal!  Her imagination is certainly blossoming well.  She gains confidence as she learns how to express herself.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Fun in a box.





In case you didn't know, we moved to a bigger better apartment this summer.  We've been gradually moving stuff out of Curtis's parents' basement and into our new space.  This is what my kids thought about it...

I'm actually AMAZED that, not only did they both fit, but they managed it happily and comfortably.

It's just more evidence of how well they play together.  They really are the best little buddies.  I hope they never grow out of it!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Just when I thought this was going 'over easy'...

...and I'd adjusted to the single-mom business: the other day, I had a lot of stuff on my to-do list and it all had to be done before I left for symphony at 6:00pm.  Needless to say I had a lapse in child-supervision for a moment.

These pictures are curtesy of my daughter.
If you look closely you can see little footprints fleeing the scene.  (What you do not see is the bottle of water dumped out on the couch.)
The good news is that I was planning on going to the grocery store that day, but had procrastinated until just after this mess was cleaned up.  I'm still wishing someone would install a lock on my refrigerator before I 'crack'.  Another to-do list another day.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Tough questions

Setting: dinner table

Xander had a particularly interesting line of questioning for the dinner table conversation tonight.  Curtis was gone, so I was stuck answering all the questions by myself.  It went something like this...

X: Mom, where do carrots come from?
M: From the ground...they are plants.
X: Oh!  They are?!?!  (he was thoroughly amazed by this fact)

X: Cool!  Where do beans come from?
M: They are plants too.
X: Oh!  Cool!

X: But where does steak come from?
M: Cows.
X: But what part of the cow makes steak?
M: Cows ARE the steak.
X: Oh.  But why?
M: sigh...When cows get old, we kill them and cut them into little pieces like THIS! stabbing my steak with my fork

~long silence~

X: Oh. Okay.
M: Do you like steak?
X: Yeah.  (as takes the last bite of his third helping)

X: We're big kids.  We need to have another little baby.
M: No, we're not going to have another baby.
X: But, why not?
M: Because there is no baby in my tummy.
X: Oh.  But mom, where do babies come from?
M: deep breath Babies grow in mommies' tummies.
X: Mom, grow a baby!
M: No I'm not going to grow a baby.
X:  Why not?
M: Well for starters I need daddy here.
X: Why?
M: Daddy has to plant the seed.  Mommies can't make babies without daddies.
X: Oh.  Okay.  But I think I will help daddy plant the seed when he gets home.
M: NOOOO WAY!  You are too little.  You can't!
X: Why not?
M: You have to be married before you do any of that!!!

Moral of the story:  4-year olds ask a lot of tough questions.  And mommies get tired of answering tough questions all day.  So mommy has gotten direct with her answers in hopes of ending the line of questioning.  Too much information for a 4-year old?  Maybe...but don't judge me until you've spent an hour with this kid.  He never shuts up!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Overheard at the Christensen house...

(8am; I was still in bed; kids were awake downstairs.)

Xander: Let's play a game.
Tayla: this one (I think it was "Trouble")
Xander: No, Tayla, that one is too noisy.  It will wake up Mom.  How bout Jelly.

I came downstairs to see them playing the "Peanut Butter and Jelly" card game.

Aren't they the BESTEST!

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Cleaning out my photos and I found these random stragglers...

Future blackmail.  Yes, my son likes to play dress-up as much as the next kid.  For him, it just involves sequins and hula skirts.
Since we've moved to our new apartment, Tayla hasn't been sleeping well.  On this occasion she fought to stay awake until 9:50pm, then I found her on the couch in her room with the light on at 10:00pm. She's been known to sleep on the floor in various places around the house too: the living room, her bedroom, my bedroom, etc.
This is what happens when grandma gives the kids a sticker book.  I had sticker all over everything for a week straight before I finally made the sticker book a "supervision only toy." I know I'm a mean mom.  (Pretend you didn't see my bed unmade.)
 

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

You know it's good birthday when...


First of all, Daddy is home to celebrate.


You turn 4-years old!

Mom let's you help "frost the cake."


Your cake is a giant basket of M&M's -- cake, cookies, and candy all in one!


You're big enough to have a party with all of your friends.

All 8 kids you invited show up for the party + 2 babies + my sister and Me = 12!
(Thankfully some of the parents stayed to supervise.)


We have a water table/water-balloon/pool party!



Dad doesn't get mad at you for shoveling the dirt from the lawn into the pool.



You use the splash arch on the pool as a water gun.


(Grilled pizza, CHEETOS, watermelon, juice, etc.)
There's enough food to spare some for decoration purposes.


And POPSICLES!


And the favorite gift is....
Transformers!

Best birthday ever!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Kids' Portraits








I got these done way back in May (sometime before summer made me completely complacent when it comes to blogging). I LOVE so many of them, but I'm biased. Give me a shout if you like them too!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Xander's Preschool Graduation

Today we went to preschool graduation. I can't believe Xander needed a graduation ceremony to go from 3-year old preschool to 4-year old preschool! Ah well, it was kind of cute.



