Hopefully ER visits don't happen in threes....

Well... I'm sure it is woefully clear to all of you, as it is to me, that I am not a very good blogger. I'm so sorry it has taken me months to update this (Jeff G) and I would promise you that I will try to do better but, let's be honest, it probably wouldn't happen. So, we'll just have to let it go and enjoy these small glimpses into my insane life whenever possible...



Lily always keeps us on our toes. She is full of life, drama, energy, questions. So, I guess I should have known our first ER visit due to an injury would be with her. And the second as well. What I didn't know was that we would have them both in the same week. Like I said, she never ceases to amaze us!

We had a busy day on 4th of July. Matt and the kids participated in a running race and then we had a neighborhood bike parade that ended with Popsicles at our house. So, before we headed off for more fun at the pool I told the kids to have some "quiet time" in their rooms. They were all reading away, or so we thought, until Lily came out announcing that she had something in her nose. "Did you put something in your nose, Lily?" No, of course not. So, I shined a flashlight up there and sure enough there was something shiny way, way up there. Our neighbor, a nurse, said it was too far up for her to get so off we went to the ER. Lily actually managed to stay pretty calm, although she was visibly upset, until they went to take it out and then it took 5 of us to hold her down. :-) Anyway, they got it out (using a paperclip!!) and after some Starbucks life was good again for Lily. The funniest part was when I told Bryce we were taking Lily to the hospital b/c she stuck a battery up her nose he asked if it was from his little ipod toy, which it was, he then said, "When you get it out can I have it back?". Brotherly love.

5 days later... the kids were out practicing golf in the front yard. I had set them both up in their places, made sure they had whiffle balls (not real ones), and gone inside to get them a snack. Next thing I know Lily is screaming and holding her head and Bryce is just saying "It was an accident" over and over. Long story short she had been standing a little to close to Bryce while he took a swing and she took a 7 iron to the side of her head. We ended up taking her to the emergency peds clinic where they cleaned it out and glued it shut. We were so thankful that it wasn't any worse and that she didn't have to have stitches or staples. I do have to say it was one of my scariest moments as a mom. Matt was happy to see that I happened to have my camera in my purse and he took this picture at the clinic. She is doing fine now. She complained of a headache for the first couple of days and we can't wash her hair for about a week but more than anything she was upset that she couldn't go to the pool for a week.

Happy New Year...a little late

Well, now that the first month of the new year is over I will try to catch you all up on what's been going on here at Casa de Christensen...

We had a very busy but wonderful Christmas. My mom and her husband came down from Tallahassee to celebrate with us. The kids had lots of fun (how could they not really). We also had a great winter break from school. Here are some of the highlights...


B&L at a "Birthday Party for Jesus"


Lily and her new BFF...a pink poodle wearing a tutu that she named Fancy Nancy.


Lily was Mary in her school play this year. She was so excited and, besides carrying baby Jesus upside down, she did a great job!


The Bowmans were in Tampa for a wedding so we met Kim and Summer half way one day for lunch. Kim and I are always finding ourselves in these strange places sharing an adventure together and this was no different. After lunch we went to a park to play and ended up in the middle of a battle reenactment...don't ask. I thought this was just something that started happening when we moved away from Colorado until I recently came across some pictures of our "last hurrah" in Denver together. We went to the world's largest laundromat and took pictures of all the kids inside one of the dryers. So, I guess the strange adventures aren't really anything new for us.


Bryce and his friend showing me their newly acquired tango skills.


Matt's coworkers at the company Holiday party.


Matt ran the Disney marathon again this year (his third). He did great and, as usual, we had lots of fun. His brother, sister-in-law, and nephew happened to be in Orlando as well so they were able to cheer him on as he crossed the finish line. I'm trying to convince Matt to do some other races (gives us an excuse to travel!) so if you have any good races near you let him know. Maybe adding in some visits with friends will spur him on to do it!

The day after the marathon Matt left for the UK for 10 days, then came home for 4 days and is now in Paris and Brussels for another 8 days. So, I've had my hands full around here. We miss daddy lots but are surviving! Until next time...

My kids are amazing...

Well, if you can't brag in your blog where can you brag? Since it's been so long since my last post I thought I would do a quick catch up and since the majority of my life revolves around my kids...well...you can guess where this is going.

