Christensen Cafuffles

How we're spending our time

2011-04-25T09:11:00.001-06:00

What we found out today...

2011-02-09T15:31:00.006-07:00

When Jonathan got home from school today, he couldn't wait to find out if he is going to have a baby sister or baby brother in June. There was a bowl of white frosting waiting for him and Lucas. They had to stir to find out whether we'll be painting the nursery pink or blue...

First day

2010-10-09T20:51:00.002-06:00

Lucas was excited to start preschool. This is old hat for Jonathan, second grade.

Do I look like Daddy, but shorter?

2010-08-29T21:47:00.002-06:00

... Lucas asked Mommy, after donning his new suit.

A Day at the Zoo

2010-08-29T21:39:00.006-06:00

The last day of summer vacation 2010.

Muppets still entrance...

2010-08-15T21:15:00.009-06:00

...even if it does involve David Bowie in tights.

The kids watching Labyrinth in chair caves.

How colonial

2010-08-04T21:33:00.002-06:00

With our rate of blogging, you might think we got stuck in colonial America...

Spring has sprung?

2010-04-05T21:30:00.001-06:00

Lucas thinks that spring is a fine time to build a snowman. I just hope my apricot tree (mostly in blossom) doesn't freeze. I've heard that in the South they put Christmas lights on the peach trees to keep them from freezing.

By far

2010-01-07T19:22:00.001-07:00

By far the best present was the box of dress ups.

Christmas Tree Shopping

2009-12-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

I was sure a six-foot tree would fit into our Mazda 5, and it did. The top just needed to share Lucas' seat with him.

Lucas had a good time pretending to hide in the forest,and before we got home he had fallen asleep.

Halloween

2009-11-08T22:18:00.004-07:00

Lucas (Tigger holding a Darth Vader mask) with my mom in her 1950s prom dress and original jewelry. Isn't she stunning?

Jonathan, race car driver, at the school Halloween parade.

Long overdue

2009-10-18T18:35:00.004-06:00

We aren't posting the picture of our Neon, our only car for the past 10 years (and still running), in fears that she might think we were slighting her. We wouldn't want her to be offended. We still need you, Betty.

Thank you, Mr. President

2009-10-17T21:08:00.002-06:00

Lucas (with great emotion): I don't want to wash my hands.
Parents (with Peanuts' teacher inflection): Blah, blah, blah, blah
Jonathan: Lucas, President Obama spoke to my class, and he is the president of the United States, so he knows everything, and he said to wash our hands before we eat.
Lucas: Okay.

Six.

2009-07-13T20:54:00.002-06:00

Jonathan is six years old today.

His favorite breakfast is oatmeal.
His favorite lunch is tuna fish sandwiches.
His favorite dinner is spaghetti.

His favorite activities are playing legos, playing outside, and playing the Wii.

He likes to read his Star Wars reading books. I have fun playing duets with him on the piano.

He makes us all laugh. He just realized that he could call me "Lucas's dad's wife."

Jonathan's name means "gift from God." That is exactly why we named him that.

We love you, Jonathan!

Ah, to be three...

2009-07-05T21:36:00.003-06:00

Every mother tells me I have to write down the funny things or I won't remember which kid said what.

We took the kids to the library Monday evening and then played in the park. When Lucas came hurtling down a very tall slide and landed really hard, both Ryan and I braced ourselves for the screaming tears, but Lucas just jumped up and yelled, "Was that awesome?"

Later in the week we went to Colonial Days. We were watching Irish dancers (very colonial indeed) on stage, and Lucas patted me on the hand and said, "When they get done up there, it will be my turn."

Getaway

2009-07-03T10:22:00.001-06:00

Before I started teaching summer term, we went on a fun trip to Brianhead.

Fishing

2009-06-07T20:49:00.004-06:00

Trying out fishing at the Utah Lake Festival.

It turns out that I want to be able to fish. It was something about reading The Omnivore's Dilemma that brought me to this point, oddly enough. It did not convince me that I need to hunt wild pigs in Berkeley though. I can live without eating pigs. Nor did it convince me that I need to hunt wild mushrooms. That sounds downright dangerous.

Now, our experience is minimal. Ryan had a fishing pole when he was about eight and the silly thing flew out of his hands on his first fishing attempt. And I know I helped my brother dig worms for his fishing expedition when I was about four.

So do we google "how to fish"?

It is nice that we can learn skills from google, from a book, or even from a paid instructor. But isn't there something to be said about learning something from someone who loves you enough to watch you cast a hundred times until you get it right? I think the knowledge and skills we often value most are those we have learned from a dedicated parent or teacher who stuck with us.

