Sunday at the Park

Sunday after dinner, after church, after scripture studying - I loaded up the boys, minus Jackson who was at work, and headed to the park. Even Gus came. That might not have been the best idea. Braxton only had to run after Gus three times at full speed. Gus really, really likes chasing after bicycles and skateboards. The boys played some catch while I walked Gus around. It was such a pretty day!

Sweet Dreams

I took this picture outside of my bedroom window on Wednesday night. I am in awe of the beauty that is around us. Every time I look out of our windows, I am so sad that we only have until June in this house. I know Heavenly Father has big things in mind for our family and that we will be taken care of.

Mommy Martha Haircuts

Mommy Martha cut hair on Monday night. We were there for quite some time because we have a lot of kids! Even daddy got in on the action and got the middle of his goatee bleached. The kids thought that was hilarious!

I am so grateful for Martha. She is a good second mommy to my kiddos. They love her and they know that she loves them!

Swimming at Martha's House

On the 24th of July, our sweet neighbor has a big block party - complete with food, water slides and dog poop! Only a few of us showed up to it this year. After dinner, and the dogs eating the food off of the table, we opted to go a couple of doors down to Martha's and swim for the rest of the night. Some of us planned on swimming (all of the kids and Josh). Some of us did NOT plan on swimming (me). However, my husband opted to throw me in the pool (clothed). Funny.

The kids had a blast. Joshua broke the make-shift slide to the pool. Awesome. I eventually got into the pool willingly. The kids rock-climbed and jumped into the water over and over again. Mostly, I just loved being with Martha and watching Baby Brooklyn smile.

I sure love that family!

4th of July

Our 4th of July was really fun and very relaxing. After Braxton and I ran the race, several of us took naps and it was awesome. Then we loaded up the kids and some food and headed to Papa Bruce's for a barbeque and some swimming. The kids LOVE swimming at Papa's! After that, we went to Davis High School's roof and watched the fireworks. It was beautiful and relaxing and patriotic.

When it comes to holidays, I love that we are able to spend time with family. We are blessed to live near family and to be able to make memories with them. I am grateful that my kids get that opportunity!

A Frozen Party

Brooklyn's birthday is this coming Saturday. She will be six years old on the sixth. Kind of cool! She wanted a Frozen-themed birthday. So, after Thanksgiving was all cleaned up, I began to prepare her dessert bar. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I prepared. I baked like a crazy person! I made everything myself, except the powdered donuts and wrapped candy. I served: white cupcakes, dyed blue, with white frosting and homemade white chocolate candy pieces; three-layer rice krispy treats; marshmallow pops, dipped in white chocolate and blue sixlets; sugar cookies iced with blue icing and topped with white sixlets; homemade caramel corn, drizzled with white chocolate, powdered donuts, and chocolate candies. I think it's safe to say everyone was sugared up for a while! Josh helped me ice the cookies and frost the cupcakes. Kaydon helped me dip the marshmallows. Everyone else helped to eat everything. Papa & Grandma, Papa & Steph, Nichole, Matt & Jen, Kara & Jess, Brandon & Carrie all came. Brooklyn was spoiled, which is the story of our lives. I am exhausted, but so thankful that I was able to pull this off for her.

Christensen Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving was at our house this year, with our little family of seven. And, I made it all myself. This was both terrifying and exciting for me. I roasted a turkey, which I stuffed with homemade stuffing. I made a ham. I made real mashed potatoes. I made cranberries. I made homemade rolls. We also had pumpkin pie, banana cream pie, and homemade cherry cream pie. Josh added in the canned cheese and chips... whatever! And, we had some raw vegetables. I pulled it off. I was so exhausted at the end of the day after cooking, baking, cleaning, and cleaning some more. This morning, as I type this, I am so grateful that I did this. I have had many years of watching my mother, my maternal grandmother, and my paternal grandmother cook, bake, clean, and serve. I am grateful for the lessons they have passed on to me. I am so thankful for the food that I had to feed my family. I am so thankful for the appliances I had to cook with. I am most thankful for my family of seven. Gosh, I love my family. My kids are amazing. Every single day. They are amazing.

