What just happened?

Somehow I have un-invited myself (or something) to all of the private blogs that I like to catch up on! If you are one of those people, could you re-invite me puh-leze!
(This includes you Melissa M.!)

Thanks!
valerie(dot)christensen(at)gmail(dot)com

A little catch up

I have been a lazy blogger this summer, and now summer is almost over! Wow!

We had some fun at the fair,

Did a little swimming,


Had a few campfires,

And #3 did lots of this!

Our Summer Project

We had surprise visitors up in our porch this spring. The first day we saw the birds building a nest we actually tried to knock the meager pile of sticks down several times and within an hour or so it was all built back up; so we finally had a heart and left the nest alone.

My computer-savy husband put a webcam up for the kids to watch the birds live, and then he figured out how to stream it to the internet and update the picture online every few seconds. (He has a little extra time on his hands; being home from work after having back surgery...that is another story for later!) To watch the live shots go here http://www.bcinvent.com:81/
(The picture will change every 10 seconds. Right now there are 3 eggs and 1 baby. You can also see the father bringing worms back occasionally.)

Just a few minutes ago we noticed that the first baby has hatched! Maybe it is an indication of warmer weather?

Happy Spring!

A Big Birthday for a Big Guy

(Ok, I really can't call this little man Baby Brother anymore, but I'm still thinking of a great alias that fits his personality.)

He turned 2 last month and I can't believe how time flies. A few little things that make this boy a real charmer:
*He always does that scrunchy smile and says, "Cheese" when he sees a camera
*He is my best snuggler
*He cried every time we tried to get shorts out for him this spring (on the few warm days) until we told him they were his soccer shorts like C-man's and they would make him run fast and kick the ball hard! Magically he put them right on!
*He turns down things like donuts and cake for vegetables! There isn't a vegetable this boy won't eat! ...even red onions that I picked off my hamburger at the restaurant one night.
*He will say "mom, mom, mom, mom..." an insane number of times until I finally stop what I am doing and watch him 1)run fast, or 2)shoot a basket, or 3)ride his bike, or4)kick a ball, etc.
*He gives me a kiss every time I ask!

We are so glad he is in our family!

Our Newest Addition

Baby Brigham made it here earlier this month! We are so happy he is here healthy and safe; we are also so tired! It is so easy to forget how tiny and precious a new baby is!
Things are going well and (so far) are better than I had planned on with 3 little boys! One big brother is in deep brotherly love with the baby and the other "big" brother pretty much isn't interested at all!

A Spring Motivation

My sister in law told me about this great site. It has a lot of interesting information. Maybe now that Spring is here we will get a kick-start on our healthier eating.

Another Birthday

Recently our Angel Baby turned 3
Lots of donuts and balloons
Thinking and remembering
It gets easier each year

Your'e Never too Old, too Wacky, too Wild, to Pick up a Book and Read to a Child!

Did you remember that tomorrow, March 2, is Read Across America day? It is a day to celebrate Dr. Suess' birthday! When I taught school we always had a big read-a-thon party in class with lots of fun activites! Be sure to read to someone, or yourself tomorrow!

I thought these book lists were great, and a lot of the books are ones that I remember reading!
The Best Books to Read with your Kids
Five Ways to Make Reading Fun
Best Books for Preschoolers

It is Coming Soon!...I Hope

We are looking forward to
Spring! The warm weather is such a great change!
Leaves and Flowers!!
Playing Outside!
Our new baby brother coming around April 7!
We hope all of these things are coming soon!

A Helpful Hint

This post is a little random, but I am trying to pass along my excitement over a good deal!
Diapers at amazon.com are a super good deal and you can get them shipped for free! You need to check it out.

Basically you have to sign up for amazon mom (which is free) and then you also buy your diapers on subscribe and save (which means you get them automatically every so often; I set mine to 6 months) After you get the diapers, in 2 days, you just log back in and cancel your subscription!

Also in Parents magazine, Parenting, and American Baby they have coupons occasionally for an extra 20% off! The coupons look like this

Anyway, I won't get boring but it turns out to be like $0.14 a diaper for size 3 huggies without the extra coupon and $0.11 cents a diaper with the coupon! I thought they were a pretty good deal at Sam's club for $$0.18 cents a diaper. Lets just say we are stocking up!

After all of my rambling, here is a site that explains it all!
Gotta love a bargin!

Christmas-time

Christmas morning we were all excited!


Over the holidays we did some chocolate dipping!

Had a wonderful time with cousins! (Yes, Baby Brother is the puppy in the nativity)

And spent some time at Great Grandpa's Cabin!

We hope your holidays were as relaxing and happy as ours!