So watch out, kids. You are going to learn how to fish whether you like it or not...

J-E-L-L-O

2009-06-07T20:30:00.003-06:00

All of the school's kindergarteners did the Jello dance at the dance festival on the last day of school. Of course, we thought Jonathan was the cutest "J" out there.

Why we haven't posted for a while...

2009-05-27T21:52:00.004-06:00

I mean, granted, we aren't the most diligent bloggers, but still.

10. We had to turn in the grades for the classes we are teaching.
9. We have lost several friends and family members to facebook. I mean, is anyone really reading this?
8. A bit of kitchen remodeling. Note that only the "before" picture is available:

7. Jonathan is finishing up kindergarten, and has had a flurry of activities.
6. Did I mention kitchen remodeling?
5. I'm trying to learn the art of sourdough. Why didn't I just get a real pet? (Well, besides the fact that you can't turn a goldfish into waffles?)
4. Sprinklers. (Ah, the days of innocence are over.)
3-1. Before we moved to this house, our gardening experience consisted of a community garden (a.k.a. "feed the gopher") in grad school, so we've been trying to get more of this

than this

Still working on it.

Three.

2009-04-27T22:35:00.003-06:00

Has it really been three years?

Disneyland

2009-04-26T23:32:00.001-06:00

It was hot at the Newport Beach temple.

Photographic evidence we were there.

Tigger pulled Jonathan's hat over his eyes.

Lucas celebrated his third birthday.

Pi Day

2009-03-17T21:19:00.003-06:00

Jacquelyn makes magnificent pies. I was glad to have an excuse to have her make one. (I'm looking forward to 3/14/15.) (That filling was made by my Mom last fall, from the apples in her back yard.)

"But I can't spell hippopotamus..."

2009-03-08T22:48:00.003-06:00

The star of the show with his adoring fans.

Jonathan has spent weeks getting ready with his class for the kindergarten program. It was delightful, and we enjoyed him practicing his line all week. He has grown up so much since he started school. He is reading and loving it. He and his friends at school have a continual game going of Star Wars/super heroes/Indiana Jones. I am his mother (so biased), but I'm convinced he is a Lego genius.

Kindergarteners are special--and so are their teachers!

The many faces of a two year old.

2009-03-08T21:58:00.005-06:00

When Lucas recently dropped his napping habit, it seems his synapses started firing more furiously. He displays a wider range of emotions. He can tell longer stories (though his brain works faster than his tongue). He can sit through longer books with fewer pictures. On a recent trip home from the library, he sighed and said, "Books are fun."

He is my outside boy--even in cold weather he needs his time outside.

Time to go to church, boys!

2009-03-01T20:15:00.003-07:00

It takes a heap of livin'

2009-03-01T19:56:00.002-07:00

Six

2009-02-22T19:39:00.003-07:00

Ashlie the Amazing had this on her blog, and tagged me:

1. Go to the photo folder in your computer

2. Go to the 6th folder of photos.

3. Go to the sixth picture.

4. Put the picture on your blog and description of it.

5. Invite six friends to join the challenge.

and, my addition:

6. Eat six chocolate chip cookies.

This is Lucas at 20 months helping me make bread. He was a very enthusiastic helper with cute feet. Let me just brag about those fine chili pepper candles in the windowsill: I won them at a chili cook-off (using, as I just remembered, Ashlie the Amazing's recipe).

If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged. Try it. It's fun.

At last

2009-02-21T22:35:00.001-07:00

We bought a house.

We also bought a camera. When the camera comes, we'll post pictures of the house.

On the first day of Christmas

2008-12-28T17:13:00.000-07:00

Something that is mostly lost on our culture with its stark calendar: the liturgical calendar places the twelve days of Christmas starting on Christmas and going until Epiphany (January 6).

We have had a great Christmas so far, with lots of fun activities planned by our families. We did get snowed in at Ryan's parents' house (we still have our little Neon, Betty, who is a bit timid around snow), so we didn't get to see my parents until the fourth day of Christmas.

Hooray for twelve days of Christmas!

My favorites

2008-12-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

Three of my favorite famous people are Danny Kaye, David Brooks, and Mark Bittman. (Who?)

One of my favorite Danny Kaye movies is On the Double, and I've never been able to find it on DVD, but now you can watch it on YouTube. Very cool--well, for me at least.

As for the latest from David Brooks and Mark Bittman, check this, this, and this out.