Let me first just say how glad I am that it is FINALLY FALL in Florida. One of the things I dislike about living here is that summer lasts 6 months and is miserably hot. So, now that the temps are dipping down to a chilly 73 degrees, I am feeling a lot better about life in general and Florida in particular!

School is in full swing for us now. Bryce is in 1st grade this year and actually just tested into the gifted program, we are so proud of him! When I was pregnant with him I always said he would be really smart. Mostly because I transferred the majority of my brain cells to him in utero leaving me with a severe deficit. Anyway, he loves school, especially math and computer lab. He is also doing cub scouts this year which he really enjoys. Matt is his den leader (oh, don't worry...embarrassing pictures of Matt in his uniform will follow shortly!).



Lily also loves school. She is very smart as well and busy learning her letters and how to read this year. As with everything else they do, Bryce and Lily learn so differently which makes life challenging but helps keeps me on my toes too. She is also super creative. She loves "doing projects" and has been known to go through a whole glue stick in one day. She is taking ballet again this year and lives to dance right now, it's borderline obsession.



September was a busy month for us. We all went up to Minnesota where Matt's half brother was being ordained as a bishop in the Catholic Church. It was really fun for the kids to meet that side of Matt's family and we had a wonderful time up there. The kids love being in the city, another trait inherited from mommy, and our hotel was right in downtown St. Paul. We took them to the Mall of America one day which was super fun.



Shortly after that Matt and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. (for those of you that are keeping track, that's 10 years from the day of our wedding but only 4 years from the day I made it official and took his name! tee hee hee) He didn't take me to Paris, but I'm still holding out...



Also, my step cousin Stephen got married in Tampa and he and his fiance, Nichole, had asked B & L to be in the wedding. After months of speculation, "Do you think they will walk down the isle?" the big day arrived and they did great. It was an intimate outdoor wedding, one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to, and we all had a great time. Lily was like a little princess and, of course, she enjoyed every moment of that. Bryce felt pretty cool in his tux and we discovered a love for dancing hidden deep inside of him. Unfortunately he has his daddy's rhythm but he was having fun nonetheless. What a fantastic memory for us and the kids!




Now it's October and all of the excitement is about Halloween. Lily is going to be a ballerina (shock of all shocks) and Bryce is going to be a robot. We actually made B's costume and he won "most creative costume" at his cub scout fall festival, very exciting stuff. And yes, for those of you who are wondering, he is wearing dryer duct.




Well, thanks for bearing with me through all of that. Now I know that we really are friends. I hope and pray that you all are well...

I love Summer! (the season and the person)

Okay...I need to work on my consistency a bit.

We have been having such a fun summer so far. Last year we travelled all summer, which was fun but really exhausting for the kids. This summer we decided to stay closer to home and have been having a great time making everyone come to us instead!

In June my good friend, and beach buddy, Kim came down with her daughter Summer for a visit with family and we were able to spend a couple of days with them. Kim and I always think it's funny that we moved to the east coast from Colorado at the same time and because of that we get to see each other often. So, as usual we had some great beach days with them.



My nephew from Colorado always comes for a month or more every summer but this year my brother brought him down so it was really nice to spend some time with him, even if it was only for a few days. We've been keeping Garrett busy (as usual). Since moving here we have discovered gators are a big part of life. Mostly the kind that wear uniforms and play sports (chomp chomp) but it's always fun to see the real ones too. Last year Garrett was scared to go see real gators at the lake, this year he was super excited and even got to pet one at a library program. I think the highlight of the trip for him so far has been Sea World. We had a great time and he really loved seeing Shamu. The picture says it all.




Last week Angie came to visit. It was fun to have her here. She is one of the few to make the trek down here and spend a couple of days in the life of the Christensens. Hopefully she wasn't too traumatized by it! We had fun at the beach, the springs, the pool (seriously we are in the water all the time!) and even watching fireworks. I knew she really loved us when we took her to a bike parade and pool party full of shrieking children and didn't even blink an eye. What a friend!!





And to think...our summer is only halfway over (or is it only halfway begun).

I warned you that these might be few and far between.

