Taylor Mae Christiansen

Taylor, 3 years old today!! Taylor has changed alot in the last 6 months. She found her words and now has given Carter some competition in the verbal department. She is rough, tough, and loves to run around with the boys. If you ask, she will say she is 6. She wants to much to be bigger that she struggles with those things she can't do yet. She enjoys playing play-doh, coloring, writing her letters, wrestling, and running away from mom and dad! She is always on my heels during the day. If I am doing it, she wants to be right there. Unloading the dishwasher is a favorite thing to help with. :)

She also like to steal Brennan's bottle of water at any givn chance. :)

Carter Louis Christiansen

Carter turned 6 years old yesterday. We are grateful for Carter and all that he contributes to our family. He loves to do art and often refers to himself as a great artist. He loves to sing and dance. He is trully a big brother to all his siblings. He looks after each one and takes care to make sure that they have what they need. He is diligent in working hard, doing chores, and above all else he loves to have FUN!!

Mikes handy work

Mike was able to get this amazing box done for a guy in his office that is seperating from the military. I wish the picture did it justice.

A bit of Brennan

These two boys really love being together. Carter can always make Brennan laugh. They enjoy to have a little cuddle with each other at night before going to sleep.

Brennan loves to sword fight. If he has anything that could resemble a sword he is swinging it around. It gets better when you say, "on guard!" Then he really lets it fly.

Mason knows just what to do. If Mike has tools out Brennan is right there! He hears Mike outside working and whines until he is crawling around the grass watching Mike with the tools. He was laughing whenever Mike turned the drill on and just wanted to grab it.

His three teeth are awesome. We love it!!

Guess who found the cupboard with the food? This is now a daily clean-up job. Especially when I am cooking dinner, he is at my feet emptying as much as he can.

What can you do in 20 seconds.....

Mason can do A LOT!!! What do I even say about this. I am in kitchen getting stuff together for Enrichment. Mike was trying to get some work done on a shadow box he is doing and 20 seconds after Mason left the kitchen I hear Mike come in. He then screams, "You looking forward to new carpet!" 20 SECONDS PEOPLE--20 SECONDS!!!! When I told the Occupational Therapists to stop teaching Mason to unscrew lids--I WAS NOT KIDDING!!! Look what these wonderful people have done to us...Finger nail polish when shaken out will look like this---HEAVEN FORBID he just dump in one spot. Or better yet, dump on the plastic computer chair thing. Well, if this comes out I will let you all know how it is done. I'm sure we won't be letting our Landlord know about this little gem. :)

What it's all about

This picture Carter did at school before they let out for the Easter Holiday. Carter did our Family Home Evening lesson last week and it was so great. He told us all about The Last Supper, the crucifixion, and of course the resurrection of Christ. His picture is all about that last week of the Saviors life. I love that these same principles are taught at his school. We do our best at home, but having it reinforced is something we love! We had a fabulous time with the General Conference of our church last weekend and this weekend was a great time to talk about our Savior and all that he has done for us. The kids were great and even last night when we watched our church's production called "The Lamb of God" the kids sat and just took it in. We had a little family testimony meeting and we all shared with each other how much Jesus Christ means to us. As Carter said, "I know that Jesus is alive now, because he was resurrected, he is going to come again to earth." Mason clapped his hands as Mike was talking about Christ. Mason LOVES this movie and the way he watches it is something so amazing. He is normally bouncing during ANY movie, but during this one there is just something about his dimeanor. This is what it is all about.
We had so much fun with our kids this weekend. It was fun to take some bubbles outside and hear them laugh together, play together, and chase each other with bubbles. We hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter Season!!

*** if you click on the title of the movie it will take you to a page where you can order a free copy. It really is a great production of that last week in the life of Jesus Christ. Obviously we watch it with our children, so it is done in good taste.***

Our little family

We really meant to have our own Easter Egg hunt on Saturday morning this year, but somehow time got away from us. The kids had to search out the 2 dozen eggs, but they would have preferred to just investigate their baskets. Mason is lucky the Bunny knew he needed some more books. Mason LOVES books. He was also excited about his sour Cola sweeties and a new movie. That pretty much sums up Mason; books, movies, and sugar. :) He found a few eggs and was so excited he hit them together to celebrate. That was two more that we added to our list of casualities.

Carter really is the most grateful child that has ever lived!! The whole time we heard, "what a kind Easter Bunny, how nice, he was so kind to us." His new miniature Nerf Gun got a big, "BRILLIANT!" He also was amazed that the Easter bunny found him a book about a Knight. He has been searching. A wallet for his allowance was a big hit and his caramel choclate egg. Carter was the egg finding expert of this hunt as well.

Carter went to tell Taylor that we were going to go see where the Bunny put all the eggs and he got a great scoul and a, "I am sleeping!!" Dad finally convinced her that the Bunny sometimes leaves chocolate, but what if he took it this time. That got her up and ready to go. She loved going through her basket. New boooks, PJ's, a dress and some little jewelry made it all worth the effort of getting out of bed. She did recieve that much deserved chocolate.