My Kiddos

Sunday was our ward's primary program. My kiddos (the ones in my class) were really nervous. They all wanted to sit right next to me, like half way on my lap. There are 9 of them! They are 8! They all did great! No one threw up or fell or wet their pants. I consider that success! I was extremely sick all week last week. Therefore, no lesson was planned. Therefore, they got to teach! I gave them chalk, erasers, crayons, paper, and my lesson manual. I told them the topic, which was, "Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy." They broke into two groups: boys and girls (duh!). They ROCKED it! I love the way 8 year olds think! Some of the "don'ts" included "Don't do drugs on Sundays," "Don't drink alcohol on Sundays," "Don't lie on Sundays," "Don't watch movies that have swearing in them on Sundays," "Don't play with friends on Sundays unless Mom says it's okay." They also came up with games to play and talked about what we SHOULD do on Sundays: "Go to church," "Listen," "Be nice," "Say a prayer," "Read." I love these kids. They seriously have it together! I often think how valiant and prepared these kids are for what is upon us now, and what is to come. They have a lot to teach us!

Mom's and Muffins

This morning, I attended Mom's and Muffins at West Point Elementary with Kaydon and Colton. It's my first time ever attending one of these. Jackson is in ninth grade. Braxton is in seventh grade. Kaydon is in sixth grade. Colton is in fifth grade. And, I've never attended one. I've always had to work. This morning, I told my boss I was going to be late and I went. Tears came to my eyes as I realized that for all of these years, my boys have been there alone, without a mom. By themselves. Did anyone invite them to sit with them? Did another mom give them a hug, or a pat on the head? Did they just go sit in the bathroom or their classroom so that they didn't have to be "alone?" I am fully aware that being a full-time mom is hard work. It's exhausting and trying. But, oh how I envy those moms who are able to participate in daily events with their children. Many, many of these moms left the mom's and muffins that they attend every single year and went back home to be a homemaker, to run errands, to organize and cook and clean. I came to work. How grateful I am that for 45 minutes this morning, my boys were not alone. They had their mom there. We sat together, toured their school, said "hi" to their new friends, and laughed together. Today, they had their mom there with them.

BIte Me!

Sweet Colton, while trying to be a good friend, was attacked by a neighborhood dog on Thursday. These pictures really don't do it justice. This was after he was cleaned up, just preparing for stitches. A dog across the street, who is not fenced in, or tied up, had knocked over the seven year old girl, who lives there. Colton saw it happen and saw the dog on top of her and took off running across the street to protect her. The dog turned on Colton. Thankfully, Colton was able to stay on his feet. The dog punctured him twice, and a third superficial wound didn't need to be stitched up.

This is what I learned: PLEASE report any dog attacks, even if medical care is not necessary. PLEASE tie your dog up, or have it in a fenced yard. Please. The dog is currently under a 10-day quarantine, at it's residence. After the 10 days is up, decisions will be made by the Animal Control Office. It was brought to our attention by other neighbors that this dog has attacked at least 10 people just this year. However, it is not clear whether any of those were reported. We don't want anything bad to happen to this dog. I'm sure it's a good dog, but we certainly don't want this to happen to anyone else.

Colton will get his stitches removed in two weeks. In the meantime, no tackle football, or riding his bike, or doing those fun things that he loves to do. This makes things a bit rough for a kiddo with severe ADHD. He needs to have ways to get that energy out. So, we are being creative! So grateful is he fine! And SO grateful for amazing neighbors who are willing to drive him to school until he is better.

Failure... Almost

I swear if you saw our first attempt at a garden, you would either hug us and tell us how sorry you are that we suck, or you would just shake your head and walk away. It's bad! Like, really, really bad. However, in the midst of what we thought was a complete failure, we have five pumpkins. Do you know how many kids we have? FIVE! We have a pumpkin for each kid. Miracle. Then, on Saturday, I was in the kitchen cleaning and I looked out at our aforementioned garden and noticed that the peach tree that I thought we also killed had produced a boat load of peaches. I sent the children out with large bowls to collect the goodness. The brought in bowl after bowl. I started researching how to freeze these suckers, how to make peach cobbler, how to do anything to preserve all of this goodness. They are delicious. They smell so good. They are such a blessing! This week, I will get them frozen and dried. I will also join my family in continuing to eat them fresh. They are delicious.

I was reminded that in the midst of what we think are epic failures, we can find success and triumph. We can find things that bring us hope for something better. We can find blossoms amongst the thorns. We are so blessed to have this fruit for my family to eat. #grateful