Ouch!

This past week was our last week of swim lessons. On the way out to the car Emily crawled into the pouch underneath the stroller (where you throw towels, a diaper bag, etc.). I use to push Hunter and Maddie around like this all the time. When we got to the van I took Braydens car seat off the stroller and started to strap him in. Being I took all the top weight off when Emily tried crawling out she tipped the stroller and fell face first. She scratched her nose, bit her upperlip and saw blood. My baby girl kinda freaks when she see's blood. Her lip was immediately swollen. It was twice this size by the time I got her home to put some ice on it. Hunter brought me the camera that night as I was putting her to bed and told me I should take her picture to show everyone her booboo.

Carseat Canopy's

While I was in Utah a few weeks ago I saw a young mom with what looked to be like a blanket straped to the baby's car seat. What a genious idea. A carseat canopy is a blanket with 2 straps that velcro onto the handle bars. It keeps baby protected and covered while out and about. What I love about it is that I will no longer be that mom seen running through the parking lot chasing a fly away blanket! It is perfect for newborns, for my new borns I usually throw a blanket over the carseat. How many germs are floating around in the grocery store, Wal Mart, etc . How many times do strangers come up to touch your newborn becuase they are so little and precious? This ones a little girly.

This one I made for an upcoming baby shower gift. When baby gets a little older and wants to see, you simply fold the cover over the handle bars, like the above pict. This is taken from behind the car seat.

The below picture is of Brayden's. I took it with us to church for the 1st time. He fell asleep on the way there so all through sacrament I had him completely covered. During sunday school I unstrapped it, threw it on the floor and let him play on it (it's the size of a blanket). He got hungry and I realized I had left my nursing cover at home so I took it with me and used it to cover up. Needless to say it was well used during church. The other day I took the kids to the library. We got stuck there during one of our monsoons. It was pouring outside and Brayden was asleep. We tried waiting it out but I needed to get home. The kids and I ran to the van. Brayden stayed asleep and not only did Brayden not get wet but the blanket stayed on and kept him completely covered through the gusts of wind. I love it. I just wish I've had it with me over the past 3 months instead of just this past week. They are selling on craigslist in Utah and on Etsy like mad at the moment. I thought I'd try listing mine on craigslist first and then Etsy here I come.

Photo Shoot

My parents have a beautifly apricot tree in there back yard. The kids spent many hours in this tree, climbing, jumping, and swinging. Before leaving for home I tried taking some picts of the kids. "Smokey" follwed Aunt Hanna and the grandkids home earlier that morning which made it very difficult to get them to cooperate for pictures. These were the best. Meet the newest addition to the Christensen Clan, "Smokey".

The pictures of Brayden aren't the best but I love his blue eyes.

I tried taking a group shot at the end but everyone had had enough of saying "cheese". They were done and so was I.

These were my 2 favorites of Hunter. He can be quite the little ham!

Maddie loves to pose. I like the picts that shows how long her hair is.

As I've mentioned before Emily does NOT like having her picture taken. I left her in her polka dot dress (her absolute favorite dress) hoping she'd cooperate a little better. It helped some but I don't "love" any of the pictures of her. Her hair was actually quite cute but in the picture it looks a mess. I had a hard time getting her to look at the camera thanks to "smokey". This was the best of her.

One of these day's I'll get April to take some better ones for us. She always does such a great job!

4th of July

For the 4th of July the kids and I were still in Utah. During the afternoon we were in Alton (where Kory is from) the kids enjoyed free ice cream cones and free train rides. The grandkids loved the train ride. Emily would only go if mom went with her.

Maddie and Carlaya were best buds. These girls rode the train over and over and over.

Before we went to Alton we ate lunch at a park in Fredonia. Emily was looking too cute so I asked her to say cheese. Being Emily she immediately covered her face with her hands and took off running screaming at me not to take her picture. She ran so fast she lost her pants! Wasn't exactly the picture I was after but it's going to make a great memory.

Uncle Travis was with us that morning and I had to take a picture of him holding Brayden. Travis is going to become a daddy this september. He's going to be a great dad!

4th of July morning our family participated in the Fredonia Parade. It was hot hot hot! We sat on the float waiting for the parade to start much longer then the actual parade lasted. Oh well. The kids loved it when the fire truck drove by and squirted us.

My Grandma Christensen was born in Fredonia, AZ. We were having a Brooksby reunion this weekend and the family thought it would be fun to participate in the parade. We were the Brooksby Angels.

We had a great weekend. I was able to see many cousins that I haven't seen in years. Being we live in Arizona I miss out on many of the family get together's that are held in Utah periodicly. It's kind of weird watching our children out running around and playing together. We are no longer those children but the parents sitting and visisting with one another.

A week at Grandma's

Kory has been working around the clock these past few weeks so the kids and I went to Grandma's to spend a week. The kids were able to do quite a bit of horseback riding. I love this picture. My girls are best of friends!

By the end of the week Hunter was able to talk Grandpa out of holding on to the lead rope. He was so excited to tell me how he rode Romeo all by himself. This mom was a little nervous about watching this take place and didn't think to take a picture, to Hunter's disapointment.

When the horses were taking a break from the grandkids Grandpa and Aunt Hanna gave rides up and down the driveway on the quads. Maddie wants one for her next birthday. I do too. If only it were that easy.

