Christmas Day

We had a perfect Christmas Day! The kids were sweet, so excited, we were early to church, and had a nice rest of the day opening the last presents and playing with new toys. It was quiet with just our family, but we loved it! Here are a few pics...

Here are the kids lining youngest to oldest to head down the stairs.
I love this picture because as much as Tanner was excited about all the gifts, he was so genuinely excited to show Amelia her new kitchen. He was adorable with her!




Here's Mike checking out the spy glasses, you can see behind you with the mirrored edge!







Amelia LOVES her new baby! She can be found doing this most of the day. She comes to us in whispers, telling us her baby is taking a nap. Then she'll lead you to some obscure place where baby is sleeping, with a "ganky" laid on her. So cute!
We have the tradition of our kids making a gift for each of their siblings. I love it, because it takes the focus off of what they want for Christmas, and the excitement is then about what they're giving. This was after Reid gave Tanner the notebook he modge podged for him.
This picture is classic Reid! New hat on his head, sleeping bag strapped to his back and making loops around the kitchen. Such a happy kid!
The night ended with the boys sleeping in the basement in their new sleeping bags (they've actually done this all week!). They were so cute all lined up and ready to "camp out" and Amelia was so sad when I carried her up to her crib. Such a great day!

Christmas Eve

We had a couple families from church over for Christmas Eve. The kids had a great time being excited together. Anticipation for Santa was definitely in the air!


While Jen and I cleaned up the kitchen, Mike led the kids (and Sonja, who was on crutches!) in playing chimes. I always forget how fun the chimes are!


The kids frosted a cookie for Santa so each family could have a plate of sweets for the jolly fellow.


This year my sisters and I did a nativity costume exchange. We each made one costume six times and then swapped with each other. It was so fun to receive creative and adorable costumes in the mail one after another! I thought the kids looked so cute, I love my sisters!



We ended the evening with new Christmas jammies from grandma and grandpa and sang Christmas carols by light of the tree. Of course we had to track Santa online and set out our cookies (and carrots for the reindeer).

The boys all slept in T&R's room and Mike slept in the hall to make sure he caught them before heading down the stairs. The boys were so excited! They kept calling out and asking where Santa was now. Amelia was so tired! I think it was a rough evening for her and she was very happy to be put in her crib.

Merry Christmas!

It's been a wonderful Christmas day with the magic of little ones in the house and a beautiful Christmas program at church. Merry Christmas!

Tis the Season

I love this time of year! The house feels cozy, I bake too much, and the kids are so excited! Here's a little of what we've been up to.

Our kids love this little nativity I picked up at Tai Pan Trading clearance years ago. Every year it comes out, they lay on the ground and look at all the people inside and talk about when baby Jesus was born. I love it!

Making sugar cookies...

Wrapping gifts...most often these are toys from our own home, wrapped and given to a sibling. Andrew was pretty creative giving Reid his coveted Spider Man slippers that don't fit Andrew anymore. Reid will be so excited Christmas morning!

Our good friends invited us to their Santa Party and it was such a fun, special evening! We were all in our Sunday best, Gretchen had beautiful Christmas plates, we drank sparkling cider, played chimes, and then Santa came to visit. We loved this special night!




We haven't had much snow. I think it snowed once this month and was gone within a couple days. While the snow was here, the kids definitely made the most of it sledding, playing, and building in it. I pulled the kids up the street to play with friends while Mike and I went Christmas shopping. Safely secured coolest mom by performing this act of service. The scowl on Amelia's face above might be because I stopped the sled to take a picture, or because Tanner is sitting on her legs!

Andrew's forehead found the one object in our front yard, the electrical box! His forehead looked like this within seconds of the crash!

Andrew's head injury didn't hinder his creativity, as he was designing and assembling skis/snowshoes to use in the backyard.

It's Christmas break now and here are a few happenings/thoughts not pictured above:

On Mike's first official day of Christmas break he cleaned every bathroom in our house for me. He is the best husband ever!
We ran out of 1% and 2% milk and have been drinking Amelia's whole milk for days, so rich and creamy!
We've gone through unprecedented amounts of butter this month!
The Christmas tree fell over again this year. We finally bought a new tree stand (one intended for the size of tree we bought) and it's amazing how sturdy a Christmas tree can stand!
We successfully broke two cookie jars within one day.
I've never bought my own poinsettia, but my friend left town and gave me hers, it's so cheery!
I assembled an adorable toy kitchen for my kids- I think I'm living my childhood dream!
So thrilled my kids are getting old enough to know Christmas hymns and songs and they hum and sing them throughout the day.
I stayed up late watching A Christmas Carol (one of my favorites!) and found myself alone on the couch at 12:30 a.m. with the biggest smile on my face!