Below is a video including a magic trick. I guess when you are in preschool you get a magician to perform at graduation.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

New Blog

I've been on a weight roller coaster. In high school I weighed about 150lbs. When I was pregnant with my first baby I gained 80lbs. After the baby, I worked hard to get back down to about 165 before I got pregnant with my second child. Let's just say I stopped looking at the scale after it tipped 225+. Ugg. With a lot of discipline, I got back down to 150. Then I jumped up to 165 while I was training for my marathon. And now I am 144 and still losing...

I am continually being asked, "What's your secret? How do you do it? Give me some healthy recipes." After years of being completely stumped by these questions (because the answer is not a one word, one sentence, or even one paragraph answer) I finally decided I'd answer the questions with a blog.

http://melissa-livinghealthy.blogspot.com/

When you've learned something really awesome, it has to be shared. I have learned much after years of riding the weight roller coaster. If I can help just one more person learn to LOVE their body and live life to the fullest, I have accomplished my quest. Check it out.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Grand Canyon

This was our anniversary-honeymoon-backpacking-trip-to-the-Grand Canyon! Our plan was to drive up to the north rim (monument point rather), hike down the canyon, stay 4 nights, go on all sorts of day excursions, and hike back out. The problem: too much snow on the north rim. Curtis called ahead and all the park rangers were told a different story about the exact amount of snow. We were skeptical, but we brought some cross country skis just in case.

Even as we were driving there, we could see where we were going and we were scoffing at the lack of snow. As soon as the paved road ended and the park road started, there was snow on the road. Not too much because there had obviously been a snow plow through here. It was easy going until we passed the ranger station and BAM the plowed part ended with a small mountain of snow. But it was no match for our SUV. We drove right over the snow speed bump. It was about a mile from that point where the car got stuck in the 2.5 feet of snow on the road. Curtis spent the next 2.5 hours digging us out by chopping down trees with a shovel in order to get us some traction under the wheels. When we were free, we decided we could probably snow ski the estimated 13 miles to the trail head so off we went.


I had never skied before (down-hill or cross country) or even watched someone cross country ski. I thought Curtis would be able to teach me and I'd pick it up pretty quickly. Before we took off I asked if he had any advice. He said, "just walk." I can assure you skiing is not as simple as walking. Needless to say it was slow going. I fell more than a dozen times in the first mile (backpack and all).

Each successive mile was better, but we were exhausted and fatigued. At 5pm we had only gone about halfway (6 miles), so we decided to head back. It was a race against sunset to get back to the car. We made it to the car, but Curtis got us stuck in the snow again (by that time the warm sun had softened the snow and there was no way we were getting out). So we spent the night in the car.


The next morning we got out with out too much trouble. (Curtis just had to drive in reverse for 1 mile.) We drove 4 hours to get to the south rim, hoping for a backpacking permit. There weren't any permits for that night so we decided to camp out in the campground and go on a practice hike that afternoon...


That was our "practice hike" at hermits' rest. We were encouraged by how easy it was to hike upwards.

That night was below freezing. (23-27 degrees) But we didn't freeze too much. The following
day we had a permit to hike down the canyon. Here we are at the top of the Bright Angel trail...


Taking a snack break on the trail...


Looking up at how far we've come.


Here was our campsite at Indian Garden. We got there by lunch (it was only 5 miles from the top). We decided to spend the day resting at the campsite. We read books about survival, search and rescue, and national parks. (No, we didn't carry all those books down, there was a library at the campsite.)


The next day there was another 4 miles to our campsite. Here's a picture of a small portion of the trail. It was more downhill. See all the switchbacks?



Finally we reached the bottom! Behold! The Colorado River!


The next task was to cross the river to get to our campsite: by way of clanky swaying bridge...


...scariest thing ever! By this point the sun was warm and the cacti were plentiful. Let our vacation begin.


We reached our campsite by 10am so we ate an early lunch and set out for a day hike (no backpacks) to a waterfall. It was about 12 miles round trip. Definitely doable when you don't have 35-45 lb packs on your backs.

The waterfall was such a disappointment that I won't bother putting up a picture. The walk was energizing and disabling at the same time. Let's just say that afterward I wanted to do this...


...and not walk anymore. Ouch. I felt much better the next day and after some Ibuprofen, we were ready to start the hike up. We took the Kaibob trail out. It is 2 miles shorter than the Bright Angel trail, but much steeper. Here was the bridge on the Kaibob side. It was much wider and more sturdy.



We were passed by some of the most famous mules in the world. Apparently they take these mules down and up the canyon every day with supplies for the CABINS at the bottom. So for future reference; you can get reservations at the cabins with the bunk beds and the clean sheets and just worry about bringing a small backpack with water and snacks. Oh well, we enjoy the challenge of carrying our own tent and sleeping bags on our backs...


...although it kinda makes you feel like a mule. But all in all we really enjoyed our trip. Can you get a better view?


I attacked that hill, setting the pace and getting us out of the canyon (7 miles up extremely steep hill) in 3 hours 40 minutes. I'm awfully proud of my athleticism lately. I'm at my lowest weight ever and it makes things like this easier than I ever thought possible.