Christian is 4

Happy 4th Birthday to our Christian Calvin! We got to celebrate on November 11th with Grandpa and Grandma Jean who brought out a chainsaw just like Eric's for Christian's gift. He also received another one later in the week from Grandma, so he can share with his siblings (yeah right).

 Christian is definitely his own character. Life would not be the same without him and we are so thankful for him. He is definitely the tag a long of Gracie and Ethan and can often be found crying because he just can't keep up. He really is the younger of the bunch and yet is expected by his sibling to rise to the occasion, what ever that occasion may be. Often it is recreating whatever movie they most recently watched or one time it was setting up a water park in the basement. Not a clean time, but fun.  One time he and a friend of his set up a slip and slide in our basement by dumping an almost full container of laundry soap on our cement floor, then they would run and slide as far as they could. He has decorated his sisters' bathroom with their nail polish and they were not pleased. He is very articulate and loves "potty talk" that his older sisters never quite understand the humor of, yet they laugh hysterically from not knowing what else to do in those awkward moments! Truth be told those moments  kind of take us all by surprise. He is young enough still that he loves the security of knowing Dad and Mom are nearby and often times secures his spot to tag along with Dad so he won't get left behind. He was the baby the longest (until Simeon came along) and figured out that since he was smaller than everyone else he often would end up getting left behind at home with mom (me) due to it being harder to bring him with. That was never as fun as the adventures Dad takes everyone on through the Cuyuna Lakes Trails, trips to the store, or just hanging out. Christian continues to beg for his hair to remain short. After getting his hair chopped early this summer he continues to have the fear that his hair would get long enough that someone would mistakenly think he was a girl or that Dad would affectionately refer to him  (as affectionate as this name can be) as Fluffy. Last week as a family we went thrift store shopping and after a long time in one of them we checked out and got everyone out in the van. After everyone got in their seats some one said "where's Christian?" and after a very panicky few moments for Eric and I we found him back in the store completely engrossed in the toy isle. It was a reminder of how much he means to our family and that life would not be as grand with out him. We love you, buddy!