Andrew just came down the stairs at 9:45 p.m. saying he can't sleep, he's too excited for Christmas! Can't wait to see what tomorrow night will bring!

Amelia update

This little girl is such a cutie and an update is overdue! Amelia is no longer our baby (actually she still is, but she just seems so grown up!). Here are a few things you should know.



Amelia can get to any water source in our home with ease. She simply climbs toilets, step stools, bathtubs, pulls over a kitchen chair (she uses this method for reaching many things), etc. She loves to wash dishes and wash her hands. She loves water and even starts taking her clothes off and says, "I want baf."



Speaking of taking clothes off...she's gotten quite good at stripping down and is now working on putting clothes ON! It's really quite cute to see what she comes up with, unless I've already dressed her for the day and we're trying to go somewhere.




Just out of the tub, decided to forgo the diaper and wear a shirt upside down. The girl has style.



Still ever so happy...


Except for when she gets hurt, which has been a lot lately. A month ago, she face planted into the cement in our storage room, and just this week she did it again, but landed on the wood floor. I feel like she's falling and bumping nonstop. Poor girl.

No pictured, but needs to be documented: Amelia tenderly caring for her baby. She puts her down for naps, gives her stroller rides through the house, feeds her, and loves on her constantly. It's so adorable to see her nurturing side, especially when I see so much of her running through the house with a light saber just trying to keep up with the boys!

Thankful Thanksgiving

We have looked forward to Thanksgiving for a long time, and it came and went all too quickly! We were lucky enough to have Eric and Katie and Mom and Dad C. for five days of cooking, eating, and playing.

Eric and Katie arrived late on Tuesday and Katie and I spent most of Wednesday in the kitchen getting ready for Thanksgiving. Mike and Eric took the kids to the park and then headed to Grand Rapids to pick up the grandparents. So thankful they made it safely and without delay on one of the busiest travel days.

Thanksgiving Day was delightful! Katie and I started with a morning run, home in time to relieve Mike and Eric of daddy duty so they could play football. We went to the park and watched for a bit, but I didn't take a camera. Mike looked so happy on the field, it was everything he dreamed of!

Dad C. has a creative streak to him and he did not disappoint this holiday season. He had been at a luncheon earlier in the week that had this amazing fruit turkey as a centerpiece. So, he picked up a bunch of fruit and had a nice activity with the grandkids making Alf, the turkey.


A few hours later, the grand kids enjoyed another creative turkey making with grandma, apples, and candy this time! Andrew had specifically asked if they could make apple turkeys with grandma like they did last year. They had a great time making their turkeys to place on the kid table for Thanksgiving dinner.


A little backyard footie with kids, dads, grandpa.







Not sure this is really appropriate for the hostess to profess, but it's my blog and record, so I will. This meal was perfect! Every part of it was homemade and cooked to perfection! My big question this year was to brine or not to brine. I brined and it was amazing! So glad I made Grammy Hasler's cranberry ice, perfect!
Amelia LOVED baby Mary! She was constantly aware of Mary and if she was napping, crying, or getting a diaper change. So cute!
The day after Thanksgiving we went to a land preserve just up the road from our house. We had a great time and the kids did so well on our 2+ mile walk.

While hiking, the kids each found a stick and grandma had a great idea make bows and arrows. This idea quickly evolved into playing pilgrims and indians ALL day long! We ate lunch outside and even ended the day with a musical production. Funny kids!
While kids were playing pilgrims and indians, the men were busy with my backyard "honey do" list. We had a couple trees come down this last summer that we needed to take care of, and we wanted to move our swing set.

While looking at the scene above, I said to Mom C. and Katie, "How many Christensens does it take to chop down a tree? None, just call the home teacher!" Ha! It was fun to see these guys be manly and all take their turn with the chainsaw.

The kids were fascinated with the chainsaw and with the one tree that came crashing down.
Mission accomplished! Trees down, swing set moved, men felt manly!
And here are our wild indians, going out to hunt for food one last time before it got dark. Below is the musical production. Their program was amazing, even included a cheer for Jimmer Fredette!

This picture epitomizes our whole Thanksgiving vacation. It felt cozy and comfortable to have family in our home. Cousin laughter, games with grandparents, running, reading books in the afternoon, creating outside, great conversations and enjoying the comfort and love of family. Thanks for making the trip, we love you!