Emily and her cousin Noah had fun walking up and down the long driveway and pushing each other on Grandma's bikes.

It was a great week sitting out on the front porch watching the children play. The kids and I had a great time and they are asking when we can go back. I wish we lived a little closer so we could do this more often without such a long drive. One day...

Officially "5"

Maddie celebrated her birthday a few weeks before her actuall birthday so that her best friend Amber could be present before her family moved out of state. We still needed to acknowledge this special day for Maddie. I can't believe my baby is 5. She woke up to pancakes (her favorite breakfast). Kory is working some pretty late hours so we allowed Maddie to open her gifts after breakfast.

One of her gifts was paintbrush paints. I covered the table in paper and let the kids go. Amazingly it all stayed on the table with no accidents.

She was a sweet sister to let her siblings join in on the fun.

Her birthday happened to land on the last day of swim lessons for that session. She thought she was pretty special to have a swim party and popsicles on her birthday. Happy Birthday! We love you!

Father's Day

We were very blessed when after several weeks of searching for work Kory was able to pick up a large project replacing several kitchens and bathrooms. However, it wasn't until after the contracts were signed that he was then told he had 6weeks to do it. My dad and brother-in-law were laid off about 2 months ago. Since they were still unemployed they both came up to help Kory meet the dead line for this job. They just happened to all be here over Father's Day. Being their families were home the kids and I wanted to do something to acknowledge them on this special day. So we created an I love you candy poster board for each of them.

We love all of you and are ever greatful to have you in our lives.

It's back to school!

We have owned our own buisness for almost 4 years now. This picture depicts what the IRS or each tax season has done to us. In utah our accountant was retired and did taxes out of his home. For three years he charged us $75 and was able to get us what we thought then was a very nice refund. Since we've moved to Prescott Valley our refund has reduced drastically. Last year we qualified for the extra child credit, for each child $1,000 was given. We had 3 children at the time and all of our friends were getting about $5-7,000. Not us we got a little over $2400. This past year was the kicker. Due to the "supposed profit" of the company our personal tax was pushed once again into a higher tax bracket. It was quite a surprise when we were told what our refund was for federal (never been that low before), how much we owed for state and then what the accountant was charging us.

All I can say is that WILL NOT happen again. I have gone back to school. This past spring I really wanted to start my future accounting degree. I was very dissapointed when registration came and went and we just didn't have the money to do it. I actually cried myself to sleep one night. Hind sight is 20/20 finals ended up being the week Brayden made his entrance into this world.

Several weeks ago it came to my attention that this same class was being offered thise summer. I signed up and am starting my 3rd week into ACCT 115. I knew a summer class would be a bit of a crunch but I didn't quite realize how much. It's been 11 years since I've taken a class and am a little out of practice. I am finding it very difficult to spread my time between reading 2 chapters, completing 2 homework assignments that take me 3-4 hours each and complete 2 quizzes (in 5 days), while at the same time do swim lessons, babysitting, doctors appointments, book keeping for the buisness and just being a wife, a mother, chaufer, maid, and cook to a family of 6 now. Yesterday at church it was brought to my attention that I haven't answered emails in over a week and haven't been blogging. I just had to laugh. The past 2 weeks have been a little overwhelming. So until my class is over (6 more weeks to go) blogging and answering emails are being put on the back burner.

The bright side of this new chaos to our lives is that I am learning many new things and it will help with the upcoming tax year. I won't be going back to school full time but I do hope to continue to take classes each semester until I earn a degree. I would much rather the money we currently pay an accountat to go into my pocket instead.

"Princess Party"

Maddie will be turning "5" next week. Her best friend Amber will be moving the end of this week so we held her birthday party this past saturday. Maddie with her best friend whom she will truly miss.

For one of the games I gave each of the girls a blank bingo card with princess stickers to decorate.

Maddies favorite game was "Kiss the Prince". I lathered each princess's lips with lipstick, blind folded them and watched to see who could kiss the prince on the cheek. I thought these girls were a little to young to kiss on the lips.

Maddie wanted to serve her princess friends fruit. So thats what we did. We a had tray full of strawberries, watermelon, honeydew and grapes.

What's a princess party without a princess cake. It turned out pretty cute I thought and Maddie loved it so that's all that counts! Happy Birthday big girl.

Swim session #1 is over...

Last week ended our 1st session in swim lessons. Here are a few picts of Maddie..

She was quite the little flirt with her "cute" boy teacher.

On friday after each child was signed off what they could do they were able to spend some time on the splash pad.

Hunter's favorite part was shooting the water cannons.

One session down one more to go.

FHE of King Benjamin

I have gotten out of the habit of doing projects with the kids. Being I have had 2 in school they do plenty there. For several days though the kids have been asking to do a project. I decided I couldn't put them off any longer. So last monday I told the kids we would be do doing a big project as part of our family home evening. I prepared a short lesson on King Benjamin. Afterward we created the scene of King Benjamin teaching his people using popsicle sticks. This is the final project..

The girls were in charge of the tents and people..

While the boys were in charge of the tower. It turned into a fun family home evening. I wasn't sure how much they got from the lesson due to their excitement of the upcoming project. But they do remember what I was hoping to get across. The point being King Benjamin taught his not to "fight" with each other but to love and serve one another.