Elsa Is Four!

Elsa's birthday was Tuesday. We didn't celebrate until Saturday, and that didn't bug her one bit. . .as long as she could claim four on Tuesday nothing else mattered. Apparently the shame of three was deeper than I had imagined. She was so angry when her buddy Brynn turned four back in November. She's finally at peace again.
Her party was a ton of fun. We gathered a bunch of her friends and they baked and decorated her birthday cake from scratch. I really get into planning my children's birthday parties. I love it. I love entertaining lots of hyper children for a couple hours with the hope that my child will have a great memory. This one was a breeze. I'd do it again in a second. The kids had a great time and were enthralled in the baking process. I didn't have to plan any games or anything. We brought Elsa's kitchen down, and they played with that for about 15 minutes while we waited for the cake to cool.
Elsa had a great time being with her friends. She is such a dear. I worried for weeks about getting her "the" gift, but in the end knew it wouldn't matter. She is such a sweet little girl and so very easy to please. Just like not celebrating on her birthday--she could take it or leave it. She really just loves to be surrounded with her friends and family. Thanks Nana for coming to celebrate with her. She loved it.

The Swiss Family Christensen!

It is official. We will be moving our family to Geneva, Switzerland on June 1. G. accepted the offer today. He will be working for the same company, different office. We are very excited, and have committed for two years. Henry and Elsa will be enrolled in Swiss schools next fall and speaking French. Believe it. I will be learning French. I was angry about that for about a month. Switzerland has four, but really three, official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansch(?). Seventy five percent of the country speaks German. How easy would that be. Whatever. French is starting to sound nice.


These pictures are from our visit to Geneva last week. The first is G. and Ansel in St. Croix. A lovely little mountain village. The second is me in front of the big fountain in Lake Geneva. However, don't be fooled. This was no vacation.
Geneva is beautiful. It will be a lovely place to live. Come visit.

Tent Night

Occasionally Greg sets up the tent in the living room, then takes the kids to pick out a movie at blockbuster. They have a little camp-out inside while enjoying a good flick and eating some of his delicious popcorn. The best kind of camping experience for Chicago in the winter.

The Little Booch

Henry made up a game that he plays with Greg where they run around and he calls him "The Big Booch." They've been playing it for a couple of months now. The name has a great ring and lately I've decided we might need to graduate Ansel from some of his more babyish nicknames. He is 15 months old! The Little Booch seems to be just right and is sticking nicely.
So what's the Little Booch up to? Everything! I can hardly keep up. But I know if I haven't seen him in about thirty seconds he is on top of one of his perches. As for the messes only the long wear lipstick has been photographed. The syrup and cocoa are just really good stories. We sure do love the messy Little Booch!

Wintertime!

Henry loves the winter. I love that when he comes home from school and it is so cold outside he still wants to put on all his gear and be outside. He even convinces Elsa to join him and she loves it too! Her bouts outside are usually half as long. Thursday we got our biggest storm this year, about ten inches. Henry has spent so much time outside building forts and shoveling and just loving the snow. Elsa has pneumonia so hasn't been able to play outside with him. I have enjoyed watching him from the window (Ansel just isn't ready to spend more than two seconds in the cold air), but had to go out when I saw him against this tree just enjoying a rest in the snow. I love it. Our kids are so entertained throughout their day I sometimes worry that they won't be able to just enjoy the world around them. Ahhh.

Henry Lost His First Tooth!

Henry's two bottom teeth have been very loose for at least two weeks. As a child I don't think my teeth were ever so loose on their own. I never gave them the chance. I pulled-ripped them out as soon as they resembled being loose. So I was quite perplexed by Henry's patience or perhaps fear. He was so afraid they would bleed he hardly even wiggled them! Yesterday I was talking to him and noticed a space on his bottom row of teeth. I figured the tooth was now so loose it was horizontal. Imagine both of our surprise when he opened his mouth and the tooth had fallen out without him even noticing. Wacky. He had been snacking on pretzels about twenty minutes before I noticed the space and must of swallowed it. It's still nuts that he didn't even notice the whole it left behind. Wow.

Elsa's Celebration

Last week Elsa insisted she needed to have a celebration. It wouldn't be a birthday celebration (she has been anxiously anticipating her birthday since November), and nobody should bring any gifts. The celebration however must include her dear friends, cupcakes, dress-up and balloons. How could I resist? I baked a yummy batch of cupcakes bought a few pink balloons and the girlies took care of the dress-up. They enjoyed decorating the cupcakes and Patty (my neighbor) read Pinkalicious, Elsa's new favorite book. It was a pretty fun celebration, super easy and made her quite happy. A good day.

Elsa and her dear friends: Ada, Elsa, Brynn, Emilie and Norah.