As most of you know, Matt travels for work quite often. Leaving me to the day to day madness that we call "life". Most of the time, praise the Lord, this is no big deal. We're used to it. Things run smoothly. Sure I get a little sleep deprived, but other than that we survive. Every so often though I get a couple days thrown at me to remind me just how much I need my dear husband. For instance, once when living in CO he went to Tampa, FL on a business trip and it snowed 4ft leaving me stranded in the house with two (very small) children who were currently both suffering from a RSV in a bad way and needed to have breathing treatments every two hours. Or, the time where B managed to lock himself and his just walking sister in the bathroom and I had to call my dad to come over and take the door down so I could get them out. Three hours later, L found some yarn and tried to swallow it leading to a choking episode where I had to physically gag her to get her to spit it up. These are my not so gentle reminders that I can't do it alone and I haven't had one recently until...

Dear hubby went away to Seattle this weekend. Of course, I wake up Friday not feeling well and by Friday night (post Kindergarten field trip) I'm feeling quite like I've been hit by a mac truck. I manage to get everyone off to bed and myself tucked in for the evening when I hear the dog heaving in the living room. I rush to get her outside (too late) and realize that whatever she ate out of the trash earlier has made her very ill. I spent the rest of my night getting up with her every few hours (btw...this is why I don't have a third child) until I finally, much to her dismay, shut her outside. Saturday I wake up, still sick but no body or head aches which is good b/c we have a crazy day ahead. L had ballet at 9. B had a football game at 10:30. Then we had dear hubby's company picnic at a local amusement park (didn't really want to go but couldn't pass up the free tickets).

So three clothes changes (in the car), two meals (also in the car), and 100 miles of driving later we arrive back at home exhausted and ready to relax. That's when I walk in the door and discover that the dog has thrown up ALL OVER the living room. :-) And do I have any carpet cleaner? Come on, you all know the answer to that. So, back in the car munchkins. The good news is, I think the carpet is sufficiently ruined enough to warrent new hardwood floors. You know me, always looking for the silver lining.

After all that I did manage to save the weekend on Sunday and we had a great day. We have been watching a caterpiller (whom we named bumblebee) spin it's chrisyllis and become a butterfly and it finally emerged on Sunday. What a cool thing to watch, the kids loved it. In honor of Earth Day (or because B insited we celebrate Earth Day and L was in tears at the thought of letting the butterfly go) we went to the local nursery to get some plants and created our own butterfly garden in the backyard. The butterfly stuck around for about an hour after we released it with L following it around the yard and updating us on it's every move then it moved on.

Well, once again we managed to survive, if only just barely. When dear hubby returns tommorow, I will be so happy to see him. Also so happy to see my pillow for an uninterrupted 8 hours of rest. Nevermind that he is taking the red eye home. As usual, it's all about me. ;-)

I'm new at this...so bear with me. I thought this might be a fun place to share all the things that happen in my day to day life. Not just the big things, but the seemingly insignificant ones too. As my kids keep growing (why does that have to happen?) I realize that my life is made up of those little moments and when you put them all together they make something big and important.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Here's a funny story that happened the other day. If you've already heard it, stop reading. Or...keep reading and have another laugh.

Lily is curious. (that's my nice way of saying it...mischievous might be more appropriate) You can't leave anything lying around unless you want it picked apart, examined, written on, colored, moved to another place...you get the idea. She is also full of questions, I mean FULL OF QUESTIONS. There is no such thing as a quick explanation. A man with the sign on the corner launches us into a 20 minute discussion of homelessness and what we can and can't do to help. Can: Give him food. Can't: Let him come live in our home. Her most recent adventures involved her daily "rest time" (naps are a fond but distant memory) and an ink pad. You can see where this is going, right?

My kids have a mandatory 30 minute rest time every afternoon. They can do quiet activities but they have to stay in their rooms. Not a big request. Well, Lily happened upon a stamper the other day during her "rest" and 20 mins later I find that she has skillfully applied it as eyeshadow, blush, lipstick and fingernail polish. It's times like these that I find it really hard to convey to Lily the seriousness of her actions as I am desperately trying not to die of laughter. After many phone calls to other moms, Internet research, and trial and error I finally got it all off. Lily's response to all my scrubbing was..."I really wish that stamp pad wasn't in my room." Sure, blame the stamp.