Snowed in

2008-12-18T16:47:00.001-07:00

The boys looked like scruffy nerfherders, the snow was piling up, and there was no way that this California driver was going to drive them to get a haircut. We have lovely hardwood floors throughout the house, and there was no way that I was going to litter every inch of it with boy hair, so we put plastic wrap down in the bathtub, and had haircuts. We just wrapped all the hair up afterward and threw it away. It sure beat sweeping!

The boys thought it enough of a novelty that they forgot to complain.

Over the river

2008-12-16T14:57:00.010-07:00

Lucas sings this song every time we go to Grandma's house. Today he pulled up a chair for me to sit in while he played it on the piano.

Our week

2008-11-24T22:34:00.003-07:00

First-time home buying is a cross between Christmas and really bad jury duty. This week it was more like jury duty.

The search continues...

Halloween Safari

2008-11-02T16:24:00.004-07:00

Safari driver, tourist, giraffe (with padding), and cheetah (with built-in roar)

Yoga

2008-11-02T16:20:00.003-07:00

One day I found a bear doing yoga in my living room. (I honestly think he does it to mock his inflexible parents who try really hard to exercise.)

Hiking

2008-10-19T20:34:00.004-06:00

Lucas at the trail head of Angel's Landing (which we didn't hike).

Jonathan on the river walk.

Can you tell who is in the middle of saying "cheese"?

Observation point

2008-10-19T20:20:00.004-06:00

Oatmeal monster

2008-09-17T21:33:00.008-06:00

2008-09-17T21:33:00.007-06:00

I repainted our car over the weekend. It was not the first time, and probably will not be the last time. But it was the third time.

I went through three cans of paint, every can of Bright White they had in all the car shops in Provo. Turns out it wasn't enough, so Scott took me out to Orem, and I cleaned out the Checker there also.

The result:

Nap

2008-09-14T20:24:00.002-06:00

While we were walking home from church, Lucas told us he was tired.

Luckily Ryan had his hat to shade our fair-skinned boy.

First day

2008-09-10T21:27:00.004-06:00

What Jonathan told his teacher he wanted to learn in kindergarten:

1. why some people have to wear glasses

2. how space shuttles get into space

How many trees must a preschooler...

2008-08-17T16:46:00.005-06:00

Jonathan shows off all of his projects from pre-kindergarten.

Happy Birthday!

2008-07-13T21:20:00.003-06:00

It is hard to believe that Jonathan is five. He has grown up so much in the last year. A few things I love about Jonathan: his smile, his infectious laugh, and his great imagination. He asks great questions (Do birds have ears? Why didn't you turn on your blinker when you turned?) and I love finding the answers out with him.

Jonathan had a Star Wars birthday party for his fifth birthday.

Activities included

Luke, Luke, Darth Vader (variation of duck, duck, goose)
Make your own light saber
Jedi training obstacle course
Bounty hunter hydro-detonater fight (water balloons)

After Lucas woke him up this morning, Jonathan had an asteroid hunt to find his presents.

The scooter was a hit.

His cake: dark chocolate cake with peanut butter mousse. Consensus: great cake, mousse too rich.

Dirt.

2008-07-05T21:42:00.000-06:00

We went camping for the Fourth with the Christensens. Two days of lots of dirt and no baths: a boy's dream come true.

Up, up and away

2008-07-03T21:49:00.000-06:00

More big sights

2008-06-19T22:15:00.002-06:00

Jonathan and I contemplating art and life in front of a pioneer artist's cabin.

Playing "Pooh sticks"

Covered bridge in the pioneer village.

Big sights

2008-06-19T22:05:00.002-06:00

After graduation we went with my parents to Yosemite. They are fit septagenarians! I would never challenge one of them to a footrace.

Can you tell that Jonathan loved all the photo ops?

Congratulations!

2008-06-19T17:15:00.000-06:00

Help from Dad, who just went through the hooding process himself last August.

The undergraduate "processional" (a.k.a. wacky walk) at Stanford.

Graduation according to Jonathan:

We got up early and went to Stanford graduation. Up at the stands I didn't really do much. One of the speakers was a girl (Oprah), and she talked about crazy stuff, like how they tried to change her name. Isn't that crazy?

We saw a dragon that came around the tent lots of times, an elephant, a Batman, and there were some guys who didn't have much clothes on and were carrying it on a a clothesline

Then we went to another graduation. It was a celebration for Daddy.

Then we did fun stuff, like walking around.

Happy Birthday, Dad

2008-05-19T21:42:00.002-06:00

Never too old to enjoy getting a Lego set. (Indiana Jones this time.)

Something worth celebrating...

2008-05-14T14:50:00.003-06:00

Ryan just got a tenure-track offer from BYU! We would write more, but we are off to celebrate!