Brennan was just sitting in the middle of it all searching through his books. :) Mommy and Daddy shared a basket that had some new games for the two of us. Scrabble Scramble was pretty fun.

Egg Hunts Begin

We had a fabulous egg hunt for some people in our ward and it was great, great, great!! I did only include pictures of our children because I didn't ask if I could share others. So we had 9 kids total and they seemed to have a good time. Mason really enjoyed his experience and got the the point that collecting the eggs and then eating them was the best way to go. Last year he would get one egg and want to break it open right then. He actually had patience enough to collect them this time. He loved it! We then unwrapped everything and he consumed it all!! Taylor had one egg and started eating while Carter brought her some more. She knew how to work it, get the reward, but do nothing for it! The dads had a good old time hiding the eggs and started to get very creative with trying camouflage techniques.

Easter Eggs

Dying eggs is always a fun, exciting, and a patience testing experience. We started the day with 3 dozen eggs. Mason happened as the eggs were cooling off and we had 6 that ended their life quite suddenly. During the dying process we lost 6 more. Taylor was so proud of herself that she retrieved the egg from the cup and was able to set it down, "all by meself." Carter was intent on working hard on all his colors. He did look over at Mason's pile of eggs and said, "Wow, Mason is rockin it!" Mike did try and get him to drink the dye and he decided he wasn't going for that! Over all it was a lot of fun and the kids sampled the cracked eggs to make sure they were yummy.

New Shoes

This is Carter with his new shoes from Aunt Kellie. She did a fabulous job with all the shoes!! Taylor LOVES her silver sparkly shoes and Carter thought his were going to make him even faster. Mason was thrilled about his shoes and we love that he doesn't have to wear his braces anymore!! Makes shoe shopping so much more fun, well for Kellie. :)
This was Carter pulling an excited face about the shoes, but then the movie distracted him as we took it. He is also in his knightly wear for the day. He had a birthday party for a friend and they all dressed up in their medieval attire. They take birthday parties very seriously here. Carter wore this for about 4 days before we decided it was going to need to be washed.

THANK YOU SHOE SHOP KEEPER, AUNT KELLIE!!!

another one ready for chores?

Big Sister

Every once in awhile you get times when a hug is just a hug and not a life threatning situation. It is fabulous!

Teaching them young

Mason: field trip and fun!

Who can not absolutely LOVE this kid I will never know? :)

I was able to go on a field trip with Mason which I love doing. We went to a little childrens hands on center and Mason had a good time. It was inside an old church, so that was cool. They did an experiment with fabric paint exploding on bags and Mason thought that was hilarious. I was also a bit sad with being there and realizing just how much I miss Mason's school in Grand Forks. I miss the children that trully loved and included Mason. The whole situation was a little disheartening for me. This problem is a post of a different color, so I will just say we are not happy. I'm sure that if his SpEd teacher hears the phrase, "well in Grand Forks..." one more time she might go crazy. It is not my fault that we had such a FABULOUS group of teachers, aides, and people who genuinely cared. That is what I now expect and darn it I don't care who I make agree getting those things. :) Enough of that. I will let you know in the next couple of weeks how we do things from here on out with this whole issue. GRAND FORKS--You guys were trully the BEST for my Mason!!!

Mason's Midnight Madness struck again. After a sink, a tub full to maximum, and a little guy trying with all of his might to turn on the shower we finally woke up. Mason was trying to wash away evidence of his late night snack. Little did he know he took care of himself quite well and a simple wipe of the face and hands would have sufficed. Silver lining, he got a spoon and he took it to the table as well. Not many children would have gone to such trouble to make sure house rules were kept. Eating only at the table!!

Can't get enough...

Did you know there are Daffodils that are white with BRIGHT orange centers? I LOVE them!!! Sorry I couldn't get a picture of some for you.

A piece of Spring for all of you wishing and hoping that it will arrive...

Aunt Kellie

This is a big build up, but I thought it was funny so I am sharing. Yesterday we had a girl from next door over to play. She and the kids have been playing from over the fence for about a week now and we thought it might be time to break that barrier. Her name is Christy and she is the exact age of Mason. Well, three days difference, but you get it. Anyway, she was having a fun time with the kids and we were asking about siblings. She said she had three older brothers, but they were annoying. Christy was letting us know that she really would like a sister. Then we were talking about how I had 5 sisters and one of them was a Christy. She thought that was pretty cool. She asked about all of their names. When I started with Heather, Carter interrupted and said(in the best English accent he has), "Mom, Heather is the shoe shop keeper, right?" After correcting him and saying, "no, that is Aunt Kellie." Carter replies, "Oh, I got a bit confused, that is right, my Aunt Kellie is a shoe shop keeper." So Kellie, next time someone asks you what you do, don't just say I run and manage a billion Payless Shoe stores. You are much more than that, you are the keeper of the shoe shop.