Zoo wild

2008-04-29T21:44:00.005-06:00

Last week we went to the zoo with Katie, Brooklyn, Liam, and Ashlie and Nathan. Lucas loved watching the monkeys jump around.

Today we went to Kangaroo Zoo, where we got to jump around.

We went with Jonathan's preschool.

Don't get any closer or I'll explode!

Happy Birthday, Lucas!

2008-04-27T21:36:00.003-06:00

Hot dogs, my favorite!

Do I get the whole thing?

I was a great surprise two years ago! (Almost a month early.)

All dressed up...

2008-04-20T21:43:00.000-06:00

Ryan passed his dissertation defense---with no revisions!

2008-03-30T22:31:00.002-06:00

Ryan came.

Ryan saw.

Ryan conquered.

And it was fun to watch.

Out on the farm

2008-03-21T13:46:00.001-06:00

If you look closely, you might see that I am carrying a purse, which aggravated the pony once the ride started. You would think that growing up with horses would have made me a little more mindful of the animal.

A little break

2008-02-27T13:39:00.001-07:00

Freedom!

What is that bright shining thing we haven't seen all winter?

Snow, snow, snow!

2008-01-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

Living in California for five years makes you forget about winter. There I often forgot what season it was. No question here.

The boys love it.

Christmas Parties

2007-12-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

Lucas loved the BYU Christmas party mosh pit, er, balloon room where kids jump around and into each other.

Lucas didn't think highly of Cosmo.

Jonathan thought he was great.

Youd family Christmas party

Double the Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T13:50:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving #1

Thanksgiving #2

Because we don't know where we will be next year, we decided to maximize our time with our families and celebrate Thanksgiving at both of our parents' homes. We started at Grandma and Grandpa Youd's house. When we got to the Christensen's, Jonathan said, "But we already ate--even dessert!"

Fall

2007-11-20T14:14:00.000-07:00

We finally know the real reason Margaret was grieving over Goldengrove unleaving--all that raking!

(I picture a cartoon of the poet writing his poem, lying on his back and waxing philosophical about life and death, while Margaret is crying about all the leaves she has to rake--alone. Yes, the dreamy English major has become cynical.)

Ah life!

2007-11-11T20:03:00.000-07:00

"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?—every, every minute?" asks Emily in "Our Town."

Yes, Emily, children do.

Trick or treat!

2007-11-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

Ahoy, matey!

Two cute dragons. (Lucas and cousin Liam)

Shiver me timbers! It's a beautiful princess! (cousin Haley)

We spent Halloween at Grandpa and Grandma Christensen's house. The big hit was the swimming pool full of little ghosts (dried beans). The homemade doughnuts weren't bad either.

Youd Family Halloween Party

2007-10-25T13:39:00.000-06:00

Derek, Ryan, Matt, Jonathan, and Kyle

From left to right: Indiana Jones, a fearsome dragon, Minnie Mouse, and an incredibly handsome pirate.

Above: Lucas discovered the joys of a light saber.

My sister Lorilee and her family hosted an amazing Halloween party complete with a haunted house scary enough to get a few screams out of my mother.

First haircut

2007-10-21T19:31:00.001-06:00

Before.

After.

The secret? Raisins.

The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

2007-10-09T20:01:00.000-06:00

We had forgotten how beautiful autumn can be. The mountains are ablaze in color. Lucas is especially enjoying the grapevines in our backyard. We have canned peaches, tomatoes, and applesauce thanks to our industrious mothers and their gardens.

Jonathan and Lucas are taking a music class. Jonathan is thrilled with the ukelele he got to take home this week.

Jonathan's preschool went on a fabulous field trip to South Ridge Farms. Lucas and cousins Brooklyn and Liam and Aunt Ashlie joined us. We went on a hayride to the pumpkin patch. Lucas thought the pumpkins were the perfect seat. Lucas and Jonathan loved roaming the field of pumpkins. It made me want to be a pumpkin farmer. Then we went back for cider donuts, which made me want to be a baker. Most of all, I was glad to be Jonathan's and Lucas' mom so I could have such a perfectly mellow fall day.

The First Day(s) of School

2007-09-09T21:00:00.000-06:00

We started school this week. Ryan is teaching logic and metaphysics (meta-what?). I'm teaching grammar. Jonathan is going to preschool. And, well, Lucas has mixed feelings about not going to school like his big brother.

We moved!

2007-09-02T20:33:00.000-06:00

We moved from California mid-July. All the boxes were like one big playground for Lucas. We then spent some time with family at family reunions, and moved into our new place on August 1. More pictures will follow of the fabulous house we are renting. The boys are very happy with more space and their own back yard.